Characters from the visual novel
Please note that, due to the mystery-heavy and Anyone Can Die nature of the story, all spoilers below will be left unmarked in order to prevent Self-Fulfilling Spoilers.
open/close all folders
Main Characters
The Gang As A Whole
- Ambiguously Bi: While Leo and Flynn are explicitly gay, Chase is explicitly bi and Jenna doesn't show any level of attraction to women meaning she's probably straight, Carl and TJ both seem to experience some level of attraction either way but don't openly identify themselves as bisexual. In Carl's case, he uses the "doesn't want to put a label on his sexuality" line, whereas TJ avoids touching on the subject of sexual attraction altogether.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Jenna, Chase, and Leo respectively; all of whom compose the original trilogy of friends who first began hanging out before Carl, TJ, Flynn & Sydney joined later on.
- Childhood Friends
- Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much every character has at least some level of snark to them (even TJ having a moment or two), with the two that stand out the most being Flynn and Jenna in particular. According to a comment made by Leo, Chase also used to be a lot snarkier before mellowing out a bit in the present day.
- Destructive Romance: Leo and Chase. During high school, the two are so involved with each other that the rest of the group gets jealous and begins drifting apart. By the time the duo reunite during the game, Leo has become controlling and obsessive, while Chase ambivalently continues leading Leo on with vague promises of reuniting. The two do not remain together in any of the game's neutral or good endings.
- Dysfunction Junction: As to be expected from growing up in Echo, the whole gang has an awful lot bubbling under the surface of their chummy facade.
- Establishing Character Moment: The story actually has two for the main cast as a whole; the scene in the motel room at the beginning of the prologue that introduces Carl, Flynn & Leo's personalities (after the car journey there had done the same for Chase, TJ & Jenna) and outlines the group's character interactions, followed by Flynn's rant by the lake at the end of the prologue that outlines several of their major flaws and insecurities.
- Fat and Skinny: Carl and Flynn, respectively, who regularly form something of an Odd Couple together.
- Foil: Flynn and Leo. While both are gay and among the oldest members of the group,
- Leo is the self-professed group protector who dislikes guns, is close to his family, and places significant emphasis on emotional attachment in intimate relationships. While he usually acts affably toward other members of the gang and claims to highly value keeping them together, he largely ignored everyone but Chase once they became boyfriends.
- Flynn is the self-professed group outcast who loves guns, is not close to his family, and places no significant emphasis on emotional attachment in intimate relationships. While he usually acts inaffably toward other members of the gang and claims they "are not even friends anymore," he quietly attempts to intervene when he notices other people struggling with their personal lives.
- Friends with Benefits: Carl and Flynn, as confirmed by the side story Benefits.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Leo and Jenna, with Leo being the passionate red to Jenna's more levelheaded blue.
- The Resenter: At least one character on every route is revealed to be this, usually as a result of being influenced by Demonic Possession; although Flynn resents the group as a whole (minus Carl) for the not-entirely-unjustified feeling that none of the others care about what really happened to Sydney.
- Sex for Solace: Flynn agrees to sleep with Leo after the latter's breakup with Chase. It doesn't help, and it doesn't last.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: From just listening to them, one would assume Carl and Flynn dislike each other, but it becomes clear that they actually have a great deal of affection and care for one another.
Chase Hunter
Click here to see him as he appears during flashbacks
"I had always felt like the odd out in the group, as strange as it sounds. Where everyone else has a strong, distinct personality, I was just... average?"
A ridiculously average otter, whose school project for his degree in Journalism is what initially spurred the group's reunion.
- Beard of Sorrow: His goatee is grown out further into one of these during the epilogue for Flynn's route, where it's revealed that the events of the route in question had caused him to become an isolated washout who eventually lost his high-profile journalism gig after failing to produce anything on the same level as his project on the hysteria incident.
- Beneath Suspicion: Flynn spends so much time going after TJ regarding the truth behind Sydney's death (even telling Carl that he believes TJ himself to be directly responsible at some points) that he never seems to even consider the possibility that Chase - the one character well-known for being proficient under the water - was the true culprit behind what happened until either Chase kills him the same way at the end of TJ's route or until TJ finally spills the beans on what he saw at the time during Flynn's own route.
- Bi-Wildered: If you choose to tell Jenna that Chase is gay rather than bi, Chase has an internal monologue on how elaborating otherwise confuses people.
- Big Bad Friend: Revealed to be this to Flynn especially, as he was the one who killed Sydney years ago.
- Decoy Protagonist: As it turns out, the character that the player "controls" throughout the game is actually the voice in Chase's head that the player only hears speaking directly to him at certain points rather that Chase himself. This especially comes into play during Flynn's route, where the spirit jumps into Flynn's body and begins influencing his actions instead, while Chase becomes a separate character with his own sprite.
- Fair-Weather Friend: Flynn accuses Chase of being this towards all of his friends during an optional scene on his route, and it's especially apparent in what we're shown of what his relationship with Carl was like before.
- First Person Snarker: Has a tendency to edge into this, although as his Sanity Slippage on TJ's route begins to take hold his internal commentary escalates from otherwise good-natured snarking to becoming outright viscious.
- Former Teen Rebel: Was something of an Emo Teen during his high school days when dating Leo, and Leo (along with Flynn offscreen to Carl) comments on the fact that he used to be much more of a firebrand back then than he is now.
- Graceful in Their Element: Chase feels his superior swimming ability is one of the few things that distinguishes him among his friends, although by his own admission he's on the lower end of the spectrum compared to other otters.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Chase is something of a dark example, given that it's implied much of his self-depreciating comments come from a place of genuine self-loathing. Being possessed by a spirit that genuinely seems to hate him likely doesn't help.
- I Hate Past Me: Tends to comment negatively on how "shitty" he was any time he's faced with what he used to be like as a child or a teenager.
- The Killer in Me: Although it's ambiguous as to whether he falls into the "Secretive" or "Amnesiac" type, in that Chase seems to have actively suppressed the memory of having killed Sydney while also being at least somewhat subconsciously aware of being the culprit; the fact that his thoughts and actions since the incident onwards are being constantly manipulated by Demonic Possession likely as not having something to do with it as well.
