Leo Alvarez

**Main Page**
Gallery

* Echo
* As a Child
* Route 65

— Leo, during Route 65

**Leonardo "Leo" Alvarez** is one of the main
characters in the visual novel Echo. He is the troubled ex-boyfriend of the protagonist, Chase Hunter.

## Appearance

Leo is a large red wolf. He is 6'4", making him the second tallest of the main cast, second to Flynn. He is primarily covered in red fur, with white markings around his eyes, mouth, and front, accompanied with black fur markings on his ears and trailing down his back.

He has a muscular build stemming from his history of playing football, though admits to have becoming a bit portly in his adult age (seeming to give him something of a musclegut). He typically wears a black v-neck T-shirt, as well as blue denim pants. As an adult, Leo also wears a rope bracelet with a silver anchor-shaped charm representative of his relationship with Chase. Young Leo wears a green jersey with black pants.

## Personality

Leo is normally very affectionate and friendly, but has been shown to develop obsessive tendencies that negatively affect his relationships and his own state of mind. He's also been shown to have controlling and manipulative traits, but does not seem to be aware of them himself.

At the start of the story, Leo appears to be the only member of the gang who expresses a liking for living in Echo and sees it in an optimistic light. He cherishes the connections he's formed with the other members here and the memories they've made together, though he gets called out for being too trapped in the past or bending himself and others to fit again.

Since his childhood, he has been extremely protective of his core group of friends, especially Chase, and he has gone to the point of physical conflict several times in the interest of what he views as protection of the gang.

Leo is implied to have a severe complex about being seen as weak, which he represses by constantly repeating in his mind that he is strong. This complex stems from the fact that his peers tended to look down on him due to his status as the younger son of his father and of his illiteracy at the start as well as having come from a harsh environment before settling in Echo.

Leo sometimes shows signs of being a self-righteous narcissist, in that he almost never admits himself to be in the wrong until the last moment despite any evidence that contrasts with his assertions and his habit of saying (and doing) things without even thinking has gotten him into trouble more than once. He has a long-standing habit of hearing only what he wants to hear and refusing to compromise his world-views or accept something that challenges his perspective of right or wrong. While intelligent, he was never the most imaginative person; which further exacerbated by his rigid sense of order, made him unable to compromise or consider alternatives, usually going with what he saw as the simplest and most straightforward course of action.

### Early Life

Leo's family immigrated from El Salvador to Echo in the year 2000, when he was eight years old. He asserts that his hometown was worse off than Echo, and his father regularly received death threats because his family had money. He knew almost no English. This made it difficult for him to communicate effectively and make friends in Echo. His first real friends in Echo came in the form of Chase and Jenna, who reached out to him at their school in Payton and quickly formed an attachment, making him the third in their group. He credits himself with solidifying the rest of the current group by encouraging better communication between the seven children, finding it strange how none of the children in Echo talked to each other much.

In 2003, Leo was present for the death of Sydney at Lake Emma, but was too late to do anything about it. He embraced the rest of his friends and cried with them at the lake as their parents picked them up one by one. The event caused him to become highly protective of all his friends. This manifested in him often physically beating off others who would bully the gang, including Clint and Jeremy.

#### Route 65

On November 1st, 2008, Leo attended a Day of the Dead party at the abandoned Parsons Building after having been invited to the occasion by Micha. While the party was in progress, Leo and Micha filmed a porn in an abandoned van out in the desert by the titular Route 65. After finding Chase near the van unconscious, he takes him back to the building to recover before getting into a physical altercation with the party goer who had hit him and harassed TJ. He then called TJ's mother with Chase's phone. Afterwards, Leo admitted his true feelings to Chase, confessing he would just be like any other jock jerk at the party if it hadn't been for the likes of him. He also rebuffed Micha and told him to keep the tape they had filmed, keeping Chase completely oblivious as to their actions on that night. After leaving the party, Chase reciprocated his feelings as they walked through the train yard near Leo's house. They shared a kiss and entered a romantic relationship that would last throughout the rest of their high school years.

