< Gunnerkrigg Court

Gunnerkrigg Court/Characters


Gunnerkrigg Court is an ongoing story with a Jigsaw Puzzle Plot, so expect this page to be revised continuously as more information is revealed.

If you haven't read the comic first, you really should do so.


Primary Characters

Antimony "Annie" Carver

The protagonist and Narrator of the story.

Annie's childhood was quite unusual. Most of it was spent in Good Hope hospital, where her mother was bedridden and her father worked as a surgeon. When she wasn't being taught by her mum, Annie would spend hours exploring the hospital or cheerfully conversing with the Guides who walked the halls, unseen by the hospital staff. At a young age, she proved herself very good at mediating the Guides' disputes and helping lost souls come to term with their death.

She enrolls at Gunnerkrigg halfway through the school year, and begins as an unflappable Emotionless Girl, reacting to Shadow-people, Minotaurs, and ghosts with a preternatural calmness bordering on indifference. In fact, when Annie first mentions her mother's death to her friend Kat, she's less visibly shaken-up than Kat is. It takes a bout of cherry-induced tipsiness under The World Tree to crack Annie's facade: she breaks down crying and admits to Kat how much she misses her mum. This, and Kat's consolation, cements the two girls' friendship. Since then, Annie has grown more cheerful and open about her feelings and her past.

The aforementioned upbringings had several important effects on her. First, this is the reason why she initially has such difficulty interacting with others (in fact, she only meets Kat when Kat takes the initiative of introducing herself.)

Second, the combination of Annie's childhood solitude, her everyday experience of things the hospital staff couldn't see, and The Guides' failure to help her at one crucial moment, all seem to have led her to the belief that Adults Are Useless and a life of self-reliance. This is most likely the reason why she's so reluctant to seek or accept help from her teachers. The consequences of this are nearly disastrous.

Third, Annie's childhood familiarity with ghosts and Etheric beings insures that very little of the Court's supernatural weirdness fazes her.

Good thing, too. As it turns out, Annie possesses "a special Empathy with etheric beings". In other words, she's a Magnetic Medium, which is a Spirit Medium who is also a literal Weirdness Magnet. This extra-normal ability makes her a promising candidate for the position of the Court's Medium—the mediator between The Court and Gillitie Wood.

Her interactions with those members of the Court outside her circle of friends are complicated. She's respectful towards the teachers, even when she disagrees with them, but she doesn't hesitate to disobey them if she thinks it necessary. She also seems to dislike and distrust Mr. Eglamore, far in excess of anything he's done. For their part, her parent's old friends like Annie, partly because she reminds them of her mother, both in actions and appearance. Aside from Kat, Annie's interactions with her classmates are limited—so these classmates tend to view her as an aloof weirdo.

Over the first two years she seems to fall into neutrality, not by choice, but by virtue of being young and confused. She'll steal from her best friend's parents, and then she'll put herself in danger to help another friend, within the course of a single day. She'll copy answers from Kat, but also trust her with her most intimate secrets. She'll bear misfortune or mockery with a stiff upper lip, but lash out with surprising cruelty at someone who successfully pushes her Berserk Button. Her moral compass has yet to stabilize.

By the time of the third year, after six weeks spent in Gillitie Forest, and her growing contempt, most of her previous characterization changed.

