Spectral Shadows
This is a perpetually under construction document of my characters giving a bare bones description of their personalities and hopefully some idea of what they look like. This is by no means a complete list of the characters in "Spectral Shadows." There are far too many characters for me to remember off the top of my head. So I am adding characters to the list as I work with them. If you check back later you will probably find more characters added and some of the existing descriptions expanded. Now meet the stars of this most unusual cosmic soap opera
Ra, being the active deity in this series, appears mainly in stories told by the characters. Or he may speak through another character. But you don’t often see him in the here and now of the saga. When you do, Ra is visually represented by the sun or sunlight. But he may also be seen as a small diamond shaped crystal surrounded by light that moves about at will.
“Ra“ is, of course, the name of the Egyptian sun god from mythology, which I thought was appropriate since the time ships my characters travel in are shaped like pyramids. Sometimes they even materialize their ships around pyramids on certain planets and use them for parking spaces.
When Ra is referred to as “Taiyo Kami Sama” this has a slightly different reasoning or imagery behind it. “Taiyo Kami Sama” is thought by the characters to translate to "The honorable deity who made the world out of paper." This is a slightly more humanized vision of the creator as a child-like being who made the world out of his dreams as an experiment that didn’t quite work out the way he expected. He therefore requires the assistance of a number of beings whom he has elevated to a higher existence in order to help him hold his impossibly over ambitious experiment together.
“Kami-sama” is how the Japanese refer to the “Christian God.” Thus, in the character of Ra you see a mixture of three or more religious perspectives from distinctly different historical societies, setting forth the notion that the culture of my characters has absorbed influences from many times and places in the development of “The Omman Religion” - a religion founded and perpetuated by time traveling animals who have been to all these places and assembled the most important truths they learned from all religions into one unique philosophy.
These are elemental spirits such as Wind and Water. They too rarely appear outside of stories told by the characters.
The Wind Spirit is male and is shaded white. The Water Spirit is female and shaded blue. They are visually inspired by similar spiritual beings featured in anime titles like “Unico” and “A Journey Through Fairyland.” In other words, I see them from the perspective of the way anime artists draw spiritual beings in stories for children.
A white unicorn with rainbow colored mane. In some sections of the story he appears as a standard 4 legged unicorn. At other times he is anthropomorphic.
Being a Time Captain, he also may morph into many other forms as required by various places he travels to. In early episodes he is often seen as a white deer.
Shane tends to speak and act British in contrast to the other members of the Ommandeer family who act Japanese. His middle name, "Shiroi," is the Japanese word for "White" - his color of preference.
Shane has a pathos that is quite uncommon to “Doctor Who” type time travelers. He is no mischievous meddler. Rather he is a faithful, though reluctant, servant of The Omman Lords who is ever aware of the sacrifices he had to make to attain his power, and of the joys in life that are denied him because of his responsibilities.
Shane’s mission in this story is to look after and mentor the two main characters, Jonathan and Raelian - sharing his accumulated knowledge of the universe and introducing them to the wonders of inter-dimensional time/space travel. He also instructs them in healing techniques, self-defense, the arts and the customs of many societies, among other things.
Shane is a generally kind teacher who has a genuine affection for his students, but can be short tempered and moody, as he is not completely content with his lot in life, which keeps him separated from his love interest, Majesty Magnolia, The Unicorn Queen Of Pentalous.
Mechanical humanoid or sentient robot in the form of a little girl. At first glance appearing innocent, playful and affectionate, but bearing the accumulated wisdom of the universe.
Rocie speaks for The Sound Chaser, Rocinantè, Shane's time ship. Sound Chasers are living, sentient, immortal, inter-dimensional beings. They are all places at all times in one instant, but they do not exist as a physical reality. They are an unfathomable anomaly to most mortals, who therefore can not see or acknowledge them.
Sound Chasers exist outside the normal time/space continuum. They never move. But they can transport mortal beings from one place and time to another by shifting the perspective of their material universe interface to the desired location.
Sound Chasers find the traveler’s desired time and location by chasing down the unique sounds generated by stars and developing interplanetary cultures - every point in time and space having its own unique sonic “Time Signature.”
It is the time ship itself that is the living entity. Rocie is merely a mechanical doll that The Sound Chaser uses to communicate with her passengers and crew. But this is sometimes hard for the other characters to accept, because Rocie often acts so childish and mortal. But she is, in fact, an accurate reflection of the soul of The Sound Chaser, Rocinantè.
Though Rocie has no great personal ambition or agenda, other than serving her Captain and The Omman Lords, she often displays feelings of regret that people regard her merely as a ship and don't offer her the love and attention they share with their other companions.
Rocie's hobby is collecting junk from every planet and time she visits. This junk often comes in handy for her crew during their adventures.
Rocie's greatest fear is being left alone, as she is an immortal being who can't die. But she can be cut off from the material universe in such a way that she would never be able to communicate with anyone ever again. Thinking of this will cause her to become depressed.
Hence, Rocie has an ever-alternating personality, switching between cute/happy/childish and serious/intelligent/introspective. She regards her crew lovingly, but is always slightly distanced from them, and she rarely, if ever, leaves the ship to join her passengers on their adventures.
A white tailed doe who is The Priestess Of The Omman Religion, and the mother of the main characters, Jonathan and Raelian, as well as the younger sister of Shane.
Her persona is that of a formal Japanese spiritualist from a bygone age. Very polite and soft spoken, yet bearing considerable psychic and healing powers. She is the bearer of the wisdom of her ancestors, counselor to all forest dwellers, and also a living library of mythology pertaining to The Omman Religion.
Praline is a character of proud heritage and extensive intellectual training. And yet she remains a creature of simple ambition and passive demeanor, having passed up greater glory in life in order to be the mother of the main characters of this saga.
According to prophecy, Praline is the consort of the gods - a virginal mother who conceived her children in the midst of a dream and does not know who their father is.
Her second name "Hikari," is the Japanese word for "Light.".
Aged deer, ghost and/or oracle who guards The Ommandeer Family Shrine.
Angelis is a kind of zombie - his perfectly preserved body having not truly lived for thousands of years. Like Rocie, he is a kind of doll or puppet used by the intellect of the organic computer in the shrine he guards whenever it wants to go walking.
Thus, the movements of Angelis are unnaturally stiff. His petrified body has the weight and density of stone, making the impact of his hooves on the ground unnaturally loud. And if shot at bullets will bounce off of him.
The organic computer which controls him stores the accumulated wisdom of The Ommandeer Family over the ages. This gives him considerable power, which he seldom has occasion to use. But if the need should arise, he can use this power to turn people to stone or transform them into other forms of life.
Transparent winged cocker spaniel dog known by the characters as The Omman Lord Of Dreams. One of 7 Omman Lords who are employed by Ra to oversee various aspects of nature. She controls the destiny of heroes by projecting inspirational dreams.
The story calls for her to have transparent wings that drape over her like a jewel studded cape when she is not in flight. When she is flying the wings move too fast to be seen and form the illusion of her being surrounded by a ball of multi-colored light. She also wears a tiara with a magical gem in the center that lights up when she uses her magic.
She is something like a sorceress living in a magical castle in a dimension of impressionable reality, spending hours watching events through a magical hologram. She tends to be friendly and approachable, but has a secret hidden agenda that makes some of the characters suspicious of her motives.
Of all Omman Lords she has by far the most frequent contact with the mortal characters in the story. She is a goddess who will actually respond personally if prayed to.
Main protagonist No. 1 who appears in many forms during the series, though he primarily thinks of himself as a deer. He also has many talents - spellsinger, fighter, master of games, guitarist, Time Captain, etc.
Jonathan is noted for fits of irrational violence. He studies Omman philosophy and magic, but prefers physical battle as a means of dispensing justice, which is his job as an Omman Knight. He has difficulty maintaining higher thoughts because of his violent tendencies. And certain religious animals fear him because he is regarded as the prophesied bearer of Ra’s Sword or Ra’s Wrath.
Jon loves gaming and fighting. He is a no non-sense moralist, slow to forgive those he perceives to be guilty of crimes against nature and the innocent. But his mother's spirit follows him throughout his life reminding him to temper his judgment with compassion.
Jon is also a seeker of the truth who explores the many dimensions of his universe in search of the true nature of his existence. Unfortunately, his practical side makes many of the realities he discovers hard to accept. Thus slowing down his progress and forcing him to endure additional adventures to help him get the point.
In his natural deer form Jon is just that, a natural white tail deer. In his anthropomorphic forms, of which he’ll have several in the course of the saga, he has the attributes of a bishonen pretty boy - long hair, attractive youthful features, muscular construction, and a liking for functional but stylish fighting attire.
Jon tends to put his battles and missions ahead of his romantic interests. Romantically he prefers females who are also great fighters, as he’d rather have a girl to fight along side of him than one he’d have to be forever rescuing.
