El Goonish Shive/Characters

Here's a list of characters from the Web Comic El Goonish Shive.

Given the amount of gender bending in this series, Gender Bender should only be noted for a character under special circumstances like Tedd or Vlad.

For a comprehensive list of appearances and statistics, see at this fan-site or at this wiki.

Elliot

Elliot Daniel Dunkel

File:Elliot 9808.png

Because it sounds like one big, awkward moment.

Somewhat inhibited former Bully Hunter with Chronic Hero Syndrome who has been Tedd's best friend since third grade. Attends Moperville North with Tedd, Susan, and Sarah. Was an only child until Ellen came along.

Associated tropes:

• All Men Are Perverts: Major aversion.

Elliot: I fail at perversion.

• Bad Liar: As both Damien and Mr. Verres noticed.

Elliot: It's the price I pay for being one of the good guys.

• Big Brother Instinct: towards Ellen, despite her being his Half Identical Twin/Opposite Sex Clone who technically has more life experience (thanks to her dream life) than he does.
  • Papa Wolf: And there is the fact of Ellen also being his daughter
  • Actual quote from Dan Shive: "Do not threaten or otherwise endanger Ellen. Elliot will break you."
• Blessed with Suck: Elliot's original shapeshifting powers only allowed him to turn into a catman, which hurt. Then he developed the power to change into a girl, which he dislikes, and all of the powers he's developed since are girl or girl-related transformations as well. At least the super heroine can fly. Tedd theorizes that Elliot's magic will keep giving him girl-related transformations until he convinces himself he's satisfied with the girl forms he already has.
• Berserk Button: bullies. Which led him to become a...
• Bully Hunter: He mostly abandoned this habit, with a few exceptions like Justin's case — though he's still ready to jump in. Goes part and parcel with his Chronic Hero syndrome (see below)
• Butt Monkey: He gained the ability to turn into a girl, then had to start doing so several times a day or risk it happening on its own. He gained a super-powered alternate form, but it's female. He gained secret identity forms (tying in with the superhero form), and at least one of those is attracted to his gay friend (who, by the way, is attracted to male Elliot). The author is on record that he enjoys tormenting Elliot.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Susan once pointed out that Elliot would save his own worst enemy. Elliot denies it after envisioning himself allowing Damien to fall off a cliff, then promptly protects the worst bully in the school from a supernatural creature.
• First Law of Gender Bending: Leads to Power Incontinence, Involuntary Shapeshifting, Voluntary Shapeshifting, you name it.
  • Second Law of Gender Bending: Played with. Tedd theorizes Elliot's magic will continue to provide him with girly transformations until it finds one that satisfies him, putting Elliot in the awkward position of having to accept some aspect of femininity in order to escape the rest.
    • Third Law of Gender Bending: Elliot's female transformations usually affect his clothes as well, apparently because he just can't help visualizing girls in "girly" clothing.
• Hidden Depths: It is implied that Elliot's "wooden reserve" is due to his fear of losing control of an extremely violent temper.
  • The actual plan was for Elliot to have a Super-Powered Evil Side that would emerge if he did go all-out. However, Word of God has said this has been dropped.
• Incompatible Orientation: with Justin.
• Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Averted, except for one mirror scene early on. Tedd even theorizes that Elliot's failure to "embrace" any of his girl forms is why his magic keeps giving him new ones trying to find one he will accept.
• Official Couple: with Sarah, though they have some problems they need to work out.
• Secret Identity: In addition to the Masquerade and Elliot not liking the idea of everyone knowing he is "Cheerleadra", the spell turning him into a stock Superheroine includes for this purpose three other (and also cliché) forms that provide an efficient disguise not dependent on his acting ability.
  • Genki Girl: His "Party Animal Socialite" disguise form has this as her main charm.
  • Goth: One of his new spells. It looks like he was interested at one time.
  • Motor Mouth: In his party form.
• Seen It All: Sort of.
• Shapeshifting: Thanks to Abraham, he can turn into girl or cat now.
  • Flying Brick: As "Cheerleadra".
  • Involuntary Shapeshifting: due to Power Incontinence.
  • Most Common Superpower: Elliot's female forms tend to be well-endowed because his default female form was designed by Tedd, and others differ only as much as he concentrates on the differences.

"What does 'exorbitant breadth' mean and what does it have to do with my chest?"

• • Power Incontinence: Elliot must shape-shift several times a day to keep his powers in check.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: In the sense that he can do it at will, not that he wants to — and his Power Incontinence means it's not quite as voluntary as he'd like.
• Shout-Out: to the Superman mythos.
• Super Gender Bender/Superhero: His alter ego Cheerleadra
• Supernatural Martial Arts: He goes to a dojo which teaches a martial Arts style based on anime.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: True to the Anime and Fighting Game roots, his first magical power is "Tamashii Gekido" ("Soul Fury") — short-range force blast hurling the opponent away. Accompanying it by screaming may or may not be necessary, but the gesture is, as Elliot discovered while bound.
• Verbal Tic: "Za?"

Tedd

Tedd Drew Verres

File:Tedd 3214.png

Those gaming peripherals were for SCIENCE!

Self-avowed pervert, mad scientist, and Grace's love interest. Obsessed with sex, physical transformations in general, and gender benders in particular. Attends Moperville North with Elliot, Susan, and Sarah. His love for Grace has made him a bit more mature and a bit less of a pervert... okay, he IS still a pervert, but ALL his perverted thoughts are about Grace, now.

Associated tropes:

• Asian and Nerdy: Well, half-Asian, at least.
• Adorkable: Grace thinks so. Hugs.
• Badass Longcoat
• Bishonen: Much to his dismay. Doubles as Bishoujo due to his constant gender bending.
• Blind Without'Em: Tedd tries to use this as an explanation for why he wears glasses. The truth is that they make him feel more masculine, along with having built-in night vision, x-ray, zoom, and video recording capabilities.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Huge pervert. Repaired the TF Gun with little help and has subsquently been examining the fields of magic with a science twist.
• But Not Too Foreign: Tedd is half Japanese, half white (at least as far as we know).
• Chekhov's Gag: In one of the earlier strips, Tedd yells "Aaaa! My eyes! My beautiful eyes!", but we later discover that he really does have beautiful eyes.
• Chivalrous Pervert: So much. As acknowledged even by Susan, he's generally a nice guy, but...

Elliot: Whether or not Tedd takes interest in something is a good way to determine whether or not it should be censored.

• • As you can see from "A Disturbing Look into the Mind of Tedd", he's secure in the knowledge that his girlfriend isn't against it. She even catalogued his fetishes (and access to the TF gun obviously allows her to personally implement a considerable part of this):

Grace: ...and couples switching bodies is #37 on your list of weird things you like.

• Cloudcuckoolander: He has his moments...
• Congruent Memory: His justification for the Third Law of Gender Bending example below.
• Cross Player
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: He wears glasses to fight it, or...

Ted: Either I'm a narcissist, or I'm just that girly.

• Embarrassing Middle Name: Middle Names are Always Fun!
• Epileptic Tree: Was the first character in the main eight to get his own section of the WMG page.
• Face Heel Turn/ He Who Fights Monsters: Tedd has built a gauntlet just like Lord Tedd's. This comes at the end of an arc called 'One Way Road', just after Tedd has declared that he's going to balance science and friendships... and anyone who fucks with him or his friends will be sorry. The implications are bad.
• Famed in Story: At least amongst the magical community his name makes eyebrows raise high. Jerry could identify him just from Susan's brief explanation. And the mention of him was enough to make Raven freak out and rethink his entire plan to capture the boar. They claim it's only because he's the son of Big Good Mr. Verres or enigmatic Mrs. Verres, though this doesn't come across as completely convincing.
• Gender Bender: Likes to become a woman for certain tasks, like cooking or showering. Literally all the gender bending in the series that doesn't involve Dr. Germahn's office or the Uryuom is ultimately his fault; according to Word of God, he's the only person (other than villains) Ellen will zap without permission.
• I Am Who?: Turns out Lord Tedd is enough of a threat in his own universe that he conquered the planet and the possibility of Tedd going down the same path has been heavily hinted.
• If It's You It's Okay: Grace as a male is the only guy Tedd will allow himself to be attracted to.
• In Spite of a Nail: There is always a Tedd in every Universe. Given that at least two Tedds have independently built Magitek gauntlets, this may not be a good thing.
• It's All My Fault: Blames himself for his parent's divorce. Raven says it's not his fault though.
• Magitek: The prime source of it in comic. The TF Gun runs on it, as does his gauntlet.
• Mad Scientist: He began with mixing human and Uryuom technologies, but now conducts his own research on their possible Magitek applications. And as he says in a sketchbook:

How did i accidentally turn myself into girl? I was fixing a toaster.

