| “ | I don't believe you, Calavera! You're losing a fight so you pick on one of my pets? Why can't you be more like me, Manny? I'm trying to show you how but you just don't listen! Why, If you'd just adopt the proper attitude, just look what could happen to you! | „ |
| ~ Domino's speech towards Manny, before he is killed by the coral crushers. |
Domino Hurley or sometimes referred to as "Dom," is the secondary antagonist of the 1998 adventure game Grim Fandango. He serves as the secondary antagonist of Year 1, a minor antagonist in Year 2 and the main antagonist of Year 3.
He is a criminal associate of Hector LeMans and Don Copal and works for the Department of Death (DOD) as a reaper.
History[]
It is unclear what Domino did in his life to get his position as the Department of Death. Not even Domino knows what he did, as noted by his exchange with Manuel "Manny" Calavera, which Manny says he doesn't know what Domino did to get his position and Domino remarks: "Well, how convenient. Then neither do I.".
Role[]
On the Day of the Dead, during the gazpacho poisoning at the beginning of the game, Domino sends Manny's driver home in a petty attempt to sabotage and discredit him. Domino ends up with the nun, Sister Calabaza as his client after the poisoning, but Manny ends up with, in his own words, "a mean midget that I had to send parcel post.".
After the poisoning, fed up with the trend of having bad clients, Manny sabotages the DOD's message tube system and steals one of Domino's clients, Mercedes "Meche" Colomar. Manny is caught and is subsequently fired from the DOD, while being forcefully locked in a room in the garage. Soon later, Domino and Don's connections to criminal lord Hector LeMans is revealed, and their initial participation in the scheme to snatch Number Nine tickets from well-deserving individuals is observed. Moments after Hector sprouts Don, he enlists Domino for the task of hunting down Manny and Meche.
Year 2[]
Domino possibly spent the next year trying to find Manny and, more crucially, Meche when Manny defected from the D.O.D. He reappears in Rubacava at the start of Year 2, one year later. After a somber year of waiting for Meche to arrive, Manny finally sees her at the docks as she boards a ship with Domino. Manny dashes to the ship, leaps in its direction, and manages to hold to the boarding bridge before Meche throws a champagne bottle at him to prevent him from falling into Domino's trap, knocking him off.
Year 3[]
When Manny meets Meche at the Factory at the End of the World in Year 3, Domino briskly walks into his office and tells Manny that he is now a prisoner. Domino declares that he doesn't need Glottis when he unintentionally interrupts the three of them; he then opens a trapdoor that plunges him into the rushing stream, over the waterfall, and into his presumed death. Domino knocks out an irate Manny by punching him in the face, rendering him unconscious, and brings him to his new "office".
Then, in a series of lengthy chats in his roomy office by the sea, Domino conceitedly explains his role in the D.O.D. scheme with Manny. He discloses that the factory functions as a detention facility for all the individuals whose tickets he and Hector pilfered, preventing them from disclosing their fraudulent scheme. Then as Domino puts it, "We sell the ticket to unfortunate souls unable to lead moral lives because of the crippling amount of cash they were born into". He laughs at Manny's constant comments about his plans to escape, telling him that the thought of escape is absolutely unachievable.
When Meche walks Manny into Domino's office at gunpoint, Domino is unaffected. Meche first threatens to kill Manny, and then secondly threatens to kill Domino. Domino calmly replies: "No you won't. You're too 'good,' remember?" and then proceeds to take her gun away. After the incident, Meche is locked away in a vault.
Manny eventually discovers that Glottis is still alive, and helps him by fixing an old ship, the SS Lamacha, that Glottis landed on when he was sent down the trapdoor. With Glottis, Manny constructs and conducts a complex plot behind Domino's back, fixing the ship, freeing Meche and the other prisoners, and escaping with the ship.
When Domino quickly finds out about Manny's brazen escape, he is enraged and quickly pulls alongside of the ship with his submarine. Manny jumps down on the roof of the submarine pulling out his scythe while Domino gets on the roof as well, and pulls out his scythe too. After a brief clash, Domino gets the advantage and overpowers Manny. Domino taunts Manny, making fun of him and insulting him. After Manny stabs Domino's squid in the eye, Domino becomes further enraged and goes on a crescendo to a knocked down Manny.
Unknown to Domino, as he delivers his speech, the SS Lamacha approaches him from behind and after he delivers his final line, he is crushed by the coral crushers, killing him.
Personality[]
Domino is a sharp, witty, and selfish person. He constantly makes fun of Manny and brags about his superiority to him. His greed is prevalent, as shown with his conspiracy with Hector and Don.