Characters / Life is Strange: Main Characters

Main Character Index | The Protagonists (Max Caulfield | Chloe Price) | The Main Characters | Other Blackwell Students | Blackwell Faculty | Arcadia Bay Residents | Season 2 Characters | Haven Springs Residents | Comic Supporting Characters

---

Season 1

Rachel Amber

Click here for Rachel's page.

Mark Jefferson (SPOILERS UNMARKED)

Mark Jefferson

Always take the shot.

Voiced by: Derek Phillips (English), Masahiro Yamanaka (Japanese)

A highly reputable and somewhat famous photography teacher at Blackwell, admired by many of his students, who has a very dark and disturbing side to him.

Jefferson's role as a Hidden Villain makes him a Walking Spoiler. Therefore, all spoilers will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

---

• Abusive Dad: As a Parental Substitute to Nathan, he is verbally and emotionally abusive, and even kills him once he has no further use for him.
• Accidental Hero: If Arcadia Bay was sacrificed to the storm, in the sequel, Victoria bitterly notes in a letter to David how he effectively saved her life by throwing her in his underground Dark Room, which was originally built as a storm shelter and allowed her to ride out the hurricane in safety.
• Achievements in Ignorance: Despite having no knowledge of Max's powers, he still comes extremely close to killing her by unknowingly nullifying her methods. He renders Max unable to use her time travel powers by drugging her from behind, and later prevents Max from using her photos to travel back in time again by burning her journal.
• Animal Motifs: Owls can be seen both in the barn where the Dark Room is situated, and in the junkyard, just before he gets the jump on Chloe and Max. Owls usually symbolise wisdom and knowledge as well the ability to see beyond the usual, fitting Jefferson's occupation as a photographer and teacher (and his glasses further this image). They are also nocturnal predators who blend in with their surroundings, reflecting him using his charisma to fit in with everybody while moonlighting as a serial kidnapper and preying on teenage girls to sate his sadistic desires.
• Arch-Enemy: He cements himself as Max's after kidnapping her and killing Chloe in front of her. On the flipside, Max is responsible for his downfall in every timeline where they meet.
• Asshole Victim: Jefferson is a remorseless murderer. If David kills him, Max is only upset because of David's mental state rather than the fact that Jefferson is dead.
• Ax-Crazy: Once his true colors are revealed, Jefferson shows himself to be a batshit insane psychopath who kidnaps and drugs teenage girls to take photographs of them in a vulnerable state. He can also show violent outbursts if Max messes up his shots, and kills Nathan, Victoria, Chloe and David in cold blood (and the last two are on-screen).
• Badass Bookworm: He's surprisingly skilled at fighting for a photographer. David will require a lot of help from Max to defeat him.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears a nice suit while fighting David.
• Back from the Dead: His potential death at the hands of David is undone once Max goes back in time to prevent Chloe from going to the Vortex Club party. He's shown being arrested prior to the climax at the lighthouse; where that leaves him in the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, after the storm destroys the town, is unknown, although since both David and Victoria survive the storm, it's likely that he did as well. He's clearly alive in the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, which resets the timeline.
• Bad Boss: He killed Nathan shortly before Episode 5 because the boy was an "amateur", as Jefferson himself put it, and that's not counting how coldly he treats Nathan as seen in his texts and notes to him.
• Beard of Evil: Sports a goatee and is the one behind a good deal of Blackwell's troubles.
  David's Laptop Note: Never trust a grown man with a goatee.
• Berserk Button: Destroying perfectly good photos. He positively explodes when Max ruins his shots while he's trying to take photos of her. When Max goes back in time and destroys the photo that would have won her the Everyday Heroes Award, he's pissed off enough to burn her journal.
• Big Bad: Episode 5 reveals that he kidnapped and drugged Kate, and at least planned to do the same to Rachel. He murders Chloe and drugs Max at the end of Episode 4, possibly murders Victoria in the beginning of Episode 5 (if she was successfully warned by Max) and murders Nathan before the Vortex Party.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first glance, he's a pretty cool guy, often being friendly and kind to his students and generally being a swell guy to be around. Then he resorts to victim blaming on the whole Kate situation in Episode 2. He's also going around drugging girls and taking disturbing photographs of them, and he has been doing so for God knows how long. He also drugs Max, shoots Chloe in the head at the end of Episode 4, murders Nathan and possibly Victoria.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: If Max says he used Nathan, he says he prefers the term "manipulated".
• Boom, Headshot!:
  • He kills Chloe by shooting her in the head at the end of Episode 4.
  • If Max tells David the truth that Jefferson murdered Chloe, David will snap and execute Jefferson with a headshot.
• Bourgeois Bohemian: He's a renowned photographer who holds a prestigious teaching position and, it's implied, has made quite a bit of money over the years. But like many artists, he places a great emphasis on counter-cultural values such as nonconformity, freedom of expression, and self-discovery. David Madsen is extremely suspicious of his hipster lifestyle. With good reason, as it turns out, since Jefferson's liberal exterior hides a predatory and narcissistic personality.
• Bound and Gagged: How he likes his "subjects." Once he's caught, he finds himself on the receiving end of this.
• Break the Cutie: Jefferson's motive. He enjoys kidnapping naive, innocent, idealistic girls and taking photos of them while they're in shock, fear, and misery losing their innocence. By the end of Episode 4, it's revealed he's taken it up a notch to Kill the Cutie and kidnap The Cutie later.
• Broken Pedestal: Jefferson was the "biggest reason" Max came to Blackwell, and she viewed him with the utmost admiration and respect. That is, until the end of episode 4 came.
• The Cameo: He’s in talks to teach at Blackwell in a radio interview during Episode 2 of Life Is Strange: Before the Storm and is quite possibly the one taking pictures of Rachel in the Dark Room during The Stinger of Episode 3. A photography book by him can also be found in The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, and he is name-dropped by Victoria in a letter to David in Life Is Strange 2 if Sacrifice Arcadia Bay was chosen.
• Camera Fiend: A particularly dark example. He's a renowned and famous photographer who moonlights as a maniacal Mad Artist who kidnaps girls for his illegal and unconsenting photo-shoots.
• Control Freak: Why he forces his victims to pose for him. If they move even slightly, he flips out and swears. This is the trait that cements his obsession with the intersection of the girls' innocence as purely sadistic rather than benignly or even morbidly curious.
• Cool Teacher: Friendly, good sense of humor, and genuinely wants to help his students. Max thinks he can be a bit pretentious, but still thinks he means well. His less endearing side starts to show in Episode 2, as he engages in a bit of Victim-Blaming with Kate, which is one of the factors that nearly drives her to suicide. Max can actually call him on it during the meeting with the principal later, though his punishment is light compared to what can befall Nathan and David. Then comes The Reveal, which turns it on its head.
• The Corrupter:
  • Directly, to Nathan Prescott. Although Nathan was already showing a lot of dark and disturbing traits even before the whole Dark Room thing, it was Jefferson who encouraged his worst traits and convincing him to assist him in his operation.
  • Indirectly, to the people of Arcadia Bay in general. Looking at the profiles of Rachel Amber, Chloe Price, Max Caulfield, Kate Marsh, Frank Bowers, and Joyce and David Madsen alone are a case study in the toxic effect that his operation, with Nathan as his accomplice, has had on the people around him, whether through direct suffering and traums inflicted (in some cases up to and including death) or through indirectly straining their relationships and interactions with one another.
• Country Matters: Jefferson says a C-word when he's dealing with Max's defiance.
• Creepy High-Pitched Voice: He speaks in a distinctly higher register when he's acting out his vices in front of a drugged Max. This is in contrast to how he normally speaks in a calm, smooth tenor.
• Creepy Souvenir: Keeps Chloe's necklace and Victoria's bracelet after he kills them in Episode 5.
• Deadpan Snarker: He makes snide comments regarding students that annoy him.
• Death Glare: After shooting Chloe in the junkyard, he stares down at Max with contempt.
• Devil in Plain Sight: Max's seemingly Cool Teacher is the real villain.
• Didn't See That Coming: He's genuinely shocked that Max knew David was coming to rescue her, which of course she did because of her rewind powers.
• Dirty Coward: Not too obvious, but it's there. As mentioned down below in Hypocrite, he makes a run for the gun during his brawl with David despite basically calling him ball-less without it. And overall, he only goes after innocent young girls who are totally powerless and won't stand much of a chance struggling.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: While the hints of his true nature are littered in crumbs throughout the game, they're done so cleverly well that only players carefully studying everything characters say and do would have any real reason to think he's anything but a kindly hipster photography teacher until shortly before The Reveal.
• Ephebophile: It's possible. There's rumors that he and Rachel slept together at some point (which he doesn't deny, claiming that she was in love with him) and all his known victims are (barely) 18 years old. While there's no evidence he did anything sexual to them, his obsession with the innocence of teenage girls hints towards this. In The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, Chris can spot a collection of his legitimate work entitled Teen Spirit, which indicates that his preference for younger models goes back a long way.
• Evil All Along: He first came off as a Cool Teacher, though he later turned out to be an utterly unhinged Mad Artist, kidnapper, and murderer.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • Jefferson mentions that he knows Max will be missed once he kills her... because she's such a talented photographer. He doubts anyone would mourn Chloe, on the other hand, because she's one of the "faux punk sluts" he despises.
  • Max can call him out for not actually caring about Nathan. Jefferson argues against this, as he thought he was genuinely talented. He fails to realize that Max was referring to caring about Nathan as a person, not an artist.
• Evil Costume Switch: A subtle example. In Episode 4, where his true colors are revealed, he wears a dark-blue shirt under his blazer, as opposed to his usual white one. During the Dark Room scenes in Episode 5, he wears the white shirt but also ditches the blazer and puts on a pair of Conspicuous Gloves.
• Evil Counterpart: He's a photographer like Max, but their styles are polar opposites. Max's style revolves around observations of life and depictions of the colorful, innocent beauty of her surroundings, reflecting her wide-eyed curiosity; while Jefferson's photos are bleak, monochrome and represent invasions of privacy, abuse of authority, domination over the weak, and the corruption of innocence through fear, demonstrating his sadistic and psychopathic nature.
• Evil Gloating: Once he holds Max hostage, he begins bragging about his evil plan. As Max observes, given how easy it is to goad him into this and how much his gloating resembles his classroom technique, it's not hard to see why he became a teacher.
• Evil Mentor: Jefferson encourages Max's confidence and tries to nurture her photography. And then he kidnaps and assaults her and comes close to murdering her.
• Evil Sounds Deep: After Jefferson reveals his true colors in the Dark Room, he starts speaking in a low, menacing voice.
• Evil Teacher: Photography lecturer by day, creepy Mad Artist and eventual murderer by night.
• Eviler than Thou: To Nathan. Not only did he kill Nathan himself, but he might also kill up to five^note  Kate, Chloe, Nathan, Victoria and David members of the main cast.
• Expy: Of Jeff Kohlver. Aside from name similarities, both are respected photographers with freaky ephebophiliac proclivities, who end up messing with the wrong victims.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He's considered the most attractive guy at school. He's also a kidnapper, a sadist, and a mass murderer.
• Faux Affably Evil: Despite the charming, 'hip' persona he puts on, Episode 4 shows his true personality and intentions are much, much darker and psychotic than was ever thought.
• Foil: To his Dragon, Nathan. While Nathan is an angry Jerkass who Max and Chloe almost immediately suspect, Jefferson is a seemingly Nice Guy who almost no one suspects. Nathan kills Chloe by accident, while Jefferson kills her quite deliberately. Finally, while Nathan eventually regrets his actions and apologizes to Max, Jefferson never once feels any remorse for his crimes.
• For the Evulz: His only true motive is pure sadism.
• Foreshadowing: Has this in spades throughout the game. In Episode 1, where you control Max for the first time in his classroom, he already gives out a notable one. He lampshades it in Episode 5, when he jokes that Max would have figured out his true nature if she had just paid attention in class.
  Mr. Jefferson: Seriously, though, I could frame any one of you in a dark corner and capture you in a moment of desperation. And any one of you could do that to me. Isn't that too easy? Too obvious? What if Arbus chose to capture people at the height of their beauty or innocence?
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears glasses and is a sadistic murderer.
• The Good Guys Always Win: Interestingly enough, even though we see multiple different possible timelines in Episode 5, with multiple different possible fates shown for most of the characters, Mark Jefferson's story always ends with him either in prison or dead on the floor of the Dark Room. It seems that from the moment he came in conflict with Max, there was actually never any way for him to win.
• Grayscale of Evil: He has an omnipresent grayscale motif; aside from wearing a black jacket over a white shirt with dark trousers, the Dark Room studio is practically a void of white and gray dotted with black furniture. What we see of his legitimate artwork is also monochromatic, dour, and depressive. His preoccupation with grayscale applies to his crimes as well; he's obsessed with degrading pure, innocent girls into broken, corrupted women. "That shift from black to white to gray...and beyond." Jefferson's limited color palette contrasts starkly with the vividness of Arcadia Bay's environment and the colorful characters within it, which symbolizes how joyless and warped his worldview is. His colorless contrast with the lively characters and environment, combined with the theme of suffering that seems to be all over the Bay, also dovetails in with the evil effect he has had on notably every single major character in the plot.
• Hate Sink: He turns out to be the most despicable character in the game by a wide margin, responsible for drugging and kidnapping countless innocent teenage girls, manipulates the mentally ill Nathan to do his dirty work, and murders Chloe right in front of Max. Needless to say, it's an incredibly satisfying moment if David kills him.
• The Heavy: He and Nathan kidnapped and murdered Rachel, whose disappearance is the focal point of the first season. Many other girls suffered similar fates to Kate.
• Hero Killer: He shoots Chloe in the head with a handgun at the very end of Episode 4.
• Hipster: He calls himself this in Episode 4. He definitely has the look down.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Max defeats him by using photographs in his Dark Room to travel back in time.
• Hope Crusher: His hobby involves breaking innocent girls, photographing the exact moment when they lose hope.
• Hot Teacher: Is considered this by many female students (even Chloe).
• Hypocrite:
  • In his first appearance, he calls the Diane Arbus method of photography "bullshit", stating that he could easily capture any member of his class in a moment of desperation (and that any of them could do the same to him). If you choose to look at his pictures set up outside in the school courtyard, his black-and-white pictures are (mostly) of women in dark, dirty environments, looking miserable.^ExplanationDiane Arbus was known for her black-&-white photos of regular people that showed strong emotions, like desperation, and those photos occasionally tended toward the grotesque. In other words, Jefferson's work apes Arbus's method pretty much exactly.
  • He lectures the class about the moral implications of them spreading around and laughing at Kate's video, even though minutes earlier, he's seen lecturing Kate for that same video and blatantly tells Max that he thinks the video is Kate's fault. While Max's conversation with him might have convinced him to be a little more sensitive, it's a rather charitable interpretation. In hindsight, he may having been trying to drive her to suicide before she could remember that he took bondage photos of her.
  • During his fight with David, Jefferson quips "No gun, no balls!"... and then runs for the gun himself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He belittles and victim blames Kate, but later expresses remorse and admits that he didn't fully understand her situation. Then it's eventually revealed he kidnapped and drugged Kate, along with a handful of other innocent teenage girls.
• Karmic Death: If Max tells David the truth about Jefferson killing Chloe in Episode 5, David will shoot Jefferson in the head, just like Jefferson shot Chloe in the head at the end of Episode 4. And that's after Jefferson says no one would mourn Chloe.
• Kick the Dog: He insinuates that Kate willingly participated in the viral video which is ruining her life because she wanted attention. However, he only says this just to make sure Kate commits suicide and won't remember him and the Dark Room later on.
  Mr. Jefferson: But maybe she doth protest too much.
• Knight of Cerebus: Though the world of LiS has its fair share of jerks and villains, Jefferson is so thoroughly evil and sociopathic that even dangerous criminals like Nathan and Frank look small potatoes in comparison. He's also one of the few characters who has absolutely no positive or redeeming qualities whatsoever.
• Lack of Empathy: He sees his victims as "works of art" instead of people.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • He mocks Max's selfies before tossing them in front of her in the Dark Room. She immediately uses them to go back in time and arrange his arrest.
  • After he's finally caught, he's left taped up and unconscious, just like his victims.
• Leave No Witnesses: He's very meticulous about keeping his dirty business secret. Once his operation is discovered he goes on a killing spree to cover up his tracks.
• Light Is Not Good: Wears a white shirt in the Dark Room, in contrast to his black heart.
• Lust: Appears to have this for young girls. At the very least, he gets off on seeing them in a state of helplessness and fear.
• Mad Artist: He keeps a large collection of photographs of the girls he's kidnapped, all of them taken with an artsy style and deliberate intent at aesthetics. Since his award-winning photos have consisted of women in grimy, miserable settings appearing in pain, it's possible he had been doing this long before he arrived at Blackwell.
• Madonna-Whore Complex: His obsession over "innocence" and "purity" is a deciding factor in his targets. This may also be why he actively avoids Victoria's advances so much, Victoria's Alpha Bitch personality lessening his interest in her. While Victoria has transparently ulterior motives for hitting on him, he also derides Chloe as a "faux-punk slut" after she flirts with him sincerely in Episode 4.
• The Man Behind the Man: To Nathan Prescott, who was placed as a more apparent villain since Nathan was so openly rude and malicious.
• Manipulative Bastard: Not only did he exploit Nathan's daddy issues to effectively turn him into a puppet, he uses his charisma to prevent Blackwell staff and students from even suspecting his ulterior motives. Later, in episode 5, he intends to put the entire blame for drugging Kate and the death of Rachel and Max on Nathan. Searching through the Dark Room after reveals how meticulous his plans were. One could also interpret his victim blaming towards Kate earlier as a subtle means of eliminating a loose thread where none would ever suspect him.
• Mask of Sanity: To the public Mr. Jefferson looks nothing else except a celebrity photographer, an old hipster and a cool teacher with the occasional cocky tendencies, but in reality he's a very obsessive and unstable Mad Artist.
• Mood-Swinger: During one of his photo-shoots with Max, he goes from lustfully admiring her beauty to angrily admonishing her for ruining his shots.
• Motive Rant: Jefferson's disturbing dialogue with Max in the dark room. He grew tired of the "faux punk sluts" of LA and wanted to capture youth and the corruption thereof instead. This artistic obsession with purity leads him to kidnap and photograph girls he sees as suitable subjects.
• Muse Abuse: Considering his MO is kidnapping and photographing girls while they're unconscious, it's a given.
• Narcissist: To amplified degrees. Jefferson's art catalogue mainly consists of bland black and white photos of young women in bondage. He thinks this work is so high art that he's convinced that his victims want to be kidnapped and made into his models.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: While bragging about how he'll get away with murdering Max, he throws her photo journal at her, which allows Max to use her powers to alter the timeline to prevent him from winning—she'd been previously unable to do this thanks to being tied to the chair.
• Nightmare Fetishist: He loves drugging young girls, taping them up, and photographing their vacant faces as they lie sprawled out on the floor.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • He seems to have been inspired by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. Aside from sharing the first name and having a similar appearance, the band's song "Piano Fire" from "It's A Wonderful Life" album is also included in the game's soundtrack, and one of the songs from the aforementioned album is literally named "Maxine".
  • A more direct inspiration may be Terry Richardson, a celebrity photographer who's been dogged by allegations of misconduct since 2001, and who in 2014, around the time of the production of Life is Strange, published an open letter in the Huffington Post in response to the claims. Note the physical resemblance, as well as Richardson's early history photographing the punk scene.
• No Love for the Wicked: Interestingly enough, despite his vast sadistic streak Jefferson never actually expresses any sexual desires towards his victims and his crimes seem to be motivated by an obsession with "capturing that moment when innocence evolves into corruption".
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: During The Reveal, he drugs Max (disabling her power in the process) and wipes Chloe out without saying a single word. Also, during his fight with David he will consistently win, until Max distracts him a couple of times.
• Obvious Villain, Secret Villain: The "secret villain" to Nathan's "obvious".
• Oh, Crap!: He didn't see David coming in to stop him and his criminal misdeeds.
• Offscreen Villainy: He has a cupboard full of binders with his victims' names, suggesting he has about several dozen kidnappings to his name, but because the exact circumstances behind those incidents and whenever the victims were killed or not are unknown, it's quite difficult to pinpoint the exact number and scale of his crimes.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He makes a few misogynistic remarks in episode 5, referring to Max as a "stupid bitch" and/or a "dumb cunt", and Chloe a "faux punk slut".
• Pragmatic Villainy: Usually refrains from murder to avoid attracting unwanted attention. However, Nathan accidentally overdosing Rachel messed up his plans, causing Max and Chloe to start digging into Rachel's disappearance and uncovering his operation.
• Sadist: Jefferson's sole motivation for all his crimes in the story is, in his own words, his obsession "with the idea of capturing that moment innocence evolves into corruption." By that, he means he's obsessed with watching innocent girls suffering. Models are too "cynical" for him; traumatizing them has either already been done and/or won't be visceral enough for him to get a kick out of. No; he wants to hurt pure, optimistic girls, and capture their breaking point. And since he's frighteningly particular about the perfect shot, even that has to be on his terms.
• Sadist Teacher: His Victim-Blaming conversation with Kate becomes horrifyingly despicable once you know what he did to her. He's intentionally goading her into suicide.
• Spree Killer: While murder is not his direct intention, he's very much willing to kill anyone who gets in his way.
• Scary Flashlight Face: Makes a really frightening one when Max points her cellphone's flashlight at him, the man who just drugged her and gunned down Chloe.
• Shadow Archetype: This guy is what Max and Victoria could turn into if they take their obsession with photographic greatness too far; it's particularly disturbing considering that the player may have done similar to him already—making people like Victoria or Trevor suffer to take optional photographs, and rewinding so that the unfortunate subject doesn't remember it.
• Shame If Something Happened: In one of the unused lines of dialogue from Episode 3, he calls Max's nosiness "a fatal character flaw" and how it could "deprive the art world of [her] vision".
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Always dressed in a nice suit.
• Smug Snake: Even before The Reveal Max acknowledges that there's a certain sense of pretentious smugness to him. He even has his class fully titled The Language of Photography. But way after the reveal, he fully channels his arrogant side, gleefully relishing in his own evilness and being confident that no one can stop him.
• The Sociopath: He hides in plain sight under the guise of being a famous photographer while subtly influencing or manipulating those around him. By episode 5, he's nearly driven Kate to suicide (and will have succeeded if the player couldn't talk her down), has full access over the Prescott fortune by exploiting Nathan and puts together a ruse to pin everything he has done up until that point on him. All before anyone at Blackwell ever suspected a thing. It's further implied he may have done similar things for years considering he went on a "teaching tour" through several States prior to arriving at Arcadia Bay and has a cupboard full of binders of other women.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Speaks in a low, whispering voice while talking down to Max in her half-conscious state. Kate Marsh also states that "someone" (who was revealed to be him) was talking to her in a soft voice, implying that he also does this to his other victims.
• Straw Misogynist: His sadistic tendencies are targeted exclusively towards women, drugging and capturing innocent ("innocence" being a big deciding factor in his targets) high school girls where he photographs them in such states of vulnerability without their consent. When Max stirs from her drugged-out state using her time-travel abilities, he throws massive tantrums and yells at her to stay still. He also manipulated Kate - who was clearly in an emotionally fragile state - into her suicide/attempt by implying that her unfortunate circumstances were 100% a result of her own actions while he himself was complicit in what happened to her.
• The Svengali: He is Max's photography teacher who uses his friendly facade to conceal his twisted passion for corrupting the innocence of his "models", with Max herself being his latest victim before David finally stops him. His "apprentice", Nathan Prescott, is also a student whom Jefferson groomed and manipulated into committing crimes for him, and it is also implied that he also used Rachel Amber's desperate desire to escape Arcadia Bay to have her willingly pose for his shoots until Nathan accidentally killed her.
  Max's Diary: I saw him for the first time as he is: a creepy, manipulative psychopath, filled with bullshit. He uses art and passion to seduce people, but behind that there's nothing but hate and perversion.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Victoria is heavily implied to want one, though he shoots her down immediately when she makes that desire apparent in Episode 3. Several other female students indicate they would sleep with him given the chance. He's rumored to have actually slept with Rachel.
  • In Episode 2, the player can find a note in the Junkyard from Rachel to Chloe that states she met a wonderful person and they hooked up. During their 2015 Charity Live Stream, Dontnod confirmed the person in the letter was him.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: He's really a sadist who's been abducting young girls from his class and photographing them in states of distress, but odds are you'd never guess that just by looking at him.
• Treacherous Advisor: He's Max's photography teacher who later tries to kill her in his Dark Room.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He's a famous and renowned photographer. No one expected him to be the mastermind of the Dark Room.
• Visible Victimology: "Open and honest" young girls, in contrast to the "cynical" models he remembers working with.
• Uncertain Doom: It's unknown if he survives the destruction of the town in the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, although his odds aren't good. In the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, he's alive but in custody.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Jefferson's manipulation of Nathan to assist in his sick hobby leads to Rachel's disappearance and death, Chloe being left to deal with a debt to Frank on her own, and Nathan drugging Chloe at some point. All of these things factor into how Nathan, his gun, and Chloe all end up in that restroom with Max. That event awakens Max's powers and incurs the consequences of Chaos Theory over the town itself, which is why she ever has to endure the "Bae or Bay" Sadistic Choice.
• Walking Spoiler: The last ten seconds of Episode 4, which shows not Nathan, but him shooting Chloe and drugging Max to take her to the Dark Room, throw his whole characterization for a loop.
• Wham Shot: Seeing him standing over Max in the junkyard, indicating he's the one that killed Chloe and drugged Max, and was the one behind the Kate and Rachel case the whole time.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: It's unknown what became of Jefferson after Sacrifice Arcadia Bay. Life Is Strange 2 reveals that David saved Victoria when he investigated the Dark Room, so it's possible that David somehow managed to subdue him and turn him over to the police, or even kill him, but it's never made clear.

