Problem Sleuth (character)

Problem Sleuth is one of the main playable characters of the Problem Sleuth adventure.

Problem Sleuth
Problem Sleuth is the hard-boiled protagonist of the Problem Sleuth story line. He is purportedly one of many Problem Sleuths in the city. The adventure starts with you in control of Problem Sleuth, who is standing in the center of his office, awaiting your commands. As shown in the image, it appears that he is missing some arms to defend himself.

Personality
Problem Sleuth tends to see himself as a hard-boiled prohibition-era detective, getting calls from Hysterical Dames while lazing about on his desk. Initially in the beginning of the game, Problem Sleuth has trouble doing simple tasks, and tends to spend a lot of time doing absurd things such as stubbing his toe on cinder blocks, wrapping himself up in recording tape as a mummy, throwing his phone out the window, committing suicide, and is seemingly inept at accomplishing anything meaningful. He is very jealous of Ace Dick, as Ace Dick is able to get all the "good cases", most likely due to Problem Sleuth's own inability, or probably it's just because he's locked in his own office. When you first start playing Problem Sleuth it is quite obvious that Problem Sleuth isn't nearly as capable as he believes he is. As you progress through the game, and he achieves a few Victorious Moments, leveling up from successful battles, he proves to be the effective straight man compared to the other two heroes, actually carrying out some of those hard-boiled lines as he's dealing effective attacks and final blows.

The other members of Team Sleuth have a lot of clones and duplicates to do their work for them while they're wasting a lot of time doing stupid commands and not getting a whole lot done. Ace Dick has two characters spawn directly from him, Fiesta Ace Dick and Zombie Ace Dick. Pickle Inspector has many, eight Imaginative ones, one becoming Godhead Pickle Inspector, one becoming a giant beast, another becoming a Candy Mecha, four others dying, and others going on to split into even more variants of themselves.

Problem Sleuth, however, has none that have come directly from him. Due to this, his progression through the game involves his attacks coming directly from himself and his ability to use his Pulchritude to his advantage. Rather than having alter-egos being created, Problem Sleuth uses his own Combat Operandi, Battle Techniques, Pulchritude, and Gambit Schema to engage in battle.

Despite being the straight man, it's not to say that he does not have quirks, as he does have an unhealthy obsession toward stone busts carved to resemble celebrities in so much that he'll willingly attempt to sacrifice himself to ensure their survival.

He also has a rather strange but understandable obsession with Candy Corn, refusing to give up a piece to throw some angry clowns off his trail when he ran off with their pie during his Quest of Spirit.

Statistics
Problem Sleuth is the most well-rounded of the three main characters. He dabbles in fantasizing, although his Imagination is more prone to be used in subtle ways rather than pure outlandishness like Pickle Inspector. His Vim is average, enabling him to be able to lift most weapons. Most notable of his main statistics is his Pulchritude stat, which is the highest of the three, allowing him to be involved in high caliber tasks that grant him more powerful abilities. The last of his known stats are an Insulin Level, an Animal Communion Horseshoe, and last but most importantly his Health is represented through a Health Aegis, which is carried on through a Pluck Reliquary that holds Vitality Carats.

Inventory - "Let no inventory go uncluttered!"
Problem Sleuth has five general inventory slots to hold items. He also has a coat pocket and a hat for extra space, and a slot to wield a weapon. Any item placed in that slot will be used in the manner of a weapon, as he attempted to wield his flask, and smashed himself upside the head. His hat, however, has been reserving four pieces of the "precious" Candy Corn. Later on in the game, if you manage to hold onto all four of the Candy Corn, you can add the final touch to his Candy Corn Vampire Gambit Schema, granting you an incredible boost in stats. The four pieces of Candy Corn are also needed to deal a final blow to Demonhead Mobster Kingpin, so you can't use any of them if you want to complete the game. If you manage to lose one you may as well reset and start all over.

