10 Video Game Characters You Didn't Realise Suffered Tragic Fates
3. Ethan Mars - Heavy Rain
If we optimistically take Heavy Rain's happiest ending to be canon, then it seems to be a fairly solid outcome for protagonist Ethan Mars all things considered - he saves his son Shaun from the Origami Killer and starts a new life with his lover Madison.
As touching as that seems, it does rather downplay some of the wider issues in Ethan's life, namely that the game makes it clear he's bitterly depressed, and also suffers from both anxiety and an identity disorder of some kind (mistakenly referred to as schizophrenia in the game).
While the presences of both Shaun and Madison would certainly cause uplift in Ethan's life, they're hardly an all-catch solution - depression in particular simply doesn't work that way.
As much as the game glosses over these issues, it's very difficult to picture them all evaporating away, nor is it easy to believe that social services wouldn't be intensely investigating Ethan's dubious status as a fit father.
This, combined with Madison's own issues as an insomniac and Shaun's undeniable trauma following his kidnapping, suggest the future is anything but bright for Ethan despite the game straining to suggest otherwise.