Ethan Mars
Debut	"Prologue"
Gender	Male
Age	38
Birthdate	September 5, 1973
Status	Determined by player
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Occupation	Architect
Model	Pascal Langdale
Voice	Pascal Langdale (English)

“

You are the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life. I want you to know that whatever happens, I love you more than anything in the world. —Ethan to his son, Shaun

”

Ethan Mars is the main protagonist of Heavy Rain, and one of the four lead playable characters in it (the other three being Scott Shelby, Norman Jayden and Madison Paige). Up until 2009, Ethan lived an idyllic and happy life as a successfull architecht alongside his loving wife Grace Mars and his two sons, Jason and Shaun Mars. However, Ethan's life took the first of two tragic turns when his son Jason was killed. Heavy Rain focuses on Ethan during the kidnapping of his second son, Shaun Mars.

Ethan Mars is voiced by and modelled after Pascal Langdale.

Contents 1 Character Information 2 Biography 2.1 Start of Game 2.2 Throughout the Game 2.3 Ending 3 Points Where the Character can Die 4 Trials 5 Romance 6 Trivia 7 Chapter appearances 8 Murders committed 9 Gallery 10 Quotations

Character InformationEdit

The main narrative of Heavy Rain picks up two years after Jason's death in The Mall. Ethan was in a coma for six months post the accident, and he is shown to be fully immersed in self-guilt and remorse over Jason's death. In fact, if Jason was Ethan's only son, it is possible that Ethan would've committed suicide (this is evident over how Ethan commits suicide if Shaun also dies). Also, the events of the mall have given Ethan agoraphobia (intensive fear of crowds) and blackouts where he loses consciousness.

It is Shaun Mars's disappearence that causes Ethan's life to take a darker turn, and causes him to be sent into more worry. Fortunately, the kidnapper of Shaun -- the Origami Killer -- has not killed Shaun and is holding him captive. He is given a phone that has a hangman showing a bunch of underline symbols. These underlines are actually unknown letters; by completing Trials sent from the killer, Ethan will get an amount of letters. This is what shapes the game's central question, "How far are you prepared to go to save your son?" These trials become increasingly difficult and grievesome, and Ethan logically reasons againsts all five of them in his thoughts.

BiographyEdit

Start of GameEdit

A normal day of Ethan's life is shown in Prologue. Then, in The Mall, he and his family go shopping at a very crowded mall. When Grace and Shaun go into a clothes store, Jason runs off to a clown -- when Ethan finds him, The Clown sells him a baloon; but before Ethan can pay the 2$ for it, Jason runs off. Wasting a considerable amount of time paying the clown, Ethan runs off incredibly worried about Jason. He and Jason eventually meet on opposite sides of the street; however, Jason runs off to Ethan without noticing the car passing the street. Ethan rushes towards Jason and tries to push him out of the way; however, Ethan fails, and Jason dies whilst Ethan is put into a 6-month coma.

Throughout the GameEdit

After Jason's death, Ethan's life turns into one of sadness. His wife at some point divorces him and his last son becomes cold and distant towards him. In the chapter Father and Son, examples of this distance can be seen.

But one day, while at The Park, Shaun Mars goes missing and Ethan turns depressed when he can't find him. Soon enough, he is sent a letter with a locker ticket inside it; in the locker, Ethan finds a box containing five origami figures, a cell phone, a memory card and a gun. Ethan determines that each origami figure is a trial of pain and courage; and that each trial will unlock some of the letters on a hangman in the phone. The letters combined will spell out Shaun's location. He hides the box in a motel where he temporarily decides to stay. Ethan assumes that he is the killer due to how he found an origami figure in his hand around the time Shaun went missing and due to how he sees the "drowning bodies". In Norman's chapter Welcome, Norman, Ethan has gone to the police station to report his son Shaun as a missing person. He is interrogated by Carter Blake and Ash about the events that led up to Shaun's disappearance. He will also meet Norman Jayden in the interrogation, depending on whether he took the Triptocaine or decided to go to the restroom; if so, he will also ask Ethan questions and Ethan has the option of lying or answering truthfully. Blake tells Ethan they will continue looking through the night. As he turns to walk away, Ethan quickly asks him if he thinks the Origami Killer could be responsible for his son's disappearance; Blake dismissively tells him Shaun has probably just run off, but when Ethan is insistent, Blake says they would only have four days to find Shaun alive. In Lexington Station, Ethan will find a box with five origami figures, with five trials he must complete to save Shaun.

