Bray

Bray was an original member of the Mall Rats and periodically their leader. He was in a relationship with Amber who would give birth to his son Baby Bray, later renamed Baby Jay.

Initially a loner carrying heavy secrets on his shoulders, Bray reluctantly grew to become leader of the Mall Rats. Before the virus, he was the brother of Martin, who would become Locos' leader Zoot, and had a relationship with Ebony.

Personality

Bray, a loner hoping for peace in the new world created in the aftermath of the virus, holds heavy secrets on his shoulders. He first comes across the then unnamed Mallrats when he brings the heavily pregnant girl named Trudy to the Mall. At first the tribe think of him as a loner, someone who skulks about the city and isn't trustworthy to help them survive. When bad boy, Lex kills Martin aka Zoot in the mall, it comes out that Bray was his older brother, which the rest of the tribe finds hard to accept at first; eventually they come to know Bray as a strong, competent leader. He’s also something of a ladies man, having had a relationship of some scale or other with: Trudy, Amber, Salene, Ebony, Danni and Moon. However his heart truly belonged to Amber and after a rocky start the two managed to get their act together.

History

Pre-Tribe

Series 1

Bray took care of and lived with Trudy during her pregnancy with his brother Zoot's child. As the suburbs were no longer safe, the pair set out for the city looking for a new home and found the Phoenix Mall, inhabited by the then unnamed Mall Rats. Through a democratic vote, they were not allowed to stay, but Trudy went into labour and gave birth to a baby girl whom everyone assumed Bray to be the father of.

Coming and going as he pleased, Bray was secretive, mostly kept to himself and showed no real interest in the tribe as a whole. This provoked suspicion from the others and led to conflicts. Especially with Amber, who felt strongly about everyone fighting together for the tribe's survival, and Lex, who despised "lover boy" Bray from the get go and made it his mission to get rid of him.

Following secret meetings with his brother Zoot, Bray brought the Loco leader to the Mall to meet Trudy and his newborn daughter in the hopes that he would change his ways and take responsibility. This went awry when Zoot's presence was discovered and he fell to his death over the balcony trying to shield Bray from Lex's beating. They gave Zoot a warrior funeral in a burning boat set to sea, and Bray revealed his and Trudy's relation with Zoot to the others.

But, little by little, he becomes a sort of father figure for the youngest ones and agrees to be in charge of finding provisions. He briefly has a relationship with Salene, breaking Trudy's heart. Their romance however is quickly short lived. After Salene doesn’t try to save Trudy’s life, she hates what she has become and backs off completely from him, causing the two drift apart. But there has always been an instant attraction to someone else within the tribe, something that they both have been denying from each other – and that is with Amber.

Unfortunately for Bray, her connection with the wandering Sasha blindsides them all. Bray is forced to watch her blossom with the stranger. When Amber refuses to leave with him for the good of the tribe, Bray’s smile as he leaves says it all.

During this time, Lex has never stopped his scheming to get rid of Bray. Their rivalry comes to a head when Lex and KC plant water within Bray’s room in an attempt to get him kicked out of the tribe. This ultimately does not work and the rivalry is put on hold as Glen, who has contracted the virus, is brought in to the mall. Bray helps lead the charge on finding the virus and searching for the cure.

Despite their many false starts, Amber and Bray finally declare their feelings for one another and become a couple. Yet turbulence doesn’t come close to describing their relationship, as there always seems to be something getting in the way. When Ebony – who has always had a thing for him – kidnaps Bray in her attempts to get her hands on an antidote to the virus, a misunderstanding causes Amber to distance herself from him completely. The two reconcile on the peaks of Eagle Mountain, but this reunion is short lived as Amber seemingly perishes there during the explosion.

Series 2

Distraught and wracked with grief, Bray is completely heartbroken over the death of Amber. Though Trudy and the others attempt to reach out of him, it seems like a forgone conclusion that this is the end of Bray’s journey within the Mall Rats. Somehow, Bray finds the strength to carry on, knowing that this is what Amber would want, and rejoins the tribe in their efforts to find a cure to the virus. It is during their search that he discovers Danni, telling her of their plight and inviting her to join them.

With the antidote discovered by the others, Bray is a firm believer that they need to distribute it for free to the entire city, despite Ebony and Lex’s protests. Eventually, this is the stance that the Mall Rats take, and Bray makes it clear that they should not accept anything for it.  Bray is still the breakout leader of the tribe and this is why Tai San chooses to share the antidote formula with him when an attempt to uncover her secret almost causes her death. It is during this time that Trudy and Brady are kidnapped by the Chosen. Bray fights hard to get them back and has to make a deal with the devil to do so; he agrees to give Ebony the formula in exchange for knowing the whereabouts of his family. Bray seems to lose everything when they fail to get them back.