  • Adults Are Useless: Prior to the comic's start, and until Chapter 31, she merely didn't seek out adult assistance. From Chapter 32 onwards, she also completely ignored punishments.
    • At least until she messed up badly with Jack's possession because of this and Jones demonstratively let Antimony try and finish the case on her own to solidify this lesson. It doesn't help that about the only available adult Annie does trust in regards of both competence and intentions is Jones herself.
  • Berserk Button: Don't speak ill of her parents.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: As Eglamore, Mort, and Renard found out, in rare cases when she's really angry, it's not nice in the "coldly furious, no rules, hit-'em-where-it-hurts, twisting the knife" levels. Earlier friendliness doesn't hold her back at all, or even gives her more pain to return. This habit began to endanger third parties, even without her using her powers.
  • Body Motifs: She rarely appears in public without wearing eye-shadow.
  • Bond One-Liner: When forced by her classmates to give one after defeating the Enigmarons, it turns out she's not very good at them.
  • Bully Hunter: She performs a rather elegant throw on Winsbury when he's bullying Kat.
  • Cannot Keep a Secret: In Chapter 31, Annie is told to keep the fact that Surma tricked Renard into coming to the court by pretending she loved him a secret. She tells this to him within seconds after she next sees him. Not even by accident, but because they're fighting and she figures out that this will be a bad enough revelation to shut him up. It isn't.
    • Coyote seems to be fully aware of this tendency. When Annie chose to stay in the forest over the summer, he placed a binding on her wrist that would slice off her hand if she told anyone in the Wood about the Tooth he gave her. Once she returned to the Court, it disappeared.
  • Chaste Hero: She has no romantic experience and her extremely reserved personality makes it very difficult for her to respond to anyone's interest. Given the revelations of Chapter 31, this may be extremely fortunate for her.
  • Cheerful Child: When young.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: Since roughly age six. She'll go far out of her way and ignore any boundary or consequence to help anyone in serious trouble, no matter who, whether or not they want her to.
  • Cloudcuckoolander There are times where Annie seems to operate on a completely different frequency from her classmates. This may be due to her lack of social skills from being raised in hospital most of her early life. It may also have to do with her status as a Half-Human Hybrid, and her interactions with Coyote. Either way Annie is not exactly normal.
  • Creepy Child: She's perceived as such by her classmates.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Emphasis on the deadpan. She isn't yet very good with one-liners.
  • Death by Childbirth: Her eventual fate if she chooses to give birth. Sort of.
  • Delinquent: Her Adults Are Useless attitude has evolved into outright contempt for authority. She was already reluctant to entrust adults with her problems, and despite this getting her into innumerable problems, from third year onwards, she started to ignore school punishments... as she points out, it's not like they can expel her, given her parents' absence.
  • Dissonant Serenity: She tends to be smooth, calm and dismissive while in quiet rage or struggling to hold back a thermal lance. At least, until the explosion.
  • Does Not Like Shoes: She just prefers to get her feet dirty from time to time.
  • Emotionless Girl / Defrosting Ice Queen: She turns the stoicness down when there aren't any people around. With Kat's help, she has also become more open about her feelings, but she's still remarkably calm in the face of the Court's supernatural weirdness. When her father calls, though, she becomes a Tin Man, convinced that she is calm until Mr. Donlan points out she should give her hands a rest.
  • Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: She came up with "evil dino-demons" (as depicted by Mort under Annie's guidance) in her making up scheme. When she learns Jones remembers what dinosaurs looked like, she looks quite enthusiastic at the prospect of being told.
  • Girly Girl: In fact, one of the alchemical symbols for the element antimony (though not used in-comic) is just like the female symbol (aka the astrological symbol for Venus), inverted.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: She's part fire elemental.
  • Heroic BSOD: In Chapter 31, upon discovering the true cause of her mother's death and the fact that darn near everyone has been hiding it from her. This left Annie so weakened she spent the first half of "Annie in the Forest" side story in such a meek, scared, moping state that she was barely recognizable. She got better, of course.
  • Interacting with Shadow: The first page of the comic ends with Annie explaining that she obtained a second shadow. Subsequent pages have her manage to establish communication with it. Over the time, Shadow became a character of his own.
  • I See Dead People
  • Kid with the Leash: Towards Reynardine, to the extent of leaving instructions to not mess up when she's absent. If Annie dies, the ownership passes on to someone else she decides. Kat and Jones the latter during Annie's time in Gillitie Wood also took care of him for her at times.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Concerning just about EVERYTHING. Including her very nature and the issues of life-and-death importance to her. After all, it would be awkward.
  • Loose Lips: She never thinks about consequences when angry. Since the relations between the Court and the Wood is one big old minefield, this endangers not just herself. Trickster gods generally don't hold back much, so Annie was given a lesson of silence the hard way.
  • Magnetic Medium: She is actually described by Mort (a ghost) as "attractive... like a magnet".
    • and not just ghosts - psychopomps and various other "etheric" creatures think she's pretty neat too.
    • She's VERY literally a Magnetic Medium. Well...in training for the position of "Medium" anyway.
  • Meaningful Name: See Surma's entry. Additionally, antimony was known as "a killer of doctors' wives" - it's a convenient poison and was also used as a reusable laxative that was passed from from parent to child.
    • Antimony also was historically used for cosmetics (Antimony has almost always been shown wearing makeup) and a flame retardant. It's also in the same period as Bismuth, being directly above it, and thus has similar properties to it..
  • Mind Over Matter: Coyote taught Annie to pluck flowers and suchlike. We saw her pushing a boat and opening a door from the other side. And then Zimmy insulted Anthony to stir Annie awake and got hurled across the room for her trouble.
  • Moment Killer: While Smitty and Parley are finally being sweet with each other, her focus on needing to gather more information about Jeanne ends up butting into that, to the annoyance of everyone. Possibly intentional, since Annie referred to their antics as "unbearable" before that - this nonsense annoyed her for months and she has a vengeful streak.
  • New Transfer Student
  • Nice Hat: She gets an awesome baseball cap with the bismuth symbol on it when she pulls off her Batman Gambit to let the kids take over Bob and Marcia's house.
  • No Social Skills: Initially, her interactions with the other kids are lacking a certain something due to her isolated upbringing. When she had to interact with people, keen instincts usually compensated for this.
  • Nostalgic Narrator: Annie's narration is being delivered from at least two years after the fact.
  • Not So Stoic: Annie's defense mechanism for emotionally stressful situations is to freeze up emotionally and put on a stoic mask. Some examples:
    • Chapter 6, under the influence of special cherries.
    • Chapter 19, page 27. "Is that some kind of face, Carver?"
    • Chapter 31, where she explodes on one page and breaks down sobbing the next. In this case there were too many stresses in too short a time that the mask broke and she suffered a breakdown.
    • The beginning of Chapter 37 shows her trying to hold on to the pieces of the mask even as it's coming apart in her hands. The rest of the chapter suggests that she takes after her father in this, very much so.
  • Oblivious to Love: Even other people's love. Except truly outrageous cases.
  • Omniglot: She gained knowledge of many languages from her conversations with the psychopomps of numerous cultures.
  • Orphan's Ordeal: Annie's mum is dead and her dad has disappeared.
  • Playing with Fire: When Rey and Coyote described Annie as having a fire inside her, it wasn't a bad attempt at being poetic -- they really meant it's a part of her nature. Once a Blinker stone let this off the leash in a reasonably safe way, she became quite imaginative in finding applications for magical pyrotechnics.
  • Power Incontinence: After her attempt tomake herself more stoic, and while still learning to use her powers on her own Annie ended up not only in a bad shape mentally and physically, but also with her fire on a hair trigger and began to occasionally incinerate things.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Happens to her twice.
  • Redheaded Hero / Fiery Redhead: Literally. Tom even says that it isn't a common hair color.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Originally comes across as Blue Oni. After some Character Development, she moved toward Red far enough that she had to learn more of self-control. Though given how she interacted with Jack, one may suspect that she is only open around Kat and still a bit icy to most.
  • Seen It All: In regards to the afterlife.
  • Ship Tease: With Kat and zigzagged with Jack.
  • Snooping Little Kid: A little girl with some lockpicks in her teddy bear.
  • Spock Speak: A mild case. Appears to have been left behind in the Woods.
  • The Stoic: At first, and to a lesser extent, still.
  • Strange Girl
  • Strong Family Resemblance: She has straight hair. Her mum had curly hair. That is the only difference in their appearances. Absorbing her mother's life-force might have something to do with that.
    • Annie so strongly resembles her mother that both Reynard and Coyote initially think that she is Surma.
  • Survivor Guilt: The revelation that her existence is the direct cause of her mom's death is clearly the emotional equivalent of a nuclear bomb.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Happens in Chapter 31 when Coyote informs her of her fire elemental heritage.
  • Tsundere: Where Jack is concerned.
  • Unrequited Love Switcheroo: At first Annie seemed indifferent to Jack's attempt to flirt with her in Chapter 31. Then, by the end of Chapter 34, things change.
  • Weirdness Magnet: Annie's curiosity and desire to help constantly puts her in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's implied to be a typical property of a natural medium.

The Headmaster: Tell me, do you find strange things seem to happen around you?

  • Wound That Will Not Heal: Got it from Jeanne after falling into the ravine. Present for the ethereal vision and serves as the main indicator of this—at least, when things are not too mixed up.


Katerina Maria "Kat" Donlan

Annie's best friend. She's energetic, outgoing, and usually cheerful. She's a natural at maths and science, and a Gadgeteer Genius capable of building anti-gravity generators and robots in her spare time.

Kat's friendship with Annie is a major source of Character Development for both of them. Like Annie, she has a natural inclination to help those in need.

Compared with Annie, she's lived a sheltered life. But when tragedy does befall her, she is able to keep her head: When Annie falls off the bridge (to her apparent death), Kat pulls herself together to build a hovercraft and go rescue her. When her boyfriend leaves forever, instead of being angry or self-pitying, she chooses to be thankful for the time she had with him.

Kat was shaken by the revelation that the Court's founders have blood on their hands, but she managed to pull through this.

Also, unlike Annie, Kat is well-versed in pop-culture and geek-culture, and is a big fan of videogames, comicbooks, and dance music.

Kat seems to have few friends in the Court, which is odd in light of her personality. Apparently, prior to meeting Annie, she'd been ostracized by the other students because both her parents are teachers, and because of the ease with which she gets high grades. Because of this, Annie worries that her own unpopularity is one of the reasons Kat does not have many friends.

She's somewhere between an Arbitrary Skeptic and a Flat Earth Metaphysical Naturalist—she has no difficulty accepting the existence of supernatural beings like fairies, psychopomps, ghosts, or the Minotaur, yet she's dumbstruck by the thought of a robot running without a visible power source, and when asked if she believes in magic, she replies, “Of course not!” In her mind, magic is just a term for something science hasn't explained... yet.

Annie's Inner Circle

Shadow2

A very young Glass-Eyed Man - a Living Shadow - from Gillitie Wood; and the first person at the Court to make Annie's acquaintance. He kicks off the plot of the comic by asking for Annie's help returning to his home, as the only way between the Court and the Woods is brightly lit to prevent Shadow-Men like himself from crossing. After a few months in the Woods, he meets Annie again, and jumps at the chance to go back to the Court with her.

It's explained in Chapter 35: Parley And Smitty Are In This One that he refused to hate the humans in the Court, which estranged him from his fellows in the forest and his family forced him out.

Associated tropes:

  • Defector From Decadence: Shadow apparently did not share the envy and hatred that the rest of his species had for humans, which is why he was forced out of his home.
  • Living Shadow: Although Kat figures out that he's actually made of a very thin layer of matter. Thanks to Coyote's Tooth, he has become....detached from his two-dimensional form and turned three dimensional.
  • Only Sane Man: Occasionally plays the role.
  • The Quiet One: The only moment he talks after he learns how to is in company of Robot, and even then, he doesn't speak much.
  • Those Two Guys: With Robot.
  • Token Heroic Orc: Most of the Glass-Eyed Men dislike humans out of jealousy, after Coyote abandoned them because humans were more entertaining.