• • As he's gone on, he's moved away from transformations mostly and is instead investigating magic in general.
• Missing Mom: Exactly the hows and whys of Tedd's mother is one of the biggest ongoing mysteries of the strip, although it's been hinted that Tedd believes she left because of him.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Has the ability to sense whenever girls he knows have moments of sexy awesomeness or nearly have that kind of moment.
• Noodle Incident: It's implied in pre-Cerebus Retcon strips that he's done weird stuff to Elliot over the years, to the point that Elliot learned a self-hypnotic suggestion so he wouldn't Freak-Out whenever he went to Tedd's house.
• Third Law of Gender Bending: Tedd claims that he's a better cook when he's female. He justifies this in this strip.
  • First Law of Gender Bending: Usually the means, and as far as he's concerned, the source.
• Official Couple: With Grace.
• Pretty Boy
• Running Gagged: In comparison to some later characters like Noah, Tedd really just isn't that androgynous and the old gag has been retired.
• Shrinking Violet: When he was younger.
• The Smart Guy
• Start of Darkness: Tedd has independently built a gauntlet just like Lord Tedd's. The arc this was revealed in is named "One Way Road". The implications are grim indeed.
• Stepford Smiler: In a cast of a lot of people who've undergone tragic pasts, Tedd is the most upbeat and heavily suggested to be the most miserable, at least before meeting Uryuoms.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Triggering bullying reactions in others.
• The Tease: Yes!!!
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: His alternate version in Ellen's universe, at least.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: Beta!Tedd with Female!Elliot.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Susan. Until the school uniform arc, where Tedd and Susan became normal friends in a touching scene. Not that it prevented other "sissy slap fights" later.
• You Gotta Have Purple Hair: His father has blue hair, and his mother's niece Nanase has red hair, so Tedd's purple hair is genetic. In the EGS universe, these colors are every bit as normal as brown or blonde. According to Word of God, Tedd was originally supposed to have black hair, but the artist wasn't skilled enough to make it look good in the early years.
  • In one strip a random girl in the MNHS cafeteria refers to him as "that cute jelly-haired boy".

Sarah

Sarah Brown

File:Sarah 9575.png

I'm done thinking for today! It's caused me enough trouble!

Elliot's girlfriend. The "normal" one of the bunch, Sarah attends Moperville North with Susan, Tedd, and Elliot. Intrepid Reporter Carol was later revealed to be her older sister.

Associated tropes:

• A-Cup Angst: Sarah's about average by any objective criterion, but her big sister Carol and then associating with people who have the Most Common Superpower as a literal superpower apparently makes her feel a bit inadequate sometimes.
• The Chick: Considering she has no powers or special abilities herself, she's frequently left behind on most adventures because she is mildly useless. Though it's not really her fault.
• Covert Pervert: She is almost as bad as Tedd himself on occasion.
• Deadpan Snarker: Moreso in the early days, but took a back seat to Susan when she showed up, though now she often serves as a foil for Susan.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: She hit Jerry for attacking Susan; Dan admits it was needless, but still...
• Go Through Me: Tried to defend a helpless Elliot from Hedge, but was smart enough to go for help when Hedge gave her the opportunity.
• Groin Attack: Used it in "Painted Black".
• I Just Want to Be Special: Envies the magical cast, especially Elliot for both his magical powers and his Most Common Superpower when he's in female form.
  • Gets to the point that she's willing to be Tedd's lab assistant in effort to gain said powers.
• Squee: Does this when she finds out that Elliot's a superhero.
• Straight Man
• Straw Feminist: See Deadpan Snarker
• Tsundere: In the beginning of the comic, she acted rather shrill. But she soon softened into the rather normal person she is now.
• Unfazed Everyman: She only felt uneasy about transforming herself, and that was mostly due to an earlier bad experience.

Grace

Grace T. Sciuridae

File:Grace Sciuridae 1084.png

You sound awfully annoyed for a guy with a furry fetish and a half-cat girlfriend.

Just your typical cute and bubbly girl next door, provided the girl you live next to is a part-human, part-alien, part-squirrel shapeshifting defused Tyke Bomb assassin with very liberal ideas about nudity. Attends Moperville South with Ellen, Nanase, and Justin. She is Teddsexual.

Associated tropes:

• Ambiguously Brown
• The Atoner: She's getting better, but still has episodes.
• Badass Adorable: turned up to eleven. Grace is so powerful that Shive has to jump though narrative hoops to prevent her from having a Story-Breaker Power.
• Big Eater: Fueling her superhero-caliber powers requires lots of calories, apparently.
• Beast and Beauty: Inverted.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She doesn't like to fight, but if her friends are threatened, you're dead meat. Her vehemence on this subject is enough to worry three uber-powerful anime-style martial artists.
• Break the Cutie: Throughout "Painted Black".
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Chivalrous Pervert: Of a sort. Grace is perfectly capable about frankly discussing aspects of shapeshifting that make even Tedd uncomfortable.
• Composite Character: Both in-universe and out of it.
• Emergent Human: Very early on.
• Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels: She's most comfortable in part-squirrel shape and takes it whenever she's in private at home.
• Fetish Fuel: Invoked. Grace can literally be everything Tedd has ever dreamed of, and more.
• Flanderization: Her bubbly innocent side was gradually cranked up while her role in the story was reduced until she appeared to be little more than a Plucky Comic Relief character. Later arcs revealed she was putting up a bubbly front to cover some serious inner conflicts.
• Genius Ditz/Teen Genius: What can you say about a brilliant but unworldly girl who mops herself into corners? "Mopping is Tricky!"
• Genki Girl: Sometimes, but especially in the absence of angst.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Grace has a stuffed squirrel, hedgehog, guinea pig, and bat that represent her and her siblings.
• Hair Antennae: Used as a focus for her telekinesis, but otherwise mostly decorative.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Thanks to an alien race with a very strange breeding mechanism, she's technically a first-generation One Quarter human hybrid. And all four parents are different species.
• Hidden Depths: It's been implied that Grace's bubbly, innocent exterior is a facade she maintains to repress the horrors in her past. And it's been plainly stated that one never knows when she's genuinely bubbly and when she uses bubbles to mess with people for fun.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl, at least until she's clued in to exactly the sort of impression she's been giving. Then it doesn't take her long to turn into a Calculating Fanservice Girl, at least as far as Tedd is concerned.
• Laser Guided Tykebomb: she was created specifically to defeat Damien.
• Lightning Bruiser: When she really tries and is more or less in her natural form, she moves too fast even for experienced martial artists to track. She fights much like a rubber cannonball with claws.
• Meaningful Name: her last name is the Latin word for the family squirrels belong to.
• The Messiah
• Mind Over Matter: She uses it a few times.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: She's a were-squirrel.
• Ping-Pong Naivete: In part, she still is a bit naive (she apparently doesn't know about Santa Claus); in part, she likes to play this even when she isn't.
• Single-Target Sexuality: And the target was the last to catch what's going on despite knowing the reasons.
• The Tease: Oh, yes. And uses her innate empathic ability, brains, and dedication to know Tedd's tastes better than Tedd knows himself.
• Unskilled but Strong: It has been acknowledged in-universe that her two only real options in a fight are "Talk opponent down" and "Tear opponent to freaking shreds". A running subplot since Painted Black has been the ongoing efforts of the rest of the cast to rectify this. This seems to be a major part of her behaviour patterns.

Grace: ...I am not horrible at volleyball! Ellen: Grace, you either dive for cover or launch the ball into orbit. Grace: That's how I deal with most of my problems.

• Voluntary Shapeshifting: To a degree notable In-Universe.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: In this in all things including nudity.

Nanase

Nanase Kitsune (狐 七瀬 kitsune nanase)

File:Nanase 111.png

File:Nanase 2 7328.png

Version Post Sister II arc

It's hard to look bad-ass when you're using fairy powers.

Tedd's cousin. Martial Artist, Magic user, all-around badass. Attends Moperville South with Ellen, Grace, and Justin. Has an overbearing mother and a little sister named Akiko. Tend to overthink the potential problems until she makes a mountain out of a mole hill: her mother, while domineering, doesn't act half as oppressive as expected except in school matters and Akiko's fangirling about the older sister's relationship with a girl is quite unlikely to be anything more than the usual "Boys Have Cooties" attitude — which was obvious to Ellen.

