The City

The City is an otherwise unnamed city in which Heavy Rain takes place. In addition to being the setting, it is the home of almost all the characters who appear in the game.

Location?
This is actually a really complicated question, maybe more complicated than it has to be. There is no concrete answer to this.

The game takes place over the course of several days in October 2011. The city that the game takes place in is never named, but signs on the highway in the chapter "Crime Scene" indicate that it is somewhere near New York. David Cage of Quantic Dream mentioned that the City is modeled after Philadelphia, and several clues throughout the game indicate that it takes place in that area:


 * One of the signs on the highway depicted in concept art for "Fugitive" indicates Philadelphia. The other indicates Plymouth Meeting, which is part of Plymouth, a township in Pennsylvania not far from Philadelphia.
 * The letter sent to Ethan Mars in "Father and Son" is addressed to Camden (presumably Camden, New Jersey, which is directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia).
 * One of the footprints that Norman Jayden can analyze with ARI in "Crime Scene" belongs to a police officer who lives in Sharswood, a North Philadelphia neighborhood.
 * If Ethan turns on the TV in his room before opening the shoebox in "The Motel," Glenn Sanders reports that a child disappeared from the Stanton district, which is in North Philadelphia.
 * The letter that was sent to Lauren Winter's husband Allan the day their son disappeared is addressed to Springfield, Pennsylvania, as seen in "A Visitor."
 * Jackson "Mad Jack" Neville is shown to have a Pennsylvania identification card in "Jayden Blues," and both it and an ARI analysis in "Mad Jack" indicate that he lives in Southwest Philadelphia.
 * There is a map of Philadelphia in Scott Shelby's office.
 * When Scott drops Lauren off at the train station in "Goodbye Lauren," every listing on the arrival and departure boards includes Philadelphia.
 * The City is referred to as being on "the east coast."

Despite these clues, a cutscene at the beginning of "The Old Warehouse" (if Ethan arrives) shows a flashback to the scene from "The Mall" in which Scott witnessed Jason's death; the phone number for a store in the background of this scene has the area code "218," which is assigned to northern Minnesota. (Philadelphia's area code is 215.) However, "A Drop of Water" revealed that the Mars residence is not in the City and that Ethan moved to the City after Jason's death, making it possible that the mall is not located there either.

Strange Weather Patterns
Also unexplained is that the City appears to suffer from abnormal weather, having pouring rain day and night throughout the entire game. It has been stated that the rain only happens during the autumn months, but the reason for this (if there is one) is never revealed.

In certain parts of the game it is shown that the rain does occasionally stop. However, these lapses never seem to last long, and it always starts back up quickly with no sign of it ever lessening.

Characters
Characters who die throughout the course of the game will have a † next to their names.

Characters whose fates are determined by players' actions will have a ^ next to their names.

Characters who have just arrived in the City will have a º next to their names.

Inhabitants

 * Adrian Baker ^
 * Allan Winter
 * Andrew
 * Ann Sheppard
 * Ann Sheppard's husband
 * Ash
 * Brad Silver ^
 * Britney Sanders
 * Blue Lagoon barman
 * Bouncer
 * Carousel ticket seller
 * Carter Blake
 * Charlene
 * Charles Kramer ^
 * Clarence Dupré
 * Clown
 * Dolores Luz
 * Emily Bowles
 * Ethan Mars ^
 * Gary
 * Glenn Sanders
 * Gordi Kramer
 * Grace Mars
 * Gravedigger
 * Hassan ^
 * Jackson Neville ^
 * Jason Mars †
 * Jeremy Bowles †
 * John Sheppard †
 * Johnny Winter †
 * Lauren Winter ^
 * Leighton Perry
 * Leland White ^
 * Madison Paige ^
 * Manfred †
 * Miroslav Korda
 * Motel receptionist
 * Nathaniel Williams ^
 * Nurse
 * Origami Killer ^
 * Paco Mendez †
 * Reza †
 * Roy
 * Scott Shelby ^
 * Shaun Mars ^
 * Susan Bowles
 * Susan Bowles' husband
 * Tony
 * Troy
 * Vincent
 * Zoran

Visitors

 * Norman Jayden º^

Locations

 * Adrian Baker's house
 * Blue Lagoon
 * Bowles residence
 * Brad Silver's apartment
 * Carnaby Square
 * Charity Cross Cemetery
 * Clarence Dupré's office
 * Convenience store
 * Cross Road Motel
 * Driving range
 * Ethan Mars' apartment
 * Ethan Mars' condominium (possibly)
 * Food Market
 * Hospital
 * Joe's Garage and Parking Lot
 * Junkyard
 * Kramer mansion
 * Lake
 * Lauren Winter's apartment
 * Leland White's house
 * Lexington Station
 * Madison Paige's apartment
 * Mall (possibly)
 * Manfred's Antiques
 * Marble Street apartment
 * Nathaniel Williams' apartment
 * Old warehouse
 * Park
 * Police station
 * Power plant
 * Scott Shelby's apartment
 * Subway station
 * Wasteland
 * Westfield Resort