Robot S13

A Robot that Annie built from spare parts to escort Shadow2 into Gillitie. Life has not been kind to him since: His attempt to find a replacement for his missing arm leads to him being possessed by a Shadow and eventually losing everything except his CPU. He maintains a very bright outlook on life in spite of this, while waiting for Kat to build him a new body.

He regards Annie as his "mommy", and the thought of her coming to harm is the only thing that distresses him. He also greatly appreciates that Annie was the first person to offer him a free choice, even though the consequences of his choice were so disastrous.

At one point, his Heart Drive was placed in the body of the prototype robot S1, and he acted very strangely; what came over him is not precisely explained, but it seems to have been out of his control.

Kat built a new body for him, so he can do some mad Le Parkour.


Mort

A young ghost haunting Gunnerkrigg. In spite of being a Shapeshifting Master of Illusion, Mort is rather poor at his job of scaring people. His choosing to appear as a Bedsheet Ghost doesn't help. After Annie gives him a few pointers (#1: Be subtle, #2: No one likes clowns), he gets better.

He's infatuated with Annie, and he doesn't do a very good job of hiding it.


Reynardine / Renard

A fox-demon under Antimony's thrall. He's capable of possessing anything with eyes, and can Body Surf from host to host. He's also a killer: every time he takes a new body, his old host dies.

Formerly, he was the Trickster-fox Renard. Though hailing from Gillitie wood, he was a friend of humans. He changed his name to Reynardine because of his love towards a human, and Coyote gave him his body-snatching powers. Though unhappy with the cost of his body-snatching, he proceeded with his plan anyway—killing a young man from the Court, and subsequently getting imprisoned there.

When Annie first meets Rey, he's in the body of a Rogat Orjak named Sivo, attempting to escape his imprisonment in the Court. He mistakes Annie for her mother, and is naturally grieved to learn of Surma's death. Despite this, he shows no remorse when, on the next day, he attempts to possess Annie in a bid to escape. This fails, due to Eglamore's timely intervention, and Rey instead possesses Annie's wolf doll.

Once in the doll, Rey discovers he has new powers and new limitations. He has limited Shapeshifting (particularly the ability to assume the form of a full-sized wolf), and a built-in set of lockpicks (which Annie had hidden in the toy at the time he took possession). But, as the body is Annie's toy, Reynardine himself is now Annie's possession, as indicated by the alchemical antimony symbol that is sometimes visible on his forehead. He's unable to take a new body without her permission and unable to disobey her commands. Thus prevented from doing any real harm, Rey settles for being surly and antisocial toward the girl who could make his life miserable if she wanted.

Though initially presented as a sympathetic figure, and then as a deceitful antagonist, it's become increasingly unclear whose side (if any) Reynardine is on. He's become more helpful to Annie over time (going so far as to put himself between Annie and Ysengrin's blades), and seems to have taken a fatherly interest in her. In fact, according to Coyote, Rey's love for Annie is the only reason he remains in the Court.

Reynardine's names derive two sources. Renard is a reference to Reynard the Fox, trickster hero of a cycle of medieval French folktales opposite one Isengrim (see Ysengrin, below). Reynardine is from the folk-song of the same name, about a highwayman (and in some versions of the song, a were-fox) who seduces a maiden—much as Rey attempted when he first met Annie.

Kat: Are you like her dad in disguise now?

Parents and Court Staff

Surma Carver (née Stibnite)

Annie's late mother; she passed on two weeks prior to the start of the story.

Like her daughter, she was educated at Gunnerkrigg Court. In her first year, she was placed in Chester House—unofficially the house for Etheric beings and other “weirdos”—where she befriended classmates Anja and Brinnie. The Court then revised its opinion and moved Surma to Queslett House for her second year and the remainder of her career at the Court.

Surma's friendship with Anja paralleled the one that their daughters would eventually have; through Anja, Surma met and befriended Donald Donlan, James Eglamore, and Anthony Carver.

Young Surma was a free spirit, with the personality to match her hair and the savvy to break rules without getting caught. She also had etheric talents: Annie's ability to see psychopomps was inherited from her mum, and presumably Annie's other psychic abilities were as well. Surma maneuvered these talents into a position as the Court's Medium, and built up particularly good rapport with the people of Gillitie Wood.

Surma and James Eglamore dated for a time, but she eventually married Anthony Carver instead. Some time not long after, the Carvers left the Court. In her absence, the Court didn't train any new Medium to replace her for over twelve years, and no more humans were invited to visit Gillitie during this time.

She remained bedridden at Good Hope Hospital after Annie's birth, and as her daughter grew older, Surma grew weaker. Mother and daughter were very close—in fact, a promise from Surma to “never send you into danger” was enough to convince young Annie to face down a spectral inferno.

During the time they had together, Surma gave Annie as much of an education—in topics both mundane and etheric—as she could. Before passing, she made arrangements for her daughter to continue her education at the Court.

  • Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Implied to be the reason why she married Anthony instead of Eglamore after Breaking the Fellowship.
  • British Accents: From Barnsley, Yorkshire, according to Tom.
  • Death by Childbirth: An unusually protracted example.
    • Deader Than Dead: Annie drained Surma's power and lifeforce as she grew up. Annie had to take her to the other side herself because the psychopomps couldn't work with what was left.
  • Dude Magnet: Three different guys fell for her, one of them not even human.
  • Heroes Want Redheads: And yet, the most traditionally heroic of her three suitors doesn't marry her.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: Surma is ready to go out of her way to help her friends... uh... if it's important an' all.
  • Honey Trap: She lured Renard into the court by flirting with him.
  • Lovable Alpha Bitch: She was beautiful and was quite popular at some point - "All people in the Forest" loved her and people in the Court remember her with admiration and/or awe. She actively used her charisma, at least in the Honey Trap gambit with Renard, generally nice to her friends, and a fury ever ready to get medieval on a jerk.
  • The Matchmaker: Pushed together Anja and Donald who liked each others, but were shy about it. "Those two ended up married, you know."
  • Meaningful Name: The name Surma Stibnite is probably the single most symbolically-dense name in the whole comic. Stibnite (from Latin "stibium" for antimony) is an ore containing the element antimony, used as a component in cosmetics at least from Ancient Egypt. Surma's meaning depends on the language: in Russian and several other slavic tongues, it's another name for antimony; in Punjabi, it's another name for kohl, stibnite based eye-shadow (used in some cultures to protect infants from The Evil Eye); in Finnish, it's a word for death.
  • Mysterious Parent: Surma's powers are more mysteries to the readers than to Annie, but Annie had no idea of her mum's career at the Court, or of her true nature.
  • Posthumous Character: She died just before Annie was sent off to the Court (so right before the story begins).
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Again, she looks almost identical to Annie—the two even wear identical shades of eye-shadow -- no doubt due to the spark she passed down.
  • The Tease: Gone Horribly Wrong. When she led the lovestruck Reynardine on, people died.


Anthony Carver

Annie's father; like Surma, notable for his absence. In a story full of mysteries, he's one of the biggest ones.

What is known about Tony: He attended the Court, and was in Queslett House, the same year as Surma. He and Surma married and left the Court, and did not maintain contact with their friends/acquaintances who remained. He worked as a surgeon at Good Hope hospital, the same hospital where his daughter was born and his wife was bedridden. For twelve years, he searched in vain for a way to save Surma from impending death. Shortly after his daughter's enrollment at the Court, he quit his job at Good Hope and completely dropped off the map.

