Mr. Crow

* The White Door
* Underground Blossom
* Roots
* Hotel

**Mr. Crow** is a major character in the the Rusty Lake universe, appearing in most games. He is in a partnership with Mr. Owl to extract memories from dead bodies, and return the memories to the Lake.

In his past life, he was a human named **Aldous Vanderboom**, a member of the Vanderboom clan.

## Cube Escape: Harvey's Box

Mr. Crow first appears as a small figure inside of the box in 1969, along with the Fish. At first he is inside a black egg, but he emerges once the box reaches Rusty Lake. The player can then pose the limbs of Mr. Crow to help them escape from the box.

## Cube Escape: Case 23

In the Chapel in 1972, Mr. Crow can be seen in his boat far off on the Lake. After the player lights the torches by the Lake in a certain order, he will row over. However, when he arrives, he is in a human guise. He appears as an elderly man in a trench coat with his mouth sewn shut. When the player cuts open his mouth, the old man widens his mouth until Mr. Crow's head comes through. He will then row the player to the Cabin.

## Cube Escape: The Mill

The player assumes the role of Mr. Crow in 1972, who lives in the Mill along with an Old Woman. On the top floor of the Mill, Mr. Owl has left him two letters. The first explains that he will be sending Mr. Crow the body of the Laura later in the month, to extract her memories. The second tells that the Corrupted Souls are still wandering around the Lake, but that Dale may be the one to stop them. If he is able to find two cubes Mr. Owl will bring a storm, and then Mr. Crow must bring Dale to the Cabin.

When he checks the TV on the top floor, Dale is seen on the screen. Dale then picks up the phone to call the Rusty Lake Mental Health and Fishing, as he did in Case 23. The phone in the Mill then begins to ring and the conversation from Case: 23 is heard. After the conversation is finished, Dale places the black and white cubes into the TV and disappears in a flash of light. Then, a beam of light shines out of the Mill's window, by the Chapel. The light is coming from Dale's body, which Mr. Owl uses to generate a storm, which in turn powers the Mill.

As well, Laura's corpse is seen on the TV screen. She is hanging upside down, and then is pulled up out of the TV screen's range. Her body is transported inside of the clock to the left of the TV, which Mr. Crow moves down to the main floor. He places her head into the Memory Extractor, to use her memories to create cubes. Her good memories are extracted to make a white cube, which Mr. Crow puts into the Lake. The Lake reveals the code for the Memory Extractor to extract negative memories. When these memories are used to make the black cube, Laura's body becomes corrupted. After the black cube is put into the Lake, all goes dark. Laura's Soul escapes and captures Harvey on the top floor. Mr. Crow confronts her, convincing her to release Harvey and leave.

## Rusty Lake Hotel

Mr. Crow is the concierge at the Hotel in 1893, and can be found at the lobby front desk. Once the guests have arrived, he tells the player to welcome them to the Hotel and to serve them the local delicacy, a shrimp cocktail. During the second night, he will whisper to the player to look in his pocket, where he is keeping a carrot to use for Mr. Rabbit's dinner.

On the final night, the player must kill Mr. Boar. Giving him his opium pipe causes the room to become so filled with smoke that it is transformed into a foggy Forest. Here Mr. Crow will give the player a knife, and tell them that they know what to do. After Mr. Boar's dinner is prepared, Mr. Crow tells the player to deliver it to Mr. Owl's room.

## Cube Escape: Theatre

He appears as an old barman in the Theatre in 1971. He stands behind the counter with one customer, Bob, sitting on the lone stool. He recommends that the player get Bob a drink, and to fix the light to start the show. He will also offer hints about certain things needed to finish the story.

For the fourth play, "*An Intermezzo by Mr. Crow*", the barman dons a crow mask and appears on stage to play the part of Mr. Crow. In order to complete his play, the player must watch his fingers, listen to the number of times he taps his cane, and follow his crow mask's eye to respond with the appropriate lightbulb.

## Rusty Lake: Roots

In 1859, Aldous and his brother William are searching to create the Elixir of Life and Death in their alchemy laboratory. While William dies and turns into a Corrupted Soul after drinking the Elixir, Aldous transforms into Mr. Crow. He sends the seed to his nephew James, who begins his family tree in 1860.

He watches over James' three children, explaining to the player that their legacies will be of great importance. In 1885, the player uses a telescope to look outside Albert's window. A Corrupted Soul with the head of a crow leads the player to find the code to a locked cabinet, in order to retrieve another mask for Albert. Then in 1896, the crow Soul reappears outside of the window wearing a deer skull. The skull is taken from the Soul and given to Albert, who later uses it as part of a voodoo ritual to kill his brother and his brother's wife in 1904.

After Leonard returns home from the war in 1918, he is suffering from flashbacks of when he lost his leg in the trenches. Going into his memories, the player is confronted by Mr. Crow, who explains that Leonard must be saved as he needs to find the "treasure". He gives the player a key that opens a chest in his memories containing a gas mask. Giving Leonard the mask saves him from the grenade in his flashbacks.

In 1930, the player must help Frank in the attic. There is portrait of Aldous that maps out a certain constellation that can be seen through the telescope. When the constellation is lit up, Mr. Crow appears through the stars. He tells the player to make sure that the three grandchildren find the three timepieces, and to ensure that the branches are brought back together. When the constellation fades away, the lens falls off of the telescope, which helps the player find the silver timepiece.