It is during this time that Bray and Danni begin to grow closer. Bray defends Danni during her trial and she shares some private information with him, cementing their relationship. Ebony continues to blackmail Bray and he makes her the head of security, which angers Lex. The rest of the tribe don’t understand his motives but there is nothing that he can do. Danni and Bray begin their relationship on the night Trudy returns to the Mall Rats. He is so relieved to have her back that he accepts her with no questions asked, despite something being not quite right with her.

Danni and Bray fight to have a united city, and it is during a summit of the tribal leaders that Danni is captured by the Chosen. Bray leads the charge in the fight against them, but unfortunately the Chosen win the day.

Series 3

After an attack against The Chosen goes drastically awry, Lex and Bray are left for dead on the beach in a dune buggy accident. They however receive help from Ebony and along with Dal, are taken to a camp used by the The Eco Tribe or the Ecos where he finds Amber is alive and well, having lived the past year or so with the Eco people.

After a few arguments, with Bray asking about Pride and her relationship "You gave him your ring. What else did you give him?" and Amber wondering about Bray's love life with Danni, whom she never meets, a spark is ignited as everyone can tell their feelings for the other remain intact. After Pride gives Amber his consent to go with Bray, she goes to his bedroom at night and once more are able to rekindle their love for each other. Amber and Bray both conceive their child, Baby Bray that night, and Amber goes away in the morning to rally the people to fight against The Chosen. Whilst she is gone, Bray falls into a pit of depression, longing for Amber to return and being bitter and angry towards the others, causing his resolve against the Chosen to strengthen.

When Amber returns, Bray is ecstatic with joy. Amber, though, in his mind, seems worried about something. When he sees her with Pride, he assumes that something is happening between them. Amber, after speaking with Trudy, gets the courage to tell Bray that she doesn't have only herself to look after, because she's pregnant. At first, Bray doesn't believe that it's his baby, thinking it to be Pride's instead. He tells Amber, "So who's is it?" Amber asks him what he means confusedly, to which Bray says, "Is it mine or Pride's?" This causes Amber to get upset and walk out on him.

Feeling confused, Bray seeks out advice from Lex, who tells him that he'd be a fool to not think there's something between Pride and Amber. After a few glares to Pride, Bray asks him, "Just tell me straight out. You sleeping with her?" Pride tells him that he's an idiot and Amber could never view him as anything more than a friend, telling him he owes her an apology, to which he does. He exclaims his love for her and tells her that he doesn't want to ever lose her or their baby, to which she forgives him.

When the Chosen are defeated, Amber and Trudy get kidnapped by Ned, and when he can't find them, he falls into a depression, drinking and going to the Casino, which he gets thrown out of and beaten up by the Mozquitoes/Mozzies. Some Horse-Traders find him, and Pony-Jow and Moon take him in to recuperate. Moon asks to run away with him, developing feelings for him, however he leaves, handing Pony Joe a note saying, "I WISH IT COULD'VE BEEN YES. -BRAY". Pony Joe, out of jealousy, burnt the note before it could reach Moon. When Amber and Trudy are found, he is over the moon with happiness. Bray never leaves Amber's side as long as he can help it. But fate steps in once more as the two are banished from the city by Ebony, who is City Leader.

Series 4

As the Technos invade, when Amber goes into labour. Bray is by her side helping her through it. "I've done this before, remember, Amber?" He leaves every so often to check on the noise outside, yet always returns back inside.

However, once The Technos arrive Bray goes missing, and is seen on a truck getting transported away. In his disappearance, Trudy notices that he dropped Amber's ring, the thing he cherished most, leaving it in the grass in front of the barn.

Series 5

After the Mall Rats defeat Ram, Amber inquires about where Bray was taken. She is heartbroken to discover that the love of her life was "deleted." Presumably meaning he has been killed, Amber brokenheartedly moves on.

However, it's revealed at the end of the series that Bray is still alive when KC, who is still a prisoner, comes across Alice, and says he was with Bray just days prior. Alice asks if he said anything, to which KC says he didn't.

The Tribe: A New World

Despite spending some time in a slave camp alongside Alice and KC, Bray has been continuously shipped from one prison to the next, deemed an instigator and a trouble maker. He soon ends up in the clutches of Eloise, the leader of a new group of Zootists, a seductive yet powerful individual who subjects him to countless Reality Space experiments, attempting to warp his perception of reality and persuade him to renew the bloodline of Zoot. Though Bray struggles to fight back, it is obvious that he is slowly losing himself with each and every battle, and he is slowly unable to distinguish between what is real and what is not.

With the aid of Judd, a kind-hearted scientist who refuses to see someone in his care abused in such a way, Bray makes his escape from the compound – but Judd is killed in the process. It is within the Forbidden Zone that a beaten and bruised Bray eventually encounters Emma, Tiffany and Shannon. Shocked to discover life, Bray is quickly subdued in his injured state, but is cared for by Emma, who he realises is blind and attempting to look after her younger siblings. Bray immediately forges a connection with her and her plight, realising just how strong an individual she is. When the group are attacked by the Fallen, a tribe of slave traders, Bray intervenes.