#### Later High School Years and College

During high school, Leo played play varsity football while simultaneously working at his father's auto shop in Echo. During this time, Leo and Chase became more closed off from their friend group in order to spend more time together, and the two would often showcase public displays of affection to near-sexual degrees. Leo was against the idea of Chase going to college, and often attempted to convince the otter to stay in Echo and work at his father's shop. In May 2012, a prank set up by Jenna and Chase caused Leo to lose his temper and break Chase's phone after being made to think that the otter was cheating on him. This resulted in Chase abruptly breaking up with him and moving away from Echo to attend Pueblo University alongside Carl and Jenna.

Leo took the breakup very personally and soon became depressed, began smoking, shared a prolonged sexual relationship with Flynn that lasted until September 2014, and visited the Smoke Room at least once; although the casual hookups left him unsatisfied. Leo's violent tendencies also grew, and he began frequently getting into physical and verbal altercations with Clint. Moreover, he became so obsessed with his own ideal view of Chase that his desires began to manifest as an apparition of the otter that seems to have haunted him for years. At one point, he mentioned this being's presence while drinking with Duke.

Leo attended Payton's community college for several semesters before dropping out with no intention to return. Although his relatives moved to Payton during this time, Leo chose to live by himself in his parents' old house, ever loyal to his family business and to Echo itself. Eventually, Leo gained a new neighbor named Kudzu, who he would occasionally give rides to. Over time, Leo would open up to the raccoon about Chase, while Kudzu shared his own story with Leo and attempted to keep him from getting into fights.

**Plot**

#### Prologue

In 2015, after receiving the memo that Chase would return to Echo during Spring Break for his final project, Leo organized a get-together for the whole gang, eager to mend his broken friend group and reconcile with his ex-boyfriend. Things go well for the group initially, and Leo's plans of balancing Chase's work with group activities works fairly well. On Sunday, Leo talks to Chase about their relationship and attempts to convince the otter to get back together and return to Echo. When Flynn blows up at the group and they split off from one another on Monday, Leo storms off toward the lake pursued by Jenna.

#### Leo's Route

If Chase chooses to pursue Leo after the confrontation at Lake Emma, the story follows Chase and Leo as they reconcile their relationship. After helping Chase with his project and sharing a series of intimate moments as Chase stays over at his house, Leo and Chase revisit their high school's football field. Here, Leo successfully convinces Chase to get back together with him. Unbeknownst Chase however, Leo spends the week preceding this moment telling the rest of their friends that Chase wants to be alone in order to isolate him from the rest of the group and ensure that he has time to convince the otter to take him back.

When the hysteria begins on Saturday, Leo and Chase are confronted at the diner by Duke and Brian. Leo manages to create a window for Chase to escape pursued by Brian, while Duke kidnaps Leo at gunpoint and holds him captive in his basement. Leo is harshly interrogated by the weasel over the span of the day regarding the hysteria and his or Chase's potential roles in its cause. Eventually, Kudzu and a recently-rescued Chase arrive and manage to rescue the wolf after a brief altercation with Duke and Brian in which Leo ravages Duke's arm with his own teeth. Afterward, Leo takes charge of the group and decides that the best course is to escape town immediately (though a mysterious creature prevents their attempts to do so).

Leo's behavior becomes noticeably unhinged over the span of Sunday, as he becomes increasingly possessive and obsessed with Chase to the point that he all but forgets about the rest of their friends. He also becomes progressively more violent, nearly killing Clint despite the ringtail's lack of aggression and even forcing Kudzu from his home when he begins to perceive the raccoon as a rival for Chase's affections. Despite this, Leo is oblivious to Chase's exit in pursuit of Kudzu and subsequent kidnapping, as it is implied the tulpa appeared to him in his bedroom. When Chase returns alongside Flynn, Leo confronts him regarding the future of their relationship just as the group attempts to escape the town via the "ghost" train Clint had informed them of.

