A Character Analysis of Kyle Hyde

Our protagonist, Kyle Hyde, is a deeply flawed character, but that's part of what makes him so interesting. We're introduced to him in a flashback, where we see him wrestle with the decision to shoot his friend and partner on the New York City police force, Brian Bradley. It's possible that this experience is what hardened him, transforming him from an idealistic cop into a jaded ex-cop who confronted corruption head-on and came out of it with more than a few scars. Regardless, throughout the game, Hyde comes off as a self-preservationist, refusing to get too close to people or, at times, even to be nice to them. He thinks everybody's got something to hide, and he has little patience for lying or games.

Kyle is hiding (Hyde-ing) something too, though. Posing as a salesman for Red Crown, his real job is to find things. Well-hidden things. Things that people don't want to be found. After dealing with duplicity in a job he thought would be straightforward, he has succumbed to the way of the world and become duplicitous himself. That's how people get by in the world that Hyde has become embedded in, where not everything is as it seems.

There's a quote from Louis in Chapter 7 where he's ruminating on the hotel during the holiday season. He says,

This quote can easily apply to every person in the hotel during the game, including Hyde himself. Everyone is there because they're looking for something or someone, or they're trying to run from something or someone. Hyde is looking for his lost partner. He's the guy who's taken a few punches and knows what it's like to hurt. He realizes he's all alone in the hotel, and he gets to thinking about his life and what he's done, where he's going. All his secrets and worries boil over, and he heads to the hotel bar, looking for somebody to talk to. He finds Helen Parker there, and he opens to up to her -- as much as Kyle Hyde ever opens up to anyone, at least.

Hyde is meticulous and thoughtful. During a conversation with him, there's not a detail that goes unnoticed. He keeps those details in the back of his mind and uses them to paint a complete picture of the person he's speaking to and their circumstances. When trying to get to the bottom of something, he's relentless and whip-smart. He carries around a notebook that he uses to write and sketch notes. Once he's gathered enough clues and details, he spends time deep in thought, piecing them all together and developing a clear read of the situation. These traits would have served him well in the NYPD, where he questioned witnesses and suspects along with scouring crime scenes.

He's a fan of jazz, which is evidenced by him wondering if the jukebox in the bar has any jazz on it, and he loves a good glass of bourbon on the rocks. Despite his blunt and standoffish personality, people seem to like him and gravitate toward him, suggesting he has a fair amount of charisma. A large portion of the gameplay involves Hyde getting people to trust him enough to reveal their deepest secrets, and getting through the game means being successful at this time and time again. You can sense his charisma in the conversations he has. Even when he's calling someone stupid or insulting their tastes, there's a playful edge to it, making them feel more like jabs than barbs. More than that, he also deeply listens to people. He takes what they say to heart and remembers the most minute details, which can be surprising to them when he brings them up later.

It's clear that loyalty is important to Hyde, and betrayal is one of the worst things a person can do to another. He went so far as to shoot Bradley for betraying him, and he ruminates on betrayal often, particularly as it becomes a recurring theme among the people he meets in the hotel. Still, he believes in redemption. He encourages Helen to get in touch with her son, even though she feels like she betrayed and abandoned him, emphasizing that their bond goes deeper than any human mistakes. And presumably, if he finds Bradley, he'll give him the chance to explain himself and to make amends for what he did.

While Hyde seems rude and abrasive in the beginning, it gradually becomes evident that there's more to the hard-boiled exterior he presents to the world. He's a man of complexities, just like all the people he meets and befriends during his stay at Hotel Dusk in December of 1979.