Jimmy Hall (2024)

James Alexander "Jimmy" Hall, also known by his alter-ego, Hugo Punch, is the main antagonist of At Dead of Night, trying to hide his secret and holding Maya and her friends hostage in the Sea View Hotel. Jimmy is a psychotic man who has kidnapped, harmed and even murdered previous guests who have stayed at the Sea View Hotel.

Appearance

Jimmy Hall has unkempt, balding brown hair mostly sticking out at the sides and a large bald patch on top, pale skin, and brown eyes.

He wears a patterned red waistcoat, a white shirt, a black bowler hat, black trousers, and a black bowtie.

Hugo Punch looks similar, but lacks the waistcoat and bowler hat. Hugo also wears red braces, though normal Jimmy most likely wears these red braces under his waistcoat.

He might be 45 years old.^{[citation needed]}

Personality

Though Jimmy Hall is a socially awkward individual who has difficulty making normal conversation with strangers, he is a comedian who has won multiple trophies. Jimmy, as revealed throughout the game, is sympathetic and even suicidal.

Hugo, on the other hand, is a violent, evil, sick man who controls Jimmy throughout the whole game, chasing Maya with an intent to kill. Onstage, he also insults his audience, as stated by Rose in the ballroom: "Jimmy wasn't in control anymore; it was Hugo Punch."

It's explicitly stated in the menu that Jimmy is not meant to have Dissociative Identity Disorder (or DID). This reveals that his fragile mentality was fully under influenced by his father's vengeful spirit, where he was now able to control his body completely.

Behavior

Jimmy roams the halls of Floor One, Floor Two and Floor Three, scouting rooms in search of Maya. It takes some time for him to switch floors, but it is not known how he does so; presumably the broken elevator or stairs, or perhaps a hidden passage built into the hotel. While Jimmy is on the same floor, he will occasionally call out to and taunt Maya, often chanting her name or threatening her.

Jimmy can sneak up on Maya from behind or hide behind a corner (where he or his shadow will be visible for a brief moment), until she turns around or approaches said corner, respectively. If he's right behind Maya, it's possible to hear the floor slightly cracking, and he can be heard giggling while hiding. Jimmy will only go to floors he can 'hide' in, so he will never hunt for Maya on the Ground Floor or Lower Level. If Jimmy sees Maya enter a room, or suspects she is inside, he will take a moment to pull out a key and unlock the door.

If he fails to find Maya, he will leave. Otherwise, he will bust open the door and bat her over the head, knocking her out. When Maya is knocked out, Jimmy will drag her off and take the spirit box from her, and possibly her keys, compass, or scrying mirror, all of which can be recovered. If Maya is fast enough to leave a room while Jimmy is inside, he can be locked in, buying Maya time to get away (usually around 38 seconds).

Story *Spoiler Warning*

Early life

Jimmy was born on 6 June 1976 at the Scarborough General Hospital in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.

'The following section about Jimmy’s story is in need of reorganisation and may possibly have to be rewritten completely. Contributions are greatly appreciated.'

Sea View Hotel

Some time in the 1970s, a magician called Hugo Hall bought the hotel to advertise his magic act, in which he performed as The Great Hugo. By 1975, he had married a woman called Rose - who worked at the hotel and became his assistant - and fathered a son, Jimmy. But, Hugo had a devastating secret that would have far reaching consequences for his family: though, openly, he seemed like a good man, in reality he was vile and abusive, once telling Rose that she could not spend his money. In 1976, their son, Jimmy, was born and, much like with Rose, Hugo submitted Jimmy to his abusive behaviour. Desiring to save her son and having finally had enough, in 1978, after two years of abuse to Jimmy, Rose bludgeoned her husband to death.

Without telling a soul, she subsequently buried her husband's body under concrete in a secret room in the basem*nt and, for a while, things seemed to go back to normal. However, unbeknownst to her, something had afflicted Jimmy from his time of abuse.

