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* TheArtifact: Pickles and Pepper were conceived back when Crafty's Bonnie and Nurse's Goozie still had some presence on the show. Pickles was made with the understanding that each Crafty Crewmate would have a pet of their own. However, Bonnie and Goozie quickly fall out of relevance as the show progresses, with Pickles being the only remnant of this idea.
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* TheArtifact: Pickles and Pepper were conceived back when Crafty's Bonnie and Nurse's Goozie still had some presence on the show. Pickles was made with the understanding that each Crafty Crewmate would have a pet of their own. However, as the show progresses, Pickles becomes the sole remnant of this idea, as [[AbsentAnimalCompanion Bonnie and Goozie quickly fall out of relevance as the show progresses, with Pickles being the only remnant of this idea.relevance]].
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* TheArtifact: Pickles and Pepper were conceived back when Crafty's Bonnie and Nurse's Goozie still had some presence on the show. Pickles was made with the understanding that each Crafty Crewmate would have a pet of their own. However, Bonnie and Goozie quickly fall out of relevance as the show progresses, with Pickles being the only remnant of this idea.
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[- [[Characters/DrCraftyCraftyCrew The Crafty Crew]] ([[Characters/DrCraftyDrCrafty Doctor Crafty]], [[Characters/DrCraftyNurseWorse Nurse Worse]], '''Pepper & Pickles''')\\
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[- [[Characters/DrCraftyCraftyCrew The Crafty Crew]] ([[Characters/DrCraftyDrCrafty Doctor Crafty]], [[Characters/DrCraftyNurseWorse Nurse Worse]], '''Pepper & Pickles''')\\Pickles,''' [[Characters/DrCraftyMessibelle Messibelle]])\\
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(''[[VisualPun A picture of a cargo ship appears onscreen to illustrate Pepper's point]].'')\\
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Whoops; had to alphabetize this entry.
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* PunnyName: Pepper and Pickles' names loosely reference "Pickled Peppers" when paired together.
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* PunnyName: Pepper and Pickles' names loosely reference "Pickled Peppers" when paired together.
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** Tellingly, for the hypothetical High School Alternate Universe that the Crew makes in "Late for Crafty Class," Pepper and Crystelle are the only Crewmates who become staff members, with Pepper becoming a lunch lady. Pepper also reminds her coworkers that she's traveled so long that it's all she can remember. She still has no recollection of her childhood, let alone any public educational background that she could've had.
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** Tellingly, for the hypothetical High School Alternate Universe that the Crew makes in "Late for Crafty Class," Pepper and Crystelle are the only Crewmates who become staff members, with Pepper becoming a lunch lady. Pepper also reminds her coworkers that she's traveled so long that it's all she can remember. She still has no recollection of her childhood, let alone any public educational potential background that she could've had.in public education.
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Changed line(s) 135 (click to see context) from:
** Tellingly, for the hypothetical High School Alternate Universe that the Crew makes in "Late for Crafty Class," Pepper and Crystelle are the only Crewmates who become staff members, with Pepper becoming a lunch lady. Pepper also reminds her coworkers of her earliest memory, which isn't much different from what she'd been doing prior to joining them: traveling and honing her cooking skills.
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** Tellingly, for the hypothetical High School Alternate Universe that the Crew makes in "Late for Crafty Class," Pepper and Crystelle are the only Crewmates who become staff members, with Pepper becoming a lunch lady. Pepper also reminds her coworkers that she's traveled so long that it's all she can remember. She still has no recollection of her earliest memory, which isn't much different from what she'd been doing prior to joining them: traveling and honing her cooking skills.childhood, let alone any public educational background that she could've had.
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** Occasionally, Pepper is hinted as being far older than her late-twenties-to-early-thirties appearance suggests. The first explicit hint comes from "Over the Moon Sault," at the end of which Metal Crafty identifies her as a primordial life form, putting her true age somewhere just below Sasha's and Crystelle's.
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** Occasionally, Pepper is hinted as being far older than her late-twenties-to-early-thirties appearance suggests. The first explicit hint comes from "Over the Moon Sault," Moonsault," at the end of which Metal Crafty identifies her as a primordial life form, putting her true age somewhere just below Sasha's and Crystelle's.
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* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Occasionally, Pepper is hinted as being far older than her late-twenties-to-early-thirties appearance suggests. The first explicit hint comes from "Over the Moon Sault," at the end of which Metal Crafty identifies her as a primordial life form, putting her true age somewhere just below Sasha's and Crystelle's.
** Tellingly, for the hypothetical High School Alternate Universe that the Crew makes in "Late for Crafty Class," Pepper and Crystelle are the only Crewmates who become staff members, with Pepper becoming a lunch lady. Pepper also reminds her coworkers of her earliest memory, which isn't much different from what she'd been doing prior to joining them: traveling and honing her cooking skills.
** Occasionally, Pepper is hinted as being far older than her late-twenties-to-early-thirties appearance suggests. The first explicit hint comes from "Over the Moon Sault," at the end of which Metal Crafty identifies her as a primordial life form, putting her true age somewhere just below Sasha's and Crystelle's.
** Tellingly, for the hypothetical High School Alternate Universe that the Crew makes in "Late for Crafty Class," Pepper and Crystelle are the only Crewmates who become staff members, with Pepper becoming a lunch lady. Pepper also reminds her coworkers of her earliest memory, which isn't much different from what she'd been doing prior to joining them: traveling and honing her cooking skills.
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* TheCutie: Established as early as "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper," in-universe audience absolutely adores Pepper. It's because, to complement her soft appearance, she has a soft personality. She's never seen apart from Pickles, her pet and best friend, and her whole motivation for becoming a chef is to make other people happy. She also has a motherly disposition, easily being the gentlest and most understanding of the Crafty Crew.
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* TheCutie: Established as early as "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper," the in-universe audience absolutely adores Pepper. It's because, to complement her soft appearance, she has a soft personality. She's never seen apart from Pickles, her pet and best friend, and her whole motivation for becoming a chef is to make other people happy. She also has a motherly disposition, easily being the gentlest and most understanding of the Crafty Crew.
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** According to her [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 initial concept art's biography]], Pepper's core design was very much inspired by Marina of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2:'' Both of them are sweet-natured and reserved octopus creatures with long draping tentacle hair, eyebrows that are downturned by default, and are very tall among their respective casts. They're both dressed in outfits that expose their midsections, and even their bodies have colour schemes that are associated with different hues of green.
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** According to her [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 initial concept art's biography]], Pepper's core design was very much inspired by Marina of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2:'' Both of them are sweet-natured and reserved octopus creatures with long long, draping tentacle hair, eyebrows that are downturned by default, and are very tall among their respective casts. They're both dressed in outfits that expose their midsections, and even their bodies have colour schemes that are associated with different hues of green.
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* DependingOnTheArtist: Like Pepper, Pickles is subject to some considerable differences between Blue-Paint-Sea's and Alex's artwork.
** In Alex's work, Pickles is rendered very simply. Aside from his tongue and eyes, his entire body is the same solid green, and his body is a bit lengthier than Blue-Paint-Sea's take.
** Because of Pickles' much smaller size in Blue-Paint-Sea's artwork, more of him is concealed under Pepper's hair whenever he hitches a ride on her. In addition, Pickles' pegs across his body are colored a distinctly lighter green, and he has dark spots across his body like his larger friend.
** In Alex's work, Pickles is rendered very simply. Aside from his tongue and eyes, his entire body is the same solid green, and his body is a bit lengthier than Blue-Paint-Sea's take.
** Because of Pickles' much smaller size in Blue-Paint-Sea's artwork, more of him is concealed under Pepper's hair whenever he hitches a ride on her. In addition, Pickles' pegs across his body are colored a distinctly lighter green, and he has dark spots across his body like his larger friend.
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* ArtEvolution: Blue-Paint-Sea went on to simplify certain elements of Pepper's design that influenced how she appears in subsequent Dr. Crafty artwork. The most prominent changes were made to her hip tentacles — they were thinned out to match her head tentacles' proportions, but to keep them distinct, they're now conjoined by webs of skin, which maintains their resemblance to a skirt. The green portions of her design were redistributed to emphasize her yellow skin, as well. Pepper's Season 4 promotional artwork, unveiled in "We’re Back! A Crafty Story," consolidates some of these changes into Pepper's Dr. Crafty design. It’s also in this episode where Pepper’s pose set became scaled up slightly. This makes her height above most everyone else more apparent.
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* ArtEvolution: Blue-Paint-Sea went on to simplify certain elements of Pepper's design that influenced how she appears in subsequent Dr. Crafty ''Dr. Crafty'' artwork. The most prominent changes were made to her hip tentacles — they were thinned out to match her head tentacles' proportions, but to keep them distinct, they're now conjoined by webs of skin, which maintains their resemblance to a skirt. The green portions of her design were redistributed to emphasize her yellow skin, as well. Pepper's Season 4 promotional artwork, unveiled in "We’re Back! A Crafty Story," consolidates some of these changes into Pepper's Dr. Crafty ''Dr. Crafty'' design. It’s also in this episode where Pepper’s pose set became scaled up slightly. This makes her height above most everyone else more apparent.
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* DorkInASweater: When off the clock, Pepper wears a shoulder-baring magenta sweater with puffy sleeves, complementing her social awkwardness and her gentle, sweet personality all at once. This sweater is also her default outfit outside the Dr. Crafty series, and she also wears a white apron over it when cooking.
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* DorkInASweater: When off the clock, Pepper wears a shoulder-baring magenta sweater with puffy sleeves, complementing her social awkwardness and her gentle, sweet personality all at once. This sweater is also her default outfit outside the Dr. Crafty ''Dr. Crafty'' series, and she also wears a white apron over it when cooking.
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* StatuesqueStunner: At over seven feet, Pepper is the tallest of the hosts, and one of the tallest Dr. Crafty characters overall. She’s also portrayed as one of the most desirable women on the cast, with her acquiring a mountain of admirers in "Ad-Orc-Able."
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* StatuesqueStunner: At over seven feet, Pepper is the tallest of the hosts, and one of the tallest Dr. Crafty ''Dr. Crafty'' characters overall. She’s also portrayed as one of the most desirable women on the cast, with her acquiring a mountain of admirers in "Ad-Orc-Able."
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** Crafty kicks off his commentary in "Black Magic Woman" discussing a movie about ''Yu-Gi-Oh’s'' Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It turns out that he’s mistaken; he had seen various discussions about the then-upcoming ''How to Train Your Dragon 3'' and attributed that movie’s blue-eyed, white dragon to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' monster. Pepper is left stumbling over herself trying to correct him, but she just accepts his ignorance for what it is.
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** Crafty kicks off his commentary in "Black Magic Woman" by discussing a movie about ''Yu-Gi-Oh’s'' Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It turns out that he’s mistaken; he had seen various discussions about the then-upcoming ''How to Train Your Dragon 3'' and attributed that movie’s blue-eyed, white dragon to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' monster. Pepper is left stumbling over herself trying to correct him, but she just accepts his ignorance for what it is.
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* CuddleBug: Pepper is a known hugger, frequently offering her chubby self up for basic affection or to help a person feel better.
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* CuddleBug: Pepper is a known hugger, frequently offering her chubby self up for basic affection or to help affection, sometimes as a person feel better.therapeutic gesture.
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* MeaningfulName: Pickles looks exactly like his namesake. In fact, considering what a pickle ''is'' -- a fermented cucumber -- Pickles is, in a roundabout way, [[ADogNamedDog named after his species]].
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* MeaningfulName: Pickles looks exactly like his namesake. In fact, considering what a pickle ''is'' is -- a fermented cucumber -- Pickles is, in a roundabout way, is also indirectly [[ADogNamedDog named after his species]].
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* MeaningfulName: Pickles looks exactly like his namesake. In fact, considering what a pickle ''is'' -- a fermented cucumber -- Pickles is also ADogNamedDog, in a roundabout way.
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* MeaningfulName: Pickles looks exactly like his namesake. In fact, considering what a pickle ''is'' -- a fermented cucumber -- Pickles is also ADogNamedDog, is, in a roundabout way.way, [[ADogNamedDog named after his species]].
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* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Pickle's lengthy tongue evokes a regular sea cucumber's expelled Cuvierian tubules... which come out of their anuses. While that's definitely Pickles' mouth and tongue we're looking at, his raspberrying still makes a ton of sense due to this trait.
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* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Pickle's lengthy tongue evokes a regular sea cucumber's expelled Cuvierian tubules... which come out of their anuses. While that's definitely Pickles' mouth and tongue we're looking at, his raspberrying still makes a ton of sense due to this trait.Fittingly enough, Pickles only ever speaks by making pooting noises.
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* GrewASpine: Pepper starts out her tenure on Dr. Crafty as an extremely shy and easily overstimulated host, just barely keeping up with the show's strange sense of humor. She grows more and more confident with being on-camera over time, and more assertive about her needs as the series progresses.
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* GrewASpine: Pepper starts out her tenure on Dr. Crafty ''Dr. Crafty'' as an extremely shy and easily overstimulated host, just barely keeping up with the show's strange sense of humor. She grows more and more confident with being on-camera over time, and more assertive about her needs as the series progresses.
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** She prepares to make some anime content for "Duck and Cover," but she's plainly disappointed when Crafty reminds her that they're making content based on a Western cartoon: Ducktales. However, her eagerness for anime content is stunningly prescient, as she discusses Ducktales' important influence on anime later in the commentary.
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** She prepares to make some anime content for "Duck and Cover," but she's plainly disappointed when Crafty reminds her that they're making content based on a Western cartoon: Ducktales. ''Ducktales.'' However, her eagerness for anime content is stunningly prescient, as she discusses Ducktales' ''Ducktales''' important influence on anime later in the commentary.
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->'''Voiced by:''' Katy Johnson
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->'''Voiced by:''' Katy Johnson
Johnson ([[https://twitter.com/KaniDayOfficial KaniDayOfficial]])
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** The various shenanigans of the show sometimes lead to Pepper discovering one contributor to her DNA at a time. "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB" starts off this trend with her discovery of her pufferfish DNA, which allows her to use Octo-Bloat. Coincidentally, the episode’s artwork involves a pufferfish mermaid, which leads to a discussion wherein Pepper and Crafty muse about whether she has pufferfish in her DNA. They accidentally discover that she does; some piping loosened up by a group of invading pirates falls to the floor, making a huge crash and causing Pepper to balloon up in shock.
