Lauren Winter

Lauren Winter is the mother of Johnny Winter, one of the victims of the Origami Killer. She works as a prostitute from her apartment. Although initially a supporting character, she becomes a major character further into the plot, and once the game is complete she is interpretable as being its quaternary protagonist.
Lauren Winter is voiced by and modeled after Aurélie Bancilhon.
==Background==
The majority of Lauren's past can be drawn from her confiding in Scott Shelby, when he informs her he's working with other families of the Origami Killer's victims. She confides that Johnny's father, Allan Winter, was a deadbeat who left the day that her son went missing, and that he used to abuse her. She also notes that she became a prostitute in order to save money, and that she intended to move away and have a better life with her son.
==Events of Heavy Rain==
Lauren first appears in "Sleazy Place," when Scott visits her apartment in hopes of asking her questions about her son's disappearance. At first, she is angry and dismissive, but he can convince her to open up. If he is successful, she confides in him about Johnny. If he fails, she kicks him out of the apartment. After he leaves, Troy, a former client of Lauren's, barges into her apartment; Scott has the option of re-entering the apartment or leaving the building. If he intervenes, he and Troy will fight. It is irrelevant to the story who wins the fight, but Lauren will thank Scott afterwards.
She appears again in "A Visitor," where she brings Scott a letter that was sent to Allan the morning Johnny disappeared. She insists on joining Scott to form a partnership, but only once Lauren threatens to withhold the envelope from him does the reluctant Scott accept her. She also appears in "Kramer's Party" (in which they investigate Gordi Kramer, who was arrested but released due to his father's influence) and "Manfred" (in which Manfred, the owner of an antique shop, is murdered during their visit).
In "Eureka," Lauren reveals she found a notebook containing the clientele who attempted to buy/repair the Royal 5 typewriter used to type the address on the envelope she gave Scott. The only person whose name is on that list and a 500-person list of subscribers to an origami magazine is "John Sheppard." They visit his grave at Charity Cross Cemetery in "The Cemetery," where the gravedigger recounts the sad tale of how John drowned in rainwater whilst holding his brother's hand. They then notice Charles Kramer, Gordi Kramer's father, placing flowers on his grave.
When Scott walks into his apparently unlocked apartment in "Trapped," he finds Lauren being held at gunpoint by Charles and his agents. They trap Scott and Lauren in Scott's car and dump it in a lake, intending to drown them. Scott cannot die here, but Lauren can if Scott escapes without her or does not free her before the car floods with water. Regardless of whether or not Lauren was saved, Scott will then confront Kramer in "Face to Face." (Lauren doesn't appear in this chapter, but Scott's dialogue is notably more emotional if she died.)
If she survived in "Trapped," she will briefly appear in "Goodbye Lauren," where she kisses Scott before leaving to visit her mother.
=== Endings ===
If she survives, Lauren can appear in two of Scott's endings.
* Origami's Grave - Lauren stands over Scott's grave. She remarks that she feels nothing but contempt for him and spits on his grave before walking away.
* A Mother's Revenge - Scott finds Lauren waiting for him on an empty street. She tells him that she called all of the families of the victims, none of which ever hired him. After reminding Scott that she made a promise to kill her son's murderer, Lauren pulls out a gun and executes him.
==Chapter Appearances==
* Sleazy Place
* A Visitor
* Kramer's Party
* Manfred
* Eureka
* The Cemetery
* Flowers on the Grave
* Trapped (can be killed)
* Goodbye Lauren (if alive)
* Origami Killer (flashback)
* Epilogue - A Mother's Revenge
* Epilogue - Origami's Grave (if alive)
==People Killed==
* Scott Shelby (if he survives in "The Old Warehouse" and she survives in "Trapped")
==Trivia==
* Lauren Winter is similar in appearance to Mary Smith from Heavy Rain: The Casting, a 2006 tech demo for Heavy Rain.
** Both Lauren and Mary were portrayed by Aurélie Bancilhon, leading some players to think they're the same person. Mary, however, states that she's 24 years old in The Casting, which would make her no more than 30 years old in October 2011.
* In "A Visitor," Lauren's voice actress's picture can be seen in Scott's files.
* Aurélie Bancilhon provides Lauren's voice in both the English and French dubs.
* Lauren has the second greatest number of appearances for a non-playable character, with 9 chapters; Blake appears in 12 chapters.
* Lauren is 5' 7" (1.71 m) tall.Height measured in Blender using a model ripped from the game.
* In an early version of the game, Lauren wore a different outfit. Her coat was longer with different buttons, and she also wore a black scarf and gloves.
* Lauren is the only partner of a playable character who ends up directly killing them in the end, if they both survive.
* Lauren is the only major character whom the player cannot play as at any point in the game, as well as the only NPC who has her own main theme.
* Lauren owns a Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon. She is never seen driving it, but Scott borrows it in "Face to Face."
* Lauren is the only major non-playable character not to interact or cross paths with the other main protagonists.
* It is impossible for Lauren not to learn the Origami Killer's true identity if she is kept alive.
* As Lauren's grave is not shown if she dies, her age is never stated in the game itself and is given only in the Japanese manual. This creates a possible continuity error regarding the birth of her son, as she would have been 14-16 years old when she became a mother. It is unknown if Johnny was intended to be a much younger child (similar to Jason) before Sony asked Quantic Dream to tone down the maturity of the game.
==Gallery==
===Concept Art and Development===
File:Laurenmaya.png|Render of Lauren's model
File:Laurencoat.png|Lauren's early outfit
File:Laurenearly.png|Closeup of Lauren's early model
File:Laurengloves.png|Lauren's gloves
===Finished Game===
File:Lauren Winter.png|Playstation Network avatar for Lauren Winter
File:LaurenWinter.jpg|Lauren in her apartment
File:Lauren Talking to Scott 1.jpg|Lauren during her first meeting with Scott Shelby
File:Lauren Talking to Scott 2.jpg|Lauren during her first meeting with Scott Shelby
File:Lauren in Scott's Apartment 1.jpg|Lauren in Scott's apartment
File:Lauren in Scott's Apartment 2.jpg|Lauren with Scott in his apartment
==References==
de:Lauren Winter
es:Lauren Winter
pl:Lauren Winter
ru:Лорен Винтер
Category:Characters
Category:Protagonists
Category:Female Characters
Category:Purgatory
Category:Scott Shelby Characters
Category:Mothers