Battle Techniques
Throughout the adventure, Problem Sleuth garners a multitude of Battle Techniques and Combat Operandi. His well-rounded versatility gives him reach in all aspects, allowing him to be a hard-boiled detective mowing down bad guys with high-powered weaponry or deal an imaginative assault using a touch of silliness combined with candy, which is lethal on the imaginary plane. To top it off, his biggest strength is his Pulchritude, which is highly useful in of dealing with all kinds of weird puzzle shit, including destruction.
 * PS 877 (Sleuth Diplomacy): To keep the peace, Problem Sleuth fires his Tommy Gun at enemies. It's much more peaceful when the other side is dead.
 * Sleuth Diplomacy Lvl 2: PS 892 (Fair Shake) - Using a Window and his Tommy Gun, Problem Sleuth "Considers both sides of the argument" by having Ace Dick fire his Machine Gun through the Window.
 * Sleuth Diplomacy Lvl 5: PS 927 (Impromptu Caucus) - Combined with two other Ace Dicks, Problem Sleuth fires a furious stream of lead.
 * PS 993 (Sleuth Diplomacy Lvl 10): PS 996 (Ceasefire) - Problem Sleuth drops his weapons and uses his average Vim to deal physical damage through use of kicks and punches. This assault was enough to defeat most of the Cultural Rainbow.
 * Auto-Parry - PS 1026 (Sleuth Roll): Problem Sleuth can avoid attacks by rolling out of the way, or use it offensively to move to a more strategic position.
 * PS 920 (Brass Tacks): By paying 3000 Spondulicks, Problem Sleuth can summon Buttermilk Stubbs, Ramblin' Jackson, and Molasses Fatts, who then assault foes with musical instruments.
 * PS 973 (Summon Henry Clay): By paying the fee, 3500 Spondulicks, Problem Sleuth can summon Henry Clay to wipe out massive amounts of enemies who are causing "Discord in the political atmosphere."
 * PS 1019 (Parliament Uproar - Trusty Knives): After Hysterical Dame takes too much damage and the Clemency Owl is filled, this attack can be used. Problem Sleuth pulls out several knives to which he can use to slice enemies. They also provide a little utility, as they are more than capable of cutting power cords.
 * PS 1365 (Armistyx): Allows Problem Sleuth to summon Death from his "macabre realm". So far, he has struck a deal with Death, and received Death's Scythe. It's unknown as to what Death gets in return for usage of the Scythe.
 * Gambit Schema - PS 1301 (Candy Corn Vampire): Using a Schema Pumpkin, Problem Sleuth can transform into the Candy Corn Vampire.Additionally, with the Scythe from Death, Problem Sleuth used it's exaggerated Dual Nature to launch a combo attack, dealing immense amounts of damage to DMK until he attacked with the very tasty and dignified Tea Spoon Scythe followed up by a self-destructive (To the Scythe) A-BOMB Scythe.
 * PS 1222 (Summon Weasel King): Problem Sleuth can expend a few units of Elf Tears and Weasel Snot to summon the Weasel King, who flips the fuck out to deal damage.
 * PS 1194 (Commune) with Four Kingdoms: After negotiating a diplomatic truce between the four kingdoms, Problem Sleuth can commune with them to summon four warriors. They ended up taking about five chapters to finally reach DMK's hat, and that was more or less by accident.
 * PS 1327 (Summon Moe): This summon does nothing as Moe is completely useless.
 * PS 1732 (Sleuth Diplomacy Lvl 98): Poison Pen Letter - Using the Smith Corona Blotspitter, Problem Sleuth sends an Unpleasant Note to his adversary.
 * PS 1736 (Sleuth Diplomacy Lvl 99): Pax Probliscum - It's beginning entails loading the Smith Corona Blotspitter with his Unpleasant Note, and preparing to unleash the most binding resolution in the history of Problem Sleuth while posing intensely next to a mountain in a rainstorm. Its goal is a "cessation of hostilities for the mutual advancement and prolonged commitment to the furtherance of harmonious relations among soveriegn parties." One shot is enough to take down an entire Health Bar.
 * PS 1708 (Final Comb Rave): Sepulchritude - The most powerful attack in the universe. Requires a Level 8 Impetus Comb. Annihilates everything in a furious purge of charm, including Problem Sleuth himself. Problem Sleuth considers and belays using this attack several times. It's execution allows Problem Sleuth to gain incredible power through the use of diplomacy. Glowing an olive green, he dons a set of armor, a wreath around his hat, and a pair of wings, enabling him to easily deal incredible damage to a nigh-indestructible third form DMK. Through this he has access to other powerful techniques. &#160;
 * PS 1756 (Final Flip Out): The Weasel King communes and merges with Problem Sleuth, the Chosen Arbitor, and Problem Sleuth can aggress Health Bars directly, slashing through multiples in one strike.

Problem Sleuth's final attack is enabled when he runs out of his ammunition for his Tectrixcalibur, the Ink of Squid Pro Quo. The massive pulchritude built up inside him releases and the true Sepluchritude begins, causing the entire universe to experience his personal charm.

Problem Sleuth, by the mettle of his personal charm alone, saves the universe.

Alter Egos

 * Hysterical Dame
 * Dapper Swain
 * Candy Corn Vampire (Gambit Schema)
 * John Egbert's Dad&#160;???

Homestuck
The has been some speculation that John Egbert's Dad could actualy be Problem Sleuth himself.

However, this may not be true due to a long period of time between the time that Homestuck takes place in (possibly around 2009, no real date is given in game), and the time Problem Sleuth takes place in the Prohibition era, which took place in 1922.

Another problem with this theory is that the actual adventures of Problem Sleuth are said to only be in a game, as noted by the poster on John Egbert's wall, and the fact that Egbert actually has a game disk of Problem Sleuth.

This, however, is also mere speculation, as slight game crossovers and references have happened before. For example Ace Dick meeting the bard in the swamp, and the harpoon stuck on a stump with a gun under it.

Some reasons for this speculation might be the similarities between the hats of the two characters in question, as they both look almost exactly alike.