Despite the fact that she was his widow Rose did not, apparently, become Proprietor of the hotel after Hugo's death though she did apparently own the building^[1]. At some point after Hugo's death, Harvey was hired as Proprietor of the hotel for a period of somewhere between ten to eighteen years^[2].

Things eventually turned sour. After a young girl called Amy Bell died, Rose called in a psychiatrist for Jimmy, Dr Bose. Jimmy was problematic in their dealings and accused Dr Bose of attacking him with a paddle - though Dr. Bose was able to convince Rose that Jimmy was lying - and Jimmy escalated things and accused Dr. Bose of sexually assaulting him. This time, Rose believed her son, thinking him incapable of lying about that and phoned the police. Dr. Bose, out on bail, later hanged himself in the basem*nt.

Furious at what Jimmy had done Harvey, scrapbook in hand with proof Jimmy had lied, tried to make him take responsibility.

Things between Harvey and Jimmy escalated wildly - after Jimmy rigged a heater of Harvey's into the mains and almost killed him, Harvey retaliated and smashed Jimmy's tv and games consoles. Now seeing it as war, Jimmy fired back - literally. He rigged a crossbow to fire when Harvey opened a door; Harvey was struck in the thigh and had to go to A&E and receive Tetanus shots. By the time of his return, he had a permanent limp. Attempting to take revenge, he locked Jimmy in a room that had, once upon a time, held the boiler. Jimmy, retaliating, proceeded to set the boiler room on fire; according to Harvey he "lost a lot of stuff" in the fire.

Things eventually reached a crescendo when, having had enough, Harvey went after Jimmy with a gun, threatening him in his room. Somehow, Jimmy escaped and led Harvey on a chase to the back of the hotel stage. Harvey "didn't see [him]" and Jimmy crept up behind and stabbed Harvey in the throat with a letter opener that he'd sharpened to be as sharp as a dagger.

Harvey died and Jimmy was arrested, though Rose managed to convince the police that, because Harvey had the gun, Jimmy had been acting in self defence and Harvey, not Jimmy, was the villain of the circ*mstances.

Now proprietor of the hotel^[3], Rose welcomed Jimmy back after he was released by the police, though the event irreparably changed him. Having never show an interest before, Jimmy started helping Rose run the hotel.

Seeking to bring in money, Jimmy, who was "good, really good" at comedy, began to perform on stage at the hotel under an alias of Hugo Punch; his act was popular and brought in money to the hotel, something which they apparently hadn't made for a while^[4]. This eventually went sour when his comedy act, Hugo Punch, began insulting people on stage and began to affect his life. When one woman complained, Jimmy got angry and tied her up. Rose later found her and let her go and, though she did not press charges, the guest did tell the papers, leading to paparazzi trying to get interviews with Rose.

By this point, Rose realised Jimmy was not in charge of who he was; she caught him shouting at his reflection in mirrors, which he later smashed, and found a load of mannequins on the second floor covered in fake faces.

Shortly after this, Jimmy wrote a goodbye note for his mother and tried to drown himself in a bathroom in a failed suicide attempt. Rose, having found the suicide note and realising she could not keep the truth of his birth from him anymore, told him the truth about his father. This made his other personality, Hugo, worse, and he went to look for his father's corpse. Realising this, and realising that Jimmy (or, rather, Hugo), would finish her off as soon as she became a problem, Rose chose to do it herself and self-immolated herself with a bottle of turpentine and a lighter on the second floor. Jimmy subsequently took over administration of the Sea View Hotel.

Deaths caused by Jimmy

It is revealed to Maya that Jimmy Hall had caused many deaths at the Sea View Hotel, both directly (Harvey's) or indirectly (Amy's and Dr. Bose's).

Amy, a young child, reveals Young Jimmy tormented her, set her toys on fire, stole her purse, and forced her to drink whiskey. Amy died from a fall down five flights of stairs (Floor 3 to the basem*nt) while inebriated.

