Brian Dubois

**Main Page**
Gallery

* Arches
* Echo

— Cameron reflecting on Brian.

**Brian Dubois** is one of the central antagonists in Echo and Arches. A ruthless drug dealer and serial killer, he is somewhat loyal to Duke but is motivated mostly by a need to slake his own sadistic desires.

## Appearance

Brian is a hulking, unkempt bear with multiple patches of missing fur and several missing teeth. He is also missing part of his left ear. After being shot in Leo's route, he has a large red bullet wound on the side of his muzzle.

In Echo, he wears an oversized white tank top that doesn't fully cover him and gray sweatpants, both of which are worn and covered in stains.

In Arches, Brian appears shirtless, with many of his missing fur patches healed, but with the addition of a large scar across his chest.

Brian has a lisping, high-pitched voice that Chase describes as weird and startling for his size.

## Personality

In Leo's route, Kudzu describes Brian as 'dumb and violent.' However, it is unclear how much of his brutish exterior is due to unintelligence, as Brian also demonstrates the capacity for sophisticated manipulation. Particularly in Arches, Brian briefly shows a more compassionate and sympathetic side that he uses to lull his victims into a false sense of security before revealing his true colors.

Brian is vicious and cruel, and enjoys torturing others for his own sadistic (and sexual) pleasure. He often acts impulsively and generally shows a lack of consideration for the consequences of his actions, especially when he is caught up in chasing the thrill he gets from preying on others. Brian seems to resent his own sexuality and often targets gay men as an apparent form of compensation for this. During Arches, Cameron gains intimate insights into Brian's psychology and learns that his particular sadism towards gay men is motivated by a hypocritical hatred for overtly homosexual behavior. Brian seems to have an intense sense of self-hatred and feels anger toward the world itself for shaping him into the person he became, which he attempts to cope with by taking these feelings out on helpless victims. Cam further observes that Brian is not crazy or a psychopath but simply a deeply selfish man who never feels satisfied despite his endless pursuit of self-gratification.

Brian is shown to be obedient to Duke, albeit begrudgingly, and seems to have some degree of loyalty toward the subordinates in his drug dealings, such as Jeremy and Clint.

## Story

* Echo
* Arches

### Prior to 2015

Brian was born and raised in Payton. When he was six his mother left and Brian was raised by his abusive father. Brian's father told him that his mother had been taken by aliens, which deeply affected Brian.

When he was a teenager "in '87 or so," Brian first met and became romantically involved with Keith, a fox who lived in Echo. The two became friends with benefits, with Keith trying to help Brian become a better person. They restored and operated a bar off of Route 65 and sold drugs in Echo. The remnant of this bar is briefly seen by Chase in Route 65.

On his second or third trip to Echo, Brian witnessed a UFO flying overhead. That night, he began having visceral recurring nightmares in which he was tortured by aliens, one of which he always recognized as his mother. These dreams made him hate Echo, and he began resenting Keith for bringing him there. That year, said resentment drove Brian to out Keith as gay to his family by having sex with him while his mother Karen was home, and Keith was forced to leave town.

Brian eventually became associated with Duke through his drug dealings, but after Duke ended up in debt to Brian, he and his wife Rachel were forced to repay Brian with sexual favors. During one of these encounters, Brian murdered Rachel via asphyxiation, possibly by accident. While at first horrified by this, Brian came to enjoy the rush of choking someone out and watching the light leave their eyes as they felt the fear of death. He began to torture and asphyxiate many victims over the years, both fatally and nonfatally.

Keith and Brian seem to have lost touch at some point, until Brian found Keith at The Smoke Room and likely subsequently murdered him.

At an unknown date, Brian came to live in Echo full-time, where he moved into a trailer in the forest previously owned by an old badger. He eventually built a board in his trailer for the purpose of strapping victims down and choking them out, complete with a mirror on the ceiling so they could witness their own pain and fear. To satisfy his perverse pleasures, Brian began to frequent nearby bars such as The Smoke Room, where he would pick up unsuspecting young men before taking them back to his trailer to torture them before eventually killing them and dumping their bodies in the mine.

Brian is a major drug supplier to Echo, and coordinates an operation that includes Clint, Jeremy, and Micha. In some instances when his clients can't pay, Brian coerces them into performing sexual favors with him; he has done this to Clint on several occasions.

