Hi. My name is Nigel Burke and I work in the cold storage department of a local superstore. I enjoy real ale, Dire Straits and Dymo label-makers - the greatest invention of the 20th century.
Nigel Burke, MBBS is the main protagonist in Surgeon Simulator 2013.
Background[]
Nigel Burke is a man who lives in England and worked in a cold storage department of a supermarket prior to becoming a surgeon
Nigel met, at an unknown point, his new girlfriend, Trisha.
At an unknown point, Nigel broke his right hand, which explains why he does surgery with one hand, his left. This is revealed when his full body is seen in In I am Fish.
One night at a bar, he met staff from Barnadshire General Hospital and he impressed them with his immense medical knowledge.
He started out working as a surgeon in one of the wings of the hospital where he transplanted hearts.
Surgeon Simulator events[]
He was eventually moved to another end of the hospital and was then given his own desk. There, he performed several different heart transplants, double kidney transplants and brain surgery to a man named Bob, who had been found in a car accident where he crashed into the hospital's sign.
Soon after, the hospital saw that Nigel was experienced, and assigned him to dangerous operations in ambulances, such as operations like heart transplants, double kidney transplants, and brain surgery. After performing a number of operations, a black floppy disk appears on his desk. Inserting it in his computer makes a message appear on the screen:
"Nigel, we've been watching your performance. We require your services in a special mission.
By inserting this disk you have agreed to come and help us and an agent will be along to pick you up imminently.
Do not be alarmed...
Stand by (which is capitalized into STAND BY after a few seconds)"
Nigel is then sent into space with unknown means and then performed heart surgery amongst other operations to a patient in space, whom is also named Bob. When he returned to Earth, he is known as the best doctor in the world, and receives a degree of medical science from the University of Barnadshire dated 16th February, 1987. However, the degree may be illegitimate as it appears that the original name has been whited out and replaced with his name.
Nigel is then contacted by an unknown alien race via a VHS tape, which allows him to perform various surgeries on an Alien named Gworb. After he performed these operations, Nigel officially becomes the Best Surgeon in the Universe.
Trivia[]
- Nigel takes diazepam. One of the real life side effects are trouble with coordination, which could explain the controls.
- Cut phone messages suggest Nigel was much deeper into drugs than that.
- It is implied in the animated short that Nigel is delusional, which may be caused by the (over)consumption of the pills, as the side effects written ingame include "delusions of grandeur".
- Nigel has an official Tumblr blog.
- His blog emulates the design of 1990s personal websites.
- Nigel has a video game floppy disk on his desk after a couple of operations, the game is Deep Dungeons of Doom, which is also made by Bossa Studios.
- It is unknown if he is left-handed or right-handed.
- Nigel may be also a reference to the popular meme Nigel Thornberry and the "I'll do this with my hands" meme.
- Nigel has various cut and unused voice lines, some were present in the prototype, however have been removed in subsequent versions. They can still be heard in the operation-style toy featured in the tutorial and the desk in Surgeon Simulator Touch. Some of these lines include:
- "Oh, what have I done!?"
- "Oh, dammit!"
- "Jesus, Jesus Christ!"
- "Oh God, oh God no!"
- "Oh no.."
- Various gagging and wheezing sounds
- Nigel also has voice lines from the Barnardshire General Hospital level in I am Fish. These include:
- "Who interrupted my surgery practice!? Don't hide... you can watch"
- "I'm starting to think you don't want surgery..."
- "Who's there?! You shouldn't be here... I'm practicing..."
- "STOP!"
- "Do you... do you need surgery little one?"
- "HEY!"
- "A... a fish?"
- "COME HERE!"
- "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a fish.. but don't worry, I'm a doctor"
- "WHO ARE YOU?!"
- "A fish?.... Looks like it'll need surgery..."
- "DON'T INTERRUPT MY SURGERY!"
- "Oh, I'm sorry... Let me help you..."
- "Why were you in there??"
- "Every second you keep hiding, Bob loses more blood!"
- Nigel's facial accessories in I am Fish are similar to those worn by the player in Experience Reality, being a surgical cap, spectacles, and a facemask.
- Despite not being able to use his right hand due to a break, the hand orientation can still be changed in the game's settings.
- Nigel was supposed to be able to talk, with cut voice lines still being left in the game.
- The voice actor from the prototype also voices Nigel here.