If Leo is told that he and Chase will work things out later, he pulls Chase off the train after the otter boards it and inadvertently severs the otter's legs from his body as the train passes over them. Leo then shoots Kudzu (who jumped off the train in an attempt to help Chase) and takes Chase back to his house, where he cuddles him until he bleeds to death.

Should Chase break things off however, an emotionally devastated Leo will intentionally stay behind in Echo as the rest of his friends depart. For the next two years, Leo would cry for Chase every night, though he eventually found the strength to move on and even stopped wearing his anchor bracelet. Upon meeting up with Chase again two years later, Leo chooses not to stay in future contact with Chase for both of their sakes, though he smiles at the idea of someday meeting up should the otter ever pass through the area again.

#### Carl's route

Leo plays an extremely limited role on Carl's route. On Wednesday Leo arrives at the Hendricks' mansion for to hold a surprise birthday party, an idea he came up with himself in order to spend further time together as a group. On Friday, Leo meets Chase at the diner to talk about how the group has drifted apart and suggests that the group meet up together at Lake Emma itself as a final sendoff to Sydney in order to gain closure. This comes to pass on Saturday, when the group converges at the lake and successfully begin to move on only for Chase to nearly drown himself. Leo is last seen getting into a fight with a belligerent Flynn. It is unknown what happens to him during the hysteria, though Chase mentions that he "can't believe the things [he] went through" that night and that Leo no longer speaks with the rest of the group following the incident.

#### TJ's route

Leo once again plays a minor role on TJ's route. He again attempts to hold a surprise party for Carl on Wednesday, though the ram's disappearance on the day of the party causes this plan to fall apart. Leo does not participate in the events of the treasure hunt, instead spending the week working at his father's shop. On Saturday, Leo appears briefly to talk to Chase to apologize for his absence throughout the week, explaining that he felt somewhat frustrated by Chase ignoring him and that he is sorry to have missed spending time with him and the group due to his own feelings. Leo then suggests that Chase return to visit on a future occasion before departing.

#### Flynn's route

On Wednesday, the day of Leo's surprise party for Carl, Leo becomes upset at Flynn for taking Carl with him to the reservation that morning without notifying the group. Later, Leo confronts Flynn on his approach to the party, accusing him as using it for another chance to learn what happened on the day Sydney died. On Thursday, having last seen Chase with Flynn and being unable to reach him, Leo goes to Flynn's house and expresses (ultimately accurate) suspicions of Flynn of sleeping with Chase due to smelling the otter's scent on Flynn and all over the house. Later in the evening, he texts Chase to request a talk with him alone and in person.

On Friday, he plans a barbeque with Chase, Jenna, TJ, and Daxton at Chase's old house, where Chase can choose to dance with him. They then meet up inside where they reminisce about their childhood together. Should Chase choose to have a talk with him, he reveals that after Chase left Echo, he had a sexual relationship with Flynn and visited the smoke room but decided it wasn't for him as he preferred to do it with someone he loved. He also reveals how badly he took their breakup, choosing to pretend Chase is still with him. Should Chase choose not to talk to him, Leo rushes off to work without being able to clear the air regarding their relationship.

On Saturday, after meeting at the town hall and interrupting Flynn's interrogation with TJ, Leo defends Chase after it is revealed Chase killed Sydney at the lake. After Chase is punched by Flynn, Leo physically retaliates. When Clint begins firing shots outside, Leo accompanies the group sans Chase to Flynn's house to determine the next course of action. Depending on whether or not Chase chose to talk to him at the party, Leo's behavior throughout the rest of the route varies wildly.

If Leo was able to clear the air regarding his relationship with Chase, he will attempt to rationally navigate the increasingly hysteric town and defend the group, including Chase when he reconvenes with the group. Leo appears to be reluctant to believe Chase is capable of murder, but leaves the possibility open. After being teleported into Lake Emma during an unsuccessful attempt to flee town, Leo will dive down to rescue a still-submerged Daxton.

