Justin

**Justin** is a playable character and the protagonist in the prologue in *Murder House*.

## Description

### Appearance

Justin is a young Caucasian boy with black hair, sporting a typical 80's style mullet. His exact height and weight are unknown but he appears to be under 5 feet tall. He wears a neon yellowshirt, light purple shorts, white tennis socks with red stripes, and black shoes.

### History

Not much is known about Justin. In late April, 1985, he and his mother went to the Monroe Mall to take a picture with the Easter Bunny.

## *Murder House*

### Prologue

Justin appears near an in-door pavilion in the central plaza of the shopping center. A gruff photographer instructs him to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap and while hesitant, he eventually poses for the photo.

Some hours later, Justin wakes up in a photobooth. Exiting it, he sees the entire inner square empty and the lights turned off, realizing that he fell alseep and that the entire mall has closed. He decides to look for a way out, further exploring the mall. Finding the main entrance locked, he exits the food court through some shutters, where he finds himself in the gazebo from before, near to which he finds a key on the ground. He uses it to unlock another shutter, but with the other entrance locked as well, he goes through a staff-only door, which leads to a very long hallway. Hoping to leave through a back door, he starts walking towards the end of the corridor, but halfway across, the Easter Ripper appears past the corner and heads for Justin. With his path blocked and the door to the mall locked, Justin retreats to the bathroom.

If Justin is caught by the killer, a short cutscene will play from Justin's point of view, with the killer grabbing Justin and dragging him away as the boy cries for help and begs the killer to let him go, resulting in a premature end to the prologue.

If Justin hides in one of the stalls, the Easter Ripper will enter and check few stalls before leaving. Since the door out has been locked, Justin leaves through a door leading to the staff section. Justin maneuvers through a utility room and finds a screwdriver, with which he opens a shower drain in the staff changing room, which contains a key. The key unlocks a staff locker, which has a code inside for the break room lock and inside, he finds Janitor Jack, a night-time cleaner. Justin tells him that he got locked in and asks for help, mentioning that "the Easter Bunny has gone crazy", urging him to call the police. Concerned for Justin's safety, the janitor assures him and tells him to stay in the office while he goes to looking for a phone. Justin waits for the janitor to return, when the lights suddenly turn off. Terrified, he hides under the table, just as the intruder enters the kitchen area. Under labored breathing, the office door unlocks and after a short pause, the Easter Ripper pokes his head under the table.

It is presumed that Justin was taken to the Easter Ripper's house in the countryside, where he is eventually murdered and buried in the greenhouse, along with his other victims.

### Present Day

Justin is last seen at the end, three years after his death on the night of May 1st, 1988, rising from his grave as a zombified corpse with two other children as the Easter Ripper closes in on his latest target. In disbelief at seeing the children, the Easter Ripper shouts in rabid confusion and is frozen in shock as they surround and tear into him. A massive light engulfs the building shortly after.

### Extended ending

Justin's actor can be spoken to in the greenhouse by Sarah, Emma's actress, asking what she thinks of his zombie make-up. He later appears at the party, standing in a corner behind Jordan.

## Murder House: The Book

Although Justin's role remains entirely unchanged, more details about his background are given, with a more in-depth look at his inner thoughts during the prologue's events. Notably, the prologue scene focuses almost entirely on the photo scene, while the main events of the prologue, including those of his capture, aren't shown, but presumably the same as the game.

* At the photoshoot, Justin's mother is seen accompanying him while they wait in line, where it is shown that she was too preoccupied with thinking about who to send her son's photo to and whether to make copies to care about him being clearly afraid of the man in the suit.
* Wheras the game only makes reference to Justin's mom, there is also mention of his father, both by his wife, who complains about photos he made during Christmas, and by Justin, who recalls being read sci fi stories by him.
* Justin is wearing blue-toed sneakers instead of plain black shoes.
* Justin had been at the Monroe Mall several times in the past, and had been coming over for an annual holiday photo with the Easter Bunny, but this year, he became perturbed by the creepy appearance of the performer's suit, though he isn't sure if he was just too distracted and young to notice the previous times.
* While the pavillion scene has only an ambient background theme in the game, the melody of the Easter song "Peter Cottontail" is said to be playing in the plaza.
* At his mother's urging, ironically saying that he won't have the opportunity when he's older, and his own stubborn refusal to admit to being scared, he chooses to sit on the rabbit's lap, rather than it just being the photographer's impatient orders.
* Justin mentions that the Easter Bunny's smell reminded him of a homeless man he had once seen at a drugstore while with his mom, like cigarette smoke and "a hard life", the difference being that from the suited man, it was more like death and hatred.
* An additional scene shows what happened between the pavillion and Justin finding himself in the photo booth. The moment the photo was taken, the Easter Bunny put his hand on his shoulder, causing him to immediately jump off and run away, blending into the crowd of nearby shoppers. Justin continues running until he can't see the gazebo anymore, but his mother goes after him while shouting his name. He then resolves to hide at the food court until she has left so that he can find a payphone to call his father, who he hopes will be able to calm her down and come pick him up later.

## Trivia

* Justin and the Easter Ripper are the only characters to appear in the prologue, the main game and the extended ending.
* It is commonly noted by players that Justin's inventory profile appears to be that of an adult man.
* Justin's actor in the extended ending is the only character not named after his voice actor, and is instead still named Justin.
	+ Additionally, he is the only speaking character who doesn't have any voiced lines in the extended ending.

1. ↑ https://puppetcombo.fandom.com/wiki/Murder\_House\_YA\_Novel?so=search