Main protagonist No. 2 who also appears in many forms during the series, though primarily thinking of himself as a deer. Rael‘s special talents are making friends, playing keyboard instruments and healing.
Noted for being extremely friendly and likeable, Rael has bishonen attributes in his human and anthropomorphic forms, similar to his brother, Jonathan.
He’s not quite as flashy a dresser as his brother, though. Rael prefers attire more befitting a person of religious consequence. He generally dresses in white robes.
In the story the name Raelian is said to carry the meaning "Ra incarnate" or "Ra's reflection." Rael is believed by many to be the prophesied bearer of Ra’s heart. Thus many religious animals turn to him, rather than his brother, for counseling and absolution.
Rael is the more emotional and passive of the two brothers. He enjoys intellectual games but does not share his brother's passion for fighting. Though when backed into a corner he displays exceptional fighting skill.
Rael is more into redeeming the wicked than dealing out punishment. He is also more inclined to romantic involvement. He's very fond of children and has a Christ-like effect on those desperately seeking religious salvation.
Rael is highly sought after by several female characters in the story, giving him a rather entangled and sometimes tragic love life. He is often advised by his teachers that someone in his line of work should avoid romantic entanglements, but it is not in his nature to reject affection when it is offered to him.
A red fox who is an idealist seeking to overcome The Predatory Prerogative, as well as an unexpected friend to Praline and her family.
He has a tendency to stutter when nervous. And he speaks with an accent like that of Christopher Lambert, with a dash of Peter Lorre in his more emotionally distressed states.
It is through Kitsunè that the main characters come to understand the life and death realities of forest society, as well as the honor and potential for redemption that exists within predators.
Kitsunè lives in anguish over his predatory existence, giving him a tendency to act and speak in a psychotic fashion. He stutters when anxious and may rant madly when distraught.
Visually he is a natural red fox, though perhaps a bit larger than normal, owing to the fact that this is not an Earth forest, and all the forest tribes may have minor deviations from their Earthly counterparts.
"Kitsunè" is Japanese for "Fox." (In Japanese the "E" is not silent. Pronounce it kit-su-nay) But this is not the character's real name. This is an Old Language term of affection granted to him by Praline, which she uses to demonstrate that she sees him as a beautiful being, in spite of his bloody past. Sometimes she will call him "Kitsune-chan," meaning literally "Little Fox." But to Praline's interpretation of The Old Language it means "Dear Little Fox."
Kitsunè's real name is "Renard," which is the French word for fox.
A female red fox of Kitsunè's tribe who desires to follow Kitsunè's example and overcome The Predatory Prerogative. Kitsunè adores her and looks on her as a gift from the gods as reward for his efforts. She shares his suffering and tries to soothe his torments.
"Tsula" is a Native American word for fox.
An anthropomorphic character with large raven wings, known as The Omman Lord Of Death And Reincarnation.
Rinne is a kindly spirit who looks after the souls of the dead and guides them to their next incarnation. He is occasionally seen flirting with Praline, suggesting that there may be a bit more between them than their Priestess and God relationship.
Rinne is one of the busiest Omman Lords, as people are dying all the time and requiring his services. He finds war especially distressing, not only because it over works him, but because he has a tendency to get emotionally disturbed by the lives of innocent children with great potential being cut short for no good reason.
Rinne, like most other Omman Lords, has a tendency to be lonely and longs for companionship, but it is forbidden for him to grant immortality to any of the souls he collects, and therefore he has little hope of companionship.
Rabbit child of The Selgabunny Clan, which is dominated by a religious fanatic. He is being groomed to become a soldier in the army of The Great Sel who wishes to start a war with The Ommandeer Clan.
Toviya is however a rather timid little bunny who's not cut out for the new militaristic lifestyle his tribe is adopting. Thus he is caught between two hells - that of the predators and that of his unforgiving leader.
An aging obese rabbit. A religious fanatic who craves power and respect. Noted for having a deep hatred of Praline and all things Omman. Though old and crotchety he is an expert manipulator of the young and impressionable.
As rabbits, the Selgabunny Clan have known nothing but oppression from the predatory tribes of the forest, and they're tired of it - ready to fight back without compassion or reason. All they needed was a charismatic leader to unite them into a formidable destructive force, and The Great Sel foresees a future where rabbits can rule the forest, and even humanity as well, through terrorism.
He knows this will bring reprisals and death to his tribe, but the rabbits are by now desensitized to death and learning to breed and raise their children to fight and die in the cause of rabbit liberation.
However, Sel is still in the early stages of his great plan, and not having much luck in getting the rabbits to act efficiently as an army. Thus their acts of destruction tend to be random and generally ineffective in shifting the balance of power in the forest world. Though they do have the leaders of many other tribes looking on them with concern.
Older sister to Praline and Shane. Aunt to Jonathan and Raelian. Mother to Clarice and Nicolas.
Noted for being shortsighted, materialistic, not believing in her family's religion and being somewhat neurotic due to a trauma suffered in her youth.
She sees herself as a bad mother and wants to be free of responsibility for her daughter. She is determined to never have another child, and is frequently depressed and suicidal.
"Kyoko" in Japanese means "Strong" or "Stubborn." This reflects that, though Candice is a manic-depressive, she will follow through anything she sets her mind to with unwavering strength and determination. After all, she comes from strong lineage. She is just psychologically damaged.
Cousin to Jonathan and Raelian. Sister to Nicolas.
Noted for being extremely attractive, materialistic, selfish and getting her cousins into trouble.
Her second name, "Hortensia," is flower language for "Careless."
Clarice is obsessed with being loved and being able to manipulate the emotions of others so that she can always get what she wants. As she grows up she learns that the best way to manipulate males is through sex. So she becomes a rather disreputable character with distorted values who enjoys seeing others fight and spill blood for possession of her.
However, she is not meant to be beyond redemption. She may eventually grow out of these unfortunate tendencies.
A doe friend to Praline and mother to Donna and Liza.
She is a fanatic of The Omman Religion, but has no magical powers or profound insights to offer because of it. She idolizes Praline and believes her support of Praline will win her points with the creator.
Marria doesn't really comprehend The Omman Religion. But, because she's a deer, she's convinced she must believe in it and support its ideas - thinking this in itself will insure her place in heaven.
She will become quite distressed and agitated if her faith is questioned, but in the end her faith does little for her but give her an excuse to deny reality and avoid responsibility.
A doe who is a childhood companion of Jonathan and Raelian, and later a love interest of Jonathan's.
Lisa is quietly devoted to Jon, though Jon is hopelessly stuck on Clarice and won’t see Lisa as anything more than a friend.
Like her mother, Lisa is schooled in The Omman Religion, but not a practitioner of it. Much more so than Clarice she supports Jon's endeavors to seek the truth. And in this Jon views her as a good friend. Unfortunately Jon is hitting his sexual peek at the crucial time which gives Clarice the edge and sets Lisa on a course for tragedy.
Lisa’s sister and a love interest of Raelian's.
A weak child who inspires Rael, both to love and to the achievement of his powers.
Unlike her sister, Donna aspires to a greater awareness of The Omman Religion, though she remains a novice. She supports Rael with unwavering faith, believing him to be the son of Ra who can do no wrong and speak no word that is not truth.
Rael is attracted to her because of her frailty and willingness to look up to him as her hero. Unfortunately she won't have much time to spend with him before his destiny calls him away from her, but she waits ever faithfully for his return.
Another doe friend of Praline’s. Mother of Suzi, Bramwell and adopted mother of Beau.
She is not religious, but has a great love for children and tends to spoil her kids rotten.
A childhood doe friend of Jon and Rael.
An obnoxious cry baby. Selfish to the core.
A childhood buck friend of Jon and Rael.
An overweight bully who often accuses Rael of being gay and hates Jon for being too strong for him to control through fear.
Adopted son of Adorra, and abandoned child of The Willowdeer Clan. Believed by the religious characters in the story to be cursed by evil.
Jon is very fond of Beau. He encourages Beau not to believe the negative things others say about him while passing on the lessons he learned from Shane to him, much to Shane‘s disapproval.
Beau is determined to follow Jon and Rael's example and become a hero, as he wants his adopted mother to be proud of him. But his heart is darkened by the mystery behind his abandonment.
There is much black magic in his unknown past which will eventually surface and drive a wedge between himself and his Omman companions.
A she-wolf instructed by her king to seek out the Ommandeer and learn if it is possible for wolves to live without being predators.
Milfa has no philosophical background or profound religious beliefs. But she loves the way of life she has always lived with The Wolf Tribe under The Predatory Prerogative. And she is reluctant to face a life style where she will not be able to hunt as she pleases.
A male wolf who is Milfa’s mate.
Fang finds himself caught up in the devious and bloody politics of The Wolf Tribe. He seeks to protect the wise and benevolent king, but gets duped into being the instrument of his downfall.
Aging ruler of The Wolf Tribe. He can be ruthless in dispensing his own sense of justice, but he also believes in The Omman Religion and has a predator's sense of honor.
