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* BrilliantButLazy: Often fosters work onto his other associates like making Cyberhack characters that ended up being incredibly dangerous psychokillers due to Skip passing off his old PCs as them.
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* BrilliantButLazy: Often fosters work onto his other associates like making Cyberhack characters that ended up being incredibly dangerous psychokillers due to Skip passing off his old PCs [=PCs=] as them.
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Crosswicking
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* {{Expy}}: Hard 8 itself is an expy of [=TSR=], but the games they produce are also typically expies of real life products Hackmaster (''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''), World of Hackcraft (''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''), and Spelljacked (The similarly ill-fated ''Spellfire'' CCG) being some of the most common.
to:
* {{Expy}}: Hard 8 itself is an expy of [=TSR=], but the games they produce are also typically expies of real life products Hackmaster (''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''), World of Hackcraft (''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''), and Spelljacked (The similarly ill-fated ''Spellfire'' ''TabletopGame/{{Spellfire}}'' CCG) being some of the most common.
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** Used his old player characters for random low level NPCs and thus made the game ridiculously difficult.
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** Used his old player characters for random low level NPCs [=NPCs=] and thus made the game ridiculously difficult.
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* BrilliantButLazy: Often fosters work onto his other associates like making Cyberhack characters that ended up being incredibly dangerous psychokillers due to Skip passing off his old PCs as them.
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* BrilliantButLazy: Used to kill all players in the first twenty minutes for four hour gaming events at Gary Con so he could use the remaining three hours to watch porn in his hotel room.
to:
* BrilliantButLazy: BrilliantButLazy:
** Used to kill all players in the first twenty minutes for four hour gaming events at Gary Con so he could use the remaining three hours to watch porn in his hotelroom.room.
** Used his old player characters for random low level NPCs and thus made the game ridiculously difficult.
** Used to kill all players in the first twenty minutes for four hour gaming events at Gary Con so he could use the remaining three hours to watch porn in his hotel
** Used his old player characters for random low level NPCs and thus made the game ridiculously difficult.
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* {{Expy}}: Hard 8 itself is an expy of [=TSR=], but the games they produce are also typically expies of real life products Hackmaster (''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''), World of Hackcraft (''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''), and Spelljacked (The similarly ill-fated ''TabletopGame/{{Spellfire}}'' CCG) being some of the most common.
to:
* {{Expy}}: Hard 8 itself is an expy of [=TSR=], but the games they produce are also typically expies of real life products Hackmaster (''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''), World of Hackcraft (''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''), and Spelljacked (The similarly ill-fated ''TabletopGame/{{Spellfire}}'' ''Spellfire'' CCG) being some of the most common.
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* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: They own the equivalent of ''World of Warcraft'' called World of Hackcraft but this is apparently not enough to keep them from being a primarily tabletop RPG company.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Originally they were a bunch of crooked designers who exploited unpaid labor and churned out bad product to milk every last dollar out of their gamer fans. Subsequent appearances make them every bit as passionate about gaming as their fans as well as struggling against the financial realities of their business.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite the fact that he's a used car salesman in personality combined with a celebrity who used the company as his own till, he is the world's greatest gamemaster.
* TheMafia: Got himself indebted into this with the Antigano Brothers there to look after the mafia's investment. Heidi eventually bought the mafia's stake in the company.
* WhiteCollarCrime: Gary used a lot of company funds for gambling, his own private jet, and other absurd expenses.
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* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: Jolly Blackburn made him a parody of the idea that game designers were rich jetsetting playboys. In fact, Gary Gygax spent six years in Hollywood living exactly the sort of life that Gary Jackson did.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A version of Lorraine Williams who took over TSR from Gary Gygax and focused on novels over the game supplements with a reputation for disliking gaming.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A version of Lorraine Williams who took over TSR from Gary Gygax and focused on novels over the game supplements with a reputation for disliking gaming. Heidi is arguably ''better'' than Williams was; unlike Williams, Heidi doesn't ban ''playtesting the products'' because "I don't want you playing games on company time".
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Disambiguation
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* BrilliantButLazy: Used to KillEmAll all players in the first twenty minutes for four hour gaming events at Gary Con so he could use the remaining three hours to watch porn in his hotel room.
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* BrilliantButLazy: Used to KillEmAll kill all players in the first twenty minutes for four hour gaming events at Gary Con so he could use the remaining three hours to watch porn in his hotel room.
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* MeaningfulName: Named after two well-known game designers: Creator/GaryGygax and [Creator/SteveJacksonGames Steve Jackson].
