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Michael

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Michael (5 May[3]), also known as Mike,[4] is a character in Oxenfree who haunts the narrative. He is also Alex's, the main protagonist, deceased brother as well as Clarissa's ex-boyfriend.

Biography

Little is known about Michael's early years, before the birth of his sister Alex, because they are close in age. They lived in Camena with their parents, who were married.

Michael entered into a romantic relationship with Clarissa, whom his sister didn't particularly like, as she says Clarissa never liked her; however, Clarissa tried to make them get along.[5]

He was well-liked in town, even getting a police officer to buy him a beer.[6] This somewhat irritated Michael; he had grown bored of the reputation and responsibility in Camena, as he felt pressured by everyone to be successful.[7] This led him to think about moving somewhere else.

Before Michael graduated, he asked for Alex's blessing to live on his own with his girlfriend Clarissa, as her approval was extremely important to him.[8]

One year prior to the events of Oxenfree, Michael took a trip to Edwards Island with Alex and Clarissa so they could all spend the day out together. Michael claimed he intended to teach Alex how to swim at the pool the following week,[9] so they both went swimming at Horn Lake. This ultimately led to Michael drowning as Alex watched from the wayside, unable to help due to her poor or total lack of swimming skills, which made Clarissa blame her for his death.[10]

Before Michael's death, Alex's parents were prone to fighting.[11] Eventually, following Michael's death, their marriage fell apart and ended with their divorce.[12]

Appearance

Michael looks similar to Alex, with brown skin, reddish-brown eyes, and auburn hair. He wears a blue raglan shirt with grey jeans and white sneakers.

Personality

Alex's older brother. Basically the perfect sibling, he's supportive, affable, funny, willing to protect his little sister but not over protect. She considers him her guide post for what's to come, a job he enjoys. Think Miles Teller from "The Spectacular Now" or Sam Rockwell from "The Way Way Back."[13]

Michael is seen as a model student, a football player, well-loved and the one to give the speech at graduation.[14] He is a caring brother, as shown by the way he treats Alex, and even requires her blessing to leave for college and live on his own with Clarissa.

Relationships

Alex

Alex is Michael's younger sister, with whom he always had a close "best friend" bond. Regardless of player choices, he will listen to her opinion in all situations. He is essentially the perfect sibling, and supports and respects Alex and her opinion at all times, and often gives Alex advice for the future. On one particular occasion, he refers to his advice as a "just-in-case package."

Clarissa

Clarissa and Michael dated before the events of Oxenfree, and the two are shown to have a healthy relationship, with both caring deeply about Alex's wellbeing. During certain memory sequences in the game, Alex can convince Michael to stay in town and thus "resurrect" him later in the timeline. Additionally, she can convince Michael to stop dating Clarissa before he dies, causing them to be distant at the end of the game. 

Endings

Main article: Ending

In some endings, it is possible to save Michael from drowning by convincing him not to leave town and instead go to college in Camena.

These endings cause Michael to replace Jonas in all the events that involve him, including the pictures taken with him.

Save Michael and preserve his relationship with Clarissa

Michael is alive and his relationship with Clarissa is preserved. To do so, you must talk well of Clarissa while in the beach sequence with Michael a year prior.

Save Michael and end his relationship with Clarissa

Michael is alive, but he and Clarissa are no longer in a relationship. To achieve this ending, Alex will have to discourage Michael from doing anything with Clarissa and/or speak badly of her on the beach.

Save Michael and sacrifice Clarissa

Michael is alive, but his relationship is nonexistent.

Trivia

  • According to his birthdate, he is a Taurus.
  • In the ending where Clarissa is sacrified, Michael tells Alex his last ex-girlfriend was Kristin.[confirmation needed]

References

  1. ↑ Alex controlling Olivia: Yeah. Alex. Named after my Great Grandmother, Alexandra.
  2. ↑ ALEX: I mean, knowing Uncle Peter, he was probably three sheets to the wind.
  3. ↑ Night School Studio post on Twitter.
  4. ↑ ALEX: Nona, I--I just saw… I think I just saw my brother, Mike.
  5. ↑ CLARISSA: Um, I’m glad we could all do stuff today. I’m glad you were cool with it, I mean. I know you guys are really close and like… I know it can be annoying when somebody starts keeping all their time for their girlfriend or whatever. So, I think it would be cool if we could, like, continue to do things together.
  6. ↑ JONAS: I mean, just from what I’ve heard of him, like that one story about the cops just straight buyin’ him a beer?
  7. ↑ MICHAEL: I dunno if I even wanna be here next year. It’s just all so… flat. Same people, the same expressions.
    ALEX: But everybody loved--everybody loves you here. You’re like--I mean, you should hear how the teachers talk about you.
    MICHAEL: I know how they talk. It’s like, if I don’t become a billionaire president, their life has been wasted. [...] I know you think I have it on Easy Street, but people looking at you all the time, wanting evidence that it’s good that they lived here, that good things can happen to people that are from here…
  8. ↑ MICHAEL: It’s important to me that you like Clarissa, Alex, so.
  9. ↑ MICHAEL: Relax, Alex, I’m gonna teach you how to swim at the pool in the park, don’t worry about it.
  10. ↑ CLARISSA: Michael was gonna leave town! He was free, he was outta here, until this one convinced him to take her swimming for one last… God knows what! And he drowned! He drowned in Horn Lake while this one could barely flap her arms!
  11. ↑ MICHAEL: Hey--hey, look. First of all, mom and dad are… mom and dad. They fight a lot, but they’re whatever. Everything always blows over. It’s gonna be fine. You’re too young--we’re too young to worry about martial discord.
  12. ↑ CLARISSA: Aaand the fact is your mom divorced your dad, so… [...] let’s hear why your parents got a divorce.
    ALEX: You know why. Michael... died and it broke everything and they couldn’t handle it, the end.
  13. ↑ Backstage Oxenfree Casting.
  14. ↑ MICHAEL: I’ve been, like… struggling with this stupid speech, the graduation thing.