Bear Holt

**Bear Holt** is a side character in *As Dusk Falls*.

## Description

Bear Holt is the father of the Holt family. He is married to Sharon Holt. He raised Tyler Holt, Dale Holt, and Jay Holt as his sons. The debt he accumulated from gambling is the reason why the Holts attempted to steal from Dante Romero.

## Personality

Bear values family above all else. Though he doesn't express his love for his family through his words, he tries to protect them through his actions. He is stern and often violent and extreme. Due to his alcoholism and his gambling addiction, he has grown distant from his family, if he was ever close to them to begin with. Bear shows extreme self-loathing in his scenes, admitting that he knows the family wants him gone, that he's a poor husband to Sharon, and that his sons don't love him. Bear shows a fondness for his father, who imparted life lessons on him, which he then attempts to pass on to his sons.

## Appearance

Bear is an older man with short white hair. His eyes are somewhat sunken. He has noticeable wrinkles around his mouth. He has no facial hair. In his flashback, he's seen wearing a vest, a T-shirt, and a pair of jeans.

## Involvement

Bear was not directly involved in the main storyline. However, a week prior to the events at the Desert Dream, Jay found out about his gambling debt and that Bear's life was at stake if he didn't pay. Bear took Jay out one night with the intention of killing one of the men who had come to his house to collect. Jay can decide the fate of the collector, but this does not erase Bear's debt.

## Relationships

#### Jay Holt

Jay is Bear's youngest son and is the closest to him out of everyone in the family. Though he is not related to Bear by blood, Bear still treats him as a Holt and imparts various life lessons on him. Jay can agree or disagree with Bear's methods depending on player choices. Either way, it's clear that Bear respects Jay and cares for him. He also shares secrets with Jay that he doesn't with the rest of the family, such as the location of his cabin and the scope of his gambling debt. If Bear is alive and Jay isn't arrested, Jay and Bear send letters to each other for a period of time before Bear cuts off the arrangement, deciding it's too dangerous for Jay.

#### Sharon Holt

Sharon is Bear's wife and the mother of two of his children. The two of them have been in a romantic relationship for a long time. However, their relationship grew strained due to Bear's bad habits, and Sharon would grow frustrated with him. She confesses to Paul that Bear messed everything up for her and wonders what her life would have been like had she not married him.

#### Tyler Holt

Tyler is Bear's eldest son. The two of them have a strained relationship. Bear feels that he can't confide in Tyler because he's too much like Sharon. Meanwhile, Tyler doesn't understand Bear at all. He attempts to protect Sharon from Bear, most notably by using physical force. In Tyler's childhood, he attempted to steal from Bear's wallet, and after Bear threatened to cut off one of his fingers, Tyler began to cry for Sharon, leading Bear to let him go.

#### Dale Holt

Dale is Bear's youngest son by blood. Bear tells Jay that Dale is too much like him. While Dale isn't as physically aggressive towards Bear as Tyler is, he will still fight his father if he feels Tyler needs backup. If Jay saves Bear's life, Dale reports that Jay "should have let him swing". This can either imply a hatred for Bear or an understanding of what Bear was trying to do for the family.

#### Ash Walema

Depending on player choices, Bear can meet Ash two months before the events of the main story. He frightens Ash by holding a gun to him and pulling out a knife. He scolds Ash for running away from home. If Ash fails to climb out of the pit he fell into, it is implied that Jay and Bear anonymously take him to the hospital.

#### Paul

Paul and Bear fought in the Vietnam War together. Their relationship is not expanded upon in-game. One can only imagine what their relationship would be like if Bear lives and Paul runs off to Mexico with Sharon :)