Sluggy Freelance/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Core Cast

Torg

A Cloudcuckoolander who is an eager and well-meaning idiot most of the time, but has flashes of heroics. He's The Hero, at least a foolish version of one... until several years into the series, when he starts to Take A Level in Badass every few story arcs and thoroughly claims the title. He's still a goofy badass, though.

  • Cannot Spit It Out - Torg's crush on Zoë, which has been going for at least eight years. He did however spit it out to a parallel earth Zoë; it didn't end well, and he doesn't want to put the home-dimension Zoë at risk. Given the survival/sanity records of his girlfriends, not spitting it out is fairly sensible.
    • He let her die! Even granted this wasn't his fault, and that he has now metabolized this fear into a damn good rationalization, it's a lovely little justification for this trope.
    • And then Oasis came along - if Torg confessed his love, Oasis would have killed Zoe.
    • Once all of the obstacles listed above had been overcome, he finally spat it out.
  • Crazy Awesome: Basically any time Torg defeats an enemy before he took his level in badass.
  • Crazy Prepared: Emphasis on the "crazy". Emergency pants!
  • The Hero: Especially after his levelling in badass.
  • Norse by Norsewest: Describes himself as "mostly Viking", and was once let out of Guantanamo Bay after he broke the scale on their 'Caucasianometer'.
  • Took A Correspondence Course In Kickass - During the That Which Redeems storyline.
    • Getting his hands on a kickass sword during the Stormbreaker arc may have helped.
  • Unmoving Pattern - Torg's flannel shirts.

Riff

A Mad Scientist who has been best friends with Torg since their middle school days, and has problems with women. He's The Smart Guy, with occasional forays into The Big Guy.

  • Badass Longcoat - Usually subverted by Riff, but played very much straight during the climax of "Dangerous Days Ahead".
    • Riff's little shopping trip in this strip hung a big honkin' lampshade on it.
  • Batman Gambit: Riff pulls off an epic one at the end of 4U City Red.
  • Catch Phrase - "Let me check my notes."
  • Despair Event Horizon/Wangst: His actions at the end of "758449" after discovering evidence that His Masterness may very well be his 4U counterpart. Which one it falls under is debatable.
    • He was already Wangsting when he got to 4U, because he felt responsible for Zoë's death, since he didn't know Oasis can create explosions with her mind, and assumed his experimental prototype was to blame.
  • Gadgeteer Genius - He makes mecha, dimensional transport devices, toasters that can launch toast through the ceiling, and a staple remover with a 100 foot range.
  • For Science!! - Riff's Mad Science.
  • Heroic BSOD: When he realizes that the dictator ruling the Alternate Universe he's in is his alternate self
    • Well, that's what he thought, at any rate. Turns out his tech was just stolen by HeretiCorp.
    • Only to find out later that it really WAS his alt self all along.
  • The Lancer
  • Moral Dissonance: He's extremely dickish to Aylee and Sam, constantly trying to find/make up an excuse to kill either of them. It is all but stated that this is due to paranoia rather then malice, but still...
  • Properly Paranoid: ...Then again, both Aylee and Sam are members of extremely powerful species who do eat people (though Aylee has evolved beyond that need) and, at times, have become threats due to inability to fully resist their hunger. At the very least, the weapons and gadgets he made out of said paranoia have saved the group's bacon multiple times.
  • The Spark of Genius: His inventions make sense to a very small group of people. Attempts to reproduce them without the direct involvement of Riff or brilliant scientists who have worked with him for years just don't work.
  • Sunglasses at Night - He never takes his sunglasses off.
    • Hinted (as of Sept 14 2011) to have a reason other than Rule of Cool:

Torg: If the nanites are perfect, why didn't they fix your eyes?

Zoë

The female Unlucky Everydude that ends up constantly involved in everyone else's screwiness. While more capable than most, she's clearly The Chick most of the time.