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** The various shenanigans of the show sometimes lead to Pepper discovering one contributor to her DNA at a time. "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB" starts off this trend with her discovery of her pufferfish DNA, which allows her to use Octo-Bloat. Coincidentally, the episode’s artwork involves a pufferfish mermaid, which leads to a discussion wherein Pepper and Crafty muse about whether she Pepper has pufferfish in her DNA. They accidentally discover that she does; some piping loosened up by a group of invading pirates falls to the floor, making a huge crash and causing Pepper to balloon up in shock.
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* CuddleBug: Pepper is a known hugger, frequently offering her chubby self up for basic affection or a need to help a person feel better.
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* CuddleBug: Pepper is a known hugger, frequently offering her chubby self up for basic affection or a need to help a person feel better.
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--->'''Crafty:''' "I think, ultimately, we may have had our disagreements this episode. But what really matters at this point, is we all had a fun time! And no matter what happens, we’re all one big happy family!"
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--->'''Crafty:''' "I think, ultimately, we may have had our disagreements this episode. But what really matters at this point, point is we all had a fun time! And no matter what happens, we’re all one big happy family!"
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* CutenessProximity: While she doesn't grow overwhelmed with happiness most of the time, Pepper is quick to comment on whatever she finds cute. Sometimes, such remarks from Pepper almost immediately get shut down by Crafty doing a bit.
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* CutenessProximity: [[DownplayedTrope While she doesn't grow overwhelmed with happiness most of the time, time]], Pepper is quick to comment on whatever she finds cute. Sometimes, such remarks from Pepper almost immediately get shut down by Crafty doing a bit.
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** That being said, according to some trivia on [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 Blue-Paint-Sea's reference sheet]], Pepper naturally craves crab meat and shellfish once in a while, [[ShownTheirWork those being common prey for octopi]]. She infrequently can't help but enjoy Seafood Fettuccine, even if she won't prepare it herself.
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** That being said, according to some trivia on [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 Blue-Paint-Sea's reference sheet]], Pepper naturally craves crab meat and shellfish once in a while, [[ShownTheirWork those being common prey for octopi]]. She Meanwhile, she infrequently can't help but enjoy Seafood Fettuccine, even if she won't prepare it herself.
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A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series: ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is the most kind-hearted of the cast by far, always approaching life with her gentle, affectionate touch. Conversely, she's also the most introverted of the cast, barely able to keep up with the show's sense of humor. This passivity can impede her from helping out or contributing when she really should be, but otherwise, she tries her best in everything she does.\\
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A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was is introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series: ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is the most kind-hearted of the cast by far, always approaching life with her gentle, affectionate touch. Conversely, she's also the most introverted of the cast, barely able to keep up with the show's sense of humor. This passivity can impede her from helping out or contributing when she really should be, but otherwise, she tries her best in everything she does.\\
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A sea cucumber capable of living on dry land, Pickles is Pepper's small yet nimble traveling companion who is always seen riding somewhere on her body. He was introduced alongside Pepper in Season 2's premiere and sometimes partakes in an episode's commentary whenever Pepper is on-screen. While the times he does are infrequent, whenever Pickles voices his opinions, he demonstrates that he may be smarter than the cast gives him credit for.
to:
A sea cucumber capable of living on dry land, Pickles is Pepper's small yet nimble traveling companion who is always seen riding somewhere on her body. He was is introduced alongside Pepper in Season 2's premiere and sometimes partakes in an episode's commentary whenever Pepper is on-screen. While the times he does are infrequent, whenever Pickles voices his opinions, he demonstrates that he may be smarter than the cast gives him credit for.
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Changed line(s) 11 (click to see context) from:
A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series: ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is the most kind-hearted of the cast by far, always approaching life with her gentle, affectionate touch. Conversely, she's also the most introverted of the cast, barely able to keep up with the show's sense of humor. Nevertheless, she tries her best in everything she does, and her vast cultural and culinary knowledge more than makes up for her shyness.\\
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A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series: ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is the most kind-hearted of the cast by far, always approaching life with her gentle, affectionate touch. Conversely, she's also the most introverted of the cast, barely able to keep up with the show's sense of humor. Nevertheless, This passivity can impede her from helping out or contributing when she really should be, but otherwise, she tries her best in everything she does, and her vast cultural and culinary knowledge more than makes up for her shyness.does.\\
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Pepper acquired her skills thanks to being a perpetual nomad. Before settling down at Crafty Industries, her most recent job was that of a waitress at a seafood restaurant: The Fish'n'Fish. Crafty dropped by there during his vacation between Seasons 1 and 2, and he immediately picked up on how miserable Pepper was in her position. He found a way to make arrangements for her to work with him -- not just as the ''Chara-Cafe's'' co-host, but as the castle's main chef. The Crafty Crew enjoys her meals ever since. \\
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Changed line(s) 11 (click to see context) from:
A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series; ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is considered the most kind-hearted of the cast, as her commentary appears more gentle and encouraging than the other co-hosts. While this causes Pepper to have difficulty maintaining discussions due to the show's sense of humor, her world knowledge more than makes up for it, thanks to her perpetual travels as a nomad before being hired into Crafty Industries.\\
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A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series; series: ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' '' She is considered the most kind-hearted of the cast by far, always approaching life with her gentle, affectionate touch. Conversely, she's also the most introverted of the cast, as her commentary appears more gentle and encouraging than the other co-hosts. While this causes Pepper barely able to have difficulty maintaining discussions due to keep up with the show's sense of humor, humor. Nevertheless, she tries her world best in everything she does, and her vast cultural and culinary knowledge more than makes up for it, thanks to her perpetual travels as a nomad before being hired into Crafty Industries.shyness.\\
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Pepper acquired her skills thanks to being a perpetual nomad. Before settling down at Crafty Industries, her most recent job was that of a waitress at a seafood restaurant: The Fish'n'Fish. Crafty dropped by there during his vacation between Seasons 1 and 2, and he immediately picked up on how miserable Pepper was in her position. He found a way to make arrangements for her to work with him -- not just as the ''Chara-Cafe's'' co-host, but as the castle's main chef. The Crafty Crew enjoys her meals ever since. \\
\\
Pepper has a perpetual traveling companion: Pickles the Sea Cucumber, who has his own character sheet down below.\\
\\
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Pepper has a perpetual traveling companion: Pickles the Sea Cucumber, who has his own character sheet down below.\\
\\
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[[center:[[WMG: ''WebAnimation/DrCrafty'' [[Characters/DrCrafty Character Index]]\\
[- [[Characters/DrCraftyCraftyCrew The Crafty Crew]] ([[Characters/DrCraftyDrCrafty Doctor Crafty]], [[Characters/DrCraftyNurseWorse Nurse Worse]], '''Pepper & Pickles''')\\
[[Characters/DrCraftySupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/DrCraftyAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/DrCraftyMinorCharacters Minor Characters]] -]]]]]
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!!Pepper
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pepper_6.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"There are so many unique combinations that are special in their own way. [[SupremeChef And baking is such a delicate process that it makes it such a new adventure every time!]]"]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Pepper in her casual attire (And as she is drawn by Blue-Paint-Sea).]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pepper_0.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Katy Johnson
A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series; ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is considered the most kind-hearted of the cast, as her commentary appears more gentle and encouraging than the other co-hosts. While this causes Pepper to have difficulty maintaining discussions due to the show's sense of humor, her world knowledge more than makes up for it, thanks to her perpetual travels as a nomad before being hired into Crafty Industries.\\
\\
Pepper and Pickles were created by Blue-Paint-Sea, an artist who also created several assets for the show. Notably, they have developed Pepper and Pickles even further on their [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea Deviant Art page]]. It's been confirmed that anything they do with the characters is canon to the show, so tropes involving Blue-Paint-Sea's pieces -- specifically if they offer general supporting details or directly pertain to her ''Dr. Crafty'' appearances -- will appear here.
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* {{Asexuality}}: Pepper reveals in "Ad-ORC-able!" that she's asexual. The description of [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 this reference sheet]] further reveals that she is specifically ''gray''-asexual. She's also very capable of feeling romantic attraction, but she seldom acts upon it. The joys of cooking are more than enough for her.
* ArtEvolution: Blue-Paint-Sea went on to simplify certain elements of Pepper's design that influenced how she appears in subsequent Dr. Crafty artwork. The most prominent changes were made to her hip tentacles — they were thinned out to match her head tentacles' proportions, but to keep them distinct, they're now conjoined by webs of skin, which maintains their resemblance to a skirt. The green portions of her design were redistributed to emphasize her yellow skin, as well. Pepper's Season 4 promotional artwork, unveiled in "We’re Back! A Crafty Story," consolidates some of these changes into Pepper's Dr. Crafty design. It’s also in this episode where Pepper’s pose set became scaled up slightly. This makes her height above most everyone else more apparent.
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance:
** Pepper has a ribbon wrapped around her mantle. This combination evokes the idea of her hair being partially tied back, which is a good practice among cooks with long hair. For her show design specifically, she even wears her mantle like an upward ponytail.
** Everything below Pepper's shoulders creates the vague, slightly exaggerated likeness of an octopus. Combined with her legs, all the tentacles around her hips merge into a bulky mantle — her belly — complete with protruding eye sockets — her breasts.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Octo-Bloat grants Pepper profound defense utility, but it's difficult for her to maintain, let alone set up. Another drawback is that the ability sometimes activates at inopportune moments, as shown in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," where Pepper reflexively balloons twice after being startled. The same episode shows how Pepper can use Octo-Bloat to become an impromptu battering ram -- uncontrollably so. The excess air causes her to rocket forward and take out an attacking band of pirates on accident. By the end of it, she's back in her normal shape and very dazed on the floor.
* BalloonBelly:
** Using air, ink, or water, she can inflate her belly and boost her defensive prowess. It's apparently rather difficult for her to use it voluntarily; more often, she balloons up accidentally when under sufficient stress, as seen in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB." The same episode demonstrates that, when expelled, the excess air can propel her forward with great force.
** Since "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," Pepper uses Octo-Bloat about once per season. Season 3’s "GEMS! Truly Outrageous!" shows one such case. While the crew reinforces the castle against a potential riot, Nurse accidentally catches a very on-edge Pepper by surprise, causing her to swell up and send Nurse flying out of the kitchen.
* BareYourMidriff: Both her casual and work attire are a bit too small for her in length, leaving most of her belly (sometimes up to the navel) exposed. Her Beach Month attire, introduced in "The Beachles," is also particularly notable. There is no bottom, only a top, keeping true to Pepper’s general lack of bottom wear.
* BerserkButton: While her tolerance level is impressively high, "Pirates VS Doctors" reveals that she holds deep contempt for bullying. It's one of the few things that can induce her into ''going on the offensive,'' as Davy Jones finds out when Pepper tosses a jar of dirt at him, causing him to melt.
* BigBeautifulWoman: In tandem with being quite tall, Pepper is very fat -- fatter than Nurse, even -- with a large, doughy belly, very plump limbs, and a rounded face. She's consistently regarded as one of the most attractive characters on the show, in both personality ''and'' looks. The (in-universe) audience greets her with ''overwhelming'' applause during her debut and the ''Chara-Cafe's'' premiere, and the same audience showers her with Valentine candies in "Ad-ORC-Able!"
* BigEater: Being surrounded by food for practically her entire life, Pepper is absolutely gluttonous. Notably, she’s a rare example of a ChubbyChef who expressly has an immense appetite and goes out of her way to sate it -- with tons of her own meals. It’s rare that she’s actually shown eating, but in "Ad-ORC-Able," she receives some candy hearts in the mail and offers to share some with Crafty. Her candy stash ''completely fills up the kitchen,'' and she sheepishly admits that she could probably finish all the candy herself, even what she imparts to Crafty.
* BigFun: Not only is the generously rotund, sweet-hearted Pepper as well-versed in pop culture as the other hosts, but she also has one major goal: to ensure that everyone she meets is well-fed and happy. She reveals as much in "The Art of the Con(vention)" when Crafty asks her about her backstory:
-->'''Crafty:''' "So you were baking pies on the street?! ... That's pretty hardcore."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Well... I'm not sure if I would put it that way. But what is important now is that I can create all of the delicious things I want now not just for my survival, but for others to enjoy as well!"
* BizarreAlienBiology:
** Pepper’s genetic information is one of the biggest mysteries on the show. At face value, she’s just an octopus mutant, but as of "Journey to the Forbidden Water Temple," it turns out that Nurse has found more to her DNA bubbling under the surface, but nothing specific. Pepper admits that even she has no idea what species her genes account for in the same episode, musing that it’s very likely that she could be related to [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zoras]] and [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 Octarians]].
** The various shenanigans of the show sometimes lead to Pepper discovering one contributor to her DNA at a time. "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB" starts off this trend with her discovery of her pufferfish DNA, which allows her to use Octo-Bloat. Coincidentally, the episode’s artwork involves a pufferfish mermaid, which leads to a discussion wherein Pepper and Crafty muse about whether she has pufferfish in her DNA. They accidentally discover that she does; some piping loosened up by a group of invading pirates falls to the floor, making a huge crash and causing Pepper to balloon up in shock.
---> '''Crafty:''' "Jeez, Pepper! As if your anatomy couldn’t get anymore baffling!"
** Messi banks on Pepper’s weird genetics being able to help Crafty in some way in "I Need a Hero Academia." She correctly guesses that Pepper has whale DNA in her genes, which allows Pepper to use echolocation to amplify Kyoka Jiro’s abilities to help with Messi’s plan to finish off Mindstein from a distance.
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 Blue-Paint-Sea's initial concept artwork]] explains that, unlike most octopi, Pepper’s mantle doesn’t contain her vital organs, which are relegated inside her main, humanoid body. Instead, her mantle houses her water tank, which helps her survive on land.