If Leo was not able to obtain closure however, his behavior will appear disturbingly fixated on Chase. He will hallucinate the otter on multiple occasions, insisting that Chase has called him despite his phone being dead and denying the possibility of Chase being the culprit wholeheartedly. This will also cause the tulpa to manifest throughout the hysteria, first during the confrontation at town hall and later in the car during the group's escape attempt. When the group realizes Daxton is still underwater, Leo remains fixated on Chase's safety. This forces Flynn to have to rescue the drowning salamander.

Regardless of Leo's behavior on Sunday, he, Chase, Jenna, and TJ go to his house to wait out the night following the incident at the lake. What happens to them afterwards is unknown, though it is mentioned in the epilogue that he and Chase remained separated and that Leo either left Echo or remains in town depending on whether or not Chase talked to him.

#### Jenna's route

Leo plays an extremely prominent role on Jenna's route due to their ongoing rivalry and shared history. Leo quickly takes notice of Chase seemingly avoiding him, making him increasingly desperate to spend time together. This is compounded by Jenna's behavior, which he perceives as an attempt to keep him and Chase apart by making him look bad.

On Tuesday, Leo meets up with Chase, Jenna, and TJ at the diner, where he tells them about his plan to have a birthday party for Carl. He drives the group to the mall the next day, where he asks Chase about his college relationships and starts getting sexual with Chase before being rebuffed. After being scolded by Jenna, he breaks a pinball machine in the arcade before storming off.

Following this event, Leo is noticeably much more short-tempered and surly toward the rest of his friends. Upon discovering that Carl has gone missing, Leo takes accountability for having failed in his role as the "protector" of the group and attempts to search for the ram near single-handedly. He also finds himself dodging the police, who are seeking him for his act of vandalism at the mall.

After being updated on Jeremy's possible involvement in Carl's disappearance, Leo goes to confront the fox and his friends on Friday before being beaten up by Brian. Chase takes Leo back to the hotel to attempt to treat his injuries, only for him to get into another argument with Jenna in which he confronts her over her blatant attempts to get under his skin. He also reveals to her Chase's habit of texting him while drunk while away at college before The Embrace manifests, much to the horror of his friends.

Shortly after, Brian arrives and abducts Leo and Chase. They are then held in his trailer alongside Carl before Duke, Brian, Jeremy, and Clint return with a captive Jenna and Micha. After Carl is sent off with Jeremy and Clint and the group is left alone with Brian, the sadistic bear sews Chase and Leo together before he is killed by Jenna's "guardian angel". They then attempt to find the rest of their friends and escape town.

The group then encounters the van that Leo and Micha used to film their sex tape, much to their mutual embarrassment. Upon being confronted with his past and errors, Leo soulfully apologizes to Micha for having essentially abandoned him when they had a chance and reflects on his unhealthy obsession with Chase which ultimately ruined things for his friends and himself. From this point on, the humbled Leo returns to his generally normal state of mind. He accompanies the group throughout the rest of the route as they save Carl and either head to the hospital while Jenna floods the town or stop Heather from doing the same. In the good ending, Leo officially refers to Chase as his ex-boyfriend, receives an apology from Jenna, and seems to be developing a new friendship (with possible hints of affection) with Micha.

## Relationships

### Chase

Chase is Leo's ex-boyfriend, and the two dated all throughout high school. Chase was one of Leo's first friends upon his family moving to Echo, and over the years Leo's feelings toward him became romantic. Leo was elated to discover that Chase was "gay" as well, and he asked him to be his boyfriend as soon as he came out. When Chase left for college and left their relationship status unresolved, Leo was torn apart and suffered from extreme depression. He struggled heavily to cope with Chase's absence, and his main goal during Echo is to rekindle their relationship.

Leo's view toward Chase is somewhat distorted by his idealized vision for their future together. He feels that Chase should be content in a more domestic role working and living alongside him, and the two often argued over Chase's aspirations of going to college. He also dislikes evidence of Chase having moved on, such as the goatee he grew while at college. Overall, Leo struggles to reconcile with the idea that he and Chase are no longer together and still clings to their shared history, a lifestyle further exacerbated by Chase's habit of texting him while drunk at college. Though he loved Chase, Leo never was able to bring himself to trust him with his problems; this lack of transparency started to cause friction with their relationship very early, furthered by Leo's growing obsession to keep Chase close tp him.

