Rachel Amber
| Rachel Amber | |
|---|---|
| Life Is Strange character | |
| First appearance | Life Is Strange - Episode 1: Chrysalis (2015) |
| Last appearance | Life is Strange Remastered Collection (2022) |
| Created by | Dontnod Entertainment |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Home | Arcadia Bay, Oregon |
Search Rachel Amber on Amazon.
Rachel Amber is a fictional character in the Life is Strange video game series. Her character was created by the video game developer company Dontnod Entertainment and significantly expanded upon by Deck Nine.[1]
Rachel is initially introduced in the debut game of the series, Life is Strange, as an affluent and popular student of Blackwell Academy High School who vanishes without explanation.[2][3][4] Her mysterious disappearance serves as the MacGuffin of the story.[5][6] The game introduces her as the best friend of character Chloe Price.[3][5] She plays a more direct role of Life is Strange: Before the Storm; in it, she is the deuteragonist and optional romantic interest of Price.[7][8][9]
Rachel's portrayal in Before The Storm was positively received by fans and critics.[10] However, her original storyline in Life is Strange (2015) — in which it is eventually revealed that she had been kidnapped and subsequently murdered — received a mixed reception; several critics negatively noted it as a LGBT variant of the "women in refrigerators" trope.[6][11]
Portrayal
Life is Strange (2015)
She makes a major, offscreen appearance in the initial game of the series, Life is Strange, in which her six-month long disappearance acts as a MacGuffin for the story. Rachel is stated to be a missing close friend of Chloe Price.[3][5] Eventually, her body is discovered at the Arcadia Bay junkyard by Chloe Price and Max Caulfield.[12] It is revealed that she had been kidnapped and murdered by either teacher Mark Jefferson and/or student Nathan Prescott in a drug overdose.[12][13] It is left ambiguous on who killed Rachel and whether her death was intentional.[14] Jefferson states that Rachel was accidentally killed by Prescott in an attempt to render her unconscious. However, it is established that Jefferson is an unreliable narrator, and other parts of the story seem to conversely suggest that Jefferson murdered her.[14]
Life is Strange: Before The Storm (2017)
She is the deuteragonist of Life is Strange: Before the Storm. In the game, she is an optional romantic partner of Price.[6][7][8][10]
Life is Strange: True Colors (2021)
She is mentioned in the game's bonus chapter by the main character Steph Gingrich.
Life is Strange Remastered Collection (2022)
She reappeared in the remastered version of Life is Strange.
Reception
LGBT representation
Amber's portrayal in Before The Storm has been positively cited by several LGBT publications, including Gayming Magazine, as a positive example of LGBT relationships in gaming.[7][9][10] However, her storyline in the initial Life Is Strange (2015) game — in which it is eventually revealed that she had been kidnapped and murdered — has received a mixed to negative reception; several critics, including Jessica Castello, unfavorably cited it as a LGBT variant of the "women in refrigerators" trope.[6][11] In the journal Gaming Studies, reviewers Holger Pötzsch and Agata Waszkiewicz panned the narrative.[11]
Notes and references
Notes
References
- ↑ Conditt, Jessica (November 23, 2017). "How 'Life is Strange' landed in Deck Nine's hands". Engadget. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ↑ McDonald, Tim (March 7, 2018). "Life is Strange: Before the Storm and Farewell – Full Season Review". PC Invasion. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dontnod Entertainment (24 March 2015). Life Is Strange. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360. Square Enix. Level/area: Out of Time. Search this book on
- ↑ Browne, Emily (December 11, 2017). "Talking to the voice of Rachel from Life is Strange: Before the Storm". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Farokhmanesh, Megan (April 5, 2018). "Life is Strange: Before the Storm dev still isn't sure the game's ending was 'the right move'". The Verge. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
When popular girl Rachel Amber goes missing, her absence sets the story — about a teenage girl named Max who can rewind time and her best friend Chloe, who is in love with Rachel — in motion.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Castello, Jay (March 8, 2018). "Life Is Strange: Before The Storm can't escape the first game's use of harmful tropes". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
Instead, we were given a scene of Chloe sobbing over the body of the woman she loved; the first time that Life Is Strange leaned on the trope, known as Bury Your Gays, in which gay and lesbian characters are denied a happy ending. The problem with this trope hinges on two facts: there are relatively few LGBTQ+ characters in media, and those that do exist are disproportionately likely to end up dead. Taken together, they gives the impression that LGBTQ+ people (especially queer women) and their relationships are doomed to end in tragedy.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Olszar, Aleksandra (December 7, 2021). "Life is Strange's Depiction of Queerness". Gamereactor. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Riendeau, Danielle (September 7, 2017). "With 'Before the Storm,' Life Is Strange Finally Leans into the Gay". Vice. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hart, Aimee (February 3, 2020). "Gayme of the Week: Life is Strange Before the Storm". Gayming Magazine. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Liang, Nathan (February 1, 2018). "Love Done Right". The Tech. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Pötzsch, Holger; Waszkiewicz, Agata (December 1, 2019). "Life Is Bleak (in Particular for Women Who Exert Power and Try to Change the World): The Poetics and Politics of Life Is Strange". Game Studies. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Dontnod Entertainment (24 March 2015). Life Is Strange. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360. Square Enix. Level/area: Dark Room. Search this book on
- ↑ Dontnod Entertainment (24 March 2015). Life Is Strange. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360. Square Enix. Level/area: Polarized. Search this book on
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Jessey, Ben (February 4, 2022). "Life Is Strange: How Did Rachel Die?". The Gamer. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
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