Associated tropes:

• Action Girl: Apart from Grace and Super!Elliot, Nanase is by far the strongest out of the main cast, due to both her physical and magical prowess. As of the end of Sister II, she temporarily burnt out her magic, but is still a very strong fighter without it.
• All Lesbians Want Kids: ...someday. Not that it would be a really big problem given that her cousin developed TF Gun.
• Armoured Closet Gay: Her mother found out anyway.
• Big Eater
• Brought Down to Normal: Though it's supposedly only temporary.
• Butch Lesbian: Usually she comes across as a Girly Girl, but had an episode of trying a new image and... Also, at one point Magus tells her he would have made her a man.
• Cool Big Sis: Maybe not to the cast as a whole, but Akiko sure seems to think so.
• Cute Bruiser: A five foot four girl who can bench press 160 lbs — and complains about it because she used to be able to press 200.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: Can shove around couches unassisted when asked for it.
• Fiery Redhead: Formerly.
• Flying Brick: Angel-form.
• Freudian Excuse: Her overbearing mother is the reason for her closeted behavior (even though this is somewhat of an Informed Attribute). Especially odd considering she hangs out with and is good friends with Justin, Ellen, and Grace.
• Functional Magic
• Incompatible Orientation: with Elliot, though she was unaware of it at the time.
• Implausible Hair Color: Red-haired Japanese girl.
• I Will Protect Her: She starts with trying to keep Ellen sane. Later her desire to save Ellen gives her a new spell.
• Lightning Bruiser: Angel-form, in addition to being steel tough, flies very fast.
• Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places/Single Woman Seeks Good Man: As evidenced recently, before dating Elliot and eventually becoming an Official Couple with Ellen, she used to date quite a lot of guys. Enough to get a reputation, as one of her exes brings up. This becomes Fridge Horror when one remembers that, even when she started dating Elliot, she was never actually attracted to him other than for his moral standards, instead hoping she would become attracted over time, which we can now chalk up to her underlying lesbian nature. All well and okay on its own, and everyone's okay with it. Now apply it to the, evidently long, list of guys she's dated, none of which she was likely ever attracted to.
• Meaningful Name: Kitsune are Japanese werefox tricksters.
  • She nicknames her summoned double "Fox".
  • Animal family names aren't very common though...
  • Nanase means Seven Currents, but it's also a fairly common Japanese name.
• My Beloved Smother
• Noodle Incident: The school trip to Paris. Averted, having been explained just recently.
• Really Gets Around: Dated nearly every boy in school hoping to find at least one she was attracted to. Makes for some awkward moments now.

Gerald: I should have known you'd run out of men in the school eventually.

• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: Her mother's view of her relationship with Ellen.
• Rule-Abiding Rebel: A "big act of defiance?," sure. She didn't expect her mother to take it so well.
• Schoolgirl Lesbians: With Ellen.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Also With Ellen.
• Squishy Wizard: Averted. Nanase is both the most powerful Martial Artist and the most powerful magic user of the cast because her magical power stems directly from the physical and spiritual discipline cultivated by her martial arts, and her magic provides her with superhuman combat abilities while also boosting her raw physical strength.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: Even moreso than Elliot, and also trains as a magic user separately.

Justin

Justin Tolkiberry

File:Justin 9166.png

Man, I suck at negotiating.

Nanase's best friend, an amiable comic shop clerk who was traumatically outed by his former best friend Melissa shortly before Elliot rescued him from bullies and befriended him. Since Elliot is also the one who introduced him to Nanase and the rest of the main cast by extension, Justin feels a huge debt of gratitude and an unrequited crush towards him. Justin also suffers from a seemingly irresistible compulsion to mess with long hair, though he is bothered by the stereotype. He also attends Moperville South.

Associated tropes:

• All Love Is Unrequited: Regarding Elliot, due to Incompatible Orientation.
• Berserk Button: NEVER mention Melissa or Noah to him, especially if it's about forgiving her.
  • Of course, since Melissa started getting some Character Development and Justin proved willing to go off on his best friends for this, this tendency has started to make him look like a total dick... which Ellen makes him realise.
  • In recent strips, he has begun to soften up a bit, but he's nowhere near ready to forgive everything.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Sense a pattern here? Justin's Anime-style martial arts prowess may not be up to Nanase's or Elliot's level (yet), but push his amiability too far and you'll quickly discover he's still got Supernatural Martial Arts.
• Can't Catch Up: Justin may feel inadequate compared to Nanase, Grace, and Ellen, but later proves he can be quite Badass when the situation requires it.
• Coming Out Story: Was outed to the whole town by his former best friend Melissa (or more accurately, her sister) and still holds a grudge against her for it.
• Gentle Giant: One of the tallest members of the main cast, but as mentioned, prefers not resorting to violence.
• Incompatible Orientation: With Elliot.
  • Ironically enough, Elliot's Clark Kenting form may have this for Justin, while the reverse is true normally.
• Irony: When Justin was outed, Melissa was herself betrayed in exactly the same way he thinks she betrayed him.
• Let's Get Dangerous: Justin instantly switches from amiable to badass when he has to defend the comic store from the fire monster.
• Meaningful Name and Shout-Out: A fan of The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek.
• Moral Myopia: Has this for a good while regarding Melissa - it's true that she made a terrible mistake and hurt him terribly, but until recently he took his treatment of her further than she deserved. He's getting better, though.
• Out of Focus: Beats out Sarah as the member of the main eight who gets the least spotlight, with the exception of the Birthday party arc involving his admitting his love for Elliot; the current Superhero storyline appears to be his Day in The Limelight.
• Power Tattoo
• Rescue Romance: With Elliot.
  • Possibly with George, if we're reading the signs right.
• Secret Keeper: He knows what the main cast is up to and refuses to share details after George started putting things together. Not only that, Justin knows the identity of the mysterious cloaked figure and hasn't told anyone in the main cast. Given his history, is this any surprise?
• Straight Gay
• Supernatural Martial Arts: Though he's not nearly as powerful as Nanase or Elliot, he's no longer someone to be trifled with.
• Took a Level In Badass: Justin, after entire arcs of being one of the only main characters not showing wonderful toys or superpowers other than his illusion exercises, knocks back a flame golem with his bare fists then kicks it over a hundred feet into a river.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ellen gave him a stink eye and vicious chewing-out after he snapped at Elliot for even daring to look at things from Melissa's perspective - she makes it clear that while his grudge is understandable, snapping at his friends when they only have his best interests at heart is unacceptable

Susan

(Tiffany) Susan Pompoms

File:107px-Susan 369.gif

Already the males make excuses for their gender.

Sarah's best friend. Poor Little Rich Girl who lives in a huge house but complains about the cost of text messaging and works in a video store. Attends Moperville North with Sarah, Elliot, and Tedd. Caught her father committing adultery when she was little and still hasn't quite recovered from the psychological trauma.

Associated tropes:

• Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male: Early comics gave Susan a free pass to clobber men with magical hammers as long as she was defending women (or Tedd, who may be just that girly.) Justified later when the creator of the hammers explicitly says that they were designed to be a "painful but harmless" way for women to retaliate against inappropriate comments.
• Adorkable: That's what we get to see when she's not in the Hammer Queen role.
• Asexuality: Heavily hinted in one of the Q&A, and Susan essentially defines herself as such in the story proper. Whether or not this is truly the case remains to be seen.
• Attractive Bent Gender: A rare male case.
• Bare Your Midriff: in early appearances, not so much lately.
• Broken Bird: On several levels.
• Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes and again. Lampshaded here.
• Defrosting Ice Queen
• Drop the Hammer: Her weapon of choice
• Embarrassing First Name: She much prefers "Susan", thank you very much. She thinks that "Tiffany Pompoms" sounds too much like a "stereotypical cheerleader."
• Expository Hairstyle Change: An important element of her backstory that's revisited periodically over the course of her Character Development.
• Freak-Out: In a seemingly mind-boggling — though understandable in context — case of overreaction. When she was told that she just didn't get an old joke.
• Freudian Excuse: Caught her father with an undressed woman who was not her mother.
• Hates Being Touched: Very much.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: It's a physical box, but she can summon the contents from anywhere.
• Incompatible Orientation: First with Justin, later with Catalina.
• Locked Into Strangeness: She used to dye her naturally blonde hair dark blue... until her magical powers awakened, at which point dark blue dramatically became her "natural" color.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Moment of Weakness: Panicked the first time she saw Nanase use her Fairy Doll spell and, in the process of getting help, blurted out to the others the personal issues they had been talking about.
• Neat Freak: Set phasers to sanitize. And get your ugly butt off her kitchen counter.
• Power Tattoo: The Venus symbol on her back is a magical mark.
• Running Gag: Hammers, spontaneous changes in hair color.
• Ship Tease: She gets some with a lot of characters, including Ellen (when she got zapped with her V5 beam), Catalina (who actually asked her out), Justin (who she made out with when they were both gender flipped), Matt Cohen (who also asked her out), and even Elliot, in a way that implies it might actually lead somewhere. Fans are...of mixed feelings about that last one, though the general attitude is to give Shive the benefit of the doubt.
• Straw Feminist: At first, due to her (Very) Freudian Excuse. She gets Character Development and grows out of it.
• Sugar and Ice Personality: Needed to unwind badly. After admitting her problems and going through a few seances of angst-dialysis, she began to learn how to laugh aloud and drop non-acidic jokes.
• Summon to Hand: Any of the items stored in her Summon Chest.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
• These Hands Have Killed: The major reason she's no longer a Wide-Eyed Idealist.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Tedd. And with Nanase (back from the trip to France).
• Wholesome Crossdresser: To make a point regarding School Uniforms. She does start off believing Real Women Never Wear Dresses, and still hates the idea of skirts in and of themselves.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Before meeting the aberration. Literally so — her eyes change into her current half-droopy state when she looks down at his corpse, and while she still has wide eyes quite often, they do tend towards the "half-droopy." After the encounter of a weird kind with Jerry leading to Freak-Out, though, she now tends to having wide open eyes as often as not.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Double-subverted. She has dark blue hair, but she's a natural blonde. However, nobody realized she dyes her hair because blue is considered a natural color in this setting. Her awakening makes dark blue her "natural" hair color.