- The Klutz: Seems to have poor control over his limbs, often resulting in debilitating physical injury of some kind; Flynn's route in particular has him break a lemonade bottle trying to open it, an option scene where he trips over himself when chasing after Flynn and another where he almost tackles Daxton in an attempt at a hug.
- Manipulative Bastard: Has a nasty manipulative streak that tends to come out when attempting to stop his Dark Secret from coming out to the rest of the group, although Chase himself occasionally recounts moments where even as a child he had a tendency to manipulate his friends into doing things for him.
- Playful Otter: Averted, Chase has a apathetic and unmotivated disposition, in fact this trope is a in-universe stereotype that he resents and frequently complains about.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Especially in the case of Sydney, who he only killed under the mistaken impression that Sydney had murdered his own father and was going to do the same to TJ; his murder of Flynn is less sympathetic by comparison, but at least has the excuse that Chase's mental state had been deliberately twisted out of shape by an external entity at the time.
- Unreliable Narrator
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Duke believes him to be this, blaming him returning to the town for the hysteria coming over the town; however it's stated elsewhere that, while Chase returning did indeed kick things off, the hysteria would have occurred some other time down the line regardless.
- Villain Protagonist: Less so for Leo and Carl's routes, but falls square into this for TJ's. Flynn's route subverts this twofold as not only is Chase portrayed as more of a scared victim who made a terrible mistake in the past than actually dangerous, but also loses his protagonist status not long after being revealed as Sydney's killer.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Used by Chase on two separate occasions; once on TJ's route where he and TJ claim that Chase's murder of Flynn was in self-defence (albeit a Downplayed example in that Flynn had become violently unstable and probably would have killed Chase in the heat of the moment had TJ not intervened) and again on Flynn's route where he attempts to turn the rest of the cast against Flynn by lying about his intentions with TJ and appealing to Leo's Big Brother Instinct in order to keep his secret from being revealed.
TJ Hess
Click here to see him as he appears during flashbacks
"Only God can really judge us for this sort of stuff, I think? People-judging can just be like an excuse to be mean."
A Canadian lynx and the youngest of the group, with strongly-held religious beliefs.
- Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: Averted. At his worst he has a tendency to nanny the others in regards to foul language, but otherwise has no qualms about his friends being gay or bi (even citing his church as having an openly bisexual youth pastor if Chase chooses him to come out to in Route 65).
- Ambiguously Bi: TJ's sexuality is kept ambiguous throughout the game, with various implications that he either is or is not attracted to both guys and girls. He had a brief relationship with Heather, though the related side story shows him unable to have sex with her. While Chase sees certain actions by TJ as potential attraction toward guys (such as his close friendship with Julian, and certain behaviors of his), this seems to be a misinterpretation on Chase's part, especially after the messy rejection Chase receives in TJ's route. Many have interpreted TJ as being demisexual due to his cluelessness and/or disinterest toward sexual topics, and because he only shows occasional sexual interest toward people he feels comfortable with.
- Apologises a Lot: Has a tendency to over-apologize for things, which Chase calls him out on during his route.
- The Baby of the Bunch: The rest of the group views TJ as this, much to Flynn's ire and frustration.
- Cats Hate Water: While a lynx rather than a housecat, TJ is implied by an offhand comment to be somewhat afraid of going out too far into the water. He however does not hate baths as he's known to take really long showers.
- Covert Pervert: Takes a surprising interest in The Smoke Room when he overhears Chase and Jenna talking about it during Flynn's route.
- Extreme Doormat
- Everyone's Baby Sister: Deconstructed in that not only does the rest of the group's tendency to try and protect TJ from everything irritate the hell out of Flynn, but in trying to "protect" the lynx Chase murdered one of their other childhood friends in the past and ends up doing the same to another during the events of his route.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: As his species suggests, he's all-but-stated to be from their universe's equivalent of Canada, even portraying the usual stereotype regarding Canadian politeness.
- Furry Reminder: He's a bit of a Neat Freak and loves to take long showers and frequently brushes the fluff of his fur with his paws and adjusts his clothing which makes sense considering cats are known to constantly self-groom. He's also shown to be a fast and agile runner and of course he doesn't like being out in deep water.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: TJ talks like this throughout the game, as he dislikes swearing and gets uncomfortable when his friends swear excessively around him.
- The Ingenue
- Nice Guy
- Secret-Keeper: Becomes a dark version of this at the end of his route, helping Chase to keep the truth of Flynn's death (and Sydney's as well) by telling the police that it was done in self-defense.
- Super Gullible: Chase exploits this to protect his innocence on Jenna's route, convincing him that Carl's browser history merely involved a harmless search for futons.
- Youthful Freckles: Has speckled fur on his muzzle that emulates this trope, being the youngest and one of the more lively cast members.
Flynn Moore
Click here to see him as he appears during flashbacks
"You're all okay with not knowing? Fuck all of you. This whole thing was stupid, Leo. We're not even friends anymore."
A somewhat acerbic gila lizard currently working as a clerk in the town hall; both the oldest and generally most responsible of the group, at least when he needs to be.
- Aggressive Submissive: Flynn is often the active pursuer of sexual advances with Chase (along with almost everyone else), but when it actually comes time to engage tables are often turned and the lizard becomes a lot less mouthy.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Becomes the point of view character during the latter half of his own route, shortly after Chase is outed as Sydney's killer to the rest of the gang.
- Berserk Button: Anything regarding Sydney's death is this for him, especially when he feels that the others aren't giving it the respect he feels it deserves.
- Brutal Honesty: This is Flynn’s defining characteristic; he gives everyone present at the lake a "The Reason You Suck" Speech regarding their worst qualities and -depending on your choice when you meet him at The Smoke Room- can verbally skewer Chase concerning his and Leo's self-absorbed behavior back when they were dating.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Has been attracted to Chase since high school, but was unwilling to act on those feelings at first because Flynn was uncomfortable with the three-year age difference and did not want to "take advantage of a tumultuous kid whose balls just dropped."
