Edward Remar

"*Believe me, lady. I've been through hell and back to get to where I am today. You can stand there with that cold look on your face and call me scrawny but I promise you, you'd be underestimating me to do so! I've killed every single one of my enemies because even when the odds are stacked against me, I pull through. I made a promise that I'd make something out of myself in this new world, that I'd carve out and take what's rightfully mine, and I'll cut through anything and anyone in my way to get it! I want to be the one making the rules, I want to be the one leading a group of people that can truly come together to build something special! I have a goal, and so far, nobody has been able to stand in the way of me and achieving it.*"
—Edward to Leona Holloway[src]

Edward Remar is the villainous deuteragonist and a survivor of the outbreak in Route to Paradise. He is a former inventor that revelled in the early days of the apocalypse, believing it to be an improvement over the way life was before. At the beginning of the outbreak, Edward was at Willamette Parkview Mall, where he formed a recurring alliance with the survivors in the security room to eliminate the threats around the building. Despite having one of his legs crushed by a shelf and crippled, Edward helped to rid the mall of the murderous Hall family, demonstrating his brutality during his execution of Roger Hall.

Edward would go on to leave the mall in hopes of finding his family, particularly his mother. After learning of his mother’s death and murdering her killers, he is discovered by the crime lord Damerae Badrick, who manipulates Edward’s vulnerable mental state to take him under his wing, seeing brilliant untapped potential in him. Edward would eventually return to the town of Willamette with Badrick, believing it to be a good place to setup their operation. When Badrick’s gang, The Rastas, take custody of a sicky little girl by the name of Sarah Taylor, Edward is quick to befriend her, feeling sympathy for her when he discovers that she is dying of cancer.

It is later revealed that she is the daughter of the businessman, Benjamin Taylor, who is actively searching for her with his private militia. When Badrick decides to use Sarah as a hostage in order to force Benjamin and his group to bend the knee and serve him by instigating conflict with Badrick’s new enemies at Willamette Mall, Edward becomes conflicted as to which side he is on. Edward makes a promise to Sarah that he will reunite her with Benjamin before scheming with one of Badrick’s prisoners, Clyde Rollins, to set her free. Before Edward is sent away to another outpost, he inspires Clyde to step up and rescue the girl.

After Clyde successfully frees Sarah and takes her all the way across town to Benjamin’s outpost, she dies in her father’s arms, leading to Benjamin waging war against The Rastas. When Badrick discovers Edward is a traitor, he tries to have him killed but is unsuccessful. Upon discovering of Sarah’s tragic fate, Edward would go on to join the fight against The Rastas during the battle of Willamette Mall. In the aftermath of the battle, an injured Edward is saved by Clyde and the two stay together, with Edward vowing to hunt and kill Damerae Badrick.

Edward and Clyde would go on to form a group of misfits alongside Benjamin Taylor with the mutual goal of eliminating The Rastas. Edward’s relationship with Benjamin’s former bodyguard, Robin Clarke, becomes strained when Robin continuously endangers the group because of his cockiness. Later, when Edward is finally confronting Badrick during a chance encounter, Robin’s ignorance results in Badrick jamming a knife in Clyde’s eye and fleeing. However, instead of giving into his bloodlust and pursuing him, Edward chooses to rush Clyde to safety, taking his anger out on Robin by shooting him in the chest and strangling him to death.

Edward and his group would eventually end up at the high school, learning from Dean Howards that Badrick is still at large and is relentlessly hunting the remaining survivors from Willamette Mall. Edward would go on to fight in multiple battles against The Rastas, before finally confronting Badrick once and for all during the stadium battle. However, by the time the opportunity finally presents itself, Badrick is merely a shell of his former self, now a sickly man, slowly dying to the many infections he has sustained from a prior attack. Badrick spends his final moments taunting Edward, who unleashes his fury on the man and stabs him to death.

Following the end of the war against The Rastas, Edward is unsatisfied, relying only on his companionship with Clyde for happiness. He develops unreciprocated feelings for Clyde and faces rejection upon confessing them. Despite travelling with William Reynes’ group to Denver, Colorado and later Garden City, Kansas, Edward distances himself from them while on the road, reflecting on his prior experiences and believing that he has to find his own way in the world. Edward decides to leave the group with Solomon Reed, leaving a letter for Clyde to thank him for everything.

Edward and Solomon soon find themselves on the road with a group of travellers led by a charismatic strongman, Kurt Klein. Edward is quick to become jealous of Kurt, who is revealed to be an arrogant control freak and egomaniac. Edward sees an opportunity to usurp him and takeover the group so that he may achieve his ambitions of leadership and carving out a chunk of the world for himself.

While tensions run high between the two as they continue to clash more and more, things come to a head at an amusement park where Kurt tries to have Edward killed by one of his lackeys. This is unsuccessful however, as Edward’s newfound friendship with Elliott Rowe leads to the young man saving his life. Edward goes on to poison Kurt and his henchman in secret, leading to their eventual demise at his hands when they try to lure him to his death. Edward proceeds to takeover Kurt’s group, becoming the new leader of its remaining people, promising them the world.