Julian Chase

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You're gonna go live it up like there's no tomorrow, which is gonna make sure there's no tomorrow. I can guaran-damn-tee you'll have one last regret, as the Union nano hits where you've been partying at. You'll think, maybe I could have changed this, and I didn't.

- Julian Chase, "Second Birthday"

Julian Chase
Basic Information
Aliases	Chaser (callsign) Copy (by Nemesis)
Relatives	Roberta Chase (mother) Driana Chase (sister)
Affiliation	The Polity Experimental Science Unit The Vanguard (formerly)
Biographical Information
Age	25
Date of birth	2047
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Physical Description
Species	Human (trapped in Holon)
Gender	Male
Height	6'0
Eye color	Amber (Natural) Blue (MR Lenses)
Media
Voice Actor	Michael B. Jordan

Julian Chase is the main protagonist of gen:LOCK and is voiced by Michael B. Jordan. He was born and raised in New York and is a former Interceptor pilot in the Vanguard, the military arm of the Polity.

After a crippling injury during a battle against the Union, Chase was rescued from death by Rufus Weller and brought into the Experimental Science Unit's gen:LOCK program as part of a last resort to save the Polity from annexation. In "Identity Crisis", he purposefully makes his mind incompatible with his body, leaving him in his Holon's cyberbrain forever.

Appearance

Chase is a tall, athletic man with dark skin. He has amber eyes, but is shown wearing blue Mixed Reality lenses in his Ether avatar and when mixing in. He has a somewhat broad nose and dark brown hair. The left side of his hairline has blue luminous streaks of hair that act as futuristic tattoos, and a thin luminous blue line goes around sides of his hairline. His primary attire used to be a form-fitting suit worn by Vanguard Interceptor pilots, which is in shades of blue, black and gray. His primary attire was later changed to resemble the Experimental Science Unit's prototype body suit, with blue and black armor platting and luminous blue highlights.

Casually, Chase wore brown trousers, a black shirt with white stylistic rhombus shapes on it and a gray hoodie with cyan interior and white shoes. His Ether avatar mirrors his casual outfit, but the blue color in his appearance is more glowing and prominent.

During the Union's attack on New York City, Chase managed to disable their Nanotech in the chaos. However, his resulting crash and Nanotech infection left him in critical condition while at the same time allowing him to survive long enough to be put on life support. He lost his right arm and the entire lower half of his body, and the back of his skull has since been plated with metal. He is only able to interact with others outside of his life support capsule via Mixed Reality holographic projection and his Holon. At first, it is unknown if he would ever be able to leave his life support tank. However, when the Polity successfully resists Union insurgency in Chicago, Chase pilots his mech far past maximum uptime, meaning his mind becomes incompatible with his body, and he leaves it in his Holon seemingly for good.

Personality

Chase is described as an "All-American guy" by Gray G. Haddock, who continued to describe Chase as "charming, funny and the first guy to break the ice to make sure people are doing OK." Michael B. Jordan has described Chase as "a very selfless person who wants to do the right thing and would sacrifice himself in order to protect the world and the people he loves." Chase also has the leadership skills to help form the show's main team. His current struggle entails adjusting to life after personal tragedy.

He regrets having to keep his survival a secret from his girlfriend, Miranda Worth, for the four years since his crash. Despite having had no choice in the matter, Chase is not happy for having had to deceive her and keep his crippled state hidden from her for so long. In spite this however, he is very willing to give his all for the gen:LOCK program, believing it is better to spend his time doing something worthwhile instead of living out his final days just waiting for death to come to him, contrasting with Valentina Romanyszyn's more apathetic, self-centered worldview.

Chase possesses a sly sense of humor, commenting to Kazu Iida how he needs to choose his words wisely and meeting the former sergeant's challenge by mentioning how Yasamin Madrani will "kick his ass." Chase's sense of humor is instrumental in keeping everyone around him calm in the face of extraordinary circumstances without distracting them from the matters at hand, displaying Chase's cool leadership in the face of fire.