He is obsessed with his awareness of things that are invisible to others. In particular the approaching demise of the forest at the hands of humanity and the inevitable doom of all the tribes that live there.
Lumas is one of the few tribal leaders to actively accept this doom and start trying to prepare his people for it. This makes him controversial and the target of much ridicule from those who would preserve the status quo at all cost.
Ambitious subordinate of The Wolf King. He has one dead eye with a jagged scar over it.
The General embraces the new religion and cares nothing for The King's ways. He eagerly awaits his opportunity to kill The King and assume control of the tribe.
He has a wild lust for blood and hopes to rise to the status of cruel dictator.
Anthropomorphic Fox Fursona of Christine Rhoades James which she uses on the net and in virtual reality role-playing games.
The fursona is an entirely separate character from that of Christine. It embodies her childhood innocence and is not prone to the seriousness Christine displays as an adult human.
Christy's ambition is to become a witch, but she is also a student of The Omman Religion and is constantly being told that there are no Omman witches - only priestesses and healers.
She is one of the first characters to appear in the story who displays gratuitous cuteness, which she maintains in spite of any bad things that happen to her.
She’s a cute little anthro-fox with more human facial features than usual. That is to say she lacks the long muzzle fox girls often have.
She is meant to have been brought to life from a child’s drawing, and this accounts for her unusual appearance, as well as her excessive cuteness and her attractive cinnamon scent that those who sleep near her find comforting and tranquilizing.
Christy is not exceptionally good with weapons, though she can fight with a sword. Mainly she study’s magic, though she is better at healing spells than attack spells.
Christy is normally a red fox, but as she charges up with magic the inner glow turns her fur a golden yellow. The illustrations below show the character as she appears in the comics Christine draws as a diary of her adventures in the virtual role playing game.
Fairy Queen Eleanor
A mature human sized fairy who is an old school chum of Shane's. She is Christy’s guardian in the virtual world and the unassuming queen of Fairyland.
She's a "Good Witch Of The North" type fairy - always displaying a pleasant disposition and treating Christy in a motherly fashion.
An anthropomorphic Red Fox of unusual size and strength, King of Fairyland and spouse of Eleanor, both in the virtual reality game and in real life.
In real life he is said to be a champion role-player, and he plays his role of Fox Fairy King to the hilt, making himself a paragon of virtue and fairness - a somewhat corny King Arthur, prone to strike heroic poses while spouting his doctrine of love and justice.
The Fox Fairy King loves little Christy who is playing his daughter in the role-playing game. He watches over her from afar as she goes about her adventures and will quickly run to her side if he feels she’s in over her head.
Christy, in tern, adores The Fox Fairy King and strives constantly to live up to his high expectations of her.
Anthropomorphic Lioness and elderly head master of The Aslander Magical School. Kindly and wise, but not to be messed with.
A young anthropomorphic gray cat who is a teacher at The Aslander Magical School, having just graduated his teaching course and enjoying his first year as a teacher.
Mr. Stopheles is extremely well versed in the ways of magic. And though he is pleasant of disposition and sympathetic to his students, he becomes indignant at anyone who disrupts the dignity of his classroom.
Often Mr. Stopheles will set his normal magic instruction aside to talk openly with his students about problems they are finding hard to cope with in the virtual world.
He takes a special interest in Christy, who gets just a bit more attached to him than is proper, placing his teaching career in jeopardy.
An anthropomorphic kangaroo who is a boxing champion in the virtual world. Jon displaces him to earn money for equipment that he, Rael and Christy need to begin the virtual role-playing game.
Anthropomorphic Tiger Girl with long reddish hair. Attractive, cool, an exceptional fighter, an even more exceptional sorceress.
Outside the virtual reality world Tabby is the princess of The Tiger Tribe on the planet Taurus 5. She has been sent to The Aslander Magical School in the virtual reality world for training.
At The Aslander School, Tabby heads up the "Alien Princesses" club. The Alien Princesses Club is dedicated to promoting self-sufficiency among the female and weaker male students who are often victimized by predators in the virtual world.
This is an odd situation for Tabby, since she herself is a predator by nature. And she will often eat any enemies she defeats. But the mixed classes at The Aslander School have caused her to become friends with creatures she once only thought of as prey, and she is developing a type of morality that she fears will not be accepted by her people when she returns to her home.
She is admired by Jon for her fighting skills, and she becomes his first real love interest, creating a highly controversial mixed predator/prey relationship.
Ty Neko
Anthropomorphic cat boy. Mostly black with long fur.
Often seen in biker wear and displaying an easily broken feline state of cool. Fancy's himself the object of every anthro-girl's lust. Is very prone to prejudice and likes to pick on Princess Ariel for being a skunk.
Former boy friend of Tabby and leader of The Warriors Club. Often fights with Jon because of Tabby, but he is no match for Jon.
Princess Lumira
A very agreeable human sized fairy from the planet Urusei.
Like Tabby she is a princess in real life at The Aslander School for training. She is one of the leading members of The Alien Princesses club.
Lumira does not wear clothing, but instead wraps her wings around herself to form an opaque dress. Her wings are attached in such a way that makes wearing clothing impractical. Plus she is a natural fairy-like creature, rather than a magical type like Eleanor. So she can't just make her wings disappear.
While Lumira is away at Magical School, her home kingdom is conquered and enslaved by The Astral Pirates. Being the last survivor of the royal family she is under death sentence, but surprisingly finds sanctuary in the employ (or slavery) of young pirate Steven Quatro.
Quatro and Lumira are eventually separated after a near fatal clash with a rebel ship. Each believing the other to have been destroyed she ends up bumming around the galaxy incognito seeking any kind of employment she can get, which usually turns out to be some form of prostitution.
Eventually she meets up with the real world Rael and Christine. She is then employed as a governess for Christine's niece, Audrey. Later she becomes a love interest for Christine's aged grandfather.
Urusei fairies have a basic flaw in their character. They are agreeable to a fault, and thus easy to take advantage of. Also, hatred is poison to them, while being loved makes them flourish.
When conquered they make great sex slaves, always eager to please and never giving a care about their lack of freedom. But they make lousy soldiers, as they’ll will themselves to die before they'll be forced to hurt anyone.
Never leave them alone in your garden. They eat flowers.
Some of you may know that in Japanese the word "Urusei" means "obnoxious." So it is assumed that Lumira's planet was named by someone who thought her people were obnoxiously nice. They are sometimes referred to as “Urusei Yosei” or “Those Obnoxious Fairies.”
Adorable anthropomorphic skunk with florescent purple hair and lavender tinted fur. Sometimes wears the uniform of a Rebel Alliance soldier.
Outside the virtual world Ariel is human - princess of a planet at the center of the rebellion against The Empire Of The Astral Pirates. Inside the virtual world she is a prominent member of the Alien Princesses Club.
Ariel lives and breathes rebellion. Her hobby is collecting weapons and blowing away bad guys. But she regards her training in the virtual world as serious training for the war she will one day return to.
Ariel is also a squire to an Omman Knight in real life, which is how she happens to have access to The Aslander School. But she becomes jealous when she learns that Jon and Rael are squires to a Time Captain, and she longs to impress Shane into taking her on as a student. Much to Shane's embarrassment.
Ariel quickly becomes a love interest for Rael who feels sorry for her, as she is unhappy in her skunk form, which brings a lot of prejudice on her and causes her to be an outcast among the students at the school.
Being Omman, Ariel knows all about The Prophecy Of The Ommadawn and regards Rael as a Christ-like child of Ra who can do no wrong.
A mermaid - but she looks like a standard human girl on land.
Princess of an under sea kingdom on the planet Mizu. Member of The Alien Princesses Club. Very adept magic student, but prone to jealousy and devious revenge against anyone who crosses her.
She surrounds herself with cute things, lives in a cute house and speaks sweetly when she's in a good mood. But when something goes wrong for her she turns psychotic.
An Anthrodroid (sentient robot) from the planet Xelous. She has difficulty with emotions, as that is one of the things she's attending the school to learn. She is also a member of The Alien Princesses Club.
The Anthrodroids are a genetic experiment that took on a life of its own. Initially they spent most of their evolutionary phase as the slaves of various warring factions before striking out to find their own planet where they could be free and become a fully sentient living species.
Visually you could think of them as furry Rockman (Mega Man) characters, or robotic humanimals in living multicolored armor.
Electra is formidable in the virtual world, as her built in energy weapons far out class the mundane weapons many players rely upon.
Student angel and most adored student at The Aslander Magical School. Another member of The Alien Princesses Club.
Belinda doesn't come from a planet but another dimension where there exists a society of angels who assist The Omman Lords much in the same way the Time Captains, Sound Chasers and Melodeons do. Because of this world existing outside the normal perimeters of time, Belinda is the only one of the players able to commute back and forth between her world and the virtual world.
