Probate inherits nothing and minds everything

Since we first showed the key art, one question has come in more often than all the others put together. It is not about the release date, the platforms or the price. It is: is the dog all right?

The dog is all right. This entry is about the dog.

Pencil sketches of Probate the bulldog in four poses — Four poses: sitting, standing, asleep and walking off. “Inherits nothing. Minds everything.” In red at the bottom: bow tie stays.

Who he is

Probate is a bulldog. He belonged to Cornelius Vane, who left him to his fiancée in the will, and so he now belongs to Vee, who would like it noted that she was not consulted. He rides in the back seat of the Black Tie, on the side with the best view.

To my fiancée, Vivienne: my dog.

He does not speak. He does not need to. He has the best seat in the car, as the note on the key art underdrawing insists, and the expression of someone who has seen many heirs come and go.

Probate the bulldog in the back seat, Vee turning round to look at him — Probate in the back seat. Vee turns round to check on him far more often than she checks on Wade.

What he does

In the race, nothing. Probate sleeps through collisions, jumps, rolls and a flooded canal town. He wakes up for exactly two things: biscuits and the sound of the gramophone. In the story panels he is everywhere: on the rug in the study, on a lead in the garage doorway, at the reading, unimpressed.

Probate the bulldog in a bow tie: four poses — Probate in four poses, finished. The bow tie stays.

The rule

There is one line in our design document that is underlined twice, and it is this: nothing happens to the dog. Cars burn, relatives are struck from the will, a promenade is reconfigured. The dog is fine. The dog is always fine. You have our word, and in a game about a will, our word is a legal document.

Cornelius Vane's study: his portrait over the fireplace, rain on tall windows, a bulldog asleep on the rug — The main menu is Vane’s study. The fire is on, the portrait watches you choose a race, and the dog is asleep on the rug. As he should be.

Mr Horace Dunmore. Probate bit him in 1969.

That is the only incident on his record. He maintains it was deserved. The loading screen, which has met him, puts it more bluntly: Probate dislikes everybody. Do not take it personally.