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Residents
Charlotte Harmon
Charlotte Harmon
Voiced by: Exzinia Scott
The owner of the Silver Dragon Dispensary and Ethan's mother. She and Gabe were in a relationship prior to his death.
- Despair Event Horizon: If Alex takes away her anger she will no longer care about bringing Typhon to justice as it won't bring Gabe back.
- Empty Shell: Alex taking away her anger will cause her to become this.
- Every Man Has His Price: Following Gabe's death, she's very tempted by Typhon's offer of a large sum of money in exchange for her agreement not to sue, since it would mean much greater financial security for Ethan over the next few years. Ultimately though, it's up to Alex (and the player) whether she ends up taking it or not.
- Everyone Has Standards: She doesn't allow Ethan into her dispensary because he's too young.
- In-Universe Catharsis: Charlotte's talk with Alex (which turns into a rant), is a good first step for her getting over Gabe's death, though it doesn't seem like it at the time.
- Irrational Hatred: Her anger nova in episode 3 reveals that she blames Ryan (because he was the one who cut the rope), Alex (because her coming to town set everything in motion), Gabe himself (for becoming such an intrinsic part of her life that she can't cope alone anymore), and even her son Ethan (because his sneaking off to explore caused Gabe to be in the wrong place at the wrong time) for Gabe's death. The worst part is, she knows it's irrational, she just doesn't know how to stop feeling it. Alex has the option of either using her powers to take Charlotte's anger away or leaving her alone to work through it herself.
- Parents as People: She tries to be a good mom to Ethan, but has trouble getting through to him in her grief over Gabe's death especially since she can't help but feel somewhat resentful towards him since he was indirectly responsible.
- Renaissance Man: She is a very talented sculptor and painter.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: If the player guides her away from accepting the Every Man Has His Price choice above, she and Alex will cite this as the reason not to take a pay-out if it means allowing Typhon to cover up the circumstances around Gabe's death.
- The Stoner: Downplayed. While we never actually see her being under the influence she runs the only legal cannabis dispensary in Haven Springs.
- Struggling Single Mother: Downplayed, but she seriously considers taking Typhon's bribe to not pursue justice for Gabe so that she can pay for Ethan to go to college someday.
- Token Minority Couple: She (a black woman) is in a relationship with Gabe (an Asian man) and they both live in a predominantly white town.
Diane Jacobs (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
Diane Jacobs
Voiced by: Anastasia Davidson
A geologist and regional operations manager for Typhon Mining.
Diane's role as a Greater-Scope Villain makes her a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
- Ambiguously Christian: She carries a small Christian cross in her bag but her religion is never outright stated.
- Ambiguously Gay/Ambiguously Bi: Discussed by Steph and Ryan, who debate whether Diane is more attracted to guys or girls. If Alex chooses Steph to be the distraction, this seems to prove the latter, given how totally awkward she feels about Ryan in comparison. She will, however, still accept Ryan's offer of a date and seems to be quite looking forward to it, plus she hits on Pike while drunk in one of his memories, so there's an argument to be made for either interpretation.
- Dirty Coward: She genuinely liked Gabe and was sad about his death, and doesn't have anything personally against Alex, but she still follows her orders from the Typhon higher-ups and knowingly lets the blast go off with people (including a child) in the blast zone, leading to Gabe's death. Following this, she does everything she can to keep Alex from finding out the truth, up to and including having Pike arrest and threaten her, having Jed attempt to murder her, and then lying to the townsfolk to try and cover it up (and by exploiting their flaws to manipulate them easier). For all of Diane's talk about how not delaying the blast is evil, she still chooses her own career over Ethan and Gabe's lives. She is all talk, zero action and does nothing to oppose Typhon once they put pressure on her. Leena didn't even tell her that she'd be fired if she delayed the blast, only that it could be risky for Typhon. Diane wasn't even willing to take the risk.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Downplayed. While she's far from the top of Typhon, her inaction helped pull the trigger to the blast that ultimately killed Gabe. In a phone recording the time Gabe made the call, one of Diane's superiors, Leena Clark, pressured her to either delay another day and risk losing her job or to proceed the intended schedule, no matter the casualties, even if one could be a child and viewing anyone as a "liability". It was still because of Diane's inactions and cowardice that Gabe was killed.