* BreakoutCharacter: At first, Pepper and Pickles were initially just conceived for ''Dr. Crafty.'' However, their overwhelmingly positive reception and Blue-Paint-Sea's own enjoyment of the characters caused them to be fleshed out ''far'' beyond their presence on the show. Now, they're major characters in Blue-Paint-Sea's work, contributing hugely to another set of stories entirely.
* {{Catchphrase}}: Every now and again, whenever something surprises or overwhelms her, Pepper says "Good gravy!"
* CharacterTics: If she's particularly happy or content and her arms are unoccupied, Pepper holds her lower arms aloft, with her hands folded into gentle fists. It's a frequent sight between both [[https://www.deviantart.com/drcrafty/art/Concoction-Eternal-Apprentice-783006680 Alex's]] and [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/When-a-Cook-Explores-the-Dungeons-870390134 Blue-Paint-Sea's]] takes on her.
* ChekhovsGun: After being used for comedic purposes throughout most of the show, Pepper’s Octo-Bloat ability is put to serious, deliberate use in "Let’s. Get. Metal..." She uses her expanded belly to help catch Crafty and Nurse after Crystelle rescues them from a dangerous void. Since Crafty and Nurse were rocketing towards a black hole before Crystelle's intervention, they crash into Pepper ''hard.'' The impact is so harsh that it renders Pepper unconscious for the rest of the scene, but the main duo, while terrified by what they had seen in the void, are physically safe and sound.
* ChubbyChef: Pepper's quite a heavy-set mutant, mostly due to her insatiable appetite and all the taste-testing she must perform. With her expansive waistline comes her expansive taste and cooking experience; she's deeply familiar with preparing a diverse selection of meals to perfection.
* CuddleBug: Pepper is a known hugger, frequently offering her chubby self up for basic affection or a need to help a person feel better.
** The spin-off cohosts are absolutely delighted to see Crafty and Nurse alive and well at the end of "I Need a Hero Academia." Pepper makes a point to wait for Messi and Crystelle to hug first. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she wraps all of her coworkers in a tight embrace of her own, sobbing profusely.
** Another notable moment of Pepper acting cuddly is when Crafty breaks down in "Happy Crafty Day." Pepper is the very first of the cohosts that hug him, doing so in a way that presses him up against her torso. In fact, she holds Crafty so closely that her coworkers have to either lean in and reach for Crafty or simply offer a reassuring hand from a distance.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Pepper is a large, mutated octopus who just wants to enjoy what life offers and keep those around her happy. Her adorableness wins over ''Dr. Crafty's'' in-universe fans, something especially highlighted in "Ad-ORC-Able," what with the mountain of Valentine's candies that fans have gifted her. However, her backstory explains that her appearance also made her a prime target for [[FantasticRacism racism]] in certain areas. Specifically, Pepper faced constant workplace discrimination at the Fish'n'Fish, which was a big reason behind Crafty's decision to hire her when they met.
* CutenessProximity: While she doesn't grow overwhelmed with happiness most of the time, Pepper is quick to comment on whatever she finds cute. Sometimes, such remarks from Pepper almost immediately get shut down by Crafty doing a bit.
** When Pepper coos at a Mimikyu that wanders into the castle in "Send in the Clowns," Crafty immediately reminds her of the horrors that await her beneath Mimikyu's disguise, at least according to the creature's Pokédex entries. And he immediately goes to uncover the Pokémon when he starts doubting the claims.
** In "Dumb Dingies," The sight of her in-progress chibi drawing causes her to jump for joy... At which point Crafty initiates a grifting attempt that tries to paint chibi art styles as a disease, and that money donated to his Patreon will be totally, absolutely put towards fighting it.
* TheCutie: Established as early as "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper," in-universe audience absolutely adores Pepper. It's because, to complement her soft appearance, she has a soft personality. She's never seen apart from Pickles, her pet and best friend, and her whole motivation for becoming a chef is to make other people happy. She also has a motherly disposition, easily being the gentlest and most understanding of the Crafty Crew.
* TheConfidant: As they grow acquainted with each other, Messibelle starts turning to Pepper whenever something serious is on her mind. Seeing as the former has so little life experience compared to the latter, combined with the latter's gentle nature, it's no wonder why Messi views her as approachable. For example, in "We're Back! A Crafty Story," Messi discovers a Journal in Crafty's possession, one that has a section dedicated to [[spoiler: the Infinium relics]]. She ''immediately'' seeks out Pepper to discuss her disturbing findings; Pepper herself is quick to lend an ear.
* DeadpanSnarker: To the surprise of everyone — even herself — there are a few times where Pepper has some mildly choice remarks for her companions. However, her immediate regret or her assurance that she's just playfully teasing undercuts them somewhat. It's best shown in "This is Crack(ship)," when Nurse asks if she’s ever watched ''Manga/{{Naruto}}.'' Pepper giggles a bit, then nonchalantly remarks that she only watches good anime. She tries to backpedal and apologize, but she only digs herself deeper when she outright calls ''Naruto'' trash. Nurse ends up taking it all in good spirits, however.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There are quite a few noticeable differences between Pepper's two major designs. They're readily apparent when Pepper's show design is compared to how she's rendered in the laboratory's stained glass artwork, also done by Blue-Paint-Sea:
** After ArtEvolution took into effect, Alex tends to play with the number of tentacles around Pepper's hips in certain pieces. [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 Typically]], she's flanked by two sets of three tentacles on her left and right, which, combined with her legs, gives her lower body a complete set of eight tentacles. On her ''Dr. Crafty'' [[https://www.deviantart.com/drcrafty/art/Crafty-Concoction-Pepper-Pickles-Model-Sheet-784968609 model sheet]], Alex added a ninth tentacle, which sprouts from Pepper's back like a tail. Other pieces of his sometimes add three more than that.
** Blue-Paint-Sea's art generally makes a point to emphasize Pepper's size a lot more, with her belly clearly weighing down on the web of skin surrounding her hips. Alex's design, meanwhile, has Pepper's belly pile up on top of that web of skin, giving her a perpetual muffin-top.
** Pepper's mantle is another peculiarity; Alex has her wear it up as though it were a ponytail. It's also nearly twice its original size, and because she wears it up, it takes up a good chunk of her height. Consequentially, if she were to wear her mantle downward, she'd actually stand only a little over 6 feet tall. The original design, however, has Pepper wearing her much smaller mantle downward. Here, her height is capped off by the top of her skull. But she remains 7 feet tall, meaning her original design is a full head taller than the ''Crafty'' design.
* DoesNotLikeSpam:
** The only thing that Pepper won't cook is seafood — not because she can't, but because she equates it to cannibalism. This was the crux of her issues with working at the Fish’n’Fish before Crafty discovered her. Crafty himself explains that her misery was readily apparent in "New Season, New Friends," so he decided to take her under his wing to work as the ''Chara-Cafe's'' cohost.
** That being said, according to some trivia on [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 Blue-Paint-Sea's reference sheet]], Pepper naturally craves crab meat and shellfish once in a while, [[ShownTheirWork those being common prey for octopi]]. She infrequently can't help but enjoy Seafood Fettuccine, even if she won't prepare it herself.
* DorkInASweater: When off the clock, Pepper wears a shoulder-baring magenta sweater with puffy sleeves, complementing her social awkwardness and her gentle, sweet personality all at once. This sweater is also her default outfit outside the Dr. Crafty series, and she also wears a white apron over it when cooking.
* EndearinglyDorky: She perpetually struggles to keep up with the show's eccentricities, sometimes stumbling a bit when she tries to contribute herself. Yet, she's also immensely sweet, sincere, and practical. All these traits have endeared Pepper to Crafty, the rest of the crew, and even the in-universe audience, whose members unanimously cheer her on in "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper." For these reasons, "Ad-ORC-Able" would later reveal that Pepper has accrued a ''mountain'' of admirers, each of them overwhelming her with Valentine's requests [[ThroughHerStomach and candy]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Pepper’s introduction in "New Season, New Friends," is delayed because she’s far too shy to show herself on camera at first. During her absence, Nurse begins to suspect that Crafty intends to replace her with Pepper, even after Crafty reassures her that she is here to stay. By the time Pepper finally shows herself when her promotional art is complete, she unknowingly reveals that she couldn’t be more different from the extroverted, assertive Nurse if she tried. She’s not only still battling with her shyness, but she’s audibly, visibly panicking when she realizes that she may have bungled her introduction.
--> '''Crafty:''' "Ha-ha! Another successful piece! Shame Pepper couldn’t come out and say hello, though..."\\
'''Nurse:''' "Well! That just leaves more room for screen-room for me--EEEEEE!!"\\
(''Nurse slips and falls in a puddle of something, prompting Pepper to finally show herself after much buildup.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "Oh gosh! Oh gosh! I’m so-so-so-so sorry!"\\
(''Nurse grumbles in annoyance at Pepper’s presence from down offscreen.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "I-I... I was about to come on-stage, but then I got nervous, and [[BringMyBrownPants I... inked... myself...]]"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Ohhh, we just finished drawing you! What do you want?"\\
'''Pepper, surprised:''' "Ah... I-I’m r-ready now! So I thought I’d come out and, uh, i-introduce myself."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Oh, I’m sorry, Pepper dear! We already introduced you! You should’ve come out sooner when I called you!"\\
'''Pepper, starting to cry:''' "Oh... uh-um, I’m-I’m sorry...!!"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Give her a big hand, everyone!"\\
(''The audience showers Pepper with applause, completely taking her off-guard.'')\\
'''Pepper, blushing profusely:''' "U-uh, oh...!"\\
(''Pepper, cheered up, takes her leave.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "Oh, the audience is going to find her ''adorable.''"
* {{Expy}}:
** According to her [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 initial concept art's biography]], Pepper's core design was very much inspired by Marina of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2:'' Both of them are sweet-natured and reserved octopus creatures with long draping tentacle hair, eyebrows that are downturned by default, and are very tall among their respective casts. They're both dressed in outfits that expose their midsections, and even their bodies have colour schemes that are associated with different hues of green.
** Thanks to AuthorAppeal on Blue-Paint-Sea's part, Pepper and Pickles have quite a bit in common with [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]]: Both are inseparable pairs of animal friends who experience many zany misadventures, the smaller member prefers to take refuge somewhere on their larger companion (be it Pepper's hair or Banjo's backpack), and both duos have a member who's personality contrasts with their partner (Pepper and Banjo are kindhearted, easy-going and level-headed, while Pickles and Kazooie tend to be snarky, quick-witted, and combative).
* EyeTake: Some of Pepper's most common poses give her a dumbfounded expression, with wide eyes and shrunken pupils. They're commonly made in reaction to ''Dr. Crafty's'' daily weirdness. They appear more frequently than anyone else's similar poses, due to how low-key Pepper is as a person compared to the show.
* FishPerson: Despite the sheer number of aquatic creatures in her genes, Pepper is expressly an octopus mutant first and foremost; it’s the most obvious species that she is to her and everyone else around her. When the discussion of furries comes up in "Dog Days," Pepper expressly identifies herself as an anthropomorphic octopus, never once acknowledging her other genetic qualities in doing so.
* {{Foil}}: Pepper serves as a distinct counterpart to Messibelle, the other cohost introduced in Season 2. Messi can be crass and is decidedly extroverted, while Pepper tends to be well-mannered and introverted. Meanwhile, whereas Messi is homosexual and incredibly lecherous (even after she toned things down later on), Pepper is grey-asexual and doesn't act on her romantic feelings. Ironically, despite the adult edge to Messi's character, Pepper carries significantly more life experience by comparison. This is because Pepper was a seasoned nomad before settling down at Crafty's, whereas Messi was born only a few days before her debut appearance and has barely ventured beyond the castle. As a consequence, Pepper exhibits some motherly tendencies, while Messi exhibits some childish tendencies, a contrast that is occasionally highlighted in their interactions.
* GentleGiant: Like Nurse, Pepper's height can be hard to discern during a typical ''Dr. Crafty'' episode. She is in fact ''[=7'4''=],'' being the biggest of the protagonists in height ''and'' weight. However, there's not a mean bone in her body; if anything, she's immensely caring, accommodating, and affectionate.
* GoshDangItToHeck: Notably, despite ''Dr. Crafty's'' lenience on low-tier vulgarity, Pepper ''never'' swears, even using "gosh" where appropriate. The same goes for her appearances in Blue-Paint-Sea's work.
* GrewASpine: Pepper starts out her tenure on Dr. Crafty as an extremely shy and easily overstimulated host, just barely keeping up with the show's strange sense of humor. She grows more and more confident with being on-camera over time, and more assertive about her needs as the series progresses.
** "Pirates VS Doctors" showcases quite a turning point in Pepper's character. Faced with Davy Jones' abuse of Crafty, Pepper isn't sure how to react at first. Just when it seems that she'll just sit back and let things happen, Pepper actively takes a stand and successfully defends Crafty against Jones' attacks. From that point forward, she's noticeably less awkward and is more excited for every ‘'Chara-Cafe'' episode going forward.
** "Dog Days" sees her finally stand up for herself to Crafty, who has been ignoring her requests for a new oven until now. She doesn't do so right away, instead opting to uphold a lie about storebought foods being her creations to avoid confronting the matter. But when she's backed into a corner, Pepper finally puts her foot down and lays her issues out explicitly to Crafty, who listens and finally gets her a repaired oven.
* GrowlingGut: In "Magic Kingdom Mania" her belly audibly grumbles — not due to hunger, but out of disgust for Crafty's convoluted carnival idea. For Pepper specifically, Crafty deliberately sets up her Tentacular-Tilt-A-Whirl ride right next to her food stand, and his reasoning for why is what makes Pepper's stomach churn.
