Dr. Robert Chase is generally amiable and eager to please his boss, particularly if in doing so he's also protecting his own interests.

A former seminary student, Chase's early life was one of privilege, but it was also marked by the death of his alcoholic mother and the failings of his renowned doctor father. Though Chase was estranged from his father when he learned of his death from lung cancer, the shock led to a mistake that cost a patient's life and landed Chase in front of a medical disciplinary board.

Chase dated fellow doctor Allison Cameron, and the two were briefly married. However, they were irrevocably split following the case of African dictator Dibala, whose death Chase helped facilitate, arguing that in doing so he was saving the lives of many others threatened by the genocidal leader. Cameron suggested that Chase had changed, and not for the better, by working with House.

Single again, Chase reverted to his former playboy self, romancing a string of women, until an embarrassing photo posted on the Internet led him to reexamine his priorities. Deciding that the meaningless hookups left him bored and filled with self-loathing, Chase swore off sex altogether . . . briefly. He expressed an interest in Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley before she took a leave of absence, and when she returned Chase learned that they have a secret in common: they've both taken a life.