- Hate Sink: Once you get a view of what's on her USB-drive and later see her lies at the council meeting, she truly becomes a detestable and nauseating person.
- Hypocrite: In recorded phone calls, Diane blatantly remarks to an interviewer that if Gabe had made a phone call directly to Typhon, then they would've delayed the blast. However, she was fully aware that Gabe made a direct call to them so they could save Ethan from the blast radius, but decides to let the blast go off anyway to cover the second blast in Rhea, just to save her job.
- Luminescent Blush: If Steph is chosen to hit on Diane as a distraction, Diane ends up blushing so hard that Alex can comment that she "could see [her] cheeks from space."
Eleanor Lethe
Eleanor Lethe
Voiced by: Karen Slack
The owner of Lethe Flowers and Riley's grandmother.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: She will side with Alex during her final confrontation against Jed if Alex respects her wish to not let Riley know about her Alzheimer's.
- Dirty Old Woman: Implied and Played for Laughs. During the Spring Festival in Episode 4 Alex can overhear her having a conversation with a young man where she mentions that in the past the Spring Festival would go on until everybody was either black-out drunk or ended up in someone else's bed. When the young man remarks that she must have had a pretty eventful youth she counters him by saying that this happened last year.
- Also, if Alex asks if they're going out for shots after the festival, she suggests body shots. She says she's kidding... maybe.
- Good Parents: Is very loving and supportive of her granddaughter Riley.
- Hiding the Handicap: She hides her Alzheimer's as to not be burden Riley or prevent her from going to college.
- Meaningful Name: "Lethe" means "forgetfulness" in Greek, which is fitting for someone with Alzheimer's.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Chapter 2 reveals that she's in the early stages of Alzheimer's.
- So Proud of You: Her reaction to Riley being accepted into college.
- Tears of Remorse: She cries if Alex reminds her that she forgot to attend Gabe's wake.
- Younger Than They Look: She appears quite elderly, but official materials give her age as just 54 — which would make her only 34 years old when her granddaughter was born!note It's also especially odd because Alzheimer's is an uncommon diagnosis in under-65s, so it's a wonder why they didn't just make her a decade or so older.
Ethan Lambert
Ethan Lambert
Voiced by: Ignacio Garcia-Canteli
Charlotte's son.
- It's All My Fault: After the incident, Ethan clearly feels guilty and blames himself for being the indirect cause of Gabe's death. When Alex comforts Ethan and joins him in their LARP quest, he cheers up... at least until he hears the same sirens he heard the night Gabe died, which causes him to cower in horror. Despite being driven to terror when he hears warning sirens, Ethan admits through his letter to Alex that he still had such a great time.
- Intergenerational Friendship: He ends up becoming friends with Alex. Downplayed, as Alex is only 21 while Ethan is 10.note
- Le Parkour: It is mentioned in the Haven Springs social feed that Charlotte signed Ethan up for parkour lessons. While Alex is searching for Ethan in an old mining warehouse, she discovers that Ethan made a big jump to a convertor belt and climbed his way up to the silo. Alex is somewhat surprised, but of course, wisely decides to find an easier way to the tower instead of Ethan's.
- Magic Knight: Thaynor the Monster Slayer, the hero of the comic book he's making and the character he plays in the LARP, is a warrior who can use some magic spells.
- Put on a Bus: He exits the story after episode 3; see the Visit by Divorced Dad entry below.
- The Bus Came Back: If Alex decides to stay in Haven Springs he is seen in the epilogue playing video games with Alex, as well as playing D&D with her and Steph if Steph was romanced.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Makes the choice to adventure into the Mining Quarry, which ultimately costs Gabe's life when he, Ryan, and Alex save him and consequently revealing the dark secrets of Jed and the entire mining cooperation of Typhon.
