Zachary Atwater

Illustration by Chris Bodily

**Zachary Atwater** is a young cop from Northern California and recent transplant to the Pacific Glade police force. He becomes an eventual ally to Olivia Marconi and the Inspector in their investigations.

## The Neverglades Series

### Family Plot

* Atwater is introduced to the strange phenomena of Pacific Glade and comes to meet the Inspector, who scares him at first. He answers Marconi’s distress call and helps her fight the Semblance when it plans to kill Ruth Hannigan at Locklear Cemetery.

### Nightmare Walking

* Atwater asks Marconi to help with her paranormal investigations, but she shuts him down. He unknowingly gets involved with the Semblance’s plot to target Pacific High School and is almost killed in the attack.

### Checking Out

* Atwater tries to convince Marconi to take a vacation to clear her head after the death of Janine Zimmerman. He suggests visiting his old stomping grounds in Northern California, which is where she eventually stops.

### Black Valentine

* When the echo of Valentina Koeppel wreaks havoc on the town’s Harvest Fair, Atwater is able to drive her away and get the terrified citizens to safety. He joins Marconi and the Inspector when they infiltrate CAPRA headquarters but gets separated from the group. The Semblance knocks him out and takes on his form to kill Valentina and Timothy Lancaster.

### Fear No Evil

* Atwater is one of the many officers who joins Marconi’s assault on the Semblance’s world. He is able to fight off and kill several monsters to give Marconi, Ruth, and the Inspector time to take down the Semblance once and for all.

### Ghost Highway

* Atwater deduces that Marconi and the Inspector intend to return to the Netherwastes and comes to CAPRA headquarters to see them off. He doesn’t try to stop them, but is insistent that Marconi come back home when her mission is complete.

### The Third Man

* In the year following the Inspector and Marconi’s disappearance, Atwater takes steps to become a police detective. He’s recruited by Lyonsville detective Georgina Prewitt to help investigate a baffling jewelry heist at the Silver Moon Square mall. Though he initially believes an entity like the Semblance is responsible, Atwater comes to learn that there’s nothing paranormal about this case. He realizes that he’s been trying to find these connections to the supernatural because he misses his friends.

### Man of the Law

* Atwater arrives at St. Florence Hospital along with Sheriff Abigail Shannon and Ruth Hannigan, having been called by Lola Velasquez as backup against the rampaging Ender. He ends up joining them in a standoff against FBI agent Norman Clancy, who’s come to the hospital to kill the Inspector.

### On the Fringe of What We Know

* In order to save the Inspector and Marconi, Atwater joins the rescue group to enter the multiverse and find their friends’ missing pieces.

### Dark Side of the Moon

* Atwater, Ruth, and the Ferryman end up in the Moonverse, which is destroyed and empty after the death of the Inspector and the subsequent monster invasion. They encounter alternate universe versions of Ruth’s husband Mark and their son Rory, and end up working together to take down the army of Lurkers trying to kill them. Atwater tries to convince Ruth to come home with him, but she’s only swayed when Stephen Hannigan appears and reminds her of everyone who’s waiting for her back in Pacific Glade.

### Journey's End

* In the aftermath of everything that’s happened, Atwater and the rest of his friends try to pick up where they left off and resume their normal lives. He gets the detective promotion after all and ends up working alongside the newly rescued Mark Hannigan, and even starts a relationship with a bartender named Duke from the Hanging Rock.

## Multiverse Incarnations

### Fall From Grace

* In this story’s universe, Atwater is a rookie detective who has difficulty holding back his lunch when confronted with grisly cases. He doesn’t seem to have the same workplace relationship with Mark Hannigan as his prime timeline counterpart.

### Silver Screen

* In this story’s universe, Atwater abandons his police career in order to pursue his dream of acting, and in the process becomes a Hollywood star. (He goes by the name “Zack Atwood” because it “sounds more earthy.”) He is cast to play the Inspector in the film *Dark Avenger: The Inspector Story*.

## Other Appearances

### In Bloom

* After the disappearance of her daughter Juniper, Heather Tate sits down with Officer Atwater to answer some questions. Atwater and his fellow officers search the woods for the missing Juniper but are unable to locate her.