Curly

- Curly’s outfit symbolises the working man. Firstly, he’s in full Pony Express jumpsuit uniform. Even his under shirt is the Pony Express shirt, unlike Anya and Jimmy, showing how much he’s trying to present himself as an officer-like person. His collar is popped up, which is something construction workers do to protect their neck from getting sun burnt… but Curly is in space. In doors. He doesn’t even see any star outside the fake sun in the day screen. This makes his popped collar functionless. This could symbolise in his role with taking care of Anya as he basically did nothing and the lack of responsibility he truly does take as a captain.

- The devs said that each character is inspired by different horror actors. Here are some of my ideas of what Pre crash and post crash curly could’ve been inspired by:

o Freddy Kruger – I mean…..
o Ewan Mitchell – Saltburn -  blonde, blue eyes, square ish features
o Macaulay Culkin – Kid from home alone - bros been on that grind since 12, blonde, blue eyes with a little softer but still squarish features
o Matt Smith – MORBIUS similar hair to Curly, also squarish features, official looking guy (like how curly tries to present)

- MY PERSONAL ANSWER: Aaron Eckhart as two face from The Dark Night. He’s official looking, blonde, square features like Curly and a severe burn victim. A bit on the nose but I like it. I know The Dark Night isn’t really a horror, but it is still tense. Besides Eckhart has had his fair share of horror movies. 

Jimmy

- Jimmy is designed to be very calming or approachable.

There isn’t anything about him that stand out or set of any

alarms. Many manipulators and narcissists (IM NOT

ARMCHAIR DIGNOSING HE JUST DISPLAYS THE

SYMPTOMS) tend to present themselves in a rather safe

way as to get more people to like and trust them. He looks

very different in game and on his ID card which could be a

little bit of a nudge to the idea that he’s not who he seems.

Dead ass he looks like homeless squidward.

- Another thing is that his brunet hair and stubble reminds me

a little of Flynn Rider from tangled, furthering the idea of

him dressing in a way to appeal and avoid suspicion since

Flynn was specifically designed to be charming. Literally,

there was something called the “hot man meeting” where the

designers would talk to women about what types of men they

find attractive in order to model Flynn after the most popular

features – this is in reference to Jimmy’s in game model.

Also the fandom seems to see him with shorter hair with a

little more volume at the front rather than the literal grease

back he has. I could actually fry a fucking egg his head he’s

like genuinely worse than Alex Turner with his hair

-  Horror actors (possible) inspo – more from Jimmy’s ID card:

oSkeet Ulrich – from the original scream. He looks more like Jimmy now with the brown hair styles and stubble as well as the thick eyebrows. Also the same hair style the fandom gives him.  Also not as pale as Curly

oJack Nicholson – from The shinning. This is a popular one as many people believe Anya is inspired of Shelley  Duvall from the same film. On top of that Jack shares the same features as Jimmy with the slightly longer hair and brown stubble along with a sort of greasy skin in the film. On top of that he’s just as creepy. Not to mention the similarities in the name Johnny (from the quote that the shinning popularised) and Jimmy

oJohnny Depp – A lot of movies but from horror Sleepy Hollow, Tusk and Secret Window – they’re both abusers (ALLEGEDLY FOR JOHNNY – go do ur own research) both have the kinda rugged long haired kinda thing

Anya (My wife canon)

- Firstly, the turtleneck. Immediately finding out about Anya’s assault, my brain instantly clocked the fact that she was wearing a turtleneck. A rather conservative piece of clothing meant to conceal something and avoid attention. Obviously, this isn’t confirmed but it is pretty common for victims of a type of physical abuse to attempt to hide it. There is so much stigma surrounding the topic, especially sexual abuse, so it’d make sense for Anya to hide bruises on her neck if she had any. On top of that, it allows things to “run smoothly” as Curly would put it so Anya trying not to draw attention to the marks could possibly stem from a place of guilt or shame.

- However, tiktoker Lucky makes an amazing point to the contrast of the reclusiveness of the turtleneck and the design it’s in. She says “Historically speaking, horizontal stripes and bright colours have been used to draw attention to people. Typically, people that were perceived as deviants or outcasts with the stripes and colours being used to ward other people off” I think this idea of wanting people to stay away falls in line a lot with Anya as a character. It could be representing how tense she feels after her rape, wanting to be alone. However, I believe it’s more showing of her actual character because she’s packed these clothes before she knew Jimmy was a Diddy disciple. Although Anya is unfairly characterized as she’s seen through Jimmy’s POV, through little bits of optional information and analysing her actions we find out how she truly is as a person. She is hard working and resilient (shown through how she was able to save a man covered in 3rd degree burns while pregnant and with shitty medical supplies. On top of that, continuously trying to achieve her goal of finishing med school, despite failing 8 times) as well as being seriously competitive in boardgames (seen as Curly mentions her frustration when she plays against Daisuke). Such a head strong woman would want to be left alone for the most part to focus on her passions and goals. Not saying Anya is an alpha sigma lone wolf but I believe she’d be a very career focused woman because of all the effort she is clearly putting in for her medical degree.

