Mouthwashing Characters: Meet the Tulpar's Doomed Crew

The Mouthwashing characters make a stranded freighter feel more dangerous than the empty space around it. Curly, Jimmy, Anya, Swansea, and Daisuke bring different skills, histories, and loyalties aboard the Tulpar. Understanding their relationships helps you follow a story that moves between the days before the crash and the months after it.

Who Are the Five Crew Members of the Tulpar?

The Tulpar is a space freighter operated by Pony Express, and its crew consists of five people:

• Curly: The captain, whose catastrophic injuries leave him dependent on the others after the crash.
• Jimmy: The co-pilot, who takes command once Curly can no longer lead.
• Anya: The nurse responsible for the crew’s medical care.
• Swansea: The experienced mechanic supervising the ship’s maintenance intern.
• Daisuke: Swansea’s inexperienced intern, making his first voyage.

Polle, the horse mascot associated with Pony Express, also appears throughout the game. He belongs to the company’s branding rather than the crew.

Pay attention to which character you control and whether a scene happens before or after the crash. Curly’s pre-crash perspective and Jimmy’s post-crash perspective give very different views of the same people.

Major story spoilers follow, including discussion of sexual assault, suicide, and the crew’s deaths.

Official page: Mouthwashing (criticalreflex.com)

Curly: The Captain Who Loses His Authority

Before the crash, Curly is a respected captain and Jimmy’s friend. He helped Jimmy secure the co-pilot position, giving him both a job and access to the people aboard the Tulpar. That history makes their relationship central to the disaster.

Image: Steam / Wrong Organ

Curly learns that Pony Express is shutting down and the entire crew will lose their jobs. He is losing his position too, although he will receive a commendation and strong references that the others will not. That difference fuels Jimmy’s resentment.

Anya confides in Curly about her pregnancy, revealing the trusting relationship between them.

Curly Before and After the Crash

Jimmy deliberately causes the collision. Curly tries to intervene and survives with devastating injuries, unable to speak or care for himself.

That reversal shapes every later interaction with him. The person who once had the authority to act becomes dependent on others for pain medication and basic care.

Away from work, Curly enjoys weightlifting, spending time with friends and family, and winter sports. Those ordinary interests make his condition aboard the wrecked ship particularly painful: he once had a physically active life beyond its corridors.

Jimmy: The Co-Pilot Behind the Disaster

Jimmy is the main playable character after the crash, but access to his perspective does not make his judgments reliable. He repeatedly presents himself as the person solving problems while minimizing the harm he causes.

Image: Steam / Wrong Organ

His resentment toward Curly combines with fear about losing his job and facing responsibility for sexually assaulting Anya and causing her pregnancy. He intentionally redirects the Tulpar into an asteroid.

How Jimmy Manipulates the Crew

Watch the difference between Jimmy’s explanations and his actions. He criticizes Anya’s competence while carrying out tasks she identifies as necessary. He also uses Daisuke’s desire for approval to persuade him into the damaged vent that fatally injures him.

Jimmy’s interactions with Curly become increasingly abusive, and his conflict with Swansea ends with Jimmy shooting him. As his mental state deteriorates, hallucinations and distorted spaces make his perspective harder to separate from events aboard the ship.

At the end, Jimmy places Curly in the remaining functional cryogenic pod and kills himself. He frames saving Curly as an act of responsibility, but that gesture leaves Anya’s suffering and his treatment of the other crew members unresolved.

Anya: The Nurse Holding the Crew Together

Anya provides medical care aboard the Tulpar, including caring for Curly after the crash. Jimmy’s contempt can obscure how much practical responsibility she carries, so pay attention to what she asks him to do rather than accepting his assessment of her.

Her qualifications are specific to her employer. She completed Pony Express nursing classes that qualify her to work on company property and within its jurisdiction. She has also unsuccessfully applied to medical school eight times and took the job to earn money so she could keep trying.