- Ethical Slut: Albeit something of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold example.
- Exotic Equipment: Mentioned as having a cloaca on a few occasions.
- Fantastic Arousal: His stomach is mentioned a few times to be an especially sensitive spot for him. Apparently it's a common thing for lizards in the setting.
- First Person Snarker: As to be expected, the POV switch halfway through his route shows his inner thoughts to be about as unfiltered as you'd imagine.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: With the exception of Carl, none of the rest of the gang seems to truly care much for Flynn's behaviour or take his side in arguments.
- Furry Reminder: Being a reptile, he keeps the inside of his house hot and humid.
- Gayngst: Can be accused of this by Chase during an optional scene if you choose for the latter to leave The Smoke Room without taking part at all; judging by the fact that Flynn's response is to immediately change the subject onto a laundry list of Chase's flaws as a person rather than denying it, he may well be right.
- Further implied in a flashback as the reason why he did not join the military and in an attempted Breaking Speech by Samuel (in the guise of Sydney) near the end of Flynn's route.
- Groin Attack: Fond of giving these when fooling around with Carl or Chase. Notably, he doesn't seem to invoke it during actual fights.
- Gun Nut: Apparently enjoyed lambasting movies where characters had poor trigger discipline in high school and comments on the exit angle of the wound when Sydney's father kills himself.
- Insult of Endearment: Has an unflattering nickname for pretty much every one of his friends but he almost never uses them with genuine hostility towards them. Especially Carl, whom he calls "fatass" constantly.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Flynn is right that TJ isn't telling them the whole truth regarding Sydney's death.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Is shown being a stand-up friend to Carl multiple times even if he puts on the facade of being annoyed with the ram, and even with the rest of the group is clearly shown to be genuinely concerned for their welfare when things begin to go wrong.
- Lovable Lizard: While more on the dissagreeable side, when the chips are down he shows himself to be true, loyal and caring friend to the the rest of the group.
- Meta Guy
- Not So Stoic: According to a flashback where Leo pulls the others into a Group Hug shortly after his Declaration of Protection following Sydney's death, Flynn is shown eventually joining the others in crying together over the experience.
- Non-Mammalian Hair: Played with. He looks like he has a mane of fur or feathers, but in actuality they're frills or spines according to both a blink-and-you-miss line in his route and a side story. However, Gila monsters don't have these either, and indeed even Gila characters in The Smoke Room lack them.
- Oral Fixation: Often chewing on a toothpick, likely as a holdover from when he used to smoke.
- Perpetual Frowner: Unlike every other character, Flynn's "default" pose is a grumpy-looking scowl rather than a smile; it's mentioned in his internal monologue later on in his route that he deliberately avoids smiling because he thinks it looks creepy.
- Really Gets Around: Frequently visits The Smoke Room for hookups and has moreorless been viewed this way since his high school days.
- Deconstructed in multiple ways:
- His fetishes are often wildly exaggerated by members of the town.
- His one-night stands with Leo and Chase do not help and arguably worsen their already unstable relationship.
- Samuel, in the guise of Sydney, implies in a Breaking Speech that Flynn only sleeps around to act out against his extremely religious family and because Flynn views himself as disgusting.
- Deconstructed in multiple ways:
- Sir Swears-a-Lot
- Straight Gay: It's revealed in a flashback from Sydney's point of view that Sydney thought of Flynn as the “most straight gay guy ever”, probably referring to how Flynn presents himself.
- Supreme Chef: Is a remarkably good chef, despite the fact that Chase's inner monologue rarely mentions seeing him eat.
- The Unapologetic: Flynn doesn’t spend a lot of time apologizing for his mistakes and how he comes across.
Jenna Begay
Click here to see her as she appears during flashbacks
"Environment is really important to how you develop as a person. [...] Environment AND temperament make us who we are. Some people... some people can just take more."
A kit fox currently working on a degree in Psychology, and the only female romance option in the game.
- Closet Geek: Jenna is actually a huge manga fan but seems somewhat embarrassed about bringing it up around her friends. She is reluctant to ask Chase for a ride to the mall because of this.
- Cunning Like a Fox: Jenna is described as something of a prankster, along with being one of the more intelligent members of the cast.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Her birth name is Jasmynn, which is also the name of the street she grew up on. She changed her name after running away from her family and starting college. In her route, a few characters call her by her old name, which she corrects them.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Early builds of the novel states her (and the Begay family as a whole) being fennec foxes which would fall under Misplaced Wildlife considering she has Native American heritage and fennecs are from Africa. Later builds retconned this with her family being kit foxes which have a similar appearance to fennecs but are native to North America.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Jenna and her family have Meseta heritage, which is based on the real-life Navajo tribe. It's mentioned a tribe-associated scholarship helped her pay for college and she had a grandmother who lived on a nearby reservation. Her family name is also a very common Navajo surname in Real Life.
- Gay Option: Inverted Trope; Jenna's is the only route in the game that isn't a same-gender relationship, with an option early on during the game's prologue determining whether or not Chase becomes physically attracted to her over the course of her route.
- Not So Above It All: While she tries to present herself as the most well-adjusted and intellectual member of the group, her prankster and gadfly tendencies have caused serious tension with the group, including Chase and Leo's original breakup.
- Discussed by Flynn in the prologue.
- Especially apparent in Carl's route where she completely fails to shake off the ancestral Demonic Possession until the hysteria ends, unlike Carl who seems to keep it at bay fairly easily if Chase tells him to fight against it.
- Occidental Otaku: Often used manga as an escape from living with her Dysfunctional Family, and keeps her love for both it and anime as an adult.
- The Prankster: Jenna loves playing pranks on people, especially Chase. To a fault, as shown by her being the one who came up with the prank in the Phone short story that caused Chase and Leo to break up in the first place.
- The Smurfette Principle: While not the only female character, Jenna is the only girl out of the main cast.
- The Spock: Certainly attempts to be this, and Chase does note her to be the most logical of the group on a few occasions, but her emotions and sly personality tend to come to the fore often enough that she avoids being a true example.