What others have said about him has not been positive: Donald Donlan says that his disappearance has precedent—that he had a habit of taking off on his own for months at a time without telling anyone. James Eglamore (who admittedly may not be completely impartial) claims that he had always been selfish. Jones (another possibly unreliable source, as she admitted to deliberately trying to provoke Annie) claimed that he was completely devoid of emotion and that he rejected anything—such as his wife's skills as a Medium—that wouldn't permit a scientific explanation. Reynardine (incapable of lying, but not necessarily a good judge of character) stated that Tony was incapable of love, or of experiencing anything besides disdain. It's painfully (mostly, for Annie) evident that he's very bad at communicating with people.

Prior to Chapter 37, he only appeared in-comic twice, both in flashbacks. In the first, he was present for a group photo alongside Surma, Anja, Brinnie, Donald, and James. He declined to join James and Donald for lunch immediately afterwards, claiming he had “matters to attend to.” In the second, he was crying at his wife's bedside; he composed himself and silently left the room upon realizing that his daughter was watching. The chapter proper has Donald, apparently his closest friend, reveal the personality hidden beneath his usual stoic mask.

Annie's relationship with her dad is similarly a big question mark, one that Tom has yet to answer any questions about. For what it's worth, Annie said that he must have a good reason for having disappeared, and fully expected him to return for her at the end of the first school year, which he failed to do. Annie's narration states that it will be over two years from that point in time before Tony contacts her.

  • The Atoner: For agreeing to have a child with Surma, which he knew inevitably caused her death. Even moreso if he knew this prior to doing so. On the other hand, he may blame Annie as well.
  • Disappeared Dad: After one thousand pages and two in-story years, he finally contacts Annie ...to pass a message to Donnie ...and to hear his daughter's voice again.
  • Hubris: Not the blustering type at all, but from what we have seen, his main blind spot is consistent failure to consider other possibilities if one explanation supports his own importance. Evidently he doesn't suspect the reason for a long, important yet not time-constrained mission far away from the Court may be simply that someone wanted him to go away and stay away (despite most people disliking him), and until and unless hard facts not just stare in his face, but knock him off his feet, seems to be never have doubted that:
    1. saving his wife somehow was entirely in his reach;
    2. the Court officials told him pure truth to let him ride in and save the situation (rather than plan to use him as a pawn and throw to the dogs if things go Coyote-shaped);
    3. they bother to spy on him once he returned;
    4. his countermeasures for the above are entirely adequate despite him being out of the loop for more than a decade and the Court being more or less a Mad Scientist institute;
    5. weird creatures he met must be who he wanted to meet and they want to help him - rather than, say, some Fair Folk messing with him.
  • Jerkass:
    • He comes off as cold and arrogant to most people, though his closest friend swears he has a Heart of Gold and just isn't good with people.
    • In the recent present, he abandoned his daughter soon after his wife's death and only briefly spoke to her after two years. We don't yet know why, but he's not going to win any awards for great parenting from Kat for how much this has hurt Annie.
    • Most people quickly start to dislike him, and don't stop. It's very consistent. When Kat, with her fangirlish impulsiveness suddenly acts friendly with him, Annie is shocked and perplexed, and is more ready to believe that he dabbles in mind control than that previous deep loathing reverted naturally.
      • This led into a Whole-Episode Flashback, Chapter 64, which reveals that when he's with only one person at a time, he typically becomes open, cheerful, and charming. The exception is Antimony, because of My Greatest Failure below.
  • Meaningful Name: Carver. He's a surgeon.
  • My Greatest Failure: Surma's death; he'd believed he could prevent it. This is why he's been avoiding Annie, and since he came back so cold to her: "How could she live with the man that killed her mother?" Those are his words....
  • Mysterious Parent
  • Not So Stoic: Apparently, he did have a sensitive side, but Surma and Donny may very well have been the only people who ever saw it.
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Competent enough in electronics and physics to have created a satellite in high school, and a medical doctor on top of that.
  • Present Absence: As of Chapter 51, he's back.
  • Spock Speak: If his first line in-comic is an accurate representation... "who talks like that?"
  • Straw Vulcan: Passionate talking about passions not making a sense to him.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: To most people Tony is so quiet and reserved that he comes off as rather cold. Around his best friend Donald, however, he has no problem dropping the stoic mask.
    • In a conversation with Donald in Chapter 53, Anthony refers to Eglamore by his first name, James. This implies that in some degree, and despite what Eglamore thinks of him, Anthony thinks of Eglamore, too, as a friend.


Donald and Anja Donlan

Kat's parents. Both of them are science teachers and magicians (Donald isn't a magic user as such, but see below).

When they were younger, both attended school at the Court. Like Surma, Anja spent her first year in Chester and was subsequently transferred to Queslett. She was close friends with Surma, a friendship that mirrored the one her daughter would eventually have with Surma's daughter. Donald was a Queslett student from the start, and a friend of James and Anthony. Upon becoming classmates, Anja and Donald hit off almost immediately, dated steadily through school, eventually wed, and have remained Happily Married since.

Anja possesses etheric powers—she's demonstrated subtle clairvoyance and the ability to project barriers—but does not like to use them in public, due to having been on the receiving end of anti-etheric prejudice in the past. She and Donald did, however, collaborate on building a Magitek computer, capable of projecting shields and binding Reynardine. Kat was completely unaware that they had these talents.

So far, Anja and Donald have been supportive of all of their daughter's adventuring that they know about. They've also tried to help Annie upon learning of her Parental Abandonment; Annie has so far turned them down.


Sir James Eglamore

Games teacher, Dragon Slayer, and valiant Knight in Shining Armor. Eglamore was a childhood friend of Anthony, Donald, and Anja; he and Surma were more than friends. Kat has a huge crush on him.

It's possible that his desire to befriend Annie is interfering with his duty as a teacher; it's certain that his past with Surma is coloring how he treats Annie now. He'll lecture her or give her detention for breaking the rules, then in the next breath, encourage her to try harder to not get caught in the future. He dislikes Anthony Carver, mostly because he ended up marrying Surma.

In spite of this, he's yet to do anything to earn the ire that Annie feels towards him... at least as far as he's concerned. Annie seems to think he went over-the-top in his treatment of Reynardine, as the then-"dragon" showed up in front of her half dead and in pain, and she later saw Eglamore putting him back in captivity with his wounds still bleeding and untreated. For Eglamore's part, he hates Reynardine for killing his old friend, Sivo (said “dragon.”) The fact that Rey once competed for Surma's heart probably doesn't help, either. Antimony thought he has something going on with Jones, he also stated in the flashback that he wanted Jones in their group picture but she couldn't participate since Surma couldn't stand her.

He has at least two BFSes. One of them glows. His armour is blazoned with an alchemical symbol for lead.

"You guys aren't going to believe this... but that guy is our games teacher."

  • Badass Teacher
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • He saves Annie from being possessed by Renard's spirit in Chapter 3.
    • Subverted in the end of Chapter 7: he couldn't save Annie from falling to the Annan Waters.
  • Catch Phrase:

"Ladies."


Dr. Randy Disaster

A Large Ham who has a Top Secret Doctorate, teaches the coolest class at Gunnerkrigg: a full-sensory pulp sci-fi space battle simulator. The Troperrific plot of the simulation seems to runs on Rule of Cool rather than logic, which nearly proves too much for Annie's Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

On a prior version of the Cast Page, Annie described him as "The saviour of the universe, apparently"; presumably she was being sarcastic.

Outside of the classroom, he has a love for B-movies (particularly sci-fi or anything with Vincent Price) and he's infatuated with Jones.


Jones

A highly enigmatic lady who teaches mediation to future Mediums, “currently, amongst other things.” She's knowledgeable about the Court, the Wood, their history, and other unusual subjects. She has a keen eye for observing crucial details, and she isn't above provoking people to reveal their character. And calmly confirms it when caught.