In total, Brian has committed at least seven murders prior to the start of Echo, including those of Rachel, Keith, and a young man named Daniel, but their dates, years, and exact order are unknown. These murders and the torture preceding them were occasionally recorded by Salem.

It is unknown whether Duke knows the full extent of Brian's crimes. His original murder of Rachel was not forgotten however, and Duke has seemingly been able to use it as leverage in order to coerce Brian into doing his bidding.

### Leo's Route

Brian is first encountered on Saturday when Kudzu leads Chase to take some photos of remnants of 20th-century Echo for his project. After he stumbles across Brian torturing Clint to settle his debt, Chase flees while Brian smiles lecherously at him.

Later that day, Brian arrives at the diner alongside Duke and looks on as Duke confronts Leo and Chase over Chase's presumed role in the ongoing mass hysteria. Duke kills Janice and Chase attempts to flee only to be captured by Brian and taken back to his trailer. Chase is then strapped onto a large rack and tortured before ultimately escaping some hours later with the help of Kudzu, who is acting on a tip from Clint.

Later the following night, Chase and Kudzu attempt to rescue Leo from Duke's trailer only for Brian to recapture Chase. Soon after, Kudzu returns to rescue his friends and gets into a scuffle with Brian over a dropped gun. During the ensuing confrontation, Chase is either killed by Brian after the bear successfully acquires the gun or he is able to shoot Brian in the face, causing him to run off.

Later on, Brian kidnaps Chase for a third and final time when he steps outside of Kudzu's trailer on his own. Brian explains his history with Echo and his personal suffering before revealing that he hopes to end the hysteria himself. Afterward, he brings Chase into the mine so he can be killed and buried in the same grave as Daniel under the belief that killing Chase will end the hysteria. Before he can succeed however, Brian is attacked by a mysterious entity, allowing Chase to escape. Brian's fate is ultimately left ambiguous, as he is not seen for the rest of the route.

### TJ's Route

Brian receives a very brief reference on Saturday. While Chase is interviewing Janice about paranormal happenings in Echo for his documentary project, she mentions offhand that a bear named Brian claims to have witnessed UFOs in the sky above the town.

### Flynn's Route

During his transformation into the Socket Man at the end of the route, Flynn witnesses a number of the crimes committed throughout Echo's history, one of which is Brian's murder of Keith. If Flynn intervenes to kill Brian, all the bear can say is 'they're real' before he seemingly dies.

### Jenna's Route

On Tuesday night, Jeremy and Micha attempt to case the Hendricks Mansion and end up scaring Carl out of the house inadvertently. After running out into the desert, Carl is somehow captured by Brian and held in his trailer over the course of the rest of the week due to Duke's suspicion that Chase's friend group is somehow involved in the mass hysteria's resurgence. During this time, Brian "trains" Carl to become more compliant while keeping him bound to his torture rack.

Brian appears in person on Friday when Chase receives a text from Micha informing him that Leo is wreaking havoc on Jasmynn Street in search of Carl. Soon after Chase arrives, Brian ambushes Leo for accosting Clint and Jeremy. When Chase tries to intervene, Brian initially mistakes him for the other otter that Duke has reported seeing around Echo for the past few weeks. After they fight, Brian is on the verge of strangling Leo when Micha bashes him with a wrench, allowing Chase and Leo to escape. Brian arrives at the motel in pursuit of them shortly afterward with a captured Micha in tow and knocks Chase unconscious after breaking down the door.

Chase awakens in Brian's trailer alongside Leo and Carl, and shortly afterward Brian, Clint, and Duke arrive with Jenna and Micha as captives. Brian tenses up when Micha blames him for killing Keith, and says he does not appreciate the accusation. He then tells Micha about meeting Keith at the Smoke Room, and informs him that Keith abandoned Micha and his friends. Duke arrives and confronts Chase over his potential role in the ongoing hysteria, then tells Brian not to torture Chase or his friends and leaves.

Brian is enraged by Duke's demands and tortures the group anyway, putting Micha in a razor-lined noose and stitching Chase and Leo together at the thigh as Jenna looks on in horror. During the torture session, a warped, reddish figure appears in Brian's closet and then violently tackles him through the window of his trailer. Brian's body deforms 'like a rubber band' and the attack leaves gore on the walls and curtains. It is left ambiguous whether Brian survives, but it seems unlikely as he does not appear again for the rest of the route.