Ellen

Ellen Danielle Dunkel

File:Ellen goonish shive 8241.png

That crazed look could have meant any number of things!

Elliot's more outgoing Opposite Sex Clone, Half Identical Twin Sister and Daughter, Ellen is also Grace's best friend and self-appointed protector. Ellen attends Moperville South with Grace partially because attending school with Elliot would raise too many questions and partially to ensure that Grace will always have the support of a friend she can rely on in school.

Associated tropes:

• Beware the Nice Ones: Do NOT mock Grace in Ellen's presence; the resulting death glare alone was enough to stun two other girls into silence.
  • Even Justin was not safe from her wrath after he upset her brother.
  • Vlad should consider himself lucky Ellen didn't kill him after he nearly killed Nanase.
• Bi the Way: There have been times when Ellen's bisexuality has shown through, even though she's currently in denial about it.
• Big Sister Instinct towards Elliot whenever he's feeling down.
  • Elliot's Chronic Hero Syndrome pales before Ellen's behaviour. She's very uninhibited and shows extreme protectiveness toward everyone close to her.
• Conflict Ball: Off and on; demonstrated best when completely apropos of nothing she cornered Tedd and started yelling at him about wanting to help Nanase, revealing that she has seriously conflicted feelings about Tedd.
• Chivalrous Pervert
• Cloning Blues: played straight at first, but mostly subverted in the long run.
• Closet Key: For Nanase.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She started with the memories of Elliot. After fully expecting to die in a month and then getting over the identity problem she embraced "live today" attitude.
• Divergent Character Evolution: From Elliot, it's gotten to the point that Dan himself would rather her just be Elliot's twin sister.
• Expendable Clone: Felt like one long after the other characters had accepted her as a person in her own right. Subverted, as she went on to become a major character.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Ellen's gradually lengthening hair symbolizes her growing acceptance of herself as a real person and a girl.
• First Law of Gender Bending: Both her current status, and that she can inflict it on others.
• Half Identical Twin: according to her cover story (she's actually a clone.)
• Hot-Blooded: she shares Elliot's hot temper but exhibits less control over it.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Her typical approach to Elliot ("You're like me if I were being directed by George Lucas.") Elliot actually gets more upset when she doesn't tease him because he feels guilty she got created (and stuck as a girl) in the first place.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: She said it to Tedd when he offered to study Nanase.
• Jumping the Gender Barrier: As someone on the WMG page put it, Ellen's problems derive more from not being Elliot than being female, which she doesn't seem to mind terribly.
• Most Common Superpower: Her body is based on "Female Variant #5" (designed by Tedd), so she's probably the best endowed of the cast. And since that is her default form, the "Female Variant #5" modification gets applied again on top of it whenever she zaps herself.
• No Bisexuals: In denial, perhaps to show solidarity with Nanase and perhaps because of an incident in her dream life, though she has also claimed that that she feels squicked by the way her admitted attraction to men was artificially grafted onto her personality by the transformation gun.
• Official Couple: With Nanase. It has become even more official after the arc Sister II.
• Opposite Sex Clone: Of Elliot.
• Poke the Poodle: After she was first created, she tried to be Elliot's Evil Twin but failed miserably.
• Schoolgirl Lesbians: With Nanase.
• Sibling Rivalry: Ellen lives to tease Elliot — but god help anyone who actually hurts his feelings.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: She and Nanase tend to be this.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: She got it in ready form from Elliot, with some extra power on account of being a magical creature.
• Tangled Family Tree: Here is her family tree. She was created magically instead of being born and can be thought of as having up to four mothers: one of which is also her twin brother, and father, two are mother figures and the fourth is her mother due to being her twin brother/father's mother. By the same logic, she has up to three fathers: one because he's a husband figure to one of her mother figures, one due to her biological relationship to her twin brother, and one due to being her twin brother/father's father. Also, by the same logic, she is dating her aunt, but that is only because of the biological relationship she has with one of Ellen's father figures, so it probably doesn't count. So yeah.
  • Magus seems to be another father.
• Verbal Tic: Has picked up/inherited "Za?" from her brother/father.

The Feds

Mr. Edward Verres

File:Endless-barrel.png

Mr. Verres after his exposition

Tedd's father. A (former) The Men in Black and the author of preposterous Masquerades that somehow always work despite being patently ridiculous.

Associated tropes:

• Badass Longcoat: Whenever circumstances require him to take the field.
• Badass Mustache
• Big Good: The closest the comic has, anyway. Lampshaded when he was explicitly compared to Dumbledore and Gandalf.
• Big No: He agrees to buy pizza for eight teenagers.
• Crazy Prepared: Mostly when the Rule of Funny requires it.
• The Illegible: Called "Ink Blot Handwriting" in a title.

Justin: Maybe, it's a map?

• The Men in Black: He's good at cover-ups and got a reputation as more cooperative than others (like his successor), though the excess of personal involvement eventually led to being Kicked Upstairs out of this position.
• Mr. Exposition: "I am an endless barrel of exposition!" (and the current page image!)
  • Saying Too Much: Surprisingly, in the "allowed" circle "an endless barrel of exposition" is prone to spilling more than is really needed.
  • Verbal Judo: Not sure if this is even the right trope at all, but it comes closest to describing this. Big Good justified!
• Opaque Lenses
• Papa Wolf: Not just to Tedd, but an Uncle Wolf to Nanase as well.
• Reasonable Authority Figure
• Scary Shiny Glasses
• You Gotta Have Dark Blue Hair

Agents Wolf and Cranium

Federal agents who work for Mr. Verres.

Associated tropes:

• Agent Mulder/The Scully: Respectively.
• Captain Ersatz: Of Mulder and Scully from the X-files.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Though we have yet to see them truly in action, Raven offhandedly describes Wolf as one of the most powerful wizards in the mid-western United States, and the security scan reveals he's surprisingly buff under his Badass Longcoat.
• The Men in Black
• Meaningful Name
• Unresolved Sexual Tension/Will They or Won't They?: Averted. In the words of the author, "they have, they will again, and they utterly fail at hiding it".

Arthur J. Arthur

"I do not waste time."

Mr. Verres' successor (and predecessor) as head of the office of Paranormal Affairs. Reputed to care more about keeping secrets than helping people. Mr. Raven is on non-speaking terms with him.

Associated tropes:

• Department of Redundancy Department
• Masquerade: Though he stuns Mr. Verres when his first act is to reveal the Masquerade, not reinforce it, implying that he may be playing a deeper game.
• Only One Name: The J? It stands for Just. As in "Arthur, Just Arthur."
• The Quiet One: As his quote indicates, he gets right to the point.
• Troll: Tried to deport Raven to Russia, knowing full well he wasn't from Russia.
• Wham! Line "The occasional casualty will not disrupt our long term objectives"

Family

Mrs. Kitsune

Nanase's overbearing and traditional Japanese Mother.

Associated tropes:

• Berserk Button (via the Fourth Wall Mail Slot): Mentioning Tedd's mother triggers a vehement I Have No Sister reaction.
• Delayed Reaction: Upon finding out that Ted has a girlfriend.
• Education Mama
• My Beloved Smother: Though much less than Nanase expects — as long as it's not about studies.
• Secret Keeper: Apparently.

