Vincent Brooks

## Voices

**Vincent Brooks** (ヴィンセント・ブルックス, *Vinsento Burukkusu*) is the protagonist of *Catherine* and its remake *Catherine: Full Body*.

Occupation-wise, Vincent works as a financially poor systems engineer for a technology company. He has books on HTML and C/C++, implying he specializes in website design. He doesn't need to wear a suit or a tie for his job, since he has no contact with his business's customers. As a coder who specializes in technology, he mainly works at home, but he still visits the office of his technology firm when it's necessary, and his boss is in contact with him. Vincent lives in, in his own words, a "fucking dump of a city". Vincent has little ambition in his life and no major life goals, but it seems that's the way he likes it: easy-going, simple, riskless and carefree. His only goal seems to be drifting aimlessly through life.

While his girlfriend Katherine McBride wants him to settle down and marry her, he is apprehensive as he still wants the freedom of the single life, despite living his 20s without any concrete plans for the future. Vincent is a lifelong stereotypical bachelor trying to escape the pressures of adult life: his job, his love life, and the prospect of marriage.

After meeting the enigmatic Catherine, his life is dragged into a waking - and sleeping - nightmare. He becomes an indecisive bachelor who is swept away by the actions of the two women in his life, and is forced to question his love for Katherine while dealing with his tryst with Catherine.

In Full Body, Vincent meets another named Rin, turning the original game's love triangle into a love square.

## Appearance

Vincent has a slender build. He has asymmetrical shaggy black hair, pale blue eyes, and a little bit of facial hair or stubble.

He wears a tan jacket with "Italian Stallion Rider Equipment Since 2009" on the left shoulder. There are vertical red, white and green stripes on the front left side, which seems to represent the flag of Italy. Underneath, he wears a pink t-shirt with RA💘E on it. He wears dark red-brown pants and brown dress shoes.

While sleeping, he wears nothing but white boxers with pink polka dots. When he becomes sucked into the nightmares, he has grown ram horns.

## Personality

Vincent is a textbook bachelor: his tiny apartment room is a mess, he has difficulty with commitment, and he spends almost all of his free time hanging out with his friends. Despite being extremely devoted, he is weak willed, and he's shown to be a very prolific liar under pressure as the love triangle forces him to spin a web of lies to keep the women from discovering each other. Depending on the player's actions, he will lie more often or less often, depending on who he is trying to keep in his life.

Orlando Haddick mentions that Vincent's always been popular with girls, even in grade school, and that Katherine is his third lucky streak in romance (the first two being grade school romances, and then Katherine). Vincent knows how to please women and be a good boyfriend, which was what attracted Katherine to him when they started dating.

Despite his qualities which may be interpreted as flaws, Vincent could be considered a "good" guy in many aspects. He feels genuine guilt about being with Catherine, who is later revealed to be a succubus, which would eliminate some of his blame. Catherine also makes suicidal threats to Vincent about how she'd "die" and be extremely angry if he cheated on her; and Vincent doesn't want her to self-harm, hurt or kill herself. He cares about both Katherine and Catherine very deeply and wants both of them to feel happy. He apologizes to Katherine in his dream and asks for forgiveness, showing how he feels remorse for his actions. The game also shows Vincent's thoughts and feelings, and it is quite evident that he is very confused in regards to doing the "right" thing, and wondering what the "right" thing is - if there even is one.

Vincent becomes a cheater, as he unable to let go of Catherine and stop the affair because he is unsure of what he wants out of life, as he is uncertain whether or not he wants a more carefree and fun life with Catherine with no optional responsibility, or a more serious job and money-seeking oriented life with Katherine. It does not help that Catherine is a succubus who manifests as his ideal beautiful woman and it is implied they have enjoyable sex, a concern manifested in Vincent's dream when Catherine says Katherine probably can't satisfy him anymore with in this area. Katherine's pregnancy, which eventually transformed into a lie-of-omission from her as it was a false alarm she didn't want to tell Vincent because he was afraid he might leave her, motivates Vincent into breaking up with Catherine, as he realizes ditching Katherine to become a single mother alone would be stressful and cruel to her. This shows where Vincent's boundaries are, as well as his altruism.