- Team Mom: Especially where where TJ is involved; according to a line of inner monologue from Chase during Flynn's route, she's spoken with a "maternal tone" in her voice since she was ten.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Especially apparent on Flynn's route, where she comments that her younger self would be Squeeing at the sight of Flynn & Carl having a particularly tender moment together that she walks in on.
Leo Alvarez
Click here to see him as he appears during flashbacks
"I don't really feel as good as I did back then. When I think of high school, or even further back... man, those were the good days."
Chase's Salvadorannote wolf ex-boyfriend, and the one who initially suggested the reunion.
- Accent Slip-Up: Intersperses more Spanish slang or reverts to Spanish entirely when stressed in dialogue.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Chula"note and "Otter" for Chase, he continues to call him these names even after they broke up.
- Always Second Best: Leo seems to keep coming up short in the running when it comes to winning Chase’s good will and affection compared to Jenna or Kudzu, depending on the route.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Resumes his smoking habit after breaking up with Chase.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Most notably in his own route when competing with Kudzu for Chase's attention and in Flynn's route when he suspects Chase and Flynn are hooking up behind his back.
- Played more sympathetically and justified in Jenna's route, where it is revealed that Chase, on multiple occasions, affirmatively replied to Leo's text requests to rekindle their relationship before deleting said replies.
- Declaration of Protection: Gave one of these to the entire group shortly after Sydney's death, followed up by a Group Hug with everyone.
- Does Not Like Guns: It's unknown whether or not he feels this way in the present but it's discussed on his and Flynn's routes that he was not a fan of them when he was younger. Chase was surprised to find out he had one in his route. Leo himself states that his reasoning was due to a lot of Echo's residents being violent methheads and/or homophobic that he felt he needed one for protection.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Is implied to be from El Salvador; while, as with all in-universe countries, no name is explicitly given for where he comes from a passing mention is made of a war being fought over soccer
and his Catchphrase of "Puchica!" is an expression mostly specific to the country. - Gay Conservative: At one point tries to dissuade Chase from going to college by claiming that he read a study which stated that doing so "doesn't make you smarter, just more liberal".
- Downplayed, however, in that he Does Not Like Guns and has Hollywood Atheist tendencies.
- Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock: Chase & Leo's initial relationship began like this, back when Leo was on the high school football team, although Leo was the one who initiated the relationship.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Shows varying shades of this on his, Flynn and Jenna's routes.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Especially anything where Chase is involved.
- Hollywood Atheist: Discussed by Chase during internal monologues; went through a high school phase where he passed out fliers detailing Catholic Church abuses, and is generally the first character mentioned any time religion is discussed negatively.
- The Leader: Attempts to be this for the group, but has a tendency to let his emotions get the better of him too often for it to stick.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Sufficiently obsessed with Chase that his affection generates a Tulpa.
- Manly Gay
- Nostalgia Filter: Has a tendency to see the early years of the gang's life in Echo as much rosier than it really was, which granted it definitely was for him compared to how he describes where his family lived before they immigrated into the country.
- Psycho Ex-Boyfriend: Becomes this on his route, and while his worst moments only come after the hysteria strikes the town, picking the option to snoop through his phone shows that he'd been manipulating the rest of the cast to have Chase all to himself for the week even before the hysteria struck.
- Psycho Supporter: His attempts to protect the group (often with Pay Evil unto Evil actions in the case of Clint and other bullies) often lead to more problems than they solve.
- Sore Loser: Becomes extremely irritated when Jenna wins the prize for Chase instead of him at the fairgrounds during the prologue and again when Jenna beats him in a footrace during his own route, although in both cases it's moreso from wanting to look good in front of Chase rather than wanting to win for its own sake.
- Gets even worse in Jenna's route when Leo and Chase are playing with a claw machine in an arcade. After a few failed attempts, Jenna steps in and beats it resulting in Leo angrily storming off after vandalizing a pinball machine. Again, this is less about Leo being competitive and more him wanting to win Chase over and being jealous of Jenna getting more attention from the otter than he is.
Carl Hendricks
Click here to see him as he appears during flashbacks
"Just makes me feel guilty, though, the way people try to include me in things and then I just disappoint them. [...] Everyone feels like I need to do something. Why can't I just decide that for myself?"
A bighorn sheep living with his extremely wealthy parents, who spends most of his time getting high or playing video games.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Albeit from the rest of the town rather than the group itself, due to resentment over the Hendricks family's wealth compared to the dirt-poor townspeople.
- Ambiguously Bi: Is attracted to men as much as women but doesn't openly come out as bi.
Word of Gay claims he's pansexual. - Basement-Dweller: Became one of these after dropping out of college, due to suffering from clinical depression.
- Big Beautiful Man: Chase certainly seems to think so on his route, and even Flynn seems to think he's "cute".
- Big Fun: He's very playful and humorous around his friends when he isn't depressed.
- Birthday Hater: Subverted; while Carl reacts less-than-enthusiastically to the Surprise Party that the others arrange on his behalf, it's less a matter of hating his birthday itself and more a matter of not wanting to be the center of attention. Not to mention the fact that it isn't even his birthday to begin with.
- Fat Best Friend: Was this for Chase in the past.
- Furry Reminder: Being the only member of the main cast who is an herbivorous species, it's mentioned a few times that he's a vegetarian.
- Idle Rich: Although in his case the "idle" part is mostly the result of suffering from clinical depression.
- Limited Wardrobe: Averted, compared to the rest of the cast; Carl changes from his usual hoodie to a smarter-looking shirt and tie for a job interview during his and Flynn's routes, and in his own route later on strips down to an undershirt after being trapped inside the nightmare mansion with Chase and the others for over a day.
- Lonely Rich Kid: With the exception of his friend group, he was shunned by most kids and adults in Echo due to the town-wide resentment towards his family. After dropping out of college and losing contact with most of his friends, the only offline socialization he really had was with Flynn.
- Manchild: Admits he`s one in a Self-Deprecation joke during Flynns route.
- Nice Guy: Although, unlike TJ, he mostly avoids becoming an Extreme Doormat in the process. He can also be a bit spiteful if his buttons are pushed enough, as in the TJ route.