The first trial is The Bear, a trial in which Ethan must drive against traffic for five miniutes and reach five miles. Ethan cannot reject this trial, but he can fail it. After he fails or succeed, Ethan will meet and develop a friendship with Madison Paige.

Soon enough, Ethan will do the second trial; The Butterfly. He can accept or decline the trial. Here, he must first crawl through a claustrophobic pipe filled with broken glass. Then he finds a room that is a maze of electrical condensers (it also has a door labelled coward which fails the challenge). With much tactic, courage and skill, he can get through the maze getting hurt some or alot. He will end the trial if he takes too much pain. Madison will then tend to his wounds as he opens up the next figure.

Meanwhile, due to the revelations that Ethan's psychologist made on him, Carter Blake determines that he is the Origami Killer in Shrink and Punches.

The third trial is the hardest in terms of pain, and it is is The Lizard - a trial in which Ethan must cut off the last section of one his fingers. He can accept or decline. Ethans's pinky, if cut off, will always appear cut-off for the rest of the game. Afterwards, in the chapter Fugitive, Madison finds Ethan and helps him escapes from Carter Blake and Norman Jayden. Ethan can be arrested if Madison is not quick enough. If he is arrested, Norman Jayden will have to break him out in Under Arrest. Additionally, Ethan admits that he might, through schiznophernia that he may be the Origami Killer.

The fourth trial is The Shark, where Ethan must kill another man -- Brad Silver. Before breaking in or killing, Ethan will be given the option to decline the trial. If Ethan survives the QTE where Brad tries to fight back, Brad will beg for mercy and admit that he has two daughters which he would like to see again. Ethan's decision is to kill or not. If Ethan kills, then he will vomit and show visible signs of remorsefullness.

In On the Loose, Ethan is siting alone crying alongside Madison Paige distressed over how he did or did not murder Brad (he will sit alone and have to work his way to his feet if Madison died in The Doc). If Madison is alive, she will attempt to kiss him and if successful, will make love with him. Ethan can refuse to kiss; this will cause Madison to leave. If Ethan makes love, he will discover that she has been taking photos and writing stories about Ethan as a possible killer behind his back. He is furious at her, and can either forgive or reject her. If he rejects her, she will choicelessly walk out. If he forgives her, he will show his sympathy, but he will demand that Madison leave so that he can complete the final trial alone. After Madison leaves (or shortly after Ethan gets up if he is alone), the police will arrive and try to arrest Ethan. If he is arrested for the second time, or if Norman Jayden is dead and this is the first time he is arrested, he will be imprisoned for the rest of the game. If he is arrested for the first time and Norman is still alive, Norman will break him out.

If not under arrest, Ethan will be able to go to the final trial -- The Rat. There is a cup of poison that will kill Ethan in a hour if he drinks it. He can either drink the poison and expect to die in an hour and get the last hour, or leave the room hoping there is another way to win. Ethan has many thoughts about this trial, going for ("I came to far") and against ("Maybe he could be lying -- I'll die right away") it. If Ethan completed under 3 trials, then he won't have enough letters and will feel contempt for himself. If he completed all five, he will be able to go immeadietly. If he completed 3-4, then he will have to pick which is the correct location (several of his thoughts will give him clues). If he chooses the wrong location, he will fail and blames himself for failing to find Shaun. If he fails, Madison Paige will have an opportunity to tell him the correct address.

Ethan will then appear at The Old Warehouse if he is not arrested and if he got the right address.

• Goes alone - He will save Shaun, kill or spare Scott Shelby, but will be shot by the police right as he exits.

• Goes with Madison - He will save Shaun, get shot by Scott and Madison will fight Scott. If Madison survives long enough, he will shoot Scott to death. If Madison is killed, Ethan walks out with Shaun safety.

• Goes with Norman - He will save Shaun, and while saving him, Scott will try to shoot him. Norman saves Ethan and fights Scott. Either way, Ethan and Shaun live.