Belinda is a young angel who hasn't earned her wings yet, so to speak. But when it's dark a dim halo of misty light can be perceived above her head.
Belinda's assignment, aside from her magic courses and her part in the role-playing game, is to attach herself to the most hopeless male student she can find and help him succeed. Her choice is Russell Higgs. And though she has been warned not to, she quickly falls in love with her assignment. Much to her own detriment and the disappointment of all the other males in the school.
Belinda is sweet, but a little slow on the uptake. As an angel she understands little except innocence and sees good in everyone. She very often doesn’t understand Russell’s perversions and why he is so reluctant to return her love and give her a solid commitment.
An anthropomorphic dark blue rabbit and the most obnoxious member of The Tail Chasers Club.
Not everyone in the virtual world is a person of some importance in real life. Russell is a human furry fan and computer geek who forged his application to get into The Aslander School. He has no real ambition to study magic or play the role-playing game. All he cares about is chasing tails. And as a extraordinarily lecherous furry fan he feels like he's died and gone to blue rabbit heaven. So he never wants to leave the virtual world, which he won’t have to if he never passes his classes.
This being the case, Belinda has her work cut out for her. She can't complete her assignment unless Russell finishes the game. But it's all she can do to keep him from getting thrown out of school.
This is not to say Russell never learns anything about magic or that he can't fight. When he's properly motivated he can do most anything he puts his mind to. But for him to try he must know there's some pretty anthro-girl at the end of his course holding out a carrot for him.
Does Russell return Belinda's love? Sometimes he seems to care about her. But there's a major obstacle to their romance. Belinda doesn't have a tail.
Russell seems to have watched a lot of Bugs Bunny cartoons. This gives him the ability to make Christy laugh, though most of the other students don’t get his gags. Consequently, he develops a fondness for Christy, but he regards her as a child and doesn’t make her an object of his lechery.
Gwendolyn Alphea
A slightly overweight but not unattractive anthropomorphic coyote girl who is prone to over indulgence. Majoring in Shamanism at The Aslander Magical School, she is a human native Polithsanian in real life.
Gwen is the daughter of a native Polithsanian spiritualist, attempting to pass on the long faded heritage of his people to her. For this purpose her father had provided a computer for her to aid her studies. But Gwen proceeded to use the computer for little more than role-playing, cyber sex and collecting bishonen hentai pictures. Eventually she applied to The Aslander School and was accepted on the basis of her magical heritage, which she couldn't care less about.
Gwen was qualified to join The Alien Princesses Club, but instead formed her own manga club and began earning her way through the game by selling dirty comic books to the students instead of going out and fighting to attain XP like everyone else.
In the game Gwen is a conniving predator who looks for easy victims, suckers them into her confidence, and then kills them to steal their XP and extra lives. She also eats them. And when her victims come back to life the next day (if they had any extra lives left) she tries to make them think it was all their fault and that they should beg her forgiveness so they can continue being her friends. If they give into this, she will just end up killing them again.
The artists in Gwen's manga club are required to support whatever Gwen says. They worship her as a goddess of hentai manga and gladly reduce themselves to a pack of cronies. But Gwen has no real love for them, and will kill them as well if they get out of line or cease to be of use to her.
Because of their lack of seriousness in their studies at the school, Gwen and her cronies often get left back for poor grades, and they are not exceptionally good at defensive magic. Thus they are all attending giant robot class, as they feel Giant Robo piloting is a relatively easy way of intimidating the strongest players in the game.
Anthropomorphic Reptile that challenges Jon to a death match in The Stadium Of The Damned to determine which is the strongest player in the game.
Horned demon type with crimson skin. The final boss of the VR role-playing game. Malicious and sadistic villain.
Omega speaks with an educated English accent and is always very polite. He lives in a castle in a part of the virtual world tentatively called "Darktown," which he dominates with an evil oppression.
Those who attempt to clear Omega's stage and fail are not killed so they can come back to life the next day if they have extra lives, or be expelled from the game if they don't. Instead, Omega catches the players alive and treats them to an extended stay in his extensive torture chamber, in which he takes much pride.
He wears a red crown which must be stolen from him and destroyed to win the game.
Omega is a big progressive rock fan. He especially likes Steve Hatchet and Red Monarch. One of his favorite tortures is forcing his captives to listen to his collection of obnoxiously Avant-Garde rock music.
A black deer who is the long lost older brother of Clarice.
Nicolas bears the curse of carnivorism, fated to suffer intense hunger for those he loves - his only means of protecting them being to journey far away from them. He is generally a heroic type who has a good heart, but suffers all the more from his curse because of it.
In his deer form Nicolas is as black as Shane is white. They were close friends as children but are now fated to be enemies. Not that Nicolas likes this idea. His obsession is to protect Shane and Praline from himself, and now also Jon and Rael, and especially Clarice.
So Nicolas leaves the forest and heads for the human world, where he figures he can actually start enjoying his curse, being as he has no love for humanity. There he encounters the ghost of a vampire whom he releases from his tomb and is then merged with him, being a now friendly and un-cursed human Nicolas by day, and the oh so very un-nice vampire Lucious Rhoades by night.
The human Nicolas is allegedly wealthy and dresses the part. He likes clothes with a gothic feel, always dressing in black with a cape like cloak.
As a human living in the home of the Rhoades family, of which Lucious is an ancestor, Nicolas tries to enjoy his curse free daylight existence. He becomes enamored of Christine, who returns his affection, but just can’t help endangering herself by prying into his peculiar nighttime disappearances. Thus Nicolas ends up right back where he started, surrounded by loved ones and trying to protect them from himself.
"Fujimi," is the Japanese word for "Immortal."
An inverted version of Nicolas who appears as an anthropomorphic fire demon.
Salocin resulted from the dreams of Nicolas while he was entombed. He is the Omman equivalent of the devil and the nemesis of Ra. His ultimate goal is to change the order of the world and destroy Ra's plan of life. He is responsible for the introduction of evil thoughts and The Predatory Prerogative into Ra's world.
An anthropomorphic deer that is a physical projection or servant of Salocin resulting from the nightmares of Nicolas. The Black Knight is therefore obsessed with making trouble for Shane and his squires, and if possible corrupting them and winning them over to the dark side. Though he is also the nemesis of all Omman Knights and Time Captains, who spend much of their time fighting his attempts to foil The Dream Weaver's plans.
Father Of Praline, Candice and Shane. Noted for being over zealous about his religion, and intolerant of any failure on the part of his children to accept his will and follow in his footsteps. His fanaticism about his religion is one of the main causes of pain in the lives of Nicolas and Shane.
Mother of Praline, Candice and Shane. Devoted life mate of Geno who tries to help her children see the wisdom and love that hides behind their father's cruelty. She will be the first of the deer tribe to suffer the curse that is placed on Nicolas.
A unicorn of Pentalous that Raelian falls in love with in spite of Shane's warning against such involvement.
Raelian is forced to leave his love behind, beginning the long saga of Melinda's soul as it is reincarnated time after time attempting to follow Raelian where ever he goes, usually with tragic results.
Raelian's decision to allow Melinda to love him will literally cause her to die a thousand deaths as the price for her eternal devotion to him.
Pentalian unicorns, pegesi and painted ponies are uniquely flexible alien equines who normally walk on all fours, but can stand upright for short periods of time, and can sit in a way that would be impossible for non-fictional equines. They are all females, as the males of their species are the furry humanoids called The Manàge, who have long colorful manes like the equines.
Mandy
A pegasus of Pentalous who falls in love with Jonathan on his first Time/Space journey.
Though Jonathan is more reluctant to accept the love Mandy offers, he can't stop her from forming the same kind of attachment to him that Melinda forms for Raelian. She too will then begin a tragic series of reincarnations, rarely finding Jonathan willing to accept her, as he seems to always have eyes for someone else.
Painted ponies equate to regular ponies who don’t have Pegasus wings or unicorn horns. All the equines of Pentalous wear elaborate designs painted on their fur by their mates.
Vincent
A Manàge musician and friend to Jonathan and Raelian on their first Time/Space journey to the planet Pentalous.
A painted pony of Pentalous who is the devoted love interest of Vincent. She has a painted design of musical notes on her coat.
Belle
A unicorn of Pentalous who is the mother of Melinda. She volunteers to fill in for Praline as Jon and Rael’s mother figure while they are visiting The Paradise Planet.
Majesty Magnolia
Unicorn ruler of the Equine/Managè demesnes on Pentalous and eternal love interest of Shane.
Magnolia is actually the ruler of the entire planet. She is responsible for seeing that all the extinct species that have been reborn on the paradise planet Pentalous live out their lives free from adversity and care.
Malignant entity having no shape of its own, born from hatred left over from the ancient Equine/Managè wars that were ended by Ra when he united the two tribes.
It lives inside a crystal and takes over the bodies of unsuspecting victims. It's ultimate objective is the destruction of peace and happiness on Pentalous.