- Not Afraid to Die: Carl displays a shocking indifference when talking about his possible demise from a car accident, as a result of his depression-induced issues with self-image and dissatisfaction with life.Carl knocks on his head for effect, the hollow sound that it emits seeming rather appropriate.
Chase: You rely on that too much...and you really need to start wearing your seatbelt.
He shrugs and puts the phone back in his pocket before leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes.
Carl: What's the point?
Chase: Uh, to not die?
Carl: Happens to everyone sooner or later. Why not get out early if you can? - The Shut-In: Carl is a shut-in who uses games, comic books, and movies as a means of escapism and would much rather stay in his house than go outside.
- The Stoner: Played seriously in the fact that Carl uses marijuana to cope with his anxiety and stressful situations.
- Sweet Sheep: A bighorn sheep and one of the nicest characters in the story.
- Wardrobe Flaw of Characterization: Refuses to take off his beanie before going to his job interview, and becomes quite agitated if you choose to have Chase press him on it, suggesting that it's something of a security blanket for him.
Sydney Bronson
Sydney as he appears during flashbacks.
Click here to see Sydney as he appears as an adult
Another otter character, who tragically drowned some years prior to the events of the story.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: At one point during Flynn's route we get a flashback taken from his perspective.
- Black Eyes of Crazy: Double Subverted with the adult version of Sydney that speaks to Flynn at the end of his route, which has this trope but doesn't show any particularly disturbing behaviours until "Sam" suddenly takes over; whereupon they turn into full-on Black Eyes of Evil and he tricks Flynn into becoming the socket-faced monster with him.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Downplayed in that Flynn was already the cynical type, but Sydney's death clearly had the largest impact on him especially, and is directly related to much of Flynn's tension towards the rest of their friendship group.
- Freudian Excuse: While many of the things he did to TJ were awful, it's revealed in a flashback from his perspective that not only did he grow up with religious Abusive Parents but it's also implied many of his worst moments were the result of Demonic Possession affecting his behaviour.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: To the point that Jenna once told Carl when they were younger that she was glad he was dead, a sentiment that Chase himself shares after Flynn finds him in the city hall's back room during his route. That said, Route 65 muddles waters somewhat in that Carl apparently considered him one of his best friends (that sentiment was not shared sadly) while in TJ's route Jenna is nearly moved to tears by seeing what she thinks to be a memento of him.
- Furry Reminder: He loves wrestling, something real life otters are known to do as a form of play.
- Perpetual Frowner: His flashback sprites, even moreso than Flynn considering he lacks even the very few moments of a genuine smile that Flynn has. This is in contrast to the adult version of Sydney seen near the end of Flynn's route, which instead has the opposite trope going on.
- Playful Otter: Averted, even more so than Chase.
- Plot-Triggering Death: While its implied that even without Chase's attempts to hide the truth of Sydney's death the hysteria incident would still end up occuring regardless at some point or another, his death does end up being directly relevant to the plotlines for both TJ and Flynn's routes, as well as being the main reason behind Flynn's outburst at the lake that caused the group to split up in the first place.
- Posthumous Character
- Self-Made Orphan: Not deliberately, but it's heavily implied that he accidentally pulled the trigger of his father's rifle trying to wrestle it from out of his hands when the latter was trying to shoot himself.
- Tragic Villain: Not only was he abused by his father, Sam passed on to him and made him bully TJ. Chase then drowned him to save his friend. Sydney was in hell while alive.
Major Side Characters
Julian
- Bambification: He is a deer and one of the more agreeable characters in Echo, if a little socially oblivious.
- The Bore: Chase views Julian as a insanely boring individual, although TJ clearly seems to enjoy his company.
- The Generic Guy: His defining trait is that he's TJ's old friend and an affably religious guy, while being neither as affable or religious as TJ is.
- New Friend Envy: Not Julian himself, but Chase begins feeling this way towards him more and more as the route goes on for taking TJ's attention away from him.
- Out of Focus: Out of all the major side characters Julian has the least impact on the events that unfold, pretty much existing to show Chase's gradual Sanity Slippage and to tell Chase that Flynn has taken TJ to the lake before disappearing from the plot.
- Uncertain Doom: In Leo's route Janice kills and eats someone at the diner, we never know who, but Julian and the diner's cook Dale are the most likely victims.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It's his fault that Chase is able to follow Flynn and TJ to the lake, where he drowns Flynn the exact same way that he did Sydney years ago.
Daxton
- Amphibian Assault: Averted, he is a blue-spotted salamander and one of the nicest residents of Echo.
- Cloudcuckoolander: While not as much as Raven, Daxton does tend to be somewhat awkward in his interactions. Especially the scene where he begins telling Chase he had a dream about him out of nowhere, if you choose to let him; an off-hand comment of his during the same scene also implies that he believes having "weird puberty sex dreams about your cousin" to be a universal experience.
- Homeschooled Kids
- The Peeping Tom: Accused by Flynn of being one of these.
- Trekkie: Albeit an in-universe equivalent, for the TV show "Adastra"note
Micha
- Abusive Parents: Was violently thrown out by his parents while he was still a teenager, just for being gay.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: In an early teenagehood where he was surrounded by awful family and friends who are problematic at best, the helpful and kind Keith was pretty much the best thing to have ever happened to Micha. Years after Keith's disappearance, what motivates Micha to help out Chase and his friends is the prospects of screwing over the people he believes were behind his dear friend's disappearance, especially the prime culprit Brian.
- Big Eater: Unlike what his slim build suggests, he turns out to be this in the good ending when he orders a huge meal at a Payton diner and wolfs it down greedily, though this is likely because he probably doesn't get to eat much with him being The Runaway, and wanted to make the most of someone else paying his meal for him.
- Boomerang Bigot: Initially used homophobic slurs towards Chase despite being gay himself.
- The Cameo: Makes a short appearance outside City Hall at the start of the hysteria during Flynn`s route, even being shown onscreen for a few moments.