Beneath the pitfalls of their relationship however, Leo and Chase are close friends. Leo admires Chase's observant and calm nature and is charmed by his snarky comments, and he secretly respects Chase's grit to stand up for himself (even against Leo himself). Like the rest of their group, Leo considers Chase to be someone he needs to protect, albeit to a higher degree than the rest of their friends.

### Jenna

Jenna and Leo have somewhat of a nuanced relationship, largely due to their disagreements over Chase. Jenna was one of the first to befriend Leo alongside Chase, and as a result he values her companionship highly. Growing up, Leo's promise to protect the group applied to Jenna especially due to the circumstances of her home life. Jenna would frequently spend nights at the Alvarez's house, and she and Leo developed a friendly rivalry. After he and Chase started dating however, Leo began to (somewhat inadvertently) ignore Jenna and her struggles.

As they got older, Leo and Jenna's rivalry became much more competitive and Leo found himself on the end of Jenna's more mean-spirited pranks on multiple occasions. This culminated in the prank that led to Chase unofficially dumping him, which caused Leo to be more aware of Jenna's attempts to make him jealous and further fueled their mutual resentment. This clash escalates most prominently during Jenna's route, with the two often being at each other's throats.

That being said, beyond the subject of Chase Leo and Jenna are extremely close friends. Leo admires Jenna's cool and intelligent mind and regards her as a confidant of sorts, even telling her he was gay before anyone else. He cares deeply about Jenna's safety and finds her fun to be around, and the two are shown to get along well in Chase's absence during Flynn's route.

It is heavily implied in Jenna's route that Leo's jealousy towards Jenna was also due in part to her strong moral character. While Leo preferred keeping his problems to himself as a way to hide his own shortcomings (especially in front of Chase), Jenna openly admitted to her problems and genuinely tried to better things for herself. This showed that she was stronger than Leo in character while Leo felt hopelessly overwhelmed by survivor's guilt and secret irrational feelings of weakness. At the end of the route, he admits to his own flaws as an individual and wants to become a better man for both Jenna and Chase's sake; giving blessing to their relationship after praising their strength.

### TJ

Like the rest of the group, Leo considers it his duty to protect TJ and his "innocence." Leo was the one to first invite TJ to hang out with the rest of the group, feeling that Echo's children should all be friends with one another. Leo tends to treat TJ somewhat delicately, standing up for him against Flynn and accepting his silence on the topic of Sydney. Similar to his struggle to accept Chase moving on, Leo still seems to view TJ as somewhat of a child rather than a mature adult, which can occasionally frustrate the lynx.

### Flynn

Leo and Flynn often clash, especially on the subject of TJ and his silence on Sydney's death. For a short time after Chase left for college, the two had a brief sexual relationship that ended when Leo declined to make it romantic in favor of holding out for Chase's impending return. Apart from this, the two do not speak often unless they are at odds with one another. During Flynn's route, Leo also demonstrates an exceptional level of jealousy toward him for his interactions with Chase.

Leo dislikes Flynn's acerbic attitude and his aggression toward TJ, but he still considers him a close friend. Furthermore, the two have somewhat of an unspoken agreement to look out for the rest of their group, and Flynn would often step in to help Jenna or Carl when Leo was unavailable. Leo also finds Flynn attractive, and in more casual contexts they seem to enjoy bantering with one another.

### Carl

Leo cares for Carl as a friend, and considers him to be one of those under his "charge" as the group's protector. Growing up, Leo would often fight off those bullying Carl for his weight, affluent family, or general "nerdiness," and he gets along well with the ram when the two interact. That being said, after Carl dropped out of college, Leo largely ignored him. He does not seem to understand Carl's anxieties, as evidenced by the early birthday party he holds for him on each route. When Carl goes missing during Jenna's route, Leo feels immense guilt over having failed to "protect" him, and he dedicates himself to bringing about his safe return.

