Andy Adler

**Andy Adler** is a character in The Smoke Room. Hattie is his mother and William Adler is his estranged father. Andy is eager to be seen as an adult and longs to join the army.

## Appearance

Andy is a teenage coywolf with white, gray, and brown fur like that of his parents. He has gray eyes and bushy brown eyebrows, as well as messy whiskers resembling adolescent stubble, which according to Will he could stand to groom more often.

Andy wears a white collared shirt with a navy vest left unbuttoned, as well as slightly lighter blue slacks. He also has a blue cap matching his vest and a pendant that appears to be a smooth gray rock wrapped in wire and attached to twine.

## Personality

Andy's personality is largely defined by his age and his upbringing as the "man" of his family. He is extremely confident and has grand visions of serving his country. Andy is eager to prove himself and determined to look after his mother, possibly in part due to a desire to prove himself "better" than his absent father. Due to his youth he has a tendency to let his overconfidence and temper cloud his judgment, with a particular resentment being directed toward Will. He has an interest in military operations and weaponry, including firearms.

## Story

### Before The Smoke Room

Andy was born sixteen years before the events of The Smoke Room to William and Hattie Adler in the Windy City. William's police work threatened the crime families of the city and so the Adlers were stalked and threatened on numerous occasions, especially after Will took down the son of a prominent mafioso. Roughly seven years before the events of The Smoke Room, William left the family and took a position as Echo's sheriff several states away; this was ostensibly in order to keep Hattie and Andy safe, but unbeknownst to them Will was secretly miserable in the marriage as a closeted gay man and desperate to escape. Andy then entered a witness protection program of sorts alongside his now-single mother.

While growing up Andy may have initially resented Will for abandoning the family and leaving Hattie to raise him on her own, but this seems to have cooled to a distant dislike over the years to the point that Andy longer considers Will his father and wants nothing to do with him. As Andy got older, he began to take on work to support his family. Eventually, he became drawn toward serving in the army, although his mother objected out of a fear for his safety. Andy later accompanied his mother when she moved to Echo after receiving a series of threats from a stalker, though he greatly resented being abruptly relocated to the middle of the desert away from his friends and the familiarity of the big city in which he grew up. Hattie was soon hired to work as a cook in the home of James and Cordelia Hendricks, with Andy occasionally accompanying her to work and becoming friendly with the Hendricks' young son Noah.

### Will's Route

During a conversation shortly after her arrival in Echo, Hattie asks Will to look after their son if anything happens to her. Immediately afterward, Will runs into Andy outside The Hip, who is seemingly unaware of the depth of his mother's fear for their well-being. Andy blames his father for the sudden move to Echo and makes it clear that he no longer considers Will part of his family. He also confirms his desire to join the army and proclaims that a man is meant to know how to use a gun. Andy asks Will to protect Hattie if he enlists, but whether or not Will agrees Andy boldly resolves to do so himself. He discounts Will's advice to get out of Echo as soon as possible, then angrily storms back into the Hip after insulting Will and calling himself a warrior.

At some point, Andy tells Noah Hendricks to steal Will's gun and promises to tell him stories about the army in return. Noah attempts this clumsily upon first meeting Will, then confesses that Andy put him up to it.

Shortly afterward, Andy is with Noah firing a gun for fun just outside the Hendricks mansion and comes close to shooting Will and Nikolai as they depart the front gate. Will is furious but Andy laughs, nonchalant about the close call, and assures Will that he was merely firing at a can nearby. Will berates Andy for instructing Noah to take his gun and Andy tells Noah he shouldn't have 'blabbed' when questioned by Will, who he says 'isn't scary.'

Andy then insists that Will has no business coming around Hattie since he can protect her alone. James arrives and takes Andy's side, downplaying the incident, and then ushers both boys back into his mansion for dinner.

## Relationships

### William

William left Hattie when Andy was still young, so the two never became close. Although Andy may have had some regrets regarding his lack of a relationship with his father, by the time of The Smoke Room Andy wants nothing to do with Will and blames him for their sudden move to Echo. Andy is hostile towards the very idea of reconnecting with his father, who he only ever calls "Will," and is curt and disdainful when speaking to him.

### Hattie

Hattie raised Andy as a single mother in Will's absence. Andy loves his mother deeply and strives to protect her as the "man" of their house. Despite Will's attempts to get him to understand the gravity of the danger she may be in, Andy resolutely insists that he can defend his mother himself. Andy seems to particularly resent the idea of Will reconnecting with Hattie and attempts to threaten him into staying away from her on multiple occasions.

### Noah

Noah seems to be significantly younger than Andy, and so Andy may feel a need to show off in his presence by positioning himself as an older, more wordly authority figure. He seems to be somewhat of a bad influence, encouraging Noah to act out by enticing him with tales of the military.

### James

Andy calls James sir and seems to act much more respectfully towards him, especially in contrast to the way he interacts with Will. Will reflects that James allowing Andy to act unchecked will likely cause him to act out further due to a lack of consequences for his actions.

## Trivia

* Andy is the ancestor of Janice Adler from Echo. During Echo, Janice shares a story her grandfather told her about a supernatural encounter he once had, which seemingly comes up again during the events of Arches. If this account is indeed originally from Andy, then he is one of the few characters referenced in all three games.
* Due to Will not being pressured into marrying Hattie in the universe of the modern AU, Andy as a character does not exist in the universe of the Christmas and Summer specials.