Emily and Mike

Emily and Mike
Relationship	Partners (Prologue) Friendship Rivalry (Determinant)
Status	Broken-up; friends Enemies (Determinant)
← Previous	Emily and Matt
→ Next	Hannah and Beth

“	Just because he's Class Prez doesn't mean he belongs to everyone. Mike is my man.	”
—Emily

Emily and Mike is a former relationship, current friendship, and potential conflict in Until Dawn.

Overview

A year before the main events of the game, Emily and Mike were in a romantic relationship, and Emily was shown to be quite protective of this relationship. When her close friend at the time, Jessica, suggested that they pull a prank on Hannah for crushing on Mike, Emily was willing to go along with and defend the prank.

A few weeks before their return to the mountain, Mike broke up with Emily in favor of Jessica. As a response, Emily started dating Matt. However, Mike and Emily are still close, as seen when they meet on the trail to talk and hug as well as when Mike embraces Emily after she returns from the mines. Emily appears to still have feelings for Mike, lashing out at Jessica immediately upon seeing the couple together.

However, their friendship can be severely damaged if Emily is bitten, as Mike will point a gun at her and may even kill her if the player decides to have him do so.

Until Dawn

One Year Ago

At the time of the prologue, Mike and Emily are a couple. In attempts to protect the relationship, Jessica orchestrates a prank on Hannah, since Hannah had been making moves on Mike. Emily agrees with it, saying that Mike is her man, to which Mike will reply that he isn't anybody's man. Emily brushes this off, and the group heads upstairs.

Chapter 1

Mike breaks up with Emily a few weeks before the reunion on Blackwood Mountain. They have both begun relationships with other people. However, Mike's reasoning for breaking up with Emily was because of an attraction to Jessica, while Emily's new relationship with Matt is more so a cover-up for her rebounding over the break-up. Jessica can confirm Mike's new relationship with her by reinforcing the fact Emily and Mike split to Sam and Chris.

While Matt and Emily are walking down the trail, Mike jumps out and scares them. Emily is annoyed by this, and Mike will tell her to lighten up, commenting on how she always gets like this. After a conversation between Matt and Mike, Mike walks off. Emily asks Matt to carry the bags the rest of the way, saying she needs to find "Sam," and continues down the same way Mike went.

Later, Ashley will find them together through the telescope, noticing that they're getting a little too friendly with one another. She also has the option to show it to Matt, and if Matt sees the embrace, he will interpret it as something more than just a hug.

Chapter 2

On the lodge’s steps, Josh and Chris can discuss Emily’s new relationship with Matt, and Chris wonders what Mike must think of it. Josh notes that Mike “already has his hands full,” referring to his new relationship with Jessica.

In the lodge, Matt and Mike may argue over what Matt saw, with Matt either questioning what Mike was doing with Emily on the trail, or telling Mike to stay away from Emily. Mike will claim he doesn't want anything to do Emily, or that they only hugged because they hadn't seen each other in a while. This confrontation may escalate until Matt pulls Mike into a headlock, and the two are separated by Josh. If the Mike and Matt don't fight, Emily will see Mike and Jessica kissing on the couches and comment in disgust, claiming that Jessica is "trying to swallow his face." A fight will break out among Emily, Jessica, and Matt which is only stopped when Josh sends Mike and Jessica to the guest cabin.

Shortly after Mike and Jessica leave, Emily and Matt will walk back towards the cable car station in order to find one of Emily's bags. If Matt fought with Mike, he will call Mike a prick, and Emily will appreciate his aggressiveness towards Mike. As they walk, Matt may find Mike and Emily's initials carved onto a picnic table. He will accuse Emily of making him feel like a chump, but Emily will say that he's being sensitive and that her past relationship with Mike doesn't matter anymore, since she's here with Matt.

Meanwhile, on the way up to the cabin, Jessica will complain about Emily if they fought. Here, Mike's reactions vary based on the player's choices and range from him doubling down on his defense of Emily, saying she's hurt and that it's not worth kicking her while she's down, or being harsh on Emily, claiming that it's not his fault that Emily doesn't know what "beat it, ya skank" means.

Chapter 3

While Jessica and Mike head towards the cabin, they can also find a carving of Mike and Emily's initials, this time on a tree. Jessica will joke that she didn't know Mike was so sentimental, and he can either confess to being affectionate, or try to pin things on Emily.

Chapter 6

If Matt saw Mike and Emily hugging, Matt can act suspicious about it when Emily is hanging off the fire tower. He'll confront her, claiming she still likes Mike, which Emily will deny. If Matt continues to be persistent, Emily will claim they were just talking, aggravated at the unfortunate timing of this discussion. Matt can demand that she and Mike are done, or be insistent. Matt will accuse her of having sex with Mike. Emily will tell him she was confused, and Matt will believe she cheated on him.

Chapter 8

If Emily escapes the mines alive, Mike will hear her scream and rush over to the lodge. Immediately upon seeing her, he will pull her into a hug, grateful to see her alive. Down in the safe room, Emily, Mike, and Sam will discuss the mines and the tunnels to the Sanatorium, along with whatever they found. Emily will also give a hint on where Josh could be, believing him to be in the mines.