Mr. Kitsune

Background Character. All we know about him is Nanase's belief that her father won't back her against her mother.

Akiko Kitsune

Nanase's little sister. Brave enough to defy their mother (albeit in secret) by sneaking Nanase cookies, but a cypher otherwise. Rarely speaks.

• Boys Have Cooties: Weird and gross!
• Fangirl: She is like this. Rapunzel, her own sister and whatnot.
• Hime Cut

The Dunkels

Elliot and Ellen's seemingly oblivious, unflappable, and ridiculously permissive parents.

Associated tropes:

• Cloud Cuckoolanders: How else can you interpret their non-reactions to all the wackiness in their lives combined with their unexpected seriousness about things like going to the store for furniture?
• Crazy Prepared: A pre-mission briefing — complete with poster sized charts — for a trip to the store.
• Open-Minded Parent: Lampshaded repeatedly...

Elliot: Your daughter is a cat. You could at least pretend this is odd. [later] Mr. Dunkel: If you're going to be out late fighting evil, you need to call home first! Ms. Dunkel: That's right. It affects our ability to plan supper and alibis.

• Trademark Favorite Food: Brownies.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Mr. Dunkel's overblown "assault plan" for furniture shopping.

Mrs. Pompoms.

Susan's embittered mother. Appears to have lost all faith in men (and perhaps humanity in general) after her husband's betrayal. Embarrassingly over-aggressive when it comes to "protecting" Susan's interests.

• Bottle Fairy
• My Beloved Smother: Bullied the school into allowing Susan to go on the field trip to France, much to Susan's embarrassment.
• Straw Feminist: To the point where she openly wishes Susan were a lesbian because it would allow her to totally exclude men from her life.

Carol Brown

Ed, I grew up in Moperville. Weird stuff happens here.

Sarah's older sister. A pretty, determined, and gung-ho television reporter who covers the Moperville area. Apparently immune to the Weirdness Censor that prevents other people from crediting the weird stuff that goes on in her home town.

Associated tropes:

• Intrepid Reporter: How else do you describe a reporter who arrives on scene via air drop?
• She's Got Legs: And she knows how to use them.
• She Is All Grown Up: The in-universe reason that Elliot didn't recognize her.
• Sibling Rivalry: Note Sarah's reaction when Elliot makes the above assertion.
• Sure Why Not: According to Dan, this is why she wound up related to Sarah as part of a Retcon.

Teachers & Mentors

Sensei Greg

Master and founder of the School of Anime-Style Martial Arts (now closed), which he founded after a marathon anime viewing session.

Associated tropes:

• Ascended Fanboy: Comic book & anime geek who learned how to unlock "ki" (Magic by Any Other Name) after watching 168 hours of anime straight. Much of his instructor "wisdom" comes from comic books.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's a nice guy and a goofball, but he'll still threaten to punch you through your face if you do anything evil.
• Black and Nerdy
• Cosplay: In fact, Greg has dabbled in crossplay.

Dex: And... haven't I seen you cosplaying as Chun-Li? Greg: Yep! <thumbs up> comment: Jackie Chan once dressed up as Chun-Li for a Street Fighter parody in one of his movies. If it's good enough for Jackie Chan, Greg would probably say it's good enough for him.

• Dirty Old Man: Because of anime martial arts examples such as Happosai and Master Roshi, he considers the fact that he does not fit this trope to be a point of shame.
• Enlightenment Superpowers: An already experienced martial artist invented his own style after a feat of ascetism ending with a big insight. Shive knows the classics, all right. In Greg's case, it's 168 hours of watching anime without breaks for lunch and sleep — which accounts for the style's... peculiarity.
• Gentle Giant: Easily towers over everyone in the main cast, yet as a black-belt level martial artist, he's not big on unnecessary violence.
• Giver of Lame Names: "...you might want to hire a marketing consultant."
• No Man Should Have This Power: He closed the dojo in part due to worries that there's no way to ensure that good powers would be granted to the right people. Just before the dojo was wrecked by a sleepwalking (and possibly mind-controlled) magic-user and a dragon anyway.

Greg: You three are good kids, but my training could inadvertently give a sociopath atomic breath or something. While awesome, that would be totally irresponsible. (note that he looks very serious when saying this)

• Scary Black Man: Played with. While he certainly looks the part, he's actually more of a geeky otaku type at heart.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: Literally. As in "closed his dojo when he realized his training techniques only worked with people who already had a predisposition for magical powers".

Adrian Raven

Moperville South's apparently sinister and demanding history teacher. He's been a teacher there for a very long time and has quite the reputation as a menacing and cryptic individual. The reality of the matter is that he's an elf who has dedicated his time to assisting "gifted" children.

Associated tropes:

• Badass Teacher: Oh yes.
• Berserk Button: He hates it when people denigrate magical creatures. There's a good reason for this.
  • Also, do not threaten his students. It could well be your last mistake.
• Big Good: Shaping up to be the second one after Mr. Verres.
• Captain Ersatz: Of Severus Snape and Miles Edgeworth. He even called 'objection' once.
• Combat Pragmatist:

Abraham: Feigned frailty, no "En guarde"... Have you no honor? Raven: The lives of my students are more important. Besides which, I did warn you.

• Dark Is Not Evil
• Good Is Not Nice: He's very strict and intimidating, but his main purpose is acting as a guardian towards magical or otherwise not entirely mundane students. Basically, Lawful Good with the emphasis on Lawful (or asskicking, depending on the situation).
• Half-Human Hybrid: He's the son of a human and Chaos.
• Large Ham: Not always screaming, but he puts up a good show whenever possible.
• Magic Knight
• My Greatest Failure/My God, What Have I Done?: According to him he was even more encouraging than he is now, especially to Tedd's parents and because of that considers himself completely at fault for Mrs. Verres departure from her family.
  • It's All My Fault
• Our Elves Are Better
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Ellen speculates that he's much older than he looks, since he's been teaching at the school since at least Nanase's mother's time. She's more right than she thinks.
• Secret Keeper: Mr. Raven's real job is assisting and protecting students with magical abilities.
• Shut UP, Hannibal: To his own mother, no less.
• Sword Cane
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: He reverts to his elf form when fighting Abraham.
  • Or occasionally at home.

Students - Moperville North

Catalina Bobcat

"Jackasses!"'

Member of the Moperville North Feminist Club with a crush on Susan.

Associated tropes:

• Catgirl: As Elliot put it, she "seems just a tail short from being a cat-girl."
• Fiery Redhead
• Genki Girl
• Gosh Dang It to Heck: Involuntary; she sees herself more as Dame Diatribe, but there's some lines she can't cross at school, and all the situations that make her want to swear are at school.
• Incompatible Orientation: With Susan. Susan gets a lot of this, apparently.
• Meaningful Name: See Catgirl.
• Quirky Curls
• Schoolgirl Lesbians: What she wants with Susan.
  • Might be getting it with Rhoda.

Liz

The Goth-esque member of the Feminist club. Seriously addicted to cigarettes.

Sandi

The airheaded member of the Feminist's club. Tony's girlfriend.

Associated tropes:

• The Ditz

Tony

School Bully, Tedd's tormentor, and Elliot's nemesis.

Associated tropes:

• Jerk Jock
• The Bully
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Grace theorizes that Tony is upset by his own attraction to the feminine aspects of Tedd's appearance.

Matt Cohen

The Head of the Student Council. Because of his position, he often has to announce the latest "ideas" of the Principal.

Associated Tropes:

• Ambiguously Jewish: His last name and hairstyle suggest that he might be Jewish, though it hasn't been explicitly stated.
• Beleaguered Assistant: Implied. He seems to love his job, but he is not a fan of the Principal's school uniform idea.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's gotten in one snark. It wouldn't be very noteworthy, except it was toward Susan. Whether this a defining trait, remains to be seen.
  • His speech about the uniforms was full of this, seemingly designed to get across his contempt for the system and the principal. Kind of impressive, given that these were after he was told to stick to the cards.

"Black ties are encouraged but not required for uniforms, for reasons surely not related to those costing extra."

• Dogged Nice Guy: Possibly... But considering Dan spent an extra comic because he didn't want to let Matt's intentions hang in the dark, it seems he's pure Nice Guy.
• Foreshadowing: This and this turns out to be so for this. All of this took place over the course of five years. Only Dan Shive, everybody...
• I Want My Fellow Student To Be Happy: Matt seems to understand quite clearly that Susan doesn't want to date him, and respects it. When he hears that she's never dated at all, he gives an earnest piece of advice to think on whether or not she'd regret not dating in High School. Even if it's not with him, he just wanted to make sure Susan would be okay.

