One of the games that crowned Halloween of 2019 was definitely Man of Medan, another masterpiece of a horror game from Supermassive Games, who also created Until Dawn. With similar gameplay mechanics that encourage players to make the smartest choices in a pinch, every decision leads to a different ending.
While fans eagerly wait for summer 2020’s return to the Dark Pictures Anthology with the release of Little Hope, it’s a great idea to revisit Man of Medan and some of its characters. On the surface, many of them might appear pretty straightforward, but Shawn Ashmore’s Conrad is actually more complex than what meets the eye.
10 He Comes From A Rich Family
It might not cross a player’s mind, given that the group of friends immediately find themselves on a boat at sea and we see little of their ordinary life on-screen, but Conrad actually comes from an immensely wealthy family. Hee and his sister Julia are privileged kids.
Fliss treats them at first with slight disdain as she considers them nothing but a bunch of rich kids wanting to party out on the sea. In fact, it was probably thanks to the money from Julia and Conrad’s family that the boat was rented out in the first place.
9 He’s A College Dropout
Rich or not, that doesn’t mean that Conrad is necessarily the most successful character in the game. In fact, he’s the opposite of that. While his sister Julia is said to be a diligent college student who takes her life very seriously, Conrad is a bit more whimsical.
He dropped out of college in hopes of discovering what he really wanted out of life. Thanks to his family’s money, this was no doubt made possible easily, but there’s also a chance that his family views him as a failure or disappointment due to his lack of ambition.
8 He Might Be Almost Entirely Unplayable
All of the characters in Man of Medan, except for Olson and his two side kicks, are playable during the story. However, if one of them dies, that’s when they obviously become unplayable and the story shifts for good.
Conrad is an exception in the sense that he can actually leave the story early on in the game by escaping on a small boat. This will spare him from the events on the Ourang Medan, and he’ll also return to rescue his friends. He’ll pretty much be unplayable for the majority of game if this happens.
7 He’s Lazy But Surprisingly Intelligent
It’s pretty evident that Conrad isn’t one for hard work. He’s never concerned about anything for the majority of the game, including supervising the dive between his sister and Alex. His attitude often frustrates other characters.
That being said, Conrad shows some surprising signs of cleverness. At the very beginning of the game, it’s his idea to escape the hostage situation by breaking the boat’s window exactly when thunder rumbles.
6 He Has The Highest Relationship With Julia
Conrad might come across as a charismatic guy with the ability to thrive in almost any social situation. However, he’s actually not that close to the majority of the people in the group. Alex and Brad have an intermediate relationship with him at best.
Julia, however, has the highest base relationship with him when the game first begins. Although she often finds Conrad annoying, she’s also among the few people who believe that he’s just trying to do good by making people laugh.
5 He’s Portrayed By A Veteran Actor
Supermassive Games is known for making its games very much like horror movies, including modeling their characters on real people. This theme continues to some degree in Man of Medan, but with more newcomers to the motion capture and voice acting scene.
Shawn Ashmore is without a doubt the most high-profile of all the actors in Man of Medan, so much so that his character’s face was used in the official title artwork for the game, making Conrad essentially the face of Man of Medan.
4 He’s Actually Older Than Julia
It’s evident that Julia and Conrad share a space sibling bond. They bicker and they often keep each other in check. Julia in particular can be quite motherly towards Conrad, who often comes across as extremely playful and even downright childish.
That being said, Julia is actually the younger sibling between the two of them. Although typically the older sibling would be the one to take care of the younger one, in this case Julia’s definitely the more mature one and has to cover for her brother.
3 His Tank Top Hints At The Next Game In The Series
Conrad’s character starts off with a tacky floral pattern shirt and some shorts at the beginning of the game. However, after Olson’s pirates take control of their boat and they board the Ourang Medan, Conrad is seen in a blue tank top.
This tank top is a crucial hint towards the next game in the Dark Pictures Anthology. Its writing “Salem, 1692, Massachusetts”, might be a reference to some of the witchy themes of Little Hope, which has borrowed some ideas from Blair Witch Project as well as the Salem Witch trials.
2 He Appears As A Horrific Clown
In Man of Medan, each character is haunted by things that they fear the most. Since most of it is hallucinations, there’s a lot of analyzing and theorycrafting that could be done in regards to why some characters witness certain things.
Julia in particular is likely to witness a clown-like monster briefly at some point. The clown looks a lot like Conrad, which might be a reference to how she sometimes thinks of her brother when frustrated at him. It could also be a reference to the movie IT.
1 He Might Have A Fear Of Women
Conrad isn’t safe from the Manchurian Gold’s hallucinogenic effects, either. When he enters the ship, he’ll be followed and haunted by some sort of creepy, ghost-like woman who appears to be a glamour girl in a woman’s sailor costume.
It’s possible that although Conrad comes across as very self-confident, he’s actually incredibly scared of women and rejection. It’s why he ends up imagining Fliss, an attractive woman but also a source of all his insecurities, as the glamour girl.
NEXT: 5 Things Man Of Medan Does Better Than Until Dawn (& 5 Things It Does Worse)