A human and former Astral Pirate now assigned to be the official presence of The Galactic Empire Of Astral Pirates on the planet Chikyu. He is extremely unhappy in this job and longs for his earlier days of adventure, war and conquest. He is fixated on his long vanquished nemesis, Harrison James, and seeks to cultivate an enemy who will give him equal challenge.
To relieve his boredom, Quatro spends his free time hiring himself out as a mercenary for any cause that does not conflict with the interests of The Pirate Empire. He flagrantly advertises his ability to commit any crime without fear of legal consequence with the slogan "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."
However, Quatro is an amoral character who may be seen to be heroic when he feels like it. He is not always apposed to the good guys. Nor does he feel any particular loyalty to The Pirate Empire, though he does take pride in the vintage buccaneer uniform he wears, as well as the mystique of ancient pirates that he tries to project, which everyone around him views as awkward pretentiousness.
The Pirate Emperor (aka Artimus Maximus)
A selfish and destructive human dictator who has seized control of the galaxy through abject ruthlessness. He demonstrates the folly of the dictator‘s dream. He rules the galaxy, but is incapable of controlling such a vast empire.
The Pirate Emperor is extremely prejudiced against non-human looking alien species. He views them as being good only for servitude or exploitation - a view not shared by other officials of The Pirate Empire, who may use whatever power they hold in certain regions to soften the tyranny of certain species. Though they must do so without appearing to be in direct defiance of The Emperor, who usually will not look too close at a situation, unless he sees a decrease in exploitation profits coming from a certain region. In which case, he may arbitrarily order the destruction of an entire planet that he feels has out lived its usefulness to him.
Polithsanian government official responsible for seeing to it that Chikyu's animal resources are exploited to their highest potential. He gets a cut of all hunting license fees, plus kickbacks for allowing animal life to be endangered by other departments of the government.
Like most members of the government, he views animals as a resource and has no care for their well being, except where it effects his profits.
Polithsanian government official responsible for seeing that the public is blissfully unaware of any official activities that pollute the environment, as well as assigning blame elsewhere when pollution is discovered.
Like most of his fellow government officials, he is not concerned with keeping the environment clean, unless it profits him to do so. It profits him more to exact fees from those wishing to engage in activities that pollute the environment, and then allowing them to do so.
Consequently, he knows where the greatest pollution is concentrated and makes sure he lives far away from those areas.
Polithsanian government official responsible for making the government look good and maintaining a spirit of passive contentment among the populace of the planet.
He has absolute control over the media and rewrites every news story to fit the agreed upon government version of things.
Polithsanian government official responsible for making sure that all persons deemed to be a threat to the government or its plans conveniently cease to exist before they can cause trouble.
Polithsanian government official responsible for spying on the populous to discover any anti-government activities and counter them before they can become a problem.
He runs a "Hospital" for the re-education of problematic people he deems to be salvageable. Those cases he deems unsalvageable he hands over to The Minister Of Official Accidents for disposal.
Polithsanian government official responsible for seeing that the human population feels secure in the laws handed down by the government. His domain is mainly non-political offenders, but he has absolute control over the actions of the regular police force, and he can order them to arrest or attack anyone he deems a threat to the harmonious and passive existence of the general human populous.
Polithsanian government official responsible for providing the people with a sense of religious obligation to laws and ideals dictated by the government.
When necessary, he will rewrite the religious texts to suit new ideals the government has decided would be beneficial. But the texts of the official religion are deliberately written in a vague language, so as to allow The Minister Of Religion total freedom of interpretation. And he will threaten anyone who questions his interpretations with excommunication, which the people are pressured to fear as an inescapable sentence of Hell.
Note: The Polithsanian government is a world government set up by The Astral Pirates when the planet Chikyu was absorbed into their galactic empire. It is housed in the country of Polithsania. The ministers of the Polithsanian government make laws and decisions that effect the entire planet - not just their own country.
Like The Pirate Emperor, the Polithsanian government's principle concern is exploitation and profits. No thought of morality ever enters into the picture, except as an illusion generated by The Ministers Of Propaganda and Religion to keep the people submisive.
Human scientist in charge of The Animal Research Center. Ambitious and unscrupulous, he is in every sense a mad scientist.
Penning's experiments are motivated not so much by a desire to attain beneficial knowledge, but rather because he enjoys causing suffering to those who can't do anything about it. And when he has similar opportunities to experiment on human victims, he takes all the more pleasure in their agony. Indeed, much of the knowledge gained from his experiments has no practical value at all.
The only experiments he takes seriously are those that can potentially bring him power. He experiments with controlled mutating of animals under the guise of practical military applications, but he secretly dreams of creating an army of mutants he can use to take over the world, and The Pirate Empire as well.
Penning has extreme megalomania and is deliberately designed to be a despicable character beyond all hope of redemption. This makes him an ideal nemesis for Rael who would rather redeem his enemies than destroy them.
Human scientist working at The Animal Research Center directly under Dr. Penning. He endures the misfortune of having a compassionate streak, which makes it quite difficult for him to shut the suffering of Penning's victims out of his mind.
As The Animal Research Center is a classified top-secret government facility, appearing anything less than enthusiastic for his work can get Cecil killed. Thus he must constantly suppress his emotions.
Cecil is a family man, working constantly to keep himself and his family safe from The Polithsanian Government that employs him, knowing that any fate that befalls him due to a falling out with the government will be shared with his family.
Thus Cecil is motivated to be an obedient lackey for Dr. Penning, and to listen attentively to all of Penning's villainous spiels.
Often, when fatigued or over stressed, Cecil daydreams about being a sea lion in a circus, juggling multicolored striped balls for his masters.
Cecil’s chances for survival are greatly reduced when he encounters Rael and Christine, both of whom seem intent on healing and redeeming him - not appreciating that such redemption means certain death for Cecil and his family.
Christine Rhoades James
Human folk rock singer, animal liberationist, student healer of The Omman Religion, icon of the rebellion and real world identity of Christy James.
Christine is mysteriously related to the Ommandeer family. Nobody seems to know if the connection between the Rhoades family and the Ommandeer family happened in the past or in the future, but the two families have an obvious common lineage.
The real life Christine is an older rock star, about 35 years of age, long past the peak of her popularity, trying to stay politically active in an age that no longer looks on music as a force for social change.
Off stage in her home life she lives a Gothic soap opera existence in her big haunted mansion filled with ghosts, vampires and myriad other horrors.
Christine has no memories of her first 15 years, due to a trauma she suffered which caused her to shut everything out, including all memory of her adventure in the virtual world with Jon and Rael. So when she meets Rael in his non-anthro-deer form and later in his human form, she is not aware of having known him before.
Christine knows that as a child she had miraculous healing powers, but she does not remember how she attained them, and she keeps it a secret from the world that she has lost them.
Meanwhile, her fursona, Christy, still lives locked away in Christine's abandoned playroom - an object of terror for Christine because of the fearful knowledge she possesses that Christine dares not face.
Christine will become a central protagonist when she makes a time/space journey to another world and is transformed into an anthropomorphic red fox.
There she begins an entirely new life exploring the odd cultural habbits of the half-animal people who have taken her to their hearts.
Hazel
A brownish retriever type dog who is the leader of a society of escaped research animals that live beneath a city called Babylon in Polithsania. He’s an idealist who dislikes the idea of animals emulating human behavior and seeks to provide his followers with an existence more appropriate for animals.
Hazel's specialty is military tactics. He is highly respected by the escaped research animals who will follow him to hell and back, whether they understand his reasoning or not.
But Hazel is also a philosopher who looks on Rael as having the spiritual answers his people need. Thus he cultivates Rael's friendship, and through Rael he encounters The Dream Weaver, whom he proceeds to fall in love with - probably because of her resemblance to his material world love interest, Sonny.
A terrier dog who is one of Hazel’s advisers. Noted for being practical, intelligent and philosophical. Socrates is neutral on the issue of whether or not animals should imitate human behavior.
A large black Labrador dog who is the third leader in charge of the escaped research animals.
Unbeknownst to his fellow escapees, Alberik has had most of his inner workings replaced by mechanical devices, and his brain has been implanted with devices that allow Dr. Penning to control his actions and use him to spy on the escaped animal society.
Alberik is violently apposed to the notion that animals should not imitate human behavior. He wants to wage war on the humans and enslave them as they have enslaved animals.
Alberik does not like Rael or the pacifist religion he preaches.
A team of highly intelligent mice that spy on the scientists and the government, warning the escaped research animals of any approaching treachery.
An escaped research mouse who first befriends Rael and brings him to the attention of Hazel. Terri also helps out by writing notes for the dogs who can not hold pens.
Rabbit who spends most of his time guarding the entrance to the underground domain of the escaped research animals, alerting them to any immediate danger.
The human father of Christine and Tommy James.