  • Bald Women: For some time. (While changed into a camel, she bit off Gwynn's hair; Gwynn retaliated with a spell that made Zoë lose all of her hair.)
  • Butt Monkey - Usually ends up undergoing some ignominy (such as turning into a camel) even when she isn't involved in the latest escapade.
  • The Chick
  • The Chosen One - Zoë was foretold to be the "Storm Breaker," who will defeat the demon K'Z'K. It's 'She will bring about' the defeat of K'Z'K. Thanks to the end of bROKEN it seems that she's the catalyst that pushes Torg (and Chaz) closer and closer to the fight with K'Z'K.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Thought to be Killed Off for Real, Zoë is revealed to be alive...unconscious and permanently hooked up to life support. Her body is far too weak for morphine so she spends her conscious hours screaming in pain. The worst part? Her injures are so severe that her body will never heal.
    • It's gotten worse. Technology in that city actually can heal her body, and has. Unfortunately, it didn't have a similar "snapshot" of her mind. She's a perfectly healthy body - with a blank mind sitting inside. The Zoë they knew is gone; all that is left is her living husk.
      • Its even worse. There isn't a blank mind in her, there's no mind at all. She is literally nothing but a barely sentient, barely aware vegetable/construct.
      • And she got better due to the results of Riff's amazing Batman Gambit. Of course she still has to find a way to explain her apparent death and two year absence.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: She seems to be gettingupset with Noogy's attraction to Torg. She's also shown some signs of this before she realized (and then forgot) she was in love with Torg.
  • She's Just Hiding: Just ask most of the fans. Turns out she was, but was in far worse shape than most thought.
    • Or is she?
  • Involuntary Shapeshifting - Her tendency to turn into a camel when a certain magic word is mentioned. How very shupid. *POOF*
  • Not So Above It All - Zoë sometimes dives head-first into the weirdness eagerly.
  • Only Sane Woman: Most of the time.

Gwynn

One of Riff's ex-girlfriends, who dabbles in magic and has her fate entwined with the sinister Book of E-Ville. Often The Lancer, although she has been The Chick on at least one occasion and occasionally veers to The Woobie.

Bun-bun

A miniature talking and very evil lop-eared bunny which might be the most dangerous force in the universe. Very violent and short-tempered, though perfectly controlled if he needs to be. Quite possibly the smallest Big Guy ever to reach his level of badassitude.

  • The Big Guy: Despite being physically the smallest of the main cast.
  • Can't Get in Trouble For Nuthin': Bun-bun can escape punishment, and get Torg in trouble, by wearing a Torg costume.
  • Catch Phrase: "Time to die, Nerd-Boy!" and similar, along with his switchblade's distinctive 'ka-click!' sound effect.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: When he's not an outright antagonist.
  • Fluffy the Terrible
  • Implacable Bunny: So far, he's been eaten alive, thrown out of the time stream itself twice, and burned to a crisp. After that last one, he threw the animal services guy who tried to put him down out a window and is back at full strength, and it took some time for his fur to grow back (and as he showed Zoë, his face under his fur still has burn scars).
  • Interspecies Romance: Is somewhat disturbingly attracted to human women.
  • Karma Houdini: None of the main cast is strong or brave enough to attempt to punish Bun-bun for his many crimes.
  • Killer Rabbit: Literally.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Almost always refers to Torg as 'Nerd-Boy' (though he has used his real name a handful of times). Also often refers to Zoë and indeed any woman as 'toots'.
  • Mysterious Past: There's still a lot we don't know about Bun-bun's origins. All we know is that he originally came from a far earlier century, he was feuding with Santa back then as well, and his actions in his original era necessitated the use of the first Deus Ex Ovum and his original ejection from time.
  • Older Than He Looks?: Speculated in-universe. Basphomy's conversation with Mrs. Claus regarding the second Deus Ex Ovum suggests that the point in time that Bun-bun was originally thrown out of was centuries ago, and that he ended up in the modern era due to returning to a different point in time when he left Timeless Space the first time.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Bun-bun's attitude, e.g. in one early strip, his "pirate crew" (consisting of Kiki and a little girl) is drowning, so after musing that he can't really be a pirate captain without a crew... he throws his hat away and rows off to start a black market drugs ring in Tijuana instead.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Because the comic usually uses all caps, people tend to assume his name is capitalised as "Bun-Bun". Things like sub-chapter titles reveal it's actually "Bun-bun".
  • Talking Animal
  • Token Evil Teammate: Ohhhh yeah.
  • Wants the Work Done for Them: Bun-bun plays with this trope - instead of complaining until somebody else does the work, he threatens them. The end results are the same.
  • Worf Effect: His very few defeats were caused mainly by this trope.

Kiki

Riff's pet talking ferret, who has a habit of being easily distracted and naively willing to touch anything shiny. Kind-hearted, but very foolish, and quite clearly the Team Pet.

Aylee

Fish out of water Shapeshifting alien, that came from an early parody of Alien and Star Trek and stuck around. Reserve Big Guy, Lancer, Team Pet varying depending on her form(occasionally changes forms involuntarily to adapt to her environment) and the other characters present. Is personality wise a kind of Genius Ditz due to balance between her naivety and her predatory cunning.