--> '''Crafty:''' "Ah, Pepper! Looks like your ride, the Tentacular-Tilt-A-Whirl, is coming along smoothly, I see."\\
'''Pepper:''' "I'm... hesitant to agree. Are you sure it was a good idea to have my food stand directly adjacent to the ride?"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Of course! Why not?"\\
'''Pepper:''' "Doctor, the guests are throwing up all my food after they ride!"\\
'''Crafty:''' "That's the beauty of my design: their stomachs are empty after riding, so they come back and purchase more overpriced food!"\\
(''Pepper's gut produces an extremely audible, low growl.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "... I think my stomach just cringed at the thought for me..."\\
'''Crafty, moving on to the next attraction:''' "Just goes to show it ''has'' to work if it'll even affect you, Pepper!"
* TheHeart: Despite generally being the most passive member of the Crafty Crew, Pepper more than makes up for it by being an incredibly sweet person, both through her general goals and her approach to life. This tenderness helps keep the Crew together during tough times, helping ease tension between her coworkers and having a positive influence on them.
** The Crew’s beach trip during "The Beachles" gets off to a rocky start, as Crafty and Nurse immediately begin bickering. Pepper eventually reaches her limit and tries getting them to calm down and enjoy themselves. It takes a few attempts for her to get through to everybody, but she finally does after the Crew eats the picnic lunch that Pepper prepared. When the episode’s art is finished, Crafty sums up the overall change in mood succinctly:
--->'''Crafty:''' "I think, ultimately, we may have had our disagreements this episode. But what really matters at this point, is we all had a fun time! And no matter what happens, we’re all one big happy family!"
** The Spin-Off Special owes its existence to her. Noticing how restless Messi and Crystelle grow with their imprisonment, Pepper suddenly gets the idea to complete Season 3’s spin-off segments consecutively to keep everyone calm and distracted. She then spends her ''Chara-Cafe'' segment building up her coworkers’ morale. She uses a spur-of-the-moment gold-star rewards system for Messi and Crystelle’s observations, and she makes it abundantly clear that she values their time together. Topping it off, she even indulges Messi’s love for bubbles, established to her all the way back in "The Art of the Con(vention), for the segment’s final talking point.
** "Happy Crafty Day" ends with a touched Crafty receiving a group hug from his coworkers. As Crafty begins sobbing and the girls all hurry over to him, it’s very noticeable that Pepper initiates the hug; she ends up right behind Crafty and holds him very close to her torso. Everyone else -- even Stylene, who would normally be indifferent by this point in her story -- follows her lead.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: Pepper never wears pants because, according to her in "Journey to the Forbidden Water Temple," they've never agreed with her.
-->(''A CutawayGag shows Pepper hidden within a dressing room, trying on some pants.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "Uh, okay! ''Come oooonnnn!'' I'm sure these are right..."\\
(''[[WardrobeMalfunction There's a very audible RRRRRRIIP!]]'')\\
'''Pepper:''' ".... ''Siiiiiiiiize!''"\\
(''Pepper starts Sobbing.'')
* HowDoIShotWeb:
** With Pepper’s diverse DNA comes an equally diverse set of skills at her disposal. However, Pepper is totally unaware of some of these abilities beyond the obvious skills that come with being a mutant octopus. She generally doesn't think to try them herself because she's unaware of what her genes would allow. When her Octo-Bloat activates onscreen for the first time in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," she’s clearly surprised about ballooning up, especially since she uses the ability involuntarily. And just before this happens, she openly doubts the possibility of her genes having pufferfish DNA -- the very reason that her belly can expand the way it does. It's not until "Let's. Get. Metal" that Pepper gains control of her Octo-Bloat ability and uses it deliberately, just in time to save Nurse and Crafty from a nasty crash-landing.
** In "I Need a Hero Academia," Screw’s file on Pepper lists this ignorance about her powers as Pepper's primary weakness alongside her timidness. And during the climax of the same special, it is only due to Messi’s resourcefulness that Pepper thinks to try using whale echolocation. It turns out that she indeed has that skill, and she manages to use it to help amplify Kyoko Jiro’s own abilities for Messi’s plan to help Crafty defeat Mindstein.
* HumbleHero: Despite having quite a few accomplishments under her belt, Pepper remains very modest. When Crafty tries praising her for her survival skills while traveling in "The Art of the Con(vention)," Pepper tries playing it off like it's no big deal. She instead focuses on how she's now able to serve other people and make them happy.
* IAmNotPretty: It's implied now and then that Pepper has some body-image issues. When offered a diminutive bikini top in "The Beachles," Pepper admits that she doesn't want people to stare at her while she wears it. Messibelle looks upon the top with utter glee. Later in "Dumb Dingies," Messi practically orgasms when she overhears Nurse's observations of Pepper's body, having no qualms about imagining perverse fantasies about Pepper’s inner workings.
* JigglePhysics: [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 As explained in the biography tied to her concept art]], because of her soft stretchy skin, flexibility, and all the fluid she retains, Pepper's body jiggles fairly easily whenever she moves. Messi mentions that this uncontrollable jiggling is something that she has in common with Pepper in "Player Select."
* MeaningfulName: Pepper's name references how [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 her color scheme is based on green bell peppers]], a common vegetable used in many different meals. Bell peppers also happen to be very mild, exactly like Pepper's personality.
* MultiArmedMultitasking: Pepper's tentacles -- both sets, on her head and around her hips -- are very practical for multi-tasking, which plays a big part in why she's such an effective chef. It has yet to be demonstrated in the show proper, but various pieces of official artwork (such as [[https://www.drcraftyart.com/crafty-gallery?pgid=jzoy5jwt-06b672d7-636e-47f3-a708-0864abd7b275 this Halloween piece]] and [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/When-a-Cook-Explores-the-Dungeons-870390134 this design]] of Pepper from a ''Dungeons and Dragons'' campaign) show this skill in action.
* MysteriousPast:
** In "The Art of the Con(vention)," Crafty decides to ask Pepper about her past before he found her at the Fish n' Fish. Curiously, Pepper claims to only remember so much before drawing a blank. She can only recall the most basic details, that she was a nomadic chef who traveled the world endlessly, and used her cooking talents as one of her survival skills. [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 Supplementary details]] reveal that she became a notable figure in various culinary circles worldwide, but that information can only help so much. The mystery motivates Nurse to research Pepper extensively. She's not only intrigued by her anatomy, but she hopes her efforts will help Pepper reconcile with that missing knowledge.
** When copying her data in "Over the Moonsault," Metal Crafty classifies Pepper as a "Primordial Lifeform," adding further to the mystery.
* NiceGirl:
** Despite her shy demeanor, Pepper treats everyone around her with kindness and respect. Out of everyone in the Crafty Crew, she's notable for being the most patient with Crafty, even if she doesn't fully agree with his antics.
** Notably, "Happy Crafty Day" allows Pepper to recount the time she met Crafty. Despite having every reason to do so, she doesn't chew out the Fish'n'Fish's management for its racism towards her. Rather, she just vaguely states that her employers weren't fond of her and quickly changes the subject to the moment she met Crafty, expanding greatly on how much his kind gesture meant to her.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Among the spin-off cohosts, Pepper is the only one who adheres directly to the Crafty Crew's green-pink color scheme. She even incorporates both colors, whereas every other spin-off hosts' designs represent only one of the two colors and deviate from there. This distinction is discussed plainly in "La Lamia, Do Doo Do Doo Doo," where Crafty explains how Pepper was designed before those color deviations were commonplace.
* TheNoseless: Pepper lacks a nose, only having the vague impression of where one should be on her face. It’s a quality shared between her ''Dr. Crafty'' and Blue-Paint-Sea designs.
* OccidentalOtaku:
** [[DownplayedTrope Far be it from her to let anime take over her life]], but Pepper is still an outspoken fan of it, having a clear preference for the medium over Western cartoons. "The Foreshadow Game" first reveals this quality, where she briefly rants at Messibelle for labeling anime as cartoons. Due to the stress of the Crew's Shadow Realm imprisonment, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness her rant is surprisingly hostile]], and she immediately apologizes about it after Crafty gets her to calm down.
** Pepper isn't just an Otaku; she's an otaku with ''standards.'' She unconsciously blurts out her poor outlook on ''Naruto'' to Nurse in "This is Crack(ship)," saying that she only watches good anime.
** She prepares to make some anime content for "Duck and Cover," but she's plainly disappointed when Crafty reminds her that they're making content based on a Western cartoon: Ducktales. However, her eagerness for anime content is stunningly prescient, as she discusses Ducktales' important influence on anime later in the commentary.
* PunnyName: Pepper and Pickles' names loosely reference "Pickled Peppers" when paired together.
* PursueTheDreamJob: "Happy Crafty Day" allows Pepper to expand on her backstory from her perspective. [[DownplayedTrope She was actually an accomplished traveling chef]] ''[[DownplayedTrope well]]'' [[DownplayedTrope before meeting Crafty]], having worked in various places around the world to hone her skills to near-perfection. She never stayed in one place for too long, always moving to different places in hopes of experiencing their cultures, particularly for their food and cooking techniques. Unfortunately, this nomadic approach tended to yield undesirable results. At one point, she ended up working at a seafood restaurant. Seafood is the one category of food that Pepper refuses to cook, but with no other opportunities available to her at the time, she resigned herself to being a waitress in that restaurant. Pepper couldn't play towards her strengths, and she was also [[FantasticRacism mistreated for being the only monster girl on the staff]]. Thanks to the discomfort all of this caused, she instantly took the chance to leave once Crafty offered to hire her.
* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: In "The Beachles," Pepper tacitly refuses to wear her swimsuit -- a laughably undersized bikini top -- thinking it would draw too much attention to herself. In the next episode, "Dumb Dingies," she's back in the comfort of the castle. There, interestingly enough, she feels free to express her love over a developing chibi drawing of her, where she's wearing the same outfit.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 Pepper's initial concept art]] reveals the reason why she can survive on land at all: she has a water tank in her mantle. Presumably, she refuels it just by staying hydrated with drinks, as a human would.
* RomanticAsexual:
** Despite having no interest in participating in romantic relationships herself, Pepper will happily indulge in romance vicariously. When the subject of a ''Dr. Crafty'' movie comes up in "Going Poster," she suggests making a romantic comedy. And in "Pirates Vs Doctors," she happily imagines the episode’s character design, Captain Crowsnest, and his crow companion finding love out on the ocean.
** "Over the Moonsault" reveals that Pepper is an avid shipper, even making cross-franchise pairings if it suits her whims. Specifically, she ships the episode’s character design, the wolf wrestler Moonsault, with Incineroar, who partially inspired Moonsault.
--->'''Pepper:''' "Okay, I know they’re two fictional animals from different universes... But I ship them~."\\
'''Crafty:''' "How would that even work?"\\
'''Pepper:''' "I just want them to ride off into the sunset and wrestle each other! I am a girl of simple needs..."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Riiiiiiight..."
* ShrinkingViolet: Pepper is the most low-key member of the Crafty Crew, being gentle, quiet, and easygoing. Because of her personality, she frequently grows overstimulated, whether it be due to the show’s zaniness or just typical triggers for social anxiety. Even after she grows more outwardly confident with herself, her innate introversion sometimes causes her to make questionable decisions, especially when she doesn’t act appropriately in the present moment.
** In both "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper," the in-universe audience flatters Pepper with their mad praise for her. In the former episode, she blushes profusely before calmly exiting. In the latter episode, where she’s co-starring with Crafty for the first time and a lot more attention is invariably drawn to her, she becomes so flustered that she hurries away, plowing through Crafty on her way out.
--->'''Pepper:''' "So, uh... Doctor. Did I do okay on my first day on the job?"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Only one way to find out! Audience?"\\
(''The audience showers Pepper with applause and cheers.'')\\
'''Pepper, flattered but embarrassed:''' "Uh, ah... S-sorry! Gotta go!"\\
(''Pepper sprints away, knocking Crafty over to the sound of bowling pins falling over. The audience’s cheering dies down right before Crafty sits up from the floor.'')\\
'''Crafty, very dazed:''' "Eurgh... Cleanup, aisle two!!"\\
(''Crafty falls back down.'')
** "Best Skullgirl" ends with Ryu and Ken dropping by to attack Crafty over losing the poll for this ''Chara-Cafe'' episode. While the two fighters rush Crafty, Pepper sits back and struggles to process what is happening until after they leave. When it becomes apparent that Ryu and Ken stole her candy stash, Pepper makes no attempt to try and take it back, even asking an unhelpful Jedah if he could retrieve the stash. When he declines, Pepper just accepts the loss. Later, according to Messi in "The Foreshadow Game," rather than seek out a new candy collection, Pepper instead opted to sneak some candy from Crafty’s stash for herself.
** Pepper loses her oven in "La-Lamia" and mourns the loss in the subsequent "Dog Days." She tries implicitly explaining to Crafty that she has to rely on store-bought foods instead of her cooking thanks to her lack of equipment. When she hands a pack of Chips Ahoy to Crafty, he obliviously believes that she made the cookies herself and their packaging, even praising her heavily for it. Rather than correct Crafty and risk disappointing him with the truth, Pepper just decides to roll with it. She continues weaving an elaborate lie to avoid telling Crafty about the oven directly until the episode’s detective character design comes alive and exposes her. Only then does Pepper finally put her foot down and spell out the issue for Crafty, which he thankfully addresses.
* SoUnfunnyItsFunny: Pepper's sense of humor is more conventional than what the show's eccentricity entails. Instead of (voluntarily) doing something wacky and weird, she opts for incredibly cheesy puns that only she seems to find funny. Crafty always grows exasperated whenever Pepper cracks such puns, even more so if she tries making up for a joke that didn't land with another. One notable example of this habit is in "Over the Moonsault," especially since Pepper exudes remarkable confidence in every pun she dishes out.
-->'''Crafty:''' "Wait, did you say 'Wrestler?'"\\
'''Pepper:''' "Yes! She will ''full nelson'' into all of our hearts, I'm sure!"\\
(''A rimshot plays.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "Not your best wrestling joke; I'm sure you can do better than that."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Sorry, um... To come up with another one, you'll have to ''toss me into the ring!''"\\
(''Another rimshot plays.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "Was that an attempt at a ''Sonic'' joke ''and'' a wrestling joke?"\\
'''Pepper:''' "[[BluntYes Yes. Yes it was.]]"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Let's... move on."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Wait! I thought that one was ''a real ringer!!''"\\
(''One last rimshot plays.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "[[LamePunReaction I can't even with you right now]]."