- Survivor's Guilt: Shows shades of this after the incident. At the end of the LARP, Ethan hears Typhon's warning sirens go off, which was enough to make him collapse in terror from the awful memory.
- Trauma Button: Following the incident, hearing Typhon's warning sirens is enough to make Ethan experience a mental breakdown.
- Visit by Divorced Dad: He leaves town to spend time with his dad after the LARP in episode 3.
Jed Lucan (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
Jedediah "Jed" Lucan
Voiced by: Stephen F. Austin
The owner of the Black Lantern bar and a former miner and local hero. He's Ryan's father as well as Gabe and Alex's boss.
Jed's role as a Hidden Villain makes him a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
- Affably Evil: Is very nice and helpful to everyone in town including Alex as he offers her a job at his bar, her brother's former apartment, and refuses her offer to pay rent until she is able to support herself. However, this doesn't stop him from trying to kill her once he realizes that she is close to uncovering the truth.
- Beard of Evil: His bushy chinstrap beard and handlebar mustache make him look like a Cool Old Guy when he's first introduced, but seem decidedly more sinister when he's revealed to have been Evil All Along.
- Big Bad: He is one of the people responsible for Gabe Chen's death as it happened during a coverup of a mining accident he and the company Typhon were responsible for, and spends the game trying to stop Alex Chen from discovering the truth.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He is presented as a father figure towards both Gabe and Alex. However, by the end of chapter 4, he shoots Alex and leaves her to die falling down a mineshaft. The next chapter also reveals that he abandoned seven miners, including Alex's father, to die during a mine collapse. Slightly downplayed by the fact he genuinely feels remorse and can even tearfully confess to his crimes during a town meeting.
- Broken Pedestal: Becomes this to the people of Haven Springs (especially his son) once the truth about his actions comes out.
- Broken Tears: After Alex forgives (or condemns) him for his crimes he is no longer capable of suppressing his feelings of remorse and immediately begins sobbing.
- Captured on Purpose: He ends up confessing to his crimes and turning himself in to the police out of guilt.
- Deal with the Devil: Jed made a deal with Typhon to cover up his mining accident and conspire with them to hide the missing miners' whereabouts. Alex can lampshade this if she calls him a pawn in Typhon's scandals.
- Dirty Coward: Alex can accuse Jed as one for leaving several men to die and potentially left many families without a father – including hers and Gabe's – just to save his own skin, and being too afraid to admit his own mistakes and how it could effect his reputation.
- Easily Forgiven: Downplayed. Alex has the choice to forgive Jed for all of his crimes, which include causing the death of her father and brother, covering up his involvement in the deaths of countless other miners, as well as trying to kill her. However, once the truth comes out Jed ends up in prison. This trope can also be avoided entirely as Alex can decide to condemn him instead.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: He is loved by his son Ryan meaning that he is the most likely of the people in the room to refuse to believe Alex's accusations and accuse her of lying.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Zigzagged. Alex all but assures that, deep down, Jed loves his family. And he really did see Gabe and Alex as if they were his own children, and was sad about the fact that Gabe was caught in Typhon's illegal explosion. However, his fondness of Alex still wasn't enough to stop him from shooting her and leave her for dead, just to continue covering up his own mistakes. Plus, after revealing his true colors, he admitted that he was the one who used photos of his own son to cower Alex into believing that he was in danger and get her to keep quiet. It is unclear if he just felt like he had no other choice and just to silence Alex, or if he's grown too obsessed with keeping his reputation that he's willing to put his own son in danger just to keep himself safe.
- Evil Chef: It is mentioned that he is the one who cooks meals for the customers at his bar. He is also the main villain of the story.
- Evil Old Folks: He is pretty old and pretty evil.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He's got a fairly deep voice that comes off as a Baritone of Strength before his villainous behavior is revealed.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Jed tries to paint himself as a hero for saving everyone's lives from the flood in the mine. In actuality, he caused the accident through impulsiveness and cowardly left dozens of men to die in the flood. To cover up his actions, he made a deal with Typhon to bury the mine and lied about the "missing" men, leaving lots of families unaware of their whereabouts.
