Gabriel Chen, better known as Gabe (born: December 2, 1993) is the late brother of protagonist Alex Chen in Life is Strange: True Colors. The mysteries surrounding his death are what sets off the investigation by Alex and her friends.
Personality[]
Gabe Chen is described as a witty, generally friendly, and approachable boy. He is seen by most people as a "big brother" figure and he is very creative in his way of approaching other people even if it takes a taxing amount of effort.
Appearance[]
Gabe had shoulder length black hair, an extended goatee, and brown eyes. Gabe wears a black shirt with a ram on it with a black-and-red checkered shirt and a brown jacket.
Background[]
Gabe Chen was born on December 2nd, 1993 to his mother, Wendy Chen, and his father, John Chen. Around 4 years later, his parents gave birth to his younger sister, Alex Chen. When Gabe was 15 his mother was diagnosed with cancer, and sometime afterwards passed away. When Gabe was 16, he found out his dad lost his job once again, and angrily confronted him outside the living room. Having had enough of his father's excuses he stormed back inside the apartment and told Alex about their dad losing his job and expressed to her how hard it will be for them to make money in order to buy food, which led to John becoming increasingly and visibly upset. The fight soon turned physical and eventually Gabe witnessed his dad unintentionally hit his own sister. John, now distraught by what he had done, decides to leave the house and mentions that someone else will come by later to take care of them. Gabe could only watch as his sister desperately pleaded with their father not to leave them, only for her attempts to be futile.
After his hardships, Gabe would only continue down a downwards spiral and eventually at 17, he was sent to juvie for stealing a car. After being released from juvie a few years later, he began an investigation into his father's whereabouts, leading him to the town of Haven Springs. After hitting a dead end on where his father was after reaching the town, Gabe decided to remain in Haven Springs, turning over a new leaf and gaining a new, positive attitude. Eventually, he met Charlotte Harmon and the two would go on to start a relationship with one another. During their relationship, Gabe liked the Weed Gummies; he often got only 3 hours of sleep a night and was super excited to keep taking them. He is a fan of rock and roll music, William Moore being one of them.
Gabe liked the arcade game machines in the Black Lantern, where it had two games: Turbo Mark and Arkanoid. In the latter game, he had the high score for 4 out of 5 top players.
Chapter 1: Side A[]
Gabe is first seen welcoming Alex after she arrives in Haven Springs. After Alex hugs him or gives him a handshake, Gabe reveals that he works at a bar called the Black Lantern and lives in an apartment above it. A blue aura then appears around Gabe (which is only visible to Alex) as Alex can then hear Gabe's thoughts expressing how much he missed her. After Alex comments on this, the siblings then head into town. They stop at a flower shop called Lethe Flowers where they meet one of its owners, Eleanor Lethe, who happily greets Alex. The two then head inside where they meet Riley Lethe, Eleanor's granddaughter. After a brief talk, Alex helps Gabe pick out some flowers for Charlotte Harmon, his girlfriend, as an apology gift. After picking a bouquet of flowers (sunflowers or lily-of-the-valley), Gabe talks to Riley about her boyfriend Mac Loudon. After buying the flowers, the two then leave the shop afterwards and head to a nearby building called The Silver Dragon, which is where Charlotte works. Gabe then goes into the Silver Dragon, leaving Alex outside. Gabe later finds Alex talking to Ryan Lucan in the Rocky Mountain Record Traders. After talking about Ryan and Gabe's friendship, Ryan tells Gabe that Mac wants to have a word with him. Alex and Gabe then leave, with Ryan promising to come see them later after he finishes carrying out Steph's job.
