Chase Hunter

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* Echo
* As a child
* Route 65
* Epilogue

— Chase, during the prologue of Echo

**Chase Hunter** is the main protagonist of the visual novel Echo. He is a college student who returns to his hometown of Echo to spend time with his childhood friends.

## Appearance

Chase is an anthropomorphic otter standing at an average height with somewhat stubby legs and a slender body. He also sports a large tail, used for swimming.

He has orange-brown eyes and brown fur, with a cream-colored pattern covering his snout and front. He has a short, brown goatee on his chin.

Chase's usual in-game appearance shows that he wears a blue V-neck shirt and brown cargo shorts. Like the rest of the cast, he is always barefoot.

26 year-old Chase as seen in Flynn's epilogue wears a gray crew-neck T-shirt as well as black shorts. His goatee has grown out into a full-fledged beard. 10 year-old Chase (whose sprite is unused) wears a tan polo shirt with a darker brown collar and pocket, as well as blue swim trunks. 15 year-old Chase from Route 65 wears a white T-shirt with dark pink sleeves.

## Personality

Chase is criticized for his supposed lack of personality, both by Flynn and by himself internally. Chase often reflects on his childhood behavior in which he was more manipulative and at times even callous, internally perceiving himself as having been a "dick" at times.

He is mostly friendly, easy-going, and a lot more down-to-earth compared to a lot of the other Echo residents; but can be socially awkward in one-on-one conversations. Chase is very compassionate, supportive and understanding to those close to him; though slightly naïve at times. Chase is typically passive and does his best to avoid confrontation of any sort altogether, seeming to believe that violence isn't always the answer. He is a bit jumpy at times and can be somewhat of a pushover. This can sometimes lead to him being easily influenced by the opinions or expectations of others, this was especially in the case of Leo who he became submissive to until the end. Despite these meeker qualities, he is capable of being a very determined and charismatic speaker.

He is interested in photography and is majoring in Journalism at Pueblo University. Being an otter, he is also an avid swimmer and tries to swim in any clean body of water (pools, rivers, and lakes) he crosses whenever possible. Chase is bisexual, though he tends to allow people to assume he is gay rather than dealing with the hassle of explaining his attraction to both genders to those around him.

Chase suffers from frequent bouts of sleep paralysis, hallucinations and dissociation following the death of Sydney. While he has sought help for these issues, his negative experiences with doctors and repeated failed treatments have left him somewhat jaded toward the idea of seeking further assistance or sharing thoughts regarding his mental health.

He regards his hometown as a terrible place, only returning for the sake of seeing his friends again while finishing his school project. He is deeply unsettled by the town's drug use, bigotry, and general dark atmosphere. Chase is further embarrassed by his own childhood behavior and dislikes recalling the majority of his past.

Over the course of the story, Chase becomes a stronger individual and forces himself to face his past; coming to terms with it and vowing to become a better person, both for his own sake and that of his friends. Deep down, Chase is a firm believer in hope; having a positive attitude about the future no matter how bad the situation is in the present. During hard times, he is shown to have the power to provide hope for other people and ultimately affect their way of thinking.

## Story

Chase was born in the United States of Columbia. He has lived in Echo from a very young age, and joined the Boy Scouts when he was ten years old. Chase attended school in the nearby town of Payton alongside the rest of his friend group, who bonded over being among the few children living in the town of Echo itself. This group consisted of Leo Alvarez, Jasmynn Begay, Carl Hendricks, TJ Hess, Flynn Moore, and Sydney Bronson. The group was often bullied for being outcasts, especially by Clint and Jasmynn's brother Jeremy.

When Chase was ten years old, he and his friends went to play at Lake Emma. While playing at the water's edge, the children found Sydney floating unconscious in the water. Chase himself swam out in an attempt to rescue him, but by the time Sydney was able to be admitted to the hospital, he was already pronounced dead. This experience caused Chase to undergo a drastic change of personality, in which he became more withdrawn and lacking in emotion. Chase would continue to attend therapy and take medication for years after the incident.

#### Route 65

On November 1 2008, Chase was caught masturbating to gay porn by his parents and outed to them in the process. In a panic, Chase chose to avoid his family and instead of returning home after school that day ended up attending a Día de los Muertos party held at an abandoned building on the outside of town alongside Carl and TJ. While searching for Leo among the guests, Chase was attacked by another person attending the party and wandered around in a stupor before falling unconscious. During this time, Chase chose to come out as gay to one of his friends, with his chosen individual later being the person he canonically follows during the events of Echo.

