Shea Phoenix, a character in the Hearts on Fire series, is battalion chief of Engine 57 in the Boston Fire Department, and your love interest. He/She first appears in the crossover special Open Hearts on Fire.
Appearance
His/Her gender and looks are determined by the player. All versions have one tattoo on the upper right arm and another one right underneath the left elbow. All versions have multiple visible scars on the right arm and wrist, the upper left arm, as well as on the left sides of the collarbone and ribcage.
Personality
Shea is stubborn, brusque, quick to anger, and frequently awkward in social situations. However, he/she is also self-aware enough to recognize this lack of people skills to be a critical flaw. He/She can be charming and friendly on occasion, but usually only in relaxed settings and around the very few people to whom he/she is close. Even then, Shea struggles to be open with others, as he/she thinks talking about his/her problems is the same thing as burdening other people with those problems.
Shea is protective, sometimes overly so, of his/her small social circle, and has such a strong work ethic that it at least borders on being a workaholic. He/She is fully devoted to the life-saving goals of being a firefighter and has no patience for anything or anyone who might interfere with those goals.
Background
Shea and his/her younger sister Shelly grew up in a family full of macho firefighters, with the exception of their gentle mother who taught Shea a number of creative pursuits. Shea hoped at first to become an architect rather than automatically following their father's career path, but his/her natural tendency to protect bullied kids and rescue animals led Shelly to encourage her brother/sister to join her in the family business. Shelly and Shea trained in the same firehouse as their childhood friend Stephen Liang, but the friendship ended after Shelly's death in the line of duty. Following her loss, Shea threw him/herself into the job and achieved the rank of battalion chief at an unusually young age.
Chapters
Open Heart
Open Hearts on Fire
- Chapter 1: Code Red
Hearts on Fire
Hearts on Fire
- Chapter 1: Kindling
- Chapter 2: First Call
- Chapter 3: Squad Goals
- Chapter 4: Disaster at the Metro/Rage at the Metro
- Chapter 5: Operation Kitten Rescue
- Chapter 6: Tough Love
- Chapter 7: Carnival on Fire!
- Chapter 8: The Fire Within
- Chapter 9: Critter Rescue
- Chapter 10: Phoenix in Flight
- Chapter 11: Calendar Pin-Ups
- Chapter 12: A Night Out
- Chapter 13: End of Watch
- Chapter 14: Back to Work
- Chapter 15: Unmasking the Arsonist
- Chapter 16: Medal of Valor
Relationships
Your Character
Shea is your boss and love interest. He/She first meets you while rescuing you from a fire in your apartment building, and is completely charmed by your open flirtation. The two of you lose contact after sharing drinks that night, so Shea is unaware of your decision to become a firefighter and is therefore stunned when you're assigned to his/her firehouse. Shea struggles to resist his/her attraction to you but gradually gives in with the stipulation that due to his/her status as your boss, you have to be the one to make the first move. Because you remind Shea of his/her sister Shelly, who died while firefighting, Shea is both protective of you and hard on you out of the fear of losing the first person he/she has cared about since Shelly's death. He/She is ultimately unable to resist his/her feelings for you and promises to find a way for the two of you to be together officially.
After the gala fire forces you to decide between saving either Krista or Declan, Shea stays with you during your mandatory leave to provide comfort and help you process your emotions. He/She also casually admits to Lux and Harold that the two of you are dating. Although Shea is aware there may be further challenges ahead for your relationship, he/she is committed to being with you and feels those challenges will be worth it.
Stephen Liang
Liang and Shea, together with Shea's younger sister Shelly, were childhood friends. They grew up together, shared a secret clubhouse of sorts through their teen years, and trained up as firefighters in the same station. Shea thought of Liang as a brother, and was happy for him when he and Shelly fell in love and became engaged. Six months after that engagement, however, Shelly died while helping fight a fire. Shea's friendship with Liang collapsed, partly due to Shea's assumption that Liang blamed him/her for Shelly's death, and partly because they never really talked about it afterwards. They were able to mostly avoid each other while working as chiefs of different stations, but once Liang was demoted in a merger and placed under Shea's command, the relationship between the two became openly hostile.
In Chapter 14, acting on your advice, Shea reaches out to Liang in hopes of beginning to heal their relationship. If you choose the premium option to mediate their discussion, the two are able to talk through their feelings about losing Shelly for the first time. They learn that neither blames the other for her death, and they mutually agree to make the effort to repair their friendship.
Shelly Phoenix
Shelly was Shea's younger sister, and because they were only a year apart, they were extremely close growing up. Shea was an introverted child who was happy to let the much-brighter Shelly take the lead, and despite typical sibling squabbles, Shea's opinion of Shelly was so high that he/she describes being "in awe" of her. The two of them trained together as firefighters, along with their childhood friend Stephen Liang, and Shea considered Shelly by far the most talented among them. However, she died in a fire while the three of them were on duty, which has deeply affected Shea. Her death left Shea with a great deal of self-blame, a tendency towards overprotectiveness, a closed-off approach to dealing with most people, and no particularly close relationships.
Ethan Ramsey
Shea and Ethan first meet in the aftermath of an explosion at Edenbrook, and they butt heads immediately. This quickly shifts to grudging respect as they work together to save lives, and eventually settles into reluctant acknowledgement that the reason they struggle to get along is because of their similar personalities. Their relationship remains somewhat contentious, with them often snapping at or insulting each other, but the mutual respect remains despite this and they enjoy the rivalry well enough that they occasionally choose to hang out in casual social settings.
Character Customization
Male
Female
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- A male version of Shea is shown on the cover of Hearts on Fire.
- Female Face 2 resembles a version of Your Character from Laws of Attraction.
- When Shea first appeared in Open Hearts on Fire, both the male and female versions of Face 3 had a distinctly purple tone to their skin. Following significant social media backlash, Pixelberry updated those models with amended skin color for the release of Hearts on Fire. They also changed the face of Male 2. The original versions remained in Open Hearts on Fire for another few hours before being replaced as well.