- Club Kid: Micha is a juvenile deliquent with a love for tatoos, drugs, parties and...mysterious unseen piercings who also turns out to be gay, which, of course, brought him a whole new share of problems.
- Deadpan Snarker: His biting wit and endless quips make him stand out as this even when compared to the protagonists. It helps him fit in once he's the group's Seventh Ranger.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When it's revealed that, years prior, Leo and Micha had sex as teenagers despite the former being around three years older, Micha insists he was fully willing both to defend Leo and to not be seen as some victim who was taken advantage of.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Out of the main side characters, Micha is easily the one who made the biggest turn for the better in his relationship with the protagonists, as well as arguably the one who went through the most messed-up scenarios with them...which is saying a lot.
- Foil: Micha is this to Jenna.
- Both come from abusive, disfunctional families and eventually ran away from home and left Echo far behind them, only coming back years later to reunite with old friends. However, things only looked up for Jenna once she left, as she quickly became a prodigy at a respected school through great effort and skill, even gaining awards, while Micha continued life as a delinquent, having fun and breaking the rules, at the cost of being an outcast. This makes Micha double as a Shadow Archetype to Jenna, showing what Jenna could have been if she didn't have her disfunctional but still loyal friends growing up (while Micha had to settle with friends that were mostly the former) and if she wasn't as responsible as she is.
- While both are snarky jerks with hearts of gold, Chase and the player are already aware of Jenna's good nature, that she does show often enough, while Micha is just a mostly bitter aquaintance to Chase before the events of the route and his Hidden Heart of Gold takes a while to come out across the story.
- Jenna never really fights if she can get out of a situation with words instead (unless she's under some sort of mind-control like in other routes, like Carl's), while Micha doesn't let his small build stop him from shoving a metal pipe right in the face of his enemies.
- Jenna tries her hardest to find logical explanations for the clearly paranormal phenomena in the story, often using her knowledge in psychology, while Micha is very much a believer in the supernatural, especially thanks to Keith teaching his friends some Meseta folklore, and is more savvy than the rest of the cast on how to deal with "The Hum".
- Jenna and Micha are ship-teased as Chase and Leo's second loves respectively once the two have finally broken up for good in the good ending (if the player chose for Chase to tell Jenna that he's bisexual earlier in the story).
- Gayngster: He is a gay drug-dealer.
- Jerkass: The first thing we see of Micha is him making fun of Chase's mental illness and sexuality and the bat is an abrasive delinquent through and through.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Begins trending toward this in the good ending of Jenna's route, where he gets closer to Chase and the rest pf the gang, especially after all the nightmarish ordeals they go through toghether, volunteers to try talking Heather down and also tells the rest of the group not to speak directly to The Hum, as it makes them easier to manipulate. By the end, he's become the de facto Seventh Ranger of the group.
- Lovable Rogue: A kleptomaniacal delinquent Club Kid without a crumb of respect for the law, but he's still a funny Deadpan Snarker, he's genuinely tragic and his heart is mostly in the right place.
- Perpetual Frowner: Due to a dark past and
an equally as dark present, you don't see the kid smile once across Jenna's route until the good ending. - Politically Incorrect Hero: Introduced making fun of Chase over his mental issues and his being gay, though it's luckily dropped quick enough.
- The Runaway: And with Abusive Parents who kicked him out of the house for being gay, friends who are even worse delinquents than he is, Keith, the one person who ever gave Micha a chance to be something more, mysteriously disappearing and Echo being a complete shithole which is somehow even worse than meets the eye, who can blame him.
- Seventh Ranger: In Jenna's route, Micha is fleshed out almost as much as the route's titular deuteragonist and, by the time of the good ending, has pretty much become part of the main group, even having some Ship Tease with Leo. InUniverse, after hearing about his Dark and Troubled Past, Leo wishes Micha had become part of the group even before then so that they could have helped him through that dark time in his life.
- Ship Tease: is teased as Leo's Second Love in the good ending of Jenna's route, once the wolf finally gets over his obsession with Chase.
- Sticky Fingers: Chase describes him as a kleptomaniac at one point, he stole Flynn's bike at one point and, after the two finally start getting along, Micha promises Chase he'll "steal him something nice".
- Tattooed Crook: The first sign of Micha's background as a criminal is the countless tatoos all across his arms, some looking especially edgy like one of a knife stabbed in his flesh.
- When He Smiles: Downplayed, as it's a smug smirk rather than a full-on happy smile like most examples, but seeing even just that in the good ending of Jenna's route is heartwarming enough after a whole route of Micha being a Perpetual Frowner, and for honestly good reasons.
- Wings Do Nothing: After evolution took its toll, they're barely even wings anymore and anthropomorphic bats in this universe can't do anything more than slow down a fall or barely get off the ground, which admittedly comes in handy for Micha when Brian hangs him and the bat buys himself some time once the stool under him gives out.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Micha is a sneaky little delinquent bat with golden eyes.
Kudzu
- The Ace: Deconstructed in that not only is Kudzu a Broken Ace living a somewhat lonely and embittered existence, but his constant bettering of Leo during his route contributes towards the latter's Sanity Slippage.
- Call to Agriculture: Took up gardening as a coping mechanism after the murder of his first boyfriend.
- The Cameo: Makes a short appearance outside City Hall at the start of the hysteria during Flynn`s route, even being shown onscreen for a few moments.
- Rascally Raccoon: Averted. Though he is show to be rather stealth when he wants to be, his personality otherwise doesn't fit the trope.
- Second Love: Ends up becoming this for Chase at the end of Leo's route, after the experience brings them together.
Raven
- Dogs Are Dumb: Chase mentions in his narration that this is an in-universe stereotype that domestic dog species have to deal with.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Is a pretty eccentric individual, even more than Carl.
- Innocently Insensitive: Has a tendency to make comments of this nature, such as an offhand joke about otter blowjobs and how they "never have to come up for air".
- Paste Eater: Raven remarks that he ate chalk as a kid after Carl asks him how he knows what it tastes like.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Plays this role in Carl's route and manages to lift the spirits of the three mains when things get dire.