Upon awakening, Chase was greeted by Leo, who explained that he had discovered that Chase is gay. To Chase's surprise, Leo revealed that he is gay as well and romantically interested in Chase. While walking to Leo's house, the two decided to officially become a couple. Leo then encouraged Chase to reach out to his parents, who seemingly accepted Chase for who he is.

#### Later High School Years and College

Throughout the rest of high school, Chase and Leo continued to date one another. While together, the two began to ignore the rest of their friends in favor of spending time with each other. They also purchased matching anchor bracelets representing their bond to one another. In May 2010, Chase drove Jasmynn (who informed him of her decision to change her name to Jenna) to Payton in order to permanently emancipate her from her abusive family. During this trip, Jenna encouraged Chase to apply to Pueblo University, and he ultimately took her advice.

Chase's consideration of attending college strained his relationship with Leo, as the wolf expected Chase to stay in Echo and work alongside him at his father's mechanic shop. This tension boiled over in May 2012 when Jenna and Chase pulled a prank on Leo that caused him to believe that Chase was cheating on him, which led to the wolf breaking Chase's phone. In response, Chase told Leo that he had been accepted into Pueblo, for which he departed soon afterward. After leaving Echo, Chase communicated very infrequently with Leo and left their relationship largely unresolved, but sent him sexually charged text messages once or twice while lonely or drunk.

In October 2012, Chase attended a party hosted by his friend Vincent and tried his first edible only to pass out shortly afterward and be carried back to his own room.

While at college, Chase initially roomed with Carl before the ram's anxiety led to a panic attack-induced breakdown and he dropped out. Afterward, he seemingly became roommates with a rabbit for a brief time, followed by Vincent. Chase continued through his journalism classes, receiving average grades and generally having little contact with his childhood friends. He also discovered that he is bisexual rather than gay. At some point, Chase stopped wearing his anchor bracelet, feeling as though it served as a reminder of the horrible town he grew up in.

Eventually, Chase decided to return to Echo in order to spend his spring break filming a news presentation about the town's strange history of mass hysteria events. When Leo learned that Chase would be coming back, he contacted the rest of their friend group and invited them to return to Echo for one last get-together, setting the events of the game into motion.

**Plot**

#### Prologue

Upon arriving in Echo, Chase initially resolves to finish his school project while also spending as much time as possible with his friends as a group. He is somewhat nervous to be reunited with Leo in particular after their unclear standing and lack of contact, but is relieved to find that the wolf is simply happy to see him.

On Sunday, Chase and his friends visit Southwest Adventures. After returning from the amusement park, Leo approaches Chase with the idea of reuniting as a couple, to which Chase is hesitant but not entirely opposed.

The following day, Chase and his friends visit Yeeyah River so that he can go for a swim and get some footage of Lake Emma for his project. Upon returning from the water, Chase finds that things have become tense; he arrives just in time for Flynn to verbally condemn each member of the group for seeming to make light of Sydney's death, or in TJ's case, for staying silent about what he witnessed during the incident. Flynn then storms off as the rest of the group splits off in different directions. This forces Chase to pursue one of his friends, who he will then continue to spend time with throughout the week.

#### Carl's route

On Carl's route, Chase stays at Carl's mansion in order to utilize the records of town history catalogued by Carl's mother to complete his project. He also bonds with Carl over shared memories and is surprised to find Carl occasionally seeming to come on to him. Chase is skeptical of Carl's claim that his house is haunted, though he discovers that Carl apparently sleepwalks and witnesses a variety of unnatural phenomena as the week progresses. Throughout the week, Chase has the option to try and help Carl through his anxieties beyond the haunting. He and Carl also reconnect with a friend from high school, Raven. On Saturday, Chase and his friends meet up at Lake Emma to seek closure for Sydney's death. In an effort to break the tension that arises, Chase wades into the lake and his friends stop arguing to join him in the water. After Chase nearly drowns however, painful memories reassert themselves and the group fragments once again. In the chaos of the group's scuffle, Chase leaves with Carl.