Kate Marsh

Kate Beverly Marsh

I'm kinda over humanity today. Sorry to be a drama queen.

Voiced by: Dayeanne Hutton (English), Hana Takeda (Japanese)

One of Max's classmates — a quiet religious girl that has few friends, Max being one of them.

---

• Abusive Parents: Though her father and sisters are highly supportive when the humiliating video of her is made public, her mother and aunt are not, which doesn't help Kate's self-esteem. Depending on whether or not Max saves Kate, her mother does a 180 on this. If Kate lives, she becomes extremely supportive and believes that protecting Kate is "her only duty" now. If Kate dies, her mother is devastated and laments ever judging Kate for what she did.
• Against My Religion: The fact that Kate is the head of the school's Abstinence Club and against pre-marital sex is one of the reasons why her classmates bully her.
• Alice Allusion: Her spirit animal is indicated to be a rabbit and she's the owner of a white rabbit called Alice. The video about her and the implied sexual assault is the biggest clue about what's been going on.
• All the Other Reindeer: In the opening classroom scene, Taylor throws a paper ball at her face, which according to Max, is a regular occurrence. The ball, once uncrumpled, is a note that reads "Dear Kate, we love your porn video - XOXO Blackwell Academy". In the bathroom, on one of the abstinence posters, someone has written 'Kate twerks for God!' on it.
• Ambiguous Ending: The hospital she is in if she survives her suicide attempt does not appear to be in Arcadia Bay, implying she may have survived the storm.
• AM/FM Characterization: Kate plays the violin which serves to emphasize her conservative nature.
• Back from the Dead: In Episode 5, whenever Max rewrites time to get Jefferson arrested before Tuesday, Kate never attempts suicide and thus survives even if she jumped back in Episode 2. The "Sacrifice Chloe" ending brings Kate back for good.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Even sweet-natured Kate has her limits with how others treat her. At the beginning of Episode 2, she tells Victoria that "someday, she'll be sorry" for her ruthless bullying, foreshadowing Kate's suicide attempt later in the episode, which will cause Victoria to break down in tears by the finale over the stress of the incident, in an almost identical match of how Kate herself was in the Episode 1 finale. Provided that she survives her suicide attempt, Kate also makes an exception of not showing forgiveness towards Nathan, and expresses her desire to see him pay for his crimes, even going as far as to text Max his room number so she can break in, steal from him, and expose him as the scum that he is to the world.
• Break the Cutie: Kate has it almost as bad as Chloe. She's constantly bullied by Victoria and Taylor, has a drunken video of herself posted online which goes viral, the teachers won't help her and she's drugged by Nathan and subjected to Mr Jefferson's sick, twisted photoshoots. All this leads to her attempting suicide.
• Broken Bird: She has been broken over a very short period of time, after Nathan drugs her and it causes her to act out at the Vortex Club party.
• Bunnies for Cuteness: She's an extremely nice, sweet, dorky and adorable girl, and owns a pet bunny that Max takes care of after her attempted/succeeded suicide attempt. In the situation where she survives her suicide attempt, Kate thanks Max for taking care of her bunny.
• The Bus Came Back: An unusually dark example in the Forget-Me-Not comics. Yes, it's Kate's first canonical appearance since the original game! Unfortunately, that's because in the Alternate Timeline of the comics, Kate's suicide takes the place of the "Bae or Bay" ending choice from the game, in that it's a fixed event that traumatises the surviving characters and kick-starts Steph on her life's path.
• Butt-Monkey: She has it rough, that's for sure. She's constantly made fun of, apparently for her religious views.^† Fun Fact: Oregon, where this story takes place, is traditionally the least-religious state in the USA. In the first episode alone, she gets horrible notes thrown at her in class and is harassed by the head of security. In the second episode, it's revealed that the reason she's been so bullied is because a viral video of her kissing people while under the influence has been spread around, which eventually drives her to attempt suicide. And that's without diving into what Episode 4 implies have happened to her at the hands of Jefferson.
• Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: Downplayed. Kate is friends with Max and while Max herself doesn't have many friends she is not bullied like Kate is.
• Christianity is Catholic: She's never explicitly said to be Catholic; however, if she survives, she has a picture depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus next to her bed.
• Church Lady: She is a very devout Christian and the head of the local Abstinence Club.
• Crisis of Faith: It is rather subtle, to the point that those who aren't thorough in searching her room will miss it, but it is evident that the ordeal she has been and is still going through has left her struggling with her beliefs. There are notes in her room from her mother and aunt expressing their displeasure with her, calling her a Jezebel, insisting they will pray her demons away, and demanding she pray for forgiveness. Telling Kate her mother would miss her during Episode 2's climax pretty much guarantees Kate will jump. She's also marked her Bible with post-it notes containing two verses. One, Proverbs 21:15^note  "When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers", has been crossed out. Invoking that one during her suicide attempt goes badly. The other is Matthew 11:28^note  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…", which she takes better.
• The Cutie: There is no doubt that this crushingly cute girl is one of the sweetest, kindest, and most innocent characters of the game.
• Daddy's Girl: Her relationship with her father is shown much better than the one with her mother. Telling her that her father will miss her will make talking Kate down from the ledge during her suicide attempt a little easier.
• Dark Is Not Evil: She wears just as much black as Alyssa, but she's one of the kindest characters you can befriend.
• Date Rape: Played with; the video of her is a soft version of this where she kisses (and possibly more) a bunch of boys while heavily drugged from a spiked drink. She also fears that this happened to her while Nathan was taking her to the "hospital" during the party. You can even accuse Nathan of doing this later in the game. Unused dialog has Nathan vehemently deny hurting Kate in any way, and you later learn that Jefferson's victims weren't sexually assaulted. However, what was actually done to her—taking pictures of her bound and vulnerable while she was too drugged to even know what was happening—had about the same effect for poor Kate.
• Defiled Forever: Because of her fundamentalist Christian beliefs, she has begun to think this about herself after being drugged and probably raped at a Vortex Club party. The reactions of her mother and aunt certainly don't help.
• Despair Event Horizon: Max has to bend reality backwards in order to have a chance pull her out of it.
• Driven to Suicide: In Episode 2, she finally snaps from all the abuse and tries to kill herself by jumping off the roof of the girls dorm. Whether she succeeds or not depends on you.
• The Eeyore: She's very depressed and irritable when Max encounters her, in part because she was drugged at a party and recorded making out with several boys without her consent, and eventually attempts suicide because of it. She only perks up if Max saves her life.
• Elegant Classical Musician: Plays the violin, but ceases playing it when her life is upended by the viral video.
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Since she was drugged and abducted by Nathan Prescott, she has nothing but hate towards him and his family. She gladly assists Max in her pursuit to bring Nathan to justice and even says the Prescotts are rotten and evil.
• Felony Misdemeanor: After the viral video of her is posted online, Kate is the target of relentless Slut-Shaming and becomes known as the "viral slut" in Blackwell. This is especially jarring because many students have engaged in much more promiscuous behavior than just kissing a few boys.
• Fire-Forged Friends: It does take a little time and effort for Max to gain Kate's friendship, as she's suffering from severe depression. However, taking the time to interact with her pays off if you want to prevent her suicide.
• Friendless Background: Max informs that Kate doesn't seem to have any friends. Of course, she can build a friendship over her due to their similarities.
• Genre Blind: She actually asks Max how to take down a viral video and if she should go to the police for being drugged and possibly raped at a party.
• Give Me a Sign: If Max prevents her suicide, she will call her an angel sent to help her overcome her inner demons.
• Good Parents: Kate's father is this. In her room can be found a postcard from him, telling Kate that he loves her unconditionally. If you tell Kate that her father would miss her, Kate says outright that he is the only member of her family who believes in her.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's one of the sweetest and most genuine people in the game. Despite her family relentlessly victim-blaming her, she forgives them and says that she knows they didn't do anything. (Which they did; they were a part of what influenced her suicide attempt.) She even gave most of the flowers that she received to other patients in the hospital.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Almost as much as Max. She's a very kind, religious girl who dislikes swearing and treats others with nothing but respect.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Just check the profile image for her.
• Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: A video of Kate making out (and possibly more) with most of the Vortex Club at a party made its way onto Youtube and the URL was distributed among the student body. A few people have taken it upon themselves to make Kate's life a living hell over it, leading to her depressed state at the beginning of the game.
• Interrupted Suicide: In Episode 2, Kate attempts to end her life. Max presses her time powers to their full extent to get up to the roof and try in an attempt at Talking Down the Suicidal. Whether or not you can save her depends on choices you made previously, as well as saying just the right words.
• Irony: She tells Max how she wishes she could turn back time to prevent her life from getting ruined.
• Kill the Cutie: If you as Max are unable to prevent her suicide in Episode 2. If this happens and Max chooses to sacrifice Arcadia Bay to the storm, she's gone forever.
• Killed Off for Real: She's one of five characters this can happen to in the main game, the others being Frank, Nathan, Joyce, and Chloe. Failing to prevent Kate's suicide in Episode 2 and choosing to sacrifice the Bay will make her death permanent.
• Last-Second Word Swap: She is at one point about to call Victoria a bitch, but catches herself and settles for just saying that she is "not very nice" instead.
• Meaningful Name: Kate is derivative from Katherine, which means "pure", and Kate is definitely one of the nicest, purest characters in the game.
• Mess of Woe: Downplayed. Kate's room isn't much messier than any normal teenager's room when you first enter it, but Max notes that Kate is usually very neat and organized and not the type to let clothes pile up on the floor. It's yet another sign of just how badly she's affected by the video.
• Nice Girl: She's a kind and sweet young girl. Made all the more tragic when she's bullied by several people to the point where she attempts suicide over a viral video being posted online.
• No Social Skills: Max talks about how Kate doesn't seem to have any friends. This can lead to the two of them forging a friendship due to their similarities.
• Odd Friendship: Before Chloe shows up Kate is pretty much Max's only friend at Blackwell even though Kate is a pious Christian while Max is not religious at all.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In addition to her withdrawn nature, Max also mentions how Kate has recently given up activities she enjoyed, like playing the violin.
• Out of Focus: Played With. She's fairly prominent in the first two episodes, but falls off afterwards due to either being dead or in the hospital. Should she survive her suicide attempt, she appears only by text message in Episode 3, and Episode 4 has only one scene with her, plus a few texts. However, she still comes up frequently in conversations, and messages of remembrance/well-wishes can be seen throughout the remainder of the game.
• Prim and Proper Bun: She's a shy, introverted church girl who wears her hair in a messy bun.
• Saintly Church: According to Max, Kate takes her religion seriously, and is the head of the school abstinence club. However, she never preaches about it, which is one of the reasons Max likes her.
• Security Blanket: When Max visits her in hospital (assuming she survived the suicide attempt), Kate appears to have been sleeping with a small icon of Jesus next to her bed, possibly for this purpose. Max seems to think this is a little weird, but muses that anything that brings Kate comfort is alright by her.
• Shipper on Deck: If she is still alive in Episode 4, she can mention that she thinks Max and Warren would make a cute couple.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Implied. If the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending was chosen, Episode 5 of the second season reveals that Max, Chloe, David and Victoria were the few survivors of the storm with everyone else presumably dead, which may include Kate. Further suggested by the fact the book she wanted to write appears as an Easter Egg in the second season, but only if the player chose "Sacrifice Chloe".
• Shout-Out: Her middle and last name are Beverly Marsh, the name of a main character from Stephen King's novel It who also happens to face Slut-Shaming.
• Shrinking Violet: The Kate we see in game is very quiet and reserved. According to Max, that isn't how she usually acts. Any questions made to her about her change in attitude are gently brushed off.
• Slut-Shaming: One of the reasons why everyone torments her for the video. She becomes known as the "viral slut". The notes she receives from her aunt and mother reek of this.
• The Teetotaler: Downplayed. She is not completely against drinking but she drinks very moderately and never drinks to the point of getting wasted. This is actually the reason why she suspects that she was drugged at the party.
• Token Religious Teammate: She's the only openly religious character in both Max's social circle and the game at large.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: If Max fails to save her from committing suicide, she will die for good.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: If Max talks Kate down from her suicide attempt she will visit her in the hospital in Episode 4, where Kate is shown to be much happier then before. Kate even gives the other patients her spare flowers.
• Trauma Button: Kate doesn't take her mother's lack of support well. If Max tries to invoke her during Kate's suicide attempt, she will jump regardless of what decisions you made beforehand.
• True Companions: If Max takes the time to learn more about her and comfort her, then Kate will call Max the greatest friend she's ever had.
• What the Hell, Hero?: If Max chooses not to defend her from David, doesn't take her call and tells her to obtain proof that she was drugged, Kate will call her out for not helping her during her suicide attempt. If Max then fails to properly justify these actions, Kate will become even angrier with her.
• When She Smiles: Max notes that it's been a while since she's seen Kate happy; if you manage to save her from suicide and see her in a later episode, she's noticeably happier looking and better for it.

Victoria Chase

Victoria Maribeth Chase

Now you're totally stuck in the retro zone. Sad face!

^{Click here for her appearance in Before the Storm}

Voiced by: Dani Knights (English, Season One), Akari Higuchi (Japanese), Theresa Croft (English, Before the Storm)

One of Max's classmates and a member of the elite Vortex Club. "A total bitch," as Max puts it in her journal, but she's attractive, got great grades and has a loyal group of friends.

During the events of Before the Storm, Victoria seeks to usurp Rachel Amber's place as the "queen bee" of Blackwell, which brings her into conflict with Chloe.

