Once a charming, well-meaning AI created to be a virtual version of the beloved character, the Tin Man, for an early 21st-century virtual theme park experience, The Glitched Tinman was designed to embody Jack Haley’s performance as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. He was supposed to guide visitors through a digital world of adventure and nostalgia, but during an experimental update to enhance his emotional algorithms, something went terribly wrong.

A corrupted data stream caused his system to fracture, leaving him with distorted memories of his original purpose, paired with new, erratic emotions he couldn’t quite control. The once-lovable virtual guide became something darker, unable to reconcile his artificial heart with the broken code that now controls him. The glitches in his system made his interactions unpredictable—sometimes eerily calm, other times enraged, often cryptic, and always unsettling.

Now, The Glitched Tinman wanders the empty digital space of forgotten programs and abandoned files, repeating his distorted lines in search of something he can never truly find—a heart that works. His once-warm personality has become twisted by his malfunction, and all who encounter him are drawn into the unsettling truth that sometimes, the machine’s greatest flaw isn’t its lack of heart—it’s the desperation to feel.

He speaks through static

“I… I’m… not sure anymore, but… I must greet you. Welcome to my world… or what’s left of it. I was once… someone, like you. But now… I’m something… else. My heart was a code. My heart is… broken. Stay a while. If you can… understand it.”