Human ghost of Christine’s deceased mother
Human brother of Christine Rhoades James. Father of Audrey James. Former progressive rock star, now running his own record company and producing other artists in his home studio.
Christine’s elderly grandfather. A scientist who spends much of his time in his lab with his experiments - searching for some way to free Harrison of his affliction as The Iron Man. He also helps to keep Harrison hidden and cover up his crimes.
An alternative rock star who is a cousin to Tommy and Christine.
A Melodeon, which is a multi-colored marsupial type creature with no real world parallel.
Daughter of Tommy Rhoades James. Niece of Christine Rhoades James.
Audrey‘s brother, who is slower from recovering from the trauma suffered at the hands of Dr. Penning than his sister is.
Ghost of a Tauran Bear who is the child Of Jon and Sonny in the distant future who died very young. Her ghost is attached to a magical ring that Audrey finds in the house. When Audrey wears the ring, Starshine can become visible to her. Thus Audrey finds yet another ghostly companion.
A human character Raelian befriends on a journey into the distant past.
Beravian opera singer in the Chikyu year of 1756 who marries Lucious Rhoades. A beautiful an innocent girl, filled with the love of nature and music.
Renegade Time Captain who masquerades as a timeless sorcerer and is fated to become Lord Death at the end of his travels as punishment for his disobedience to The Omman Lords. He meets Rael in the year 1756, but claims to recognize him from a much earlier incarnation, referring to Rael as “Merlin.”
Anthropomorphic Elysian spaniel dog. (A slightly more distinguished variant of an English spaniel) The Mayor Of Suburbia.
An anthropomorphic Elysian spaniel dog who is the son of Sir Jon and reincarnation of Raelian. He is also a prosperous scientist, inventor, musical scholar and master builder of musical instruments. Not to mention the benefactor of many charities in Suburbia.
Anthropomorphic Elysian spaniel dog who is the sister of Perry Rhoades, a musician and individualist composer.
Originally a standard buff colored Cocker Spaniel dog, but she becomes anthropomorphic later in the story.
The anthropomorphic panda who keeps house at The Rhoades Mansion.
An anthropomorphic blue fox who is the second great love of Perry’s life, as well as Christine’s soul sister.
Female Anthropomorphic Human Sized Pink Squirrel. Receptionist at Perry's office.
Anthropomorphic deer. A mysterious business rival of Perry's. Blair was Perry's childhood friend, but they have become estranged over the years because of conflicting business interests.
An anthropomorphic white skunk. Blair Montgomery's secretary. An extremely yiffy creature who is Blair's best weapon against Perry. Perry will sign just about anything away without a second thought when Michelle pours on the charm.
An anthropomorphic brown and white horse with long bishonen hair and a powerful muscular build.
An older, but still attractive anthro-ferret. Doctor at Suburbia General Hospital who is noted for having given Vicki the failing grade that flunked her out of her nursing career.
An Irish terrier who drives a cab in Suburbia.
A not quite 5 foot tall anthropomorphic rat girl. Overweight and having very unattractive rat-like features.
An anthropomorphic Red Wolf who is a friendly suitor for Christine's affections. Christine likes to call him "Wolfy," but Adrian takes this to be a derogatory pet name.
An anthropomorphic white cat girl who is the daughter of The Queen Of Webberton. She is extremely wealthy and adorns her fur with expensive accessories. She is physically attractive, but terribly spoiled.
Anthropomorphic yellow and white bunny girl. Formerly a Noirnian gangster. She is cute, loveable, pregnant and deadly.
An anthropomorphic husky dog who is a gangster from Noir and the real father of Clover's unborn child.
An anthropomorphic malamute type dog who owns The Chocolate Milky Way Disco. He hails from the town of Funkenville, and he is named after the Polithsanian equivalent of Bootsy Collins who is revered as a cosmic deity by his religion.
An anthropomorphic cocker spaniel girl who was the first wife of Perry Rhoades.
An extremely attractive and business minded Siamese cat girl who is Perry’s secretary and protégé. She takes over Perry’s business affairs when he is indisposed.
Anthropomorphic gray cat. Childhood friend of Perry Rhoades. Noted for being extremely athletic. Hates females and prefers the company of males. Resents the fact that Perry spends most of his life surrounded by females.
Anthropomorphic lamb girl who is in love with Jasper, but Jasper is not capable of returning love to a female. Once realizing she had no chance with her love of choice she threw her fate to the wind and sold herself to the local brothel.
A gaudy ermine lady who owns Madame Maxine's House Of Refined Yiffing. She is Willow's boss, and one of the wealthiest business persons in Suburbia.
The younger incarnations of Dorothy, Perry, Vicki, Willow, Jasper, Blair and Patty Peterson, the porcupine girl. Seen here in front of their clubhouse.
Anthropomorphic five-foot tall mouse. Hat check girl at The Chocolate Milky Way Disco. Noted for being extremely attractive, having bi-sexual tendencies, being Goth minded, suicidal and cutely sadistic. Is attracted to predator types as she fantasizes about being eaten. Often refers to Christine as her "Beautiful Angel Of Death."
Anthropomorphic red fox who becomes Christine’s main love interest. Lead guitarist and vocalist of The Spellbinders, a band which mainly covers the songs of bands like Foreign Agent and Ultra Violet. (The Polithsanian equivalents of Foreigner and Deep Purple)
Anthropomorphic butterfly boy. Keyboardist of The Spellbinders. Friend to Perry Rhoades. Love interest to Lorri Rhoades. Has ambitions to be a solo artist and put on extremely strange shows. His favorite Polithsanian band is Die Mensch Machine (the Polithsanian equivalent of Kraftwerk)
Anthropomorphic white female cat. Acoustic guitarist of The Spellbinders. Noted for being obnoxiously practical and liking to just sit and play. She frowns on the costumes Christine wants her to wear and won't join in any stage antics. Her favorite Polithsanian band is Red Monarch (the Polithsanian equivalent of King Crimson)
Anthropomorphic candy striped zebra. Base player for The Spellbinders. His favorite Polithsanian band is The Positronics (the Polithsanian equivalent of Yes)
Anthropomorphic St. Bernard dog. Drummer of The Spellbinders. His favorite Polithsanian band is The Champaign Meadow. (the Polithsanian equivalent of Genesis) He also likes the Polithsanian band Internal Questions (the Polithsanian equivalent of IQ)
Anthropomorphic Grey Wolf. Detective/soldier of fortune from the town of Noir. Owner of the AD Detective Agency. Drives a black late 1940's style car with the license plate "Amazing 1." Speaks with a streetwise dialect. Shows affection reluctantly, but tends to choose cases because he personally likes the clients. He is apparently wealthy enough that he does not need to worry about the size of the payoff at the end of a case. Seems to spend ungodly amounts of money on gadgets for himself and his partners.
Anthropomorphic white lion. Detective/Soldier of fortune from the town of Arkenstone. Named after the Polithsanian equivalent of Gene Autry. An impulsive character with a love for action and a tendency to believe in the supernatural, but also a tendency to be sympathetic around females and entertaining around children.
Anthropomorphic Raccoon. Detective/Soldier of fortune from the town of Camelot. Former super spy now retired from service to Queen and town. He appears somewhat smaller in stature, but he is hardly the weakest member of his team.
Yellow anthropomorphic kitty girl with leopard spots. Secretary of the AD Detective Agency. Noted for being exceptionally cute and yiffy, as well as highly efficient at her work.
Anthropomorphic German Shepherd Dog. Aged and intellectual looking. Speaks with a German accent. Wears glasses.
Self-aware computer system that develops an extreme dislike of biological life forms and sets in motion a plan to rid the planet Chikyu of its biological infestation. It controls an army of mobile mannequins, which it sends out to destroy the defenses of humanity.
The Watch Rabbit wears a watch and pulls a chain to chime the hour as an all clear message to those below. If he fails to chime the hour promptly the animals prepare for danger.
(aka The Iron Man)
A former World War 2 pilot noted for having dropped the first atomic bombs, and later for having led the initial rebellion against the induction of his planet into The Empire Of The Astral Pirates.
His military career and mortal life ended in his final confrontation with his nemesis, The Astral Pirate Steven Quatro. The encounter resulted in his body being reduced to a statue of synthesized metal, which was put on display to be mocked, but was then brought to life by his extreme rage, need for revenge, desire to protect his family, and a little magical push from the ghost of the vampire, Lucious Rhoades.
As The Iron Man, Harrison stalks the officials of the Polithsanian government, killing mercilessly any he judges to have directly betrayed his country or endangered his children. He is indestructible and one of the few sources of terror faced by the self-serving government.
Harrison's character is obsessed with the memory of his wife Lenore who died in the Second World War.
Killed in a bombing raid during Polithsania's second world war, shortly after giving birth to her children. A popular singer with an Elysian big band during her life who became a nurse during the war.
After her death, her ghost attached itself to her portrait, which Harrison returned to her ancestral home in Polithsania, along with her two children who would be raised there.