After some conversations with Ethan (with Alex having the option to tell Gabe about Ethan's plan to explore the mines) and Jed, they reach Gabe's apartment, where Gabe reveals that he plans to give it to Alex while he stays with Charlotte. After dancing to music, they are interrupted by Mac, who beats up Gabe when he incorrectly believes that he is trying to take Riley away from him. This causes Alex to repeatedly beat up Mac in a fit of rage, which prompts Gabe to try to stop Alex, who accidentally punches Gabe before finally coming to her senses. When Alex tries to apologize, Gabe says that it's okay while Mac storms off, calling Alex insane. While spending time on the roof, Alex can tell Gabe about her powers or her past. When Ryan informs them of Ethan's disappearance, they head for the mines to find him. If Alex told Gabe earlier, he will realize this. If she didn't, she will tell Gabe now, who won't be pleased that Alex did not tell him earlier. Arriving there, they split up to reach the silo behind the warehouse, which Alex learns where Ethan is heading. Gabe also remembers the planned blast for tonight and tries to warn those who are operating it. They find Ethan on a small cliff on the other side of a ravine. Because he and Ryan are too heavy to walk across the fallen tree leading to the other side, they have Alex do it and tie a rope around him and Alex while using a tree stump as a fulcrum. After Ethan's rescue, the blast goes off and a falling rock strikes Gabe, knocking him over the cliff, with Ryan being forced to cut the rope as the avalanche crushes Gabe.
Chapter 5: Side B[]
Gabe appears in three flashbacks that take place sometime before the story. In the first flashback, he can be found sitting with Alex in a hospital. He later appears next to Alex while she is talking to Wendy, explaining that this is not how it happened and the flashback restarts. In the second flashback, Gabe argues with John before they go outside. Gabe interrupts Alex while she is listening to music, saying that the argument is not what she thinks. After the flashback repeats itself, Alex tries to calm him and John down, but is unsuccessful as John abandons them. In the third flashback, Gabe leads Alex to a trunk that's bathed under moonlight. After Alex experiences more of her past, Gabe encourages her to stand up and fight no matter how painful life can be.
Gabe appears at the end of the chapter where he tells Alex what will happen if she chooses to stay in Haven Springs. After these future visions and Alex's final choice to either stay or leave, Gabe disappears.
Wavelengths[]
Steph calls Gabe while starting her job where she expresses how stressful it is until Gabe reveals that she is airing her complains, embarrassing her. Gabe can be heard in one of Steph's memory conversations, who expresses how worried he is about her troubles. At the start of New Year, Gabe mentions Alex to Steph (but does not reveal her identity), asking her to predict her future. Gabe also arranges a scavenger hunt for Steph along with Ryan and Charlotte.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- John Chen – (Father)
- Wendy Chen – (Mother)
- Alex Chen – (Sister)
Friends[]
- Ethan Lambert – Gabe dated Ethan's mother, Charlotte, for three years prior to his untimely death. During that time Gabe took on a fatherly role in Ethan's life.
- Riley Lethe – Gabe was a close friend and confidante to Riley, helping her write her college admission essay. She would also tell him about the complications between her and Mac.
- Ryan Lucan – (Best Friend)
- Steph Gingrich – Steph saw Gabe as an older brother. Someone she could joke around with, but also go to for help or advice. Gabe booked her band Drugstore Makeup to play at The Black Lantern, then helped her get her job at the record store.
Romantic[]
- Charlotte Harmon – (Girlfriend) – Gabe and Charlotte had been dating for three years prior to Gabe's untimely death. By the time Alex arrived to town, Gabe had been spending most of his nights at Charlotte's home. They met while Gabe worked at the Black Lantern, Charlotte having slipped him a note, calling him "hot". One year during the Spring Festival, Charlotte gave Gabe the traditional rose that one would give to their "crush". Gabe loved the rose to the point where he had it pressed, framed and hung in his apartment. As their relationship continued, Gabe was frequently buying Charlotte "apology" bouquets, claiming that "she's worth it."
Enemies[]
- Mac Loudon – Mac has seen Gabe as a threat to his and Riley's relationship since he started helping her with entrance to college. Mac incorrectly believes Riley is cheating on him with Gabe, leading to intense bitterness between the two.
