| “ | I'm not a terribly religious man, but if there is an afterlife, I know what's waiting for me when my time is up. I accept it and I deserve it. Just give me one last chance to right my biggest wrong before I go. I'm not sure that's even possible, but I'd pay any price to find out. | ” |
– Doug Houser | ||
Doug Houser is the main protagonist of Dark Deception and a playable mortal in Monsters & Mortals.
Doug is the latest person to work for Bierce within the Dark Dimension, tasked with the daunting challenge of collecting pieces of the Riddle of Heaven, a powerful ring scattered across several nightmare realms. Seeking to harness the power of Bierce's wish to rectify his past mistakes, Doug finds himself entangled with the Demon Lord Malak, the rightful heir of the ring and an age-old adversary of Bierce. With each piece of the ring Doug retrieves, Malak's agitation intensifies, leading him to increasingly desperate attempts to weaken Bierce's hold over Doug. As Doug navigates through the perilous tasks set before him, his past deeds are gradually revealed.
Appearance[]
Doug is Caucasian male with blue eyes, dark hair, fair skin, and a sturdy build. He sports a slate-colored shirt, a neat, dark grey suit, dark grey pants, black dress shoes, and a red tie, befitting his past profession as a lawyer. In his vision of the hospital in chapter 4, he is shown to be malnourished and bald, indicating that he was subject to chemotherapy, which commonly results in baldness, further confirming that he has cancer.
History[]
Childhood[]
Doug was born on February 11, 1955, presumably in Pennsylvania, and was an only child. From a young age, Doug experienced frequent neglect from his father, a situation his mother deeply resented. On his fifth birthday, Doug was gifted a stuffed bear by his mother, who was absent due to her work commitments. By the time he turned eight, Doug lived alone with his mother. She had become highly cynical and abusive, stemming from their underprivileged lifestyle and her intense hatred of her ex-husband, whom she believed Doug was beginning to resemble. She punished him for any perceived slight, locking him in a closet for simply dropping a glass and hearing him beg out of sadistic pleasure. This harsh upbringing molded Doug into a fiercely independent yet narcissistic individual.
Family Life[]
By 1979, Doug moved to New York City, where he married a woman named Elise and had a daughter named Tammy. By 1981, Doug secured a position at a prestigious law firm in Manhattan, eventually earning a partnership. However, his success was marred by turbulent arguments with Elise, often fueled by her mood swings and his own unresolved issues. Elise noticed a change in Doug's demeanor, suspecting it was linked to his secretive past regarding his mother, a topic Doug avoided at all costs.
Doug's later married life became increasingly tumultuous as his daughter Tammy's behavior grew more volatile and Elise's agitation escalated, a situation only marginally alleviated by therapy and medication. Doug would grow further detached from them, prioritizing his career and personal pleasures, including nights out with friends and affairs with his secretaries, over the well-being of his family. This pattern of neglect and infidelity culminated in a violent confrontation where Elise, driven to a breaking point, attempted to stab Doug with a pair of scissors in his office. To mitigate her mental health struggles, Elise frequently sought solace by visiting her family in Pittsburgh, providing Doug with temporary relief from their domestic strife. Between 1988 and 1992, Doug would admit Tammy to the Pittsburgh Psychiatric Hospital. Tammy's issues were multifaceted, encompassing mood swings, low self-esteem, sleep disturbances, depression, and anxiety, among many others.
Driven to desperation by the strain of his family's unpredictable behavior and mounting medical bills, Doug conceived a drastic plan to escape his circumstances. During a private meeting with his mistress, he outlined a scheme to leave his family behind and start over with his accumulated wealth. Doug, perceiving his wife as both unstable and a threat, made the fateful decision to replace her bipolar medication with sleeping pills, under the assumption that she wouldn't notice the switch and her eventual death would appear as a suicide.
However, Doug's plan took an unforeseen and tragic turn. Unaware that Tammy would be accompanying Elise, the effects of the sleeping pills led to a catastrophic car accident on the McKees Rock Bridge in Pittsburgh. The crash not only resulted in the deaths of two other individuals but also sent Elise and Tammy careening into the river below.
Starting Anew[]
The news of the catastrophic accident brought Doug face to face with a torrent of remorse and devastation, emotions that had become foreign to him through years of numbing detachment. At the center of this guilt was the unintended death of Tammy, an innocent caught in his desperate act. As he lived his new life, he became haunted by hallucinations of his wife and daughter in public places and in his dreams. Desperate to alleviate his guilt, Doug immersed himself in various activities, including group meetings, therapy sessions, charitable endeavors, community work, and even religious gatherings, yet nothing could dispel the weight of his conscience. Plagued by unrelenting guilt, Doug accepted the inevitability of whatever afterlife lay before him. He pleaded for another opportunity to amend his mistakes, committing to accept any consequences in exchange for a chance to rectify the wrongs he had committed.