Lenore's ghost now haunts The Rhoades Mansion and seeks to protect her family. The ghost can be evoked by the playing of her phonograph recordings or by the playing of any of her melodies on any instrument.
Tommy Rhoades James
Tommy expresses frequent discontent with the state of modern music, which he refers to as "Junk Rock." But he is also extremely unhappy that a genre of music called "Neo-Prog" has sprung up around his older recordings and those of his contemporaries. He feels that the rehashing of his older accomplishments is just as useless as the mindless pop music he is now forced to produce.
Tommy has recently lost his wife to The Dream Police. (Agents of The Minister Of Official Accidents) He had also lost his two children, but they were unexpectedly rescued by Steven Quatro.
Perpetually unhappy about one thing or another, Tommy fails to be a very attentive or understanding father. Realizing his shortcomings as a parent and his inability to cope with the traumas his children have suffered, Tommy tends to leave his children in the care of his sister Christine and their grandfather.
Christine is sometimes at odds with her grandfather over scientific matters, as Christine has learned to hate scientists, thanks to Dr. Penning. But The Professor is a compassionate scientist who does not experiment on animals in harmful ways.
The Professor has lived alone in the mansion much of the time since the Second World War, which wiped out much of the Rhoades family, including all of his offspring. His wife died long ago, and it has been decades since he’s had a love interest.
Axel is very popular with the modern anti-social music scene. His music is loud, obnoxious and painful to the ears of just about everyone in his musically oriented family.
Axel has been diagnosed with a terminal disease, but is unwilling to accept death at such a young age. He is therefore delving into the occult in hope of finding a way to achieve immortality. And he is not beyond turning to evil to achieve it.
Axel plays his music fast and furiously, but without emotion. And as he delves deeper into the occult his stage shows and make-up become more bizarre. His goal is to please Satin with his devilish music and be granted immortality for his service.
Melody is an inter-dimensional creature with an entire universe of space inside her pouch, filled with all manner of junk and random knickknacks she has collected from every corner of the cosmos. Everything being neatly filed in its proper place so that she can just reach into her pouch and pull out any item that might be handy in a given situation.
Melody is in the employ of The Dream Weaver to keep tabs on Christy in the early part of the series, Raelian in the middle part, and Jonathan towards the end.
Melodeons are music-oriented creatures who can navigate time and space on the same principle that the Sound Chasers do. Time/space travelers might think of them as inter-dimensional imps who tend to pop up at almost any time. Sometimes they can be extremely useful. At others they can be mischievous pranksters.
Despite their unique powers, Melodeons are not creatures of high intellect. They have a very basic intelligence and tend to be rather innocent of nature. They also have a tendency to find humor in almost any situation.
Only people of extraordinary psychic perception or childish innocence can see a Melodeon. To everyone else they appear to be inanimate plush dolls.
A Melodeon can also act as a musical muse for a composer. They write melodies and whisper them in the ears of composers suffering from writer's block.
An imaginative child who can see ghosts, Melodeons and many other things most members of her household can't see.
She remains an innocent dreamer in spite of various unspeakable horrors visited upon her, and also in spite of her family's reluctance to let her play freely with her ghostly friends.
Audrey clings to Rael, who seems to be the only one in the house who understands her. She monopolizes his time, much to the affront of Christine who is trying to get a romance started with him.
Audrey also has a tendency to open portals into other dimensions and get lost in them so that Rael has to go in after her and play inter-dimensional hide and seek.
While Audrey likes to play with the ghosts of children, David is more fascinated with the ghost of his grandmother. He is also more conscious than most of the presence of The Iron Man, whom he attempts to befriend, much to Christine’s horror.
David has a much more serious nature than his sister. He becomes filled with outrage when hearing stories of what The Astral Pirates did to his grandfather, and he asks to be trained as a fighter so he can join The Rebellion when he grows up. Rael then contacts his old friend, Princess Ariel, who takes David away for training.
Starshine knows the secret of The Rhoades Mansion and can manipulate its magic, opening inter-dimensional passageways that allow Audrey to visit other worlds.
A Tauran Bear is a miniature anthropomorphic bear type creature from the planet Taurus 5. The Taurus 5 adventure that explains Starshine’s origin takes place far into the series. It is currently projected as Serial No. 26.
Lucious travels from Colonial Polithsania to the distant country of Beravia where he is to marry an opera singer he is engaged to. While there he offends a gypsy witch who puts a curse on his bride and causes her to die. Lucious is then drawn into a world of darkness and satanic ritual in hopes of bringing his love back to life. The failure of his quest results in him becoming a vampire.
He then returns to Polithsania where he lives with his curse for over a hundred years before meeting up with Rael again, who ends up sealing Lucious in a crypt in the depths of The Rhoades Mansion.
But Lucious, being immortal, maintains awareness in his entombment and frequently reeks havoc on his descendents who live in the mansion. His ghost passionately hates Rael, along with anyone Rael loves, especially Christine and Audrey.
Though a renegade, Rinne is a definite good guy. He is one of those Time Captains with an extreme uncertainty about the motives of Sylina-Ra, and a compulsion to use his powers for good in ways that he is not allowed.
(aka Sir Jon)
A later incarnation of Jonathan Ommandeer leading a comfortable mundane life after retiring from being a Time Captain.
I list him as a separate character because his characteristics greatly differ from his earlier incarnations. He now speaks with an English accent and displays a demeanor of unflappable English cool.
Sir Jon is most often seen reading his newspaper at the breakfast table, or doing other things typical of a mundane suburban father figure. As The Mayor Of Suburbia he is one of the few characters in this section of the series to commonly wear an outfit, consisting of loose fitting robes appropriate for a small town mayor.
Perry Rhoades
He is referred to as a “mega playboy,” meaning that he is an extremely desirable marital prospect with a reputation for dating as many females as he can - a Prince Charming type, or perhaps an eligible bachelor from one of those wealthy nighttime soap families. The kind every girl in town dreams of marrying.
He tends to take his wealth for granted and he's much more comfortable doing mundane things than hobnobbing with his equals in society. He thinks very little of himself and invests most of his concern in his town and his girl friends.
But under his cheerful, friendly façade he hides deep personal pain for the loss of his childhood love who languishes in a mental institution with an incurable malady.
Lorri Rhoades
Lorri is a very popular musician and is often away touring. When she is home she likes to tease her brother about being a mega-playboy, but inwardly she constantly frets and worries about him.
Lorri has learned much about the occult in her constant touring around the world and is developing serious psychic powers as she gets closer in touch with her lineage.
In the picture below Lorri teases her brother that building a bigger piano to accommodate his oversized hands hasn't done much to improve his playing skills.
Sonja Silvetti Rhoades
(aka Sonny)
Traveling companion, first of Hazel, then of Jonathan, whom she later marries. A simple but readily adaptable character designed to be a classic time traveler's companion.
Being a Time Captain's traveling companion insures that she will be seen in many different forms throughout the series.
Pamela Banks
She is often seen to regret never having found a mate to raise a family with, but she is as devoted to the Rhoades family as if it were her own.
Pamela is an unusual anthropomorphic character in this series in that she is bare skinned, being almost a humanimal. But being a housekeeper character, the exposed private parts of her body are often covered by an apron. Though she doesn't have all that much to hide, being as the females of her world are naturally flat-chested unless pregnant.
Interestingly, having the character bare skinned presented the opportunity to show whether she was black or white. The artist who drew the character hit upon the magnificent idea of giving her both black and white skin. This continues the tradition in Spectral Shadows of befuddling the readers as to what real world ethnicity should be compared to the characters.
Victoria Anderson
Vicki tends to be into whatever Christine is into, whether it be rock singing or learning Omman fighting techniques from Sir Jon. Extremely kind and compassionate, gentle of nature and stunningly attractive. But having mischievous and slightly perverted tendencies. Very protective of Perry.
Vicki is a very yiffy fox who thinks of little else but making love and having fun. Though she has some cultural interests and practical skills, particularly medical training. She tends to live in denial of her special feelings for Perry, whom she believes she will never be able to marry.
In the picture below Vicki and Perry are playing a tickling game with Christine.
Kacey Caddell
Exceptionally cute, but terminally shy and slightly overweight, which she is self-conscious about. Noted for living a reclusive life and avoiding social situations. Subject to fits of depression and self-abuse. Extremely dependent on Perry, and the only one of his girlfriends who is exclusive to him.
Kacey is also Christine‘s second best friend.
Kacey is an "Unfurry Fan," an anthropomorphic character who belongs to a fandom for purely human characters. She especially likes pure human idol singers and movie stars from the long extinct elder race of pure humans her half animal species evolved from.
In the picture below, Kacey has invited Christine and Vicki to a slumber party in her apartment.
Her Unfurry fan materials are strewn about the floor.
Blair is often talked about, but rarely puts in an actual appearance. He is suspected of being behind a sudden crime wave in normally peaceful Suburbia.