While she is employed by the Court, she is deliberately neutral when speaking of the conflict between the Court and the Wood; either this is part of the mindset necessary for mediation, or Jones's true alliance lies elsewhere.

She has a long, ambiguous history with both the Court and the Wood. She knew Annie and Kat's parents when they were students at the Court (Eglamore wished that Jones could have been in their group photo, but Surma apparently couldn't stand her), yet according to Tom, Jones herself was not educated at the Court. She's one of the few people able to walk into Gillitie uninvited without getting killed.

Though more of a diplomat than a warrior, Jones can beat men twice her size in single combat, and with style. Because of this, and because of her personality and physical density (she can punch through a stone wall and sinks in water like a rock), Annie suspected Jones of being a robot, until Reynardine, Kat, Tom, and Jones herself shot this particular notion down. It is entirely possible that she is not human, though.

There might be "something going on" between her and Eglamore, and she's been on at least one date with Randy Disaster.

Almost constantly wears a bored Seen It All face (when she once confessed she'd "seen... nothing quite like that", this was treated as disturbing in and of itself). She's also quite beautiful: note that her face is penciled more elaborately than the protagonist's, so it's a deliberate point.

  • The Ace: She's both medium (Annie's vocation) instructor "among other things" and embodiment of some sort of perfection with "Seen It All" undercurrent. The only limitation mentioned is her inability to use a blinker stone.
  • Badass Boast: Jones proves that one doesn't need to be long-winded, eloquent, or loud to deliver one of these when she tells Coyote (a god) that she could take Annie back to the Court against his wishes, inside his own domain.

"You know I can take her if I wish."


Headmaster Llanwellyn

The rarely-seen-in-story head of the school. He presided over a meeting with ambassadors from Gillitie—the first such meeting in over a decade--acting visibly bored and irritated all the while. Physically, he appeared weak and unwell, with an unnaturally pallid, sunken complexion.

He has a daughter in Annie's class, named Janet.


Juliette

A fine lady in glasses working in the Court with the Shadow Men (security, operating "ether stations"). Accompanied by a humanoid robot friend. When idle, they amuse themselves by playing amateur theater without viewers.

Bob and Marcia

The keepers of Young's Park. Bob is also the one in charge of the Decontamination Habitats.


Lindsey & Bud

Two married creatures that watch over the Year 9 dormitories (Lindsey watches the girls, Bud the boys).

Other Students

William Winsbury

A classmate of Annie and Kat's.

In Year 7, he was loud-mouthed, and enjoyed drawing attention to himself by bullying or belittling others, targeting new students and those without anyone to defend them. Annie judo-flipped him once to defend Kat; he left them alone afterwards.

In Year 8, he has cooled down, and gets along with his classmates without incident. Except for Janet (see below), who he makes a big show of disagreeing with -- to hide the fact that they're dating.

In Year 9, he really has mellowed out.

He does recognize (and praise) awesome moments when he sees them. He's evidently quite skilled at archery; in a competition, he and Janet were the two finalists, though she seems to have a slight edge on him.

His name is a reference to the Scottish folk song "Willie O'Winsbury".

  • Anime Hair: He was also acknowledged (albeit jokingly) as "Vegeta" by Tom.
  • Blond Guys Are Jerks: At first. Though he's still blond.
  • Jerkass -> Jerk with a Heart of Gold -> Nice Guy
  • Love Redeems: Chapter 2 -- obnoxious little jerk. Chapter 34—reluctantly calls a blunt letdown of an unrequited crush because thinks the alternative would be more messed up. Janet clearly is a noble influence.
  • Official Couple: With Janet Llanwellyn.
  • Out of Focus: He had some importance early on as a minor bully to Kat and Annie, but after that, his appearances are basically limited to appearing with Janet and having jokes about them being a couple.


Janet Llanwellyn

A girl who lapses into a strong Celtic accent when she gets angry, which seems to be her default reaction to distractions. She's the Headmaster's daughter, so it's possible she's had prior exposure to supernatural weirdness (which would explain her non-reaction to Mort). She is very good with bow and arrow, to the point of intercepting one of Winsbury's arrows in flight.
For extra Hidden Depths points, she quotes William Shakespeare, and not one of the best-known works, but Timon of Athens.

As mentioned above, she's dating Winsbury; they've kept it a secret from the other students so far.

Her first name, and relationship with Winsbury, are also a reference to the song "Willie O'Winsbury". Her last name is a reference to the Welsh folk song "The Maid of Llanwellyn".

  • Green Eyed Red Head: While often serious and mature, Janet has a temper (as demonstrated when Mort tried to scare her) and is something of a "romantic dork", as Word of God states that is part of the reason for keeping her relationship with Winsbury under wraps.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills
  • Official Couple: With William Winsbury.
    • Secret Relationship: Revealed in Chapter 34: Faraway Morning (And Three Short Tales). One of the Court faculty heard but apparently disbelieved the revelation, and remarked that her father would go crazy if he thought it was true.


Paz Cadena-Blanco

A girl from Galicia, Spain. She loves animals, and can even—per Word of God -- talk to them. She works at a veterinary lab in the Court which, in addition to treating animals, performs animal research. Her explanation for this seeming disparity is that she works to make lives of the lab animals as comfortable as possible, and to insure that all the ethical guidelines for animal testing are followed.

Paz was the first student that Mort was able to scare (following Annie's advice). She doesn't like clowns (though, as Annie noted, nobody does.)

Astute Spanish-speaking readers may notice that Paz's Spanish grammar is occasionally off; Tom Siddell has said this is intentional, as Paz is supposed to be “a Galician hick.”

Kat: Self-regulated?! That just means they can do what they want!
Paz: No! You see, to do that, they would have to get through me first.

  • Heart Is an Awesome Power: In one chapter, an adversary thought Paz's ability to communicate with animals made her no threat to its plans. Genre Savvy readers immediately realized this enemy was about to get "smacked in the face with the Aquaman lesson." Awesomely.

"Que no soy una amenaza?" ("I'm not a threat?")

The Court isn't a big monster that does as it pleases. Es a collection of people. Working to do what they think is right. And, over time, other people see what is wrong, what mistakes were made, and work hard to fix them. I cry too, when I find this place. But I ask to help. To change things and make them better.


Zimmy and Gamma

Two strange girls.

Zimmy is human "for all intents and purposes", but her mind is in tune with the Ether. This is not a good fit. The resulting stress causes a number of physical and psychological effects: She never sleeps, and has some kind of black gunk perpetually covering her red eyes. At the best of times, she feels like there's static in her head; at worse times she sees terrifying hallucinations that, if left untreated, become real; and really bad flareups will mentally transport her and those around her to some other place resembling a nightmare city. If there is any way to control these powers, she is unaware of it. She has difficulty distinguishing memories from ongoing events, or real people from the faceless "Nobodies" of her nightmares; on occasion she'll forget who she is, and spontaneously assume the personality of someone else. In short, she is a walking, talking embodiment of Psychological Horror and Mind Screw.

Understandably, these hardships have left Zimmy paranoid and perpetually on-edge. Underneath her outward hostility, she loves Gamma very much (and she lies to Gamma to make sure she doesn't leave). It's doubtful that Zimmy cares about anyone in the world besides Gamma, but she is capable of kindness and empathy, at least towards those who help her or Gamma.

Her real first name is Zeta. Reynardine calls her a demon, and is afraid to go near her.