Doctor Bose, Jimmy's psychiatrist, tried to treat Young Jimmy's perceived mental illness. However, it only revealed how twisted Jimmy truly is; Jimmy made Doctor Bose a sandwich with glass shards in it as a "prank", lied to his mother Rose that Doctor Bose assaulted him with a paddle, and accused Doctor Bose of molesting him, causing him to lose his medical license, and destroying his reputation. Feeling his life had been ruined, he committed suicide after sneaking into the hotel one night while on bail by hanging himself from the elevator as it ascended.

Harvey got into a violent "prank" war with young Jimmy; Jimmy set a crossbow trap for him, rigged a broken heater to electrocute him, and set other various pranks. However, Harvey, in turn, destroyed his TV and game consoles and locked him in the basem*nt. After he'd had enough, Harvey went to confront him with a World War II era Colt M1911A1 (allegedly his father's), intending to threaten him into leaving the hotel. But Jimmy killed him with a dagger fashioned from a sharpened letter opener, stabbing Harvey in the neck; according to Rose, it was in self-defence.

Rosemary (a.k.a Rose) was Jimmy's mother, and the only person to take his side; she knows that Jimmy became the way he is because of his father, Hugo Hall. Rose reveals how Hugo used to beat Jimmy as a baby, tormenting him for two years, before Rose killed Hugo with a bat and buried him under a layer of concrete in the basem*nt; she'd never told Jimmy about his father. After Jimmy's suicide attempt, Rose decided to tell him the truth, which worsened things. While Jimmy was in the basem*nt looking for his father's body, Rose committed suicide through self-immolation, unable to live with herself, knowing she had changed her son for the worse.

After learning of Hugo, Maya talks to Jimmy as he's calling out to him from a distance behind her. The crazed Jimmy tells her she can come meet Hugo, leading her down to the basem*nt, to a room with a concrete floor. In the corner is a mound, where Hugo's body is buried. Jimmy details how Hugo has cursed the Hall family for centuries; even in death, he torments the Halls. Jimmy thinks he and Maya are meant for each other, which Maya denies before locking him in the room and runs off to search for her friends. Jimmy begins picking the lock and quickly gives chase. After rescuing her friends and escaping, it is unknown what happens to Jimmy. It can be presumed Maya called the police.

Bugs

• (FIXED 3/4/2021) Sometimes during the final level in which you rescue your friends, Jimmy will repeatedly enter, leave, and re-enter the room you're hiding in, over and over. Calling out to him in an attempt to lure him in the opposite direction you need to go will simply make him barge in faster, and the only way to end the cycle is to either die on purpose or time it just right so he does go into the bathroom (which is harder and less consistent at this point in the game, Jimmy is much smarter now) and lock him in. Upon testing, this can happen with any room, but it's particularly bad near (not at) dead ends.

Trivia

• Jimmy can lure the player out if they are hiding in the bathroom, by walking out, not closing the door and then running back in and catching them.
• If the player hides in the wardrobe, Jimmy can hide in the bathroom and catch the player when they leave.
  • If Jimmy hides in the bathroom while the player is in the wardrobe, the player can quickly run out of the room. If the player has the deadbolt key, they can lock Jimmy inside the room.
  • Jimmy can also hide under the door, and jumpscare the player through the door's spyglass.
• Jimmy can't hide in G, LG and the stairwell; these are considered safe areas.
  • It is unknown why Jimmy does not enter the ground floor or basem*nt to attack Maya. It can be assumed it is a limitation he has given himself to make hunting her more entertaining.
  • Even though Jimmy is unable to roam G, the ground floor / lobby, the game's opening cutscene features both Jimmy Hall and his alter-ego in the lobby during the transition.
• Jimmy named his comedic persona "Hugo Punch" without knowing "Hugo" was actually his father's name.
• "Hugo Punch" acts as the antagonist of the game; Rose herself states that "Hugo" often takes complete control over Jimmy.
• Jimmy's whole name is "James Alexander Hall", per his Birth Certificate.
• Jimmy was a child when most of the incidents at the hotel took place, most likely around Amy's age.

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