Students - Moperville South

Diane

"Elementary, my dear Lucy

The Queen Bee of Moperville South. Physically identical to Susan but very different in personality.

Associated tropes:

• Alpha Bitch
  • Lovable Alpha Bitch
• Girl Posse: Lucy, Rhoda.
• Identical Stranger: Distinguishable from Susan only by hair style and fashion sense.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Neat Freak: "OK, you had both better have clean hands!" Another coincidence with Susan?

Lucy

The snarky member of Diane's Girl Posse.

Associated tropes:

• Deadpan Snarker
• Demoted to Extra: It's pretty easy to forget that she's part of Diane and Rhoda's group.
• With Friends Like These...: She's quite critical of Rhoda. And anyone else, for that matter. To a lesser degree, even Diane.

Rhoda

The sensitive member of Diane's Girl Posse who serves as Diane's Morality Pet and Lucy's Acceptable Target.

Associated tropes:

• Animal Motif: Rhoda is often compared to and treated like a puppy.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Non-romantic version. Rhoda is so petite, she looks tiny next to just about any guy. Six-foot Justin practically towers over her.
• Meganekko: When she isn't wearing her contacts.
• Morality Pet: Diane doesn't seem so bad when she's comforting a sobbing Rhoda who forgot her Math homework.
• Power Tattoo
• Ship Tease: Dan specifically says that he knows nothing about either boats or mailing things that wouldn't fit in envelopes once she and Catalina meet.
• Shrinking Violet: Rhoda's perception of her own size literally shrinks when she feels intimidated.

Melissa

Justin's former best friend who outed him after he told her he was gay by thoughtlessly confiding in her blabbermouth sister, and who hasn't exactly repaired their relationship with her subsequent behavior.

Associated tropes:

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Invoked. Justin tells Susan that Melissa is a Smug Snake who almost destroyed his life. Noah tells Elliot that Melissa is a tragic heroine who destroyed her own life as well. Their respective stories are pretty consistent in the details, it's just that Justin seems to hold her more responsible than he does her sister and is thus less willing to forgive her.
• The Atoner: See Set Right What Once Went Wrong below.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: See Psycho Ex-Girlfriend below.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She got a surprising Crowning Moment of Awesome by jumping between knocked down "Cheerleadra" and a monster and trying to stare it down.
• Hidden Depths: Dan claims that her referring to Myth Busters is a subtle hint of this.
  • Less subtly, she said her faith in Noah was based on seeing how he had beaten something, compared to which a bulldog faced fireball-breathing dragon the size of a half truck is a misbehaving pup. Which also explains her treatment of it.
• Incompatible Orientation: She's still attracted to Justin, but it certainly isn't mutual.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Has recently gotten the hint that Justin wants nothing to do with her, and has promised to leave him alone.
  • Doubles as a Tear Jerker as it comes from the realization/belief that if it took Justin this long to forgive her, then they probably shouldn't and won't be friends again anyway.
• Love Makes You Crazy/Love Makes You Dumb: Pick the one you prefer. When her obsession with Justin kicks in, she acts like a complete lunatic unless she remembers to Dope Slap herself out of it.
  • Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: An annoying example... Except that it's been revealed that her motives are a bit more complex than that. Not to mention that she is fully aware that her attempts to win over Justin are pointless and do nothing but make her come off as annoying and quite possibly psychotic, but can't seem to stop herself.
• Retcon: Originally, she was just some girl who Justin dated once and who wouldn't let go, but later became a childhood friend who had been in love with him for a long time, making her story more tragic.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Noah believes that Melissa has deluded herself into thinking she can make everything right again by winning Justin back.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch

Noah

I have been told I can make straight men see rainbows.

Melissa's androgynous boyfriend who rarely uses contractions. An orphan, Noah appears to be the ward of Mr. Raven and recently made friends with Elliot. He is the mysterious hooded figure previously only known as "The Child Left Behind" who has been seeking Grace to repay his debts to her for killing Damien.

Associated tropes:

• Ambiguous Disorder: Diane, at least, thinks he's probably neurodivergent, though some of his autistic-like traits (like disliking crowds and loud noises) could be attributed to his being a human-Uryuom seyunolu.
• Berserk Button: Intentionally evil acts cry out for vengeance!
• Best Served Cold: He trained for years to kill Damien to avenge someone long dead.
  • Revenge Before Reason: In a throwaway gag, he reveals that he was looking into selling his soul for power before Raven dissuaded him.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He speaks formally in order to control his temper, which is apparently pretty bad if pushed too far.
• Camp Straight: Elliot was rather surprised to hear he has a girlfriend.
• Can Not Tell a Lie: Lending credence to his Alternative Character Interpretation of Melissa.
• Chekhov's Gunman: First appeared six years before his formal introduction.
• Cloudcuckoolander: If all the rest of the tropes in this section weren't enough evidence, these two strips cement it.
• Dark Is Not Evil
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Even moreso than Tedd in that he also dresses in androgynous clothing. He killed a Running Gag: in comparison with Noah, Tedd doesn't look "just that androgynous" at all.

Elliot: Who's this... guy? I think? Student: Oh, it's that weird girl.

• Even the Guys Want Him: Lampshaded/invoked.

Noah: Is it jealousy? I have been told I could make straight men see rainbows.

• Friendless Background: Wants friends, but has difficulty making them because he is shy and has poor social skills.
• Friends with Benefits: He's dating Melissa despite her still being in love with Justin, and they "provide close comfort and pleasure for each other."
• Guttural Growler: Implied that he does this as "The Child Left Behind".
• Hidden Depths: Nearly won a race through the "Swedekea" store with super-powerful martial artist Elliot, and later tells Raven that he was holding back. To be fair, Elliot was too, but still...
  • In the gym, he faked mediocrity so well that Ellen remembered him at all only because of his strange hairdo.
  • He also once beat the snot out of two guys who later went on to become college football offensive linemen.
• In the Hood
• Keet: Quieter than most, but the dude can flounce and produce sparkles at will.
• Lightning Bruiser: Also, literally.
• Mysterious Past
• Peek-a-Bangs
• There Was a Door: See Cloudcuckoolander above.

Victor von Hip

A self-publishing schoolboy who tries to be very helpful.

Associated tropes:

• Badass Boast: "The Greek God Of Pamphlets!"
• Crazy Prepared: He already has pamphlets for every occasion, no matter how strange. Check out his pamphlet on his pamphlets.
• New Age Retro Hippie

Supporting Characters

George

An average nerd and Justin's coworker at the comic book shop.

Associated tropes:

• Ambiguously Gay: There are some only slightly ambiguous hints that George has a crush on Justin, but this isn't confirmed and could be a Red Herring, and all of the signs (except perhaps for one) could realistically be due to other reasons.
• Author Avatar: He parrots what Dan says a lot in the commentary and interrupted a Q&A in comic to act as his mouth piece. However, he's not solely existent for that. Dan's actual Author Avatar has shown up less since he was created, though.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Invoked: George feels this way about Star Wars ep. 1-3.
• Shipper on Deck: Possibly; repeatedly refers to Elliot as Justin's boyfriend, but maybe he's just being sarcastic... or jealous.
• Meta Guy: The reason he was created.

Dr. Sciuridae

Grace's "Grandfather" who substituted his own dead daughter's DNA (the original Grace) for the intended genetic sample when Project Lycanthrope created their fourth assassin "Shade Tail."

Associated tropes:

• Only in It For the Money: He knew his bosses' ideas were completely nuts, was fully aware of the dubious morality of his job, and hated the company, but...
• The Stool Pigeon: He was the snitch who gave out the Project Lycanthrope to Mr. Verres after he grew attached to Grace.

Dex

A regular in the comic shop where George and Justin work, a very hairy and very unkempt guy of less than athletical body shape, though not quite emaciated. He found himself right in the epicenter of the magic mayhem in "New And Old Flames" arc.

Associated tropes:

• Ascended Extra: He was just a creepy dude who hung around the comic shop where Justin worked. And than he walked into Greg's dojo...
• Ascended Fanboy
• It's A Small Fandom After All: He and Greg remember seeing each other at a convention.
• The Knights Who Say Squee
• Power Tattoo: Though he can't remember how he got this, probably due to not being sober-minded at the time.
• Summon Magic: Can do something like Susan's twist of Nanase's fairy doll spell.

