Still Waters Series/Characters/Still Waters 1

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Go back to the Still Waters Series character pages.

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For the sake of simplicity, I am only listing the tropes these characters display in this particular story.

American Division Agents

These men (and one woman) are members of a special section of the North American Mages' Alliance, which itself was forged in the early years of the 20th century to stop the infighting that had plagued the various mage associations of North America. The section these agents belong to is responsible for swiftly undergoing dangerous magic-related violence suppression missions all over the world, from taking care of rogue mages to providing security at treaty signings to missions as simple as investigating suspicious behavior.

General Tropes Relating To All Members

• Combat Pragmatist: They all show varying levels of this.

Max Linell

He is the big, scary, ugly lead oc of Still Waters 1. Easily misunderstood, his initial appearance leaves those he meets with the wrong impression, but when he finally meets up with his quarry...

• Badass Teacher: Plot to kidnap one of his students? Even though he's only known her a short time, he'll kick your ass.
• Big Brother Mentor: He plays a role like this for Akira.
• Broken Bird: A rare male example.
• Cool Sword: He collects them; his most commonly used is a greatsword almost as long as he is tall.
• Covered in Scars: He is covered in scars from years and years of dangerous, near suicidal missions as revealed during Yuuna's fireball attack on him in Chapter 16. May invoke a little Fridge Brilliance when you realize that he's always wearing long sleeved shirts or light jackets, even in the middle of summer.
• Death Glare: His default expression when he's annoyed or deep in thought.
• Face of a Thug
• Fireballs: One of his magic related skills, as he displays for Akira at the lake.
• Fish Out of Water: Max is clearly one of these from the very first chapter.
• Flaming Sword: He can create a sword using fire magic.
• Guttural Growler: His voice is deep and very rough sounding.
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Comes across as extremely creepy in the first chapter; it isn't until people talk with him that the truth comes out.
• Playing with Fire: Max's elemental ability
• Required Secondary Powers: He is all but immune to anything but sustained, extreme heat. A blast with a fireball will be uncomfortable, but he'll survive none the worse for wear. He can handle wearing a jacket in the middle of summer with ease, however.
• Rogue Agent: He is considered to be this after chapter 10.

Oscar Marshall

The man in charge; he leads the section Max and the others belong to. What is his interest in Akira...?

• Cruel and Unusual Death: And how! Having the water sucked from your body would be a horrible way to die.
• Fat Bastard
• Green Thumb: He uses plant magic.
• Kick the Dog: It starts when he slaps Akira for not being comfortable with him invading her personal space and goes on from there.
• Tentacle Rope: Via vines and roots.
• Villain with Good Publicity: The public loves him as a sort of harmless father figure, and would never believe the things he's done behind the scenes to get to his current position. Even his own agents don' realize how bad he is.
• Would Hit a Girl

Marlin

The leader of the group sent to find out what's taking Max so long to finish his mission. A skilled veteran, he has been all over the world, surviving dangerous missions of all sorts. An old friend of Max, he feels he is starting to get too old for field missions.

• Badass Normal: He is considered to be this in-story, though he doesn't get a chance to show off.
• Cool Shades: He wears a pair of sunglasses everywhere, even inside, and rarely ever takes them off.
• Game-Breaking Injury: He suffered one that leaves him a shadow of his former self relatively early in the story at the hands of Max and Akira.
• Punch Clock Villain: He's not particularly villainous; Word of God even says he was just trying to scare Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako away in chapter 18 rather than actually trying to capture them. He is just suffering through a Regime Change that put a Complete Monster almost directly in charge of him.

Guy Sculler

One of the few remaining original members of the group, he grew alongside fellow orphan Max and always viewed him as his rival.

• Badass Longcoat: He is one of the few in the series capable of pulling this off.
• Blow You Away: Guy's elemental ability
• Can't Catch Up: Compared to Max, a fellow agent whom he considers his rival.
• The Dragon: To Oscar Marshall. The main reason he's doing this is to get a chance to fight Max.
• Flight: One of his skills as an air elemental.
• Fragile Speedster
• It's Personal: The reason he chose to accept this mission is because he and Max Linell have a lot of history together, and he wants the chance to finally beat his rival.
• Oh Crap: Guy's reaction when Eva finally shows up.
• The Resenter: He was always jealous of Max's skills and power, made even worse by the fact that Rikki always liked Max more than him. Everything comes to a head in chapter 20.
• Silver Haired Pretty Boy: He resembles Dante from Devil May Cry.