### Prior to 2020

Brian was born and raised in Payton by his abusive father after his mother left the family when he was young. To explain his mother's absence, Brian's father told him she was abducted by aliens. As a result, Brian began experiencing visceral nightmares in which he would be tortured by aliens, and at some point started seeing visions of UFOs while in or around Echo.

In 1986, Brian watched the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle live on television at school. He found the unexpectedness of the situation funny, and was the only one in his class to laugh at the spectacle.

The next week, in Echo, Brian committed his first murder. The identity of this victim is unclear, but Brian is shown thinking of him as a 'little fag' and telling himself that the man deserved it. Immediately after the killing, Brian sees a UFO hovering overhead.

### Victims

Four of Brian's past victims are named during the course of Arches. As in Echo, he most likely tortured and murdered many more, but their identities and the exact chronology of each one is uncertain, aside from the fact that during his four decades of killing he accrued a victim count in the double-digits. Near the end of the story, after Brian's crimes come to light, Cam remarks that the amount of victims known to the public is less than half the actual number.

In 1998, Brian accidentally strangled Benjamin Kowalski to death during a torture session after abusing him for four days. Brian sold weed to Benjamin, and had lured the young man to his trailer on a promise to trade sexual favors for drugs. In 2005, Brian met Timothy Esposito at a BDSM-themed event in Mesa and kidnapped him as he was walking home afterward, then accidentally strangled him to death after managing to hold him captive for two weeks despite his multiple escape attempts. Brian was satisfied with how long he had been able to keep Timothy alive. Daniel Gallegos was murdered in 2014, after a month of torture. In order to 'try something different,' Brian used a tire iron to bludgeon him, and seems to have buried his body in a mine in Echo. Brian is also responsible for killing Allen, who choked to death on a gag that Brian had bound him with.

At some point, Brian abducted a young college freshman from a bar and tortured him for days before eventually allowing him to escape just long enough to realize the hopelessness of his situation, then killed him as well. This victim's final moments are retold in the opening scene of Arches.

### Story

When Cameron and Devon enter the woods near Brian's trailer in order to look for an area where they can get a cell phone signal, they hear a voice calling out from a short distance. The voice, presumably Brian, assumes that Duke is "creeping around" again and shouts threats, causing Cam and Dev to flee.

After Cameron runs away from Devon following a panic attack that results from a paranormal experience with a personal demon, he has a vision from Brian's point of view. It shows Brian witnessing what appears to be a familiar UFO hovering in the air above Echo immediately after he has committed his first murder.

Cameron later passes out in the woods, and the cries from Devon and Artie draw Brian out from his home. He threatens them with his shotgun but eases off after Devon explains the situation, then reveals that the gun was empty and offers to help the trio. Shortly after gaining the trust of Devon and Artie, Brian turns on them. He shoots Artie in the head with a second gun and forces Devon to inhale a substance that knocks him out, then imprisons him with chains inside a van in the woods. He then presumably returns to his trailer to wait for Cameron to wake up.

When Cam awakens, Brian makes cordial conversation with him and lies that Devon went to seek help from the highway while Artie simply ran away. Under the guise of a benevolent host keeping Cameron safe while he recovers, Brian comes to realize that Cameron's psychic "powers" and supernatural experiences mirror some of his own, and the two bond. At one point, Brian accidentally calls Devon Daniel, the name of one of his previous victims. Any camaraderie between Brian and Cam is short-lived however, as Brian reveals his true colors by spiking Cameron's drink with psilocybin and pinning him to the floor. He then tells Cameron that he wants to utilize his abilities to talk to a some (presumably dead) people he "used to know."

Cameron becomes nearly catatonic with fear as his drug trip intensifies, so Brian slaps him and force-feeds him Xanax to calm him down. Brian tells Cameron that Devon is still alive and he will let them both escape if Cameron does what he says, although Brian also seems certain that Arturo is already dead. Brian leaves his trailer to check on Devon, still in the van, and forcefully drugs him with water laced with Rohypnol. Brian promises to hurt Cameron for each time Devon resists taking a drink.

Brian returns to find Cameron unresponsive, and calls his name several times before violently shaking him out of what turns out to be a drug-induced psychic vision of three of Brian's previous victims. Brian asks if Cameron managed to talk to any of the people he saw, then quickly grows impatient and begins taunting and beating Cam for struggling to answer. Brian mockingly blames the violence he inflicts on Devon's prior disobedience, and instructs Cameron to try and make contact with the next apparitions he sees.