Later, Chase finds himself trapped in an unfamiliar house with Carl, Raven, and Jenna after falling unconscious in Carl's mansion. The group soon finds that they are in some sort of "game" that an unknown presence has set up to capitalize on the centuries-old conflict between two of Echo's ghosts: James Hendricks I, Carl's ancestor, and his betrayed former lover John Begay, Jenna's ancestor, each of whom is possessing his respective descendant. To escape the "game," Chase and his friends are forced to find articles relating to the history of James and John in order to expose the truth of their story. Eventually, Jenna physically attacks Carl, causing him to temporarily be freed of James' influence. At this time, Chase can choose to encourage Carl to accept James' help or fight it off.

Should Chase tell Carl to let the ghost help, Carl will increasingly become more callous toward his friends, especially Jenna. At the end of the route, Carl knocks Chase out. When he awakens, he finds that a James-possessed Carl has killed Jenna and Raven and plans to set the mansion aflame to destroy all historical records that could expose his history as a serial-killer pedophile. Chase manages to free Carl from possession and escape from the burning mansion with the help of the spirits of James' victims, but Carl is seemingly left despondent by his possessed actions.

If Chase tells Carl to fight off the ghost however, Carl remains his normal self and assists the group in spite of Jenna's increased aggression. Carl is later overcome with anxiety and runs off, forcing Chase to follow him into what seems to be a distorted recreation of their college campus. Upon finding Carl, the ram informs Chase that he has "figured out" his anxiety and that he needs to choose how to live his own life without others making choices for him before revealing that they have been hallucinating the whole experience and have actually been in Echo the whole time. The two then return to the mansion, where Chase breaks Jenna of possession by promising John that he will reveal the truth of James' actions to the world. In an epilogue, Chase and Carl attend college together once again (though purely as friends) as Chase puts the finishing touches on his project on Echo's history.

#### Leo's route

On Leo's route, Chase reconnects with Leo over the span of the week. He discovers that since he left for college, Leo has struggled with his loneliness and feelings of having peaked in life. He also finds that Leo has taken on more aggressive tendencies, frequently getting in fights with Clint and arguing with Duke. Chase also meets Leo's neighbor, Kudzu. Eventually, Chase and Leo decide to rekindle their romantic relationship. Should Chase decide to check Leo's texts however, he finds that Leo has been lying to the rest of their friends to keep Chase separated from them.

Regardless of whether Chase discovers this and confronts Leo regarding his actions, the hysteria begins on Saturday. Chase and Leo are attacked at the diner by Brian and Duke, who kill Janice in front of them and kidnap the two. After spending a day trapped in Brian's trailer, Chase is freed by Kudzu and convinces the raccoon to help him rescue Leo. After the duo successfully save Leo, they attempt to flee Echo with TJ and Carl only to be teleported to the lake by a strange monster. Throughout this time, Leo begins exhibiting increasingly possessive behavior toward Chase, which disturbs the otter greatly. This culminates in Chase and Kudzu briefly separating from a violently jealous Leo to find Jenna, only for Chase to be kidnapped by Brian and taken to the mines. Chase manages to escape the murderous bear by appealing to a voice in his head for help and makes it out of the mine with the help of Flynn, who he runs into on the way.

Flynn and Chase reunite with the rest of their friends, who have decided to try escaping Echo by hopping aboard an apparent ghost train that passes through the town. Before they can do so however, Leo confronts Chase about their relationship. Should Chase tell Leo they will figure things out later, the wolf pulls Chase off the train after boarding, accidentally severing the otter's legs from his body as the train passes over them. Leo then kills Kudzu and takes Chase back to his house, where he cuddles him until he bleeds to death as the otter reminiscences on their relationship.

Should Chase break things off however, Leo will allow Chase to escape the town with the rest of their friends but stays behind himself. Chase is devastated by the wolf seemingly abandoning them, and grieves the horrors of Echo as the train arrives in Payton. Two years later, Chase and Kudzu, who are now a couple, pass through Echo to briefly visit Leo. Leo reveals to Chase that he has cried for him every night since they parted, but he has finally moved on- even removing his anchor bracelet. Leo tells Chase that he must figure out how to continue living without Chase in his life, though the otter tearfully affirms that someday they will meet again.