Villains

Guineas

Guineapig/human/alien hybrid and the "oldest" of Grace's brothers. Stays in his hybrid form most of the time, in which he is unable to speak any human language. He isn't shown to be particularly bright or strong. He seems to be willing to take orders from Damian, but he also reports to Hedge on the side.

Associated tropes:

• The Big Guy
• Estrogen Brigade Bait: The sight of his fully human form prompts Ellen and a female soldier to stare openmouthed and high-five.
• Heel Face Turn
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Too busy cleaning out his ears to notice Elliot slips his bonds (and clothes) via shapeshifting.
• Minion with an F In Evil: When his brothers are having climactic combat showdowns with the protagonists, Guineas engages Ellen... in a thumb war (and loses!)
• Obfuscating Stupidity
• Our Werebeasts Are Different
• Voluntary Shapeshifting
• The Unintelligible: His siblings understand him, but for everyone else it's rendered as "Squeek! Squee squee *snort* squee?"

Hedge

Hedgehog/human/alien hybrid and the self-appointed "Big Brother" of Grace's animal-hybrid family. Spent most of his first appearances spying on Grace and her friends before he kidnapped Elliot (who he thought was another hybrid). Spends most of his time in his human form, as his hedgehog form can't speak.

Associated tropes:

• Deadpan Snarker: On occasion.

"Who is Timmy and how did he fall down the well?"

• Heel Face Turn
• Our Werebeasts Are Different
• Running Gag: Hedge, master of the anti-climactic moment.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting

Vlad/Vladia

Bat/falcon/leopard/alien/human hybrid and the final brother introduced in the comic. The giant mix-match of creatures used to create him made his first attempt at transforming a life-threatening experience, so he decided to stay in his hybrid form permanently, even though he hates being seen as a freak. This lasted until he got turned into a girl by Ellen's beam, so now he's decided to stick with that form just so he can look normal.

Associated tropes:

• Deadpan Snarker: Towards Grace
• First Law of Gender Bending: Restoring her original form is theoretically possible, but she considers it too risky.
• Gender Bender/Involuntary Shapeshifting: Courtesy of Ellen, not that he minds.
• Heel Face Turn
• Hates Being Touched: This is how Hedge is certain that it was Vlad after the Gender Bender.
• Humanity Ensues: courtesy of Ellen.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Didn't like seeing Grace get hurt, and snaps her out of a Heroic BSOD.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: As in human/bat/falcon/leopard/Uryoum hybrid.
• Second Law of Gender Bending: Interestingly, the only straight example thus far: "I've never been a man in my life as far as I'm concerned!"
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: With a twist. Vladia invokes this as a personal choice, as she only wants to stay human forever.
• Tsundere: Haven't seen the dere side outwardly, but seems to be the part.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Sort of. He was designed as a shapeshifter, but it almost killed him the only time he tried it, so he stayed in his man-bat form until Ellen transformed him. After he was transformed, he decided being human was more important than being male.

Damien

One of the first Big Bads in the series. He's technically another one of Grace's brothers, not that you'd guess it. Damien is a murderous Chimera with fire-based powers and a messiah complex. He wants to create an army of chimeras with him as their king.

Associated tropes:

• A God Am I: Damien believes he was summoned to Earth to be the Messiah of the Chimera. The realization that he isn't triggers his Villainous Breakdown.
• Big Bad: Of the Painted Black Arc.
• Flying Brick: On fire.
• Healing Factor
• Playing with Fire
• Self-Disposing Villain: Of course, for someone undergoing Villainous Breakdown and batshit insane to begin with it's sort of Justified.
• Super Strength
• Taking You with Me
• Unskilled but Strong: His fighting style is entirely based on his powers. Against someone immune to fire, and who can neutralize his healing factor, he is a complete amateur.
• Wreathed in Flames

Abraham

The creator of the Dewitchery Diamond that created Ellen. Abraham swore an oath to hunt down and destroy all new creatures created by the Diamond because, due to the nature of curses, those creatures tend to be vicious monsters. However, after learning that Ellen, the Diamond's latest creation, is an innocent human being (and is loved by her friends and family), he begins to question whether or not he is in the right anymore.

Associated tropes:

• Anti-Villain: Especially towards the end of his arc.
• The Atoner: First for making Dewitchery Diamond, then for trying to fix this problem too enthusiastically. See for yourself. But he's still incorrigibly dramatic.
• Badass Longcoat
• Chekhov's Gunman: Was first mentioned in in the first Sister arc, but only appeared recently.
• Cool Old Guy
• Didn't Think This Through: His defining trait. He enchanted the Dewitchery Diamond to separate a lycanthropic friend from his curse without considering the potential consequences, didn't think about things like the cosmetic use of magic when he swore that oath, and managed to forget that Adrian Raven was a wizard while in the middle of fighting him. No wonder that two of two wizards who spoke of Abe called him "idiot."
• Heel Realization
• Hero Antagonist: in his own mind, at least.
• Idiot Hero: Double deconstructed, if that's the right way to put it. First, because of his stupidity, he made his friend's condition worse instead of selling the gem to someone more skilled, and it only went downhill from there-that's the example they have written on the Playing With A Trope page for Idiot hero. Then, because he was so stupid, he didn't think about cosmetic magic, such as, say, someone's best friend turning them into a girl or something less drastic, such as a change of hair color, he came to the conclusion that he had to kill Ellen. It's not cute and funny, it's the cause of a horrifying Knight Templar. I mean, he didn't even think to throw the damn diamond in a volcano. Was he even really trying?
• I Gave My Word
• Kiai: Lets one out here.
• Knight Templar: Somewhat. He's fully aware that his goal is morally wrong, but feels that it has to be done regardless.
• Lawful Stupid: If it wasn't for his oath to kill anything born from the Dewitchery Diamond, he wouldn't even qualify as a villain.
• Meaningful Name: In The Bible, Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his own child, but at the last moment, an angel stopped him, announcing that God was just testing his faith. Now consider that Ellen was created by the Dewitchery Diamond, which means that Abraham is Ellen's father in a roundabout way. Now consider that his oath to God led him to try to kill Ellen. Now consider that Nanase looked awfully angelic when she convinced Abraham to spare Ellen's life.
• Necessarily Evil
• Never Live It Down: In-universe example. Apparently, "Every properly trained wizard has heard of Abraham, the idiot apprentice who recklessly enchanted a massive diamond instead of selling it to pay someone more skilled to fix his cursed noble friend."
• Punch Clock Villain
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old
• Taken for Granite: A voluntary version. He puts himself into suspended animation to prolong his life.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Abraham swore an oath to destroy anything spawned by the Dewitchery Diamond, and feels obligated to kill Ellen, even though he's very reluctant to harm any innocent people.

Lord Tedd

Alternate Universe version of Tedd, presumably in control of significant chunks of his dimension along with the ability to slip a few surprises into nearby ones.

Associated tropes:

• Alternate Universe/Another Dimension: Where he rules.
• Artificial Limbs: Has what appears to be a prosthetic arm that can shoot energy blasts. Some fans have theorized that it's partly made of the TF gun that causes Body Horror.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Hasn't been seen in (real world) years; has only been namechecked during the Sister II arc.
  • Lampshaded in this comic.
  • this comic suggests he may be coming back soon...
• Evil Overlord: His apparent job, along with General Shade Tail, his Dragon, and Nioi. Though we're not sure to what extent.
• Love Redeems: At least, while looking for Nioi, he looked like a more athletic version of "our" Tedd, as opposed to his maniacal look on Beta Tedd's photo and goo cell telemetery scene.
• Nebulous Evil Organization: We know absolutely nothing about his goals or what he's doing now.
• Punch Clock Villain: Appears this way when looking for Nioi in his last appearance.

The French Aberration

A vampire-like creature who plays an important role in Susan's Backstory.

Aliens

William and Gillian

American-born Uryuom couple. They're not aliens, they're citizens!

Associated tropes:

• Alien Among Us: Played for laughs.
• One-Gender Race: Though they adopt Gender roles to make dealing with humans a little easier.
• Never Heard That One Before:

Elliot: Hey cool! A close encounter of the third kind! William: Hey cool! A nerd is pointing at me!

Lavender

Mr. Verres' Uryuom secretary. Claims not to be an alien and probably isn't in the strictly legal sense of the term.

Associated tropes:

• Shapeshifting: Aside of being a limited innate shapeshifting, Dan confirms that her way-too-tall for the Uryuoms form is manufactured.
  • Clark Kenting: Not an alien!

Agent Wolf: You have a tail! [...] and-antennae-bug-eyes-no-nose-or-ears-and-a-damn-near-impossible-figure...