Nilren Riggs

Hacker, information gatherer, and general Non-Action Guy of the group; he provides the others with the information they need to move ahead with their plans.

• Playful Hacker
• Punch Clock Villain: He's not really a villain, just working for one. And that's only because his former boss was forced into retirement.
• The Smart Guy: He handles strategy and planning for the group.

Arvel

Somewhat Ax Crazy member of the group, he just likes to make things burn.

• Badass Longcoat: Deconstructed (it's inconvenient, refuses to properly billow in the wind, threatens to tangle around his legs from time to time, and receives at least one bullet hole), Invoked (he wears it because he thinks it makes him look like the badass he wants to be), and Discussed by characters in-story. Arvel's ability to wear a longcoat is a pale imitation of Guy's even though his is much more expensive and arguably of higher quality, but it tends to come across more as 'ridiculous' than 'badass' when he wears it.
• Flaming Sword: In his case, a sword made of fire.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The only reason any of the others consider him a friend at all is that he's been with the group since they were children, and he's one of the few members of the original group of orphans and runaways still living.
• Green Thumb: He uses plant-based magic in addition to fire magic.
• Kick the Dog: He knocks down Nijuin (the fat mage teacher) in front of his daughter, cusses at the cute little girl when she tries to get him to stop, and kicks the fallen teacher in the stomach as he tries to crawl between them. It is only the arrival of Guy that stops the situation from escalating into something worse.
• Playing with Fire: He prefers fire magic because it's easy to blow things up.
• Psycho for Hire
• Pyromaniac
• Smug Snake: Egotistic, arrogant, and, perhaps unusually for this trope, quite strong.
• Too Dumb to Live: At one point, he makes a comment about wanting to fight Eva.

Jennifer

A mysterious woman who is mentioned but rarely seen. What is her relationship to the others?

Class 3-A

For convenience's sake, I have only listed those who had at least a few lines of dialogue or a few appearances.

#2 Akashi Yuuna

• Fireballs: She became quite adept at creating these by overcharging a basic training spell without even realizing what she was doing.

#6 Okochi Akira

• Heroic BSOD: Akira, after seeing Marshall mortally wound Yuuna, suffers from this, causing her to snap.
• Team Mom: For Yuuna, Ako, and Makie.

#7 Kakizaki Misa

• Action Survivor: Less action, more survivor.
• Heroic BSOD: She suffers from this twice.
  • The first time is when she, Madoka, and Sakurako are confronted by Marlin and Nil; she freezes up and is unable to tear her attention away while Madoka does her best to defend them.
  • The second time is more of a crying fit, when they get to the bridge to Library Island and find their classmates all dead in the water.

#11 Kugimiya Madoka

• Action Survivor: In a very big way.
• Batter Up: She picks up a baseball bat from somewhere and puts it to very good use in Chapter 18.
• Extreme Melee Revenge: She exacts this on Arvel, thinking he was responsible for what they found at the bridge to Library Island.
• Heroic Safe Mode: Upon realizing the danger Misa, Sakurako, and herself are in from the two strangers in chapter 18, Madoka's mental processes temporarily retreat and she goes into fight or flight mode. She proceeds to beat the living hell out of two grown men with a baseball bat. She appears to be making a recovery from this when Chapter 19 happens.
• Revenge Before Reason: Madoka falls into this after finding the scene at the bridge to Library Island; her need for revenge overrides her need for safety, which can be found on the other side of the bridge, and she heads back out into the city.

#17 Shiina Sakurako

• Action Survivor
• Heroic BSOD: She seems to be suffering from one of these to the point of only running on a very basic level. When Marlin and Nil confront her, Misa, and Madoka in the city, she stops talking for the most part, and follows Madoka's lead, and isn't seen to regain her old personality until after everything's over.

#18 Tatsumiya Mana

• Heroic Spirit: Mana displays this in Chapter 20.

#20 Nagase Kaede

• It's Personal: Arvel forced this on her after what he did to Mana. The only thing saving her from outright murdering him is a Dynamic Entry by Madoka on Arvel, snapping her out of it just in time to keep Madoka from killing him herself.

Konoe Eishun

• Reasonable Authority Figure

Aoyama Motoko

From Love Hina.

Aoyama Tsuruko

Also from Love Hina.