Why Bernard?

[Tijn]

#4126

This is something I’ve wondered about since I ever first played this game: why is Bernard the character carrying over from the first Maniac Mansion to Day of the Tentacle?

He’s one of the optional characters from Maniac Mansion, but he’s not really special in any way, is he? Bernard does have one of the special endings, but so do some of the other characters.

And it’s not that I don’t like Bernard! I just wonder if anyone knows why they chose this specific character to be the one carrying over from the original, and none of the others.

[Mike]

#4135

I’m not sure. I think with it being so cartoonish, they decided to go with the character that fit the new art style the most?

I know Razor and one or two other characters were originally planned but were cut. I think Razor would have been a neat character to play as again.

[f2bnp]

#4141

I think perhaps Dave Grossman and Tim Schaffer felt like they could do more with the nerdy/geeky character (they themselves being total nerds!).

Although they may as well had designed new characters such as Hoagie and Laverne first and then chose Bernard to complement them or perhaps it went the other way around?
I always found it hilarious that they were roommates and somehow seemed to get along fine.