At some point, Doug was arrested after turning himself into the NYPD's 1st precinct in Manhattan, arriving from his luxury black SUV. He faced charges of criminal sex act, sex abuse, and sexual misconduct related to alleged incidents involving five separate women. Following his arrest and processing, Doug became a disgraced figure in the legal community. He was subsequently released on $100,000 cash bail.
Doug was eventually diagnosed with cancer and found himself admitted to an unknown hospital. Facing his mortality and yearning for a second chance at redemption, he resorted to a desperate measure. Drawing from something he purportedly found on the internet, Doug sketched Malak's insignia beneath his head on the hospital bed. Doug awakened in an ethereal realm, where he was greeted by an enigmatic woman named Bierce. She presented Doug with an offer that ignited a flicker of hope: she would grant him his deepest wish in exchange for retrieving pieces of a powerful artifact known as the Riddle of Heaven. Unbeknownst to Doug, this agreement would thrust him into a grueling and merciless adventure far beyond anything he could have anticipated.
Personality[]
Up until this point, Doug has survived eight nightmares and exhibited a number of qualities throughout them, his experience within these ordeals may also shed a bit of light on his personality.
Doug seems to be calm and collected at most times, as seen in his performance in surviving in the nightmares, where he managed to collect all the soul shards while evading dreadful and hostile monsters which were almost in constant pursuit. With this, one could assume Doug can keep his cool under pressure.
Moreover, Doug's intelligence can also be observed throughout their trials, since he is able to identify each monster's characteristic and devise counter-tactics for them in amidst of danger, for example:
- Listening for Murder Monkeys' footsteps to determine their proximity and avoid being cut off by their potential routes,
- Using Agatha's superb hearing against her by luring her to a shard-deprived area before moving to a new area,
- Using Teleportation to get past the Gold Watchers surrounding and blocking the path.
- Using Telepathy to know when the Dread Duckies are blending in the environment.
- Waiting for a large group of Clown Gremlins and using Primal Fear against them.
- Stunning and using the Reaper Nurses to defeat the Matron.
- Identifying and nullifying each Joy Joy Gang member's abilities.
- Using his abilities to destroy the Trigger Teddies and avoid Mama Bear.
In addition to that, Doug is also perfectly aware of the abilities he has acquired from the Riddle of Heaven and is able to use them competently and timely in different sections of the mazes, to an extent in which he uses two abilities simultaneously to produce an even more remarkable effect, giving him a significant edge over the monsters, which usually outnumber Doug. Doug is also keen on using the special shards, which are placed at random spots in the mazes, to grant themselves a temporal advantage over their pursuers. With the power to stun and reveal enemies, Doug can traverse the more complex areas of the maze with relative ease.
Despite not being able to fight against the monsters head-on and mostly rely on his wits to outsmart and outmaneuver them, there are times when he actually fought them off. In the boss battle of the "Crazy Carnevil", he will take on hordes of Clown Gremlins and the four Goliath Clowns with a hammer if needed. Later on, in the boss battle of the "Torment Therapy" he will stun the Reaper Nurses using his Primal Fear or collecting a Stun Orb, before knocking them away from the ambulance with their giant medical syringes to defeat the Matron.
Outside of the nightmares, Doug is seen to be quite reserved, for he never participated in any of Bierce's and Malak's quarrels, nor does he give a response when teased by Bierce or berated by Malak. The only occasion where he gives his opinion happens after the completion of "Elementary Evil", "Mascot Mayhem" , "Bearly Buried", and at the start of the game, where he expresses himself through a typewriter and one of the notes that can be found in the secret rooms.
Powers[]
- Main article: Powers
Doug can obtain powers from Bierce after he has successfully completed "Monkey Business", powers can grant different advantages over the various monsters in Dark Deception.
Typewriter Entries[]
As Doug is somewhat reserved, he is only seen expressing his emotions and thoughts in a typewriter, the entries are produced occasionally when he has completed a nightmare.
At the Beginning of Dark Deception[]
"It is done. Now my faith lies in darkness."
After the events of Elementary Evil[]
"She was almost the same age. Memories betray me here. I need to keep going. I just need to survive a bit longer."
During Doug's past cutscene in Mascot Mayhem[]
"I'm still alive?"
"Where am I?"
"Horrors? He can't mean...
"No... It can't be..."
"Tammy... I'm sorry I could never love you unconditionally."
"I'm sorry those were the last words you heard me speak."
"That's not who I am anymore."
"He's reading my memories. I have to escape before he finds out too much."
"No! He found me already!?"
"Stop it! Get out-"
"LET ME GO!!!"