 - Horror movie potential in- It’s Shelley Duvall. Let's be do real right now, it’s Duvall like there is no other option that fits as beautifully. Both of their most prominent features are their down turned and big eyes. Both are “unconventional” HEAVY on the quotations because they’re both gorgeous but at the time of Duvall’s rise to notoriety, she was very “out of the norm” from the regular conventionally attractive blonde hair blue eyes red lips blah blah type actresses  ykwim?  Unfortunately, a lot of her more popular films kinda would reduce her down to her body sometimes. Mmmh who else does that happen to? wink wink nudge nudge. If you want a more in depth idea of what I’m talking about with Duvall and her career, here’s the video I was watching while writing this: https://youtu.be/-4F-9zo4MmY?si=LC93vhsLX7lWa6dV

- Other suggestions tho:

o Neve Campbell – specifically as Sidney from Scream – This is a very loose inspiration imo but I do see the links with the pointed split hair in her bangs as Sidey and Anya’s in her in game model. On top of that both are very resourceful, despite being overlooked, in their dire situations.
o Jamie Lee Curtis – Laurie from Halloween – again that sort of long face look that Duvall also has. Jamie’s character is also seen as one of the first “final girl” in horror. I also really adore those iconic photos with her short brown hair. But again, loose connection for me
o Édith Scob – from Eyes Without A Face as Christiane Génessier – It was the eyes, it’s kinda Anya’s thing in the game. Anya even means “Big brown eyes” or “graceful brown eyes” in urdu (according to my dad). Eyes without a face is personally my favourite suggestion for Anya’s inspiration. There are a lot of motifs in the film about freedom (of anatomy but also in general) via the doves. Along with the dehumanization of Christiane, I think it would fit Anya very well since Jimmy also dehumanizes her. 

Daisuke

- Out of all the characters, Daisuke’s uniform is the most outwardly different. He wears a Hawaiian shirt over his uniform. Hawaiian shirts, at least on Disney channel in my experienced, are usually on the “silly” characters in media and on the surface, Daisuke slips right into that box. However, it’s important to note that he never wanted the internship, he did it only for his mom, so it would make sense he wouldn’t take the job – uniform – seriously. I think him adding on the Hawaiian shirt atop of the uniform is almost like he’s trying to hide it, not wanting to be associated because he doesn’t want the job.

- The flowers on Daisuke’s shirts are Hibiscus. In spirituality it’s meant to “repel negativity, attract good luck and love, and offer protection.” Which is kind of ironic since Daisuke’s tear mole indicates bad luck and difficulties in life. These two contradictions could symbolize the polarizing feelings Daisuke feels about not really having a future plan. About wanting a stable career but at the same time to want to be nothing at all.

- Since Daisuke is from Japan, the Japanese symbolism for hibiscus is “Some believe it shows the kind, gentle heart of the host. It is a “one-day” flower that blooms even shorter than sakura –  only one or two days. The flower opens in the morning and usually falls off by the next day. For this reason, the flower is also associated with quickly fading beauty and the fragility of life in Japanese culture.” The fragility of life hurts cus Daisuke’s death was because of how easily manipulated he was. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not his fault also since we are seeing him in Jimmy’s POV who sees Daisuke as much more childish.

- According to the wiki Daisuke is inspired of the movie character Ryosuke Kawashima from the movie Pulse 2001. The movie is about spirits coming in through the real world via the internet. The movie deals with themes of Isolations and loneliness which applies to how Daisuke feels as he’s the youngest and seems to only care for his mom. The character Daisuke is based off is a struggling student too. If you want a more in depth idea of the theming  Pulse 2001 feel free to check out: https://deathdrive.me/2021/10/19/the-perfect-emptiness-of-pulse-kairo/

Swansea

- Swansea’s outfit is relatively bare and simplistic. This lack of effort lines up to his tired attitude towards working. Jimmy even points out Swansea doesn’t have many working years left. He’s got nothing to hide, he’s got no one to impress and his simplicity reflects that

- His top buttons are unbuttoned which many have pointed out how chest hair in media is typically associated with masculinity. Especially in yee old days (the 70s), many men would leave their top buttons undone to kinda flex. Since Swansea is the oldest (50) and it’s around the late 90s, he’d have been the perfect age to flaunt his masculinity when it was in.

- To be honest, I find old alcoholic chest hair kinda gross, but I guess that just falls into the idea of Swansea not going out of his way to be presentable.

- I’ve seen people also say Swansea is inspired off Jack from The Shinning too with the old man and axe thing and I mess with it. I can’t really find any other elderly horror actors other than  Tobin Bell from the Saw movies.