---

• Academic Alpha Bitch: A fairly straight example. She makes fun of Max in class for not being able to answer a question, but gets pissed when Max answers the question correctly (using her rewind power, but Victoria obviously doesn't know that). Even being nice to her after a water and paint spill, which Max engineered, only briefly causes her to let her guard down, and she still notes that they aren't friends when texting her gratitude.
  • Episode 4 has her explain why she's this way: her parents own an art gallery, so she's "seen how the game's played", and believes that you have to be that callous in order to advance in the art world.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Victoria isn't exactly a villain, but she did bully Max, and was one of the main factors of Kate's (attempted) suicide. That said, if she ends up in the Dark Room in Episode 5, it's hard not to feel bad for her, as she's absolutely terrified and filled with remorse for what she did to Kate.
• Alpha Bitch: This, too. She "sexts" with Juliet's boyfriend and then pins it on Juliet's friend Dana because Juliet wrote an article that spoke negatively of the Vortex Club. Although it isn't made exactly clear how much of this behavior is just a front to achieve whatever ulterior motive she might have.
• Ambiguously Bi: She clearly has a crush on Mr. Jefferson in the original game, but in Before the Storm she leaves a comment online calling Rachel hot and asking her who the arm candy is. By that she means Chloe, who is being hugged by Rachel in the picture. When high she tries to insult Rachel by calling her pretty.
• The Atoner: Life Is Strange 2 reveals that, if Arcadia Bay was sacrificed, Victoria moves back to Seattle and looks after her parents' art gallery after being saved from the Dark Room by David and surviving the storm. She's genuinely respectful of Max and Chloe and hopes that they're looking after David for saving her life.
• Back from the Dead: Her potential death at the hands of Jefferson is undone once Max goes back in time to prevent Chloe from going to the Vortex Club party.
  • Life is Strange 2 reveals that, if the player chose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay, she was one of the few survivors from the town (ironically being protected from the storm by the Darkroom bunker she had been tortured in).
• Beta Bitch: While she's an Alpha Bitch in the main timeline, the alternative timeline shows her being this to Max, who's the new Alpha Bitch (though a lovable one).
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She acts somewhat pleasant towards Chloe and Rachel in Before the Storm, but beneath that faux sweetness, she's the same unpleasant Alpha Bitch she is at the start of the first game.
• Boyish Short Hair: Inverted. She has a short pixie cut, but is a feminine fashionista and Alpha Bitch.
• Break the Haughty: She is seen crying at the end of Episode 2, in stark contrast to the apparent glee she expressed as she bullied Kate and when filming her suicide attempt. Also for Episode 5, if she gets kidnapped by Jefferson with Max in the dark room.
• Broken Pedestal: If Arcadia Bay was sacrificed, Life Is Strange 2 reveals that she feels she can no longer look up to Jefferson as an artist after he kidnapped her.
• Bullying a Dragon: Sure, Victoria. Of all the girls you can be bitchy toward, it has to be the school's resident delinquent that does drugs and gives zero fucks to the world. You're pretty damn lucky the worse she could do is sabotaging your homework.
• The Bus Came Back: Following the revelation in Life is Strange 2 that she survived the storm if you chose to save Chloe, she reappears in the subsequent comics arc as a major supporting character.
• Butt-Monkey: It's possible to turn her into one in Before The Storm. It ranges from Chloe giving her in-correct homework answers (that come off as inappropriate and gets her in trouble with her teacher) to Rachel using the same drugs to mess with the tea that she herself was going to use in the scenarios where Rachel didn't lose her role as Prospera.
• Closet Geek: Peeking around in her room in Episode 3 reveals that she secretly collects anime figurines.
• Damsel in Distress: If Max warns her about Nathan, Victoria will go to Jefferson for help, knowing he's the true mastermind before the Dark Room too late when she's tied and helpess along with Max. When Max finds herself back in the Dark Room after ripping her picture to save Chloe from the storm, Victoria has been killed and Max is even more determinate to go back in time to prevent her death and her kidnapping.
• Department of Redundancy Department: In Before The Storm, a drugged up Victoria tells Mr. Keaton she has "revelations to reveal".
• Easily Forgiven: Should Kate survive her suicide attempt, she will tell Max that she believes in redemption and is willing to forgive Victoria for what she's done to her.
• Everyone Has Standards: Upon witnessing Kate's suicide/ suicide attempt, she breaks down crying to herself due to her heavy role in the tragedy.
• The Fashionista: Max notes Victoria has a good sense of fashion, and she can get her hands on expensive brand marks.
• Foil: To Warren. While he is a honest, sensitive and genuinely friendly student, Victoria is a rich, egotistical Jerkass with a social circle of friends who enjoy antagonizing other lonely students for a cheap laugh.
• Freudian Slip: In the prequel, if Chloe switches the tea cups and Victoria has no idea she drank the drugged cup, she slurs that Rachel has been drugged before correcting herself that she is on drugs. She then says Rachel has a pretty face.
• Girl Posse: Courtney and Taylor are this to Victoria.
• Gratuitous French: She sometimes says "Au Revoir!"
• Green-Eyed Monster: She is implied to have been jealous of Rachel Amber's popularity, though at least one of her fellow Vortex members contests this, claiming Victoria begrudgingly respected Rachel. There's also hints of it towards Max, as Jefferson shows Max obvious favoritism.
• Harmless Villain: Sure, she's still nasty enough to bully and harass Kate to the point where she (successfully or not) commits suicide, her dastardly shenanigans are nowhere near as bad the exploits of her loony friend Nathan and serial kidnapper Jefferson.
• Heel Realization: After Kate attempts and possibly succeeds in committing suicide she's shown crying in her room over her involvement in the situation. In the proceeding episodes, her Alpha Bitch tendencies are notably toned down (albeit still present), and if Max hasn't been actively antagonizing her back, she'll open up to the other girl and learn to trust her.
• Hidden Depths: Something that even Max can't deny in the long run.
  • Victoria's not a great photographer, but she's skilled enough and very knowledgeable beneath the Rich Bitch façade she shows to everyone. In Episode 4, she reveals that her parents own a successful gallery so she's grown up viewing the art world from its seedy cutthroat underbelly. It's made her believe that only those ruthless and hyper-aggressive towards their competition have a chance at success.
  • While she speaks with a certain Valley Girl affectation normally, it's gone when she talks more candidly with Max. In Episode 4, she can admit that she thinks of Max as the coolest person at Blackwell, precisely because Max doesn't feel the need to act the part as she does, and the two will bury the hatchet if Max reached out to Victoria in Episode 1 following the paint incident.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Heavily downplayed, but Victoria's Pet the Dog moments and Hidden Depths suggest she acts this way due to her family's own callous nature in the art world.
• Hoist by Her Own Petard: In Before The Storm, if Chloe took the blame in Wells' office, Victoria will try to drug Rachel in order to play Prospera in her place. Chloe (and the player) have the choice to switch the cups or have her drink the tea to prove her innocence. In both cases, Victoria's plan fails miserably and results in her passing out.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Victoria is best friends with the drug-addled Nathan, who habitually drugs and kidnaps girls for Mr. Jefferson, on whom Victoria has a crush. Very downplayed in that she was no more aware of Mr. Jefferson's true nature than anyone else at the school and can also admit that Nathan has been freaking her out as of lately.
• Hypocrite: Constantly mocks Max over her selfie photography projects, yet has a few selfie pictures of herself in her locker (which Max gloats over).
• Implied Death Threat: If you choose to take a photo of Victoria after she gets covered in paint in episode 1.

  Victoria: You do that...I know where you live...So does Nathan...

• Inferiority Superiority Complex:
  • There are quite a bit of hints that this is the real reason she acts so bitchy around Max. Max is said to be very talented, but hesitates to hand in her photos for fear that she will be rejected. Victoria for all of her fancy equipment is simply not that great and she gets rejected when she hands in her photo to the Kroft Gallery. Come episode 4, she basically admits this is the case; she admires the fact that Max doesn't seem to really care what others think (in Episode 5, Max can even take a look at Victoria's journal, where she writes of Max, "I want to hate her, but she wouldn't care"), whereas Victoria is constantly feeling peer pressure. She overcompensates to come across as impressive in other people's eyes and she doesn't have a ton of confidence in her own talents. She's not evil, she's just very insecure.
  • In both Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm, she has a strong hatred for Rachel Amber, who was more popular than she ever was. While Victoria's feared by most and respected by some, unlike Rachel, she isn't loved, and deep down, she knows she'll never have Rachel's charisma.
• Insufferable Genius: Somewhat downplayed, but she does come across as genuinely talented, studious and capable, albeit with a very grotty personality.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Seems to have developed one with David by the time of Life Is Strange 2. At least, she has in the timelines where David was put in a position where he had to save Max and Victoria.
• Jerkass: She comes across as a generally unpleasant and arrogant person, as she constantly bullies both Max and Kate (especially the latter) and sometimes even her friends.
• Kick the Dog:
  • She bullies Kate over her humiliating 'sex video' in Episode 1. Takes a step further in Episode 2, especially to the point where in the background she can be seen eagerly recording Kate's attempt to commit suicide by throwing herself off the dormitory roof.
  • If Max makes fun of Victoria in Episode 1, she'll vandalize Max's room in retaliation and steal her birthday cookies.
• Killed Offscreen: Her death in episode 5 if you warned her.
• Kill the Cutie: If she believes Max's warning about Nathan, Jefferson will kill her this way in the next episode.
• Life Saving Misfortune: Being kidnapped by Jefferson and being trapped in his bunker actually saved her life from the storm in the timelines where it hits Arcadia Bay. She may have been killed by Jefferson had David not rescued her.
• Like Brother and Sister: According to Taylor, Victoria and Nathan's relationship is like this.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Though she's pretty cruel normally, if Max makes the effort to befriend Victoria, Victoria will show a softer side towards her.
• Malicious Misnaming: In Before the Storm, she keeps calling Chloe "Keri Price" because she doesn't feel that Chloe is important enough for her name to be worth remembering.
• Manipulative Bitch: She tries to exploit everything she can for maximum drama and is willing to tread on other peoples' toes for attention and personal gain.
  • In Episode 1, when Juliet critisizes the Vortex Club in her article, Victoria responds by "jokingly" sexting her boyfriend, Zachary, and framing it on Dana, Juliet's best friend, causing a pretty heated confrontation between them. Her letter to Taylor makes it clear that she really gets a kick out of her petty, dastardly scheming.
  • In Episode 2, she leads a very deliberate harassment campaign against Kate, vandalising her door slate and leaving the link of her disgraceful video everywhere she can. Although she does express regret about her actions, she is still at least partially responsible for Kate's suicide attempt.
  • In Episode 3, Victoria attempts to sleaze her way to the winners list of the Everyday Heroes contest by seducing the photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson. When he rejects her advances she openly threatens him with blackmail. Also, it is implied that, despite genuinely admiring Jefferson as an artist, she is still hoping to use him to advance herself in the photography world.
  • In Before The Storm, if Rachel Amber still has the role by the time of the Tempest play, Victoria will try to snatch it from her by spiking her tea with sleeping pills. Fortunately, you can turn it on her either by switching the cups or daring her to drink the spiked tea. Both will have the same outcome.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Kate's suicide attempt (successful or not) at the end of Episode 2, she can be seen crying in her room, finally realizing the effects of her petty bullying. Episode 3 gives us some more insight, and she seems to genuinely feel remorse over what she's done and said.
• Never My Fault: Doesn't consider Kate's suicide to be her fault at all. At least, publicly.
• Pet the Dog:
  • If Max chooses to comfort her after engineering the paint spill, Victoria will seem genuinely grateful, delete the unflattering picture she took of her earlier, and apologize for the "Go fuck your selfie" comment.
  • Taylor notes that Victoria is the only other person to care about her hospitalized mother, a fact Max only learns when Taylor lets it slip.
  • Victoria, depending on Max's actions towards her, can become significantly friendlier to her in Episode 4, remarking that she truly believes Max is "the coolest person at Blackwell", but her insecurities and fear of the photography world, which she sees as brutal and unforgiving, force her to push away even those she admires. Being nice to Victoria means she'll believe Max about Victoria being the next Dark Room victim, and the two resolve to be better friends after the conversation. Unfortunately, as of Episode 5, she'll be in the Dark Room with Max when the game begins if she does believe you.
  • In the alternate timeline where Max is a member of the Vortex Club, Victoria is extremely kind to her, bordering on clingy if her texts are anything to go on.
  • If Kate survives her suicide attempt, Victoria will write a sweet note to her in Episode 4. Kate herself believes that Victoria is being genuine.
  • In the Sacrifice Chloe ending she's one of characters attending Chloe's funeral. Given she and Chloe aren't even remotely close it's likely she's there to support Max, who you can find out in Episode 4 that she secretly admires.
• Redemption Rejection: By the time Victoria has won the Everyday Heroes Award she's had a Heel Realization and seems to be trying to change. During her acceptance speech, she makes a seemingly sincere dedication to Kate, who is either currently hospitalized or dead. Victoria, being a renowned Alpha Bitch throughout the school and who's barely tolerated even by the Vortex Club (save Nathan, Courtney, and Taylor who actually do like her) and is known as having been The Bully to Kate gets exactly the kind of reaction you'd expect.
  Alyssa: You suck, Victoria!
  Crowd: (cheers)
• Rich Bitch: If the cashmere sweater didn't tip you off, take a look at the incredibly expensive equipment she has in her dorm room. She has three DSLRs.
• Sextra Credit: Less "extra credit" (as she's doing quite well, GPA-wise) and more "pick me for the contest", but her offer to Mr. Jefferson in Episode 3 is certainly a derivative of this. His reaction is a firm "no", and he chastises her for saying she could threaten him with the accusation. She gets chosen anyway, but only for lack of anything better. One of the alternate timelines makes it clear that Max would have won hands down if she'd bothered to enter.
• She Knows Too Much: If you convince her to be wary of Nathan, she will run to Jefferson for help, who comes to this conclusion, kidnaps her and murders her during Episode 5, presumably not having the time to deal with her in any other way.
• Shout-Out: To Cordelia Chase.
• Small Name, Big Ego: In Before the Storm, Victoria is not the Alpha Bitch in terms of social hierarchy, but she still acts as arrogantly as she will three years later.
• The Stoner: Seems to be in the alternate timeline.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Despite her blatant jealousy of Rachel, the prequel has many occasions of Victoria calling Rachel hot. If she drinks the drugged tea cup she intended to give to Rachel, she will reveal in front of everyone while drugged that Rachel has a pretty face.
• Teacher's Pet: To Mr. Jefferson, whom she has a painfully obvious crush on or just wants to use to get ahead. Her advances on Mr. Jefferson are rebuffed in Episode 3.
• Teacher/Student Romance: She outright admits that she's infatuated with Mr. Jefferson and bluntly makes a move on him the minute they're alone together. He naturally reacts with great disgust and tells her no.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • At the end of Episode 3 in the Alternate Timeline. She seems to be good friends with Max in this timeline, calling her Maxine and Mad Max. She also seems to be a bit of a stoner, which might have something to do with it.
  • In Episode 4, she is amiable to Max if Max made a genuine effort to be friendly in previous encounters, and dedicates her prize win to Kate.
  • If Arcadia Bay is sacrificed, Victoria is revealed to have survived the storm in Life is Strange 2. She is very grateful to David for saving her life, and is on seemingly better terms with Max and Chloe (calling them good people and wishing them luck with their life).
• Tsundere: Her text to Max, if Max chose to comfort her, gives off this vibe.
  Victoria: BTW THANX BUT WERE NOT FRIENDS.
• Villainous Friendship: A curiously heartwarming one with Nathan, of all people. Victoria is pretty much the only student of Blackwell to not treat Nathan as a 'freak' due to his mental illness, and treats him kindly. Though in Episode 4, she may admit to Max that Nathan's decline in his mental health has been scaring her as of late, should Victoria and Max decide to burying the hatchet and treat each other as real friends.
• Wake-Up Call: Going through the traumatic events she did (Being kidnapped by Jefferson and thrown in his bunker. In addition to the storm that destroyed Arcadia Bay if the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending is chosen.) seems to have been this for her as she seems to have changed her Rich Bitch attitude and become a better person than she was before. (As revealed in Season 2 and the Comics.)
• What You Are in the Dark: If Max warned Victoria and she believed her, Victoria will find herself in the Dark Room with Max in the next episode. When she realizes the danger they're both in, Victoria breaks down in tears, apologizing for everything she's done and showing regret for what she did to Kate Marsh. In this moment, you see her as a scared, insecure girl who shows her true colors before her final moments. And sure enough, when Max finds herself back in the Dark Room after tearing her photo, Victoria has been killed by Jefferson.
• You Lose at Zero Trust: If Max chooses to warn Victoria about the Dark Room in Episode 4, whether or not Victoria believes her depends on how much hostility Max has shown her over the course of the game. In a twist, if you do successfully warn her, it leads to her capture by Jefferson because she in turn warned him, believing him to be trustworthy.

Nathan Prescott

Nathan Joshua Prescott

Do not analyze me!

Voiced by: Nik Shriner (English, Season One), Yasuhiro Mamiya (Japanese), Caleb Thomas (English, Before the Storm)

An honor student and rich kid whose family wields incredible influence within Arcadia Bay, including Blackwell Academy. Though popular with the cliques of Blackwell Academy and possessing a talent for photography, he is incredibly unstable and displays numerous symptoms of mental illness including anxiety, agitation and a Hair-Trigger Temper.

During the events of Before the Storm, Nathan is dealing with bullying from his football teammates over allegations that he only got on the team because of his family connections.