Vincent is a fairly perceptive friend, but doesn't seem to know his limits or boundaries in conversations. He can be very confrontational toward others, even getting physical at his breaking point. He's also very blunt toward Erica Anderson about her status, and tends to snap at people when they patronize or disrespect him, implying he may be sensitive when it feels like he is being devalued. In Full Body, Vincent mentions everyone tells him what to do with his life, and he's come across lots of women who only care about how much he is "worth", implying that he feels objectified and used by women at times, something he is able to relate to with Archie Wallace.

Vincent may be interpreted as a "manchild" due to various reasons, ranging from him being unable to "man up" about his affair, the way his room is a mess, the way he's often disrespectful to Erica, the way he spends his money carelessly to the point where Katherine needs to manage their finances, etc. In Full Body, Vincent tells Rin he's come across a lot of people who have told him to be more of a "man" or an "adult".

Vincent may be interpreted as having mild depression or an existential crisis. This is especially shown in much of his facial expressions and body language as he does not smile or laugh much. He also has a remarkably slim figure with poor muscle tone for a man in his 30s, perhaps implying he has low testosterone which coincides with depression. Depressed people often feel unmotivated, lazy, drink a lot and have messy rooms, qualities which can be seen in Vincent.

While Vincent is okay with the way his life is going with his friends and Katherine, it could be argued that there's some void in his life that he is unable to fulfill. He likely feels the need to escape the stresses of life, yet feels as if he doesn't "belong" or "fit in anywhere," shown by the way he's willing to give up his humanity and live with Catherine in the Underworld in certain endings. After his breakup with Katherine, Vincent wanders around his raining city looking very confused and disoriented, seemingly wondering what his purpose is in life, saying, "Dammit, what the hell am I supposed to do?".

Vincent could also be viewed as a "tortured" man; when the player first plays the game and every time after, the first image of Vincent is of him suffering, his girlfriend being unable to hear him, being tortured with barbed wired digging into his skin, and unable to be free. During the game, Vincent can be perceived as someone trapped in an abusive and violent relationship with Catherine; however, he can also be viewed as being trapped in a relationship with Katherine who can be viewed as a source of his unhappiness and him lacking freedom.

Vincent is an active drunk and perhaps an addict or an alcholic, often spending an entire night drinking at the Stray Sheep before going home and drinking more beer. This causes him to have constant hangovers and memory blackouts, which usually involve him (apparently) calling Catherine over for "company," which he claims not to remember at all. His drinking is also a strain on his finances, as Erica has had to cover for Vincent's drinks many times until he could pay later. Vincent's drink of choice is a variation of the Cuba Libre known as Rum and Coke (Rum and Cola in game). It is essentially the same thing as the Cuba Libre but without the lime.

## Etymology

The name Vincent is derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word "vincere" (to conquer). This could be an allusion to Vincent conquering the blocks in the nightmares. His name and appearance are inspired by Vincent Gallo who directed *Buffalo '66*, which was also as an influence.[1]

Brooks is a toponymic surname that is thought to have been derived residing near a stream (or brook) from both the Swedish surname Bäckland, meaning bäck "brook, stream" and lund "grove". Connie mentions in the ending that "the ferry was late", implying Vincent lives near a body of water. "Brooks" may also be a reference to Vincent's anxious nature, as he's often sweating streams.

