Curly

Curly is the deuteragonist of the 2024 psychological horror game Mouthwashing, developed by Swedish developer Wrong Organ. He was the hardworking, benevolent, yet dissatisfied pilot of the Tulpar long-haul freighter ship, overseen by Pony Express, and became horrifically maimed after the ship crashed. Curly was framed by Jimmy for intentionally causing the crash, but it was actually Jimmy's doing, driven by feelings of jealousy and inadequacy.

Before the crash, Curly is a Caucasian male of average build with blue eyes and blond hair, dressed in blue, Pony Express overalls over a red and yellow T-shirt.

After the crash, he is heavily bandaged and burnt, with exposed flesh underneath. His left leg is amputated just above the ankle, and his right leg below the knee. Both of his hands are missing. His face is unrecognizable, concealed by bandages that only leave his left eye (now missing its eyelid) and teeth visible.

In contrast to Jimmy's narcissism and jealousy, Curly was an honorable, compassionate, and highly intelligent captain fully dedicated to his crew and responsibilities. As the captain of the Tulpar, he was deeply respected and beloved by his crew, maintaining close relationships with all of them. Curly always strived to be a rational and responsible, yet caring leader, even when interpersonal conflicts or poor working conditions affected morale. Despite his passion for being a great captain, he expresses dissatisfaction with it, as he wanted to strive for other things after being at the top of the ladder for so long. Nevertheless, while he was ambitious and strived for more, it is made clear that he is dependable, and would never leave his crew behind for such a reason.

His only flaw was that he was perhaps too kind, even to those who didn't always deserve it. His tendency to be the better person, give others the benefit of the doubt, and avoid confrontation or punishment played a key role in the game's central conflict. When he learns that Jimmy impregnated Anya, likely against her will given Anya's expressed fear and discomfort around him, Curly opts not to reprimand Jimmy directly. Instead, he tries to smooth things over with Jimmy first, despite Jimmy's clear lack of remorse and deteriorating mental state. In doing so, Curly neglects Anya's feelings and ultimately leaves Jimmy in a position to hijack and deliberately crash the ship.

Following the crash, Curly unfortunately becomes very mentally disturbed, as he is left incapacitated and horribly maimed, constantly in pain. As a result, he begins to lose his sanity, often seen crying in agony or mirthlessly laughing due to the tragedy of his situation and the horrors that had been unfolding around him.

There's five members in Pony Express Astronaut Crew, There's Curly, Jimmy, Anya, Daisuke and Swansea.

Daisuke (ダイスケ) is an intern on the Tulpar under the supervision of the ship's mechanic, Swansea. Daisuke is a tall young man with a tanned complexion, semi-dyed brown hair, and brown eyes. He has a round face with almond-shaped eyes and one mole on each cheek. He wears the Pony Express red and yellow tee, a pink hibiscus patterned shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. Daisuke might be the most optimistic crew member. He is almost always enthusiastic and excited about things happening around the ship. Even after the crash, he tries to keep his spirit up. However, behind his peppy exterior, Daisuke struggles to find meaning in life. According to Daisuke, his mom got him this internship at Tulpar. She found he was slacking and needed to gain some experience working. He confesses he didn't know what to do with his life and what he wanted. His dialogue suggests he spent his days or nights partying and getting drunk. Jimmy implies that Daisuke seems to be from a well-off family, though this may just be Jimmy being a dick as usual.

Anya is an adult woman with fair skin, black eyes, and black hair styled in a wolf cut. She wears a Pony Express overall over a pink, green, and white turtleneck, paired with brown sandals and white socks. Her downturned eyes, prominent eyelashes, and constant pout give her a perpetually sorrowful look. Anya is a quiet, reserved, and somewhat gloomy woman who often appears nervous. She has a gentle, soft-spoken manner and tends to be shy around the rest of the crew. Anya is prone to anxiety and breakdowns, and when overwhelmed, she tends to withdraw from others.

Swansea was initially shown to be a grumpy, hotheaded old man who cares not for his intern, Daisuke. Upon the crashing of the Tulpar and the discovery of the near endless bottles of mouthwash containing alcohol, he immediately decides to throw (according to himself) a decade and a half of sobriety out the window and spend the next few months getting drunk off his ass. Swansea has Gray hair, He's Plus sized, He has black eyes and double chin, he gained weight from drinking alcohol.

Jimmy is the co-pilot of the Tulpar spaceship. In charge of Navigation and taking the mantle of captain in the event of an emergency as shown throughout the events of the game when Curly is left maimed in the collision with an asteroid. Jimmy is an adult male with straight brown sheeny hair slicked into a mid part, sporting brown eyes and a patchy stubble. His clothing consists of the Pony Express overalls, a white long sleeved t-shirt underneath, and wears black sneakers. He appears with a constant look of disinterest and disdain in his eyes. Jimmy is a jealous, envious and ungrateful man. He considers himself the bottom of the barrel, selfish and only prioritizes himself and his needs, manipulating many to fall for his hardworking and efficient act; the best case of Jimmy's manipulation is when he uses forms of guilt tripping and flatter Daisuke in Chapter 16 by first having him help in knocking Swansea out by creating a spiked cocktail, then to break into the utility room and have him go through the already established hazardous vent system. He states "It's time to be brave Daisuke. Curly and Anya are counting on us." and further on right before Daisuke enters the vent. "Swansea taught you well right? Time to prove it. He'll be impressed when he wakes up. Proud." " Daisuke. Everyone's counting on you." All things he says to get Daisuke to believe and hold trust in him, pushing him to do things he would not have done in other circumstances were not for the belief he could be a savior and be useful; playing on Daisuke'es desire to want to be recognized and impressive.

He exudes a desire to also be higher on the ladder, clearly ungrateful to Curly who is the sole reason he ever landed a job at Pony Express and was able to become the Co-pilot of the Tulpar, feeling he is 'just' a co-pilot and is sick of hearing how great of a leader Curly is and having delusions that Curly only cares for himself. He further presses upon these delusions in Chapter 7 when Curly delivers the news of the Employee Contract Termination and being the only to be promoted, which allows Jimmy to rant at the birthday party suggesting "So I guess you got what you wanted. Without the guilt." "Headed for bigger and better, right?" and convincing the others except Daisuke they were ruined as they had nowhere else to go for work.

When the collision of the Tulpar takes place and he's left unscathed while Curly is badly wounded trying to fix the ship's course after Jimmy sabotaged it, he shoves the blame onto Curly claiming he was insane, leaving the rest to believe Jimmy was innocent whilst Curly was the responsible and evil captain Jimmy wanted them to believe he was.

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