* StatuesqueStunner: At over seven feet, Pepper is the tallest of the hosts, and one of the tallest Dr. Crafty characters overall. She’s also portrayed as one of the most desirable women on the cast, with her acquiring a mountain of admirers in "Ad-Orc-Able."
* StockAnimalBehavior: Being an octopus, Pepper can produce ink, use her many tentacles for problem-solving, and squeeze her bulky frame into tight crevices. Mindstein accounts for the latter quality in the Spin-Off Special. Having imprisoned Pepper, Messi, and Crystelle, she electrifies the bars of their dungeon cell to prevent Messi and Pepper from squeezing through.
* TheStraightMan:
** Because of her low-key personality, Pepper frequently, genuinely doesn’t know how to react to some of the castle’s daily happenings, effectively playing the straight woman for the entire show. For one thing, "Journey to the Forbidden Water Temple" ends with Crafty breaking the fourth wall to address the flooded kitchen. He asks the episode’s editor to [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext simply remove the layer that contains the water effect from the video...]] and it somehow works. Pepper is left with a loss for words.
--->'''Pepper:''' "... I have ''so'' many questions..."
** Nurse decides to go over her latest physical on Pepper with her in "Dumb Dingies," midway through Pepper’s chibi drawing’s production. Messi also listens in and grows loudly turned on by Nurse’s observations; her aroused cries are strongly balanced out by Pepper’s clear discomfort at hearing Nurse’s report read aloud. Capping it off, Nurse tries ending their interaction with a pun, to which Pepper politely asks her not to and prepares for Crafty to do the same when the art is completed.
--->'''Nurse:''' "Anyway, besides all that, everything still looks good. Just sleep a little more, worry a little less, keep eating healthy, and keep on trucking! General Pepper!"\\
'''Pepper:''' "... Please don't start that again..."\\
(''Later, the art is complete, and Pepper arrives onscreen first to commentate on the piece one last time, talking to herself.'')\\
'''Pepper, quietly:''' "[[TemptingFate Don't make fun of my name, don't make fun of my name...]]"\\
'''Crafty, arriving onscreen:''' "This is shaping up to be one of the episode's spiciest chibies! Next to mine of course. What are your thoughts, Sam Pepper?"\\
'''Pepper, resigned:''' "Um... I think it's... good..."\\
'''Crafty, oblivious:''' "Perfectamente! Onto the last one, then!"
** Crafty kicks off his commentary in "Black Magic Woman" discussing a movie about ''Yu-Gi-Oh’s'' Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It turns out that he’s mistaken; he had seen various discussions about the then-upcoming ''How to Train Your Dragon 3'' and attributed that movie’s blue-eyed, white dragon to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' monster. Pepper is left stumbling over herself trying to correct him, but she just accepts his ignorance for what it is.
--->'''Crafty:''' "Good ol’ Blue-Eyes would’ve been fun to expand upon, especially with the new movie coming out. But I’m a sucker for a good magician story."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Wait... there’s a movie coming out about the Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Yeah, I’ve been reading about it all over Twitter! Apparently, it’s making an appearance as a love interest in the new How to Train Your Dragon movie. I... thought it was a tad strange, but if it’s what the people want to see, who am I to judge?"\\
'''Pepper:''' ... D-Doctor... No. That’s not the same -- oh, good gravy..."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Pepper, I know a Blue-Eyes White Dragon when I see one."\\
'''Pepper:''' "I... *sigh*... I guess you aren’t ''technically'' wrong..."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Obviously! ''Because I’m never wrong.''"
* SupremeChef: Crafty absolutely struck gold when he hired Pepper as [[TeamChef the Crafty Crew's chef]]. Thanks to her globe-spanning travels, she has some expansive cooking knowledge. As [[https://www.teepublic.com/poster-and-art/5499799-dr-crafty-poster-sweet-treats this poster]] demonstrates, she knows how to prepare very specific meals for the likes of Nurse Worse and Messibelle, who feed on ''electricity and cleaning products,'' respectively -- and they're evidently enjoying them. In addition, Pepper's many tentacles allow her to cook several great-quality meals at once. Sometimes, this renders her a bit accident-prone, but overall, her skills are simply too good to pass up. The only thing she can't cook is seafood, and that's only due to her moral principles.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Nurse [[DiscussedTrope initially suspects]] that Crafty hired Pepper to replace her in "New Season, New Friends." The superficial similarities that they share do not help — they're both green, fat monster women. [[SubvertedTrope However, Crafty stresses that Pepper is merely an addition to the cast]], being the first of the show’s spin-off hosts to be introduced, and that Nurse is here to stay in her current position. Nurse still isn’t very thrilled by the episode’s end, but she thankfully comes around to accepting Pepper by "The Beachles," dropping the suspicion entirely.
* SweetTooth: Pepper has an expansive palate, and sweets are no exception. At some point during "Best Skull Girl," she amasses a hefty stash of candy that gets stolen through no fault of her own. She tries downplaying the matter when it becomes unlikely that her candy will be retrieved. But it was apparently a big enough deal for her to sneak candy out of Crafty’s own stash later on, which Messi exposes her for in "The Foreshadow Game." In fact, Messi’s been doing so herself.
-->'''Crafty:''' "IS THERE ANYONE ''NOT'' EATING MY CANDY?!"
* TeamChef: Among the Crafty Crewmates, food preparation is generally left to Pepper, being the only person in the castle with formal cooking training. What's more, [[SupremeChef her cooking is]] ''[[SupremeChef exceptional]].'' When Pepper deals with some self-doubt about her worth in "The Art of the Con(vention)," Nurse makes her feel better by emphasizing how valued she and her culinary skills are. She even admits to Pepper that she's rather hopeless in the kitchen.
* TeamMom: To the Crafty Crew, Pepper has the sweet, mediating, and nurturing approach of many good mothers, all despite not actually being one. Messibelle, the youngest of her coworkers, tends to consult her when something's on her mind for this reason. Some notable instances are the Season 3 premiere, where they discuss Nurse's complicated, possibly unreciprocated feelings for Crafty, and the Spin-Off Crossover. In the latter, when Messi breaks down sobbing due to missing Crafty, Pepper immediately rushes to her side and holds her. Messi doesn't object, even laying down in Pepper's lap as she cries. Pepper also tends to Crystelle in the same way, after Crystelle nearly goes catatonic from her visions of Disgustilda.
* TemptingFate: Poor Pepper tends to invoke the show's wackiness without even trying. If she audibly questions or doubts something, it's common for shenanigans to ensue -- often with her as the butt of the joke. For example, in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," she and Crafty muse about whether her genes contain Pufferfish DNA. She says she doubts it, but a loud noise startles her into bloating up. In the very next ''Chara-Cafe'' episode, she notices that everything has gone on without incident. Soon after, she's immediately accosted by [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu and Ken]], who then steal her Halloween candy (accidentally -- they were targetting Crafty's stash).
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: While she doesn't discriminate when it comes to meals, she has a particular taste for pasta, something revealed in her [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 initial concept artwork]].
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: The ''Chara-Cafe'' intro shows Pepper pulling a cooking ingredient out of her bosom.
* WardrobeMalfunction: According to WordOfGod, the main reason why Pepper doesn't wear pants is not due to her size or weight, but rather her thigh tentacles prevent her from pulling any kind of clothing up to her waist. Because of this, leggings tend to be Pepper's substitute for pants.
* YankTheDogsChain: Pepper spends much of Season 3 operating without an oven before finally receiving one in "I'MA VAMPIRE!" From then on, she barely has time to use it; a handful of episodes later, the Season 3 finale sees her locked up and unable to cook for a long few days. And after the Season 3 finale, a troupe of animals wrecks the oven as they rampage about the kitchen in "La Lamia, Do Doo Do Doo Doo." Thankfully, by the next episode, "Dog Days," Pepper finally gets a functioning oven -- or rather, the damage done to her replacement oven is [[ItMakesSenseInContext completely undone by Crafty’s one-time-use retcon button]].
!!Pickles
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pickles_9.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"*Pfft*"]]
A sea cucumber capable of living on dry land, Pickles is Pepper's small yet nimble traveling companion who is always seen riding somewhere on her body. He was introduced alongside Pepper in Season 2's premiere and sometimes partakes in an episode's commentary whenever Pepper is on-screen. While the times he does are infrequent, whenever Pickles voices his opinions, he demonstrates that he may be smarter than the cast gives him credit for.
----
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Pickle's lengthy tongue evokes a regular sea cucumber's expelled Cuvierian tubules... which come out of their anuses. While that's definitely Pickles' mouth and tongue we're looking at, his raspberrying still makes a ton of sense due to this trait.
* BloodKnight: When confronted with a combat situation, Pickles is quick to urge Pepper to engage alongside him. This trait shows up during the Spinoff Crossover when the co-hosts discuss how they can escape their prison. Pickles immediately, aggressively suggests that Pepper perform [[NoodleIncident something so violently powerful that she refuses to perform it again]].
* EmpathyPet: Whatever Pepper is feeling at the moment, Pickles will mirror her emotions as much as he realistically can. Sometimes, his expressions can contrast with Pepper’s for humorous effect.
* HiddenDepths: It's strongly implied that Pickles is quite a bit smarter than he seems. A single raspberry he makes during "Salt and Pepper" leaves Pepper awestruck:
--> '''Pepper:''' "Wow... that's ''deep,'' Pickles."
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: Despite speaking strictly through raspberries, the other characters can understand Pickles just fine. According to Pepper, Pickles can be surprisingly profound.
* MeaningfulName: Pickles looks exactly like his namesake. In fact, considering what a pickle ''is'' -- a fermented cucumber -- Pickles is also ADogNamedDog, in a roundabout way.
* ParrotPetPosition: Pickles typically rides Pepper's shoulders or head, poking out from beneath her tentacles.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: As if Pepper wasn't adorable enough, Pickles contributes to the adorableness with his small, friendly face and tendency to mimic Pepper's facial expressions.
* TheUnintelligible: Pickles is only able to communicate by blowing raspberries, although everyone seems to understand what he's saying.
[- [[Characters/DrCraftyCraftyCrew The Crafty Crew]] ([[Characters/DrCraftyDrCrafty Doctor Crafty]], [[Characters/DrCraftyNurseWorse Nurse Worse]], '''Pepper & Pickles''')\\
[[Characters/DrCraftySupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/DrCraftyAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/DrCraftyMinorCharacters Minor Characters]] -]]]]]
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!!Pepper
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pepper_6.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"There are so many unique combinations that are special in their own way. [[SupremeChef And baking is such a delicate process that it makes it such a new adventure every time!]]"]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Pepper in her casual attire (And as she is drawn by Blue-Paint-Sea).]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pepper_0.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Katy Johnson
A highly-reserved chef with life experience to spare, Pepper is a humanoid cephalopod mutant who was introduced in Season 2 as the co-host for the first of ''Dr. Crafty's'' spin-off series; ''Crafty's Chara-Cafe.'' She is considered the most kind-hearted of the cast, as her commentary appears more gentle and encouraging than the other co-hosts. While this causes Pepper to have difficulty maintaining discussions due to the show's sense of humor, her world knowledge more than makes up for it, thanks to her perpetual travels as a nomad before being hired into Crafty Industries.\\
\\
Pepper and Pickles were created by Blue-Paint-Sea, an artist who also created several assets for the show. Notably, they have developed Pepper and Pickles even further on their [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea Deviant Art page]]. It's been confirmed that anything they do with the characters is canon to the show, so tropes involving Blue-Paint-Sea's pieces -- specifically if they offer general supporting details or directly pertain to her ''Dr. Crafty'' appearances -- will appear here.
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* {{Asexuality}}: Pepper reveals in "Ad-ORC-able!" that she's asexual. The description of [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 this reference sheet]] further reveals that she is specifically ''gray''-asexual. She's also very capable of feeling romantic attraction, but she seldom acts upon it. The joys of cooking are more than enough for her.
* ArtEvolution: Blue-Paint-Sea went on to simplify certain elements of Pepper's design that influenced how she appears in subsequent Dr. Crafty artwork. The most prominent changes were made to her hip tentacles — they were thinned out to match her head tentacles' proportions, but to keep them distinct, they're now conjoined by webs of skin, which maintains their resemblance to a skirt. The green portions of her design were redistributed to emphasize her yellow skin, as well. Pepper's Season 4 promotional artwork, unveiled in "We’re Back! A Crafty Story," consolidates some of these changes into Pepper's Dr. Crafty design. It’s also in this episode where Pepper’s pose set became scaled up slightly. This makes her height above most everyone else more apparent.
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance:
** Pepper has a ribbon wrapped around her mantle. This combination evokes the idea of her hair being partially tied back, which is a good practice among cooks with long hair. For her show design specifically, she even wears her mantle like an upward ponytail.
** Everything below Pepper's shoulders creates the vague, slightly exaggerated likeness of an octopus. Combined with her legs, all the tentacles around her hips merge into a bulky mantle — her belly — complete with protruding eye sockets — her breasts.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Octo-Bloat grants Pepper profound defense utility, but it's difficult for her to maintain, let alone set up. Another drawback is that the ability sometimes activates at inopportune moments, as shown in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," where Pepper reflexively balloons twice after being startled. The same episode shows how Pepper can use Octo-Bloat to become an impromptu battering ram -- uncontrollably so. The excess air causes her to rocket forward and take out an attacking band of pirates on accident. By the end of it, she's back in her normal shape and very dazed on the floor.
* BalloonBelly:
** Using air, ink, or water, she can inflate her belly and boost her defensive prowess. It's apparently rather difficult for her to use it voluntarily; more often, she balloons up accidentally when under sufficient stress, as seen in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB." The same episode demonstrates that, when expelled, the excess air can propel her forward with great force.
** Since "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," Pepper uses Octo-Bloat about once per season. Season 3’s "GEMS! Truly Outrageous!" shows one such case. While the crew reinforces the castle against a potential riot, Nurse accidentally catches a very on-edge Pepper by surprise, causing her to swell up and send Nurse flying out of the kitchen.