Gamma Czarnecki is a slightly older Polish girl who is Zimmy's best (and only, apparently) friend. She's shy and weary due to sleep deprivation, but kind and friendly. Good thing, too, because she's the only thing keeping Zimmy alive and (relatively) sane: Her presence relieves the etheric stress on Zimmy's mind, nullifying Zimmy's powers and giving Zimmy a slightly better grasp of reality. But Gamma's stabilizing power doesn't work as well when she's asleep, so she wears herself thin trying to stay up with Zimmy. Lack of sleep is also the most likely explanation for those dark circles around her eyes.

Zimmy and Gamma are telepathically linked; in fact, this is the only way they can communicate, as Gamma doesn't know English and Zimmy doesn't know Polish, meaning that Gamma also relies on Zimmy to translate for her at Gunnerkrigg.

The girls are in Chester House, which is apparently stigmatized by many other Court students.

Both of them

Fan: Is Zimmy's love for Gamma romantic in nature?
Tom: Some might be able to describe it that way if they thought about it hard enough.

Zimmy

Gamma

Zimmy: Nunna yer business, nose! I gotta talk to Carver.
Kat: "Nose!?" Great, this again. You're such a butt!
Gamma: Ahahehe! Butt!

Red and Blue

Two Regional Fairies who become humans. Word of God states that prior to entering the Court, they didn't even have names. Only Red has an actual name, and she didn't even have that for a long time until Annie accidentally gave it to her. The other is called "Blue" by the fans just for convenience and thematic sake.

Annie first meets them on the Forest side of the Annan Waters; almost immediately they ask her to squish them with a rock. Dying is the last test they have to pass to gain human bodies and enroll at the Court, and they're not allowed to kill themselves. Annie dubs them Suicide Fairies (on the Cast Page) as a result.

Annie meets them again, after their Metamorphosis, several months later. Red is distraught because her hair doesn't stand up anymore, and consequently, Blue will no longer be her friend. A visit to the barber sets things straight.

As The Fair Folk, both girls are largely lacking in tact and empathy. Red has a mercurial personality, bordering on psychotic, while Blue's personality is more subdued, but no less capricious.

Red and Blue are in Foley House, which is apparently reserved for Suicide Fairies and other Gillitie emigrants; according to Jones, this is to keep the emigrants from being "named" by accident by ordinary people, as emigrants are only supposed to receive a name once they graduate.

"No you go away! Come back! Rraarrghh! I hate her so much! I wish she was my friend!"

Cyan-haired, This Girl: (wiping a tear) Such... such good friends...

Alistair Kershaw

Kat's first boyfriend. When he arrives at the Court it's announced that he'll only be there a week. In spite of knowing in the backs of their minds that the relationship can't last, he and Kat spend the week talking and holding hands. Kat even tries makeup for the first time so she can look nice for him.

When the end of the week rolls around, he mutes to go away to Gillitie Wood with his parents. "And she never saw him again."

Alistair's Mum: Hey, Aly. You want to be a bird?
'Alistair: (paying more attention to the gamepad) Kay.


Andrew Smith

A student from two years above Annie. He's quite mellow and laid-back, and easily takes ribbing in stride. It's fitting that his extra-normal talent is the ability to create order from chaos (He can throw a pack of cards into the air, and they fall into a perfectly squared unshuffled deck). Due to this power, Jones considers him a promising candidate to be the Court's next Medium—he's training under her to prepare for the job.

Speaking of being laid-back, Smith is the object of much teasing from fellow Medium-in-training Parley. He bears it (mostly) silently because he thinks she's "hotter than hell"—but he's the last person in his class to figure out that that she's flirting, not mocking him.

And those eyebrows: damn.

Tom: This chapter is going to take twice as long to draw because I have to fill in Smit's eyebrows.

  • Dungeon Bypass and/or Cutting the Knot: He can do this unconsciously. The mechanics of his powers are still loosely defined, but this is the most straightforward manifestation of them.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Andrew's much more calm and laid back than Parley. He's not "girly" as in being effeminate, but as in being the more shy and laid-back personality of the two.
  • Official Couple: With Parley.
  • Power Incontinence: A more harmless variety than most; see Cutting the Knot. He seems to be able to predict what using his power will do, but not how it will happen.
  • Winds of Destiny Change: It's started to be applied for more things than just making order out of chaos, and working with Parley it becomes very potent.


Parley

A student from three years above Annie. She's also a Medium candidate, and undergoing training. This is less because of any extra-normal talents she possesses (for her first few years, all she showed was "promise") than because her father—an acclaimed psychic—predicted that she would inherit his power. However, Parley Sr. also predicted that she'd be a boy—that's why her first name is George.

Personality-wise, Miss Parley is loud and always trying to take charge of conversations. She harbors strong feelings for Smith, which she expresses by constantly in getting in Smith's hair, while simultaneously attaching herself to him at every possible opportunity. When Jones prods Smith into giving Parley a flower, Parley is so overcome with emotion that she spontaneously manifests her latent Etheric power of space manipulation... by teleporting the lot of them straight onto her bed. (It should be stated that her power mixed with Smith's organization ability and teleported them to her bed. For those trying to keep up with the math, here's a tip: High Emotion + Order + Teleportation = Her Bed.)

Antimony: Andrew, she's all over you all the time.
Reynardine: Ah, has a creature ever perfected the art of denial as finely as a human?

    • Later also her classmates, just by looking at her and then Smitty trying to pretend he's not there:

Cookie Monster: Ooh, saaay, Parley!
Jan: Not bad, not bad.


Jack Hyland

A student from Queslett South who is easily Annie and Kat's equal in curiosity. He's made a hobby of hacking the security system's motion detectors and exploring the Court after curfew. He also has an impish streak, and a Cheshire Cat Grin and very expressive eyebrows to match.

He's the son of a student who was on very bad terms with Surma, Anja, and their friends, which he is either unaware of or dishonest about to Annie.

  • Animal Motifs: Jack's astral body has a spider image on his face after the events in Chapter 19. And during Chapter 27 and Chapter 34, the bangs near his forehead look like spider fangs.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Zimmy, at first. Annie, after the incidents of Chapters 27 & 28: Spring Heeled.
    • Turns out it's still Zimmy.
    • In Chapter 49, he shows up with a girlfriend, Jenny—who several people at first mistake for Zimmy.
  • Badass Longcoat: Quite a bit of his appearances show him wearing a trenchoat, to the point of being iconic for the fandom.
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right: About the Court tracking people through their food.
  • Demonic Possession: By an ethereal spider in Chapters 27 & 28: Spring Heeled.

Zimmy: But he put up a fight.