- Foil: To Alex. Jed is an older man with an established reputation in Haven Springs, superficial niceness, inner cowardice, is a Typhon pawn and a Fake Ultimate Hero. Alex is a young woman, new to Haven Springs, genuinely will risk her neck to help people, is very brave, hellbent on bringing Typhon down and a true hero.
- The Heavy: He basically is this to Typhon, being the one to do most of their dirty work including shoot Alex.
- He Knows Too Much: Decides to murder Alex because he realizes that she is close to uncovering his role in the deaths of countless miners (one of which was her dad) and part in the attempt to cover up the incident which resulted in Gabe's death.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Downplayed. While he does manage to shoot Alex in the head the bullet barely grazes her head let alone kill her despite the fact he shot at her at point-blank range.
- It's All About Me: Jed tries to convince everyone what he did was for Haven. However, an empathic Alex blasts back that his actions were never about Haven, but for himself.
- Karma Houdini: He not only receives no punishment for causing an accident that leaves seven miners dead but manages to paint himself as a hero in the eyes of the people of Haven Springs. That is, until...
- Karma Houdini Warranty: ... Alex, with the help of her friends and special power, manages to find out the truth about the accident and exposes him in front of everyone which destroys his reputation and results in his imprisonment.
- Kick the Dog: He confirms that he used surveillance of Steph and his own son to make Alex believe that they were in danger at the hands of Typhon. Regardless if Ryan believes you or not (as he'll still learn in the very end), he's horrified his father would paint him and Steph as Typhon's targets to silence Alex.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Ends up being exposed by the daughter and the sister of the men who died because of him.
- Leave No Witnesses: He decides to kill Alex after he realizes that she is close to uncovering the truth.
- Lethal Chef: Downplayed. A food critic's review of the Black Lantern mentions that while the food there is not bad it is also not amazing.
- Manly Man: Part of why his ruse of heroism was so successful is because of his traditionally masculine qualities; a gruff-yet-affable miner-turned-bartender with a Baritone of Strength, Manly Facial Hair, and the speech patterns and clothing style of a typical rugged mountain man. This makes it all the more jarring when his corruption, dangerous incompetence, and reprehensible cowardice are brought to light.
- Make Sure He's Dead: Averted. He doesn't bother trying to check if Alex is actually dead. However, this ends up biting him in the ass as he ends up with his crimes being exposed by Alex in front of the Haven Springs City Council. Justified, because he shot her in the head at point-blank range and pushed her down an abandoned mine shaft so he had good reasons to assume that there was no way for her to survive that. He was shocked and terrified of the fact that Alex just barely survived what he threw at her and she still had the energy to expose all of his crimes.
- Men Don't Cry: Completely averted. See Tears of Remorse below.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Alex's Breaking Speech with her powers, whether she either forgives or condemns him for what he did, Jed breaks down and tearfully confesses all of his and Typhon's crimes to all of Haven.
- Near-Villain Victory: Would have likely gotten away with his crimes if Alex hadn't survived the fall down the mine shaft.
- Necessarily Evil: Averted. Jed warped his thoughts about leaving his men (including Gabe and Alex) to die as a "sacrifice". However, Alex accurately points out that it was completely out of his own ignorance and selfishness to protect his reputation, not out of necessity.
- Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction when he sees Alex – injured, but still alive – entering the Black Lantern, having barely survived a graze to the head from a bullet and a long fall into his abandoned mine he collapsed.
- Parental Substitute: Jed tries to be one for Alex and Gabe, but after the latter's death and the former's attempt to expose the truth about the mining incident, Jed shoots Alex and leaves her to die in the collapsed mine.
- Pet the Dog: Zig-zagged. Jed shows how genuinely fond he is of Gabe and Alex, especially helping the latter make herself at home, and loves his only son, Ryan.
- Put on a Prison Bus: He ends up in prison after confessing his crimes and turning himself in.
