Curien Mansion

The Curien Mansion, as seen in The House of the Dead 2's console-exclusive opening cutscene.

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 geneticist Dr. Roy Curien. It is the setting of The House of the Dead, and the namesake of the franchise.

The property is known for a 1998 incident where Curien, in a fit of insanity, threatened the world with biologically-engineered creatures. His plans were thwarted by the AMS agency.

History

The mansion was built in medieval times; Curien, who lived there with his son Daniel, hailed from a noble family. Daniel fell terminally ill, with Curien desperate to save his life. With financial backing from Caleb Goldman and the DBR Corporation, Curien built and used a high-tech research facility within the mansion.

Curien's experiments were to "...remove the barrier between life and death," thus curing Daniel. However, abandonment by his researchers and his obsession to cure Daniel drove him mad. On December 18th, 1998, Curien unleashed his experiments upon his staff in an attempt to destroy mankind. His ambitions were put to an end by AMS agents Thomas Rogan and G. During the ordeal, Curien met his demise at the hands of his ultimate creation, The Magician, who in turn was destroyed by the agents.

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"Map" of the Curien Mansion.

Other Appearances

• In the home versions of The House of the Dead 2, an extended opening sequence shows the mansion as part of a flashback of the previous game.
• In the spin-off game Zombie Revenge, the mansion appears as its own stage, called "The House of the Dead" with a new arrangement of the first stage music. While its outside appearance is a faithful representation, 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.
  • The front yard of the mansion was featured as a court in Sega Superstars Tennis. A mini-game also challenged players with hitting zombies with tennis balls and surviving waves without being hit.
  • It was featured again in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing as the setting for three race tracks that take place throughout the mansion: Outer Forest, Sewer Scrapes and Deadly Route. Zobio & Zobiko from "HOTD:EX" are introduced as the series representatives in their first overseas appearance.
  • The mansion returns as a single track in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Graveyard Gig, but with no racers to represent the series, although Zobio & Zobiko 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.
• Curien Mansion appears in Project X Zone as a battlefield where Busujima and BSAA members, Chris & Jill, have to defeat Nemesis and L.Raptor.

Trivia

• The Curien Mansion serves a similar function with the Spencer Mansion in the Resident Evil franchise in many ways, such as zombies and creatures roaming around the mansion, both had a secret laboratory underneath the mansion, and both housed creatures created by the antagonists which eventually turned on their masters.
• It is not specified what country is the Curien Mansion located in, though fans assume it is located in England or Scotland, as the driver seat in Thomas Rogan's car is on the right-hand side, a characteristic of British cars.