### Sydney

Though Sydney and Leo weren't exceptionally close, Leo was shaken heavily by his death. After Sydney's drowning, Leo took full accountability for having failed to keep him safe and it became the catalyst for him declaring himself to be the group's "protector." Leo tends to prefer avoiding discussion of Sydney entirely, though on some level he realizes that the group's lack of closure is what holds all of them back from moving on as both friends and people. In life, Leo objected to Syd's treatment of TJ, though he also sympathized with the otter as one of the youngest in the group and having his own struggles.

### Clint and Jeremy

Growing up, Leo would often get into physical disputes with Jeremy and Clint when they attempted to bully the rest of his friends. As the "protector," Leo's most common self-enforced duty was beating them back whenever the two appeared to cause issues, and over time they grew to fear him. As they grew up however, Leo continued to hold a grudge against the pair for their treatment of the gang as children.

As an adult, Leo would often pick fights with Clint in particular whether there was a good reason for doing so or not. Having established a mental picture of Clint as a bully, Leo has little sympathy for the ringtail or his life experiences. This low opinion of him is made worse by Clint's habit of using racial or homophobic slurs toward him, and the two seem to fall to blows at least somewhat regularly. When under the height of the hysteria during his own route, Leo even goes so far as to attempt to murder Clint, only being stopped by the intervention of Chase.

### Kudzu

Kudzu is Leo's next door neighbor and one of the few people he continues to talk to regularly prior to the events of Echo. The two became acquainted some time after Kudzu moved in, and Leo began providing Kudzu rides to work or the grocery store upon learning that he did not drive. In return, Kudzu tends to keep an eye out for Leo and tries his best to break up any fights he gets in. During the events of Leo's route, Leo becomes paranoid with jealousy over Kudzu's developing concern and care for Chase, threatening the raccoon to keep his distance. This culminates in him killing Kudzu during the events of his bad ending. On the good ending, Leo wishes Kudzu and Chase well in their new relationship, though he still struggles with the pain of moving on.

### Micha

Leo and Micha first became acquainted as high schoolers. After hearing Leo was gay, Micha asked him to attend a day of the dead party with him and seemingly film themselves having sex together, to which Leo accepted. While the two were having sex in an abandoned van however, they were interrupted by a delirious Chase and Leo called the affair off. Afterward, Leo coldly dismissed him and sent him on his way with the tape in tow.

During the events of Jenna's route, this part of Leo's history is called to light by the return of Micha and the supernatural appearance of the van that the two filmed their tape in. Leo apologizes to Micha for his dismissal of him rather than attempting to get him the help he needed and introducing him to the rest of the gang, feeling that he could have done more to make him feel safe and included. In the epilogue of the route, the two seem to be on the path to bonding, with Leo calling Micha by the nickname "little buddy" with implied hints of growing affection between them.

### The Embrace

The Embrace is a tulpa inadvertently manifested by Leo through his longing for Chase's return. After Chase left for college, Leo eventually began imagining him still being there and holding conversations with him, as if things had never changed at all. Eventually, "Chase" began talking back. As an entity manifested by his own mind, The Embrace appears to act according to how Leo feels Chase should act as a partner. When Leo is at his most delirious, he cannot differentiate between the tulpa and the actual Chase, causing him to act romantically toward it and treat it like he would the otter. When Leo is more coherent however, The Embrace appears less frequently, and it seems to disappear altogether when he comes to his senses during the events of Leo, Flynn, and Jenna's routes.

## Trivia

* Leo has a 13 year old nephew named Eduardo. His father is Leo's brother, who is described by Chase as "really religious."
* Leo enjoys spicy foods, so much so that Jenna describes him as having an "iron palate."
* In the original concept pitch for Echo, there was no mention of Leo. Instead there was a wolf named "Jake," who he seemingly replaced.
* Leo's teenage design in Route 65 is a reused version of one of his early sprites from prior builds of Echo.
* Leo's father, Ernesto Alvarez, is listed as one of the references on Carl Hendrick's résumé.