- Shoot the Dog: He quite literally shoots Alex (barely grazing her head) without hesitation, and outright confirms that he painted Ryan (his own son) as a target for Typhon, presumably not even worrying about what could've befallen on him if Typhon won. These actions make it very clear that Jed's selfish desire to maintain his rep severely outweighs his love for his only family and long-time friends.
- Survivor's Guilt: Even though he tries very hard to suppress it he feels guilty about abandoning his fellow miners to their deaths.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Alex can forgive him after realizing that deep down inside his heart he hates himself for all the deaths that he has caused.
- Tears of Remorse: Being forgiven (or condemned) by Alex for his crimes causes him to break down into hysterical sobbing.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Alex can (understandably) refuse to show any sympathy towards him and refuse to forgive him.
- Too Dumb to Live: A tragic example. He forces his crew to continue digging further down the mine even when water leaks start to appear all over the place which ends up causing a flood that kills almost all of the miners.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Is adored by most residents of Haven Springs while also being responsible for the deaths of many people including Alex's brother Gabe and their dad. As a result, most of the members of the Haven Springs City Council will refuse to support Alex during her final confrontation with Jed unless specific actions were taken.
- Villainous Breakdown: Suffers one if Ryan sides with Alex over him, accusing her of turning his own son against him.
- Villainous BSoD: After being forgiven or condemned by Alex, he can do nothing else but sob.
- Walking Spoiler: It's basically impossible to discuss Jed's role in the plot without revealing the single biggest twist in the game.
- White Hair, Black Heart: His hair is white due to his advanced age and he is the main villain of the story.
- Working-Class Hero: Subverted. He has the whole town believing that he heroically saved his friends' lives back when he was a humble blue-collar worker in the mines, but it's all a lie. He caused the accident that put those mineworkers in danger in the first place, made no attempt to save the ones who got trapped, and had no qualms working with the higher-ups at the company to cover it up.
Mac Loudon
John McCormick "Mac" Loudon
Voiced by: Dwight Braswell
A safety manager for Typhon Mining and Riley's on-again-off-again boyfriend.
- Asshole Victim: Alex's beatdown of Mac is excessive because she can't control the anger she feels from him, but it's undeniable Mac had it coming.
- Bad Liar: Blackmailed by Typhon, Mac denied that Gabe made a call to stop the blast during his shift. Nobody buys his story at all.
- Blatant Lies: When Riley confronts him about his fight with Gabe, Mac will claim that Gabe started the fight. He'll even initially say that Gabe sucker-punched him before backtracking.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He goes ballistic at any sign of a possible threat to his relationship with Riley, real or imagined. Ironically, this can end up costing him his relationship with Riley.
- Everyone Has Standards: Mac admits with all honesty that he may have had a lot of issues with Gabe, but he would never go so far as to intentionally get him killed. He tried to delay the explosion so the others could save Ethan from the blast radius, and is genuinely horrified when he learns that Typhon ignored Gabe's call and forced him to reject Gabe ever making the call.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Mac is a fellow resident of Haven, yet most people see him in a more negative, edgy light, likely due to his bad rep having bad anger issues, especially towards people he believes is trying to steal his girlfriend, Riley.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Oh yeah. The first time we see Mac is when he starts beating up Gabe unprovoked due to believing he and Riley are having an affair.
- Hypocrite: He calls Alex a psycho for beating him up, despite the fact that she only did so after Mac attacked her brother. Admittedly, even without being affected by her powers, Alex still went into beyond justified self-defense which she can accurately point out.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is an overly aggressive guy who isn't above barging into Gabe's apartment to beat the shit out of him for suspecting an affair between him and Riley, Mac's on-and-off-again girlfriend. However, even he's not willing to keep their secrets for long and eventually warms up to Alex even if she broke up his relationship. He texts her a genuine congratulations at the end of the game after Typhon is successfully exposed.
- Properly Paranoid: From Diane's USB drive, Alex discovers that Typhon has installed surveillance in Haven to watch Mac and others who could conspire them. Alex lampshades that Mac was half-right that Typhon was "watching him".
- Put on a Bus: If Alex doesn't help him after his fear nova, he leaves town and isn't seen again for the rest of the game aside from a couple of texts.