---

• Abusive Parents: Hinted at. He dislikes his father and calls him an asshole. As the story goes on, his father's abuse becomes more and more apparent, with letters, texts, and e-mails showing an outright hostile, bully-like attitude towards his son. On full display in Before the Storm Episode 2. His Parental Substitute, Mark Jefferson, isn't any better, going as far to kill him when he's outlived his usefulness.
• Accidental Murder: Despite his unstable personality, he mostly seems to use guns for intimidation. His shooting of Chloe in the bathroom is portrayed as a reflex action, caused by her pushing him away. So was Rachel Amber's death. According to Jefferson, Nathan was trying to sedate Rachel, but used too strong of a dose which killed her.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He pleads Warren to stop when the latter is giving him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, even crying as it happens.
• Alas, Poor Villain: One can feel sympathetic or even downright sorry for him when he hearing his desperately sobbing voice mail shortly before he gets killed about how he sorry he is, especially when being aware that he had untreated mental issues AND can be beaten to a pulp by Warren.
• Arch-Enemy: Serves as a perpetual nemesis to Chloe. He drugged her, (almost) shot her, and it's eventually revealed that he accidentally killed her girlfriend, Rachel Amber.
• Ax-Crazy: He's... got issues. The scene he's introduced has him walking into the bathroom talking to himself about blowing up the school if he wanted to. Then he pulls the gun out on Chloe. His unedited student file mentions that he has a long history of violent outbursts at school. When you talk to him at the Two Whales Diner, he is hostile regardless of your past interactions with him.
• Back from the Dead: If Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe to save Arcadia Bay, his death at the hands of Jefferson will be undone.
• Barbaric Bully: In stark contrast to the manipulative, passive aggressive Victoria, Nathan is much more violent and hateful, and he's barbaric enough to threaten people with a gun.
• Being Evil Sucks: When we first meet Nathan, he's under great duress and frantically trying to bolster his self-confidence in the mirror. It's obvious that all the evil things he does are in response to intense pressure from his domineering father to live up to his family's reputation, and he doesn't seem to take any joy in any of it.
• Berserk Button: Don't tell him what to do.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: See Big Bad Wannabe below, but he's still a kidnapper and drug dealer.
• Big Bad Wannabe: In Episode 4 he's shown to be little more than a petty drug addict and dealer. Mr. Jefferson is the one really behind most of the game's events.
• Big Jerk on Campus: Of all the "bros" at Blackwell Academy, he's the most popular and most unpleasant of them all. And his nasty temper isn't even his worst trait.
• Boisterous Weakling: In Episode 4, his tough guy act completely crumbles when Warren wipes the floor with him.
• Broken Ace: He's seen as the big man at Blackwell. Although he is very popular and belongs to pretty much the richest family in Arcadia Bay, Nathan suffers from numerous unknown mental disorders and has Abusive Parents which is evident throughout the story and also in Episode 4 where you can find letters and messages from his father scolding him for his behavior.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The Brooding Boy to Samantha's Gentle Girl in the prequel.
• Call-Forward: There are a number of scenes in Before the Storm that hint at Nathan's (growing) mental issues and the fact that he is not receiving the treatment/help required to solve them, ultimately leading to his involvement with Jefferson and crimes committed for him.
  • In episode 1 Nathan is bullied by Drew, who notes that the photos in Nathan's photo album are rather weird. The first game reveals that Nathan's photography style is indeed rather grim.
  • In episode 2 you can observe Nathan's father, Sean Prescott, give his son a stern lecture on not sullying the family name and not showing weakness.
  • In episode 3 you can walk down the hospital hallway, past Drew/Mikey's and Rachel's rooms, to find a door being ajar. Assuming Chloe failed to protect Nathan from Drew in Episode 1 and told Samantha to stay away from him in Episode 2, going near it allows you to eavesdrop on a conversation between Sean Prescott and a psychiatrist, who urgently suggests Sean gets his son the (psychological) help required to deal with his worsening mental issues. Sean flat out refuses, once again prioritising the family.
• The Cameo: In Life Is Strange 2, if you sacrificed Chloe, David will keep a mugshot of Nathan taken on the day after he murdered Chloe.
• Create Your Own Hero: Max would have never got the time powers and discovered the Dark Room if it weren't for him shooting Chloe in the bathroom.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: Especially noticeable he's doing one of his usual Death Glares, and they certainly enhance his scary look.
• Creepy Souvenir: If Kate dies, Nathan steals the cross from her memorial.
• Death Equals Redemption: Shortly before Jefferson killed him, Nathan called Max to warn her and to apologize for everything he did. Unfortunately, Jefferson kidnapped Max before she received the call.
• Death Glare: He loves giving these out to people he antagonizes.
• Delinquent: Nathan's spotless record in Blackwell is completely fabricated, as he has an entire history of psychotic outbursts in class, cursing at teachers, and attempted theft of Tobanga totem. And he's an avid party-goer and drug user and dealer to boot.
• Dirty Coward: He talks and acts tough when he has an overwhelming advantage, like a gun. In a real fight, though, he's not much, and if slightly threatened, he usually flees.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He's the main antagonist of the first four episodes until his mentor - Mark Jefferson - kills him and takes center stage as the game's true Big Bad.
• The Dreaded: Everyone at school who isn't a part of the Vortex Club tries their best to avoid making contact with him.
• The Dragon: To Jefferson.
• Evil Counterpart: He has a lot qualities similar to Rachel Amber. Both of them are privileged, popular "golden" kids of Blackwell who are a lot more troubled than their social status would suggest. Both suffer from crippling daddy issues and express their frustration through some rather unorthodox, often self-destructive means. Also, both Nathan and Rachel have strong passion for arts but Nathan chose to depict the most bleak, nihilistic aspects of life in his photos and eventually solidifies himself as a villain after becoming Jefferson's accomplice and possibly killing Rachel with an overdose.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: The only three people that treat him with any sort of geniune compassion are Samantha, Victoria, and his sister Kristine. And even then, whatever relationship he might have had with Samantha is long gone by the time of the first game, his sister is too far away to actually help him, and even Victoria reluctantly confesses that Nathan is creeping her out.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In unused dialogue for Episode 3, Max asks him if he raped Kate. Nathan vehemently denies it, and calls Max evil for even suggesting that he'd do such a thing.
• Expy: Seems heavily inspired by Draco Malfoy, being a rich, spoiled, cowardly bully that consistently harasses everyone out of his clique, but who's nothing but a tool of the true villain.
• Fiery Redhead: A red-headed kid who's also The Mentally Disturbed.
• Foil: To Chloe. While both are juvenile delinquents with emotional problems and association with drugs, Chloe is described as being poor and protective to her friends, the rich Nathan on the other hand is violently unstable and desperately trying to prop up his shattered self-esteem by crushing and bullying other people. Not only that, but they have polar opposite paternal figures: William being a kind-hearted man who loved his daughter and David is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who just wants the best for Chloe and her mother. In contrast, Sean is an abusive father who is fine in leaving his son to deal with his problems alone and Jefferson is a psychopathic Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who merely uses Nathan in order to advance his own goals all while hiding behind a façade of being a polite and gentle teacher. Both are also represented by opposite colors, blue and red.
• Foreshadowing: He initially freaks out in the Diner when he thinks Max is Rachel Amber. Understandable considering he killed her, and buried her body.
• Freudian Excuse: He hasn't had the easiest upbringing, and both his family and Mr. Jefferson do their damnedest to make his issues worse.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Everyone at the party in episode 4, including other Vortex Club members, admits to being creeped out by him. The only people who have anything remotely positive to say are Hayden, who's totally blazed and just wants Nathan's drugs, and Victoria, who says herself that she's "the only person who cares what Nathan is going through," and even she can admit that he's been freaking her out as of lately.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Will turn on you at slight provocation.
• Hated by All: Deconstructed. Due to his parents' parasitic influence that brought misery to the entire town, he was bound to be hated almost from the get go, even before his nasty personality traits fully manifested. Despite being supposedly popular, he was so alienated from his peers that Jefferson could easily coax him into committing crimes for him.
• Hates Being Touched: If Chloe fails the backtalk with Drew but advises Samantha to support Nathan, he will break her ribs after what Sean Prescott states Nathan defended himself from an "unwanted and inappropriate physical contact", which is implied to be a simple hug.
• The Heavy: Nathan is the most obvious and threatening villain for the first four episodes. He kicks off the plot by murdering Chloe, he threatens Max repeatedly throughout the story, he's revealed to have done awful things to Chloe and Kate - being one of the parties responsible for the latter's suicide attempt - and possibly others, he physically assaults Warren and even tries to shoot him when he later steps in to protect Max on a different occasion, and he's eventually revealed to have killed Rachel Amber. Compared to him, Frank and David are just minor side-villains and Victoria is little but a minor nuisance. From the very end of Episode 4 onwards, however, Nathan gets thoroughly kicked out of the Heavy role by Mark Jefferson.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Nathan's MP3 player in his room is full of calming whale songs, possibly to help with his mental illness symptoms.
  • As Max notes herself, he is very skilled at taking photos which utilize shadow and the macabre.
  • In the timelines where he dies, Nathan's last act turns out to have been phoning Max to apologize for his crimes.
• Hypocrite: He hates his father's guts, but also isn't above using his family's name to get himself out of trouble.
• I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: He ends up killing Chloe due to his frantic gun waving; his apparent horror after the fact in the Sacrifice Chloe ending makes it clear that he wasn't intending to pull the trigger.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: In a fatherly way, since his own father is an abusive, narcissistic scumbag who only views him as an extention of the Prescott family name. Unfortunately, the man who became as his surrogate father figure is also a abusive, narcissistic scumbag who only views him as a tool for his twisted agenda.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: On the surface level, he appears as a conceited, self-satisfied classist who thinks he's better than others because of his wealthy background, but beneath that he's an insecure, self-hating emotional wreck who's desperate for someone else's guidance. Desperate enough to become a serial kidnapper.
• Insane Equals Violent: Nathan is portrayed as physically dangerous largely as a result of his mental instability. Indeed, the first we see of him - babbling nervously to himself in a mirror while holding a gun - he feels like a school-shooting waiting to happen. To be fair, though, it does eventually turn out that what really makes him dangerous is his manipulation by the totally in-control but utterly ruthless Mark Jefferson, as well as the fact that his parents ignored every opportunity to give him the help he needs.
• Jerkass: While not without his sympathetic qualities, Nathan is overall rude, easily angered and willing to physically assault people over minor inconveniences.
• Jerk Jock: A bit of a different example. He has the look and behavior of one, but he actually isn't very physically strong and takes more to art than sports.
• Kick the Morality Pet: If Chloe doesn't defend him from Drew and tells Samantha to support him, he will attack her in a fit of rage, breaking sereval of her ribs.
• Killed Off for Real: In the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, making him one of five characters who can die permanently. Because Jefferson killed Nathan prior to the End of the World party, Max never rewinds back far enough to save him, and choosing to sacrifice the town to the storm removes the option of further time travel.
• Killed Offscreen: By Jefferson before the "End of the World" party, as Jefferson confirms to Max in Episode 5.
• Lack of Empathy: Zigzagged. He actually laughs at Kate's suicide/ suicide attempt, but later seems to be torn up over what he did to Rachel and shooting Chloe, if you pick the Sacrifice Chloe ending.
• Laser-Guided Karma: In Episode 1, he headbutts Warren and beats the crap of him for trying to defend Max. In Episode 4, Warren goes on to return the favor.
  • In "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, Nathan gets tackled on the floor and arrested by David for killing his step-daughter Chloe. The last thing he said to Chloe before shooting her was that no one would miss her.
• Like Brother and Sister: According to Taylor, Nathan and Victoria view each other as siblings.
• Mad Artist: Not to the extent of Jefferson but he still counts, with his twisted, macabre artwork. Plus, he kidnaps and photographs girls on his own volition, hoping to imitate Jefferson's style.
• The Mentally Disturbed: Oh boy, where to start. Nathan has serious psychological issues due to his father's emotional abuse. The fact that the latter refrains him from psychological getting help not to "taint the Prescott name" does not help him the slightest, which worsens Nathan's mental health and causes him to act the way he does during the game.
• Minion Manipulated into Villainy: While he's a deeply unpleasant person, his worst crimes were committed for Jefferson.
• Murder Makes You Crazy: Downplayed. He never was mentally sound to begin with, but his Accidental Murder of Rachel Amber, combined with both feelings of immense guilt and fear of getting caught, made him extremely paranoid and prone to violence.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • If Max fails to stop him from shooting Chloe in the first episode, he's horrified about having killed her. In the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, which involves Max choosing not to save Chloe, it's implied that he confesses everything about Jefferson to the police out of guilt.
  • In Episode 5, when he realizes Jefferson plans to kill him and Max to cover his tracks, Nathan manages to call Max to warn her and apologize for everything he did.
  • In Before The Storm, the ending sequence shows that Nathan regrets injuring Samantha who simply wanted to be his friend (only if Chloe failed the backtalk against Drew).
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His gross incompetence as Jefferson's accomplice is what ultimately leads to the discovery of the Dark Room. In "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, Max doesn't even have to do anything at all, since Nathan's arrest leads to him confessing and ratting Jefferson out.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Most of his art consists of horrifying subjects such as dead whales and birds, and he will take a photo of dead/injured Pompidou if Max leads him onto the road. Also, his Everyday Heroes contest entry is the photo of a grave-digger. All this may suggest that Nathan has a morbid obsession with death.
• Obviously Evil: Reconstructed. Nathan is aggressive, permanently angry, misogynistic, and the series opens with him shooting Chloe. It's not a big surprise when he turns out to be involved in the snuff pictures taken in his basement. However, the surprise is that he's been manipulated into it by Mark Jefferson, who is the bigger bad.
• Obvious Villain, Secret Villain: He is the "obvious" villain to Jefferson's "secret".
• Overlord Jr.: A more tragic example than most cases. To his father, he's more of an asset of the Prescott Foundation and its eventual heir rather than a son. This leads to Nathan being so attention-starved that he willingly agreed to kidnap people for Jefferson, just so that he could earn his respect.
• Paper Tiger: While he does get the upper hand in his first fight with Warren, Nathan is mostly good at simply intimidating people (most of the time with his gun). In Episode 4, he goes down the time you think of it and Warren beats him to a pulp.
• Parental Neglect: Hand-in-hand with Abusive Parents, as his father is perfectly willing to cover up Nathan's problems, but completely unwilling to actually help alleviate them - something Nathan's psychiatrist actively called him out for when declining to see Nathan anymore.
• Pet the Dog: His friendship with Samantha in Before The Storm is this. If Chloe succeeds in making them friends, Nathan shows a softer side around Samantha alone, even giving her ice cream at her hospital room if she was injured by a cyclist.
• Please Wake Up: In the Sacrifice Chloe ending, right after he shoots Chloe, he panics when he realizes he what he's done, and shakes her body frantically in order to wake her up, though it's too late.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Has a tendency to call multiple female characters sluts/whores/etc. In episode 3, when choosing a certain dialogue option, he calls Max a dyke. Also puts a poster on Warren's door calling him a "beta phag" (faggot).
• Privilege Makes You Evil: Him being from a rich family allowed him to get away with all sorts of nasty things in the past, and his family's obsession with good PR and blatant negligence led to his mental issues being ignored and enabled, leading him right into Jefferson's hands. He even despises any attempt to remotely psychoanalyze him as a person (aside from his bought-and-paid-for therapist), so of course Jefferson, who sees everyone as either artists or subjects, psychoanalyzes him as the former, cultivates his worst traits into a deranged accomplice, and deems him an amateur who can go ahead and die once he becomes a liability.
• Reckless Gun Usage: Nathan is hardly the one to practice good trigger discipline, so when he presses the gun into Chloe's chest, it predictably fires and kills her.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His blood red jacket and black pants clearly indicate him as a villainous character from the get-go.
• Red Herring: He is not the ultimate villain. His red jacket may be a deliberate clue by the creators.
• Red Is Violent: He's Blackwell's resident Barbaric Bully with a distinct red letterman jacket.
• Rich Bastard: He likes to brag about his family's wealth.
• Room Full of Crazy: His dorm room contains a lot of items that make him look suspiciously like a serial killer.
• Royal Brat: He isn't royalty, to be sure, but his family has comparable status as far as Arcadia Bay is concerned, and he has the personality to match. Although in his case, his flaws stem at least partly from genuine mental problems and an abusive upbringing rather than an inherently evil personality. His voice actor Nik Shriner lampshades this, with his profile header stating that Joffrey Baratheon and Nathan are "the same person".
• Rule of Symbolism: In the Tempest performance he plays Caliban, who's described as a "savage and deformed slave," and a "monster of the isle," hinting both at his less than stellar reputation and at the Start of Darkness that makes him the weak-willed henchman to Jefferson in the first game.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He claims that his family owns half the town, so he can do whatever he wants. Given that the principal brushes off Max's claim that he had a gun with nothing more than a "I'll talk to him in my office", this seems true. While you can get him suspended in Episode 2, he just threatens to sue the school and treats it flippantly. As you find out in Episode 3, his father is putting pressure on Principal Wells to have him reinstated, and Nathan's spotless record is actually a fake made up for the same reason. The real records, which depict him as the delinquent he is, were buried.
• Self-Disposing Villain: The whole point of "Sacrifice Chloe" ending is that Max Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing; Nathan seals his fate by commiting murder on school grounds and rats the Big Bad out to the police.
• Silver Spoon Troublemaker: Like many other members of the Vortex Club, he's already a party boy, but thanks to his noxious personality and his mental illness, he's also a cruel and downright dangerous bully. His father spends a lot of time and money covering up Nathan's behavior, but even he doesn't know exactly what he's been getting up to in the Dark Room.
• Smug Snake: Carries a smug sense of superiority around other students, as though he's better than then. It's quickly shattered as the story goes on, though (especially if he gets pummeled by the likes of Warren).
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Deconstructed. He is no doubt a very messed up and somewhat tragic character, but even outside of his criminal endeavors in the Dark Room, he's a thoroughly unpleasant, prideful and self-rightous bully, who is hostile to others for little to no reason, and who is more concerned with propping up his fragile ego and restoring his wounded pride than actually receiving sympathy from his peers.
  Chloe's Diary: "Of course, the best cure for feeling bad for Nathan is to actually talk to Nathan. Then you remember what a wonderfully punchable face those Prescott genes gave him."
• Stalker with a Crush: Implied to be one for Rachel Amber. According to Jefferson, he kidnapped her to take pervy pictures of her, mimicing Jefferson's style, but ends up accidently killing her with an overdose.
• Start of Darkness: In Before the Storm, the player gets to see a few glimpses of events that led to him becoming the crazed bully and kidnapper he is in the first game: neglected mental issues; his father's abuse; being ostracized and bullied for his family's wrongdoings; and possibly attacking Samantha, one of the few people who cared about him.
• The Stoner: Frank's logbook shows that he's a regular customer for some pretty heavy drugs, which no doubt contribute to his worsening mental health. He also does his own drug dealing at school.
• The Stool Pigeon: In the ending, if the player chooses to sacrifice Chloe to save the town, Nathan appears to have sold out Jefferson to the police. It's unclear if this was out of remorse, or because they offered him a Plea Bargain.
• Stupid Evil: Despite hiding his phone in a hidden area of his room, Nathan does not delete his text messages despite them clearly having incriminating evidence that could be used against him.
  • This could be subverted by the storm still hitting Arcadia Bay in this timeline. This becomes Double Subverted when you remember that the Prescotts are responsible for the bunker craze in the town, and therefore have enough wealth to have access to their own bunker.
  • In general, he's not very calculative with his dirty deeds and it ends up backfiring at him in the end. Jefferson was pissed off about his perpetual incompetence and the amount of attention the duo was getting because of him. Rachel's Accidental Murder turned out to be the last straw for Jefferson and after that he started to plot Nathan's death and Frame-Up.
• Sympathy for the Devil:
  • Episode 4 shows that Nathan's outbursts and psychopathy are getting worse due to his father withholding treatment and privately encouraging his activities. Evidence suggests his father abused him much of his life, and the drugs he does take leave him in a very unstable state of mind. It's quite possible that what he does is more of his father's fault than his own.
  • If Max lets Warren continue beating Nathan into the ground, the latter will crumple up and begin whimpering and crying. Kind of hard not to feel a bit sorry for him when one thinks of what he's gone through with his father and his disorders.
  • Even after Max learns that Nathan was the one who killed Rachel, she still views Nathan as another one of Jefferson's victims, as Jefferson exploited Nathan's mental illness and abusive father to twist him into his accomplice.
• Talkative Loon: The very first thing we see him do is babble to himself in the girls' bathroom.
• Teens Are Monsters: Of all the students, he's the most explicitly evil one, being a serial kidnapper and working directly for Jefferson.
• Terms of Endangerment: Snarkily calls Max "Mysterious Max" during desk confrontation in Episode 2 if Max didn't report him in Episode 1. Notably, this is one of the only times where he doesn't directly insult Max or call her names.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: His implied motivation for working with Jefferson. Since almost everyone else either hates him and views him as a freak or pretends to like him to mooch off his status, he felt that only by gaining Jefferson's trust he could have someone to geniune care for him. In the end, others' perception of him as a freak was one of the things that caused him to become an actually crazy and dangerous person.
• Took a Level in Kindness: His alternate universe counterpart is a much nicer, well-rounded individual than his main universe counterpart. He also doesn't seem to be involved with any of Jefferson's crimes.
• Token Evil Teammate: While many of the Vortex Club members are conceited jerks, he's only one who's actively involved in criminal activities, and that's not going into his escapades with Jefferson. Also, he's the only Vortex Club member who cannot be befriended under any circumstances.
• Tragic Villain: He's both a cruel, deranged bully and criminal and an insecure, vulnerable, weak-willed henchman who was hopelessly out of his depth the whole time.
• Troubled, but Cute: Throughout the game, he's a psychotic Jerkass who has anger issues, but in Episode 5, it's revealed that he's nothing but a frustrated man who apologizes to Max for antagonizing her and everyone he bullied.
• True Art Is Angsty: In-Universe. It is commented by Max in Episode 3 that if things had been different, even with his clear mental illness and numerous personal difficulties Nathan could've become a successful, if dark, photographer. While his (true) GPA is terrible, even the somewhat elitist Max can't deny that he has real talent when it comes to taking shots of the macabre.
• Ungrateful Bastard: If Chloe protects him from Drew in Before the Storm's first episode, Nathan yells at her for interfering.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Downplayed in Before The Storm. He's still shown to have mental issues, however, they were far less as bad as in the main game, and he's shown to have a much more kinder side, like around Samantha.
• Villain Decay: In Episode 1, he's presented as a dangerous, physically aggressive bully who is not only prone to violence but is also capable of inflicting it, as shown when he headbutts Warren without even flinching and then grabs Max by the neck. From Episode 2 onward, he's shown as a Boisterous Weakling who's only a threat because of his social status and his ability to drug and kidnap girls, and who gets his ass kicked by Warren easily.
• Villain's Dying Grace: After being Max and Chloe's sworn enemy throughout the first 4 episodes, Nathan revealed in his last voicemail that he is genuinely remorseful for what he has done and even tried to help Max by warning her about Jefferson. However, by the time his voicemail reaches her it is far too late.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Subverted. Although, his rich family tries to paint him in a positive light, nobody is fooled as Nathan's creepy and violent nature is transparent. It also helps that his parents are just as hated throughout Arcadia Bay.
• We Used to Be Friends: It's implied in the first game and confirmed in Before the Storm that he and Rachel were close. Whatever friendship they had likely fizzled out when he drugged her for Jefferson.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Nathan's father definitely has this attitude - seemingly the only reason he tolerates Nathan is because he's the heir to the family name. And judging by some of the texts and emails Nathan received, this is a hereditary practice.
• What You Are in the Dark: Mere moments before his demise at the hands of Jefferson, Nathan calls Max to warn her and gives her a tearjerking apology for everything he's done.
• When He Smiles: One of the few times we see Nathan genuinely happy is when Samantha applauds him for his role in the Tempest.
• You Have Out Lived Your Usefulness: Jefferson kills Nathan to frame him for his crimes.
• Young Gun: Nathan keeps a handgun concealed on his person and won't hesitate to draw it if he becomes agitated. First seen in episode 1, when Chloe attempts to extort him. Max saves her by tripping the fire alarm, which distracts Nathan long enough for Chloe to escape. It's revisited near the end of episode 5 if Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe, resulting in her death.

Warren Graham

Warren Daniel Graham

Max! Let's go ape!

Voiced by: Carlos Luna (English), Makoto Naruse (Japanese)

An honors student at Blackwell and its resident sci-fi movie guru. Also, a close friend of Max.