#### TJ's route

Chase's behavior on TJ's route varies greatly from his actions throughout the rest of the game. In the early days of the route, Chase hikes with TJ and does yardwork for Janice alongside him. During this time, Chase experiences an odd sense of warped perceptions, as well as a steadily increasing attraction toward TJ. On Thursday, Carl reveals that he has discovered what appears to be the start of a treasure hunt set up by Sydney prior his death. Despite Chase's reluctance, TJ insists that he, Jenna, and Carl work together to complete the hunt in order to gain closure.

As the group continues the treasure hunt, the clues they find begin to take on more sinister tones that seem to implicate Chase for an unknown crime. An increasingly paranoid Chase eventually decides to find the final clue by himself and upon reading it, replaces it with a false letter. When the group goes to collect the final letter the next day, Chase accuses Carl and Flynn of having set up the hunt to hurt the rest of the group and leaves with TJ. At this point Chase's feelings toward TJ become borderline obsessive, as he jealously fumes over his interactions with Julian and gets into a physical fight with Flynn. This culminates in Chase attempting to kiss TJ against his will in a nearby forest, causing the lynx to run away. Chase proceeds to stand alone in the forest for hours before returning to the motel after being threatened by some sort of supernatural presence.

Upon returning to the hotel on Saturday, Chase is ushered into the bathroom by an unknown entity that convinces him that Flynn has discovered his secret and the only way for both him and Echo itself to survive is to ensure that he doesn't tell it. Chase takes a nap, during which he dreams about drowning Sydney as a child. Upon waking up, Julian informs Chase that Flynn has taken TJ to the lake to try and draw the truth of Sydney's death out one last time. Chase rushes to the lake and confronts Flynn over the true version of the final treasure hunt note, which depicts Chase himself drowning Sydney as TJ cries. Flynn begins to assault Chase over the note, but he and TJ manage to fight him off as Chase drags the gila into the lake and holds him there until he drowns. Chase exits the lake and comforts a distraught TJ, asking him to try and forget and resolving to "protect" the lynx from now on as the route ends.

#### Flynn's route

Flynn's route begins with Chase chasing the gila down to confront him following his outburst at the lake. From this point, Chase spends an extended amount of time with Flynn, Carl, and Flynn's roommate Daxton and enters a sexual relationship with the gila. As Chase works on his school project and learns more about Flynn, he agrees to support the lizard in confronting TJ about the truth of Syd's death. Flynn repeatedly questions Chase on his odd behavior when it comes to his decision-making, though he claims to be unaware of what the gila means.

On Thursday night, Chase follows Flynn to a nearby gay bar called The Smoke Room. Here, Chase can choose to have sex with Flynn in the midst of the other patrons or simply walk out. Regardless of his choice, Chase feels horrified over the establishment and leaves. The next day, he attends a barbecue alongside his friends (with the exception of Flynn) and Daxton. Chase has the option to talk to Leo about their relationship at this point, which affects the wolf's behavior later in the route.

On Saturday, Chase arrives at town hall to support Flynn in confronting TJ. Shortly after however, Leo and Jenna arrive, Chase having secretly informed them that Flynn was once again verbally assaulting TJ. Chase then condemns Flynn himself, claiming that Flynn had manipulated him throughout the week. Before things can come to blows however, TJ finally speaks up to reveal that on the day of Sydney's death he saw "two brown figures writhing in the water." In a panic, Chase runs into the town hall's reading room while his friends are distracted by the sound of gunshots outside and is locked in the room by Flynn for questioning- only to be bitten by a nest of black widow spiders and fall unconscious.

When Flynn and the others return, Chase is found alive but badly injured by the spiders. His personality is noted by Flynn to be drastically different and more in-line with his childhood self, as he becomes more whiny and snarky. Flynn attempts to confront Chase over TJ's testimony, but the otter informs Flynn that he remembers nothing. The group manages to defend Chase against Duke and the rest of the town who wish to execute him in hopes of ending the hysteria and unsuccessfully attempt to escape the town before being teleported to the lake by a mysterious being. After escaping the lake, Chase accompanies the rest of his friends sans Flynn, Carl, and Daxton back to Leo's house to recuperate.

In the epilogue, an older Chase meets a pair of paranormal investigators in a mostly abandoned Echo. He reveals to them that he got his big journalism break by covering the story of the hysteria, but could never live up to this legacy and no longer works in the field. Chase has also taken up smoking at this point. He then shows the couple the entrance to the mines before leaving the two on their own after indirectly being accused of having involvement in Flynn's death.

