Draw Your Own Story/Characters

Some of the notable characters from Draw Your Own Story. For a more complete (and much more detailed) list, see its own wiki.

Needless to say, spoilers abound.

Captain2
An adventurer/soldier of misfortune in his early appearances. In DYOS 10 onward, he became the leader of La Résistance after the Eastern Union invaded Canada; when this stalled, he went back to thrill-seeking.


 * Canada, Eh?: He'll occasionally play to stereotypes for humour. Other times he'll engage in in-jokes suited to a local audience.

choxorn
Brother of fellow occasional contributor kill fire. Maintains a spontaneous and light-hearted tone to his comics, and manages to stay sort of relevant to the main story even during long bouts of inactivity. He was zombified in DYOS 10 and is currently the front-runner in the search for Toyoda in DYOS 10.5.


 * Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: or in this case, zombie. Most of his crew is, too.
 * Klingon Promotion: Some time after being zombified, he kills the DYOS 1 Zombies to become leader of what's left of the horde.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: as per Thorvald's tip for making funny comics: "feature choxorn and have him talk"
 * One of the Chosen Ones in DYOS 10/10.5.

CivCube
The creator of Draw Your Own Story. He was very active in the early years and has returned again; although like many others recently, new additions have been infrequent.


 * The Bad Guy Wins: In DYOS 10, CivCube's evil avatar killed him off and has remained his main character since. May represent a shift to Villain Protagonist.

CivGeneral
A veteran of the series, he has participated in every installment since the beginning. By tradition he is the leader of the Republic of Coruscant (drawn heavily from, but not a total parallel to the Galactic Republic/Empire), at least in a military role. In DYOS 11 he seeks to resurrect his bounty hunter image prevalent in older stories. In contrast to other contributors, CivGeneral tends toward Darker and Edgier comics as he claims he Cannot Tell a Joke.


 * Amicably Divorced from Jill within DYOS 11.
 * The Atoner
 * Author Avatar: Arguably the most poignant example.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking; might also be Asskicking Equals Authority since he can act independent of his superiors.
 * Badass Abnormal in DYOS 10.5: Samus saves his life through a blood transfusion to counter The Virus, imbuing him with Metroid and Chozo DNA.
 * In DYOS 11, Wesker brings him down to normal.
 * Break the Cutie: Part of his back story when he was bullied. Some of the antagonists in DYOS 11 have tried to repeat this.
 * Break the Haughty: Self-inflicted. Afterwords, he started to become a much nicer person.
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Combat Pragmatist
 * Cool Car: His DeLorean Time Machine
 * Four-Star Badass
 * Fourth Date Marriage: to Jill Valentine. Technically they knew each other, but that was year ago.
 * First Girl Wins: Samus in 10.5, Jill Valentine in 11.
 * Gratuitous German and Japanese
 * Guns Akimbo: Does this a lot, either with himself or his characters
 * The Hero: He's the main protagonist in every major story arc. Recently he's tried to shake up his spot on the Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes.
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: He's been a lot better at controlling his temper.
 * Human Popsicle: For the first half of DYOS 11. Word of God states it was an explanation for his three month absence.
 * Jade-Colored Glasses
 * Ki Attacks
 * Last Girl Wins: Ayane in 11.
 * Long-Lost Relative: Marsha Conrad (Cousin), Hanna Antilles (Mother)
 * Multi Melee Master: Uses Katanas, pipe wrenches, daggers, and anything he can get his hands on.
 * Multi Ranged Master: Uses pistols, assault rifles, anti-tank rifles, bazookas and energy weapons frequently.
 * Nice Hat: Beret and Ushanka
 * Ninja
 * No Sense of Humor: He is very sensitive to jokes about him and his characters. Recently, he's been coming to terms about it.
 * Only Child Syndrome
 * Perpetual Frowner
 * Powered Armor: Wears one
 * The Resenter
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Sad but true. Especially when falling through the Despair Event Horizon after losing his job and suffering a major depression.
 * True Companions /Father To His Women: How he treats his team.

CurtSibling
A participant from the early years. While still active on the forums, he hasn't contributed since DYOS 5. Even so, he carries considerable star power, and is still referenced in new installments. Curt is in real life the creator of the independent comic series King Evil and Total Fear.