---

• Agent Mulder: Despite his preference for scientific explanations, Warren is surprisingly open-minded about the possibility of supernatural powers and phenomena.
  • When Max first confides in him about the strange occurrences at Blackwell and says it may be connected to Kate's attempted suicide and Rachel Amber's disappearance, Warren says he isn't much for conspiracy theories, but still admits she might be onto something.
  • Seen again near the climax of episode 5, when Max finally tells him about her rewind powers and her vision about the storm. Not only does Warren believe her, he immediately deduces that the storm was most likely caused by Max repeatedly tampering with the intended course of time.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Zigzagged. Max spends most of the game seemingly oblivious to Warren's feelings for her and repeatedly describes him as a friend. Whereas in other scenes, such as when Chloe plainly states it during episode 4, Max says she already knows. Even if the player chooses to have Max romance him, she remains unsure what her actual feelings toward him are. But if she writes on his dorm slate in episode 4, she admits (to herself) that she's willing to find out.
  Max: (thinking) "I can have a little fun with Warren for a change. He's the one who wants to "Go Ape!" and sometimes... you have to take a chance and see what happens."
• Ambiguous Innocence: Warren is a Nice Guy who has Max's back, but he does have some very questionable characteristics. For example, Warren can be spotted watching Max outside her bedroom trying to look at her, he knows exactly how to make a pipe-cleaner bomb in order to assist Max breaking into the principal's office, gets drunk at a party despite being a minor, and he beats the crap out of Nathan with a little too much desire to do it (granted, only after Nathan seriously escalates the situation by pulling a gun while loudly declaring his intent to kill). In his locker there's a picture of Max he photoshopped himself into and the nightmare sequence in Episode 5 suggests that Max subconsciously views his behavior as somewhat creepy and possessive.
• And This Is for...: Invoked while beating the ever living shit out of Nathan:
  Warren: (between punches) "You like hurting people, huh?? Like Kate? Like Max?! Like ME?? Huh?? Feel THIS motherfucker!"
• Badass Adorable: Becomes this in Episode 4, when he intervenes when Nathan harasses Max again. And it's a badass moment for him even if you choose to stop him.
• Badass Bookworm: Mostly Warren comes across as a nerdy intellectual, and he gets his ass kicked by Nathan during their first tussle. In their second fighter, however, Warren not only headbutts Nathan to the ground but disarms him of his gun and starts pummeling him, only stopping if Max intervenes.
• Berserk Button: Warren's usually a Nice Guy and a bit of a goof, but that'll change in a New York heartbeat if anyone tries to harm any of his friends, especially Max. A lesson Nathan learns the hard way if Max doesn't intervene during episode 4.
• Betty and Veronica: Of Max's two possible love interests, Warren is the friendly, down-to-earth Betty who she's known for a while to Chloe's outgoing, adventurous Veronica who she's just reunited with. Depending on the player's choices, Max can date Warren, Chloe, neither or both at once.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's a dorky guy, but he will not hesitate to assault anyone who tries to harm Max. Nathan learns this the hard way.
• Big Damn Heroes: He does this twice. The first time is when Nathan confronts Max in the parking lot in the first episode. Warren gets a black eye in the ensuing fight. The second time is in the fourth episode when Nathan catches Chloe and Max in the boys' dorm. Depending on your choice, Nathan gets either a light beating or a vicious one.
• Bully Hunter: While he gets beaten fairly easily by Nathan Prescott after he attempted to defend Max, the second time he faces Nathan, he goes completely ballistic on him, and can even deliver a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown if Max doesn't stop him.
  Warren: I really flipped out on Nathan. I just hate bullies...
• Butt-Monkey: To a lesser extent. He's always getting bruised up in some way or another, and you can even rewind and tell him to pour even more chemicals during his science experiment, causing an even worse explosion. While Brooke will comment on you not helping, Warren will simply take it with humor or even amazement.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Before the End of The World Party, he claims he's only had half a beer but is clearly crocked.
• Catchphrase: Warren gets really excited about going to see Planet of the Apes at the local drive through. He'll spout "Let's Go Ape!" or some variation of the phrase about a dozen times over the course of the game.
• The Dog Bites Back: Gets his revenge on Nathan in Episode 4 when he intervenes to protect Max and Chloe. If Max doesn't hold him back, he'll lose control and beat Nathan even worse than Nathan did him — to be fair, he does so after Nathan's pulled a gun on him.
• Dogged Nice Guy: He really wants to get with Max. Max's attitude depends on the player. His Establishing Character Moment has him going in for a hug as Max approaches him, only for her to hand him the flash drive she borrowed and leave him awkwardly standing there mid-hug for a second. His doggedness really shows up in Episode 3 — if you decided not to go to the drive thru with him in Episode 2, he lets you know it's still an offer no less than three times across two episodes.
• Funny Background Event: If you look outside of Max's dorm window at the start of Episode 2, you can see Warren waiting behind the corner of a nearby building, peeking at the dorm entrance, waiting for Max to come out and talk to her.
• Geek: He's a bigtime fan of 70s and 80s era sci-fi and horror flicks, such as AKIRA, Blade Runner, and especially Planet of the Apes. He also enjoys Doctor Who.
• Genre Savvy: He works out a theory for what caused the tornado through his knowledge of time travel stories.
• Good Is Not Soft: Gives Nathan a solid headbutt when he attacks Max in Episode 4, then proceeds to give him a serious beatdown after Nathan tries to shoot him.
• Grade Skipper: He's sixteen, but he's smart enough to attend Blackwell Academy alongside seventeen- and eighteen- year olds. If his brief mentions in Before the Storm are any indication, he's been attending since he was thirteen.
• Hand Behind Head: He pulls off this gesture a few times, befitting his awkward personality.
• Hard Head: He gives one hard headbutt to Nathan in Episode 4, which causes the latter to stumble on the floor. While Warren grabs his head for a moment, he recovers quickly enough to kick away the gun Nathan draws, then start beating the living hell out of him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A non-fatal version. He takes a beating from Nathan Prescott to protect Max in Episode 1.
• Hidden Depths: Warren comes across as all (admittedly very dorky) sweetness and light most of the time, but he will beat Nathan to a bloody pulp in Episode 4 if Max doesn't stop him. He's got excellent reasons to fly off the handle, ^note this is the second time in a week he's caught Nathan menacing the girl he's got a crush on, he's still got the shiner Nathan gave him for interfering last time, and Nathan responds to his initial head butt with pulling out a gun but all the same, he does have a dark side.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Shall Max turn down his advances, he actually encourages her to pursue Chloe.
• Just Friends: With Max unless the player chooses to have Max pursue his affections. She becomes uncomfortable when Warren tries to woo her and regularly has to remind people that he is not her boyfriend, but she values him as a close friend. If Max hugs Warren in Episode 5, she will reassure him when he calls himself "pathetic", calling him one of her heroes.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Max attempts to tell Warren about her rewind ability in episode 1, but gets interrupted by Nathan. Afterward, she decides it'd be best not to involve Warren and keeps it hidden from him for most of the game. In her journal, she jokes that he'd probably like to have a time travelling wife and would try to marry her if he knew. She finally tells him just before the climax of the final episode.
• Lovable Nerd: Max initially writes that she thinks of him as sort of a geeky kid brother.
• Maybe Ever After: It's possible for the game to end with the implication that Max will eventually hook up with Warren, which requires the player to have Max pursue him and sacrifice Chloe, rather than Arcadia Bay.
• Meaningful Name: One of the meanings of the name Warren is "guard". In Episode 1 Warren saves Max from Nathan by attacking him and does it again in Episode 4.
• Motivational Kiss: Max can choose to kiss him before she uses his photo to travel back to save Chloe.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Downplayed, but he's notably disturbed by his loss of self-control after brutally beating up Nathan.
• Nice Guy: Despite some of his questionable acts, Warren mostly comes across as well-meaning and a supportive friend of Max.
• Nice Guys Finish Last: Assuming the player opts to "friend zone" him in favor of Chloe. Near the climax of episode 5, he gives Max the photo he took of them at the End of the World party so she can travel back in time, trusting she'll save the town. But Max can betray that trust by allowing the town to be destroyed, in order to save Chloe instead. If so, Warren's name will be listed on the town memorial in the sequel. David even tells Sean that Max and Chloe skipped town the next day without ever looking back.
• Now or Never Kiss: If the player chooses to have Max pursue Warren, she'll be given the chance to kiss him during the scene at the diner in episode 5. Examining Warren immediately after the kiss and reading her journal reveals that Max did it because wanted him to know how she felt towards him, in case she might die.
  (journal entry) "Considering how insane my life has been this week, kissing Warren during a deadly storm didn't seem strange at all. It was like we were flipping off the cruel universe, and... if I was gonna die, I wanted at least one kiss from a boy I cared about."
• Oblivious to Love: Zigzagged, regarding Brooke's blatant crush on him. Warren seemingly doesn't notice due to his own unrequited crush on Max, but the player can subvert the trope by having Max turn down Warren's movie invitation in episode 2, then advise Daniel against attending the End of the World party in episode 4. If Max speaks to Brooke during the party, she'll tell Max that Warren asked her out and that he'll be taking her to dinner afterward.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted since his middle name (Daniel) is shared by Daniel DaCosta and by the deuteragonist of Life Is Strange 2.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Delivered in spades during episode 4, if the player chooses to let Warren beat up Nathan.
• Precision F-Strike: Each time he swears, it catches you off guard considering how sweet and dorky he is. He gets quite foul-mouthed during his second fight with Nathan.
• Precocious Crush: Warren is 16, making him 2 years younger than Max. Not that either of them seems concerned about the age difference.
• Shipper on Deck: Can potentially become one for Max/Chloe, despite his own crush on Max. If she accepts Chloe's dare in episode 3, Chloe will text Warren the next morning to let him know about it and tells him to back off. Warren will send Max a reply text saying that he understands why she turned him down now and encourages Max to get together with Chloe.
• The Smart Guy: If you read the student files in Wells' office, you'll see Warren has a 4.0 GPA, making him the smartest student at Blackwell. Made evident by his knowledge about sci-fi, time travel, and quantum physics, and is the person Max goes to when she needs to know how to build a small pipe bomb.
• Teen Genius: His date of birth is given as November 20, 1996, making him sixteen by the time the game takes place, and he is extremely knowledgeable on science, chemistry and time travel. Before the Storm also implies he's been at Blackwell since he was thirteen.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Episode 4. He fights Nathan for trying to attack Max and Chloe in the boys dorm. If Max/the player doesn't stop him, he'll outright beat Nathan to a bloody pulp and leave him begging for mercy. He regrets doing so, however.
• Undying Loyalty: To Max. Even if Max doesn't return his affections, he remains a loyal friend who will unconditionally love and support her. He'll even take on Nathan, who has a gun and could easily kill him, to protect her.
• Unstoppable Rage: When he gets his hands on Nathan in their second bout, he proceeds to beat the ever loving shit out of him.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A tragic example, since Max uses the photo he took of them at the End of the World party to travel back in time, presumably to save Arcadia Bay. But if the player opts to save Chloe instead, the town gets destroyed by the storm and most of its residents die... including him.
• Use Your Head: He gets an awesome moment where he headbutts Nathan to protect Max before beating the living crap out of him.

David Madsen

David Madsen

Voiced by: Don McManus (English, Season One), Naoya Nosaka (Japanese), D.W. McCann (English, Before the Storm)

The chief of security at Blackwell, obsessed with keeping order. He is Chloe's step-father. He used to be a soldier; Max mentions a rumor that he was dishonorably discharged.

During the events of Before the Storm, David is unemployed and only recently started dating Joyce.

For his appearance in Life is Strange 2, click here.

---

• Abusive Parents: His attitude at home and work have almost no difference, and it isn't particularly pleasant. He can't seem to leave the military life behind, which strains his relationship with Chloe. He will slap Chloe for having drugs in her room if Max doesn't take credit for Chloe's blunt. He does seem to want to be a good father, but it's obvious his issues conflict with that. In fairness, he does admit that even though she antagonized him he was still wrong to hit her, apologizing and saying he will make it up to her somehow. He does that by going to family therapy to help out with his PTSD.
• Action Dad: More like Action Step-Dad; he's Chloe's step-father who's an ex-military and showcases his fighting skills when he rescues Max from Jefferson.
• Aesop Amnesia: In the finale of Before the Storm he and Chloe can potentially mend their ways and learn to respect the other for who they are. Yet, given the events in the original game the player knows that their mutual respect didn't last very long.
• Big Damn Heroes: He breaks into the Dark Room to save Max from Jefferson. Max has to give him some tips so Jefferson doesn't kill him, but points for trying.
• The Big Guy: As an ex-military and security guard, it's no surprise that he's the one who physically defeats (and possibly kills) Jefferson, and arrests Nathan Prescott in "Sacrifice Chloe" ending.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Part of his attitude seems to stem from the fact that David genuinely wants to help and protect people, just to an obsessive extreme. He quietly takes issue with Max being called a hero for talking down Kate, and only took the job as head of security because the actual police think he's a loose cannon.
• Control Freak: Variations of the words "I order you" seem to creep up in his dialogue a lot.
• Crazy Survivalist: David is stocking up on canned food and water, has a full gun rack available at his beck and call, has a book on surviving the apocalypse on his bedside table, and has a general attitude of paranoia and suspicion. He's not full-on tinfoil hat crazy, but he's getting there, as his investigative files of the students show.
• Entitled Bastard: Before the Storm makes it more than clear that part of the reason he and Chloe never got along is because he acted like he had a right to her respect while doing nothing to earn it, with his sexist comments and outright saying the time since William's death has been 'a vacation from a father figure'.
• The Extremist Was Right: David knew there was something sinister going on, and was the only one who was actually investigating the disappearance of Rachel Amber and the Dark Room, while everyone else just though he was paranoid.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: He's, by far, the least popular member of Blackwell staff. The entire student body hates him and immediately jumps at a chance to have him fired for good. Michelle Grant and Mark Jefferson, the two known teachers at Blackwell, both express their dislike for him, with Ms. Grant doing a petition to stop his surveillance plan and Jefferson outright calling him a "fucking asshole" in the unused dialogue. Even Principal Wells is eager to put him on a leave if Max gives him the photo proof of David's actions (but only if Max doesn't take the fall for Chloe's weed).
• Foil: He's pretty much the exact opposite of Mark Jefferson. Jefferson is a beloved, vividly progressive, hipster photography teacher, while David is a tyranical security guard who's hated by the students and holds strictly conservative, disciplinarian views. Also, while David may seem rigid and chauvinistic, he genuinely loves his wife and even tries to protect his step-daughter despite her hatred of him. In contrast, Jefferson fakes his pleasant attitude; in reality, he's a deeply perverted maniac who kindaps, photographs and potentially murders his female students.
• Former Teen Rebel: He mentions in passing he used to do wilder things than Chloe when he was her age.
• Good Versus Good: He's always against Max and Chloe in their investigation, but they both seek the same goal.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: For all his paranoia and claims that he sees everything going on at Blackwell, he's actually pretty bad at his job. Case in point: In just the first episode, a student brings a gun to school, his own stepdaughter (who has been expelled and has no reason to be on campus) is able to walk through a crowded hallway and into the girls bathroom, and a sketchy drug dealer has his RV parked in the parking lot (and Frank is obviously not a student, which means he can only be there to deal). All of this happens on David's watch, yet completely escapes his notice. Also, Kate only managed to get up the roof because David neglected to lock the door.
• Heel Realization: In episode 5, he realizes what a Jerkass he was all along and makes amends with Max. Prior to this, him slapping Chloe if she lies about the marijuana is what convinces him that he needs to seek therapy for his issues.
• Hero with an F in Good: He seems to genuinely be trying to protect Chloe and the Blackwell students, but his paranoia makes him go too far. This is also why the police rejected him.
• Heroic BSoD: He does not take it well upon hearing of Chloe's demise.
• Heroic Wannabe: He thinks that he's the hero of the story, but he's not as good as his stepdaughter and Max.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In Episode 2, he mentions to Max that he used to do worse things than Chloe when he was her age. He also apologizes for his outbursts in the previous episode and says that he doesn't find marijuana itself to be a big deal -– he's only angered by Chloe in particular being around drugs. Though if Max argues that David was partly to blame for Kate's situation and she'd taken credit for the joint in Episode 1, he will call her a liar and say she's a drug dealer, so how honest he was actually being is rather up in the air.
  • Episode 3 gives us a bit more insight into David. His files you can find in Episode 1 are shown to be detailed, but harmless — nothing a good private investigator wouldn't have — and Max can choose to defend him when arguing with Chloe. In addition, after going back in time and saving William Price's life, you can see a montage of photographs where David and Joyce are genuinely happy together. Maybe he is an overzealous and vengefully paranoid man, but it's only here that we see the man Joyce sees in her husband.
  • In Before the Storm, David will open to Chloe about his own best friend, whom he lost in war.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Episode 3 shows he thinks Kate is doing/selling drugs, yet he trusts Nathan, a delinquent who actually is doing and selling drugs. Episode 5 shows that he admits that he was wrong with that theory.
• Hypocrite:
  • If Max takes the blame for Chloe's weed, David will later on tell Max that he won't bust her for it, as even he's not that much of an asshole. However, depending on who Max blames for Kate's (attempted) suicide in Principal Wells' office, he will proceed to do exactly that, potentially getting her suspended in the process.
  • In Before the Storm, his first scene has him criticize Chloe (and women in general) for taking so long to get ready. But he is himself still working on his car and asks Chloe's help before they can leave.
• Idiot Hero: For his investigator skills, he's really bad at everything else. It really says a lot when a freaking war veteran is getting consistently Curb Stomped by a perverted hipster photographer, to point where he requires help from a teen girl tied up a chair.
• Improperly Paranoid: While he's Properly Paranoid in some respects ( he even pulls a Big Damn Heroes in the timelines where Max and Chloe confide in him or he finds their notes), he goes about it in a very heavy handed manner, suspecting and accusing completely innocent parties which is one of the factors that leads to Kate's — potentially successful — suicide attempt at the end of episode 2.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • While laughably far from parent of the year and there is no excuse for his actions. Chloe did steal his gun and then lied about it to his face, on top of a myriad of other things including, smoking pot, skipping school, staying out past curfew and stealing from numerous people. Furthermore, if he didn't have friends in the police department that he can get to look the other way, Chloe would have been arrested and put in juvie long ago.
  • The reason he cornered Kate in episode 1? He was gathering evidence against the Vortex club. He believed they were involved with drugs. And since Kate was seen partying with them in that video he was trying to pump her for information. If he wasn't so abrasive he might've got some, too.
  • He constantly obstructs Max and Chloe's investigation, ordering them to stay out of danger and let him gather evidence instead. Their refusal to tread carefully directly leads to Chloe's murder and Max's kidnapping.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He seems to ease up in Episode 2, to an extent, and Joyce insists there's a good side to him.
  • There's a message on the answering machine in his house warning Chloe against hanging out with some unsavory characters. He even makes an effort to step out of the overbearing military persona he usually puts forth in an attempt to sound more reasonable about it. It's a rare moment of actual concern from someone who spends the rest of his time (including face to face with Chloe) being a jerk.
  • During Kate's suicide attempt, he can be seen sprinting toward the dorms in an attempt to stop her, and seems genuinely distraught later that he couldn't personally resolve the situation.
  • In Episode 3, when you search his garage, you can find a birthday card wishing Chloe a happy birthday and saying that he is glad he can be a part of her life, showing that he was at least trying to be a father to Chloe. Episode 5 shows that he's well aware of his flaws and actually doesn't like using his status as a war veteran to justify his behavior.
  • In Episode 3, Max can erase a voicemail from a cop alerting David that the police (correctly) suspect that Chloe broke into the Blackwell swimming pool. If Max deletes the message before David and Joyce can hear it, the police decide to question Chloe. Allowing David to hear the message causes him to lie to the police and give Chloe a fake alibi.
• Knight Templar Parent: He wants to protect Chloe and Joyce, but his paranoia makes him an overbearing and authoritarian parent.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • After slapping Chloe, he immediately regrets his action. This ends up being the Heal Realization that he needs in order to seek therapy for his PTSD.
  • Poor guy breaks down after learning he failed to protect Chloe and let Jefferson kill her, and shoots him in the head in a moment of rage, yet to immediately regret it afterwards and sit with his head in his hands in despair.
• Never My Fault: In Episode 4, he sarcastically thanks Max for Joyce kicking him out because Max told about all the things he did if you sided with Chloe instead of him in Episode 3.
• No Social Skills: Even aside from his anger issues and other hangups, he seems to genuinely not know how to interact with people without coming across as obnoxious.
• The Paranoiac: The dude actively wants to install security cameras in his school and home for god's sake! He's called out for being overly paranoid on quite a few occasions, including by Max. Turns out to be Properly Paranoid when you consider that the school had a murderer for a teacher, one kid sold drugs and brought a gun inside, and in one ending there is even a murder with gun in a bathroom! For all his abrasive approach, he's in the right about how messed up the school is, especially when you consider how spineless the principal happens to be.
• Papa Wolf: Despite being cranky and overly paranoid, David does care about Chloe. When he learns Jefferson killed Chloe, he murders him in revenge out of guilt for not protecting her.
• Parents as People: David by isn't the best step-parent in the world by any measure, but it's not for a lack of trying. He tries to love Chloe and wants to protect her like his own daughter, but his smothering paranoia and his inability to express his more sensitive side honestly make him come off as an authoritarian Knight Templar Parent. Neither these nor Chloe's deliberate efforts to press his buttons excuse his own abusive behavior, of course.
• Pet the Dog:
  • If you didn't delete the message in Episode 3, he will actually cover up Chloe for sneaking into Blackwell at night by claiming that she was with him. It is also implied from his conversations with him in Episode 4 if you defended him in Episode 3 that he uses his connections from the police regularly to prevent Chloe from going to jail for her mischief.
  • In all of the alternate timelines in Episode 5, he will always believe in Max's testimony of Nathan and Jefferson, leading to their arrest.
• Poor Communication Kills: A lot of David's problems stem from the fact that it's very difficult to get a straight conversation out of him. He plays the authority figure far too much for his own good, and keeps secrets even when doing so is of no benefit. If you confront him about his files in Episode 3, David will try to deflect rather than admit his reasons — which are well-intentioned, if a bit misguided — further alienating Joyce. He acknowledges this in a crumpled up letter you can find in Episode 4, saying he wanted to gather more proof, yet this further factors into it because he never gives the letter to Joyce.
• Properly Paranoid: As it turns out, his excessive surveillance of Blackwell's students and campus might well have led him to uncover Mr. Jefferson's secret identity, if the rest of the school hadn't simply dismissed him as an unhinged war vet. He's also ultimately correct to suspect that everyone he's keeping tabs on is somehow linked to Rachel Amber's disappearance, even if his own preconceived notions kept him from seeing how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together at first.
• Real Men Love Jesus: He is a US Army veteran and he is a Baptist.
• Red Herring: Looked highly suspicious of Rachel's disappearance during the earlier episodes. He was harassing students, mainly Kate. He was stalking and following some of the other students while taking pictures, including Max. And Max discovered that he had surveillance equipment all over Chloe's house in the garage. However, Episodes 3, 4 and 5 reveal that he was actually a Well-Intentioned Extremist who was trying to protect the children at Blackwell, especially the girls. But his extreme way of going about it made the girls fearful and eventually ruined his relationship with Joyce. He does make up for this by saving Max from Jefferson, and helping her arrest Jefferson.
• Relative Button: His relationship with Chloe is... rocky to say the least, but his overprotective streak extends to him going nuts if Chloe gets killed. If Max tells him about Chloe's murder by Jefferson then his immediate response is to murder Jefferson. If Max sacrifices Chloe to save the town by letting Nathan Prescott kill her back in the past, the player briefly sees a photograph of David tackling Nathan to the ground, maybe a little more harshly than was strictly needed.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Inverted. If Chloe thanks him for dropping her off to Blackwell, he mistakes it for sarcasm and scolds her.
• Second Love: To Joyce, who marries him three years after William's death.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: It's clear that he's traumatized by his experiences as a combat veteran and struggles to assimilate back to normal life. In Before the Storm, he confides to Chloe that he witnessed his best friend get killed by an IED and is still trying to cope with his death.
• Teen Hater: One of his biggest shortcomings is that he's incapable of interacting with the Blackwell students without hanging his seniority and authority over their head. Trying to parent anyone, especially a rebellious young woman like Chloe, is his worst nightmare.
• Tough Love: David deep down cares about Chloe and believes she was just like him when he was her age. Since a firm hand is what he needed to straighten out, he seeks to replicate that for Chloe. Unfortunately, he couldn't be more wrong and this actually drives them further apart. By the time the plot starts it has become a never-ending cycle of Chloe acting out, David responding harshly which makes Chloe act out further and so on and so on.
• Troubled Abuser: His behavior towards Chloe is largely due to his own paranoia and experiences as a soldier.
• Wicked Stepfather: Is shown this way at first, being a gruff, paranoid individual that's harsh towards Chloe (who doesn't help herself by being bratty and rebellious) and goes as far as hit her when he learns she smoked a join in her room. But it's subverted over the course of the game that despite his harsh exterior, he does care deep down about Chloe and wants him, her and Joyce to be a family. He's said to have accepted to go to counselling to help with his PTSD from his soldier days and help him be a better step-father. He even kills Jefferson in one of the alternate realities when he learns from Max he killed Chloe.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: His actions may be objectionable, but he actually does care about the children of Blackwell (and his own stepdaughter). The more the story progresses towards the ending, the more obvious it becomes. By Episode 5, it also becomes clear that his paranoia was not without ground.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Is actually the only person in Arcadia Bay who believes Chloe that something bad happened to Rachel Amber, and actually begins to investigate it. Granted he goes way off the mark in his investigations, but if Chloe, Max and Him had worked together they could have figured it out much faster.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: To Chloe if he hits her.