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* MeaningfulName: Named after two well-known game designers: Creator/GaryGygax and [Creator/SteveJacksonGames [[Creator/SteveJacksonGames Steve Jackson].Jackson]].
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: What many people assumed he was. Jolly actually says he was based on the weird idea he had as a teenager that game designers were rich rockstar executives.
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* MeaningfulName: Named after two well-known game designers: Creator/GaryGygax and [Creator/SteveJacksonGames Steve Jackson].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: What many people assumed he was. Jolly actually says he was based on the weird idea he had as a teenager that game designers were rich rockstar executives.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: What many people assumed he was. Jolly actually says he was based on the weird idea he had as a teenager that game designers were rich rockstar executives.
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* KillerGamemaster: Did this at conventions in order to make sure he had plenty of free time after events.
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* TheSmurffettePrinciple: Is the only female employee at Hard Eight.
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* TheSmurffettePrinciple: TheSmurfettePrinciple: Is the only female employee at Hard Eight.
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* HeroOfAnotherStory: [=JoJo=] is the only Hard8 character who shows up regularly in Muncie to interact with the regular cast. This is because one of his many duties is putting an end to crises... and the gamers in Muncie tend to create crises. They're his biggest headache.
to:
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [=JoJo=] is the only Hard8 Hard 8 character who shows up regularly in Muncie to interact with the regular cast. This is because one of his many duties is putting an end to crises... and the gamers in Muncie tend to create crises. They're his biggest headache.
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* BenevolentBoss: Is one of the first executives to give Shelly a serious chance as a developer.
* OnlySaneMan: One of the most grounded businessmen and workers at Hard Eight.
* CloudCuckoolander: Waco seems to be not all there and often makes bizarre nonsequitors and showing enthusiasm for everything he's doing. Oh and he also comes to work in his underwear.
* TheHeart: Despite being completely useless at game design, he is beloved by all of them and a source of morale.
* TheLoad: The eldest of the Hard Eight executives and also the battiest, often seemingly with no real ideas of his own.
* TheHeart: Despite being completely useless at game design, he is beloved by all of them and a source of morale.
* TheLoad: The eldest of the Hard Eight executives and also the battiest, often seemingly with no real ideas of his own.
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* YesMan: As noted, all he ever did at Hard 8 staff meetings was agree with Gary Jackson's pronouncements. According to the [[WordOfGod cast list]], his playtest reports described every newly developed game as "the next TabletopGame/HackMaster".
to:
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Walks around Hard Eight in his underwear when he thinks its all men.
* YesMan: As noted, all he ever did at Hard 8 staff meetings was agree with Gary Jackson's pronouncements. According to the [[WordOfGod cast list]], his playtest reports described every newly developed game as "the nextTabletopGame/HackMaster".TabletopGame/HackMaster."
* YesMan: As noted, all he ever did at Hard 8 staff meetings was agree with Gary Jackson's pronouncements. According to the [[WordOfGod cast list]], his playtest reports described every newly developed game as "the next
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* BrilliantButLazy: Used to KillEmAll all players in the first twenty minutes for four hour gaming events at Gary Con so he could use the remaining three hours to watch porn in his hotel room.
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* PutOnABus: Was fired by Heidi Jackson when she took over and went to work for Bison Games.
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* NiceGuy: Laid back and well-adjusted compared to the rest of HardEights' staff.
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* NiceGuy: Laid back and well-adjusted compared to the rest of HardEights' Hard Eights' staff.
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* NakedFirstImpression: Waco was walking Hard Eight Enterprises in his tidey whities and a wife-beater t-shirt when he met Shelly Brewster.
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* GamerGrrl: Is a dedicated World of Hackcraft gamer as well as tabletop nerd.
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* GamerGrrl: GamerChick: Is a dedicated World of Hackcraft gamer as well as tabletop nerd.
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* AscendedExtra: Went from being a guy in the warehouse to one of Hard Eight's board.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Has been an employee at Hard Eight for eight years while trying to figure out what to do after college.
* NiceGuy: Laid back and well-adjusted compared to the rest of HardEights' staff.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Has been an employee at Hard Eight for eight years while trying to figure out what to do after college.
* NiceGuy: Laid back and well-adjusted compared to the rest of HardEights' staff.