• • Non-Mammal Mammaries: Justified in that she's an alien shapeshifter crushing on a human male.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Lavender is obviously not human, but Agent Wolf is the only one who comments on it (he gets threatened with more "sensitivity training" for his troubles).
• One-Gender Race: Though you wouldn't know it to look at "her."
• Subordinate Excuse: She's the personal assistant of Mr. Verres who can look more or less any way she wants, but prefers a very emphatically female human form, likes to sit on his table, follows him after a reassignment, and...

Lavender: [[[Hand Behind Head]], Luminescent Blush] Nothing!

Supernatural Creatures

The Demonic Duck

Master of Distraction

Some sort of magical summon that takes the form of a red duck with horns and a cartoonish pointy demon tail. He's called forth whenever someone needs the attention taken off of them for a second, usually so they can make a quick getaway. It is possible to be distracted by the duck even if you're the one who summoned him.

Associated tropes:

• Characterization Marches On: In his first appearance, he felt "used" when pointed out as a distraction.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite the name and appearance, he's not actually demonic or particularly evil.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Go Look At the Distraction: It's the whole reason he exists (to BE the distraction, that is, not to look at it.)
• Phrase Catcher: "Hey, is that a demonic duck of some sort?"
• Weird Trade Union

Magus

A wizard tricked into transporting to environs of our universe and largely unable to interact with it, that occasionally does "favors" for Chaos for the sake of ending his limbo. Has the ability to amplify the emotions of others. Like Chaos, very little is known about him, but what is known is that he wishes to return to life, and believes that Ellen is the key to making this possible. He claims to be Ellen's "Father", which implies that he orchestrated her creation in the first place.

Associated tropes:

• Back From the Dead: His ultimate goal.
• Little No: He just gave Chaos a big one, refusing to go along with her plans of Disproportionate Retribution against the already defeated Abraham. Chaos is not pleased by this.
• Psychic Powers: His amplification ability.

Pandora (Chaos) Raven

An Immortal that can change her form at will. Virtually nothing is known about her except that she occasionally forces Magus to do her more dirty work. She is mostly an observer, but occasionally tries to influence events, particularly when she feels she has been slighted. Oh, and she's Raven's mother.

Associated tropes:

• Awesome McCoolname
• Creepy Child: One of her common forms. Used while mindscrewing Mr. Verres and his team and then on live TV.
• Disproportionate Retribution: She tries to order Magus to kill the already defeated and unconscious Abraham, but Magus refuses to go that far.
• Hannibal Lecture: Tries to give Adrian, her son, one about how wanting to defend his students is pointless. He would have none of it.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: So much that we don't even know if she's truly villainous. (Definably not good, though.)
• I Have Many Names: Most of them self-appointed, it seems.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: GAH! DO NOT WANT!
• Mama Bear: Is very pissed when Abraham nearly kills Raven.
• Moral Myopia: Okay, killing Abraham is understandable, albeit extreme, but giving the blame to Mr. Verres?
• Villainous Breakdown: When Magus refuses to do her bidding anymore, she does not take it well.

The French Immortals

A pair of elf-like creatures who awakened Susan and Nanase's magical powers in Paris and now watch over Elliot, presumably at the behest of Mr. Verres.

Associated tropes:

• Came Back Wrong: Apparently their Easy Amnesia is the result of not dying properly.
• Easy Amnesia: If only they could remember why they are supposed to be watching over Elliot.
• Noodle Incident: The school trip to Paris. Now averted.
• Rose-Haired Girl: The female immortal.

Jerry

Elderly immortal about to undergo rebirth who nonetheless takes time to aid Susan's Character Development. Looks remarkably like Santa Claus.

Associated tropes:

• Fat Bastard: Calls himself this, while he's anything but. The worst thing we've seen him do was the real origin story for the Hammers, which he admits was an adolescent prank that he didn't realize Susan would take so seriously. Otherwise? He really is just a Cool Old Guy.
• Hidden Depths: Despite initially coming off as jolly and cheerful, he's able to handle Susan's angst-induced awakening with a minimum of complications and is shown to be very unamused when he hears about what the French immortals had Susan and Nanase do.
• Hyperspace Mallet: Actually created and powered the artifact allowing females access to these hammers. Now that he's dying, he needs to take back in the power of these hammers.
• Eccentric Mentor: Less so than Mr. Verres, but he still fits the bill. He's been a little wacky in his life, and some things like his Hyperspace Mallet idea were kind of weird, but bear in mind he's a 200 year old immortal at the height of his power — for now, — and he's also a master of Serenity-Inducing Fluffy Animal Attack.

Nioi

A female Human/Skunk seyunolu sorceress working for Lord Tedd. While doing private research for her little court intrigue (in Lord Tedd's best interests, as she sees it) in an Alternate Universe where the main cast lives, she accidentally met them and saved Grace using her magical shield. She "fixed" (and later contacted) Ellen as an expert in magical artifacts in general and the Dewitchery Diamond in particular after carelessly running into it while enchanted, thus accidentally creating Kaoli.

Associated tropes:

• Functional Magic
• Half-Human Hybrid
• Meaningful Name: Kaoli and Nioi — "Fragrance" and "Scent." They're part-skunk chimerae.
• Subordinate Excuse: "Voluntary servant" of Lord Tedd is eager to write off his more dubious inclinations as the corrupting influence of General Shade Tail and is quickly distracted by peeping at his alternate. Also, the visual Running Gag with collar tags had her with "T."
• Vain Sorceress: An innocent version — she played with cosmetic use of Shapeshifting magic, changing her skin color and making herself slightly younger when she touched the Dewitchery Diamond. Oops. Which may be related to her rather obvious crush on Lord Tedd.

Sirleck

A body-snatching aberration who currently uses the body of an old man. Has allied himself with Magus after he cut ties with Pandora.

Associated tropes:

• Deadpan Snarker: His conversation with Magus shows shades of this.
• Grand Theft Me: What he did, does, and is planning to do.

---

Fourth Wall Mail Slot

Note that in the 'Newspaper' or 'Sketchbook' sections, any character can do this; these almost only show up when talking to the viewers.

Dr Germahn

A stereotypical Mad Scientist, and proprietor of Germahn Laboratories, complete with accent.

Associated tropes:

• Author Appeal: In-universe reason for what Germahn Labs produces. Also out-of-universe, probably.
• Dirty Old Man
• Herr Doktor: Of course.
• Mad Scientist: His job when not providing exposition or experimenting on his employees.
• Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Explains using Amanda as a guinea pig.
• Mr. Exposition: Was this early on, before Mr Verres took over.

Amanda

Dr Germahn's lab assistant. Perky, happy, and eternal victim of Dr. Germahn's experiments, almost always involving shrinking.

Associated tropes:

• Genius Ditz: While. Dr Germahn and her roomate Lisa both cite she's got brains, Charlie Brown has better luck seeing through Lucy's talks on holding a football than Amanda has avoiding testing out shrinking potions/formulae/sodas/anything.
• Hot Scientist: Attractive, and working on recognition as a scientist; her last appearance showed her testing out her own shrinking formula.
• Mad Scientist: Apparently, she learns from Dr. Germahn. Also? In DES Comics she made the Velocitoaster.
• Professor Guinea Pig: The above test subject? Herself.

Lisa

Amanda's roommate, and prospective lawyer. Apparently has a crush on Amanda, but as of the last Q&A comics, she's reluctant to voice it where Amanda can hear.

• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She glomps Chika in sheer joy when Raven accepts Amanda's offer to go on a date.
• Ambiguously Gay: Tries to be this. She isn't too good at being all that ambiguous.
• Shipper on Deck: Of Amanda and Raven, despite the fact that she has romantic feelings for Amanda.

Chika

Amanda's colleague.

Associated tropes:

• Ensemble Darkhorse: In the Q&A after "New and Old Flames", Shive mentions in the commentary that she wasn't really going to be in it, but fans loved her so much that he wrote her into more strips than originally planned.
• Crazy Prepared/No Sell: Every time Lisa tries to pull some prank on Chika or with her assistance, it's turned back on Lisa. Also, not going to make more Fan Service than she wants to.
• Meganekko
• Only Sane Lass: Her science may be mad, but she isn't.
• Situational Sexuality: She raised her hand when Lisa and Amanda questioned whether anyone "experiments" to test their sexuality. However, she did not reveal the results of those tests.

Dan

Author Avatar. Rarely shows up, of course, but there are times.

Associated tropes:

• Author Avatar: Almost any time he's shown, it's as the artist/writer.
• The Rant: Here's one.
• Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels: The only times he hasn't been drawn as a squirrel guy is when he was a squirrel girl.