#### Jenna's route

In Jenna's route, Chase attempts to spend time with the fox and the rest of his friends only to find that Carl has gone missing. Chase aids in the search efforts throughout the week alongside the rest of his friends, spending time with Jenna in particular. Depending on if Chase told Jenna he was bisexual at the start of the game, he may enter a sexual relationship with her over the course of the week. Chase also ends up centered in a conflict between Leo and Jenna, who are at particular odds with one another over Jenna's role in their breakup and ongoing estrangement.

On Friday, Chase has a dream about the death of an old man in a hit and run incident, as well as his childhood self opening up the doors of the same van during the events of Route 65. He then receives a call from Micha, who informs him that Leo is wreaking havoc on Jasmynn Street in search of Carl. Chase arrives just in time to get involved in a physical conflict between Leo and Brian. Chase then takes the concussed wolf back to the hotel for Jenna to provide first aid, where Leo deliriously reveals Chase's habit of drunkenly texting him about getting back together while at college. The trio then witness what appears to be a shadowy manifestation of Chase comforting Leo before Brian arrives and abducts them.

Chase awakens in Brian's trailer alongside Leo and Carl, followed shortly by Jenna and Micha. Duke confronts Chase over his potential role in the ongoing hysteria, then leaves the group at Brian's mercy. As Brian tortures Chase by sewing him to Leo's side, a mysterious creature matching Jenna's description of her childhood "Guardian Angel" appears and seemingly kills the bear. The group then exit the trailer and stumble across the van from Chase's dream, where Chase is numbly shocked to find out about the full events of the night he and Leo got together. Chase also discovers the body of the old man from his dream and identifies him as Samuel Ayers, who he realizes is the presence that occasionally speaks to him internally.

Reuniting with TJ and Flynn, Chase accompanies the group into Heather's house to rescue Carl. If Chase earlier agreed with Jenna regarding her feelings toward people who don't want to be helped and expressed a negative view their shared past, Jenna convinces Flynn to kill Heather before stealing her diagrams of the dam and destroying the town via opening the floodgates as Chase and the others look on in shock from the road outside of Echo. Should Chase have been more optimistic in his responses however, he will accompany the others to the dam in order to stop Heather's plan of flooding the town (though he ends up being more of a bystander in the ensuing confrontation.)

In the epilogue, Chase escapes Echo with the rest of his friend group. Chase reports the discovery of Sam's body to the police and has a meal at a diner in Payton with the others as Jenna apologizes for her behavior. Should Chase have shared a romantic relationship with Jenna, he eagerly accepts her offer to let him invite her out on a "proper" date later on. As the route ends, Chase attempts to determine whether he is still inhabited by Sam's presence to ambiguous results.

## Relationships

### Leo

Leo was Chase's first boyfriend and the two dated throughout high school before separating when Chase left for college. While Chase was the one to break up with Leo (albeit in an indecisive manner), he is not completely over their relationship. Though Chase ghosted Leo throughout most of the three years of his college experience, he occasionally pines for the wolf and texts him while drunk. This indicates that Chase retains romantic feelings for Leo, which he may even act upon in the game itself, but ultimately the two do not end up back together in any route's ending.

Apart from their romantic relationship, Leo was Chase's childhood friend who served as the "protector" of their friend group. Even as an adult, Chase admires Leo's confidence greatly and values his leadership.

### Jenna

Jenna and Chase have been friends from a very young age and were the first of their friend group to meet. Chase greatly admires Jenna's intelligence and resolve to better herself (even agreeing to drive her to Payton to escape her family). As a result, he often looks to her for guidance. Though Chase is occasionally frustrated by Jenna's tendency to play pranks on him, he still considers her to be the most mature of their friends and one of his closest companions. On Jenna's route, Chase may realize that he has a mutual attraction toward Jenna and act upon it.

### TJ

Like most of the friend group, Chase has a tendency to shelter TJ as the youngest among them. He considers TJ to be naive and often tries to protect him from more intense or sexual topics. Chase tends to worry about TJ's feelings and safety, and he is usually very forgiving of the lynx's mistakes. On TJ's route however, Chase's feelings toward the lynx become more romantically obsessive as his sanity deteriorates throughout the week.