    • Go Mad from the Revelation / Sanity Slippage: His brief odyssey through Zimmy's mental hellscape seemed to have had serious effects on his mind. His appearance became progressively more ragged, and his behavior increasingly unnerving. The bulk of this was due to the spider's presence.
    • Gotta Catch Em All: To secure its control over Jack, the spider had to control all the pieces of his mind/soul/whatever. It failed.
    • Hannibal Lecture: He pulls one of these on Kat and Annie in this state.
    • Kick the Dog: Mitigated by this fact. In Chapter 27, he destroys a Guard Robot, who only seemed to want to do his job and learn to whistle, and used his home-made machines to immobilize Reynardine just so he could make a getaway. Granted, he expected Annie to thank him for the deed, so he at least thought he was doing her a favor.
    • Laughing Mad
    • No Sense of Personal Space: In the last few pages of Chapter 23, agitated by his experience with Zimmy, Jack invades Antimony's personal space until he's bearing down on her and she's pinned against the wall. Reynardine reacts poorly.
    • Powers Via Possession: With whitelegs riding him, Jack grew powers faster than Annie, who trained and has an Amplifier Artifact. Began to see into the etherium all the time. And understand etheric sciences. And fly. And be able to work and run without sleep and food (this part was harmful).
    • Shadow Archetype: In Zimmingham, in Chapter 28.
    • Slasher Smile: He starts grinning creepily a lot after his appearance in Power Station.
    • Tears of Blood: Just like Zimmy, only it hadn't become Hidden Eyes.
    • Touched by Vorlons: Gamma thinks Jack may retain at least some degree of his abilities. A few chapters later, Jack thinks that the incident has made him smarter than he was before. And even then, he remembered being in Zimmingham, which probably means he had some sort of etheric ability back then—Zimmy, Gamma and Annie were the only other ones aware. Jack recovered by Faraway Morning enough to express interest, get an answer from Annie and try her Blinker stone (after Annie judged him to be unaware of the implications).
  • Foil: To both Kat and Annie.
  • Gadgeteer Genius/Teen Genius: Not quite as good as Kat, though, according to Tom. Interest in and ability to make more arcane gadgets were a side effect of the possession.
  • Geeky Turn On: He takes a sudden interest in Kat when she tells him she hacked the security system in her dorm. In later chapters, however, that ship went the way of the Titanic.
  • The Insomniac: He went days without sleep while possessed by the Whitelegs. He regained his ability to sleep after he was freed, but Tom mentioned on Formspring that he now needs much less of it than most people do.
  • Looks Like Cesare: To increasing degrees since his possession.
  • Luminescent Blush: He has one after talking with Annie in this strip. Whether or not she noticed it isn't clear.
  • Mad Scientist: After hacking into the Court's network, he discovered the existence of Donlans' Magitek server and reproduced its functions adapted to his own hardware quickly enough. But still fails to see why in the given circumstances it wasn't a bright idea to use this toy at all.
  • Meaningful Name: Chapter 27 was the first chapter where Jack was the main focus of attention. It's titled "Spring Heeled."
  • Messy Hair: His hair's been getting steadily messier since Zimmingham, although it doesn't look unusually messy except by comparison to his old self.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Possibly, considering he has a crush on Zimmy.
  • Pet the Dog: Jack initially displayed good empathy and rapport with robots; he helped fix the joint of one of the Laser Cows and taught them a trick. That made his later Kick the Dog moment while possessed several chapters later far more shocking in contrast.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives Annie one in chapter 34, although it ended amicably enough.
  • What Does He See in Her: What Annie (and presumably other people if they find out) thinks of his crush on Zimmy.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Jack was willing to play along with Annie's fake romantic advances (though the extent to which he knew they were fake is not entirely clear) to a point, but he lambastes her for purposely trying to get him interested in her only to bluntly shut him down. He even similarly brushes off her excuse of anger issues as another lie as well.


Lily Cooke and January

Parley's companions at Thornhill. They make an appearance in Chapter 35: Parley And Smitty Are In This One. And a link from the bonus page reveals that although she denies it, Lily is a Brony.


Jenny

Jack's new girlfriend. Apparently.

  • Crazy Awesome: She's not just cool with looking like Zimmy. She exploited her resemblance of "subject Zeta" to lure robotic Secret Police onto a minefield. Of magic circles. Which she drew with her lipstick. And activated by playing hopscotch on a part of the diagram. While highly amused - obviously, realizing how it looks.
  • Cute Witch: "Haha, just an apprentice, I'm afraid."
  • Geometric Magic: Diagrams, in the best Ars Goetia style, plus runes (and glow when active).
  • Identical Stranger: "Omigod, I thought she was Zimmy!"
  • Perky Goth: Very goth, with black eyeshadow and piercings. She knows Jack is obsessed with Zimmy, but doesn't mind too much, haha. She can address people with "my love" and wink from the second meeting - though of course this may be because she is attracted to Annie's magical nature like so many others... or because Annie wears such nice eyeshadows, who knows? Also, she's the only living soul who enjoyed being drawn into Zimmingham (even knowing from Jack what this means) on screen - it would be quite a challenge for anyone to get perkier than that.


Gillitie Forest

Ysengrin

The "Very Nice Man" who is neither. Ysengrin is a wolf who was given a humanoid tree body by Coyote that he can shape into weapons. Along with these arms, he has complete control over the trees of Gillitie. He acts as Coyote's right-hand-man.

He's a little antagonistic towards humans and The Court. How much of this is the result of his encroaching madness, and how much is due to his own wonderful personality, remains to be seen. Either way, he demonstrates "We against Them" approach and styles himself as a "general."

Apparently, he's much smarter and more reasonable than he appears. His behavior at the parley between the Court and the Wood is that of a simple-minded brute; however, according to Jones, this is just the animal kingdom's version of diplomacy: posturing and baring teeth. Ysengrin also possesses enough cunning to plant evidence of Court interference in the Forest, then wait some months before "discovering" it and pressing charges against the Court. Then he flips out... but this turns out to be a ruse: his roaring attack covers a subtle sabotage attempt.

Ysengrin's name derives from that of the wolf Isengrim (the more common spelling), the authoritarian villain of a cycle of medieval French folktales starring Reynard the Fox (see Reynardine, above).


Coyote

The Coyote—the mythological Trickster god. Though hailing from America, he considers the entire world his home; he came to Britain to join Renard in spreading mischief. He's since become the ruler of Gillitie Wood, and Ysengrin's superior.

Ysengrin's body and powers were gifts from Coyote, as are Renard's. The Glass-Eyed Men are also his creations. The common thread in all of these is that, though Coyote is very powerful, he's not omnipotent, and he's too scatter-brained to use that power well.

Over twelve years ago, he took an interest in Surma; later, he took an interest in Antimony (who he initially mistakes for her mother), and offered her a standing invitation to Gillitie. He also wants to bring his cousin Reynardine back to Gillitie—by force if necessary. His ultimate goal—aside from the lulz—is a mystery.

So far, he acts quite amicably towards the Court. Though not outright evil, he's vain, largely unconcerned with the consequences of his actions, and capable of unexpected acts of lewdness or violence when he wants to prove a point. He seems to enjoy nothing more than to talk about himself, or hear others talk about him.

According to Jones, "Coyote is no liar. Therein lies the danger." His promise of safe passage can be trusted, but his advice must be handled carefully.

  • Cheshire Cat Grin
  • Eldritch Abomination: Coyote's etheric form looks like a mass of technicolor tentacles with teeth.
    • Here. His true form is essentially a living fractal.
  • Eyes Do Not Belong There / Extra Eyes: Coyote has an eye on his chest and on each of his shoulders and thighs, which are occasionally seen to turn to look at people. His etheric form is also seen to be partly made up of an infinite number of glowing eyes; the rest of it is rows upon rows of endless, glittering teeth.
  • The Hyena
  • Immortal Immaturity: Coyote does whatever he wants to whoever he wants, regardless of how they're going to feel about it, and most of the time without their permission. He also has No Sense of Personal Space, often wrapping himself around someone or pressing his head right onto theirs (To say nothing of the nose). The permanent grin he has plastered on his face doesn't help his case much.
  • It Amused Me: He seems to have little to no concerns in life, like when Renard was tricked by Surma, he knew it was happening, he just thought it'd be more FUN to see what happened. He's also incredibly blunt when he's telling you something—unless thinks impenetrably enigmatic talk will be funnier.

Reader: Does Coyote only do things for his own amusement?
Tom: Only.