- The Scapegoat: Everyone in town blames him for lying about not receiving the phone call from Gabe to halt the blast. He was blackmailed by Typhon to keep his mouth shut and lie about there ever being a phone call.
- Took a Level in Kindness: If Mac and Riley are still together, Riley mentions that he's helping support her and her grandmother to help care for her condition. It's clear that, underneath all of the jealousy and bad temperament, Mac is truly supportive of his girlfriend and her family.
- Villains Out Shopping: For a certain level of "Villain," but one of the recordings on Diane's flash drive from the night of Gabe's death is Mac ordering dinner from the local wings restaurant for his night shift.
Jason Pike
Jason Pike
Voiced by: Cody Lyman
The deputy sheriff of Haven Springs.
- Dude, Not Funny!: When he first meets Alex he pretends like she's in trouble with the law for assaulting Mac, before revealing that he was just joking. Alex doesn't find it particularly funny.
- Friend on the Force: He comes to Alex's defense during her final confrontation against Jed and Diane if she took away his fear of Typhon.
- I'm Not Afraid of You: If Alex takes Pike's fear, he'll tell Diane that he's done letting Typhon push him around during the climactic confrontation and will support Alex by bringing out the evidence she'd given him.
- Last-Name Basis: He's almost always referred to and addressed by his last name, with or without his title.
- Pet the Dog: After Alex reveals the truth about Jed, he finds Alex's late father's bomber jacket in Jed's house and gives it to her as a keepsake.
- Police Are Useless: Zig-zagged. All that Pike can say on Gabe's death is that he's conducting an investigation. Three young adults who have next to no law experience are able to pull up more evidence of shady dealings than him (mostly because they don't have to follow the rules to get said evidence). Justified, however, as Pike is deathly afraid of what Typhon are capable of and is regularly impeded by them. If Alex chooses to remove his fear, Pike will become confident enough to stand up against Diane and Typhon's shady scandals.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Alex taking away his fear of Typhon gives him the courage to immediately release Alex from police custody and continue his investigation into Typhon's involvement in Gabe's death despite the fact that he is officially prohibited from doing so.
- Villainous Crush: Inverted. Typhon's dossier on him reveals that he is rumored to have a crush on Diane.
Reginald "Duckie" McAllister III
Reginald "Duckie" McAllister III
Voiced by: Jim Hunt
A local of Haven Springs and a close friend of Jed's.
- Affectionate Nickname: His real name is Reginald but everybody just calls him Duckie.
- The Alcoholic: He's frequently seen drinking, and goes as far as to write a massacre at the bar into Steph's LARP so that his character would have an excuse to hang out alone at the bar and he could get free drinks.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: If Alex comforts him as he is grieving for his late wife during the Spring Festival by slow dancing with him he will support her over Jed, his close friend of many years, during the final confrontation.
- Drowning My Sorrows: It is possible that Duckie's alcoholism is his way of coping with the death of his wife.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Is still friends with his former comrades-in-arms.
- Happily Married: To his wife Tabitha, until her death.
- The Lost Lenore: He misses his late wife Tabitha dearly and became more withdrawn from others as a result of her death.
- Noodle Incident: No reason is given to explain why his daughter wants nothing to do with him.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Although he introduces himself to Alex with his full name, nobody ever calls him anything other than Duckie.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Downplayed, as he does grasp the concepts of social media and text messaging well enough to use them, but seemingly hasn't worked out that he doesn't need to format his texts like actual letters.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Drink to be more precise. Duckie is quite fond of rye whiskey. Also, his regular order at the Black Lantern is cheeseburger with mushrooms.
- The Tontine: Alex is very excited to find a letter in Chapter 3 stating that he is in one with a few of his friends. In Wavelengths, he calls in to Steph's show on New Year's Day to get a psychic prediction about whether or not he'll win this year.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: One of his memories reveals his relationship with his former comrades to be this.
- You're Not My Father: Typhon's dossier on him reveals that he is estranged from his daughter, who has cut all ties with him.