"Not that place! Please! Not that place! Please! Not that place! Please! Not-"
"No! Don't bring me here!"
Tammy! I didn't want this!"
"I didn't know she would drive! You were never su-"
During many events in Bearly Buried[]
When Malak asked him about the location[]
"W-What is this place ?"
Being held by Trigger Teddies[]
"No! Let go of me!"
Approaching the portal[]
"Bierce! Open the portal!"
"BIERCE!!!"
Notes[]
 The pills aren't helping her at all. Her behavior keeps getting more extreme and irrational. It's a never-ending nightmare. I can hope for the best, but I know that she'll probably never be normal. She's going to be a mental mess just like her mother. It feels like my world is going dark. A man can only take so much. I really don't care what people think of me. Those two don't know how to be happy and they're sucking the joy out of my life. Whatever her mother and I had is dead. I need to break free while I still can. I've got plenty of money and a great career. I can start over. I can do it right this time. I still need to do something about them though. No way I'm letting her take me for half. She'll use that defective kid to bleed money out of me forever. I want to be free of them and I want to forget they exist as soon as possible. Thankfully, she's not very bright. There might be a way. |
 I see them more often now. More clearly and more often than before. They dominate my dreams now in a way that never happened previously. Sometimes, when I am out doing my walk, I feel them watching me and I almost convince myself that I see them, their faces, hidden in the crowd of people. For a moment, I find myself wishing so much for it to be true. I doubt they'd be as happy to see me though. I spent another Friday night with the group. It went about as well as it usually does. They are good people, all of them, but I don't think they will ever be able to help me. Faith and the power of the holy spirit have a profound impact on some, but for me they are just words that ring hollow. I've taken pills to forget. I've prayed to forget. I've gone to group meetings and therapy. I've done countless amounts of charity & community work, but it never feels like enough. I still feel so.....empty. Maybe I'm just wasting my time or maybe I'm slowly going mad? I just wish there was a way to see them one more time. I'm not a terribly religious man, but if there is an afterlife, I know what's waiting for me when my time is up. I accept it and I deserve it. Just give me one last chance to right my biggest wrong before I go. I'm not sure that's even possible, but I'd pay any price to find out. |
 She had another violent episode last night. We were arguing about Tammy's behavior problems at school again. I was in the middle of prepping defense for the trial of my life with a key client. I really had no time for another round of parenting ideas from her, but she just wouldn't let it go. She knows how to press all of my buttons and I'm pretty sure that she enjoys doing it. I lost it. I pushed her out of my office and I gave her a piece of mind. She just stood there for a minute and then that was the moment I saw it again - the rage in her eyes. She left the room and came back with a pair of scissors. That crazy bitch tried to stab me! I was able to wrestle the scissors from her and then packed up my work and left. She was screaming out the door at me - telling me to run off to my secretaries and not come back or something like that. I could care less. Just more proof that all that therapy & medication isn't helping her. I don't think they have a pill strong enough for her level of psycho. |
 I keep finding her empty prescription bottles hidden around the bedroom. She tells me it's her normal prescription fill. but I know she's lying. Somehow she's getting more medication than she should have. Now I'm finding new meds with names so long. I don't even know what they are. No surprise I suppose. She thinks she can solve all of her problems with therapy & pills. It's pathetic. She was sheltered her entire life by her family and never learned how to deal with her issues. Now she's got me paying for everything and when things get too hard, she just runs to her parents in Pittsburgh. Not that I mind that or anything. It's the perfect time to go out and meet up with some friends. It just kills me - of all the women in the world, why did I pick her? Just a sucker for a pretty face I guess. Now she's got me in her hooks. Financially speaking, it's cheaper to keep her. If it's not money, why does she stay? It's just annoys me that she's so dependent on those pills. She's going to embarrass me publicly with her addiction at some point, which could hurt my partner status at the firm. She mindlessly shoves those pills into her mouth like candy. Honestly, I think you could put anything in those capsules and she wouldn't even notice. She'd still take them. |
Monsters & Mortals[]
 "Are you not aware that she offers only lies?" This article contains information on a subject that isn't considered canon in Dark Deception franchise.
|
Doug Houser appears as a playable mortal in Monsters & Mortals.
As a Mortal of the Balanced class Doug Houser is average and performs equally in soul shard collecting, movement speed, attacking, and has an average amount of HP. Making him a great character to play as to learn the game's "ropes". He attacks with the tablet he received from Bierce.
