| “ | You Moon Penguins are just gonna write some loud, noisy drivel! If I wanted a bunch of peck necks to dance around while on bird seed, HA! I'd visit me grandchildren! | „ |
| ~ The Conductor |
| “ | A Murder!? On MY Owl Express!? | „ |
| ~ The Conductor reveals his unwillingness to let actual murder occur on his train. |
The Conductor is a major antagonist in A Hat in Time, serving as the main antagonist of Chapter 2 "Battle of The Birds". If the player lets the Conductor win the Annual Bird Movie Award. He is a vulgar and greedy movie director who leads the Owls in the Competition to win the Annual Bird Movie Award. He is willing to cheat to keep a perfect winning record against his rival, DJ Grooves.
He was voiced by Xander Mobus, who also played Master Hand from Super Smash Bros videogame series.
Appearance and Personality
Supposedly the Conductor is an Owl of orange-yellowish plumage. However, he bears almost no resemblance to any other owl in the game, something both Hat Kid and the Crow Agent Watch make note of. Most of his biological features are not visible, his owl tail is the only visible biological feature we see. His eyes are not visible, and his most prominent feature is his large jagged toothy beak. He wears an outfit similar to conductors of the wild west days. He wears a white undershirt with a pink tie under a black suit jacket, connected by gold buttons. He wears black business shoes and has a black conductor's hat.
The Conductor is quite a vulgar and vituperative individual. He constantly says and calls others "peck neck", which is implied by DJ Grooves to be a swear word on their planet. He is also quite hot-headed and aggressive when things don't go his way, first seen in his encounter with DJ Grooves where he accuses of DJ Grooves of Copying when he realizes they both are using the same "Props", which are actually Hat Kid's Time Pieces.
The player's actions determines the Conductor's exact level of villainy. Should he win the Annual Bird Movie Award, he proves himself a haughty and murderous perfectionist willing to rewrite history such that he never loses, and even attempts to murder Hat Kid when she witnesses his scheme. Should DJ Grooves win, the Conductor instead proves himself a hero and runs to the defense of Hat Kid to save her life.
Profile
Background
The Conductor, when a young boy, always looked up to the moviemakers who one the annual bird movie award. He along with DJ Grooves eventually aspired to be directors and one day. One day, The Conductor bought a studio called Dead Bird Studio and got the keys to the studio. However, when he got to the building's entrance, he found DJ Grooves there as well. It may be implied that he and DJ Grooves were once friends, but when the Conductor found DJ Grooves at the Studio, with a key as well, the Conductor started a hot rivalry between them.
Chapter 2: "Battle of The Birds" Act 1 "Dead Bird Studio"
The Conductor is first seen in the lobby of Dead Bird Studio, having a confrontation with DJ Grooves about the Annual Bird Movie Award. He insists upon DJ Grooves to give this year up as not only has he only one once in what the Conductor considers a fluke, but also because he tells DJ Grooves that he will only make another boring party movie, in which DJ Grooves counters by saying the Conductor will only make another Boring Western. DJ Grooves then shows off his new props that he will use for the movies. That's when the Conductor does the same thing. Hat Kid Realizes that these props are actually her "Time Pieces." They stare at each other before the Conductor calls DJ Grooves dirty and accuses him of copying his new style, in which DJ Grooves in a passive-aggressive way denies this and accuses the Conductor of copying his style by saying he "Took Inspiration." They then go their separate ways to record their movies, though the Conductor does lock DJ Grooves in by boarding the door shut. Though he realizes that it may make the Grooves and his Penguins work harder. He then goes to record his Movie. He isn't again until the end of the Act, where after Hat Kid legally becomes a bird, the Conductor comes in to see DJ Grooves's first villainous act of cheating in the competition, by letting Hat Kid record in his movies when that was a violation of the competition's rules as only Birds could be actors. He angrily calls this out on Hat Kid but realizes as of right then there was nothing he could do since Hat Kid had a bird passport courtesy of DJ Grooves. The Conductor then villainously decides to use Hat Kid in his movies as well for his movies, also violating the competition's rules. This is the first time both of them are shown to do anything to win the competition even if it means cheating
Act 2 and Act 4
In Act 2 "Murder on the Owl Express," the conductor appears at the end of the train where Hat Kid starts. He tells her to go on in as they were about to start recording. Hat Kid goes in where a bunch of mysterious crows who call themselves owls ask her a bunch of personal questions. Hat Kid is only forced to answer one, but any she doesn't answer will be auto-filled by the game. Eventually, she will get to the engine room where an old phone will start to ring with a mysterious toon. When she answers in, an intimidating voice will tell her that her uncle's sister has arrived on the train and to go meet her, threatening that he will do something if she doesn't. Hat Kid goes back to the first train car where she discovers an Owl has been murdered and her Uncle's Sister (Represented by a cardboard cut-out) was right behind the murdered Owl. The Conductor comes in completely shocked and disgusted, he wants to find out who was responsible but is quickly shut down by the Crows who call themselves The Crow Agent Watch (CAW). They tell him that no one is allowed outside of the crime scene so they can find out who did the crime and then take them off the train at midnight. The Conductor becomes very irritated. After they leave he explains his anger to Hat Kid by how he isn't allowed to walk around on his own train and he calls them out for possibly destroying the evidence as he suspects they did it. Hat Kid then goes to investigate, finding evidence. At Midnight, when the Conductor asks CAW who did it, they reply saying they don't know, in which it is up to Hat Kid to accuse one of six parties, including the Conductor. Whoever she picks doesn't affect the outcome, but the story is a little different. If the Conductor is picked, then the Conductor confesses himself, if Hat Kid confesses that she did it, the Conductor will explain how she did it since Hat Kid doesn't talk otherwise. Either way, the Conductor reveals the whole thing was just part of his movie and pays Hat Kid with a Time Piece.