If Emily was bitten, Ashley will panic about the possibility of her transforming into a Wendigo. Emily will try to defend herself, saying that the bite doesn't even hurt anymore, but Mike will agree with Ashley and demand that Emily leave the room. After Emily continuously refuses, Mike will impulsively reach for a gun. Emily expresses disbelief at the idea that Mike would shoulder her, and Mike replies that the safe room isn't safe with her in it. Emily will plead for her life, and Mike can either shoot her in the eye, or back out.

If Mike does shoot Emily, he is stunned by his own actions but defends them by saying that the others are now safe. If he doesn't shoot Emily, he says that can't kill her and asks that the others keep an eye on her.

Relationship Status

• If Emily was bitten and Mike spares her after pointing the gun at her, their relationship will drop to zero in the original game, and decrease significantly in the remake.
• If Emily wasn't bitten at all, this scene will be skipped, and their relationship will be fine.

Credits

If Emily was bitten, she will tell the police that Mike almost shot her and express disbelief at the fact that someone she dated and knew well tried to kill her, saying that it "really takes the cake."

If Mike shot her, he will confess to being the one who killed her. He will feel guilty but defend himself when his interviewer insinuates that his actions were because of his past relationship with Emily and insist that he truly believed Emily was infected and that he needed to stop her from changing.

Trivia

• In the original game, they share two personality traits: "intelligent" and "persuasive."
  • They are the only characters to share traits in the original game.
  • They no longer share these traits in the remake and, instead, Mike shares “driven” with Jess and '"brave" with Sam.
• They are the only couple to break up regardless of the player's choices.
• Two developers, Tom Heaton and Jez Harris, have stated that Mike never cheated on anyone, which also indicates that Emily did not cheat on Matt.
  • However, there is cut dialogue confirming that, in an earlier draft of the game, Emily and Mike were cheating on Matt and Jessica, including Emily sending lewd pictures of herself to Mike, and that Mike had also cheated on Emily when they were still together.
• Will Byles, the director of the game, has indicated that Emily and Mike's break-up impacted Emily's social standing in the group, and that Mike was more Emily's ideal boyfriend: "She was part of the 'alpha' couple the year before but is now rejected by Mike in favor of Jessica; she has some unfinished business with him. So Matt may be not her ideal guy and maybe she's trying to put a strong face onto things."
• Emily and Mike's behavior in the prologue is slightly different between both versions of the game. In the remake, Emily's involvement is emphasized, as she is shown spearheading the group's preparations and grinning at Hannah afterwards. However, Mike appears more hesitant about the group's plan and no longer has a line showing that he is pleased Hannah unbuttoned her top.
• There is a deleted interaction involving Chris, Mike, and Emily in the prologue. The cut content includes Emily wiggling her pinky and asking if Mike is comfortable on it. Chris tells Mike that that means she has him wrapped around her finger. Emily then kisses Mike on the cheek.
  • Emily's actress, Nichole Sakura, has also mentioned that Emily is good at getting things from Mike and Matt.
• In the PlayStation 3 version of Until Dawn, Emily accompanies Mike to the sanatorium where she acts as his companion, much like Wolfie did in the final game.

Quotes

• "Just because he's Class Prez doesn't mean he belongs to everyone. Mike is my man." - Emily in the Prologue.
  • "Hey, Em, I'm not anybody's man." - Mike.

• "Just trying to lighten the mood, Em. Don't be like that." - Mike.
  • "Like what?" - Emily.
  • "The way you're being. You always get like this." - Mike.

• "Emily? Why would I want anything to do with Emily?" - Mike to Matt if Matt tells him to stay away from Emily.

• Yeah... she's a handful. But maybe ease up on her, she's still kinda torn up from being dumped." - Mike.
  • "Um, hello? Not my problem, Mike. And not yours, either." - Jessica.
  • "No, I mean, of course not. I'm just sayin' it's... it's not worth kicking her when she's down." - Mike defending Emily after Jessica insults her.

• "Mike's the chump." - Emily reassuring Matt.

• "I came up here with Em last year but seriously... do I look like the kind of guy who carves hearts on trees?" - Mike.
  • "I wouldn't have pegged you for a sissy-screamer either, but can you ever really know a person?" - Jessica.
  • "It had to be Em. She can get all gross and mushy." - Mike to Jessica when finding the carved heart.

• "You're going to shoot me?! Mike, me?!" - Emily to Mike pointing a gun at her.

• "Is there something you want to tell us?" - Interviewer.
  • "No. No, it..." - Mike.
  • "So it was you who broke up with her?" - Interviewer.
  • "No, it's... Okay, okay... Okay, you gotta understand... These things, um... they were... okay, th-they were confused... an-and the circumstances were not normal..." - Mike.
  • "You had a fight. You were angry." - Interviewer.
  • "Y- No. Yes. Yes, but no. Okay? Okay, it wasn't like that." - Mike.
  • "What was it like, Michael?" - Interviewer.
  • "She w- She was infected. Okay? And-and-and we thought she'd turn into one. So, so... what was I supposed to do? You know, I-I had to stop her, I had to keep her from changing!" - Mike in the Credits if he shot Emily.

• "He held it right up to my face! Right here, right in front of my nose and he could've shot me - he almost shot me, the prick! I mean, you go out with a guy for however long and you think you know him, but man, this one really takes the cake." - Emily in the Credits if Mike held a gun to her face and she survived until dawn.