His Ultimate Ability, "Escape Plan", allows Doug to teleport to a random spot on the current map, allowing him to be more slippery against Enemies. Because of this, Doug specializes mostly on collecting the most soul shards without getting into the most amount of conflict. However, it has another use if the exit is opened in Maze Escape. If used when it's opened Doug will instantly escape without ever going near the portal which can be used as a distraction while his teammates escape. It is best to use this for emergencies when the player cannot run away, fight back, or needs to escape.
| Team | Mortals |
| Class | Balanced |
| Weapon | Tablet |
| Health | 180 |
| Speed | Average |
| Light Attack Damage | 15 |
| Heavy Attack Damage | 30 |
| Ultimate Ability |  Escape Plan
|
| UA Description | Doug opens a portal and jumps away to a random part of the map as a quick escape. |
| UA Duration | Instantaneous |
Skins[]
| Image | Name | Rarity | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Rotten One |  Common
|
In the Rotten One skin, Doug's outfit is replaced by a black buttoned shirt, and a red and purple striped vest and pants. Referenced from the character Robbie Rotten. |
 |
Groom | Common
|
In the Groom skin, Doug's entire outfit is now white, and he also wears white gloves. |
 |
Batty | Common
|
Halloween Collection
In the Batty skin, Doug now has a green tie, green dyed hair, and his outfit is purple with black bats on it. This outfit somewhat resembles The Joker from Batman (which could be a reference to Christopher Corey Smith's roles in the Lego Batman franchise). |
Trivia[]
- Doug's name is first mentioned in a newspaper in a secret room in Crazy Carnevil. This was later confirmed by Vince Livings to be the protagonist's name.
- In the ballroom cutscene between Mascot Mayhem and Bearly Buried, Doug can be physically seen laying on the ground. This is the only time (outside of flashbacks) his character model is visible during gameplay.
- In the pre-Alpha demo, Doug was originally a police officer, as indicated by the police badge on his belt and his extra lives appearing as badges. In the final game, he is a former criminal defense attorney.
- Doug's pre=Alpha character model was later repurposed for Detective Evans in Monsters and Mortals.
- In the 18th Q&A with Vince, Vince states that Doug has very deep pockets, which he jokingly explains is how Doug can hold so many soul shards.
- In Monsters & Mortals, Doug holds the tablet in his right hand. In his reveal teaser, however, he holds the Tablet with his left hand.
- His plushie counterpart is among the first that failed to reach the goal fund in the Makeship campaign.
- In the Tokyo Gameshow QNA with Vince, Vince stated that Doug will have a final form. Although, the TGS QNA was deleted for unexplained reasons.
- In Dark Dimension, Doug appears much younger then he is, the same appearance from the time of his wife's and daughter's death. That would mean Doug is 37.
Voicelines[]
Doug Houser is voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in Dark Deception and Anthony Ingruber in Monsters & Mortals.
Dark Deception[]
| Voiceline | Used | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| ""I am getting sick of her public meltdowns. Why am I always being called out of work to deal with her, huh? From now on, you deal with her!" | Arguing with Elise about their daughter. | |
| "We both know she got it from you. You're the bipolar mess and you passed it on to our kid. Are you happy? If I'd have known how messed up you were I would have never married you. Jokes on me I guess!" | ||
| "What is wrong with two of you? Why can't you just be NORMAL?!" | ||
| "All I know is, you two are sucking the joy out of my life. I'm sick of it! I don't need this garbage every single day. Yeah, I know. You don't wanna hear it, you just wanna hear that nothing is wrong with you and it's all my fault, right?!" | ||
| "Look, I said I'd take care of it. She's an idiot. I will get her out of the picture one way or the other. Just trust me and be patient, okay? Don't do anything stupid." | Talking to his mistress about his daughter. | |
| "Tammy is not the problem. Yeah, she's a messed up kid but, she won't get in the way. She's at that age where she doesn't like her mother all that much either. She'll side with me." | ||
| "Oh yeah? Well how's that new car treating ya? Just like I promised, right? So, I'll meet you at 8 tonight. Elise thinks I'm going out of town for a conference for three days." |
Monsters & Mortals[]
| Voiceline | Used | Audio File |
|---|---|---|
| *Grunts* | When taking damage. |
|
| *Exhausting noise* | When stunned. | |
| *Death Screams* | When killed. |
|
| *Growls* | When using a light attack. |
|
| *Growls* | When using a heavy attack. |
|
| "I'm out of here!" | While using ultimate ability. | |
| "Catch me if you can!" |
Gallery[]
In-game[]
Dark Deception[]
Monsters & Mortals[]
Super Dark Deception[]
Models[]
(All of them are now used for Detective Evans's skins).
.png "Player Arms (Alpha).png (3.66 MB)")
(Along with the Tablet).
.png "Doug (Memory).png (3.93 MB)")
.png "Doug (Hospital).png (6.52 MB)")
.png "Doug (Hospital Portrait).png (8.85 MB)")
Miscellaneous[]