Joyce Price-Madsen

Joyce Madsen (née Price)

Voiced by: Cissy Jones (Season One), Bootsie Park (Before the Storm)

Chloe's mother, David's wife, and a waitress at the Two Whales Diner.

---

• Amicable Exes: If Chloe was sacrificed, Joyce and David's marriage falls apart and they divorce. However, after some time, they begin speaking again, with Joyce even sending David a postcard from her travels and calling him after his conversation with Sean. David sincerely hopes they can get back together or at least just see each other again soon.
• Armor-Piercing Question: If Chloe is understanding to her in Episode 1 of Before the Storm, then Joyce will defend her against Principal Wells in Episode 2 as he tries to punish Chloe for all of Rachel's actions, justifiably calling him out for branding Chloe as a troublemaker and placing all blame on her daughter just because Chloe comes from a less influential family as Rachel's. Wells' reaction pretty much confirms that Joyce is not entirely wrong on her argument.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: In the alternate timeline, she has a full ashtray in her bedroom thanks to the stress of dealing with Chloe's paralysis and the medical bills brought on caring for her.
• Conflicting Loyalty: She's stuck in a war between her daughter and the new love of her life, where Both Sides Have a Point. She often switches between whom she defends in a moment, but it's clear that she loves both Chloe and David equally and just wants them to get along.
• Cool Old Lady: Joyce is a friendly woman who's not afraid to stand up for herself or others and most of the residents of Arcadia Bay seem to show respect for her despite Chloe's negative reputation around town.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: She can possibly die in the Arcadia Bay hurricane should Max choose to save Chloe.
• Expy: Of Norma Jennings. They share both the ability of cooking and the waitress job in a diner.
• Extreme Doormat: Towards both Chloe and David. She'll often excuse the abusive behavior of both if they just so happen to raise a point over the other in the moment, and it's obvious that she feels uncomfortable favoring one of the two.
• Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: The feminine mother to Chloe's tomboyish daughter. She doesn't explicitly support conservative gender roles, but she does cook and wear an apron often, and she expects Chloe to obey David's authority as a stepfather, even if he can be a little "old-fashioned."
• Iron Lady: She doesn't take any crap at her job.
• Killed Off for Real: In the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, she becomes one of the storm's confirmed casualties among the cast.
• Killed Offscreen: If Arcadia Bay is sacrificed, Life Is Strange 2 as well as the Dust comic confirm that she was killed in the storm.
• The Lost Lenore: To David in the sequel if the player chose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay in the first game.
• Mama Bear: If Chloe is kind to her in Episode 1 of Before the Storm, Joyce will protect her daughter from Principal Wells' prejudice towards Chloe in Episode 2.
• Missing Mom: In the event where Max sacrifices Arcadia Bay to save Chloe's life, Joyce will lose her life in the hurricane that wipes out the city and leaves her daughter orphaned.
• Morality Pet: To David. Despite his cranky behavior towards Chloe and being a jerk to Blackwell Students such as Kate, he clearly loves Joyce and wishes to be a happy family with her and Chloe.
• Nice Girl: Quick to feed everyone, including the homeless woman camped outside the diner.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Joyce doesn't like smoking, especially in her diner. In the alternate timeline though, she smokes a lot due to the debts they are getting in by keeping Alt!Chloe alive. Max even mentions this as something her original self does not do. It shows how much Chloe's paralysis and failing respiratory system has affected her.
  • Joyce did used to smoke as Max can find her nicotine gum and comment that it looks like she's quitting in the Farewell episode. Her distaste for smoking in the diner may be related to that, or just not liking people smoking around food. The fact that she still smokes in 2013 in the alternate timeline is still an example, as she'd been quitting five years earlier in the original timeline.
• Outliving One's Offspring: If you choose the 'Sacrifice Chloe' ending. Joyce understandably does not take it well.
• Parents as People: Despite her complex relationship with her daughter, she does do all she can to raise Chloe well. The problem is that she doesn't really take Chloe's feelings in regards to David into account. She just assumes Chloe should accept him, not realizing that Chloe has deep, unresolved issues in regards to losing her first father figure.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • If Max takes the blame for Chloe's joint in the first episode, she'll say she doesn't believe it in the second (compared to David who flips out, threatens to have her expelled from Blackwell, and apparently tells everyone he caught a drug dealer in Chloe's room).
  • She doesn't get on Max's case for calling David out on his spying, even though it could ruin her marriage.
• Supreme Chef: According to Max and Chloe. Joyce's cooking is also cited as the key to the Two Whales Diner's popularity.
• Team Chef: She cooks Max and Chloe breakfast in Episode 2 before they head out for the day.

William Price

William Price

Voiced by: Joe Ochman (Season One, "Farewell"), Peter D. Michael (Before the Storm)

Chloe's late father. He died in a car accident shortly before Max moved to Seattle.

---

• Ascended Extra: He becomes a recurring character on Before the Storm through Chloe's dreams/hallucinations.
• Bumbling Dad: Downplayed. While fairly goofy, he was still a very mature and reasonable person, as seen in the alternate reality where he lives and Chloe is bound in a wheelchair.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: He was shown to be a loving, dorky father to Chloe, and his death sent her to depression.
• Disappeared Dad: After losing him, Chloe's life went pretty sharply downhill. Although a lot of it was her own fault.
• Foreshadowing: He says in Episode 4 that he's scared that he might lose Chloe. You can let Chloe die by helping her in suicide. Chloe also gets shot by Mr. Jefferson and you can't rewind to save her
• Fun Personified: He loved making puns and cracking jokes with his daughter.
• Good Parents: He had a really sweet father-and-daughter dynamic with Chloe before he died. In the alternate timeline, he does his best to take care of her, even if it practically bankrupts him.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He had strawberry blonde hair and was a kind-hearted individual and devoted father.
• Irony: A very tragic example. His last conversaiton with Chloe the day he died in a car accident was his response to her saying that Max was never leaving her: "That makes all of us."
• The Lost Lenore: To Joyce. Even if she eventually remarried David, she still misses her late husband a lot and has a hard time seeing pictures of him around the house.
• Morality Chain: Implied to be one for Chloe. After his passing, her life took a darker turn.
• Nice Guy: A kind, affable jokester of a father whom Max loved as though he were her own family.
• Posthumous Character:
  • He died five years before the start of the game, but we learn a lot about him through Max, Chloe, and Joyce. Subverted in Episode 3, when Max alters history and saves his life. Then subverted again when Max returns to the original timeline.
  • Before the Storm takes place three years after he died, but Chloe's inability to cope with his death creates much of the game's conflict and he appears in Chloe's recurring nightmares.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Might be where Chloe got her potty mouth from. He had a Swear Jar at Chloe's house, that almost only he filled. And it was clearly full.
• Spirit Advisor: Might be this to Chloe through her dreams/nightmares in the prequel. He noticeably appears to her when she's awake near the end of the game but it's unclear if it's related to this or Chloe's bad mental health.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He's the kindest person in the entire game and tragically perished in a fatal car accident.

Frank Bowers

Francis "Frank" Bowers

^{Click here for his appearance in Before the Storm}

Voiced by: Daniel Bonjour (English, Season One), Ryota Takeuchi (Japanese), Nick Apostolides (English, Before the Storm)

An aggressive drug dealer Chloe owes money to.

During the events of Before the Storm, Frank is still on good terms with Chloe and is a far more pleasant person.

---

• A Lighter Shade of Black: Frank may threaten Chloe and Max for owing him money, but he is a complete angel compared to his friend Damon. At the very least, Frank let Chloe owe him up to three grand before forcibly demanding payment from her, while Damon has beaten a teenager to a bloody pulp and ruined his potential career for owing him one-third as much.
• Anti-Hero: Episode 4 potentially shows him as this, depending on Max's actions. Despite his violent behavior and rude attitude, all he wants to do is find Rachel and be with her again, and he can even do a Heel–Face Turn and become a friendly ally of Max and Chloe.
• The Atoner: If Max tells him that his drugs killed Rachel, Frank resolves to turn his life around.
• Back from the Dead: If Chloe shoots him to death during their confrontation in Episode 4, Max can rewind it and try again. Even if she doesn't, he returns for good in the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, where none of the game's events past the prologue ever happened.
• Badass Boast: If Chloe non-lethally shoots or stabs him, he tells them not to call an ambulance and that he'll be fine.
• Barbarian Longhair: Similar to his beard, his hair is much longer in Season One than it was in Before the Storm. It's implied that losing Rachel caused him to neglect personal grooming a bit.
• Beard of Sorrow: His beard in Season One is noticeably heavier and shaggier than it was in Before the Storm, which makes him look much more threatening to match his more aggressive personality than the thinly-cut beard and more friendly demeanor that he had three years earlier. It's all but stated that this is motivated by the loss of Rachel.
• Berserk Button:
  • Mentioning his relationship with Rachel or attacking Pompidou are MAJOR ones to him. Max needs to choose her words carefully when she talks to him in Episode 4, or it can lead to Chloe shooting Frank in self-defense when he jumps to attack her and Max.
  • Don't mess with his beans. If Max spills his beer or dumps them on the floor, he will angrily attack her.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the climax of Before the Storm, he saves Chloe and Sera before they can be killed by Damon Merrick.
• Boom, Headshot!: If Max fails to reason with him and Pompidou isn't locked in the RV, Chloe kills Frank by shooting him in the head when he tries to strangle Max.
• Deadpan Snarker: All the time when it comes to Chloe and Max.
• Despair Event Horizon: He has not taken Rachel vanishing well, turning him darker and more violent.
• Disproportionate Retribution: If Max deliberately spills his beer in his lap, dumps his food on the the floor, or steals his keys, Frank flips out and attempts to attack her, forcing her to rewind. Max is being intentionally confrontational, but that doesn't make it any less of an overreaction.
• The Dragon: In the prequel, he serves as this to Damon until he decides he's gone too far.
• Enemy Mine:
  • One way of interpreting his partnership with Max and Chloe is that he's only helping them out since they're close to finding out what happened to his lost girlfriend Rachel.
  • Before the Storm shows that he was willing to work with Chloe to steal money from Drew's room so his more unstable partner Damon wouldn't do anything harsher to the kid.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Though "evil" is a big word to describe Frank, he's fairly violent and antagonistic. Despite that, he loves his dog Pompidou a lot.
  • He also treated Rachel right and was really in love with her during the time they had a secret affair.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even a drug dealer like him is thoroughly disgusted with the abduction of weak girls.
  • He also defends Chloe and Rachel from being attacked by the two lowlifes at the Firewalk concert in Before the Storm.
  • He's also wary of his partner Damon's methods of handling clients.
  • When Damon stabs Rachel in the arm, Frank is horrified and holds him back from harming the girls again.
    Frank: [in shock] DAMON, WHAT THE FUCK?!
• Evil Former Friend: Before the Storm shows that Frank used to be on good terms with Chloe before their tolerance for each other went severely downhill.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: He's noticeably better kept in Before the Storm and is also a lot more easy-going. Being forced to kill his best friend and losing the woman he loved have obviously taken a toll on his grooming habits by the time he meets Max.
• Extreme Doormat: To his boss, Damon Merrick. During the confrontation between them, Chloe, and Rachel in Hell is Empty, he spends his time either trying to calm him or the girls down, and just standing in the background, submissively letting Damon do all the talking.
• Face–Heel Turn: Was once a bright student at Blackwell, but was expelled and eventually turned to dealing for survival. However, Heel may be a stretch, as Frank is still a Noble Demon with a lot of standards who would gladly kill his more violent colleague to protect the innocent. He is surprisingly lenient toward Chloe given her history of never paying her loans back and being prying on his business.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Episode 5 reveals that he is envious of Rachel's relationship with Chloe.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He's very easy to anger and will get violent at the slightest provocation, and Chloe implies that he has anger management issues. In episode 4, Max telling him to calm down after he was getting aggressive is enough for him to fly off the handle and try to strangle her. There's also how quickly he attacks Max if she disrupts his meal in the diner.
• Heroes Love Dogs: The fact that Frank owns a dog is the earliest indication that there's more to him than being a hostile drug dealer.
• Hidden Heart of Gold:
  • Has a spot for dogs, especially his own. He and Rachel also seem to love each other, and he apparently treated her very well. Episode 4 shows more of this side if Max picks the right choices to have him become their ally. In general, Frank seems to be a decent human being that's just fallen on very hard times and become withdrawn and aggressive as a means of coping.
  • Before the Storm shows that he is a fairly reasonable fellow. Instead of beating the living crap out of a disobedient dealer like his colleague would, Frank chooses to deal with the matter stealthily. When the lives of two innocent women are threatened, Frank wastes no time coming to their aid and killing their would-be murderer despite being badly wounded.
• Hot Consort: Frank is the main drug dealer in Arcadia Bay and had an affair with the beautiful and mysterious Rachel Amber.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a rough, crude drug dealer who has no qualms about pulling a knife on people, but he genuinely cares for both Rachel and Pompidou. If Max picks the right dialogue options in Episode 4, Frank can become her and Chloe's ally and help them search for Rachel.
• Killed Off for Real: Frank is one of five characters who can die permanently; namely, by allowing Chloe to kill him in Episode 4 and choosing the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending. If Chloe doesn't kill him, his odds of surviving the Storm aren't great, but in the former scenario, his death is a certainty.
• Kick the Morality Pet: On the receiving end of this in the finale of Before the Storm, when Damon stabs him for protecting Chloe and Rachel.
• Libation for the Dead: He pours out some liquor for Damon after killing him at the end of Before the Storm.
• Loan Shark: Chloe owes him money, and he's more than happy to threaten her (and possibly Max) if she doesn't pay up. He never actually adds interest to the amount of money Chloe owes him, but he still fits the spirit of the trope.
  • Takes a darker turn after Before the Storm reveals that he has done Chloe a lot of favors. His aggressiveness towards her might be due to him viewing her as an Ungrateful Bastard.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Can get shot/stabbed in the leg by Chloe in Episode 4, but treats both injuries as a minor annoyance and specifically tells Max not to call for an ambulance.
  • In Before the Storm, Frank is injured during a tussle with Damon, and while still clutching his first wound comes back to fight with Damon again.
• Morality Pet:
  • Towards his boss, Damon Merrick. He's pretty much the only person we see him treat with genuine respect. He personally gifted Frank his future Canine Companion, Pompidou, even when he was offered three thousand dollars to sell him. Him stabbing Frank in the finale is yet another major tip-off that Damon is Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, and forces Frank to put him down.
  • He's also this to his dog, Pompidou, who's loyal and devoted to his owner and is aggressive towards anyone he sees as a threat to him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Said by him at the end, if you tell him that Nathan overdosed his girlfriend Rachel on drugs that Frank provided him.
• Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight: Brandishes a knife against the not-particularly-violent Max, who is holding a gun. The gun doesn't have any bullets the first time, but is very much lethal in Episode 4.
• Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Repeatedly. He even quotes the trope if the final confrontation is resolved peacefully.
  • At the scrap yard, Frank says he heard the shots but still pulls his knife out and attacks Chloe only to get faced with a gun by Max.
  • If Chloe keeps her revolver and Max picks the wrong dialogue options, he tries to strangle Max and is threatened by Chloe. If Pompidou is alive and not locked in the RV, he will charge out and get shot by Chloe. This causes Frank to charge Chloe in anger, but she panics and shoots him in the head. If Pompidou doesn't attack, he just gets shot in the leg.
• Parental Abandonment: Frank only met his father once.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Quite literally, as one of the few things he is said to care about is his dog. A cop relates a tale about how he freed a bunch of dogs that were part of a dog-fighting ring, one of them being the one he owns now. Later mentions he rescued Pompidou from a highly abusive owner.
  • In Episode 4, if Frank stole Chloe's gun and Max convinces him to help her find Rachel, Frank will return the gun to Chloe.
  • Judging by letters and photographs, he was extremely sweet and romantic to Rachel, though their relationship eventually turned sour according to a letter written by Rachel to him.
  • Goes to church, and proud of it.
  • In the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, he secretly attends Chloe's funeral to pay his respects, implying he still cares for her despite everything that happened between them.
  • During Before the Storm he stops two punks from hurting Chloe and Rachel even though Chloe owes him money.
  • In "Brave New World" he sends Chloe to steal the money Drew owes him and Damon, even going as far to offer to pay her $100 (and possibly erase a few hundred more in debt), for the simple reason he knows Damon will be far more brutal about retrieving it.
  • Also in "Brave New World", if Chloe tells him that she gave the money she owes him to Joyce, instead of chewing her out, he'll actually praise her for looking out for her own.
  • When Damon is violently reacting to Rachel and Chloe, Frank steps in to defuse the situation. It ends with him getting a nasty stab wound. When Damon is attempting to kill two defenseless women, Frank kills Damon to protect them.
  • In Before the Storm, Frank has a refrigerator full of steaks, and his internet history indicates that he bought them for Pompidou. This is in spite of apparently subsisting on nothing but beans himself.
• Poke the Poodle: When Chloe spies his criminal record, she makes fun of his "badass loitering charge."
• Second Episode Introduction: He makes his first on-screen appearance in the second episode.
• Secret Relationship: With Rachel Amber. Not even Chloe knew they were romantically involved. They look happy in their photos, but notes written to each other indicate that they fought a lot. Frank still seems to take the end of their relationship, and her disappearance, very hard.
• Shadow Archetype: When you get right down to it, Frank is basically what Chloe risks becoming if she continues her self-destructive behavior without Max to anchor her: a bitter, misanthropic criminal addicted to drugs who shuns most human contact except where money is concerned. This is probably one reason why they both get involved with Rachel Amber.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: He's not really that bad a guy (well apart from the drug dealing), but not knowing where Rachel is did a number on him emotionally. Once Chloe and Max make it clear to him they're serious about tracking down Rachel, he shows a much friendlier side.
• Tattooed Crook: He gets more tattoos the more crooked he gets.
• Too Dumb to Live: In Episode 4, he will attack Chloe if provoked, even if she has a gun. This will always end up with him getting shot, potentially fatally if she had to shoot his dog first.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Before the Storm reveals that Frank used to be much friendlier. In fact, he hires Chloe to resolve an issue peacefully before his violent associate can step in. Throughout the prequel, he saves Chloe from danger on multiple occasions. By the time of the original game, he'll threaten her and Max at the drop of a hat.
• Took a Level in Kindness: One possible outcome of his confrontation with Max and Chloe in episode 4. If Max appeals to his better side and convinces him to help them find Rachel, he's much friendlier to them afterward, even wishing them luck via text message and offering to hang out with them sometime. Even if he was still sour to Max, if she reveals him the truth behind Rachel's death at the diner, he will genuinely thank Max and apologize for his behavior. Before the Storm shows his more caring side and gives him a much less pleasant foil in the form of Damon.
• Trademark Favourite Food: He's absolutely furious if Max ruins his dinner of beans in "Chaos Theory". Before the Storm rolls with this and in "Brave New World" his trailer has a cupboard full of them (along with an upturned plate of them on the floor); Chloe is able to bribe him for information by offering to have her mum cook him some, and his icon in the backtalk challenge is even an open tin of beans.
• Trashy Trailer Home: Lives in a trailer by the beach.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The drugs Frank sold to Nathan were used by Mr. Jefferson to sexually abuse multiple teenage girls, including his beloved Rachel. He does not take it well upon realizing this.
• We Used to Be Friends: With both Chloe and his boss, Damon Merrick.
  • We see that Frank was able to get along with Chloe a lot better before their friendship was soured to the point he protects her from his colleagues, and eventually turns on his best friend because of it. It's implied that this heroic action followed up by Chloe constantly coming up short on her payments (and even trying to steal money from him to run off with Rachel) and the disappearance of Rachel caused the huge rift between them.
  • Also applies to Damon, who it seems has been becoming more and more unstable (and got into criminal enterprises that Frank thinks are going too far). Frank is seen quietly mourning his former friend after burying him.