In Act 4, "Train Rush," the Conductor yet again is at the beginning, telling Hat Kid to go inside as Recording will start soon. The Owl's express their confusion at what was going on today. Hat Kid Pulls a leaver with her Hookshot, which opens the next room. The Conductor then comes on a screen telling her that the level started a self-destruct sequence for the train and that Hat Kid better make it to the front of the train before the timer runs out so she can disarm it. Hat Kid then hurries along the train which is destroying itself. Hat Kid eventually makes it to the front of the train, where the Conductor is relieved that she did make it and explains that he doesn't care how crazy that idea was as the footage would be a new pioneering in the action film history, according to him anyway. He will then give Hat Kid another Time Piece. This Act shows his second act of villainy as he put him and his actors in danger just so he could make a good movie.
Act 6 "The Award Ceremony"
If Hat Kid lets the Conductor win, he will become the main antagonist while DJ Grooves will redeem himself, slightly. Hat Kid will enter what appears to be the final act with the Conductor winning the award. He will tell her that he doesn't need her and then gives her the one last Time Piece. She will go back to her ship with odd music playing before a phone similar to the run found in "Murder on the Owl Express" rings with the same music. When she answers, a mysterious voice will tell her that the Annual Bird Movie award was rigged, that the winner has a Time Piece, and knows of its power to rewind time. The Caller then warns Hat Kid that the winner would break it soon and then tells her to go to Dead Bird Studio at Night when no one's there. The Caller is implied to be DJ Grooves as the last word said is "Darling" which is what Grooves calls Hat Kid. Hat Kid will then head to Dead Bird Studio at night time and make her way to the elevator that leads to the basement. There she will occasionally hear the Conductors voice, but it was muffled, so Hat Kid couldn't hear it clearly. Hat Kid eventually gets to the very bottom of the basement, finding out that the Conductor was about to break the Time Piece, wanting to reclaim the award that DJ Grooves won in a "fluke." The Conductor completely exposes his nature of cheating and doing anything to win the award. The Conductor then fights Hat Kid for the Time Piece. He attacks her by dive-bombing her, dropping things like lights and disco balls onto her and sending shockwaves that will hurt her. He also uses a knife to hit her directly, eventually using photos to hide the identity of himself before he rushes her with the knife. He has many other wacky attacks, but at the halfway point starts to play dirty. He sits down and talks to her, asking her to please spare this one Time Piece for him, but Hat Kid refuses. He calls her greedy for not sharing her Time Pieces, despite his villainous motives for wanting to use the Time Pieces in the first place. He then attaches the bomb from act 4 to her. It does pose a slight problem, but DJ Grooves is able to disarm the bomb with a pair of giant scissors. He then sends Owls with knives after her, which control similarly to the band in Act 5. Eventually, Hat Kid beats the Conductor and secures the last Time Piece from being used selfishly.
If Hat Kid lets DJ Grooves win, then DJ Grooves and the Conductor will swap places. The Conductor will warn Hat Kid of DJ Grooves' plans, revealed as he calls her "Lassie" in the phone call. He will also help Hat Kid disarm the bomb that DJ Grooves stole and attached to Hat Kid.
Chapter 5 "Time's End"
In the final act of the game, "The Finale", both DJ Grooves and the Conductor are outside of Mustache Girl's Palace. The Conductor is especially upset, expressing his anger out loud to Hat Kid. He will then come into Mustache Girl's Throne Room when Hat Kid finishes the first phase. He will tell her to get lost and that no one wants her there. In the final phase, after the two mafia of cooks kill each other to give Hat Kid heart pons so she can beat Mustache Girl, the Conductor and DJ Grooves follow suit to help Hat Kid.
At the end of the game, after Hat Kid rewinds time, she was about to go home, but her ship is stopped due to her friends hanging onto the ship begging her to stay since she saved them all from a greater evil. However, Hat Kid uses a broom to make them all let go of her ship. She tells them goodbye and right before blasting off, cries a little bit as she did actually care for her friends, but knew that she had to get home.
Seal the Deal
The Conductor, drinking "Sinking Ship".
The Conductor makes a reappearance in the Seal the Deal DLC, serving as an NPC in the first two acts, and a minor antagonist in the third act, bringing his grandchildren and some of the Express Owls with him on the Arctic Cruise.
In the first act "Bon Voyage!", he is seen at the docking pad, preparing for the cruise. After the ship embarks, sitting at the bar drinking "Sinking Ship" on the rocks, which is presumed to be some kind of alcohol, due to his behavior seeming drunken in the second act "Ship Shape".
Finally, in the third act "Rock the Boat", he becomes more involved in the story, becoming somewhat of an antagonist to the main threat of the cruise capsizing, where he is impatient about getting away on the lifeboats, demanding the Walrus Captain be left behind. This starts a timed section where the player must get to the Captain and save him before the Conductor leaves the two to perish.
Gallery
Trivia
- He can be seen as one of the few characters to use profanity in A Hat In Time, as the word "Peck", which he uses frequently, is treated like an in-universe expletive for birds.
- In Act 2, if Hat Kid finds no evidence, the game will automatically force Hat Kid to accuse the Conductor as the murderer.
 Villains
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Subcon Forest Others | ||