* BareYourMidriff: Both her casual and work attire are a bit too small for her in length, leaving most of her belly (sometimes up to the navel) exposed. Her Beach Month attire, introduced in "The Beachles," is also particularly notable. There is no bottom, only a top, keeping true to Pepper’s general lack of bottom wear.
* BerserkButton: While her tolerance level is impressively high, "Pirates VS Doctors" reveals that she holds deep contempt for bullying. It's one of the few things that can induce her into ''going on the offensive,'' as Davy Jones finds out when Pepper tosses a jar of dirt at him, causing him to melt.
* BigBeautifulWoman: In tandem with being quite tall, Pepper is very fat -- fatter than Nurse, even -- with a large, doughy belly, very plump limbs, and a rounded face. She's consistently regarded as one of the most attractive characters on the show, in both personality ''and'' looks. The (in-universe) audience greets her with ''overwhelming'' applause during her debut and the ''Chara-Cafe's'' premiere, and the same audience showers her with Valentine candies in "Ad-ORC-Able!"
* BigEater: Being surrounded by food for practically her entire life, Pepper is absolutely gluttonous. Notably, she’s a rare example of a ChubbyChef who expressly has an immense appetite and goes out of her way to sate it -- with tons of her own meals. It’s rare that she’s actually shown eating, but in "Ad-ORC-Able," she receives some candy hearts in the mail and offers to share some with Crafty. Her candy stash ''completely fills up the kitchen,'' and she sheepishly admits that she could probably finish all the candy herself, even what she imparts to Crafty.
* BigFun: Not only is the generously rotund, sweet-hearted Pepper as well-versed in pop culture as the other hosts, but she also has one major goal: to ensure that everyone she meets is well-fed and happy. She reveals as much in "The Art of the Con(vention)" when Crafty asks her about her backstory:
-->'''Crafty:''' "So you were baking pies on the street?! ... That's pretty hardcore."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Well... I'm not sure if I would put it that way. But what is important now is that I can create all of the delicious things I want now not just for my survival, but for others to enjoy as well!"
* BizarreAlienBiology:
** Pepper’s genetic information is one of the biggest mysteries on the show. At face value, she’s just an octopus mutant, but as of "Journey to the Forbidden Water Temple," it turns out that Nurse has found more to her DNA bubbling under the surface, but nothing specific. Pepper admits that even she has no idea what species her genes account for in the same episode, musing that it’s very likely that she could be related to [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zoras]] and [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 Octarians]].
** The various shenanigans of the show sometimes lead to Pepper discovering one contributor to her DNA at a time. "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB" starts off this trend with her discovery of her pufferfish DNA, which allows her to use Octo-Bloat. Coincidentally, the episode’s artwork involves a pufferfish mermaid, which leads to a discussion wherein Pepper and Crafty muse about whether she has pufferfish in her DNA. They accidentally discover that she does; some piping loosened up by a group of invading pirates falls to the floor, making a huge crash and causing Pepper to balloon up in shock.
---> '''Crafty:''' "Jeez, Pepper! As if your anatomy couldn’t get anymore baffling!"
** Messi banks on Pepper’s weird genetics being able to help Crafty in some way in "I Need a Hero Academia." She correctly guesses that Pepper has whale DNA in her genes, which allows Pepper to use echolocation to amplify Kyoka Jiro’s abilities to help with Messi’s plan to finish off Mindstein from a distance.
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 Blue-Paint-Sea's initial concept artwork]] explains that, unlike most octopi, Pepper’s mantle doesn’t contain her vital organs, which are relegated inside her main, humanoid body. Instead, her mantle houses her water tank, which helps her survive on land.
* BreakoutCharacter: At first, Pepper and Pickles were initially just conceived for ''Dr. Crafty.'' However, their overwhelmingly positive reception and Blue-Paint-Sea's own enjoyment of the characters caused them to be fleshed out ''far'' beyond their presence on the show. Now, they're major characters in Blue-Paint-Sea's work, contributing hugely to another set of stories entirely.
* {{Catchphrase}}: Every now and again, whenever something surprises or overwhelms her, Pepper says "Good gravy!"
* CharacterTics: If she's particularly happy or content and her arms are unoccupied, Pepper holds her lower arms aloft, with her hands folded into gentle fists. It's a frequent sight between both [[https://www.deviantart.com/drcrafty/art/Concoction-Eternal-Apprentice-783006680 Alex's]] and [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/When-a-Cook-Explores-the-Dungeons-870390134 Blue-Paint-Sea's]] takes on her.
* ChekhovsGun: After being used for comedic purposes throughout most of the show, Pepper’s Octo-Bloat ability is put to serious, deliberate use in "Let’s. Get. Metal..." She uses her expanded belly to help catch Crafty and Nurse after Crystelle rescues them from a dangerous void. Since Crafty and Nurse were rocketing towards a black hole before Crystelle's intervention, they crash into Pepper ''hard.'' The impact is so harsh that it renders Pepper unconscious for the rest of the scene, but the main duo, while terrified by what they had seen in the void, are physically safe and sound.
* ChubbyChef: Pepper's quite a heavy-set mutant, mostly due to her insatiable appetite and all the taste-testing she must perform. With her expansive waistline comes her expansive taste and cooking experience; she's deeply familiar with preparing a diverse selection of meals to perfection.
* CuddleBug: Pepper is a known hugger, frequently offering her chubby self up for basic affection or a need to help a person feel better.
** The spin-off cohosts are absolutely delighted to see Crafty and Nurse alive and well at the end of "I Need a Hero Academia." Pepper makes a point to wait for Messi and Crystelle to hug first. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she wraps all of her coworkers in a tight embrace of her own, sobbing profusely.
** Another notable moment of Pepper acting cuddly is when Crafty breaks down in "Happy Crafty Day." Pepper is the very first of the cohosts that hug him, doing so in a way that presses him up against her torso. In fact, she holds Crafty so closely that her coworkers have to either lean in and reach for Crafty or simply offer a reassuring hand from a distance.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Pepper is a large, mutated octopus who just wants to enjoy what life offers and keep those around her happy. Her adorableness wins over ''Dr. Crafty's'' in-universe fans, something especially highlighted in "Ad-ORC-Able," what with the mountain of Valentine's candies that fans have gifted her. However, her backstory explains that her appearance also made her a prime target for [[FantasticRacism racism]] in certain areas. Specifically, Pepper faced constant workplace discrimination at the Fish'n'Fish, which was a big reason behind Crafty's decision to hire her when they met.
* CutenessProximity: While she doesn't grow overwhelmed with happiness most of the time, Pepper is quick to comment on whatever she finds cute. Sometimes, such remarks from Pepper almost immediately get shut down by Crafty doing a bit.
** When Pepper coos at a Mimikyu that wanders into the castle in "Send in the Clowns," Crafty immediately reminds her of the horrors that await her beneath Mimikyu's disguise, at least according to the creature's Pokédex entries. And he immediately goes to uncover the Pokémon when he starts doubting the claims.
** In "Dumb Dingies," The sight of her in-progress chibi drawing causes her to jump for joy... At which point Crafty initiates a grifting attempt that tries to paint chibi art styles as a disease, and that money donated to his Patreon will be totally, absolutely put towards fighting it.
* TheCutie: Established as early as "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper," in-universe audience absolutely adores Pepper. It's because, to complement her soft appearance, she has a soft personality. She's never seen apart from Pickles, her pet and best friend, and her whole motivation for becoming a chef is to make other people happy. She also has a motherly disposition, easily being the gentlest and most understanding of the Crafty Crew.
* TheConfidant: As they grow acquainted with each other, Messibelle starts turning to Pepper whenever something serious is on her mind. Seeing as the former has so little life experience compared to the latter, combined with the latter's gentle nature, it's no wonder why Messi views her as approachable. For example, in "We're Back! A Crafty Story," Messi discovers a Journal in Crafty's possession, one that has a section dedicated to [[spoiler: the Infinium relics]]. She ''immediately'' seeks out Pepper to discuss her disturbing findings; Pepper herself is quick to lend an ear.
* DeadpanSnarker: To the surprise of everyone — even herself — there are a few times where Pepper has some mildly choice remarks for her companions. However, her immediate regret or her assurance that she's just playfully teasing undercuts them somewhat. It's best shown in "This is Crack(ship)," when Nurse asks if she’s ever watched ''Manga/{{Naruto}}.'' Pepper giggles a bit, then nonchalantly remarks that she only watches good anime. She tries to backpedal and apologize, but she only digs herself deeper when she outright calls ''Naruto'' trash. Nurse ends up taking it all in good spirits, however.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There are quite a few noticeable differences between Pepper's two major designs. They're readily apparent when Pepper's show design is compared to how she's rendered in the laboratory's stained glass artwork, also done by Blue-Paint-Sea:
** After ArtEvolution took into effect, Alex tends to play with the number of tentacles around Pepper's hips in certain pieces. [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 Typically]], she's flanked by two sets of three tentacles on her left and right, which, combined with her legs, gives her lower body a complete set of eight tentacles. On her ''Dr. Crafty'' [[https://www.deviantart.com/drcrafty/art/Crafty-Concoction-Pepper-Pickles-Model-Sheet-784968609 model sheet]], Alex added a ninth tentacle, which sprouts from Pepper's back like a tail. Other pieces of his sometimes add three more than that.
** Blue-Paint-Sea's art generally makes a point to emphasize Pepper's size a lot more, with her belly clearly weighing down on the web of skin surrounding her hips. Alex's design, meanwhile, has Pepper's belly pile up on top of that web of skin, giving her a perpetual muffin-top.
** Pepper's mantle is another peculiarity; Alex has her wear it up as though it were a ponytail. It's also nearly twice its original size, and because she wears it up, it takes up a good chunk of her height. Consequentially, if she were to wear her mantle downward, she'd actually stand only a little over 6 feet tall. The original design, however, has Pepper wearing her much smaller mantle downward. Here, her height is capped off by the top of her skull. But she remains 7 feet tall, meaning her original design is a full head taller than the ''Crafty'' design.
* DoesNotLikeSpam:
** The only thing that Pepper won't cook is seafood — not because she can't, but because she equates it to cannibalism. This was the crux of her issues with working at the Fish’n’Fish before Crafty discovered her. Crafty himself explains that her misery was readily apparent in "New Season, New Friends," so he decided to take her under his wing to work as the ''Chara-Cafe's'' cohost.
** That being said, according to some trivia on [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Pepper-And-Pickles-Profile-Model-Sheet-official-805172532 Blue-Paint-Sea's reference sheet]], Pepper naturally craves crab meat and shellfish once in a while, [[ShownTheirWork those being common prey for octopi]]. She infrequently can't help but enjoy Seafood Fettuccine, even if she won't prepare it herself.
* DorkInASweater: When off the clock, Pepper wears a shoulder-baring magenta sweater with puffy sleeves, complementing her social awkwardness and her gentle, sweet personality all at once. This sweater is also her default outfit outside the Dr. Crafty series, and she also wears a white apron over it when cooking.
* EndearinglyDorky: She perpetually struggles to keep up with the show's eccentricities, sometimes stumbling a bit when she tries to contribute herself. Yet, she's also immensely sweet, sincere, and practical. All these traits have endeared Pepper to Crafty, the rest of the crew, and even the in-universe audience, whose members unanimously cheer her on in "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper." For these reasons, "Ad-ORC-Able" would later reveal that Pepper has accrued a ''mountain'' of admirers, each of them overwhelming her with Valentine's requests [[ThroughHerStomach and candy]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Pepper’s introduction in "New Season, New Friends," is delayed because she’s far too shy to show herself on camera at first. During her absence, Nurse begins to suspect that Crafty intends to replace her with Pepper, even after Crafty reassures her that she is here to stay. By the time Pepper finally shows herself when her promotional art is complete, she unknowingly reveals that she couldn’t be more different from the extroverted, assertive Nurse if she tried. She’s not only still battling with her shyness, but she’s audibly, visibly panicking when she realizes that she may have bungled her introduction.
--> '''Crafty:''' "Ha-ha! Another successful piece! Shame Pepper couldn’t come out and say hello, though..."\\
'''Nurse:''' "Well! That just leaves more room for screen-room for me--EEEEEE!!"\\
(''Nurse slips and falls in a puddle of something, prompting Pepper to finally show herself after much buildup.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "Oh gosh! Oh gosh! I’m so-so-so-so sorry!"\\
(''Nurse grumbles in annoyance at Pepper’s presence from down offscreen.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "I-I... I was about to come on-stage, but then I got nervous, and [[BringMyBrownPants I... inked... myself...]]"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Ohhh, we just finished drawing you! What do you want?"\\
'''Pepper, surprised:''' "Ah... I-I’m r-ready now! So I thought I’d come out and, uh, i-introduce myself."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Oh, I’m sorry, Pepper dear! We already introduced you! You should’ve come out sooner when I called you!"\\
'''Pepper, starting to cry:''' "Oh... uh-um, I’m-I’m sorry...!!"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Give her a big hand, everyone!"\\
(''The audience showers Pepper with applause, completely taking her off-guard.'')\\
'''Pepper, blushing profusely:''' "U-uh, oh...!"\\
(''Pepper, cheered up, takes her leave.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "Oh, the audience is going to find her ''adorable.''"
* {{Expy}}:
** According to her [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 initial concept art's biography]], Pepper's core design was very much inspired by Marina of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2:'' Both of them are sweet-natured and reserved octopus creatures with long draping tentacle hair, eyebrows that are downturned by default, and are very tall among their respective casts. They're both dressed in outfits that expose their midsections, and even their bodies have colour schemes that are associated with different hues of green.
** Thanks to AuthorAppeal on Blue-Paint-Sea's part, Pepper and Pickles have quite a bit in common with [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]]: Both are inseparable pairs of animal friends who experience many zany misadventures, the smaller member prefers to take refuge somewhere on their larger companion (be it Pepper's hair or Banjo's backpack), and both duos have a member who's personality contrasts with their partner (Pepper and Banjo are kindhearted, easy-going and level-headed, while Pickles and Kazooie tend to be snarky, quick-witted, and combative).
