#grimfandango

This is from a Doc I was working on that was SUPPOSED to be a quick reference for things to use as writing ideas, but then turned into a character study for Manny. And then I, as a writer who looks too far into things to find stories, started to build an idea of what possible job/profession that he could have picked up the need for these habits and personality quirks.

So, uh, here are my notes and the final ideas for WHO Manny could have been in life. It’s gonna be under a Read More just because I wrote a lot of notes.

~ Manny is very hardworking and capable, as gathered by his ability to quickly climb ladders in whatever job he gets, minus his DOD job, but doesn’t seem very ambitious. (He doesn’t aim for the best in any job, it seems to just happen.)

~ He isn’t a “hero” but doesn’t stand by when something is very wrong. He never aims to be a leader or rush into danger, but he can handle it when it happens.

~ Manny seems very good at talking, yet never actually saying anything. He can hold conversations and get people to talk very deeply with him, without saying a lot about himself. Few characters seem to know him very well, but everyone trusts him in one way or another. (The only ones who seemed to know him well were Eva and Don Copal)

~ Despite being stuck in a “Dead End” position, Manny still seems to do his best to give his clients the best package he can. He’s not happy about where he is, but he’s still fair to them.

~ He’s clever, quick-witted, and an out-of-the-box thinker. Yeah, sometimes stuff goes clear over his head, but he is very good at reaching whatever goal he has for himself. (Like coming to the solutions for the in-game puzzles) But he doesn’t come off or present himself as a genius. He doesn’t go out of his way to learn things or flaunt his knowledge. He just learns what he needs to get the job done.

~ He’s cunning and very good a reading people. He’s quick to figure out what he needs to say and which buttons to push to get what he wants from people, and often people never realize what he’s doing. He only seems to resort to manipulation if there don’t seem to be other options. He seems to avoid using people to get what he needs unless he’s under a time crunch or there isn’t another choice.

~ Manny has a sense of Justice but isn’t the sort to actively pursue it. If he can help, he will. But he does it more in-passing than making it his main goal. Like joining the LSA. He mainly joins for the things he needs, but he also helps where he can when they need him.

~ When Manny becomes the “boss” in any of his jobs, he treats his employees well. It can be seen in the way they interact with him, they like him and respect him. Even for the things they don’t understand about him.

~ He seems like a flirt, yet he also respects boundaries. He doesn’t try to get with women who already have a partner or someone they’re interested in, despite casually flirting with them. He lets them say no, listens to what they have to say and doesn’t try to force them to say or do anything they don’t want to. He’s also perfectly willing to take the heat from them when they get angry with him.

~ He smokes a lot and drinks on occasion. He knows it’s bad for a living person’s health, but he’s dead so it poses no threat to him. He may have smoked while alive, but I’d wager he didn’t do it as much as he does after death.

~ He obviously dislikes his “rival” Domino, he may even hate the guy, but he never shows or acts on it until much later in the game. It makes it seem like he’s very good at hiding his feelings or downplaying what they are.

~ This also seems to be shown when Manny’s been locked in the garage of the DOD and is talking to Salvador through the window. The dialogue choices imply he is very angry, but also quick to back up and hide those feelings. It’s only when he stops hiding them that Sal lets him out. (Sal, who knows Eva. Who, as already mentioned, seems to be one of the few people who actually know Manny)

~ Manny isn’t good with kids, not knowing what to say or how to act around them. I think it’s also due to discomfort towards kids in the LotD because they’re dead. They had their entire lives ahead of them, but by the time he meets them, those lives are already over.

~ It’s unclear about what Manny did wrong in life to require him working off his debt in the DOD, but his skill set implies a job built around information gathering and possibly espionage. He’s just too god and getting into places, earning trust, and getting his hands on whatever he’s after. He also seems really good at jumping from one lifestyle to the next with as few hitches as possible.

~ Considering these details about Manny as a person; He may have been a detective, a spy, or an informant of some kind when he was alive. Basically, any job where you need to be good with people, good at getting into positions without raising suspicion, good at hiding intentions and identity, and being able to get what he wants without drawing attention.