Brian snorts something, then hauls Cameron outside to a spot that he believes will have better psychic 'reception.' Brian explains that he has taken bath salts because he doesn't like whatever apparitions are usually in the area, and hopes the stimulant will desensitize him. As a result, his behavior becomes increasingly erratic and violently exuberant. In his giddy state, Brian calls Cam cute, then tries to get a reaction out of him by telling an obvious lie about finding Devon dead in the van. Brian appears satisfied when Cam's reaction confirms that Devon is his boyfriend.

Cameron manages to make a telepathic connection with Devon, and has a conversation with him about their escape plans, only to realize afterward that he spoke the whole thing aloud for Brian to hear. Brian slams Cam against a tree and begins choking him, and Cameron observes that Brian looks ecstatic about this turn of events. Brian cruelly declares that it 'doesn't matter,' seemingly realizing that the gratification of strangling Cameron may be more worthwhile than trying to use Cam to exorcize his ghosts like he'd planned, since he is unlikely to get away with killing Cam and Dev in the long term anyway. As Cam is asphyxiated into unconsciousness, Brian nuzzles him passionately and again calls him cute.

When Cam regains consciousness, Brian offers to take him to see Dev, who he explains has likely been drugged into passing out. Brian begins rambling, apparently calmed down after his violent outburst provided him an outlet for his frenzy, and then refocuses on his plan to use Cam's abilities. As he hauls Cam over to the van where Dev is being kept, Brian realizes that Arturo has somehow survived being shot and escaped. He is tempted to track him down, but after again considering the chances of getting away with killing three young men who have families that know where they are, Brian accepts his inevitable demise with resigned calmness.

At the van, Brian seems to be so filled with contempt at Cam and Dev's reunion that he punches Cam hard enough to knock out a tooth, then throws him into the van on top of Dev. Dev is furious and swears to kill him, but Brian is simply amused. Cam recovers from the blow, and Brian gives him a moment with Dev before dragging him off to the mines.

As he escorts Cam deeper underground, Brian snorts something off the stock of his shotgun. He hears Cam talking to himself, and shares that he sometimes sees a person when he gets too high for too long, and always ends up having conversations with them. Brian offers to stop hitting Cam as long as Cam keeps smiling, and the coyote agrees. Brian calls Cam's swollen face cute, then rambles conversationally as they walk, which Cam suspects is because the bath salts are making him talkative. Brian's unpredictability means Cam is constantly trying to stay on his good side, even agreeing to sing for the bear when Brian learns that Cam is a musician and demands that he prove it.

For some reason, a minor change in Cam's demeanor suddenly causes Brian to remember overhearing his plan to steal the key, and Brian then realizes that his pocket is indeed empty. He hits Cam, then restrains him and threatens him not to make a sound as Dev begins shouting at them from somewhere nearby. With the same sense of resignation as before, Brian decides not to try and fight Dev and instead ushers Cam into a narrow passageway that leads to the cavern where Brian has buried many of his victims.

Inside the cavern, Cam makes one last attempt to bargain with Brian, begging to let him try and talk to the things haunting him, and Brian considers but ultimately rejects the offer. As Dev catches up to them, Brian loads his shotgun but Cam grabs the barrel, and they wrestle over it until Dev sinks his teeth into Brian's neck. The wound is superficial but Dev is then able to grab the gun by the stock, and tries to cling to it as Cam comes to his aid by kicking Brian in the balls.

In the ensuing struggle Brian severely mauls Cam's arm before Dev does the same to his neck, but eventually Brian gains the upper hand upon reclaiming his gun. As Dev tries to position himself to shield Cam, Brian levels the gun at swears to kill Cam in front of Dev as revenge. Just as the shotgun fires however, Cam is able to shove the barrel upward and the blast misses.

The kickback from the gun causes the stock to strike Brian in the chest and the sharp impact, combined with years of cardiac strain from his stimulant use, induces a fatal heart attack. Brian seems incredulous at his death, and possibly disappointed that it is so anticlimactic compared to the last acts of cruelty he had planned to carry out.