Those details give her a clear ambition beyond the voyage. She spends much of her free time studying and reads psychology books aboard the ship.

Anya’s Relationship With Curly and Jimmy

Anya confides in Curly about her pregnancy, but his response does not secure her safety. After the crash, she remains trapped aboard the Tulpar with Jimmy, the man who assaulted her.

Her circumstances make Jimmy’s dismissive narration particularly cruel. She continues trying to care for people while facing abuse and having little control over her surroundings. Eventually, she locks herself inside medical and dies by suicide through an overdose.

Beyond her work, Anya runs to clear her head. Her private comforts include reality television and fast food—small details that give her a life and personality beyond the suffering Jimmy inflicts.

Swansea: The Mechanic Protecting Daisuke

Swansea is the Tulpar’s experienced mechanic and Daisuke’s reluctant mentor. His blunt language and impatience make him seem difficult to approach, especially when Daisuke struggles with maintenance work.

Their relationship becomes more revealing as the situation worsens. Swansea guards the utility room, where the last working cryogenic pod is located. Jimmy interprets that secrecy as selfishness, but Swansea intends to give Daisuke the chance to survive.

After Daisuke suffers severe injuries in the vent, Swansea is devastated by his inability to protect him. He kills Daisuke with the emergency axe to end his suffering, and his confrontation with Jimmy later ends in his own death.

The Life Behind Swansea’s Gruff Exterior

Swansea’s history with sobriety adds weight to his drinking mouthwash after the crash. Before the disaster, he marked each sobriety anniversary by buying himself an expensive pair of sneakers.

He also has a wife, grown children, and a dog. He visits his children to repair things in their apartments, checks that they are looking after themselves, and takes them out for meals. He enjoys cooking paella and going to restaurants with his wife.

Those habits help explain the care beneath his harsh manner with Daisuke. Practical help and concern for younger people are already part of his life.

Daisuke: The Intern Trying to Make His Parents Proud

Daisuke arrives aboard the Tulpar without much experience or enthusiasm for the internship. His parents pushed him into it because he had been drifting through young adulthood, hoping a structured job away from home would help him find direction.

Once aboard, he decides to try his best and make them proud. That effort matters when reading his behavior: his optimism exists alongside uncertainty about his abilities and a strong desire for approval.

His relationship with Swansea begins awkwardly. Swansea finds his inexperience frustrating, while Daisuke struggles to meet expectations. Over time, Swansea’s protectiveness reveals how much the intern has come to mean to him.

Why Jimmy’s Appeal Works on Daisuke

Jimmy persuades Daisuke to enter the damaged vent by appealing to his wish to impress Swansea. The resulting injuries make his trust in Jimmy fatal.

Read that scene alongside Swansea’s plan for the cryogenic pod. Daisuke is being pushed toward danger by one crew member while another is trying to preserve a future for him.

His interests outside work fit his expressive appearance. Daisuke enjoys arcade games and hunting for distinctive vintage clothes at thrift stores. His patterned shirt gives him an individual look within the crew’s company clothing.

Polle, Yimpy, and the Personal Details Around the Ship

Polle is the Pony Express horse mascot whose cheerful corporate image becomes increasingly unsettling in the Tulpar’s oppressive setting. His presence connects the crew’s immediate suffering with the company branding surrounding them.

His fragmented speech is part of that effect: individually recorded words are assembled into sentences, giving him the sound of advertising clips pieced together.

There are smaller character details worth noticing, too:

• Yimpy: Daisuke drew the figure on the board in medical.
• Swansea’s dog: A photograph is displayed in Utility.
• The damaged Polle statue: Jimmy broke it, and Swansea found it funny while drunk on mouthwash.
• The crew’s clothing: Personal accessories and alterations distinguish people wearing similar company uniforms.

Look at those details during quieter scenes. Daisuke’s drawing, Swansea’s photograph, and the crew’s individual clothing give the Tulpar traces of ordinary life that make its later horror more personal.