Memorable Quotes[]
- "Nobody told you? After you move to Colorado, you automatically get an awesome beard, a pretentious knowledge of craft beer, and a Subaru."
- — Said to Alex in Chapter One.
- "Play your part."
- — Throughout the final chapter, "Side B".
Trivia[]
- Gabe was in a juvenile detention center when he was younger.
- He is four years older than Alex.
- Gabe shares similarities with character Sitka from Disney's Brother Bear:
- Both characters share facial similarities (skin, dark long hair, tall figure).
- Both are big brothers of the main characters in their stories (Gabe for Alex and Ryan, even though he and Ryan aren't blood related; Sitka for Kenai and Denahi).
- Gabe and Sitka belongs to most respected persons of their communities (Gabe by inhabitants of Haven Springs, Sitka in Inuk tribe).
- Gabe and Sitka fall from the cliff to the water was caused by the actions of the villains (Gabe was shredded by rocks, which were triggered by remote explosions of Typhon Mining. Sitka sacrificed himself when he used his spear to pierce the glacier under his legs to take out himself with the mother bear, although the bear isn't really a villain and was only protecting her son). Regardless, Ryan, Alex, Ethan, Kenai, Denahi, and the mother bear all survived as a result of their actions.
- Both of them have ritual funeral at night with connection to fire (People released a sky lantern with a candle into the sky to honor Gabe while the corpse of Sitka was burned under a "wood coffin").
- The death of both characters has influence on the events of story (In case of Gabe - Alex, Ryan, and Steph try to discover truth of Typhon Mining about his death. In case of Sitka - Kenai turns into bear after he killed the mother bear and Denahi goes wild against Kenai in his bear form).
- After their deaths, they shows up to their siblings as ghosts and leave afterwards (in case of Gabe - more like a living hallucination).
- There are a few differences too:
- Gabe and Sitka's deaths motivated their siblings to take action against the ones who were responsible for their murders. Kenai killed the bear to avenge Sitka and was punished for his actions by Sitka's spirit, while Denahi tried to stop him as he knew that his brother's actions would get him in trouble and soon began hunting Kenai after he turned into a bear after believing that he was murdered. Alex and Ryan on the other hand only sought to find out who killed Gabe and expose their crimes, but they did not try to avenge him.
- Sitka willingly sacrificed himself to save his brothers while Gabe's death was an unintentional sacrifice.
- The ones who took part in their murders had different motives. The mother bear was only trying to keep her son safe, which led to Sitka sacrificing himself, while Typhon's involvement for unintentionally killing Gabe was done regardless of innocent people nearby.
Spirit Animal[]
Gabe seems associated with the mountain goat as one is always seen on his shirt. Mountain goats are often symbolized as aspiration, faith, tranquility, creative energy, desire, and confidence that they won't fall off a mountain and become a better person. Gabe lives near the mountains and is always helping people of Haven see the better of themselves. He also has a desire to reconnect with his estranged family, like his father and sister, and enjoys being creative around Ethan.
Gallery[]
Other[]
References[]
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True Colors Characters
| |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major Characters | |||||||
| Alex Chen · Gabe Chen · Steph Gingrich · Ryan Lucan | |||||||
| Chen Family | |||||||
| John Chen · Wendy Chen | |||||||
| Harmon-Lambert Family | |||||||
| Charlotte Harmon · Ethan Lambert | |||||||
| Lethe Family | |||||||
| Eleanor Lethe · Riley Lethe | |||||||
| Citizens of Haven Springs | |||||||
| Ann Lucan · Diane Jacobs · Duckie · Mac Loudon · Jed Lucan · Jason Pike · Hector Gonzales · Jesse Whitaker · Josh Hopkins · Julia Crowe · Sonny and Angela Anderson | |||||||
| Others | |||||||
| Dr. Lynn · Izzie · Valkyrie | |||||||