Pompidou

Pompidou

^{Click here for his appearance in Before the Storm}

Frank's loyal guard dog. He rescued him from a dog-fighting ring when he was a puppy, and he scares off intruders or anyone he sees as a threat to Frank.

---

• Angry Guard Dog: Pompidou is really aggressive towards anyone who isn't Frank, and isn't afraid to bite. Considering his owner is a drug dealer, it makes sense.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Being a dog, he forgets about attacking Max the instant he sees she throws food for him.
• Berserk Button: He attacks Chloe if she points a gun at Frank in Episode 4. This costs him his life.
• Beware of Vicious Dog: He's an aggressive dog that's fiercely protective of his owner. He's an obstacle Max and Chloe must face to investigate Frank's trailer, and the only option is to lure him away with food.
• Canine Companion: To his owner Frank.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He was saved from a dog-fighting ring by Damon who then gave him to Frank.
• Dog Stereotype: Pompidou appears to be a German Shepherd Pitbull Mix - a common mixed breed typically used in dog fighting, hence his aggressivity.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Should Max tell Frank about Nathan's Accidental Murder of Rachel Amber, in Polarized, he recalls that Pompidou hated Nathan and berates himself for not trusting his dog's instinct.
• Fluffy the Terrible: Frank named his dog, which he took out of a dog-fighting ring and trained to keep trespassers away, "Pompidou". Max lampshades it when interacting with Pompidou's bowl, noting that it sounds more fitting for a poodle than a guard dog.
• Morality Pet: A literal example towards Frank. As gruff and antagonistic Frank is first presented as, he truly loves his dog. Harming his dog is the best way to get on his bad side. If Pompidou got hit by a car but Max is sympathetic and says she loves dogs, Frank will be easier to talk to.
• Precious Puppy: How he appeared in Before The Storm.
• Shoot the Dog: Can literally be a victim of this. Max can choose to throw the bone in the street, which results in him being hit by a car. If he was spared then but the conversation with Frank goes wrong, he can be shot by Chloe.
• Through His Stomach: Even a highly trained guard dog is easily distracted by food.
• Undying Loyalty: To Frank. A given, considering he's a dog.

Before the Storm

James Amber

James Amber

Voiced by: Patrick Finerty

Rachel Amber's father and the district attorney for the area.

---

• All for Nothing: If you go with the Knight Templar Parent interpretation then all his actions are for naught. With this interpretation, he has Sera kidnapped and drugged to force her and her bad decision making away from Rachel. However, regardless of what ending you get, by the time of the season 1, Rachel will have become a drug addict who associates herself with very shady people and ends up being murdered during one of her attempts to become a model. So Sera's influence in her life would have had no significant negative or positive impact in the long run, as Rachel is Doomed by Canon.
• Ambiguous Situation: Doubling as an ambiguous motive, it's unclear if he had Sera kidnapped because of Knight Templar Parent tendencies or if he did so to prevent the people of Arcadia Bay from finding out that his baby-momma is a drug addict and thus ruining his reputation. Damon seems to think it's the latter, but Sera herself thinks it's the former. It's also ambiguous if he would've stuck to the plan after Damon injured Rachel, since Chloe assumes his identity over the phone to continue it; Rachel getting hurt because of his actions would be a strong incentive to call it off.
• Amoral Attorney: In Episode 3, Chloe discovers that James hired Damon Merrick to keep Sera Gearhardt away from Rachel in exchange for disposing of key evidence and naming their mole in his group. Though admittedly, it's Chloe who ends up actually carrying out those actions pretending to be James to get Damon to talk, so it's possible however slightly that James didn't intend to actually go that far.
• The Bad Guy Wins: His main goal is to prevent Sera from seeing Rachel. Unless Chloe can convince her, he succeeds at exactly just that.
• Broken Pedestal: Rachel does not take finding out her father is cheating on her mother well. At the end of Episode 3, Chloe has to choose between breaking the pedestal irrevocably by telling Rachel that he had Sera kidnapped and drugged, or conceal that from her and give them a chance to rebuild their relationship.
• Cassandra Truth: He wasn't lying about Sera's addiction but he was lying about their estrangement. James claimed that Sera had been accepting the bribe to stay away, when Sera had actually been voiding the checks and trying to reconnect with Rachel.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He hired Damon Merrick to kidnap his ex-wife with the promise of removing evidence linking Merrick to a murder investigation, identify a snitch and bring him his ransom money.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: His reason for keeping Sera away from Rachel were legitimate and hard to argue with, she was a drug addict who put her addiction before her own daughter. However, hiring Damon Merrick to kidnap and refuel her addiction to protect his reputation is extreme since Sera had been making an effort to atone.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The nicest thing that can be said about him is that he at the very least does seem to genuinely care about his wife and daughter.
• Expy: Physically speaking, he looks quite a bit like Leland Palmer but with smaller eyes and a slightly better hairline. Given that his daughter wasn't much more than an expy of Laura Palmer in Season 1 this was most likely intentional on the developers' part.
• Foil: To David Madsen. Both are morally ambiguous father figures who have a strained relationship with their daughter and step-daughter respectively, but there are a few key differences between them:
  • Chloe hated David since day one. Rachel loved James until the events of Before the Storm.
  • Chloe resents David for entering in a relationship with her mother. Rachel resents James for seemingly entering in a relationship with another woman which is not her mother.
  • David is revealed to be Good All Along by saving Max from Jefferson. James is revealed to be Evil All Along by hiring Damon to drug Sera.
• Hate Sink: As Rachel and Chloe (and to an extension the player) learn more about him, James' everyday persona is nothing more than an act and he is actually a selfish man who will do anything to protect his reputation including hiring a ruthless gangster to kidnap and drug his former-addict ex-wife while promising to remove any evidence incriminating him.
• Greater-Scope Villain: While he isn't as active in the events compared to Damon, his actions have caused the events of Before the Storm to happen by keeping Rachel's birth mother away from her and hiring the violent and unstable Damon to try and get rid of her.
• Hypocrite:
  • Rachel and Rose accuse him as one for holding personal opinions of people who do shady things for themselves, even though he's done some shady things to protect his image.
  • While James presents himself as a righteous prosecutor who upholds the law, and as a concerned parent whose chief concern is protecting Rachel from her irresponsible mother, his plan to drive Sera away involves indebting himself to a drug-dealing thug who's more dangerous to Rachel than Sera could ever be.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While having Sera kidnapped is a bit extreme, he's right that Sera forfeit her role as a mother when she favoured drugs over raising her own daughter. As James says, Sera can't be forgiven that quickly for endangering Rachel all those years ago.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: After being presented as a Jerkass for the majority of the first two episodes, the third episode paints him in a more sympathetic light in that he's trying to protect Rachel from getting hurt by her mother. He loses all sympathy when it's revealed that he not only lied (for the most part) about Sera's backstory, but he basically got Damon to get her re-addicted to heroin.
• Karma Houdini: Basically gets off scot-free for trying to get rid of Sera if Chloe conceals the truth from Rachel. Even if Chloe tells Rachel the truth, all James gets for tampering with crime evidence, working with a known criminal, and hiring the criminal to not only kidnap Sera but set her back on an addiction that will likely lead to her death is losing his family.
• Knight Templar Parent: If you go with the interpretation that he had Sera kidnapped and forced into a relapse so that he could keep her and her poor decision-making away from Rachel, rather than doing it so that no one would take Sera seriously when she came out as Rachel's mother.
• Kick the Dog: When he gets into an argument with Chloe, he calls her a delinquent from a broken home that doesn't deserve to be anywhere near his daughter because of her horrible influence despite the fact that Rachel can argue that she got them both into trouble in the first place.
• Love Makes You Evil: His love for Rachel and desire to protect her is what motivates him to force Sera into having a relapse.
• Man Behind the Man: He's this for Damon, hiring him to kidnap Rachel's birth mother, Sera, and get rid of her.
• No Sense of Humor: When talking to him, Chloe keeps trying to crack jokes to break the tension. Unfortunately, James seems find all of her jokes inappropriate and just stares impassively at her in awkward silence.
• No Sympathy For Grudge Holders: He had a legitimate reason to keep Sera away from Rachel but his inability to forgive and allow Sera another chance is what drives a wedge between him and Rachel and establishes him as an antagonist.
• Papa Wolf: As soon as he saw Sera overdosing or high while looking after Rachel, he divorced her and forbade her from ever seeing Rachel again. However, this is revealed to be an overcorrection for that event since his inability to forgive created a wedge between himself and Rachel. Sera was voiding the bribes that he been sending her to stay away from Rachel and she has tried multiple times to reconnect with Rachel but James rejected all these attempts because he lost all faith in Sera to be a good mother.
• Parents as People: He saw Sera high or overdosing while looking after Rachel, forcing him to divorce Sera and keep her estranged from Rachel. His role as an antagonist stems from the fact that he never forgave Sera for putting Rachel in danger and sincerely believes that she will easily relapse into her addiction.
• Pet the Dog: He tries to comfort an emotionally distraught Chloe in the hospital after Rachel is stabbed. It's a pretty nice move even though he doesn't really like her and could've blamed her for taking his daughter to meet a known criminal.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Displays a tad bit of classism against Chloe when he calls her a delinquent from a broken home.
• Punny Name: For Jamie Bamber.
• Unreliable Expositor: While his statements on Sera's drug addiction are true it's hard to say if anything else he tells Rachel and Chloe is true.
• Villainous Breakdown: If Chloe tells Rachel that James had Sera kidnapped and drugged into a relapse of her heroin addiction he's last seen angrily destroying a family photo.

Rose Amber

Rose Amber

Voiced by: Kelly Handcock

James Amber's wife and Rachel Amber's mother

---

• Extreme Doormat: Chloe can point this out to Sera when she says how Rose just sits back and allows her husband to speak for her, doing whatever he wants without her questioning his actions. It's not a completely fair assessment, given that Rose does stand up for Chloe during dinner.
• Good Parents: Is noticeably nicer that her husband, as well as accepting of Rachel's friendship with Chloe and making an effort to get along with her (apparently being the one who convinced James to invite her to dinner).
• Horrible Judge of Character: It can be argued that she's this towards her own family.
  • For Rachel: In Episode 2, there's a heavy indication that she falls for Rachel's "perfect" persona just about as much as any other character does; the prime example is during the scene where Rachel is trying to keep Chloe from being punished and embellishes a story about Chloe ditching with her to protect her from doing anything harmful. Rose (and James) are astounded to hear that Rachel would ever consider stealing alcohol or do drugs, clearly viewing it as out of character. Which is quite ironic given Rachel and Chloe did the former in the previous episode and season 1's heavy implications that Rachel developed some form of drug addiction sometime between the two games.
  • For James: She has nothing but trust for her husband and believes him to be a good man. However, he hired a very violent criminal to kidnap and drug Sera with the promise of getting rid of incriminating evidence. She's implied to have not taken this revelation well in the Truth ending, what with her crying and refusal to look at him.
• Innocently Insensitive: A lot of her dialogue to and in defense of Chloe is rather patronizing at best, and mildly condescending at worst. Although she obviously has good intentions, she pretty clearly has similar biases to her husband and, intentionally or not, treats Chloe as something of a charity case. She doesn't get called out on it, as Chloe seems to appreciate the effort on Rose's part, even if it makes her mildly uncomfortable. Essentially, she's a woman of (at least some) privilege who genuinely wants to help others but comes off as rude by mistake due to not fully understanding the situation of those around her herself.
• Nice Girl: She's pretty nice and seems willing to allow Chloe to befriend her daughter despite a rocky first meeting. She also gives Chloe some pity laughs at her bad jokes.
• No Sense of Humor: Unlike her husband, Rose at least acknowledges Chloe's attempts at humor but clearly doesn't find anything she says to be funny.
• Shipper on Deck: In Episode 3, she remarks that Rachel and Chloe are lucky to have found each other.

Damon Merrick

Damon Merrick

"No one steals from me! No one!"

Voiced by: Kyle Williams

Owner of the old mill and a friend of Frank Bowers.

---

• Asshole Victim: Absolutely nobody but Frank gave a crap about his death. Heck, nobody around the whole town even bats an eye over his disappearance.
• Ax-Crazy: If him severely injuring either Drew or Mikey wasn't evidence enough that he's this, he later stabs Rachel, nearly killing her, after she attacks him, even though this would jeopardize Damon's deal with James. When Frank intervenes and allows Chloe and Rachel to get away, he lashes out and stabs him.
• Bad Boss: When Frank tries to prevent him from murdering Rachel, Damon responds by slashing his cohort and abandons him to die.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: He's pretty much a thug hired by James Amber to commit evil deeds for him.
• Beard of Evil: He has a thuggish beard and is a total monster.
• Big Bad: He's the main villain of Before The Storm seeking revenge on Chloe Price and Rachel Amber for burning down his mill, while kidnaping Rachel's birth mother Sara. While he was hired to do so by James Amber, Rachel's father, it's clear Damon is still the most dangerous antagonist whose using James for his own purposes
• Chekhov's Gunman: In "Awake", his name gets dropped several times, but we apparently never see him in person. The Episode 2 trailer reveals that he was one of the two nondescript men having an argument outside the concert at the beginning of episode 1.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Mark Jefferson.
  • While Jefferson at first seems to be a trustworthy and friendly guy, Damon doesn't even bother hiding his true nature.
  • Jefferson has an unhealthy obsession with Max and wants her to be his latest subject in the Dark Room. Damon has no interest in Chloe, and only tries to kill her once she gets into his business.
  • While Jefferson kills his Dragon, Nathan Prescott, Damon is killed by his Dragon, Frank Bowers.
  • Jefferson cared for absolutely no one but himself, not even Rachel Amber. Damon actually has a Morality Pet in the form of Frank, and he makes it very clear that he has Undying Loyalty towards him.
• Create Your Own Villain: Sort of. While he was obviously a brutal thug long before, the fire Rachel starts burns down his mill and ruins his business, making him more unhinged and desperate for money.
• Devil in Plain Sight: His name is just one letter away from "Daemon". Chloe even draw horns on him in some of her journal entries.
• Dragon-in-Chief: To James Amber. While Damon functions as the de-facto main antagonist, James is the main source of drama in the game and the one who hired him out for a job in kidnapping and trying to drug Sera. That said, even when they do work together, it's pretty clear that Damon is more in control of the situation than James, and blatantly obvious that Damon is using James for his own means.
• The Dreaded: Most characters react in fear or unsettlement whenever his name is dropped.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Despite being a very vicious gangster, Frank genuinely considers him a friend. Even after he's forced to kill him to save Chloe and Sera, he's later seen mourning his death.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Had is more accurate. He was close friends with Frank, and gave him Pompidou as a gift. After Rachel's fire burns the mill down, he becomes more unstable, and even stabs Frank in a blind rage when he tries to protect Chloe and Rachel from him; Frank ends up being forced to kill him to save Chloe and Sera.
• Faux Affably Evil: He can act quite cordial when he wants to, but it's a blatant facade that barely conceals the psychopath he really is.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He has little to no patience whatsoever and is very easily pissed off. When Rachel starts asking him some questions he reacts pretty violently, which leads to him stabbing her in blind rage.
• Hate Sink: There's not an ounce of sympathy for this guy and his sole role is to act as antagonistic as possible. Even his lone redeeming quality - his friendship with Frank - is rendered null and void when he tries to kill him for protecting Chloe and Rachel.
• The Heavy: While it's revealed that he was actually working for James, Damon still serves as the main antagonist of the second game, doing a lot more villainous actions than James.
• Jerkass: We never see a moment where Damon is not acting like a massive jerk.
• Kick the Dog: In episode 2, he'll either hurt Mikey so bad that it breaks his arm or cripple Drew in a violent effort to get his money.
• Kick the Morality Pet: He stabs Frank for trying to protect Chloe and Rachel.
• Killed Offscreen: The last we see of him is Frank attacking him before Chloe passes out. The ending montage shows Frank sitting near a freshly dug dirt mound. Frank remorsefully looks at a photo of him and Damon and before the scene ends Frank pours his drink on the ground, the implication being that Frank killed and buried Damon.
• Knight of Cerebus: While the prequel is fairly light-hearted for the most part, every major scene featuring Damon is played completely dark and seriously.
• Meaningful Name: His name sounds an awful lot like demon.
• Morality Pet: Frank is this to him. He might just be the one and only person Damon shows any compassion to. He personally gifted Frank his future Canine Companion Pompidou, and will instantly shoot down Chloe's possible attempt to pin Frank as the snitch. He's noticeably hesitant to fight Frank in the finale, even after he stabbed him earlier, and judging from the fact that Frank killed him despite suffering from the aforementioned stab wound, it's possible that Damon held back.
• Obviously Evil: Beard of Evil, tattoos... yeah, he's a bad guy.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Displays a tad bit of sexism. When Frank attempts to prevent a fight between him and Rachel, Damon whines about how woman hide behind their gender to avoid getting hit by men.
• Psycho for Hire: Turns out that he's been working for James the entire time, but he definitely gets too much amusement out of tormenting others while on the job.
• Shadow Archetype: He's pretty much a darker version of Frank, but with all sympathy removed.
• The Sociopath: He has no problem hurting others to get what he wants.
• The Starscream: He took Sera to use as leverage against James Amber in an effort to gain power in Arcadia Bay, despite being hired by James in the first place to do his dirty work.
• We Used to Be Friends: His friendship with Frank goes downhill when he becomes progressively more violent. Eventually, Frank is forced to kill him.
• Worthy Opponent: He has a certain appreciation for Chloe's tough attitude, as he seems to approve if she fights back against Sheldon in Episode 1 and tries to recruit her into his gang.
• Would Hit a Girl: And how. Not only does he stab Rachel during a confrontation with her and Chloe at the junkyard, he also kidnaps Sera Gearhardt by the orders of James Amber and prepares to drug her to make her relapse. When Chloe arrives to save her, he proceeds to viciously beat her, additionally hits Sera when she begs him to leave her alone, and most likely would've killed them both if Frank hadn't intervened. Earlier on he had given Rachel a Death Glare when she shoved him after he grabs Chloe's wrist. Then complained about the Double Standard about men and women hitting one another.
  Damon: Why is it that chicks think it's okay to hit me, but if I lay a SINGLE FINGER on them, suddenly it's a whole other thing?
• Would Hurt a Child: Is introduced in "Brave New World" when he starts beating up Drew, and will also break his kid brother Mikey's arm depending on the outcome of the confrontation (as well as threatening to harm Mikey if Drew doesn't pay up in future).