## Cube Escape: The Cave

During the Winter of 1972, Mr. Crow enters the Cave, initially in his human form of Aldous Vanderboom. Meeting with his family's Dog, he refines extracts from the Dog's droppings to recreate William's last Elixir. Although drinking it briefly returns him to his crow form, it is only temporary and he switches back to his human form. There is also a lone diver sitting on the floor, who needs help repairing a severed air tube. When the tube is fixed the diver takes off his helmet, and asks for the Elixir. Upon drinking it, the man is revealed to be Mr. Owl. He tells Aldous that Dale is about to begin his journey, and he must gather the memories, as they need them for their future, the full Elixir. Mr. Owl tells him to descend into the great depths of the Lake, and wishes for him to take care.

With these instructions from Mr. Owl, he opens the Cave's door leading to the Submarine and pilots it down into the Forest below Rusty Lake. After collecting a white, black, and blue cube out of Rusty Lake, he turns his sights onto the fourth cube, the golden cube. As he reaches its location, the Submarine is attacked by the Corrupted Soul of Mr. Boar. His Soul continues to attack until the porthole glass is shattered, and Mr. Crow exits the Submarine. Within the Forest lies a large white, cube shaped room containing Dale and the Corrupted Soul of Laura, the reincarnation of his brother William. Using the three cubes he fished up, Mr. Crow creates a golden cube, and hands it to Dale so he can continue his journey.

He is also mentioned in the Book found in the Cave. In the third chapter, titled "*The Cubes*", he is labelled as the "*Crow*". This chapter gives details about the four types of cubes. The white cube is to "*relive your past life*", the black cube is to "*face your demons*", the blue cube explains that "*the past is never dead, it is not even past*", and the golden cube explains that "*the memories are not only the key to the past but... also to the future*".

## Cube Escape: Paradox

In 1972, Dale wakes in the Paradox Room without knowing that he has been psychologically examined by Mr. Crow. He finds a cassette tape where Mr. Crow asks him about his dreams, which leads him to a phone number. Calling the number, Mr. Crow tells him that he hopes he is enjoying his stay. He mentions that he is at a place to empty his mind but warns that some find this place hard to leave. Eventually Dale escapes the room into the Forest, where he comes upon Mr. Crow who asks him if he made the right choice, and gives him a map.

After Dale reawakens in the room, he turns the television to the Rusty Lake channel. He hears Mr. Crow's voice over the channel telling him to go deeper into his mind by looking at the painting on the wall and burning his soul. By solving the puzzle, he gets a knife and removes his brain, placing it into a jar. The jar reveals that Dale's old mind is useless, and for more information to call A. Vanderboom. Calling the number, Mr. Crow asks if he is looking for a new, present mind, and mentions that he has been looking before.

With his "present mind" in his head, he finally meets Mr. Crow. He thanks Dale for having him as his counsel, and prepares to examine his current state of mind. When he is given a cup of coffee, he spits it out onto the psychological test, creating a Rorschach test on the five blank papers inside. On another cassette recording, Mr. Crow has shown him the five Rorschach test images, which he lists as a moth, crow, murder, fear, and his own Corrupted Soul. This test allows him to get a lightbulb to fix the examination machine, giving Dale his psychological file and his "mind of the past".

When Dale takes a drink from the blue vial he turns into a Corrupted Soul, and leaves the room into the Forest. As he walks through the Forest, he comes upon Mr. Crow. He tells him that he knows what to do, and hands him a knife. Then, he uses that knife to murder Laura.

## The White Door

During Bob's stay at The White Door in 1972, he relives his memories each night in his dreams. In his fourth dream, he sits alone at the bar in the Rusty Lake Theatre. He remembers the barman being a strange fellow as he orders a Bloody Mary. The barman asks what he has on his mind, to which Bob takes out the photo of Laura from his wallet. Remarking "*Women, can't live with them, can't live without them*", he offers a solution to Bob, at a price. After being paid, the barman gives him a pistol and tells him that he knows what to do.

## Underground Blossom

When the train arrives at every station, a train conductor resembling Aldous asks the player for a ticket.

In the post-game, when the player collects the Golden Ticket from Mr. Bat in Crib Station, it is revealed that the train conductor was Mr. Crow all along.

## Trivia

* He is voiced by Bob Rafferty.
* Mr. Crow's species may be the Torresian Crow.
* He does not physically appear in Cube Escape: Seasons or Cube Escape: Birthday, but his voice is heard over the phone in both games.
	+ When Laura activates the machine in Cube Escape: Seasons and then goes to the Summer or Fall, Mr. Crow will say, "*Find me in the past*" on the phone.
	+ One of his most common lines throughout the series, ("*The past is never dead. It's not even past*.") is either a reference to, or a paraphrasing of, a similar quote by American author William Faulkner.
* At the beginning of Rusty Lake Hotel, he is seen rowing the guests in his boat to the Hotel.
* It is revealed in Rusty Lake: Roots that he was involved with Mr. Owl when he was still human, possibly prior to 1859.
* After being given the seed in Rusty Lake: Roots, he will say, among other things, "*We will meet again, in this life or the next.*" This refers to his later interactions with Laura, William's reincarnation.
* In one of the puzzles in Cube Escape: The Cave, Aldous drinks from the Elixir and becomes Mr. Crow. In another puzzle, Aldous follows the direction from the fish in the Submarine to collect the four cubes, as well as an anglerfish and octopus.
* In Rusty Lake Paradise, he appears as an Easter Egg during the ninth plague. Finding him unlocks an achievement.
* In Cube Escape: Paradox, it is revealed that Aldous Vanderboom was born in the Winter of 1799.
* In The White Door, finding Mr. Crow in the facility unlocks an achievement.
* In The Past Within, finding Mr. Crow in The Past unlocks an achievement.