• Goes with Madison and Norman - Ethan saves Shaun whilst Norman fights Scott. After the fight, Madison will have to attempt to get into the warehouse to warn Ethan about the police force; if she fails, then Ethan will be shot to death; if she succeeds, Ethan will be saved.

EndingEdit

Ethan has the most possible endings, with 7, of any character. These are, from worst to best, all his endings. The first three endings are all the result of Ethan killing himself over Shaun's death.

• Helpless - Ethan is imprisoned, and is completely saddened over Shaun's death. Completely full of helplessness and self-guilt, Ethan hangs himself.

• Origami Blues - Ethan sits alone in his motel room, with neither Madison or Shaun at his side. Depressed, he shoots himself over Shaun's death.

• Tears in the Rain - Ethan and Madison stands at Shaun's graveyard. Madison states that he wants Ethan to forget this all happened and give him another child, but Ethan, in complete sadness over Shaun and Jason's death, kills himself, much to Madison's shock.

• Ethan's Grave - Shaun and Grace are at Ethan's grave in distraught. If Madison is alive, she will also appear. If Scott is alive, he will appear there as well.

• Innocent - Ethan is released from prison now that Shaun is alive and found.

• A New Start - Ethan and Shaun walk into their new apartment.

• A New Life - Ethan, Shaun and Madison walk into their new apartment.

Points Where the Character can DieEdit

• The Old Warehouse (By getting shot by the police when mistaken for pulling out a gun)
• Epilogue - Helpless (By hanging himself in prison for not managing to save Shaun)
• Epilogue - Origami Blues (By shooting himself in his motel for not managing to save Shaun)
• Epilogue - Tears in the Rain (By shooting himself because he blamed himself for the death of both his sons)

It should be noted that Ethan will always commit suicide if Shaun dies.

TrialsEdit

Main Article: Trials

During the game, Ethan must partake in five trials to obtain groups of letters of an address that will ultimately lead him to his son's location.

• The Bear - Drive against traffic on the highway for five miles within five minutes.
• The Butterfly - Crawl through a tunnel filled with broken glass, then go through a maze of electrical condensors.
• The Lizard - Cut the last section of one of his fingers off in five minutes.
• The Shark - Kill a man (who in Ethan's case, is Brad Silver).
• The Rat - Drink a bottle of poison that will kill him in 60 minutes/one hour (the poison doesn't really kill him and is more a test of will from the Origami Killer to see if he is capable of making the sacrafice of himself to save Shaun).

RomanceEdit

Ethan can develop an intimate relationship with Madison Paige, and the player later has the option of consummating their relationship. If (a forgiven) Madison and Ethan survive and Shaun is saved, Ethan will be married to Madison in the "A New Life" ending and purchase a home, the three of them living happily ever after.