Eventually shipped to the tribe of power within the region, the Legion, it is here that Bray is reeled by the shock of his life in the form of Ebony. Stunned to find that she is alive and well, Bray immediately asks about Amber and the others, but Ebony has set her sights on survival and needs to make an impression on the Legion’s leader, Blake. In a showdown on the oil rig, Bray is forced to fight for his life as Blake hunts him down in a sport of life and death. Bray narrowly manages to best him, and Blake falls into the ocean, presumed dead. It is here that Bray is recovered by the Mall Rats and finally reunited with his long lost love, Amber. During his recovery, Bray gets to hold his child for the first time in his life. It was this moment, and being with Amber, that gave him the strength to fight for as long as he had and he is determined to keep fighting for them.

The Tribe: A New Dawn

With Amber now in a relationship with someone else, Bray is forced to have a personal heart-to-heart with his soulmate. Though both himself and Jay agreed to give Amber some time to figure things out, all of the trials and torment that Bray has been through these past few years has all been for her – for that moment when he could see her again and hold their child. He is unable to hold back his anger when she appears so undecided, unable to fathom why she can toy with their emotions like this. After the fight, Bray decides that perhaps space is what is needed, and so sets off on his own, knowing that he has to retrace his steps and track down Eloise before she makes her next move.

It is here that Bray uncovers her plans to head back to the city, but the question remains as to why. As the Mall Rats make the long journey back to their former home, they uncover the Guardian’s attempts to re-solidify the Zootists within the mall, yet this seems like only a minor piece of the larger puzzle. Elsewhere, we learn of the truth hidden within the lower levels of Eagle Mountain. Eloise is eventually captured, and both Bray and Amber make their peace once more. It is only in the aftermath that they learn of Jay’s death. In a heartfelt gesture, the two agree to rename their child after him.

The Tribe: (R)Evolution

Gallery

Pre-Tribe

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Quotes

"This isn't really about leaders or followers, or good decisions and bad decisions, is it? It's about Amber. Because you can't let go, can you? You can't give up after all this time -- you can't handle it, that she loves me, not you; that she's carrying my baby, oh and don't you wish it was yours!" - Bray to Pride

Trivia

• During pre-production, Bray was originally intended to be called Pride at one point. But Ray decided that he wanted all the Mall Rats to retain normal names. He ended up giving this name to Pride of the Eco Tribe in Series 3. ^[1]
• Bray was described in the early drafts as being a gamer, manga lover, into martial arts and an eco warrior. These characteristics were not carried over to the final show. Most of these were given to Pride, with the exception of being a gamer and a manga lover. ^[2]
• An unused storyline considered by Raymond Thompson was that Bray and Zoot shared the same mother but had a different father, which would explain why both brothers took completely different paths. However, he did not explore this in the show as there wasn't time and felt it would be better explored in a future novel, if the idea becomes used at all. ^[3]
• According to Keeping the Dream Alive Chapter 14, Bray's wardrobe and his single hair extension plaited by vine, punctuated that he was in tune with the natural world and Shintoism.
• Bray is one of the 3 people to have dressed as Zoot during the show. The others being Darryl and Sammy.
• Bray was written out of the show because actor Dwayne Cameron wanted to focus on school and try other projects. Creator Raymond Thompson was asked this in 2011 and he responded: "I always wanted Dwayne in the show but sometimes we had to give him time away to do stuff like schooling." [1]
• Until his departure after Series 3, Bray had appeared in every episode of The Tribe.
• Although Bray doesn't appear anymore after Series 3, he can still be spotted in the opening and end credits of the show until it's cancellation.
• The footage of Bray being kidnapped by the Technos at the beginning of Series 4 is actually archive footage from Series 3. Nonetheless, Series 5 is the only series in which Bray does not appear.
• Bray was present in the Series 6 scripts that were released in the book Keeping the Dream Alive, meaning he was to return had the show not been cancelled. Rumors had abounded however, that Dwayne did not want to return. During the 2011 Tribal Gathering, Dwayne asked if the rumours had any truth to which he responded with: "No, no truth in that at all." ^[4] Meaning that Dwayne wasn't against returning for Series 6 had it happened.
• Bray did not return to the series until The Tribe: A New World (2011). Marking 10 years since the character had last been seen in Series 3 (2001). Although in terms of internal chronology, at most, only a year and a half to two years have passed between the end of Series 3 and The Tribe: A New World.
• In The New Tomorrow, Bray is viewed as a God-like entity, while Zoot is viewed as a Satan-like one.
• Dwayne Cameron, Bray's actor, would appear in 2007's Power Rangers Operation Overdrive as Tyzonn, the Mercury Ranger. In an interesting concidence, Beth Allen, who played Amber, would also appear as Vella, Tyzonn's love interest. They reunite after being separated in the finale. It's not known if this was intended by the producers, given their past on The Tribe, or purely coincidental.
• Bray was voted by fans as 1st Best Hero in a 2015 poll. ^[5]

References