 * Hollywood Atheist: Declare your love for God, and he'll declare war on you!
 * Putting on the Reich: His personal attire, at least.
 * Take Over the World: His goal is usually this.
 * Villain by Default: Curt's traditional role is to oppose CivGeneral.

DaemonDD
Hobby cartoonist with an Anime-esque art style. Unlike most other contributors, DaemonDD wasn't familiar on the forums before joining DYOS.


 * Self-Insert Fic: One of the few exceptions; perhaps the only contributor who hasn't even featured himself in a non-canon comic.

e350tb
A contributor with an understandably British sense of humour. Most of his comics derive from Nickelodeon cartoons (The Fairly Odd Parents and SpongeBob SquarePants especially) and World War II paraphernalia.


 * Anyone Can Die: Brutally and unapologetically. Supporting characters have been bumped off with little-to-no warning, and even bit the bullet.
 * British Accents: He's certainly justified in their use.
 * War Is Hell: Despite the primarily comedic tone of his work, the few times he addresses the dark underbelly of conflict are arresting. Especially noteworthy is the fight for London late in DYOS 11.

Gruekiller
A fairly recent contributor notable as one of the few who consistently hand-draws the story. He's a sort of roving vigilante, traveling with a giant walking milkshake and an assassin called Valerie.
 * Action Hero: Leaping out of an airplane to attack a fighter jet and beating down a roving pack of Nazis in the Ethiopian highlands is a normal day for him.
 * The Apprentice: Formerly mentored by big bad dictator Bowie. It didn't end well.
 * Chaotic Good: "Have you stopped to consider the legal ramifications? ... Of course not."
 * Everything's Better with Samurai: the Powered Armor resembles Samurai armor.
 * The Hero: Well, not 'the' hero. But Gruekiller certainly meets a lot of the criteria.

GuitarHero
One-shot contributor to DYOS 10. His account was later hijacked by a "friend", who posted a couple of comics before the moderators banned him.


 * One-Hit Wonder: The "original" GuitarHero's much-lauded comic.

Kan' Sharuminar
Another veteran and hobby cartoonist. While he tries to remain active in new stories, he tends to drop out if the plot becomes overly convoluted. Even so, he carries a similar reputation as CurtSibling.


 * Brave Scot: Subverted not in that he isn't brave, but that he's not in-your-face about it.
 * Scars Are Forever: An abrupt comic by Nuclear Kid had Kan' taken hostage and his left leg amputated. While he admitted to sometimes forgetting which leg he'd lost, in all future stories Kan' depicted himself with a peg leg.
 * Scars Are Forever: An abrupt comic by Nuclear Kid had Kan' taken hostage and his left leg amputated. While he admitted to sometimes forgetting which leg he'd lost, in all future stories Kan' depicted himself with a peg leg.

kulade
A frequent contributor in later threads and the initial Big Bad of DYOS 10, although he's only been seen once since. He proposed the DYOS Consul and its prototype ruleset.


 * Lost Episode: Virtually all his comics in DYOS 10 were lost when the CivFanatics database was hacked. Especially devastating considering they were regarded to be some of the funniest.

lord_joakim
He kicked off the Gem storyline in mid-DYOS 10; while he hasn't been as involved in its development in subsequent threads owing to Continuity Snarl between threads 10.5 and 11, his character remains one of the driving forces of the plot.


 * Genre Shift: Most notable example. His early comics were comedic shorts; when he got involved in the Gem arc, he took on a much darker tone and the trappings of a psychological thriller. Now he’s back to the funny pages.
 * Mysterious Past: in the Gem storyline.
 * Person of Mass Destruction: hinted at.

mythmonster2
Sporadic contributor since DYOS 6. Following DYOS 10, he suggested he would not contribute to future instalments and donated his character to the public domain, although he has recently voiced interest in returning to the fold.


 * Failure Is the Only Option: Late in DYOS 11, he's reintroduced under his Jack Noir avatar and attempts to kill Mariko for an Establishing Character Moment, but is blocked by the DYOS Rules, as CivGeneral set her up as a recurring villain.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Although he followed the story closely, months often passed between contributions, and with the notable exception of DYOS 10 his subplots rarely reached meaningful closure.