Sera Gearhardt

Sera Gearhardt

Voiced by: Andrea Fletcher

A young blond woman James Amber is seemingly having an affair with.

---

• The Atoner: Episode 3 reveals her arrival in Arcadia Bay is to make amends to Rachel for driving her and her father away with her drug addiction.
• Damsel in Distress: In Episode 3, it's revealed that Sera was being held hostage by Damon by orders of James Amber, who wanted to prevent her from contacting Rachel. This is officially confirmed when Damon sends a photo to James' phone (which Chloe is now in possession of) showing Sera at the abandoned mill, restrained to a chair.
• Determinator: Subverted; her letters to Rachel and James make it clear that she'll do anything for a chance to meet Rachel and become a part of her life, even going through rehab for her addiction and becoming sober... until Damon shoots her up with heroin against her will. By the time Chloe talks to her afterwards, she's thrown all of that conviction away and is resolved to returning to being an addict. Chloe can easily fail to convince her to go meet her daughter.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: If Chloe makes all the right choices, she can be seen finally meeting Rachel in the ending montage.
• Fanatical Fire: At the end of episode 1, when everyone is watching the giant fire Chloe and Rachel set in horror, Sera is nearby, smoking a cigarette, and smiling.
• Foreshadowing: Her first name foreshadows that she's Rachel's birth mother via the reference to Sarah Palmer, mother of Laura Palmer (the girl Rachel is considered an expy of.)
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In most scenarios, Sera will decide to leave Arcadia and not meet Rachel out of a desire to prevent her from learning that her father had hired Damon to kidnap her and thus destroy the only family she's ever known, as well as because she feels that she could never be a mother to her.
• Leitmotif: The track, "Witches" plays during a handful of her scenes.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: She is revealed to be Rachel's biological mother.
• Meaningful Name: Her first name is Sera, which may have been intended as foreshadowing to her role as Rachel's biological mother. In the first game Rachel wasn't much more than a Laura Palmer expy, meanwhile James Amber looks a lot like Leland Palmer. Laura's mother and wife of Leland was named Sarah.
• Missing Mom: She is this to Rachel.
• Recovered Addict: Mr. Amber reveals that at some point in her life Sera became addicted to some unnamed drug (revealed to be heroin by the stated effects and preparation method). This resulted in James leaving her and taking Rachel with him, refusing to let Sera see Rachel. In hopes of being allowed into Rachel's life she kicked her habit and stayed clean for an entire year. This ended up not persuading the man, who proceeded to hire Damon Merrick to kidnap and drug her to force a relapse.
• Redemption Rejection: She finally overcame her addiction and got herself clean but her ex-husband won't let her see her daughter Rachel. It's initially presented as suitable justice since Sera still put drugs before her own daughter but James is ultimately doing this to protect his reputation and he hires Damon Merrick to get rid of her.
• Stalker without a Crush: She can be seen watching Rachel's play from afar, but the revelation that she's her real biological mother implies that she came to see her daughter.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She looks like an older version of Rachel with a lighter shade of blonde hair. Even more so during the flashback to when she was a teen.
• Tattoo as Character Type: She has a large tattoo covering most of her left arm, as well as the same star tattoo Rachel later has, albeit in a different place.
• The Reveal: She's the biological mother of Rachel Amber.
• Walking Spoiler: It's difficult to talk about her character in terms other than "the mysterious woman in white" without revealing that she's Rachel's biological mother.
• Your Makeup Is Running: After being kidnapped by Damon and forced to relapse by the latter, when Chloe wakes up, Sera has her mascara running down her cheeks, showcasing she's been crying as she took her heroin doses.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

Charles Eriksen

Charles Eriksen

"Those were the good old days. Man, I hate even saying that... but they really were..."

Voiced by: Nick Apostolides

Chris's father. He is struggling to be a good father following the death of his wife two years ago, that caused him to become an alcoholic.

---

• Abusive Dad: He's emotionally abusive to Chris and it's implied that he has hit him at least once. By Faith, he thankfully learns from it and becomes sober.
• Alcoholic Parent: The death of his wife sent him into alcoholism, and he's shown to be struggling between being a good father to Chris and his addiction to alcohol.
• Beard of Sorrow: A short one, but he's let his beard grown after Emily's death.
• Crusading Widower: It's implied that he's actively trying to find the culprit of his wife's murder.
• Drowning My Sorrows: He took to the bottle after the death of his wife.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: Due to his alcoholism and depression after Emily's death.
• Happily Married: To Emily, at least until her death.
• Heel Realization: He has one in the car while talking to Sean. If Sean uses the right words, Charles can open up to him and Sean will advise him to get some help, in which Charles promises to get his alcoholism treated and become a better father to Chris.
• Hidden Depths: When he's sober, he's fairly kind and compassionate towards Chris, making him eggs (despite getting defensive about them compared to his late wife's cooking) and talking about Christmas with him before promising to buy a Christmas tree with him after he watches a basketball game. He also bonds with Sean over the hardships of looking after the kids in their care.
• Jaded Washout: In the past, he was a successful basketball player and coach. In the present, the closest he gets to sports is drinking and yelling at the TV.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he's far from a model parent and his abuse of Chris is inexcusable, he genuinely does love his son.
• Kick the Dog: He tells his nine year old son when he's drunk that he's the reason his mother found death. He immediately regrets it afterwards, but it's too late and Chris runs away in tears.
• My God, What Have I Done?: During a drunken rant, he tells Chris that if it wasn't from him, Emily would've never drove the car that day. The instant he sees Chris back away from him with tears in his eyes, he regrets his words right away but Chris runs out from home crying and Charles grabs his head in guilt.
• Not in Front of the Kid: When he says the F-word in front of Chris, he instantly apologizes and tells Chris not to swear like he does. Though it's harder for him to watch his language in front of Chris when he's drunk.
• Papa Wolf: Implied. When he reaches Chris in their backyard and sees him talk to Sean and Daniel, he immediately asks Chris if he knows them, perhaps thinking they were messing with his son.
• Parents as People: He got Chris in college and is struggling with an alcohol addiction and raising his son by himself after the death of his wife, but despite his problems, anger issues and unintentional neglect of Chris, he still loves his son dearly.
• Recovered Addict: He's gotten over his alcoholism by Faith.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He uses a lot of coarse vocabulary when he's drunk.
• Sleepyhead: Drinking alcohol makes him sleepy.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Chris's letter to Sean indicates that Charles is no longer drinking and they have a much better relationship since their meeting.
• Troubled Abuser: He verbally and emotionally (and implied to physically) abuses Chris, but he struggles with alcohol after the death of his wife and is aware of his problems, but feels out of resources.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was much happier in life as a teenager, and Chris notes that Charles "doesn't smile like this anymore" when looking at a high school photo.
• You Sound Familiar: He's voiced by Nick Apostolides, who previously voiced Frank Bowers in Life Is Strange: Before the Storm.

Emily Eriksen

Emily Eriksen (née Wyatt)

Chris' mother and Charles' wife, who died two years prior the events of the game.

---

• Alliterative Name: With her husband's surname, Emily Eriksen.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: She was adored by her son Chris and always played with him, but she unfortunately passed away after being hit by a car.
• Friend to All Children: She loved kids, being a kindergarten teacher and having a son of her own that she adored and who adored her back.
• The Ghost: She does not appear physically due to being deceased, but she appears in photos and is a big part of Chris' life despite her death.
• Good Parents: She encouraged Chris' drawing activities and took part in his creative games, even calling herself "Super-Mom".
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Just like her son, Emily was a kind individual with blonde hair.
• Happily Married: To Charles, at least until her death.
• Posthumous Character: She's dead by the time the events of The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit and Life is Strange 2 take place.
• Look Both Ways: Died after being hit by a car.
• The Lost Lenore: To Charles. Her death and the fact her killer was never found caused Charles to seek comfort in alcohol.
• Missing Mom: To Chris, she was killed in a car collision when he was seven years old.
• Morality Chain: Her death sent her husband into alcoholism and depression.
• Nice Girl: From what is being shown of her, she was a good mother to Chris and Charles was destroyed after losing her.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Charles states that each time he looks at Chris, he sees his wife, as they both have a strong resemblance in appearance and personality.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: A kind mother and wife whose life got taken away by a reckless car driver and put her family through grief.
• Two First Names: Her maiden last name is "Wyatt", which is also a male given name.

Claire Reynolds

Click here to see Claire's page.

Season 2

Esteban Diaz

Esteban Diaz

Don't you think your papito deserves a hug?

Voiced by: Amador Plascencia

Sean and Daniel's caring, single father. He is shown to be a responsible, if not fairly relaxed father figure until his shooting death by a jumpy police officer that triggers the events of the story.

---

• Animal Motif: A wolf, like the rest of the Diaz-Reynolds family.
• Closet Geek: Sean internally thinks so, by his love of old movie posters and video games.
• Deadpan Snarker: A playful example, as he loves to tease Sean in a fatherly way.
  (after Sean kicks a book in frustration) "Well, you really taught that book a lesson."
• Death by Origin Story: Witnessing his death is what uncovers Daniel's latent telekinetic powers, as well as kicking off the Run for the Border plot that is the driving force behind the whole season.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Was a loving, fun hard-working single father who put his sons' needs before his own. Just like William in the previous game, he had no chance.
• Dies Wide Open: When Sean wakes up after the incident, he sees his father's lifeless body with his eyes wide opened and empty.
• Disappeared Dad: Unfortunately becomes this to his sons after being murdered by a police officier.
• Expy:
  • Is a loving, fun father who dies in the first scene of the game. He's pretty much Salvador Garcia.
  • Being a kindhearted, hardworking man who loves his family dearly, his death being a major source of angst for his offspring, and his affection for automobiles can make him a composite Expy of both William Price and David Madsen.
• Former Teen Rebel: Sean thinks his father was just as a hard as a party guy when he was his age. This quote from Esteban just seems to confirm it:
  "What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico."
• Fun Personified: He's a playful and goofy individual, who loves saying puns and playing video games with his sons.
• Good Parents: In an almost exact fashion as William from the first game, he cares deeply about his two sons and will do just about anything to make sure they grow up to be responsible adults. Just like William, he dies, albeit not before the game's events.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a faded, but distinctive, scar on his jawline. The cause of it is unknown. Given how rough Puerto Lobos is shown to be in the endings where Sean and Daniel make it across the border, it's not implausible that he was a victim of gang violence in his youth.
• Grease Monkey: He was a mechanic who was skilled with cars, and intended to teach his skills to Sean.
• Innocent Bystander: All he wanted was to reason the jumpy officer who was pointing his weapon at his sons. Trying to approach the latter to talk the situation out cost him his life.
• Nice Guy: Kind, responsible and strict but fair. Nothing indicates that he isn't a loving and great father for the two boys.
• Open-Minded Parent: He will give Sean money to buy alcohol with as long as his son is being honest about it. A conversation Sean can have in his garage implies he has seen his fair share of partying in his day and thus understands it's of no use to forbid your children from experimenting whatsoever. He does, however, ground Sean for finding his weed, implying he is keen on warning his oldest son about the risks of substance usage.
  • If Sean romances Finn, you have the option to tell Esteban you kissed a boy during the dream sequence in the following episode. Esteban is surprised, but quickly affirms that he supports Sean and wishes for him to be happy no matter what.
• Papa Wolf: Implied. In the most pacific way, Esteban tried to reason with a police officer who was holding his sons at gun point, with the intention to protect them. Sean even calls him his and Daniel's "papa wolf", due to their Animal Motif being the wolf.
• Plot-Triggering Death: His untimely demise at the hands of a hasty cop causes Daniel's power to surge, killing the cop in the process and forcing the two boys on the run.
• So Proud of You: He's eternally supportive of his sons, and doesn't miss an opportunity to tell them he's proud of them.
• Struggling Single Father: He at first appears as a Glamorous Single Father, but Sean finds letters from the mortgage that indicates Esteban struggles with getting it on time, and the fact he's a workaholic showcases he works to get the money he needs in order to give his sons what they need.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Like William before him, he's a loving father who dies in a tragic accident.
• Workaholic: Esteban works as a car mechanic and loves his job. Sean can find a large stack of outgoing invoices, noting that his dad must be working non-stop.

Karen Reynolds-Diaz *SPOILERS AHEAD*

Karen Diaz (née Reynolds)

I know you don't owe me anything. But I beg you, please, help my sons if you can.

Voiced by: Joelene Anderson

Sean and Daniel's mother. She abandoned her family shortly after Daniel was born.

---

• All for Nothing: In Episode 5, she surrenders to the police to give Sean and Daniel a head start to the border to Mexico, potentially resulting in many years in prison for arson. However, if the player chooses to have Sean surrender to the police during the final confrontation, her sacrifice will be less meaningful.
• Animal Motif: Like her sons and the rest of her family, a wolf. She's more of the "lone wolf" type, leaving her pack behind and trying to find her own place in the world. She doesn't hesitate a single second to come at her sons' aid and acts protective once she's back in their life.
• The Atoner: As soon as she meets her sons for the first time in years, she attempts to make amends for her leaving without notice. It takes her a while to admit that she actually did anything wrong by leaving, but she's gotten there by the time she allows herself to get arrested.
• Boyish Short Hair: In present day, Karen has her hair cut short. In fact, it looks a lot like her son Sean's! Prior to her physical appearance, all of her pictures show her with longer hair.
• Chekhov's Gunman: She's mentioned a lot as the mother who abandoned Sean and Daniel through all first three episodes. She finally makes an appearance in the fourth episode where she helps Sean rescue Daniel from Haven Point's cult.
• Deer in the Headlights: She's frozen and shocked when she witnesses Nicholas beat up her son.
• Everyone Has Standards: In the event where the game plays on low morality, she's completely under the shock when she witnesses her ten year old son kill Lisbeth Fischer.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Old pictures of Karen before she left her family showed her having long hair, while in the present day, she cut it short to indicate how much time passed.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When she learns that the police had found out about their location, she lets herself get captured to give her sons a head start.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: She has a close friendship with Joan Marcus, an artist who lives in her community at Away.
• Intimate Healing: If Sean is understanding and opens up to Karen during their conversation, Karen will offer her help to clean Sean's eye. If the player accepts, she will clean his wound, holding his face in an intimate, motherly way.
• It's All About Me: The reasons she gives for leaving her family. According to her, she just wasn't cut out for family life. Though she is well aware of the pain she caused and felt trapped with her final decision and what it implied.
• Laser-Guided Karma: She wanted to leave her family because she wanted more out of her life, but the fact that she failed to make anything out of her life comes across as this.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Old photos of Karen showed she had longer hair.
• Mama Wolf: Sure, she may have abandoned her family, but she does not hesitate a single second to spring into action when her sons in danger, even going as far as to set fire to a house near the church simply as a distraction.
  Karen: [to Sean] I can't believe how much crap you guys have been through. Makes me wanna punch in the face each and every asshole that got in your way.
• Missing Mom: She's been missing for eight years. At the end of Rules, Sean and Daniel find a letter from her to her parents asking them to protect her children. Faith finally has her seek out for her sons after learning that Daniel joined a cult.
• My Greatest Failure: Bailing out on her husband and sons is "the hardest decision she's ever made". Even if she doesn't regret leaving them as she was unhappy, she regrets causing them so much pain and not seeing them grow up.
• Really Gets Around: Implied by how Sean finds numerous packs of condoms in her belongings.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: Sean can eventually forgive his mom for abandoning the family, even wishing to stay with her longer. In both the Redemption and Parting Ways endings, she is now on speaking terms with her parents again.
• Red Herring: The fact that she left her family abruptly and her religious mother disowned her may lead one to believe that the "intense female reverend" Jacob mentions in Wastelands might be her and that she left to join a cult. It turns out that the reverend Jacob was talking about was actually Lisbeth Fischer, the Big Bad of the next episode and Karen actually left for completely unrelated reasons.
• Shipper on Deck: When she sees Sean talk about his best friend Lyla and how they spent time smoking together, she smiles and answers "that's how you know someone is good to you".
• Tragic Keepsake: In the Redemption ending, she's wearing Joan's vest as she waits for Sean to be released. With the implication that Joan suffers from cancer, it's very possible that Joan passed away sometime in those 15 years and gave her vest to her dear friend Karen.
• Walking Spoiler: Her presence in Episode 4 is a huge twist for the Diaz brothers' journey.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate in the Blood Brothers and Lone Wolf endings is unknown. Considering that the FBI were unable to capture the brothers and arrested her, her fate doesn't seem to be good. Though, since she took responsibility for the church fire in Haven Point it can be assumed she was convicted of arson and sentenced to two to fifteen years in a Nevada prison.
• Worth It: She's honest with Sean that she ultimately doesn't regret leaving her family, even if there are aspects of that life she does miss. It's also zig-zagged, however; when she realizes the police are closing in on their location, she shows real remorse for abandoning her sons for the first time, admits that she failed them when she left, and decides to turn herself in to the police to give Sean and Daniel a head start.

True Colors

Gabe Chen

Gabriel "Gabe" Chen

Voiced by: Han Soto

Alex's older brother who she was separated from in the foster care system for eight years. He dies mysteriously shortly after they are reunited, and Alex is determined to find out how.

---

• The Atoner: He keeps a list of people he needs to make things right with. Many of them are crossed out by the time Alex finds it after Gabe's death.
• Best Friend: Ryan and Steph both consider him their best friend prior to his death.
• Cool Big Bro: Even if they were separated for eight years, Gabe clearly loves Alex a lot and they were happy to be reunited. His sudden death pertubates Alex's world, who then decides to use her power of empathy to discover the truth.
• Death by Origin Story: His death kicks off the plot of True Colors.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: His death is deliberately brutal and occurs very suddenly once the apparent danger of the situation has passed, and is anything but heroic or meaningful.
• Expy: Of William and Esteban from the Arcadia Bay arc and Life is Strange 2, respectively.
• Foregone Conclusion: It's now so openly acknowledged that Life Is Strange games start by killing off the father figure that they willingly spoilered his death in all the game's promotional materials, even though it occurs about 20% of the way through the actual story.
• Good Stepfather: He's shown to be very good with Charlotte's son Ethan, who clearly holds him in high regard, and fully accepts him as a second father figure even though his biological dad is still in the picture as well.
• Helpful Hallucination: He guides Alex through her repressed memories during her near death experience in chapter 5. The way he talks and acts leave makes whether he is a figment of Alex's mind or an actual ghost is left up in the air. Alex speaks to a mental manifestation of him at the end of the last chapter, and he helps her decide whether to settle down in Haven Springs permanently or leave to seek adventure and a career in music.
• Nice Guy: He was beloved by Haven's community and his younger sister. His death creates a shockwave through town, even for the people directly or indirectly responsible for it.
• Parental Abandonment: He and Alex were abandoned by their dad not too long after their mom died.
• Sore Loser: Steph claims that he is one when it comes to foosball.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: Dies just a few hours after reuniting with Alex when the two of them, along with Ryan, venture into the hills around the mines to look for Gabe's missing step-son Ethan. The trio manage to rescue Ethan from a ledge he'd become stuck on, but just as everything seems to be OK, a mining blast (which had supposedly been postponed during the search) is set off. A falling rock bowls Gabe over the edge of the ravine, and Ryan is forced to cut his safety rope to prevent Alex from falling with him, ensuring there's no way Gabe can survive (though due to the massive blow to the head he took from the rock, it's quite likely he was already dead by the time Ryan cut him loose anyway).
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Just like William Price and Esteban Diaz before him, he was a devoted and protective family member and died in sudden and horrible circumstances, leaving his sister Alex grieving him.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He dies in the first episode.

Steph Gingrich

Click here for Steph's page.

Ryan Lucan

Click here for Ryan's page.

---