Roommates (2009 webcomic)/Characters: Difference between revisions

Giancarlo Rosato (pronounced /dʒaŋˈkar.lo roˈza.to/) is a [[Digimon|flamedramon]] who immigrated to [[Useful Notes/The United States|The United States]] from [[Useful Notes/Italy|Italy]] with his family when he was 10 years old. He has a slightly older fraternal twin brother, Santino. His family usually calls him Giancarlo, but [[Only Known by Their Nickname|he prefers everyone else to call him]] "Gian" /ˈdʒɑn/.

At 14, Gian had his first romantic relationship with his best friend Nathan, an [[Useful Notes/Australia (continent)|Australian]] [[Super Mario Bros.|yoshi]]. But it ended in [[Love Hurts|grief]] when a school [[The Bully|bully]], Thomas, learned of their relationship and told Nathan's [[Heteronormative Crusader|homophobic]] mother who immediately [[Locked Away in a Monastery|sent Nathan off to a distant Catholic school incommunicado]], effectively snatching away Nathan both as a boyfriend and as a best friend. [[It Got Worse|To add insult to injury]], Thomas brutally beat Gian at school the next day, but Santino [[Big Damn Heroes|rescued]] his little brother. Giancarlo was [[Coming Out Story|out of the closet]] to Santino, and soon to their parents as well, but they all loved and respected Giancarlo and accepted who he is. Still, this series of traumatic incidents gave Gian [[Broken Bird|heavy emotional baggage]] for years, and he preferred to [[Gayngst|stay closeted]] to the general public out of fear of more pain and abuse.

Santino Rosato /sanˈti.no roˈza.to/, a [[Digimon|strikedramon]], is Giancarlo's slightly older fraternal twin brother. He, like, Giancarlo, was born in [[Useful Notes/Italy|Italy]], and immigrated to [[Useful Notes/The United States|The United States]] at age 10. Santino is now fluent in English, but unlike Giancarlo he still slips into [[Gratuitous Italian|smatterings of Italian]], usually in particularly intense or emotional moments.

* [[Gratuitous Italian]]: More so when he was a teenager than now. He and Giancarlo were preteen immigrants from [[Useful Notes/Italy|Italy]], after all.

But Roy befriended Hanbei Kagami, a [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japanese]]-[[Useful Notes/Brazil (useful notes)|Brazilian]] [[Pokémon|wartortle]], and they became [[Platonic Life Partners|inseparable best friends]]. Under Hanbei's [[Morality Pet|influence]], Roy stopped being a bully, and instead started being the kid that protected more vulnerable kids from being bullied. Hanbei also tutored Roy academically to bring his grades up, and because of this Roy managed to graduate well from high school.

As a young adult, Roy attended college, played college [[Useful Notes/American Football|football]], and became engaged to a young woman named Sid. But Hanbei then moved to Japan, leaving Roy without his best friend. And though Hanbei's departure didn't actually cause Roy's problems, it was then that Roy's life started to completely fall apart. Roy's engagement with Sid abruptly crumbled after he accidentally [[Wrong Name Outburst|called her by another woman's name]] after sex. This loss alone deeply wounded Roy. But [[It Got Worse|it got even worse]] when he was considered for the NFL draft, but was passed over for another player whose statistics were slightly better. This pushed Roy over the edge, and into a downward life spiral that [[Broken Bird|would take him years to recover from]].

Iggy is a [[Nerd]] and [[Occidental Otaku]] with an interest in [[Anime]], [[Manga]], and [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japanese]] language and culture, but often takes these interests to comically unhealthily obsessive extremes. This single-topic obsession irritates Roy, but is politely engaged by Hanbei.

