| “ | I must admit, I really respect your consistency. But you will never, ever defeat me! Say hello to my masterpiece! | „ |
| ~ Dr. Roy Curien to Thomas Rogan before summoning the Magician |
Dr. Roy Curien is one of the main antagonists of The House of the Dead game series. Once a renowned scientist, he was driven mad by his own research and unleashed a horde of zombies upon his staff and threatened the world with destruction. Curien later returned in The House of the Dead III, which explores his past motives involving his relationship with his son Daniel through a series of flashbacks. He was "resurrected" as the game's final boss, the Wheel of Fate.
He is the main antagonist of House of the Dead, a posthumous antagonist in House of the Dead II, and the main antagonist in House of the Dead III.
History
He is a renowned scientist working under the DBR Corporation as a research director, whose aggressive direction gained the admiration and respect of his staff. Among his researchers was Sophie Richards, who was engaged at the time to AMS agent Thomas Rogan. Born of a noble family, Curien lived with his son in a mansion built in medieval times, where the DBR research facility was also located, hiding the nature of its experiments from the public. While Curien was performing experiments in hopes of removing the barrier between life and death, his findings eventually caused him to go mad.
The House of the Dead
And one day in December 1998 he released his undead creations upon his staff. Seeing that everyone around her was getting killed, Sophie made an urgent call to her fiancé for help. Rogan and his partner G arrive as quickly as possible, and they infiltrate the zombie-infested mansion to stop Curien and his creations from causing any more chaos. The agents finally encounter Curien in person deep underground, where he compliments their efforts before summoning a large undead beetle-like monster to take care of them. The agents defeat the creature while Curien takes the opportunity to escape, and they soon chase him further underground, where he awaits them in one of the laboratories below. When the agents have him cornered with no way out, Curien once again compliments them but boasts that they will never be able to stop him, letting them bare witness to the awakening of his master creation, the Magician. However, the Magician does not recognize Curien as its creator and, refusing to take orders from a lesser being, attacks him. Mortally wounded, Curien just has time to express his confusion regarding his creation's loyalty before succumbing to his injuries. After the Magician is destroyed by the AMS agents and they take their leave, Curien receives a personal visit by the head of the DBR Corporation, Caleb Goldman. While the incident would be regarded as the Curien Mansion Incident in The House of the Dead 2, it is revealed that Goldman had financially backed Curien's research and simply used him to further his own goals. Like his predecessor, Goldman would meet his demise when his own plans failed to come into fruition in 2000, but not before arranging a backup plan that would lead to the world's collapse in 2003.
The House of the Dead III
Curien in his resurrected form, the Wheel of Fate
Curien's discoveries play a large role in The House of the Dead III, which explores his past as well as his previous motives through flashback segments. It is revealed that several years before the Curien Mansion incident, Curien was seeking a cure for his son Daniel, who was terminally ill with doctors claiming he had no hope of recovery. Curien, portrayed as a loving father who would never give up on his son, claimed he was willing to step into forbidden territory if it would save his life. After carrying out many experiments, Curien revealed that he had discovered the key that would remove the barrier between life and death, and that there was no need for his son to fear death any longer. He later appeared to his comatose son again, asking him if he had overstepped the bounds of human morality, confused and somewhat depressed that many of his researchers had left him. However, Curien soon descended into madness after realizing that he now held the power to manipulate life and death at his will.
During the actual events of The House of the Dead III in 2019, it is revealed that the Wheel of Fate was Curien's final creation following his death and the last thing he left behind. Curien would be used as a testing subject by an unknown source (most likely Goldman) and undergo a resurrection process that would take nineteen years to complete; (some have speculated that this is why Goldman appeared before Curien's corpse after the mansion incident, and what he had done with it, but this remains unconfirmed). His son Daniel, who had spent his whole life in the facility and was now cured of his disease, had been forced to watch his father, now in the form of the Wheel of Fate, for the last nineteen years and was finally prepared to put an end to it. Before awakening the being, who had become one with Curien himself, Daniel hacks the program to give him and Lisa Rogan an opening advantage. When Lisa questions if Daniel really wants to fight his own father, he claims that he is ready to carry the burden of his father's crimes and that the future of the world belongs to the people who are alive here and now. With the Wheel of Fate awakened, it identifies itself as Curien and reveals its motives to destroy mankind, with the intention of rebuilding it without the conflict associated with humans. The Wheel of Fate then engages the pair in a fierce battle, attacking them relentlessly through the power of electrokinesis, but is finally defeated. Curien then tries to make one last appeal to Daniel, claiming that the world is overpopulated and that his son still needs him. Daniel rejects his father and all that he's become, and he and Lisa open fire, destroying Curien for good.
Other appearances
House of the Dead II: Dead Aim
A character named Professor Roy Curien appears in the 2005 live-action movie House of the Dead 2, which is a sequel to the 2003 film House of the Dead and is portrayed by Sid Haig. Curien has contained his son Rudy (the protagonist of the first movie) and another survivor Alison to try and find out the cause of the latter's immortality, despite the rotted state of her body. Curien creates a serum which he believes can bring back the dead and create immortality. He murders one of his students at the university he works for and injects her with the serum. She comes back to life, bites Curien, and makes her escape.
Gallery
Trivia
- Dr. Curien's name is likely derived from that of acclaimed French physicist "Hubert Curien".
- Since Caleb Goldman is the one who hired Dr. Curien, funded his research and discovered the scientist's corpse, there is a strong possibility that Goldman was the one who revived Curien as the Wheel of Fate in The House of the Dead III.
- A portrait of Dr. Curien can be seen in The House of the Dead III, in the EFI Genome Ward during the beginning of the level.
- In the 2003 live-action film adaptation House of the Dead, the protagonist Rudolf reveals his surname to be Curien, seemingly implying that he is Roy Curien and that the movie serves as a prequel to the main game series and (presumably) the events inspire him. However this is contradicted with the third game (which came out the same year) as it provides a different backstory to Curien.
- In the 2005 movie sequel House of the Dead 2 a Professor Roy Curien appears as is played by Sid Haig and is Rudy's father.
- Dr. Curien appears as the main antagonist in Loving Deads: The House of the Dead EX with a slightly different look to him, and he orders his creations to imprison Zobiko in the dungeon.
- During the early development stages of The House of the Dead, Dr. Curien was originally named "Dr. A".