However, Chase can also be rather brusque with people when he is angered, displaying a harshness with Dr. Weller upon discovering the true nature of Nemesis. When in this state, Chase is shown to be very stubborn, even somewhat short-sighted. After discovering Nemesis is the original Chase, he suffers from an existential crisis and spends the entire battle focused solely on Nemesis, refusing to download back into his body or even accept help from Yaz. It is only when he is required to protect his friends that he finally allows himself to be dragged away.

Upon coming to terms with Nemesis’ existence and receiving RTASA's backing, Chase becomes more invested in his new teammates and friends. He alters his MR overlay to reflect this, changing his appearance to a hybrid of his gen:LOCK and Vanguard suits.

Profile

The following information accompanies Chase's profile in the Character Reveal Teaser #1:

NAME: CHASE, JULIAN
VSN: 99872-636-2791
RANK: O-2 1LT
PILOT QUAL: ADVANCED STRIKE
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: TOP SECRET//GL

PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENT: DUTY VB110 AEIRE VAP
FITREP: XREF 12898211134
IMR: APPROVED
OMAs: V-AMN 141/08; ICM 32/2; TEM 287/1
PILOT TRAINING: IFS API T-72 T-88 F-66

Information from a fragment of the script shared on Twitter by Gray Haddock suggests Chase was 21 years old before his crash.

After Chase was declared dead after the Union's attack on New York, he was honored on a memorial wall inside the Anvil with the following commemoration:

JULIAN CHASE
1ST LIEUTENANT
2047-2068
V-183 READY ALERT SQUADRON
"SILVER FALCONS"
WHOSE BRAVERY AND VALOR
WILL LIVE ON IN OUR HEARTS
BATTLE OF NEW YORK

Abilities

gen:LOCK Compatibility

Chase is one of the few people in the world capable of undergoing gen:LOCK. By having his mind digitized, he can be placed inside a Holon and operate it as if it were his own body, giving him a much greater degree of control than traditional pilots.

Combat

Chase is skilled at hand-to-hand combat, having his military record compared to Yaz, who is the top of her class in infantry training, and being able to spar with Kazu on equal grounds. He utilized his close combat skills to pin down Union Mechs and destroy them with his rifle at point-blank range, and was able to fight Nemesis on equal ground for ten minutes, although Nemesis only had access to two of his four arms. Chase makes use of his Holon's wing thrusters to tackle opponents.

Marksman

Chase is a skilled marksman, having his military record compared to Yaz, who is the top of her class in infantry training. His first Holon was equipped with a prototype rifle, which he used when conducting several successful operations against the Union during the early stages the gen:LOCK program. He is shown to be proficient at shooting when at close and long range even when in flight.

Piloting

Before his injury, Chase was an Interceptor pilot. His performance in the Battle of New York City indicates that he is exceptionally skilled, being able to outmaneuver a guided missile and destroy it with machine gun fire, and later allowing the ESD device he released to successfully detonate by shielding it from the Behemoth's turret fire with the Interceptor itself. After his Holon was fitted with flight capabilities, Chase was able to outmaneuver and shoot down several Union Fighters. He even grabbed one of them to use as a projectile, and later intercepted a rocket as long as his Holon and redirecting it away from his allies.

Holon

In "The Best Defense" Chase's Holon is customized with a pack of thrusters, wings and propellers mounted on its back, allowing him to make use of his combat aviation experience. In "It Never Rains...", it undergoes further customization, with alterations to the jetpack and armor.

Trivia

• The story of Chase and the Nemesis relates to the Ship of Theseus, an ancient thought experiment concerning the metaphysics of identity. In the experiment, the famous ship sailed by the hero Theseus has been kept in a harbor as a museum piece. As the years go by, some of the wooden parts begin to rot and are replaced by new ones. After a century or so, all of the parts have been replaced. The experiment asks if the "restored" ship is still the same object as the original.
  • Further, the experiment supposes that each of the removed pieces were stored in a warehouse, and after the century, technology develops to cure their rotting and enable them to be put back together to make another ship. It asks if this "reconstructed" ship is the original ship, and if so, it asks if the restored ship in the harbor is also still the original ship.