- The Pollyanna: Takes being trapped in an Eldritch Location full of supernatural entities trying to kill and/or possess the group surprisingly well, although his cheerful attitude does drop when the group comes across John's lynched body and when he subsequently fights off a knife-wielding Jenna.
Other Townsfolk
Janice Adler
- Character Death: Gets shot by Duke in Leo's route when she tries to stop him and Brian from abducting Chase and Leo. Though Chase does think later on that she somehow survived (as he didn`t get a clear view of the shooting), it`s still strongly implied by the narrative that she didn`t make it.
- I'm a Humanitarian: While not usually, during Leo's route if Chase attempts to escape from Brian into the diner's kitchen it's revealed that the effects of the hysteria have led Janice to slaughter someone and presumably use their meat for the diner's food.
- Hollywood Homely: Chase's inner monologue describes Janice as having "put on a few pounds", despite her sprite appearing anything but.
- Sanity Slippage: In the beginning she is presented as an apparently normal person but throughout the story she presents strange behaviors.
- Those Wily Coyotes: She is shown to be manipulative when she asks TJ several times to stop by her house and do strenuous chores.
Clint
- The Bully
- Disproportionate Retribution: At one point during Jennas route, he threatens to get his gun and shoot Chase, Flynn and Jenna simply for drinking beer and having a talk with some of his peers at a bonfire. Given everyone else`s reaction (with Heather trying and failing to talk him out of it if the player is on the route for the "Good" ending, Micha urgently telling the trio to flee and the group quickly driving away), it`s a strong probability that he may have carried out his death threat had the group stuck around.
- Drugs Are Bad: If his in-game portraits aren't enough proof, other characters make reference to how grotesque his appearance is thanks to years of heavy drug abuse. With a very skinny and malnourished build, missing and yellowed teeth, and patches of fur missing. Chase and Leo have also mentioned him looking like a skeleton or a corpse.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Constantly throws around homophobic and racial slurs at Leo.
- Troubled Abuser: Had a very rough life growing up and is strongly implied he and his sister were sexually abused by their father. While Chase does not have a high opinion of him, he does feel sympathy for him and understands his past, drug abuse, and overall toxicity of Echo itself is what made him such a deplorable person. He also felt that a jab Leo made at his sister's expense was going too far. There's also the fact he is so desperate for his fix that he allows Brian to torture him in exchange for drugs.
Duke
- Anti-Villain: He wants to save Echo... by sacrificing Chase. He's also surprisingly cordial and agreeable for a meth head.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: With Brian on Leo's route; Duke calling the shots while Brian carries out his dirty work.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While perfectly willing to lynch Chase in an attempt to solve the hysteria, he draws the line at allowing Brian to do any of his "sick shit" to the otter while they have him captive, and sternly warns the bear against doing so.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Most of it is due to his paranoia and drug abuse.
- Lean and Mean: A slender weasel and a real piece of work.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Grandfather in this case, he is the grandson of Clifford Tibbits, a naive and excitable academic who knew little of the supernatural nature of Echo, meanwhile Duke is aggressive, commanding and is one the characters that know the most about Echo's true nature.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He sees himself as some sort of authority figure over the town despite not holding any official title.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He genuinely believes his actions will save the townspeople from the hysterias that have plagued Echo for generations. But he's also willing to put those people in danger if they get in the way of his goals.
- Wicked Weasel: Though unlike most examples of this trope, he isn't really shown to be that sly or cunning and is more direct with how he carries out his agenda.
Brian Dubois
- Armoured Closet Gay: Makes a comment that Chase would "probably enjoy it" if he performed his usual Erotic Asphyxiation torture on him because he's "a queer", before Duke immediately points out that Brian is also one of those.
- Bears Are Bad News
- Bondage Is Bad: Is an unrepentant Serial Killer who usually kills his victims during Erotic Asphyxiation play.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Implied to be the result of alien-hallucination-induced Groin Attack from when he was a teenager onwards.
- Depraved Homosexual
- Erotic Asphyxiation: Played for horror, since Brian explicitly gets off on the feeling of pain and powerlessness that his victims feel (even moreso if they "accidentally" die during the process).
- Fat Bastard
- Gayngster
- Karmic Death: Is killed by a creature implied to be one of his nightmares turned real when trying to execute Chase in the mines to save himself (and the town, but mostly himself) from the hysteria during Leos route.
- Also suffers a similar fate during Jenna`s route when he`s in the middle of torturing Chase, Leo and Micha in his trailer.
- Made of Iron: Somewhat impressively is able to survive being shot in the face at point blank range with, at worst, a nasty-looking wound.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Although he tries to hide the "Manchild" aspects, switching the television channel he's watching from a children's cartoon to a golf tournament when he hears a knock on the door.
- Stout Strength: Is both overweight and disgustingly strong. Considering that Cameron, the bear seen in the epilogue for TJ's route, shares similar qualities it's likely as not something inherent within the species.
- Unsexy Sadist
Mayor Moore
- Non-Mammalian Mammaries: Is depicted with large breasts despiste no other reptilian character here or in The Smoke Room having boobs.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Subverted. She seems to be this way at first, however when the hysteria strikes she soon gets caught up in the townsfolk's eagerness to lynch Chase, much to Flynn's disgust.
Jeremy Begay
- Big Brother Bully: Subverted; while he and Clint were both notorious bullies as children, and Jenna herself states in the 'Runaway' side-story that "he hadn't exactly made my life any easier", he's also implied to have been one of the nicer members of her family to her with Jenna not only stating her belief that he may have turned out okay if it wasn't for Clint's influence, but also that she genuinely regrets having to leave him alone in the house with their Abusive Parents in the Runaway side-story.
- Fat Bastard: A heavyset fox and generally not a pleasant guy to be around.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: During a flashback scene in Carls route, Jeremy openly mocks Leo with a hispanophobic slur.
- Watch It Stoned: While taking LSD with Carl in Trip, he puts on a weird cartoon from a worn out VHS tape, telling Carl it will help him relax. Even while tripping, Carl thought the cartoon was disturbing and stupid.