Others

Sam

Formerly the cast's neighbor at the apartment complex, now a vampire Walking the Earth. He is the former owner of Kiki and still feels very protective of her. Has a crush on Zoë. Must steer clear of Riff, who tries to stake him whenever he spots him.

  • Casanova Wannabe
  • Catch Phrase: "Sam's Da Man!"
  • Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: He's dedicated himself to "staying good" as a vamp and has saved the crew numerous times. Of course, he'll still gleefully drain non-lethal amounts of blood from hypnotized women and has become a threat to the group when his vampiric hunger overwhelms him.
  • Super Loser: He may have the power of a vampire, but he's still the same sleazy, dim, lovable loser he was in life.
  • Ted Baxter
  • Third Person Person - Sam's da man! (Though he doesn't always do this - just when he's trying to charm the ladies.)

Oasis

A young woman mind controlled by a Mad Scientist named Dr. Steve Hereti. Has a tendency to come back from the dead and is very much in love with Torg.

  • Anti-Villain/Anti-Hero: Even as a murderous antagonist, she's a pretty sad and pathetic case rather than evil; but when rarely she's a protagonist, she's still pretty murderous.
  • Ax Crazy - Let's put it this way - when Torg said he loved chocolate ice cream, she proceeded to kill the chocolate ice cream. Much to the surprise and consternation of everyone present.
  • Back from the Dead - Many, many times. It's become somewhat of a Running Gag that any arc that features her will see her die once.
  • Berserk Button - Two-anybody she sees as a rival for Torg's affections, and anyone associated with HeretiCorp
    • "Override B-1!"
  • Chronic Villainy: Several of her arcs involve her trying to get some measure of control over herself and even try to become a better person, but invariably either Hereti-Corp's interference, her own incurably insane obsession with Torg, or simply her naturally brutal nature cause her to be unable to.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl - Literally clingy, and violently jealous, as demonstrated by the ice cream incident.
  • Foot Focus - heavily during the Phoenix Rising story arc.
    • Ironically, she ends bROKEN with her entire left lower leg and various other parts blown off by Riff's missiles. It's only this that allows Hereti-Corp to finally capture her (as if Riff had actually managed to kill her, she would have just come back in perfect health).
  • Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter - Played with. She's the adopted daughter of a Mad Scientist, very beautiful, and in love with the hero, Torg. On the other hand, she only loves him because Steve told her to, which backfires on him when Bun-bun disables his control, making him unable to rescind the order.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse - Oasis has this as her default mode of dealing with any and all challengers for Torg's affection. She once tried this with Gwynn under the mistaken impression that Gwynn was Zoë. In the bROKEN arc, sees her finally identifying Zoë correctly... and believing Torg was "mistaken" when he said he didn't love Zoë.
  • Naked First Impression - Named one of the books: Game Called On Account of Naked Chick.
  • Playing with Fire
  • Psychopathic Manchild: She's really messed up in a lot of ways, and these include a lack of maturity and a fondness of violence, the later even after she decides to be a "hero".
  • Resurrective Immortality: She is implied to be one of these. It has yet to be made clear how she keeps showing up again after being shot, impaled, and blown up so many times. It's possible that this is just the result of her Healing Factor, but there is evidence it's not the case. It may have something to do with her pyrokinesis, as Oasis has been shown dying shortly after one of her "flare-ups", and appeared fine hours later.
    • Revealed: Send in the Clones applies, one clone at a time because that's all the O.A.S.I.S. satellite can control.
  • Stalker with a Crush - An extremely dangerous example. This trope goes away when Oasis finally gets free of the mind control she was under.
  • Tyke Bomb
  • Yandere - So very, very, very much.
    • Then again, how stable could a Robot/Undying Clone trained to be an assassin with a mind-control enforced love be?

Sasha

One of Riff's girlfriends who eagerly dove into the madness that was the cast's lives. Although her first stay on the strip was relatively brief (less than two years), she is very much a fan favorite.

Oh, and she's also Kusari, HeretiCorp's assassin.

Spoiler tropes:

  • Evil All Along: She's always been working for HeretiCorp, and she gave her life in order to plant a tracker on Oasis.
  • Send in the Clones: Like Oasis, she's a clone. Unlike Oasis, she can keep two clones going at the same time - which is how Sasha could be killed by Kusari.

Crystal

The obligatory local bartender. Doesn't seem to mind all that much that one of her customers is a talking rabbit.

Dr. Schlock

A time traveler from an alternate timeline where K'Z'K took over the world. He is an expert in inflatable technology, and went from being a cowardly Anti-Hero to a (mostly) (sym)pathetic villain to a flat-out villain ((spoiler|to confirmed dead}}.