## Trivia

* A misconception is that Vincent is of Asian or Japanese descent. While this is possible, it has never been officially proven and there is evidence suggesting otherwise, such as his Western-sounding name, his blue eyes, and according to an official Atlus employee, *Catherine* is "set in an undefined American town/city."[2] (although it is actually set in what seems to be an American space colony). The same applies to Katherine, who is never confirmed to be of Asian or Japanese descent either. The only one confirmed to be of Asian descent is Jonny according to the official novelization.
	+ Vincent may be of Italian descent. The actor Vincent is modeled after, Vincent Gallo, is of Italian descent. Vincent also has "Italian" written on his jacket, plus three colored stripes of red, white and green which seem to represent the flag of Italy.

* In the Confessionals, there is a strange surreal painting of what seems to be Vincent crucified on a female symbol (♀). As Vincent climbs higher, more sheep begin to fill the painting. It is never explained why this is, although one may interpret it as Vincent being haunted and guilt-tripped by the deaths of any sheep he may have contributed to, due to the aggressive dog-eat-dog-world attitude that can help the sheep survive. The player is bound to kill some of the climbers, whether it be accidental or intentional.

* As the days go by in the game, Vincent looks more tired, to the point his bangs eventually cover an eye. Vincent's friends who experience the nightmares also look more tired as well.

* Vincent could be viewed as a rape victim while Catherine could be viewed as his rapist. It can be argued that Vincent's first drunken hookup with Catherine was consensual, since they might have both been drunk at the time. However, Vincent can't remember it in the morning, or any of their other sexual encounters either. It is unknown if she ever actually had sex with Vincent during the events of the main story, and there are arguments both ways. However, the Immoral Beast, the fact that Catherine wakes up next to Vincent naked, and in Vincent's dream, she says to Katherine that Vincent is a wild man in the sack, implying that they had sex. However, this only occurred in one of Vincent's dreams. However, it can then be counter-argued that Vincent's reality would, naturally, affect his dreams and his subconscious.
	+ Vincent being a rape victim may be a dual meaning of what his RA💘E t-shirt alludes to. Although some claim it means "rave," there has been no official confirmation. The "arrow in a heart" symbol is associated with Cupid who is portrayed as a god who forces people to fall in love, much like how Catherine uses her succubus powers on Vincent.

* The canned beer he drinks at home is labeled, "atlus BEER."

* Vincent's plot between Katherine and Catherine represents one of the tales of the Lovers Arcana, where a man is seen talking with two women, one young and blond (Catherine), and the other one black haired and more mature looking (Katherine). Both of them are dressed the same (red and blue), while a Cupid sitting in a star waiting to shoot one of his arrows at one of them. This represents the dilemma of choosing between physical desire (Catherine) or romantic and intellectual attraction (Katherine).

* Vincent has a brief appearance in *Persona 3 Portable* at Club Escapade as "Man Drinking Alone," where he briefly talks about his nightmares to the protagonist (whether male or female).[3] In *P3P*, he is drawn with a mole under his left eye, while he has no mole in *Catherine*. He is unusual for a *Persona* unnamed NPC in that he already has his own character portrait. *Catherine* was developed alongside *P3P*. Vincent mentions his girlfriend's pregnancy test is positive, implying *Catherine* occurs during *P3P*. However, Vincent did not go to Japan during *Catherine* (as *Catherine* is set in America), and *Catherine* occurs in April, and he can be met in non-April months during *P3P*, so it is likely his appearance in *P3P* is simply a non-canon Easter egg which is not meant to be taken seriously.

* On the side of his shirt, the number 2009 is on there, an Easter egg regarding his appearance in *Persona 3 Portable*.

* Vincent has a cameo in *Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth*. A figurine of a boxer-clad Vincent and figurines of the sheep that represent other cursed men in his nightmares appear as targets in the school festival's shooting gallery.

* When Boss talks to Vincent he mentions Vincent’s father, implying that his father might also have been victim of the seduction of a succubus, which could explain the departure of his mother.

* Because one of Vincent’s potential love interests is Rin, a male crossdresser, he can be seen as a bisexual character. He repeatedly mentions not caring that Rin is a boy in his route.[4]