Who Is Dark Pictures Anthology's Curator? | CBR

The Curator is mysterious, foreboding and vague when it comes to giving  The Dark Anthology players advice and information. Played by actor Pip Torrens, it's never quite clear who the Curator is or what he does. All that's made clear is that he's a keeper of stories who's simply there to observe players' progress while remaining in what he calls the repository. There is a supernatural air to him that's never explained and may stay unanswered even after the season finale, The Devil's One. However, there may be just enough clues across the games so are to deduce just who the Curator really is.

The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of narrative horror games, each with their own stand-alone story. They play out like horror movies, only it's the player (or players) who gets to make the decisions and survive to the end. There are also collectables and secrets to flesh out the stories and even hints to help determine what to watch out for. The Curator is along for this ride, commenting on the paths chosen and sometimes even offering advice.

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Like everything else surrounding the Curator, this advice can be vague, and he even says he's not supposed to offer it. It's strange and implies there's someone or something he answers to. Outside of this one "rule," there's no other mention of something like this. The Curator's awareness of the story playing out and watching over it is also strange and suggests he's a supernatural entity with a task: to curate unusual stories while paying close attention to characters. The repository itself where these particular stories are kept also appears to be supernatural, as it never appears to be in the same place.

The window by his desk shows hints as to where it is either currently or where it will appear in the next game. For example, in Little Hope, which takes place in an abandoned town, the repository's window shows a statue and domed building outside in the daylight, something that's clearly not found in the town.

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However, the next game, House of Ashes, introduces the characters at a camp setup in a former palace in Iraq, which has a domed roof and is richly decorated. While it hasn't been announced where The Devil's One will take place, there's a pretty big hint in House of Ashes. In the repository, there is what looks like the Washington Monument outside the window at the end as lightning strikes while the Curator speaks about where he'll meet the player next. This indicates that the upcoming game will be set in Washington DC, or (at the very least) somewhere within the United States.

This is just more evidence that the Curator is supernatural and exists just outside the mortal realm. It's never said out right who he is, but there are hints that he may be the spectre Death. He seems fascinated by characters who are in mortal danger, even appearing at points in the story where death may occur. He can be seen briefly in the background when characters die or just just barely escape their demise.

Regardless of who is truly is, it's clear that the Curator chronicles the interesting stories of people's lives and appears when they may meet a terrible fate. He also speaks quite a bit about the subject of death. A scene in House of Ashes even shows his face as a skull during a lightning strike, and while this may just be for effect, perhaps it was actually the reveal of his true self.

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