Horribus

A demon lord from the Dimension of Pain and a recurring villain in the strip at least until That Which Redeems.

  • Attack Its Weak Point - There are apparently only two ways to kill a Demon Lord: decapitation, or stabbing him through the center of his soul with an enchanted weapon.
  • Five-Bad Band
  • Honor Before Reason: Torg's initial escape from the Dimension of Pain was the first black mark on his record as demon lord. He became obsessed with re-capturing Torg at any cost in hopes of regaining his perfect streak. This obsession costs the D o P their dimensional take-over, the Demon King a sizable chunk of power, and Horribus his demon lord powers alongside endless suffering at the hands of his boss.
  • Moral Event Horizon - More for the readers than the characters themselves, it's either when he crushes Alt-Zoë with a building that was meant for Torg, or when he kills Mosp for getting in his way.
  • Not So Harmless - After all the goofiness of the storylines he's in after his introduction (both in the main comic and in Ian Mcdonald's Meanwhile... Saturday strip), this trope bites hard when he leads the invasion of the Dimension of Lame in That Which Redeems.
  • Orcus on His Throne - Horribus' attempts to retrieve Torg involve sending his minions one by one, each Hallowe'en. Justified as dimensional transport gives him stomach problems, and the one time he goes after Torg himself he ends up spending that Hallowe'en... on a throne.
  • Spikes of Villainy - All over him.
  • Unexpected Successor - As revealed in his backstory Reak accidentally killed the previous Demon Lord, allowing Horribus to take his place.
  • Villainous Breakdown - Caused by his obsession with Torg.
  • Playing with Fire
  • You Have Failed Me... - Done to him by the Demon King at the end of That Which Redeems

Mosp

A member of the Dimension of Pain's Quirky Miniboss Squad who eventually befriends and helps Torg.

Crushestro

The head of one of the villainous organizations bidding on Dr. Shankraft's displacement drive and one of the few who came in person rather than sending a representative.

K'Z'K the Vowelless

The first true Big Bad of the series, K'Z'K (often called Kiske, much to his chagrin) is an extremely powerful demon Torg and Riff accidentally unleashed while playing with the Book of Evil. Although defeated by Torg and Zoë, he did not die, but instead his lingering will latched onto a depressed Gwynn and attempted to corrupt her into his new host before once again being vanished. Although his status as Big Bad has long since been passed over to HeretiCorp, he is still a constant presence in the comic, as his demonic servants have now formed a cult to free him from his banishment...

  • Berserk Button: Do not pronounce his name with vowels!
  • Big Bad: Not the first one to appear technically (Horribus and the Vampires predated him), but he was certainly the first one that was presented as a nigh-undefeatable threat.
  • Demonic Possession: Obviously.
  • The Dreaded


Oceans Unmoving Characters

Calix

A remarkably bright boy for a leaf person, Calix is one of the few natives of Timeless Space rather than someone who has fallen out of the timestream. He was picked up by the Bloody Bun during a raid on his village, but instead of locking him below with his tribesmen, Bun-Bun promoted him to First Mate. According to his crew, that's because the Captain likes to know where the next mutiny is coming from. In actuality, it's because as a native, he wouldn't covet Technocon One, the only known way out of Timeless Space.

  • An Axe to Grind - Calix is extremely skilled with his twin axes. So much so that Bun-Bun deduces his people are not farmers, but warriors who happen to farm.
  • Deadpan Snarker - "Grandpa liked to smoke the purple mushrooms, didn't he?"
  • The Dulcinea Effect - To Kada. This fades when she joins forces with Bun-Bun.
  • Fish Out of Water - Even more so than the non-natives.
  • The Ishmael - To Bun-Bun.
  • Loin Cloth - And it's made out of leaves. Yes, leaves. There's a reason Bun-Bun calls his tribe the Leaf People.
  • Too Dumb to Live - As Bun-Bun put it, his grand plan for freeing his people was essentially tossing a calculator to a group of cavemen and telling them to balance their budget.
  • Took a Level in Badass - After he stops caring so much for lives other than those dear to him, he becomes a lethal force.

Kada Jansen

Bun-Bun's first mate for the tail end of "Oceans Unmoving" and the entirety of "Oceans Unmoving II", up until Bun-Bun escapes and she captains her own ship. Came from a different time period; was pulled into Timeless Space when Carib-Carriage One attempted to take off.

The Grays

Exactly What It Says on the Tin, played for laughs.

Everyone in Ocean's Unmoving

  • Trapped in Another World - Everyone but Calix, and arguably him as well since he'd never been outside his village before.
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