TriviaEdit

• Two years before Heavy Rain's release, Ethan's house was depicted as being much smaller.
• The apartment that Ethan is moving into at the end of the game is the same New York City apartment that was lived in by the hero of David Cage's previous game, Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy). Ethan even makes a comment about "a friend" helping him get it. That friend is assumed to be Fahrenheit's main character, Lucas Kane.
• "Father And Son"'s loading screen is different from any others that Ethan appears in.
• Unlike Madison Paige, Scott Shelby and Norman Jayden, Ethan barely fights. The only confrontation he has is with Brad Silver during The Shark.
• Out of the four main characters, Ethan has the least amount of deaths in the game, although he has the highest number of Epilogues (Helpless, Origami Blues and Tears in the Rain) in which he dies. The only chapter where Ethan can die is The Old Warehouse.
• The Old Warehouse is the only death that does not involve Ethan committing suicide; instead he gets killed by the police if he goes alone or if Madison fails to warn him when all three characters go. On a related note, there is an ambiguity error with how the police do not arrive if it is just Ethan+Madison, Ethan+Norman or Madison+Norman.
• He is one of only two main characters (the other being Scott) who cannot die before The Old Warehouse. However, unlike Scott, he can end up skipping one chapter -- The Rat (if he is imprisoned). This leaves Scott Shelby as the only main character who cannot skip a chapter. (not counting Goodbye Lauren)
• Ethan crosses paths with Norman Jayden four times, Madison Paige numerous times, and Scott Shelby twice. Once in the mall (which is revealed in The Old Warehouse) and in The Old Warehouse, although the only time Ethan confronts Scott in person was in The Old Warehouse.
• The only chapter where Ethan appears as a non-playable character is Under Arrest.
• During the early stages of Heavy Rain, Ethan's blackouts were orignially going to involve dreams, including him swiming underwater, trying to save Shaun and seeing John Shepperd. These dreams were removed due to the lack of story progression.
• The only scenes from Chapter 1 where Ethan does not appear are Sleazy Place, Crime Scene and Hassan's Shop.
• Ethan is the only main character to be playable in another character's chapter. He is playable during Norman's chapter, Welcome, Norman and Madison's chapter, First Encounter, The Nurse and Fugitive.
  • Scott is the only main character to not have Ethan either as playable or cameo.
• Ethan was voted #11 on Game Informer's "30 Characters Who Defined A Decade."
• Most of Ethan's death involve him getting shot, however, the only one where Ethan dies without being shot is Helpless, where he hangs himself with a rope.
• Even Ethan suspects himself of being a schizophrenic, the symptoms he describes are actually more typical of Dissasociative Identity Disorder -- often wrongly associated with schiznophernia.
• He appears in 21 chapters, more than the other 3 characters. The only one of which he cannot be played as is Under Arrest. He is also partly playable in The Old Warehouse if he gets to the warehouse.
• 7 of the epilogues are based around him. He also appears in 1 of Madison's epilogue. This gives him the largest amount of endings, even though three of them all revolve around him commiting suicide.
• Unlike Norman and Madison, Ethan is the only playable character that can't be killed by Scott Shelby. Also, Ethan is the only main character who commits suicide in the game.
• Ethan shares his first name with a character from another game who loses a finger throughtout the course of his game, Ethan Thomas from Condemned: Criminal Origins.
• Ethan and Madison are the only playable characters that can take a shower in the game.
• Ethan only murders two people, both of which he may not murder; this makes him and Madison with the least murders of all four characters.

Chapter appearancesEdit

• Prologue
• The Mall
• Father and Son
• The Shrink
• The Park
• Where's Shaun?
• Welcome, Norman
• Paparazzi
• Lexington Station
• The Motel
• The Bear
• First Encounter
• The Butterfly
• The Nurse
• The Lizard
• Fugitive
• Under Arrest (non-playable)
• The Shark
• On the Loose
• The Rat
• The Old Warehouse (Can be killed)
• Epilogue - Ethan's Grave (Dead)
• Epilogue - A New Start
• Epilogue - A New Life
• Epilogue - Innocent
• Epilogue - Helpless (Killed)
• Epilogue - Origami Blues (Killed)
• Epilogue - Tears in the Rain (Killed)
• Epilogue - Dead Heroine (If Ethan survives in The Old Warehouse)

Murders committedEdit

• Brad Silver (if Ethan decides to kill him in The Shark for the sake of saving Shaun Mars)
• Scott Shelby (if Ethan either: goes to the warehouse alone and chooses to shoot him or: goes to the warehouse with Madison and shoots Scott if Madison survives long enough).

GalleryEdit

QuotationsEdit

• "Everything I did, I did for love."
• "I'm a father too... But I'm no killer."
• "JAAAASOOONN!!!!"
• "SHAAAUUN!!!"
• "I'm a father too... But I have no choice."
• "Where are you Shaun?"
• "I gotta get out of here, I gotta save my son."
• "I don't know what to say."
• "I thought I meant something to you."
• "You're a pretty good nurse for a fuckin' journalist!"
• "You lied to me, Madison! All this time you fucking lied to me! I thought you wanted to help me, but you only thinking of writing a fucking book?
• "To the last Origami figure, the last letters then I know where Shaun is."
• "I'll find you Shaun, I'll figure out a way, and I'll come and get you."
• "No one's gonna stop me from saving my son."
• "All those murders, just to find a father capable of saving his son?"
• "You got what you wanted. I finished your trials, now let us go."
• "Shaun! Shaun, can you hear me? Daddy's here. I'm gonna get you out of there."
• "I finished your damn trails, now give me back my son."