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Welcome to my estate. I trust you'll find your stay here a pleasant one. I'm afraid I won't be able to come greet you personally, but I've sent some of my creations to make you feel right at home.

The House of the Dead Sega Saturn manual.

The Curien Mansion is an estate owned by genetic engineer Dr. Curien. It is the setting of The House of the Dead and its 2022 remake, and the namesake of the House of the Dead franchise.

Originally built in the Middle Ages, the mansion housed a research facility for human genome experiments conducted by the DBR Corporation. In 1998, the property was linked to disappearances and an incident during which Curien, driven homicidal by his research, released hostile biologically-engineered creatures in the mansion.

The Curien Mansion also appears in the non-canonical spin-off Zombie Revenge, serving as the base of operations for ZED, a bioterrorist.

History

The mansion was built in a mountainous land in medieval times; Curien, who lived there with his son Daniel, hailed from a noble family.[1] Daniel fell terminally ill, with Curien desperate to save his life.[2] With financial backing from Caleb Goldman and the DBR Corporation, Curien built and used a high-tech research facility within the mansion, extending as far as the mountain cave system beneath it.[3]

Curien's experiments were to "...remove the barrier between life and death," thus curing Daniel.[4] However, Curien's obsession and abandonment by his researchers drove him mad.[5][6] On December 18th, 1998, he unleashed his experiments upon his staff in an attempt to destroy mankind; AMS agents Thomas Rogan and G neutralized the threat. Curien himself was killed by his "masterpiece", Magician, who in turn the agents destroyed.[7]

Sometime after, Goldman visited the mansion and took Curien's research to further his own plans.[8]

Other appearances

  • The Curien Mansion appears in Zombie Revenge, a spin-off with several other references to the House of the Dead series. The stage itself its named "The House of the Dead", and the music is a new arrangement of the first chapter theme. However, the interior sections are different. No mention of Curien is made, and the mansion serves as ZED's base of operations.
  • The Curien Mansion is featured in several games in the Sega Superstars series developed by Sumo Digital. The House of the Dead name is not used, with the series instead referred to as "Curien Mansion" or abbreviated as "HOTD", as the series is banned in Germany.[9]
    • The mansion's front yard is a tennis court in Sega Superstars Tennis. There is a mini-game which involves fighting waves of creatures with tennis balls.
    • Three race tracks in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - Outer Forest, Sewer Scrapes and Deadly Route - take place throughout the Curien Mansion.
    • The mansion returns as a single track in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed named Graveyard Gig. Zobio & Zobiko, the protagonists from Loving Deads: The House of the Dead EX and the only playable racers representing the series, can be seen getting married in later laps. As Transformed is the only game in the Superstars series to see a Japanese release, the Japanese version brings back the House of the Dead name.
  • The Curien Mansion appears in Project X Zone as a battlefield; here, Zombie Revenge's Rikiya Busujima and Resident Evil characters Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine must defeat Nemesis and L.Raptor.

Trivia

  • It is not specified what country is the Curien Mansion located in, though fans assume it is located in either the United Kingdom or Ireland, as the driver seat in Thomas Rogan's car is on the right-hand side, a characteristic of British and Irish cars.
  • The House of the Dead designer Hiroyuki Taguchi stated that once developer Sega AM1 began detailing the Curien Mansion, "[they] didn't want to stop—[they] wanted to craft every detail, right down to the trim on the doorways".[10]

Gallery

The House of the Dead

Data

Concept artwork

Screenshots

The House of the Dead: Remake

Official artwork

Screenshots

Other media

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 The House of the Dead Sega Saturn manual, pg 19
  2. The House of the Dead III - First flashback
  3. The House of the Dead 2 - The Third Chapter: Darkness (opening dialogue from Harry Harris)
  4. The House of the Dead III - Second flashback
  5. The House of the Dead III - Third flashback
  6. The House of the Dead III - Fourth flashback
  7. The House of the Dead
  8. The House of the Dead 2 - Opening cutscene (console only)
  9. Wilcox, Jon (February 15, 2008). SEGA Superstars Tennis Q&A Feature. Totalvideogames.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved on April 27, 2020. “The situation is that [the House of the Dead games] are banned in Germany, and as far as we understand it, if a game is banned there then you can't reference them in another game. If we'd done a German version of the game, then we'd have to double the number of versions - or we could just choose another name. So as Curien is the name of the mansion in House of the Dead we renamed it Curien's Mansion [sic]... [which] seemed like a safer choice.”
  10. "The House of the Dead – 1997 Developer Interview". Shmuplations. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved on May 28, 2020.
veHouse of the dead 1content
Characters
Thomas RoganGDr. CurienSophie RichardsDBR researchers
Creatures
SamNeilCyrilKageoBourbonEbitanRobertSimonGilmoreHarrisSamsonBentleyBurnerRubinDrakeMoodyParlorKenfisSaruzouDevilonBouereMurrerNameTaranKage
Bosses
ChariotHangedmanHermitMagician
Chapters
TragedyRevengeTruthThe house of the dead
Other pages
Lore (AMSBioReactorCurien MansionDBR CorporationThe House of the Dead Sub-Story)
Game modes (Boss ModeSaturn Mode)
Prototypes (The House of DeadSega Saturn prototype)
Guidebooks (The House of the Dead Dennou Shinan: Dr. Curien no Houkoku ShoThe House of the Dead Official Guide)
Action figuresThe House of the Dead: RemakeThe House of the Dead 1 & 2 Music CollectionUnused content
veHotDRoverlaycontent
Characters
Thomas RoganGDr. CurienSophie RichardsDBR researchers
Creatures
SamNeilCyrilKageoBourbonEbitanRobertSimonGilmoreHarrisSamsonBentleyBurnerRubinDrakeMoodyParlorKenfisSaruzouDevilonBouereMurrerNameTaranKage
Bosses
ChariotHangedmanHermitMagician
Chapters
TragedyRevengeTruthThe house of the dead
Other pages
Lore (AMSBioReactorCurien MansionDBR Corporation)
Game modes (Horde Mode)
Developers (Forever EntertainmentMegaPixel StudioTA Publishing)
Staff (Benjamin AnseaumeChris OkawaNatalie RoersCharlie Weirauch III)
The House of the Dead (1996 video game)Unused content
veZombierevengelogocontent
Characters
Stick BreitlingLinda RottaRikiya BusujimaZEDYokoMarco Cloud
Bosses
UDS-03Warm Hedlin & Shell HedlinUDS-05UDS-02UDS-07 ("Nikelle")UDS-06BUDS-TP II 00 & UDS-TP II 01UDS-03 ("Neclien")UDS-04CZEDBlack Magician Type 01
Episodes
Isolated AreaBiological WeaponEnigmaTerminus of AllThe GateThe House of the DeadThe Dawn
Other pages
Lore (AMSGil cellGODUndead SoldierWoodside City)
Game modes (Original ModeVS Boss ModeFighting ModeTraining Room)
Soundtrack albumZombie Revenge Perfect Guide
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