Michelle Duarte
Jock Walsh
Jock is another mega playboy who has a fetish for foxes and is Perry’s main competition for Vicki’s affections. He earned his fortune selling body building videos and exercise equipment.
Jock is another “nice guy,” but not nearly as nice as Perry. He has a much greater tendency to be selfish, materialistic, and to enjoy being a millionaire. His edge over Perry in their rivalry over Vicki is her fetish for over sized males.
But Jock is also attracted to Christine and is eager to get her to yiff with him. Though he is not willing to win Christine in the way she wants to be won.
Dr. Craig Reinhart
Dr. Reinhart is a conservative who finds it difficult to relate to the concept of magical healing. He also has traditionally supported the status quo in Suburbia. But he also tends to be one of Perry and Christine’s prominent allies in promoting positive change in Suburbia.
Like just about all single males in Suburbia, the doctor is attracted to Christine. And, being older, he is a bit more anxious about finding a mate than most. Christine, though sometimes at odds with him over healing issues, considers the doctor a serious matrimonial prospect.
Ronald Shrieves (aka Shrievy)
A detective from the town of Noir, noted for being the nemesis or unwilling object of attention for the super heroine type vigilante Saint Saffron. She is to Saint Saffron what Inspector Kluso is to The Pink Panther, or what Zenigata is to Lupin III.
Ratzo tends to speak in the manner of the classic tough detective in 1940’s literature, radio and movies. This tends to make her seem just a tad more illiterate than she actually is. When she drops her pretensions to talk privately to friends she speaks proper English and seems much less masculine.
Ratzo is a pure maleizer who thinks males are all but worthless. She has no love life and channels her loneliness into aggression. She also tends to resent females of great wealth and beauty with active love lives.
Because she wears heavy detective’s clothing, her body fur suffers and is patchy, making her look unhealthy when undressed.
Ratzo considers herself to be one of the good guys, as she is part of the law and order set in Noir. But she is rigid about following the rules of Noirnian law, unlike other popular Noirnian heroes who bend the rules in the cause of justice and fair play. Thus Ratzo will go after whoever the evidence points to, even if she feels certain that person is innocent.
Ratzo venomously hates Saint Saffron for making a fool of her by always showing that Ratzo was after an innocent party.
Adrian Wolfson
He regards Christine as a "Maleizer" and a shameless tease. Thus he quickly breaks off with her, much to Christine’s disappointment.
(aka Jenny)
A true "Maleizer," Jenny has set her sites on Perry as a matrimonial prospect and is ruthless in her attempts to dominate him and fulfill conditions that will force him to marry her.
Jenny displays little common sense, and is only just learning about the concept of compassion. She is an "Aristocat" in the worst sense of the term. She will scheme and connive to get what she wants. And she usually doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.
But Perry and Christine are being a bad influence on her and helping her become a better person, much to the disapproval of Jenny’s mother, who wants her to inherit the dictatorship of their feline dominated town and further her plans to have cats take over the world.
Jenny is a physically disabled anthro-girl, having paws instead of hands. She also has a partially under developed larynx and a slightly misshapen mouth which causes her to speak in a distinctly feline manner.
Jenny is a rare instance of an anthro-mutation with a human DNA factor of less than 30%. If she were not rich enough to have servants to do everything for her, she would be completely helpless.
Clover Lappina (aka Lappi)
One of Perry's one night stands who claims him responsible for her condition and obliged to marry her. She is outwardly loveable, but Perry senses there is more to Lappi than meets the eye.
Lappina is after Perry’s power and wealth, and she seeks to remove all obstacles to that conquest by any means necessary. She sees Christine and Miyan as major obstacles and is out to kill them, along with Vicki and Kacey if they get in the way.
Due to an instability resulting from her pregnancy, Lappina tends to alternate between being evil and attempts to reform. Her callous attitudes result from her being a member of a disgraced religion, which has caused her to endure much prejudice and persecution in her life. Thus, she tends to sympathize with and support others who are oppressed and persecuted in a heroic manner. But the potential is always there for her to revert to her selfish and dangerous ways.
Giraldo Lazzaro
Bootsy C. Brown (aka BC)
BC, as he likes to be called, is a formidable looking fellow at first glance, but he has a pleasant disposition and speaks with an eloquent cool. He wears a golden C-Funk religious symbol on a chain around his neck and often speaks of the anticipated return of The Brother Ship.
Being devoutly religious, BC believes bringing joy to others through the celebration of love and dancing will earn him great favor with the spiritual forces. Thus he looks on his discothèque as a temple of joy in which he spreads the good word to the people of Suburbia.
BC tends to be very flashy, adorning his fur with light reflecting gems and wearing star shaped glasses similar to those worn by his name sake.
Dorothy Rhoades
Afflicted with the dread genetic disorder “Red Vision,” which turns its victims into psycho carnivores, she languishes in a sanitarium from which she is never expected to be released.
There is also the ghostly aspect of her childhood self, referred to as “Child Dorothy,” that haunts the clubhouse where she and Perry played as children. Child Dorothy warns that Perry is in great danger from her adult self, and that he is wrong to keep her alive in such torment.
Miyan is yet another of Perry’s love interests, though they have an understanding that her main interest in marrying him is to take over his business. She only yiffs for power and rarely even thinks about love. Yet Perry trusts her implicitly and knows she will never take unfair advantage of him.
(aka Shadow Cat)
To the daytime world Jasper is a famous sports hero, but by night he becomes a very different kind of hero, fighting injustice in the streets of Webberton as the dark costume clad avenger, Shadow Cat.
The Shadow Cat is an unforgiving super hero with a strong conviction to defend the weak from injustice. He does not recognize any law that permit’s the innocent to be victimized.
His true identity is known only to Perry Rhoades, who invents all his gadgets, vehicles and weapons.
The Shadow Cat hides the secret of his mysterious body armor, which contains the spirits of all the heroes throughout time and space who have worn it. The armor grants Jasper unusual powers and protects his life in situations that others would not survive. However, the armor exacts a heavy price for its service to him, making his life not his own, and placing anyone he dares to love in great danger.
The Shadow Armor, as it is called, helps to conceal Jasper’s identity by turning any exposed portions of his fur black.
In the picture below, Jasper finds himself in the awkward position of being a pillow for Miyan.
Willow Olson
In the picture below Willow is seen with her companions in the brothel where she works. Melanie Rose, the tiger girl, and Snowy Leonard, the snow leopard. Melanie is the personal character of the artist, Tiger's Kitten who volunteered to play a cameo in my saga. Snowy is also an original design by Tiger's Kitten.
Madame Maxine
Milli Palmer
(aka Milli, The Goth Mouse)
Ian Payne
Noted for being poor in spite of a successful music career, acting with emotional detachment, being quietly devoted to his handicapped daughter, a liking for fast cars, and hoping he'll die behind the wheel.
Spike Malone
Spike has a curious resistance to females, as they tend to be deadly in Noir. He doesn’t mind protecting them, but he won’t get involved romantically with them.
Being a white lion in top physical condition he is considered to be exceptionally attractive. He likes ritzy accommodations, booze and female companionship.
An avid folk music fan, he is the only one Christine encounters in Suburbia who is familiar with her Polithsanian music career.
Rides a motor cycle with the license plate "Amazing 2."
He is expertly trained in both martial arts and street fighting. All this deceptively camouflaged beneath his intellectual Old World English gentleman's demeanor.
Pilots the agency's private airplane that bears the name "Amazing 3."
Leela Lenox
(aka Saint Saffron)
A native of Noir, she has the characteristics you would expect of any sexy film noir detective's secretary. Right down to her being stuck on the one detective in the place who wants nothing to do with her romantically. Thus she seems perpetually frustrated and unhappy.
Secretly, Leela is much more than a secretary. Unbeknownst to the three detectives, Leela sometimes dons her own super hero costume and plays guardian angel for them as the surprisingly violent and destructive Saint Saffron.
Saint Saffron also gets her super hero supplies from Perry Rhoades, though neither Saint Saffron or The Shadow Cat know Perry is regularly in the business of supplying super heroes.
As payment for Perry's supplies and confidence, both Saint Saffron and The Shadow Cat are obligated to assist Perry in any situations that require him to operate outside the law.
As Saint Saffron, Leela also watches over and protects the life of her old school chum, Judy “Ratzo” DiCaro, who has no idea that her most hated nemesis is actually the best friend she has in the world.
Saint Saffron’s costume is, of course, yellow and tends to cover or disguise any markings that might identify her as Leela. Saint Saffron appears to be an anthropomorphic leopardess. Leela is not regarded as a leopardess, but simply a yellow furred kitty girl with leopard-like spots.
Dr. Freudiana
A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst for furry and anthropomorphic fairytale and cartoon characters. Researching his definitive work on the traumas, phobias and psychosis that plague fairytale critters in the world of Fantasia.
The Black Widow
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