** [[Ironic Name]]: Koopa is a ''[[Zainichi Korean|Korean]]'' name. <ref>An anglicization of [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japanese]] クッパ Kuppa, which is a japanicization of Korean 국밥 Gukbap. [[Word of God]] is that the ''Roommates'' team intentionally chose not to specifically follow the Korean angle, but they did reveal in-story that the Koopa family tree has [[Our Dragons Are Different|Eastern Dragon]] in its lineage through Bowser's line.</ref>

{{spoiler|Diogo}} Hanbei Kagami, ([[Word of God|Japanese]]: 鏡　半兵衛 ''Kagami Hanbei'') a [[Pokémon|wartortle]], is Roy's [[Platonic Life Partners|dearest friend]] who is [[Like Family]] to the Koopa clan. He is third generation Japanese-[[Useful Notes/Brazil (useful notes)|Brazilian]] of mixed Japanese and [[Word of God|Afro]]-Brazilian ancestry, but has been living in [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japan]] where he is fully acculturated. {{spoiler|[[No True Scotsman|But not fully accepted]].}}

* [[Culture Equals Costume]]/[[Transfer Student Uniforms]]/[[School Uniforms Are the New Black]]: For years, Hanbei has preferred to wear [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japanese]]-style formal school uniforms, even when he was living in the United States. He embraced how it made him stand out as ''Japanese'', and it eventually became his everyday style of dress even after finishing high school. At the beginning of ''[[Roommates: These Are My Reflections|These Are My Reflections]]'', 25-year-old Hanbei arrives at Koopa Manor wearing a Nehru jacket in this fashion, despite not being in high school anymore.

* {{spoiler|[[No True Scotsman]]: Hanbei is, for all intents and purposes, [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japanese]], in ancestry, ethnicity, language and culture. But too many people in Japan see him as just another gaijin for the slightest of differences, such as how his [[Word of God|Afro]]-[[Useful Notes/Brazil (useful notes)|Brazilian]] ancestry gives him conspicuously shinier scales than typical Japanese wartortles.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Yakuza]]: Hanbei's adoptive father in [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japan]] is affiliated with the Yakuza. Most of his family support network there is Yakuza. Hanbei explains that, as Yakuza have a history of embracing people who are rejected from mainstream Japanese society, it is only within his Yakuza-affiliated family that he can be fully accepted as a Japanese person even with his [[Useful Notes/Brazil (useful notes)|Brazilian]] birth and mixed ancestry.}}

Billy Li and Jimmy Li are the [[Double Dragon|Double Draco]] [[Twin Tropes|twins]], a pair of [[Digimon|dracomon]] teenagers. Originally from [[Useful Notes/Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], Hanbei's adoptive father adopted them too, but Hanbei is their primary caretaker, whom they look up to as a big brother.

A brown [[Super Mario Bros.|yoshi]] from [[Useful Notes/Australia (continent)|Australia]], and Gian's first boyfriend when they were both 14 years old.

Nathan's parents. June is a [[Useful Notes/The United States|American]] green [[Super Mario Bros.|yoshi]], and Richard was an [[Useful Notes/Australia (continent)|Australian]] brown yoshi. June was raised [[Useful Notes/Christianity|Christianity]] [[The Fundamentalist|fundamentalist]], and while she carried very strict moral beliefs, she is also ''extremely'' [[Hypocrite|Hypocritical]]. June conceived Nathan with Richard during a drunken spring break in Australia. When she realized she was pregnant, she tracked down and emailed Richard. She was about to get an abortion, but Richard stopped her, and Nathan was sent to live with Richard soon after being born. Richard and Nathan lived a happy life, until Richard died when Nathan was 11 years old. Nathan was sent back to June in America, where the first thing she did was [[Kick the Dog|destroy Nathan's photographs of his father]] out of hatred for Richard who she felt ruined her life and caused her to become unacceptable to potential husbands. Nathan has little to no respect for June, but must use discretion because she can ''still'' make his life very difficult.

Jonathan S. "Jojo" Johnston III is a [[Pokémon|persian]] from the [[Useful Notes/United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]. Introduced by Hanbei, he fills in as 15-year-old Junior's tutor when Hanbei leaves for [[Useful Notes/Japan|Japan]]. They have sex within ''hours'' of meeting, [[Futureshadowing]] the same way Junior's relationship began with Gian years later.