Riley Lethe
Riley Lethe
Voiced by: Danielle Renee Vivarttas
Eleanor's granddaughter who helps her run Lethe Flowers.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played With. It's completely bewildering why a nice woman like her would put up with Mac for four years of dating. However, uncovering one of her memories in the flower shop reveals that she and Mac actually grew close after he displayed his Jerk with a Heart of Gold tendencies, sticking up for Riley in high school when she was being bullied and showing a genuine interest in the geeky things she likes.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The Gentle Girl to Mac's Brooding Boy.
- Just Friends: It's all but shown that Riley only saw Gabe as a brother and nothing more. Mac, however, doesn't believe her and thinks they were hooking up behind his back. Riley and Gabe both try to assure him that's not the case at all, to no avail.
- Lovable Nerd: She's mentioned to be quite tech-savvy, hence her desire to go to college, and based on a memory of Jerk Jocks making fun of her for being a nerd. She's also able to hack into and decipher Diane's USB drive, which helps Alex uncover the conspiracy behind Gabe's death and Jed's involvement.
- Missing Mom: While talking to Alex, Riley will mention that she "never knew" her mother, suggesting she either died or abandoned Riley when she was a baby.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Mac is convinced that Riley is cheating on him with Gabe, when really he was just helping her with her college applications.
- Nice Girl: She's an affable girl who is kind and compassionate toward just about everyone in Haven Springs.
- Put on a Bus: Literally. If Alex doesn't let her know about her grandmother's dementia, she'll leave on a bus during the Spring Festival in episode 4 to head off to college, and isn't seen again until the epilogue.
- Raised by Grandparents: Her grandmother, Eleanor, is the only parental figure we know of that she has, and she mentions that she never knew her mom.
- What Does She See in Him?: Riley reveals that both Gabe and Charlotte held this opinion of her relationship with Mac after he first lost his temper in front of them. It's shown in a memory that Mac hung out with Riley after she was harassed by his Jerk Jock friends and showed genuine affection to her. Of course, she does have her limits and Mac attacking Gabe unprovoked understandably proves to be the last straw.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie
Voiced by: Suzu the Cat
Steph's cat who lives in Rocky Mountain Record Traders.
- Affectionate Nickname: She's often called "Val" for short.
- All Witches Have Cats: When Steph dresses up as a witch during the LARP, Valkyrie makes the perfect familiar.
- Cats Are Mean: She's quite standoffish and doesn't like strangers bothering her. When Alex tries to move or scare her away from the hold list in episode 1, she responds by hissing and making to attack her. Wavelengths shows that even Steph took at least half a year to get Valkyrie to warm up to her.
- Cool Cat: She has the run of the record store and she knows it, lounging about on the record shelves or in the listening station chair.
- Cute Kitten: She is a black cat Steph cares for at the record store. Alex's first encounter with her ends with Valkyrie pouncing onto a little squeaky toy.
- Cuteness Proximity: A memory Alex can find shows Steph devolving into baby talk when she first meets Valkyrie.
Others
Alex's parents (SPOILERS UNMARKED)
In general
- All There in the Script: Zigzagged. While their family name is easy to infer, Alex's mom's Chinese and English personal names are only in the end credits. Her dad uses his English name John in the game, but the credits also list his Chinese name.
- Immigrant Parents: Implied. In one of her journal entries Alex briefly wonders about how differently would her family's life turn out if her parents didn't immigrate to the United States.
- Posthumous Character:
- Alex's dad is revealed to have been one of the miners who Jed let die. Prior to that, Alex and Gabe weren't sure if he was alive or dead. He also appears in Alex's nightmare memories at the beginning of episode 5.
- Alex's mom died long before the start of the game, but appears in Alex's nightmare memories at the beginning of episode 5.