  • Jerkass: Don't be fooled by Coyote's jolly attitude. He's still not above putting someone's life in danger for a prank and then laughing about it afterwards. Not surprising, given that he's one of the original Tricksters. Of course he's incredibly powerful, so odds are they are not in too much danger.
  • Large Ham: When he's in the mood. Which he very often is.
  • Magic A Is Magic A: Among other things, when he gives away powers to others, he literally gives them away; unable to use them until he decides to take them back. See also Power At a Price below.
  • The Mad Hatter: Being a god and all, he has an excuse.
  • No Indoor Voice: He seems to shout everything, and only lowered his voice when he accidentally depressed Annie by bringing up her mother. Though it makes sense for him to have no indoor voice, since he's hardly ever indoors.
  • No Sense of Personal Space: Coyote will always be uncomfortably close while you speak with him. Always. Even in your dreams.
  • Perpetual Smiler: Complete with More Teeth Than the Osmond Family. The effect is... unsettling at times.
    • You know Coyote is displeased when he stops smiling.
  • Physical God
  • Power At a Price: Not to himself, but the powers he gives away are often imperfect; Reynardine's body possession leaves the subject dead afterward while Ysengrin's power over the trees gradually weakened his actual body, both effects not present when Coyote used them himself.
  • Reality Warper: Never explicitly mentioned, but observe how the trees in the background of this page bend to match the contortions of his body, but remain straight when he's not in-frame.
  • Time Stands Still: One of his many powers, complete with deliberate monochrome.
  • Trickster: Natch.
  • Trickster Mentor: He has become this to Antimony.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting
  • Will Not Tell a Lie:

Jones: "Coyote is no liar, therein lies the danger."

The Founders of the Court

The roots of the Court date back to an ancient union—older even than Coyote's presence in Gillitie—between a group of humans and the creatures of the Wood. Over the ages, much information about this first generation has been lost... and some has been deliberately hidden.

Jeanne

Formerly a swordswoman torn between the Court and the Wood; later, a ghost trapped between the Court and the Wood.

In life, she was quite beautiful, with blonde hair and green eyes. Her exact role in the Court is not yet clear.

Jeanne died under unusual circumstances, leaving her outside the jurisdiction of any the Guides. Her spirit remained trapped by the Annan—attacking anyone, from the Court or the Forest, who entered the Court's side of the gorge.

And that's the situation when Annie fell into the gorge. Annie landed on the Forest side, and Jeanne crossed the Annan (an act that was believed impossible for her) to attack, giving Annie's face a nasty cut before being driven away by Kat's sudden arrival. (Incidentally, this event was Annie's and the readers' introduction to Jeanne—details about her past, including her name, were not forthcoming for many more chapters.)

Subsequently, Annie and Kat have taken it upon themselves to uncover Jeanne's past and help the ghost find eternal rest. Even the Guides believe that Annie is the best hope of helping Jeanne.

That elf (real name unknown)

One of the founders' lover from Gillitie Wood. Another founder referred to him as a "traitor", though the fan theory that he used to be human has been Jossed by Word of God. Nothing is known of his connections or true affiliations as of now, except his romantic involvement and looking like modern Anwyns.

Following the separation of the Court and the Wood, he and his Love Interest kept in touch secretly (or so they thought) by letters. Upon learning that the Court wished her to go down to the Annan Waters for an unknown reason, they made plans to use this event to rendezvous and escape elsewhere together.

That night, while he swam across the Annan, an arrow was fired from the Court, killing him. He was the lucky one.


Diego

An odd-looking inventor and technological genius, who clearly understood machines better than people. All the Court's robots (except possibly the Tic Tocs) are derived from his designs.

He loved Jeanne unrequitedly (or was at least obsessed with the idea of her) and showered her with gifts of robots, which had little effect on her (in retrospect, giving robots to a girl who was pining for the forest was probably a bad idea).


Sir Young

The Court's first Dragon Slayer. He is interred in a park at the Court which bears his name—Annie's class took a camping trip there.

  • Animals Hate Him: The Court's animal robots, being descendants of his enemy Diego's works, will not go near his tombstone, since Diego blamed him.
  • Dragon Rider


Steadman

Other / Minor characters

Basil

The Dreaded Minotaur of Crete, who has a time sharing in a room inside of the Court. He makes his first appearance in Chapter 2, where Annie and Kat finds him while searching for information for their mythology class.


The Tic-Tocs / The Thousand Eyes

Mechanical Lifeforms in the shape of strange ticking birds, only revealed to be robots upon autopsy. Mostly they just observe events, though they once intervened to save Antimony's life. Though they are constructed with Court technology, the Court staff profess ignorance of their origins and true nature. Robots identify them as "mythical ornithonic, said to be older than the Court itself". It is possible they aren't allied with the Court or the Wood.

Gamma and Zimmy seem to know more than they're saying about them: "The Thousand Eyes" is the name Gamma gives for them, while everyone else just refers to them as "those birds". Zimmy can't stand them looking at her.

The other Robots in the Court consider the Tic-Tocs mythical, created by a divine being (rather than Diego), and possibly older than the Court itself.


The Guides

A wide variety of mythological persons and creatures who escort the souls of the dead into the Aether. Some manner of rules forbid them from interfering in the lives of the living, and for this reason they are usually invisible to living humans. However, some people, such as Annie and Surma, can naturally see and communicate with the Guides. In spite of their fearsome appearances, they are friendly.

Plot-wise, the important Guides so far are:

  • Muut: An owl-headed man from Cahuilla Native American myth. He seems to care about Annie, but he's not above manipulating her or bending the rules for the right ends. Does not wear a shirt.
  • Moddey-Dhoo: A Black Dog from Manx folklore.
  • Mallt-y-Nos: "Matilda of the Night", a Welsh crone who joined The Wild Hunt. Annie's very first task as a supernatural mediator involved clearing up a dispute between Mallt-y-Nos and Moddey-Dhoo.
  • Ketrak: The Guide of insects. Much nicer to talk to than to look at. At least, for humans.

Annie befriended many of them during her stay at Good Hope. However, by the start of the story, she's become angry with them for not guiding Surma to her final resting place, leaving Annie, still a child, to do so herself.


Brinnie

The valkyrie Brynhildr, sent to Earth as punishment for disobeying Odin. There, she attended Gunnerkrigg, and befriended two of her classmates, Surma and Anja. When they were transferred to Queslett house, Brinnie remained in Chester, so they rarely were able to spend time together. However, she was able to join them on picture day, and she appeared in a group photo—a copy of which would eventually end up in Annie's hands.

Said photo was the first scrap of information revealed to the readers about Brinnie—and for 14 chapters, it was the only scrap of information, and the seed of many Epileptic Trees in the fandom.

  • All Love Is Unrequited: Nothing subtle here. But Tony just couldn't decide how to react on this. And ended up with Surma as we already know.
  • Valkyries: She was still not on active duty, obviously. On the other hand, she can't shirk any studies since Odin personally checks her diligence.


Boxbot

Nobody likes Boxbot. Not even Tom himself. He's terrible to the point that he doesn't deserve a proper description. Not that you can say much about a box-shaped thing with arms...

--He's rubbish.

Robox

Everyone loves Robox. A complete description cannot even sum up the awesomeness that is Robox. "Box on legs" doesn't even begin to cover it.


City Face

A baby pigeon that fell out of the nest and was presumably abandoned by its parents. Kat found him outside her workshop and, with Paz's help, nursed him back to health.

Some time later, the adult City Face starred as himself in City Face, a summer blockbuster in which he woos an attractive female pigeon, thereby saving the world from destruction. He reprised the role in City Face 2 the following year, much to Hollywood's delight.

  • A Day in the Limelight: City Face and City Face 2.
  • Early Bird Cameo: Before appearing in the comic proper (chapter 29: A Bad Start) he debuted in City Face, published right after Chapter 22: Ties.


Tea

A white-haired secondary Narrator who appears on some bonus pages to describe background details of the Gunnerverse and to announce things like comic hiatuses. It's unclear if she has any connection to the continuity of the story.

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