Ethan Mars

(First Appearance: Heavy Rain)
-DISCLAIMER: I won't implicitly reveal the killers identity, but this entry will contain other plot spoilers-
How far would go to save someone you love?
That awful Hollywood movie poster tagline is cliche, but it is an interesting question. Many games feature a hero who risks life and limb to save a significant other, but Heavy Rain, by self-styled auteur David Cage attempts to have characters ask that question of themselves, then display their answers through acts that go psychologically beyond beating up an army of palette swapped thugs.

Ethan Mars is a young architect whose life has fallen on seriously hard times since the death of his son Jason, killed in a road accident whilst Ethans attention was occupied elsewhere. As a result, Ethan is now a broken man, separated from his wife and living depressed in a stark house where he fails to connect with his second son Shaun, who has become completely distant to him.

Man-up time comes when Shaun is kidnapped, an apparent victim of "The Origami Killer" a child murderer who preys in the area every Autumn, drowning his victims in rainwater and leaving a small Origami animal in their lifeless hands.
Shortly after Shauns disappearance, Ethan receives a shoe box containing a gun, a mobile phone and a series of written trials, which he must complete in order to attain the address where Shaun is being held prisoner: A drain in which the water level is rising daily due to the torrential storm hanging over the city.

Each trial pushes Ethan further and further to the limits of his body and mind, ranging from he performing intricate dares such as driving into headlong traffic and crawling through a tunnel of broken glass, to straight up headfuck horrors as cutting off one of his own fingers and murdering a total stranger in cold blood. Against the clock, Ethan must perform these tasks whilst simultaneously evading the law, who are hot on his trail for performing these acts of public mayhem.

Heavy Rain as a game allows the player to decide how and if Ethan proceeds with these tasks, but whether the player succeeds, fails or simply refuses each trial, Ethan remains a man of broken mind but steel heart. Ethan loves his son and will do whatever it takes to find him, putting himself in situations which cause him no end of physical pain and suffering, not to mention questioning his own sanity as becomes increasingly convinced that he may actually be the Origami killer himself and is setting himself these trials as a redemptive punishment for allowing his first son to die.

Killer or not, Ethan Mars is a great hero. A man rising from the depths of despair and self-pity to try and save his son from a horrible fate. Ethan will put himself through a living hell in order to ensure the safety of young Shaun. Whether he makes it through with his son, his sanity, or even his life is dependent on the player and the choices they make.

Simply put, Mars would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the life of another.
To be fair, that's probably all I really needed to write.