Jun "John" Chen
Voiced by: Joseph Steven Yang
Alex and Gabe's father who left them to be separated by CPS a few years after his wife's death.- Abusive Dad: John Chen regularly fights and argues with Gabe and neglects his work duties. He eventually abandons the two to be picked up by CPS. However, it should be noted that John is extremely torn up due to his wife's death, and he refuses to bring Alex into any of his quarrels with Gabe. The above-mentioned abandoning was done after he accidentally hit Alex and was ashamed of what he did.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He was one of the miners who were deserted and left to die by Jed Lucan after the accident. The memory of the event that Alex discovers shows that John and the others were trapped by the cave-in, forced to slowly await their death by drowning after realizing Jed wasn't coming back for them.
- Despair Event Horizon: Crosses it after he realizes that he accidentally hit Alex in the face during one of his fights with Gabe. He then realizes that he is not fit to be a parent to his kids and leaves them to be taken by the CPS.
- Jobless Parent Drama: As the flashback in Episode 5 reveals, John's failure to hold down a job is one of the main sources of conflict between him and his son Gabe. This leads to his family constantly being on the verge of homelessness and not being able to feed themselves as evidenced by the huge stacks of unpaid bills and the perpetually almost-empty fridge in his home.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Has this reaction when he elbows his youngest daughter in the face in the midst of an argument with Gabe.
- Parental Abandonment: Abandons both of his children shortly after elbowing his daughter in the face by accident.
- Parents as People: Alex implies that her father wasn't a totally nice guy nor a real good father, even before her mother got sick. After her mother died, John got into frequent arguments with his eldest son, Gabe, over his job/financial issues. About a year since, when John accidentally elbowed Alex in the face, he feels this to be the last straw and leaves his children to be collected by the CPS. Gabe tried to find his father to work things out, but no one would give him information. John moved into Haven Springs to work as a miner. However, Jed Lucan caused an accident and left countless of his workers for dead. John was one of those unlucky miners caught in the flooding, and Typhon tried to cover up his whereabouts.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He left Alex and Gabe on their own after losing his job and accidentally elbowing his daughter.
- Tragic Keepsake: John takes his wife's locket (which she gave to their daughter, Alex) when he leaves his children. When he worked as a miner, Alex discovers that he still kept this and still had the pictures of her and Gabe inside. She uses her empathy on the locket to see the truth.
- Troubled Abuser: He struggles with the death of his wife and is aware of his problems, but feels out of resources.
Giang "Wendy" Chen
Voiced by: Christine Liao
Alex and Gabe's mother and John's late wife.- Deceased Parents Are the Best: She was kinder to her children than her husband and died of an unknown disease when they were little.
- Delicate and Sickly: Ends up dying of an unknown disease.
- Good Parents: Is remembered fondly by her children.
- Minor Major Character: Is only seen in a single flashback in Episode 5 but it was her death that resulted in the chain of events that led to the breakdown of her family, the deaths of her husband and son and her daughter developing a supernatural power.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She is only seen for a few minutes during one of Alex's flashbacks in Episode 5, but her death changed her family's life forever causing Alex to develop her powers and setting the events of the game in motion.
- Soap Opera Disease: The disease that led to her death is not named.
- Supreme Chef: Alex fondly remembers her cooking.
- Women Are Wiser: She was nicer to her kids than her husband and her family completely falls apart after she dies and her husband is left as a single parent.
Leena Clark
Voiced by:
A superior of Typhon Mining.- Greater-Scope Villain: It was Leena's pressuring that caused Diane to not delay the explosions and led Gabe to his death. This also inadvertently caused an investigation that leads to the explosion of Typhon's scandals.
- Hate Sink: While Jed and Diane both express varying degrees of remorse for their actions, Leena is a callous sociopath who has no qualms letting a child die to protect Typhon's secrets.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She never appears in person and only has a phone call and a couple of emails to her name, but she is the one with the greatest intentional responsibility for Gabe's death, since she pressured Diane into not calling off the blast.
- The Sociopath: Through Diane's emails which express outrage for allowing an innocent man to get caught in the blast radius, Leena's unbothered response implies that it was just an "unavoidable accident" (even if one of the potential victims was a kid).Alex: Wow, that's a funny way to spell "criminal negligence".
- The Voice: Does not appear, but can be heard in a phone call and was contacted through email via Diane.
