David Casey

"Law and arrogance are the same thing"

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David Casey is a fictional character featured in the videogame Dry Drowning. Although he is first introduced as a minor character, he actually appears in every single chapter of the game and is progressively revealed to have a quite substantial degree of influence over many of the other characters and events encountered by the player.

## Psychological profile:

"David's bold and ambitious nature united to his charm, rhetorical skills and sharpness allowed him to become one of the most famous defense attorneys of the entire city."

## Biography:

"David had to fight for his status and social advancement ever since young age, as he was born and raised in a low-class family with no privileges. Known for accepting some of Nova Polemos' most controversial cases, David successfully defended detective Mordred Foley in his trial by having him exonerated for lack of evidence."

## Character overview (spoilers):

David is a rational and ruthless analyst who will always prioritize the choice that yields him the biggest personal profit in any given situation. This often prompts him to cooperate with people he actually despises (such as Richard Baker in Chapter 1), though he also learned to appreciate the usefulness of this habit ("Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"). David also tends to disregard the value of human emotions, concluding their influence on people is nothing but an exploitable weakness he considers himself immune to (enough so that he won't even flinch in Chapter 4B upon losing his own sister and partner in crime). Since he is also a skilled social engineer his real personality is well concealed behind a charismatic facade consisting primarily in his habit of keeping a smiling and ironic attitude all the time, which he seems to enjoy displaying in front of Mordred more than anyone (though the detective knows better and always tries his best to keep his own distance).

David also happens to be the captive whose point of view is shared with the player during the monologue of Pandora featured in the intro, implying the lawyer is capable of seeing masks in a very similar fashion to Mordred. Just like with the detective, no explanation regarding why David possesses such a power has been provided as of now, although the most natural assumption would be that he suffers from the same mental illness that afflicts Mordred. While the lawyer's background remains for the most part unknown it is likely this power also contributed to his past success, blessing him with crucial intuitions when it mattered the most (similarly to how it helps Mordred during his investigations).

Although David's character and personality are both built on lies, it is possible that at least his personal motives are real: in Chapter 4C his ultimate plan is revealed to be a revolution aimed at wiping out the corrupt ruling class of Nova Polemos. At the time of this claim his intent had already been converted into effective action on multiple occasions, making it hard to question its authenticity. His hatred for Nova Polemos' hypocritical culture is also well reflected in his background (since he had to begin his social climb as an outcast) and could even be the possible trigger of his ability to see the masks of lies.

One of the most important consequences of David's ability to see the masks is his own immunity to Mordred's power, as he lies blatantly to him multiple times throughout the game without ever being spotted. Assuming things are the same the other way around, Mordred could potentially be the only person in the whole city whose lies David cannot sense, possibly explaining why the lawyer is so interested in him. This assumption would also be consistent with how David eventually decides to deal with Mordred, as depending on the ending he will try to either kill him, take control of him or remove him from the city altogether (suggesting he considers him one of the most unpredictable and potentially dangerous variables in his master plan).

David has also shown significant determination in trying to have Mordred acquitted during his own trial, despite the odds being clearly against his favor (Mordred claims at some point he had to propose a bargain of 30 years of prison just to avoid him the death penalty). While David himself claims to have always been a fan of lost causes (and effectively gained a lot of personal benefit and prestige from winning such a hard case), information later revealed in Chapter 4A, 4B and 4C suggests Pandora himself had at some point coerced David into bailing Mordred out.

Incidentally, this also implies David and his sister were actually kidnapped twice: the first time by the original Pandora (who threatened him and forced him to defend Mordred) and the second time by William Payne (according to what Payne himself left written in his letters).

## Trivia:

* One of the most important sources of inspiration for David's personality was Little Finger from the popular TV show Game of Thrones.
* The quote "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer" was originally featured in the movie The Godfather, part II.
* David is the only character in the game whose default sprite features a bright smile.