Heather
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Was definitely this to Jenna during high school, convincing her to help Heather out with homework that she couldn't do because of panic attacks and orchestrating a nasty lie campaign that caused Jenna to lose almost all of her non-Echo friends & even suffer physical assault after the latter told her she was too busy dealing with her own problems to be able to continue helping her.
- Beware the Silly Ones: During Jenna's route she gets the idea to use the dam her father works at to end the hysteria once and for all by destroying the entire town in a massive flood. Considering her character up til this point had been the last worry on anyone's mind (especially compared to other threats like Brian, Duke or Clint) her plan, had it succeeded, would have had more devastating consequences than anything else in the entire novel.
- The Ditz: Seems very much out of it most of the time, most likely due to years of substance abuse. Later on in Jenna's route, it's implied that Heather herself actually somewhat resents that everybody else thinks of her as "stupid", which seems to be the major push for her idea to end the hysteria by destroying the town.
- Patricide: She murders her father by shooting him in each eye during the hysteria in Jenna's route.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: In the Jenna route she tries to destroy the dam, allowing flood waters to claim Echo, feeling that for once in her life she'd done something "good".
- Womanchild: Her dilapidated house is decorated like a fairytale castle with the rooms full of children's toys (among other junk) and the walls cladded with old children's party decorations, posters of fairytale characters, and childish drawings. Chase notices a room in the house furnished like a throne room and a drawing of her father and herself as a king and princess respectively. It's implied her father either enabled this behavior or straight up infantilized her.
Mr. Bronson
- Abusive Parents: Constantly yelled at and berated Sydney for not behaving like he wanted him too.
- Accidental Murder: He accidentally killed an elderly Sam Ayers by hitting him with his van in the 1970s. He never got over the trauma from it.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Flynn mentions in his route that Mr. Bronson always had a friendly and cheerful demeanor whenever he was out in public but was aware it was fake and that he was a rotten piece of work behind closed doors.
- Driven to Suicide: After suffering a serious mental breakdown during a hunting trip with Sydney, he shoots himself with his own rifle. It's possible Sam's spirit might have had some influence on his decision.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: He was strongly opposed to Sydney's interests in wrestling.
- The Fundamentalist: A staunch member of the Mormon faith and pushed his religious-traditionalist values onto his son. Scolding him for being more interested in wrestling instead of hunting, disliked his interest in video games, and called Flynn a bad influence due to his rebellious attitude and sexuality. He also constantly threatened Sydney with sending him to live with his uncle in a Mormon compound up north if he did not behave.
- No Name Given: His first name is never revealed and has only been referred to as "Sydney's dad" or "Mr. Bronson" in the story.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Was very homophobic and disliked Flynn for that reason.
- Posthumous Character: Like his son, he's long dead before the events of Echo take place and only appears in flashbacks.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His accidental murder of Sam Ayers leads to the latter's spirit possessing him. His suicide in front of Sydney made Sam jump into his son and Sydney's drowning lead to Sam taking possession of Chase whom he remains for most of the novel's story.
- Troubled Abuser: Was an abusive father who had to deal with living with guilt for accidentally killing someone which resulted in lasting trauma and depression.
- Would Hurt a Child: Has smacked Sydney when the latter cursed at him.
Characters debuting in The Smoke Room
Samuel Ayers
The main character in The Smoke Room, and technically the main character of Echo proper as you control Chase through his "ghost". He was once a prostitue back in 1915 when Echo was thriving, but killed a man in self-defense.
- Albinos Are Freaks: Inverted, his albinism made him exceptionally desirable to his clients.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: At least allegedly. He is repeatedly said to be kind, but during the events of the game his fear and paranoia make him pretty bitter.
- White and Red and Eerie All Over: He is white with red eyes. In Echo, as an antagonist, he is fully evil.
Characters debuting in Arches
Cameron Wilson
Cameron is a coyote and Devon's boyfriend.
Cameron grew up with a rough home life, and struggles with trauma, among other mental health issues. He is skeptical and dismissive of the supernatural, but entertains Devon's request to investigate Echo as he feels he owes it to Devon for being a supporting partner.
- Addiction-Powered: He is a former drug addict with psychic powers that are amplified by drug use.
- Addled Addict: Despite being sober for a few years the baggage of his addiction still haunts him.
- Chemically-Induced Insanity: A victim of this by Brian, who drugs him with mushrooms to use his powers to try exorcise his victims spirits, that along with the trauma of his and Devon attempted murder are the catalysts to Cameron developing schizophrenia.
- Junkie Parent: His mother.
- Junkie Prophet: One of his drug-induced powers is the ability to see possible futures.
- Straight Gay
- I See Dead People: One of his powers.
- Medicate the Medium: Zigzagged, he is mentally ill, being former drug addict and developing schizophrenia by the end, but he also has very real psychic powers.
- Mentally Unwell, Special Senses
- Police Psychic: After leaving Echo Cam would occasionally get visions of Brian's murders and report them to the police.
- Psychic Link: Another one of his powers though he only uses once.
- Seers: Can look into both the past and possible futures, he can also see alternative timelines.
- Telepathy: Another one of his powers.
Devon Ortega
Devon is a bear and Cameron's boyfriend.
Devon is socially outgoing and kind. He has an interest in the paranormal, and chooses to investigate Echo due to its notoriety in the field.
- Beary Friendly
- Foil: He's one with fellow brown bear Brian. Devon is a smart, friendly, levelheaded engineer who cares deeply for his friends and never touches recreational drugs. Brian however is a sadistic serial killer and rapist who's not right in the head and is addicted to every narcotic under the sun.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Once he realises how evil Echo he is has severe regrets and tries his best to bring Cameron back home.
- Straight Gay
Arturo Herrera
Artie is a jaguarundi, and a college friend of Devon's.
- Beware the Mind Reader: Develops this opinion about Cameron by the end.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Had he listened to Dev and taken him and Cameron out of town immediately the plot would've ended right there, instead he offers weed to Cam (who accepts to spite Dev) which leads him to freak out and run away after being influenced by the town, and then when they find Cam he decides to pee, which leads to Cam being attacked by the static monster and the group finding Brian.