* EyeTake: Some of Pepper's most common poses give her a dumbfounded expression, with wide eyes and shrunken pupils. They're commonly made in reaction to ''Dr. Crafty's'' daily weirdness. They appear more frequently than anyone else's similar poses, due to how low-key Pepper is as a person compared to the show.
* FishPerson: Despite the sheer number of aquatic creatures in her genes, Pepper is expressly an octopus mutant first and foremost; it’s the most obvious species that she is to her and everyone else around her. When the discussion of furries comes up in "Dog Days," Pepper expressly identifies herself as an anthropomorphic octopus, never once acknowledging her other genetic qualities in doing so.
* {{Foil}}: Pepper serves as a distinct counterpart to Messibelle, the other cohost introduced in Season 2. Messi can be crass and is decidedly extroverted, while Pepper tends to be well-mannered and introverted. Meanwhile, whereas Messi is homosexual and incredibly lecherous (even after she toned things down later on), Pepper is grey-asexual and doesn't act on her romantic feelings. Ironically, despite the adult edge to Messi's character, Pepper carries significantly more life experience by comparison. This is because Pepper was a seasoned nomad before settling down at Crafty's, whereas Messi was born only a few days before her debut appearance and has barely ventured beyond the castle. As a consequence, Pepper exhibits some motherly tendencies, while Messi exhibits some childish tendencies, a contrast that is occasionally highlighted in their interactions.
* GentleGiant: Like Nurse, Pepper's height can be hard to discern during a typical ''Dr. Crafty'' episode. She is in fact ''[=7'4''=],'' being the biggest of the protagonists in height ''and'' weight. However, there's not a mean bone in her body; if anything, she's immensely caring, accommodating, and affectionate.
* GoshDangItToHeck: Notably, despite ''Dr. Crafty's'' lenience on low-tier vulgarity, Pepper ''never'' swears, even using "gosh" where appropriate. The same goes for her appearances in Blue-Paint-Sea's work.
* GrewASpine: Pepper starts out her tenure on Dr. Crafty as an extremely shy and easily overstimulated host, just barely keeping up with the show's strange sense of humor. She grows more and more confident with being on-camera over time, and more assertive about her needs as the series progresses.
** "Pirates VS Doctors" showcases quite a turning point in Pepper's character. Faced with Davy Jones' abuse of Crafty, Pepper isn't sure how to react at first. Just when it seems that she'll just sit back and let things happen, Pepper actively takes a stand and successfully defends Crafty against Jones' attacks. From that point forward, she's noticeably less awkward and is more excited for every ‘'Chara-Cafe'' episode going forward.
** "Dog Days" sees her finally stand up for herself to Crafty, who has been ignoring her requests for a new oven until now. She doesn't do so right away, instead opting to uphold a lie about storebought foods being her creations to avoid confronting the matter. But when she's backed into a corner, Pepper finally puts her foot down and lays her issues out explicitly to Crafty, who listens and finally gets her a repaired oven.
* GrowlingGut: In "Magic Kingdom Mania" her belly audibly grumbles — not due to hunger, but out of disgust for Crafty's convoluted carnival idea. For Pepper specifically, Crafty deliberately sets up her Tentacular-Tilt-A-Whirl ride right next to her food stand, and his reasoning for why is what makes Pepper's stomach churn.
--> '''Crafty:''' "Ah, Pepper! Looks like your ride, the Tentacular-Tilt-A-Whirl, is coming along smoothly, I see."\\
'''Pepper:''' "I'm... hesitant to agree. Are you sure it was a good idea to have my food stand directly adjacent to the ride?"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Of course! Why not?"\\
'''Pepper:''' "Doctor, the guests are throwing up all my food after they ride!"\\
'''Crafty:''' "That's the beauty of my design: their stomachs are empty after riding, so they come back and purchase more overpriced food!"\\
(''Pepper's gut produces an extremely audible, low growl.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "... I think my stomach just cringed at the thought for me..."\\
'''Crafty, moving on to the next attraction:''' "Just goes to show it ''has'' to work if it'll even affect you, Pepper!"
* TheHeart: Despite generally being the most passive member of the Crafty Crew, Pepper more than makes up for it by being an incredibly sweet person, both through her general goals and her approach to life. This tenderness helps keep the Crew together during tough times, helping ease tension between her coworkers and having a positive influence on them.
** The Crew’s beach trip during "The Beachles" gets off to a rocky start, as Crafty and Nurse immediately begin bickering. Pepper eventually reaches her limit and tries getting them to calm down and enjoy themselves. It takes a few attempts for her to get through to everybody, but she finally does after the Crew eats the picnic lunch that Pepper prepared. When the episode’s art is finished, Crafty sums up the overall change in mood succinctly:
--->'''Crafty:''' "I think, ultimately, we may have had our disagreements this episode. But what really matters at this point, is we all had a fun time! And no matter what happens, we’re all one big happy family!"
** The Spin-Off Special owes its existence to her. Noticing how restless Messi and Crystelle grow with their imprisonment, Pepper suddenly gets the idea to complete Season 3’s spin-off segments consecutively to keep everyone calm and distracted. She then spends her ''Chara-Cafe'' segment building up her coworkers’ morale. She uses a spur-of-the-moment gold-star rewards system for Messi and Crystelle’s observations, and she makes it abundantly clear that she values their time together. Topping it off, she even indulges Messi’s love for bubbles, established to her all the way back in "The Art of the Con(vention), for the segment’s final talking point.
** "Happy Crafty Day" ends with a touched Crafty receiving a group hug from his coworkers. As Crafty begins sobbing and the girls all hurry over to him, it’s very noticeable that Pepper initiates the hug; she ends up right behind Crafty and holds him very close to her torso. Everyone else -- even Stylene, who would normally be indifferent by this point in her story -- follows her lead.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: Pepper never wears pants because, according to her in "Journey to the Forbidden Water Temple," they've never agreed with her.
-->(''A CutawayGag shows Pepper hidden within a dressing room, trying on some pants.'')\\
'''Pepper:''' "Uh, okay! ''Come oooonnnn!'' I'm sure these are right..."\\
(''[[WardrobeMalfunction There's a very audible RRRRRRIIP!]]'')\\
'''Pepper:''' ".... ''Siiiiiiiiize!''"\\
(''Pepper starts Sobbing.'')
* HowDoIShotWeb:
** With Pepper’s diverse DNA comes an equally diverse set of skills at her disposal. However, Pepper is totally unaware of some of these abilities beyond the obvious skills that come with being a mutant octopus. She generally doesn't think to try them herself because she's unaware of what her genes would allow. When her Octo-Bloat activates onscreen for the first time in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," she’s clearly surprised about ballooning up, especially since she uses the ability involuntarily. And just before this happens, she openly doubts the possibility of her genes having pufferfish DNA -- the very reason that her belly can expand the way it does. It's not until "Let's. Get. Metal" that Pepper gains control of her Octo-Bloat ability and uses it deliberately, just in time to save Nurse and Crafty from a nasty crash-landing.
** In "I Need a Hero Academia," Screw’s file on Pepper lists this ignorance about her powers as Pepper's primary weakness alongside her timidness. And during the climax of the same special, it is only due to Messi’s resourcefulness that Pepper thinks to try using whale echolocation. It turns out that she indeed has that skill, and she manages to use it to help amplify Kyoko Jiro’s own abilities for Messi’s plan to help Crafty defeat Mindstein.
* HumbleHero: Despite having quite a few accomplishments under her belt, Pepper remains very modest. When Crafty tries praising her for her survival skills while traveling in "The Art of the Con(vention)," Pepper tries playing it off like it's no big deal. She instead focuses on how she's now able to serve other people and make them happy.
* IAmNotPretty: It's implied now and then that Pepper has some body-image issues. When offered a diminutive bikini top in "The Beachles," Pepper admits that she doesn't want people to stare at her while she wears it. Messibelle looks upon the top with utter glee. Later in "Dumb Dingies," Messi practically orgasms when she overhears Nurse's observations of Pepper's body, having no qualms about imagining perverse fantasies about Pepper’s inner workings.
* JigglePhysics: [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 As explained in the biography tied to her concept art]], because of her soft stretchy skin, flexibility, and all the fluid she retains, Pepper's body jiggles fairly easily whenever she moves. Messi mentions that this uncontrollable jiggling is something that she has in common with Pepper in "Player Select."
* MeaningfulName: Pepper's name references how [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 her color scheme is based on green bell peppers]], a common vegetable used in many different meals. Bell peppers also happen to be very mild, exactly like Pepper's personality.
* MultiArmedMultitasking: Pepper's tentacles -- both sets, on her head and around her hips -- are very practical for multi-tasking, which plays a big part in why she's such an effective chef. It has yet to be demonstrated in the show proper, but various pieces of official artwork (such as [[https://www.drcraftyart.com/crafty-gallery?pgid=jzoy5jwt-06b672d7-636e-47f3-a708-0864abd7b275 this Halloween piece]] and [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/When-a-Cook-Explores-the-Dungeons-870390134 this design]] of Pepper from a ''Dungeons and Dragons'' campaign) show this skill in action.
* MysteriousPast:
** In "The Art of the Con(vention)," Crafty decides to ask Pepper about her past before he found her at the Fish n' Fish. Curiously, Pepper claims to only remember so much before drawing a blank. She can only recall the most basic details, that she was a nomadic chef who traveled the world endlessly, and used her cooking talents as one of her survival skills. [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 Supplementary details]] reveal that she became a notable figure in various culinary circles worldwide, but that information can only help so much. The mystery motivates Nurse to research Pepper extensively. She's not only intrigued by her anatomy, but she hopes her efforts will help Pepper reconcile with that missing knowledge.
** When copying her data in "Over the Moonsault," Metal Crafty classifies Pepper as a "Primordial Lifeform," adding further to the mystery.
* NiceGirl:
** Despite her shy demeanor, Pepper treats everyone around her with kindness and respect. Out of everyone in the Crafty Crew, she's notable for being the most patient with Crafty, even if she doesn't fully agree with his antics.
** Notably, "Happy Crafty Day" allows Pepper to recount the time she met Crafty. Despite having every reason to do so, she doesn't chew out the Fish'n'Fish's management for its racism towards her. Rather, she just vaguely states that her employers weren't fond of her and quickly changes the subject to the moment she met Crafty, expanding greatly on how much his kind gesture meant to her.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Among the spin-off cohosts, Pepper is the only one who adheres directly to the Crafty Crew's green-pink color scheme. She even incorporates both colors, whereas every other spin-off hosts' designs represent only one of the two colors and deviate from there. This distinction is discussed plainly in "La Lamia, Do Doo Do Doo Doo," where Crafty explains how Pepper was designed before those color deviations were commonplace.
* TheNoseless: Pepper lacks a nose, only having the vague impression of where one should be on her face. It’s a quality shared between her ''Dr. Crafty'' and Blue-Paint-Sea designs.
* OccidentalOtaku:
** [[DownplayedTrope Far be it from her to let anime take over her life]], but Pepper is still an outspoken fan of it, having a clear preference for the medium over Western cartoons. "The Foreshadow Game" first reveals this quality, where she briefly rants at Messibelle for labeling anime as cartoons. Due to the stress of the Crew's Shadow Realm imprisonment, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness her rant is surprisingly hostile]], and she immediately apologizes about it after Crafty gets her to calm down.
** Pepper isn't just an Otaku; she's an otaku with ''standards.'' She unconsciously blurts out her poor outlook on ''Naruto'' to Nurse in "This is Crack(ship)," saying that she only watches good anime.
** She prepares to make some anime content for "Duck and Cover," but she's plainly disappointed when Crafty reminds her that they're making content based on a Western cartoon: Ducktales. However, her eagerness for anime content is stunningly prescient, as she discusses Ducktales' important influence on anime later in the commentary.
* PunnyName: Pepper and Pickles' names loosely reference "Pickled Peppers" when paired together.
* PursueTheDreamJob: "Happy Crafty Day" allows Pepper to expand on her backstory from her perspective. [[DownplayedTrope She was actually an accomplished traveling chef]] ''[[DownplayedTrope well]]'' [[DownplayedTrope before meeting Crafty]], having worked in various places around the world to hone her skills to near-perfection. She never stayed in one place for too long, always moving to different places in hopes of experiencing their cultures, particularly for their food and cooking techniques. Unfortunately, this nomadic approach tended to yield undesirable results. At one point, she ended up working at a seafood restaurant. Seafood is the one category of food that Pepper refuses to cook, but with no other opportunities available to her at the time, she resigned herself to being a waitress in that restaurant. Pepper couldn't play towards her strengths, and she was also [[FantasticRacism mistreated for being the only monster girl on the staff]]. Thanks to the discomfort all of this caused, she instantly took the chance to leave once Crafty offered to hire her.
* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: In "The Beachles," Pepper tacitly refuses to wear her swimsuit -- a laughably undersized bikini top -- thinking it would draw too much attention to herself. In the next episode, "Dumb Dingies," she's back in the comfort of the castle. There, interestingly enough, she feels free to express her love over a developing chibi drawing of her, where she's wearing the same outfit.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 Pepper's initial concept art]] reveals the reason why she can survive on land at all: she has a water tank in her mantle. Presumably, she refuels it just by staying hydrated with drinks, as a human would.
* RomanticAsexual:
** Despite having no interest in participating in romantic relationships herself, Pepper will happily indulge in romance vicariously. When the subject of a ''Dr. Crafty'' movie comes up in "Going Poster," she suggests making a romantic comedy. And in "Pirates Vs Doctors," she happily imagines the episode’s character design, Captain Crowsnest, and his crow companion finding love out on the ocean.
** "Over the Moonsault" reveals that Pepper is an avid shipper, even making cross-franchise pairings if it suits her whims. Specifically, she ships the episode’s character design, the wolf wrestler Moonsault, with Incineroar, who partially inspired Moonsault.
--->'''Pepper:''' "Okay, I know they’re two fictional animals from different universes... But I ship them~."\\
'''Crafty:''' "How would that even work?"\\
'''Pepper:''' "I just want them to ride off into the sunset and wrestle each other! I am a girl of simple needs..."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Riiiiiiight..."
