Katherine McBride

Katherine McBride, also called K, is the loyal and steadfast girlfriend of Vincent Brooks who has been thinking more about their relationship and wants him to fully commit to her by marriage, but his indecisiveness is starting to increasingly annoy her as time goes by. Katherine currently works as an office manager for a clothing company called Bantam Suits, the same company Todd Bozeman and Archie Wallace work for. She and Vincent don't live together for unknown reasons (possibly because of their workplace commutes), although she occasionally visits him to see how he is doing and drop off snacks. Asides from the main Golden Playhouse storyline, Katherine is a playable character in co-op mode, where she and Vincent must work together to ascend the Babel. If a second player is present, they will control Katherine. If not, Katherine will be controlled by an AI bot. Katherine is also available in the DLC roster of Catherine: Full Body. Katherine is a bit of a workaholic who puts her career above almost everything else. She chides Vincent when he admits to working severe overtime with no extra pay, angry at her boyfriend for being taken advantage of it and not taking a stand for himself. She never tells Vincent to relax when it comes to work and accepts work as a valid excuse if he misses time with her. It also can be inferred that Katherine enjoys fashion, given she puts the effort into painting her nails and wears eyeshadow. She works at a clothing company and seems to go on a shopping spree in one of the endings, although it could be argued her working at a clothing company doesn't necessarily means she likes clothing and that the boxes in her ending may not be clothes either. At times, Katherine can seem overbearing, naggy and bossy with a domineering attitude towards Vincent. For example, she is trying to pressure him into marriage, which he isn't comfortable with. Katherine proves that if someone can't be trusted to do something right, she will take care of it for them. The clearest example of this is when she takes full control of her and Vincent's finances after he consistently spends all his money on new computers, cell phones, alcohol and cigarettes. Another example is that she hates his messy apartment room, one of her texts revealing she has a set of spare keys to the apartment and cleaned it for him at least once (Vincent may condone this or reply "Don't touch my stuff.") Katherine isn't shown to be the affectionate type, though whether this is a result of their recent relationship troubles or because of her natural personality is unknown. Most times she leaves him with a simple "Goodbye" and the only time she kisses Vincent or tells him she loves him is during the Katherine True Ending. However, Katherine frequently texts Vincent to let him know what's new and her feelings. She also doesn't like Vincent's drinking and smoking habits, once sending a text saying Vincent shouldn't drink too much and smugly smiling when she says Vincent should stop smoking since it won't be good for the child. From all this, it can be deduced that Katherine cares and loves Vincent in her own way. The only things in the game shown to rattle Katherine are when she murders Catherine (though it happens in a dream), and when she is effectively dealing with the possibility of being pregnant completely alone as her boyfriend is off in his own world. She also gets emotional and tears up when breaking up with Vincent though she eventually leaves apparently calm, and later when he asks for forgiveness after their friends support that Catherine wasn't real. Despite her cautious and responsible personality, Katherine apparently overlooks unprotected sex with Vincent, eventually thinking she may be pregnant. However, this is likely intentional by Katherine, hinting that she wants to become pregnant so that when she has a child, Vincent won't leave her and commit to marriage. Even though her fidelity was called into question with Steve Delhomme, Katherine has only made one lie (of omission) in the game: not telling Vincent immediately when she knew she wasn't pregnant. While clues have been left that Katherine might have been lying about the pregnancy as a test for Vincent to pass, her reaction during the break up with him paints a clearer picture. She tells him that the knowledge of the pregnancy actually scared her and admits to him she knew about the news earlier, but didn't tell him because she feared he would leave her. She feels guilty about this and realizes she was not being honest with Vincent, and how she was being manipulative by trying to "trap" Vincent with a child. Her moral conscience arises when she decides to tell Vincent this truth. In an interview, her voice actress (Michelle Ruff) said Katherine is very vulnerable, yet strong and courageous, saying she stands up for herself and what she believes is best for her. "She's the character we find ourselves relating to from real life experiences or wanting to relate to. I really relied on my own experiences to put myself in her shoes. I think you'll find when you listen to her, she's really close to my own natural voice. I really tried to be as vulnerable as I could in that booth when we were recording." Voice director, Valerie Arem, commented, "Katherine is a real woman. She has dreams and emotions and feelings that make her special and unique. She really wants Vincent to see her for that and love her for her uniqueness. She is the strong one in their relationship and I think she is really hoping that Vincent will step up and finally be the strong one."