Perfection
Another DYOS 1 veteran, although even at the best of times his comics rarely follow the immediate story.


 * Affectionate Parody: His involvement in recent threads is often a lighthearted play on other contributors taking themselves too seriously.
 * Non Sequitur: 9 times out of 10, it's Perfection.

Stylesjl
Brother of Stylesrj. When they first joined in DYOS 5, they took turns writing what was essentially the same comic. While they continue to share characters, over time they came to develop divergent styles. Stylesjl's comics are primarily dialogue-driven shorts that often include references to current events. Recently they follow a two-part formula, where the former half deals with the ongoing story and the latter half is devoted to a Fourth Wall Mail Slot.


 * Discontinuity: What usually happens to his comics.
 * BLAM Episode: Most of his comics, especially the more recent contributions, are treated as this.
 * The Cuckoolander Was Right

Stylesrj
Brother of Stylesjl. When they first joined in DYOS 5, they took turns writing what was essentially the same comic. While they continue to share characters, over time they came to develop divergent styles. Stylesrj's comics carry a campy action feel and begin and end with a narrator segment that occasionally spins off into its own subplot.


 * Action Hero: even more so than CivGeneral.
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Five-Man Band: Tries to maintain this throughout DYOS XI.
 * Although his team could be considered more Three Plus Two at times.
 * Flaming Sword
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: specifically in his pre-DYOS 10 days. He took a lot of flak because it was hard for everyone to keep track of them all. It still hasn't been easier, but there's less flak.
 * Long Lost Wife: Rhiza
 * More Dakka: He never has enuff
 * Nuke'Em: Did this a lot pre-DYOS 10.
 * Powered Armor: Wears one early on.
 * Power Trio: Stylesrj, Rhiza and Rosalina
 * The Rival: To CivGeneral in his pre-DYOS 10 days. Eventually became Fire-Forged Friends in the post-DYOS 10 days.
 * Absolutely loves Stuff Blowing Up.
 * Sword Fight: Gets into these very often.

taillesskangaru
Fairly regular contributor with a penchant for historical humour. In his early days of DYOS 5-6, he was a corrupt communist dictator. Now he's a wandering adventurer, his powergamey past incarnated in the character Rocket.


 * Arguably, an Action Survivor in later threads.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: implied in a flashback.
 * One of the Chosen Ones in DYOS 10/10.5.

Taniciusfox
A newer contributor, self-professed homosexual, furry, and Sonic the Hedgehog fan, all of which he plays for laughs.


 * Furries Are Easier to Draw: although his sketch of the Hacker isn't lacking.
 * Het Is Ew: An off-hand comment led to a Running Gag where his character suffers from "heterophobia".
 * Ho Yay: If you don't give him an excuse, he'll make his own.

Thorvald of Lym
The overall manager, or "consul" of the comic from DYOS 10 onward. He first emerged in DYOS 6 as king of a fictional Scandinavian country seemingly caught in a time warp; fairly shortly afterwards he led a coup in Russia to found the Soviet-esque Eastern Union, which he has preferred to use in subsequent instalments.


 * The Lancer to CivGeneral.
 * Permanent Elected Official as head of the Eastern Union. It's actually unclear how he got into power the first time, although he did run an election campaign in DYOS 8. His official title is "Supreme Prime Minister for Life"; everyone knows he's a dictator, but he's kept a positive spin on it.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: As King of Lym in DYOS 6, he led the expedition to recover the Fridge of the Mods, tried to conquer Scotland, fought alongside the Republic of Coruscant at Pripyat, and sparked a Ukrainian invasion of Russia.

The Clone Guild
A loose collection of villains introduced by e350tb in DYOS 10.5 known for using cloning technology, hence the name.


 * Faux Affably Evil: Colonel Sykes... until things fail to go according to plan.
 * Heel Face Turn: Two female clone soldiers, Fifteen and Seventeen, defect to the heroes after growing fed up with the Hacker in DYOS 11.
 * Laughably Evil: General Valorum seemed to be heading in this direction when he was first introduced, until taillesskangaru started putting him in his stories.

Lucifer
DaemonDD' s main character, an "Essential Being" whose ultimate aim is to rebuild the universe in his image. Despite the name, he shouldn't be confused with the Biblical Satan, who has appeared as a character in his own right.