* ShrinkingViolet: Pepper is the most low-key member of the Crafty Crew, being gentle, quiet, and easygoing. Because of her personality, she frequently grows overstimulated, whether it be due to the show’s zaniness or just typical triggers for social anxiety. Even after she grows more outwardly confident with herself, her innate introversion sometimes causes her to make questionable decisions, especially when she doesn’t act appropriately in the present moment.
** In both "New Season, New Friends" and "Salt and Pepper," the in-universe audience flatters Pepper with their mad praise for her. In the former episode, she blushes profusely before calmly exiting. In the latter episode, where she’s co-starring with Crafty for the first time and a lot more attention is invariably drawn to her, she becomes so flustered that she hurries away, plowing through Crafty on her way out.
--->'''Pepper:''' "So, uh... Doctor. Did I do okay on my first day on the job?"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Only one way to find out! Audience?"\\
(''The audience showers Pepper with applause and cheers.'')\\
'''Pepper, flattered but embarrassed:''' "Uh, ah... S-sorry! Gotta go!"\\
(''Pepper sprints away, knocking Crafty over to the sound of bowling pins falling over. The audience’s cheering dies down right before Crafty sits up from the floor.'')\\
'''Crafty, very dazed:''' "Eurgh... Cleanup, aisle two!!"\\
(''Crafty falls back down.'')
** "Best Skullgirl" ends with Ryu and Ken dropping by to attack Crafty over losing the poll for this ''Chara-Cafe'' episode. While the two fighters rush Crafty, Pepper sits back and struggles to process what is happening until after they leave. When it becomes apparent that Ryu and Ken stole her candy stash, Pepper makes no attempt to try and take it back, even asking an unhelpful Jedah if he could retrieve the stash. When he declines, Pepper just accepts the loss. Later, according to Messi in "The Foreshadow Game," rather than seek out a new candy collection, Pepper instead opted to sneak some candy from Crafty’s stash for herself.
** Pepper loses her oven in "La-Lamia" and mourns the loss in the subsequent "Dog Days." She tries implicitly explaining to Crafty that she has to rely on store-bought foods instead of her cooking thanks to her lack of equipment. When she hands a pack of Chips Ahoy to Crafty, he obliviously believes that she made the cookies herself and their packaging, even praising her heavily for it. Rather than correct Crafty and risk disappointing him with the truth, Pepper just decides to roll with it. She continues weaving an elaborate lie to avoid telling Crafty about the oven directly until the episode’s detective character design comes alive and exposes her. Only then does Pepper finally put her foot down and spell out the issue for Crafty, which he thankfully addresses.
* SoUnfunnyItsFunny: Pepper's sense of humor is more conventional than what the show's eccentricity entails. Instead of (voluntarily) doing something wacky and weird, she opts for incredibly cheesy puns that only she seems to find funny. Crafty always grows exasperated whenever Pepper cracks such puns, even more so if she tries making up for a joke that didn't land with another. One notable example of this habit is in "Over the Moonsault," especially since Pepper exudes remarkable confidence in every pun she dishes out.
-->'''Crafty:''' "Wait, did you say 'Wrestler?'"\\
'''Pepper:''' "Yes! She will ''full nelson'' into all of our hearts, I'm sure!"\\
(''A rimshot plays.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "Not your best wrestling joke; I'm sure you can do better than that."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Sorry, um... To come up with another one, you'll have to ''toss me into the ring!''"\\
(''Another rimshot plays.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "Was that an attempt at a ''Sonic'' joke ''and'' a wrestling joke?"\\
'''Pepper:''' "[[BluntYes Yes. Yes it was.]]"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Let's... move on."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Wait! I thought that one was ''a real ringer!!''"\\
(''One last rimshot plays.'')\\
'''Crafty:''' "[[LamePunReaction I can't even with you right now]]."
* StatuesqueStunner: At over seven feet, Pepper is the tallest of the hosts, and one of the tallest Dr. Crafty characters overall. She’s also portrayed as one of the most desirable women on the cast, with her acquiring a mountain of admirers in "Ad-Orc-Able."
* StockAnimalBehavior: Being an octopus, Pepper can produce ink, use her many tentacles for problem-solving, and squeeze her bulky frame into tight crevices. Mindstein accounts for the latter quality in the Spin-Off Special. Having imprisoned Pepper, Messi, and Crystelle, she electrifies the bars of their dungeon cell to prevent Messi and Pepper from squeezing through.
* TheStraightMan:
** Because of her low-key personality, Pepper frequently, genuinely doesn’t know how to react to some of the castle’s daily happenings, effectively playing the straight woman for the entire show. For one thing, "Journey to the Forbidden Water Temple" ends with Crafty breaking the fourth wall to address the flooded kitchen. He asks the episode’s editor to [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext simply remove the layer that contains the water effect from the video...]] and it somehow works. Pepper is left with a loss for words.
--->'''Pepper:''' "... I have ''so'' many questions..."
** Nurse decides to go over her latest physical on Pepper with her in "Dumb Dingies," midway through Pepper’s chibi drawing’s production. Messi also listens in and grows loudly turned on by Nurse’s observations; her aroused cries are strongly balanced out by Pepper’s clear discomfort at hearing Nurse’s report read aloud. Capping it off, Nurse tries ending their interaction with a pun, to which Pepper politely asks her not to and prepares for Crafty to do the same when the art is completed.
--->'''Nurse:''' "Anyway, besides all that, everything still looks good. Just sleep a little more, worry a little less, keep eating healthy, and keep on trucking! General Pepper!"\\
'''Pepper:''' "... Please don't start that again..."\\
(''Later, the art is complete, and Pepper arrives onscreen first to commentate on the piece one last time, talking to herself.'')\\
'''Pepper, quietly:''' "[[TemptingFate Don't make fun of my name, don't make fun of my name...]]"\\
'''Crafty, arriving onscreen:''' "This is shaping up to be one of the episode's spiciest chibies! Next to mine of course. What are your thoughts, Sam Pepper?"\\
'''Pepper, resigned:''' "Um... I think it's... good..."\\
'''Crafty, oblivious:''' "Perfectamente! Onto the last one, then!"
** Crafty kicks off his commentary in "Black Magic Woman" discussing a movie about ''Yu-Gi-Oh’s'' Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It turns out that he’s mistaken; he had seen various discussions about the then-upcoming ''How to Train Your Dragon 3'' and attributed that movie’s blue-eyed, white dragon to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' monster. Pepper is left stumbling over herself trying to correct him, but she just accepts his ignorance for what it is.
--->'''Crafty:''' "Good ol’ Blue-Eyes would’ve been fun to expand upon, especially with the new movie coming out. But I’m a sucker for a good magician story."\\
'''Pepper:''' "Wait... there’s a movie coming out about the Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"\\
'''Crafty:''' "Yeah, I’ve been reading about it all over Twitter! Apparently, it’s making an appearance as a love interest in the new How to Train Your Dragon movie. I... thought it was a tad strange, but if it’s what the people want to see, who am I to judge?"\\
'''Pepper:''' ... D-Doctor... No. That’s not the same -- oh, good gravy..."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Pepper, I know a Blue-Eyes White Dragon when I see one."\\
'''Pepper:''' "I... *sigh*... I guess you aren’t ''technically'' wrong..."\\
'''Crafty:''' "Obviously! ''Because I’m never wrong.''"
* SupremeChef: Crafty absolutely struck gold when he hired Pepper as [[TeamChef the Crafty Crew's chef]]. Thanks to her globe-spanning travels, she has some expansive cooking knowledge. As [[https://www.teepublic.com/poster-and-art/5499799-dr-crafty-poster-sweet-treats this poster]] demonstrates, she knows how to prepare very specific meals for the likes of Nurse Worse and Messibelle, who feed on ''electricity and cleaning products,'' respectively -- and they're evidently enjoying them. In addition, Pepper's many tentacles allow her to cook several great-quality meals at once. Sometimes, this renders her a bit accident-prone, but overall, her skills are simply too good to pass up. The only thing she can't cook is seafood, and that's only due to her moral principles.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Nurse [[DiscussedTrope initially suspects]] that Crafty hired Pepper to replace her in "New Season, New Friends." The superficial similarities that they share do not help — they're both green, fat monster women. [[SubvertedTrope However, Crafty stresses that Pepper is merely an addition to the cast]], being the first of the show’s spin-off hosts to be introduced, and that Nurse is here to stay in her current position. Nurse still isn’t very thrilled by the episode’s end, but she thankfully comes around to accepting Pepper by "The Beachles," dropping the suspicion entirely.
* SweetTooth: Pepper has an expansive palate, and sweets are no exception. At some point during "Best Skull Girl," she amasses a hefty stash of candy that gets stolen through no fault of her own. She tries downplaying the matter when it becomes unlikely that her candy will be retrieved. But it was apparently a big enough deal for her to sneak candy out of Crafty’s own stash later on, which Messi exposes her for in "The Foreshadow Game." In fact, Messi’s been doing so herself.
-->'''Crafty:''' "IS THERE ANYONE ''NOT'' EATING MY CANDY?!"
* TeamChef: Among the Crafty Crewmates, food preparation is generally left to Pepper, being the only person in the castle with formal cooking training. What's more, [[SupremeChef her cooking is]] ''[[SupremeChef exceptional]].'' When Pepper deals with some self-doubt about her worth in "The Art of the Con(vention)," Nurse makes her feel better by emphasizing how valued she and her culinary skills are. She even admits to Pepper that she's rather hopeless in the kitchen.
* TeamMom: To the Crafty Crew, Pepper has the sweet, mediating, and nurturing approach of many good mothers, all despite not actually being one. Messibelle, the youngest of her coworkers, tends to consult her when something's on her mind for this reason. Some notable instances are the Season 3 premiere, where they discuss Nurse's complicated, possibly unreciprocated feelings for Crafty, and the Spin-Off Crossover. In the latter, when Messi breaks down sobbing due to missing Crafty, Pepper immediately rushes to her side and holds her. Messi doesn't object, even laying down in Pepper's lap as she cries. Pepper also tends to Crystelle in the same way, after Crystelle nearly goes catatonic from her visions of Disgustilda.
* TemptingFate: Poor Pepper tends to invoke the show's wackiness without even trying. If she audibly questions or doubts something, it's common for shenanigans to ensue -- often with her as the butt of the joke. For example, in "A MERMAID MELODY FANDUB," she and Crafty muse about whether her genes contain Pufferfish DNA. She says she doubts it, but a loud noise startles her into bloating up. In the very next ''Chara-Cafe'' episode, she notices that everything has gone on without incident. Soon after, she's immediately accosted by [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu and Ken]], who then steal her Halloween candy (accidentally -- they were targetting Crafty's stash).
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: While she doesn't discriminate when it comes to meals, she has a particular taste for pasta, something revealed in her [[https://www.deviantart.com/blue-paint-sea/art/Dr-Crafty-Fan-OC-Concept-Sheet-705832767 initial concept artwork]].
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: The ''Chara-Cafe'' intro shows Pepper pulling a cooking ingredient out of her bosom.
* WardrobeMalfunction: According to WordOfGod, the main reason why Pepper doesn't wear pants is not due to her size or weight, but rather her thigh tentacles prevent her from pulling any kind of clothing up to her waist. Because of this, leggings tend to be Pepper's substitute for pants.
* YankTheDogsChain: Pepper spends much of Season 3 operating without an oven before finally receiving one in "I'MA VAMPIRE!" From then on, she barely has time to use it; a handful of episodes later, the Season 3 finale sees her locked up and unable to cook for a long few days. And after the Season 3 finale, a troupe of animals wrecks the oven as they rampage about the kitchen in "La Lamia, Do Doo Do Doo Doo." Thankfully, by the next episode, "Dog Days," Pepper finally gets a functioning oven -- or rather, the damage done to her replacement oven is [[ItMakesSenseInContext completely undone by Crafty’s one-time-use retcon button]].
!!Pickles
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pickles_9.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"*Pfft*"]]
A sea cucumber capable of living on dry land, Pickles is Pepper's small yet nimble traveling companion who is always seen riding somewhere on her body. He was introduced alongside Pepper in Season 2's premiere and sometimes partakes in an episode's commentary whenever Pepper is on-screen. While the times he does are infrequent, whenever Pickles voices his opinions, he demonstrates that he may be smarter than the cast gives him credit for.
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* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Pickle's lengthy tongue evokes a regular sea cucumber's expelled Cuvierian tubules... which come out of their anuses. While that's definitely Pickles' mouth and tongue we're looking at, his raspberrying still makes a ton of sense due to this trait.
* BloodKnight: When confronted with a combat situation, Pickles is quick to urge Pepper to engage alongside him. This trait shows up during the Spinoff Crossover when the co-hosts discuss how they can escape their prison. Pickles immediately, aggressively suggests that Pepper perform [[NoodleIncident something so violently powerful that she refuses to perform it again]].
* EmpathyPet: Whatever Pepper is feeling at the moment, Pickles will mirror her emotions as much as he realistically can. Sometimes, his expressions can contrast with Pepper’s for humorous effect.
* HiddenDepths: It's strongly implied that Pickles is quite a bit smarter than he seems. A single raspberry he makes during "Salt and Pepper" leaves Pepper awestruck:
--> '''Pepper:''' "Wow... that's ''deep,'' Pickles."
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: Despite speaking strictly through raspberries, the other characters can understand Pickles just fine. According to Pepper, Pickles can be surprisingly profound.
* MeaningfulName: Pickles looks exactly like his namesake. In fact, considering what a pickle ''is'' -- a fermented cucumber -- Pickles is also ADogNamedDog, in a roundabout way.
* ParrotPetPosition: Pickles typically rides Pepper's shoulders or head, poking out from beneath her tentacles.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: As if Pepper wasn't adorable enough, Pickles contributes to the adorableness with his small, friendly face and tendency to mimic Pepper's facial expressions.
* TheUnintelligible: Pickles is only able to communicate by blowing raspberries, although everyone seems to understand what he's saying.
