[ SPOILERS ] Identifiying the tattooed man.

[Zonkai]

I didn't identify him until quite late in the game, but his portrait clears immediately after you see him for the first time, in the Doom. I'm curious how you're supposed to be able to identify him this early on.

My best guess is that his tattoo's are indicative of his nationality, given that he's the only crew member from Sierra Leone, but I'm finding it difficult to verify this.

Can anyone confirm whether this is the case, or if I'm missing something else?

[ApenDix]

The fact that they are tribal tattoos isn't maybe as obvious as ought to because of the low resolution. It took a bit before it clicked with me as well.

[Daniel]

There is a possible red herring here too... you will meet a person below decks fairly early who calls for "my Frenchman" and is told he has been torn in half by the beast. The accent and language of that person and the "Frenchman" clue lead me to believe that the tatooed man might be French due to the proximity of the names on the crew roster.

[Lim-Dul]

The thing is - if you don't know about the "meta" info about tribal tattoos from Papua New Guinea you will still soon realize that the person in question is a topman e.g. in chapter VI and on the crew sketch, so he cannot be a seaman.

There aren't many topmen with unique nationalities and the others are very easily eliminated as belonging to other cultures.

[ApenDix]

I had him marked as the bosun's mate too for until about 3/4 in, because of the torn apart thing. First assume the most obvious, then grind it down later. I like how the game functions like that.

[Daniel]

Do the topmen frequently get called to the gun deck though?

[Zonkai]

No, but that's where they slept / ate. That's just where he was when the attack started.

[Lim-Dul]

Also, so many people died in the course of the game, I think EVERYONE might have been called to man the guns if need be. One of the guys being crushed by a cannon is a friggin' steward!

The better indicator of who belongs where is the artist's sketch or the hammocks. He took some helpful artistic liberties with grouping people anyways.

[stevo]

I also got caught with the "where's my frenchman " bit for half the game.

In the end, I just solved it with a bit of "racist" deduction. His tattoos are clearly there for a reason, and the only countries I figured for tribal tattoos were Sierra Leona and New Guinea. A quick google of tribal tattoos and I found ones very similar, though weirdly enough it seems to be more connected to Ethiopia

[Ryusui]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thought he was the Bosun's mate based on the convo with the Bosun.

It's part of the learning process with this game, I'd argue: your first instinct is to use dialogue and context to determine identities and fates, but characters' actual appearance as well as their depictions on the sketches are enormous, spoilery clues if you know how to interpret them.

I felt like such a dumbass when I finally noticed that the ship's helmsman is literally depicted on "Justice at Sea" with his hand on the ship's helm.

[Butterfly]

Originally posted by Ryusui:

I felt like such a dumbass when I finally noticed that the ship's helmsman is literally depicted on "Justice at Sea" with his hand on the ship's helm.

That's actually the intended way to identify him. His picture is clear from before you even see him in any memories.

Originally posted by Zonkai:

No, but that's where they slept / ate. That's just where he was when the attack started.

This is correct. If you check the memory in The Doom where the artist dies, he's actually IN his hammock on the gun deck. If you follow the memories, you can then see he helps with the guns as soon as he gets up, then rushes out onto the deck to fight with everyone up there.

[-ßЯҢ- Stinky Pete [SG]]

Originally posted by Lim-Dul:

The thing is - if you don't know about the "meta" info about tribal tattoos from Papua New Guinea you will still soon

Okay, so before the 'soon,' the game assumes it is enough to "deduce" this by being good at trivia and making the leap that a Russian would never get circles inked on him?

[Lim-Dul]

Originally posted by -ßЯҢ- Pungent Pete DG:

Originally posted by Lim-Dul:

The thing is - if you don't know about the "meta" info about tribal tattoos from Papua New Guinea you will still soon

Okay, so before the 'soon,' the game assumes it is enough to "deduce" this by being good at trivia and making the leap that a Russian would never get circles inked on him?

I wouldn't take the game too seriously when it marks people as potentially identifiable. I mean, it is assumed multiple times that you can ALSO deduce something by following hilariously stereotypical cultural traits for several of the crew (though you know, it's the early 19th century) but it's never the only way.