 * Berserk Button: He's extremely protective of his hat, going so far as to Kill Sat a duck to get it back.
 * Our Gods Are Greater: indeed, all the Essental Beings.
 * Villain Protagonist

Manfred Hickten
Der Führer of the Space Nazis and an old foe from CivGeneral's past. He personally leads the invasion into Earth in DYOS 10.5.


 * Revenge Before Reason: Discussed by both sides. Hickten's stubborn idealism leads to poor strategy that is costing him the war.

Mariko Antilles
The Opposite Sex Clone of CivGeneral. Originally intended as a backup for CivGeneral to transfer his soul into. Awakened by Mara Jade in DYOS 11, she seeks to resurrect the Galactic Empire and kill CG.


 * Arch Enemy: To CivGeneral
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Boobs of Steel
 * Boomerang Bigot: An Earthling who despises Earth
 * Schisming Coruscant's empire probably isn't the best way to show up the "factional" politics of Earth.
 * Black Knight: Her Powered Armor
 * Cloning Blues: She believes herself superior to CivGeneral, embarking on a Cain and Abel rivalry. Her attempts to insert herself into CivGeneral's family tree are received... poorly.
 * Commissar Cap: Shout-Out to M. Bison.
 * Dark Action Girl
 * From Nobody to Nightmare
 * Naked on Arrival
 * Only One Allowed to Defeat/Kill CivGeneral.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Mr. Toyoda
An enigmatic Japanese businessman introduced in DYOS 10. Surprisingly little is known about him by the main characters, but he seems tied up in some grand conspiracy regarding the Gem.


 * Chekhov's Gunman: Toyoda first appeared early-ish in DYOS 10, completely silhouetted; he was not named until half a year later, not identified for longer still, and even now is important for reasons not yet known.
 * Perpetual Smiler: Some exceptions, but few and far between.
 * Shrouded in Myth: One half hates him. One half loves him. The protagonists still can't figure out exactly who he is even after meeting face-to-face, and the people who do know skirt the question at every opportunity.

Pul Wat Aa, The Great Hacker
Chief villain of DYOS 11, at least at the outset.


 * In the Hood: Kinda lost its impact when his face was shown.
 * Reality Warper
 * Villain Decay: At the start of the story his actions were dangerously unpredictable; he'd commit random assassinations and in one instance obliterated downtown Sydney, Australia. Over time inaction on his part and the heroes' victories diminished his perceived threat. Barely halfway through the story he lost the villainous spotlight to Wesker, and his beatdown by Marsha Conrad pretty much shattered any remaining air of menace.
 * Then came the climax, and the "real" hacker took the stage.

Randy Johnson
The nefarious deputy director of the CIA. In DYOS 10.5, Johnson uses the agency to advance his personal politics and private vendetta against Toyoda.


 * Knight Templar: Johnson is convinced anyone who opposes Coruscant retreating into isolation is a threat to the nation and must be neutralized.
 * My Country, Right or Wrong.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Johnson leaves an autographed dagger embedded in the headboard above the corpse of his boss.

Rocket
Taillesskangaru's alter ego (he's depicted as a rocket, based on the poster's old avatar). He is cold, manipulating and revels in chaos.


 * Chaotic Evil: type two
 * Despotism Justifies the Means
 * Manipulative Bastard

Dr. Wallace Breen
Dr. Breen was pulled straight from Half-Life 2 as the leader of the Combine Empire. In DYOS 10, he emerges shortly before General Grievousthat Grievous is killed to supplant kulade as the Big Bad. Breen becomes the president of the Enclave in DYOS 10.5, only to face a string of successive defeats that lead to his capture.


 * Alternative Character Interpretation: Both in regard to the source material and between contributors. In one comic by Thorvald, Breen seems to figure out Corporal Reitan's Cryptic Conversation, but in subsequent comics by CivGeneral, he's unfazed by whatever he learned. This is revisited in DYOS 10.5 when Breen confronts CivGeneral and appears much more frightened, going so far as to suggest he'll join the good guys in fighting the Combine.
 * See also: Ping-Pong Naivete
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Breen refuses to mind-rip Corporal Reitan, even though it would skip the excruciatingly frustrating interrogations.