Later, it is mentioned that Brian's crimes came to light after his death and briefly made national news. Despite narrowly surviving, Cam later discovers that the strain of his ordeal in Echo has accelerated his schizophrenic symptoms and left him with a violent and mocking intrusive voice in his head that sometimes sounds like Brian. Cam also continues to experience visions of Brian's victims' last moments, swearing to bring light to all of Brian's crimes that he witnesses by reporting them anonymously to the police.
## Relationships

### Duke

Brian and Duke have a long history together. Brian is seemingly willing to take orders from Duke up to a point (likely due to the leverage Duke has over him as a witness to Rachel's murder), and in Leo's route he mostly holds back from torturing Chase after Duke instructs him not to. However, Brian's relationship with Duke seems antagonistic as well, as Brian frequently expresses rage after Duke tells him what to do and sometimes disregards Duke's orders entirely.

Like Duke, Brian also mentions seeing The Embrace around Echo. It is unknown whether Brian actually believes in Duke's plans to stop the Hysteria by targeting Chase, or if he is simply collaborating with Duke in the hopes of getting ahold of new victims, though he seems to believe that dealing with Chase will somehow save the town.

In Arches, Duke and Brian are seemingly the very last two remaining residents of Echo, but their dynamic is unexplored, apart from Brian expressing anger over the idea of Duke "skulking around" outside his house.

### Keith

Keith and Brian were intimately involved for some time, with Keith being Brian's first (and seemingly only) real "boyfriend." According to Brian, Keith saw some good in him and tried to encourage him to change his ways. The two also opened a bar together. As time went on and Brian's paranormal experiences worsened however, Brian came to resent him for drawing him to Echo. This lead to Brian intentionally ruining his life and driving him out of Echo by outing him to his mother, after which Keith presumably gave up on helping him.

During Echo, Brian speaks derisively and callously when recalling Keith and shows no remorse for killing him, although he reacts defensively when outright accused of the murder. He seems to take pleasure in the idea of Keith leaving Echo hurting others, such as Micha.

In Arches, after Cameron gains the ability to read Brian's thoughts, he can tell that Brian is seeing the mental image of a fox in a red hat, presumably Keith, while he hypocritically denigrates gay men who try to 'suck up' to him.

### Jasmynn Street Gang

As the primary source of drugs in Echo, Brian is the dealer to Clint, Jeremy, Heather, and Micha. He seemingly bears some loyalty to the group, referring to them as "his people" and retaliating against Leo when he assaults the gang. Brian also provides Jeremy with the drugs he sells to others such as Carl.

Brian resents Micha for turning against him during the events of Jenna's route and makes sure to retaliate against him in particular. He also appears to take pleasure in informing him of Keith's fate, specifically how he abandoned Micha and his friends of his own accord.

Brian often extorts Clint for sexual favors in exchange for providing him with drugs. This includes hanging Clint to the point where he can barely breathe and presumably other forms of torture. Brian seemingly cares little about Clint apart from using him for pleasure, and turns him away angrily when he is tasked with other affairs.

### Chase

On Leo and Jenna's routes, Brian ends up being Chase's temporary captor on behalf of Duke. During this time, Brian enjoys inflicting torture upon Chase and ends up confiding in him about his history with Echo. While it is unclear how much Brian believes Duke's theories regarding Chase's involvement in the Hysteria, he seemingly agrees that getting rid of Chase will likely end it and eventually tries to kill Chase himself.

### Cameron

Brian initially seems to see Cameron as a kindred spirit, as the two share similar visions and a history with drug use. Though the two appear to genuinely bond at first (possibly as part of Brian's façade to get Cam off his guard), Brian quickly decides to put Cameron's abilities to use for his own purposes and gets him high against his wishes, before resorting to using threats and brutal violence to get Cam to do what he wants. Brian comments that he finds Cameron cute, particularly when he begs him for mercy, and nuzzles him passionately even while choking him out.

## Trivia

* Brian and Duke are the only Echo characters to also appear in Arches.
* The UFO that haunts Brian has a light pattern identical to the eyes of The Smoke Room's 88883, implying that it may be the same entity or share a common origin.
* Brian always dies, or may be selected to die as the result of a choice, in every storyline in which he appears.
* TJ is the only main character from Echo who Brian never directly meets. Brian holds Chase, Leo, Jenna, and Carl in his trailer in Jenna's route and expresses familiarity with Flynn from seeing him at The Smoke Room.
* The cavern in the mines in which Brian hides his victim's bodies, and where he has final confrontations with both Chase in Echo and with Cam and Dev in Arches, is the same place that Sam visits with Jack at the beginning of The Smoke Room.