### Flynn

Prior to Sydney's death, Chase and Flynn seem to have gotten along decently well. Afterward, their relationship became more strained due to a combination of Chase's personality change, his developing relationship with Leo, and Flynn's anger over the incident. Chase tends to feel somewhat on edge around the Gila and considers some of his behaviors "dickish."

Despite the slight rift between them however, Chase has a tendency to look to Flynn's advice as a mentor of sorts due to the age gap between them. Due to Flynn's typically acerbic tone however, Chase usually ends up ignoring his advice. On Flynn's route, the two also seem to share at least some degree of mutual attraction to one another on a physical level.

### Carl

Chase considers Carl to be his best friend, and the two were near inseparable growing up. As a child, Chase often manipulated Carl to get things that he wanted from him. The two shared a passion for spy movies, though they eventually grew apart as teenagers due to diverging interests and Chase's relationship with Leo. The two later attended Pueblo University together as roommates, though Carl dropped out after his first year. Chase admits to having missed Carl greatly when he dropped out, and he worries about Carl's anxiety despite not fully understanding it personally. He is also somewhat attracted to Carl, though he hesitates to act upon these feelings due to Carl's perceived straightness.

### Sydney

The full extent of Chase's and Sydney's relationship is unclear. If Flynn is to be believed however, Chase didn't approve of how rough or far his fellow otter would go with his play-wrestling and would physically stop or berate Sydney for going too far. Chase was also the one to spread the rumor of Sydney having killed his father following his suicide around their school.

Chase seems to repress his memories regarding Sydney's death, for which he was responsible. After this incident, Chase seemingly felt upset about the loss of Sydney's life as well as its effect on their friend group. When Chase is freed of Sam's influence on Flynn's route however, Chase himself admits that he was glad to know that Sydney was dead and wouldn't hurt anyone anymore.

Conversely, and extremely ironically, Sydney seemed to consider him one of his closest friends when alive.

### Kudzu

Chase and Kudzu appear to get along fairly well, with Chase respecting the raccoon for his bravery and blunt honesty. In Leo's good ending, he and Kudzu enter a romantic relationship.

### Daxton

Chase gets to know Daxton during the events of Flynn's route and comes to consider him a friend a "cool guy." Should Chase talk to Daxton during the group's BBQ, Daxton will open up to him about his recent dreams and the two may part amicably with Chase even having the option to hug him.

### Julian

Due to Chase's altered headspace on TJ's route, Chase perceives Julian as a rival for TJ's attention and is greatly annoyed by his all of his actions no matter how minor. He resents Julian greatly and wishes for him to leave them alone for good.

### Raven

Raven is an acquaintance of Chase's from high school. The two did not know each other well and mostly recognize one another from a mutual connection to Carl, but they are on amicable terms. Following the events of Carl's good ending, the two apparently become close friends.

### Micha

Micha would often pick on Chase during school, though less so than Jeremy and Clint. This led Chase to dislike him. He is surprised to see Micha back in Echo during Jenna's route due to his disappearance in high school and is once again annoyed by his caustic nature, at one point remarking that "he liked him better when he was on milk cartons." Despite this, Chase comes to rely on Micha for assistance and grows to tolerate his behavior (albeit with some degree of exasperation).

### Clint and Jeremy

Clint and Jeremy were Chase's childhood bullies, something he still resents them for even as an adult. On Leo's route, Chase seems to feel a degree of pity toward Clint for his current situation in life, though he remains slightly scared of him.

## Trivia

* Chase was the first ever character to serve as the protagonist of an Echo Project VN. He was also the first main protagonist to receive a sprite.
* Like many of the other protagonists of Echo Project VNs, Chase has a relationship with spiders. In his case, he has extreme arachnophobia.
* Out of the members of the main cast whose families have lived in Echo since at least 1915, Chase is the only one whose ancestors or relatives have not yet appeared in The Smoke Room.
* When Chase and TJ examine Carl's computer during the Jenna route, Chase is listed as "some gay otter idk" in Carl's online friend list.
* Early in Echo's development, the last name Cooper was proposed for Chase. This would have been a reference to Dale Cooper, main character of the TV series Twin Peaks, but Hunter was eventually chosen instead.