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Gary's ex-wife and the runner of a successful paperback publishing company. Gary left Hard 8 to his son Timmy but the company is being held in trust till he turns 18 leaving Heidi to run the company as the trustee. She clearly has an axe to grind with her deceased ex but also is (presumably) trying to protect her son's legacy and make it profitable. Problem is, Hard 8 had always been a labor of love whereas Heidi expects the company to perform like hers does. This is pretty clearly a nod to Lorraine Williams (though not a direct parody) who was part of a business deal that took [=DnD=] from Creator/GaryGygax and played a role in the failure of Creator/{{TSR}}. She also released a new edition of Hackmaster, the only details for which seemed to match up with 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons from real life.
to:
Gary's ex-wife and the runner of a successful paperback publishing company. Gary left Hard 8 to his son Timmy but the company is being held in trust till he turns 18 leaving Heidi to run the company as the trustee. She clearly has an axe to grind with her deceased ex but also is (presumably) trying to protect her son's legacy and make it profitable. Problem is, Hard 8 had always been a labor of love whereas Heidi expects the company to perform like hers does.
This is pretty clearly a nod to Lorraine Williams (though not a direct parody) who was part of a business deal that took [=DnD=] from Creator/GaryGygax and played a role in the failure of Creator/{{TSR}}. She also released a new edition of Hackmaster, the only details for which seemed to match up with 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons from real life.
This is pretty clearly a nod to Lorraine Williams (though not a direct parody) who was part of a business deal that took [=DnD=] from Creator/GaryGygax and played a role in the failure of Creator/{{TSR}}. She also released a new edition of Hackmaster, the only details for which seemed to match up with 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons from real life.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heidi_34.png]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heidi_34.png]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: Shelly Brewer]]
Shelly is the newest employee at Hard Eight Enterprises. She was hired after Heidi Jackson pressured Gary into taking her on because she is the daughter of a friend.
----
* AffirmativeActionGirl: Heidi Jackson insists on her joining Gary Jackson's group because it's a favor to a friend.
* FanGirl: Is a huge fan of Gary Jackson and thrilled to be working with him.
* GamerGrrl: Is a dedicated World of Hackcraft gamer as well as tabletop nerd.
* NiceGirl: Manages to take all of the Hard Eight employee's weirdness in stride and does her best to make a good impression.
* {{Tomboy}}: Shelly is a Hard 8 fangirl, hardcore gamer, and claims to have been raised by her brothers.
* TheSmurffettePrinciple: Is the only female employee at Hard Eight.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Wes Hightower]]
Wes is another Gamer Gulag summer intern who managed to migrate from the camps to Hard Eight, eventually landing a full-time job as shipping manager.
----
[[folder: Shelly Brewer]]
Shelly is the newest employee at Hard Eight Enterprises. She was hired after Heidi Jackson pressured Gary into taking her on because she is the daughter of a friend.
----
* AffirmativeActionGirl: Heidi Jackson insists on her joining Gary Jackson's group because it's a favor to a friend.
* FanGirl: Is a huge fan of Gary Jackson and thrilled to be working with him.
* GamerGrrl: Is a dedicated World of Hackcraft gamer as well as tabletop nerd.
* NiceGirl: Manages to take all of the Hard Eight employee's weirdness in stride and does her best to make a good impression.
* {{Tomboy}}: Shelly is a Hard 8 fangirl, hardcore gamer, and claims to have been raised by her brothers.
* TheSmurffettePrinciple: Is the only female employee at Hard Eight.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Wes Hightower]]
Wes is another Gamer Gulag summer intern who managed to migrate from the camps to Hard Eight, eventually landing a full-time job as shipping manager.
----
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* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: Jolly Blackburn made him a parody of the idea that game designers were rich jetsetting playboys. In fact, Gary Gygax spent six years in Hollywood living exactly the sort of life that Gary Jackson did.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A version of Lorraine Williams who took over TSR from Gary Gygax and focused on novels over the game supplements with a reputation for disliking gaming.
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[[folder:Hard 8]]
The makers of most of the games played in the Muncie community, most notably Hackmaster. Hard 8 is loosely based on Creator/{{TSR}}, and when Hackmaster was first published in real life, all but the first foreword was written as though the Hard 8 characters were the ones writing it. Though regularly featured, the interactions between this set of characters and the Knights are infrequent and almost always indirect.
----
* AuthorAppeal: Not so much in the early days, when the comic strip was appearing in the backs of other publishers' magazines, but in the years since ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' and [=KenzerCo=] became associated, strips about the pitfalls of ''making'' games have replaced Hard 8's earlier function of introducing inexplicably bad products and gouging gamers for paid-by-the-minute phone support.
* {{Expy}}: Hard 8 itself is an expy of [=TSR=], but the games they produce are also typically expies of real life products Hackmaster (''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''), World of Hackcraft (''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''), and Spelljacked (The similarly ill-fated ''TabletopGame/{{Spellfire}}'' CCG) being some of the most common.
* HonestJohnsDealership: As noted above, many of the early Hard 8 storylines showed them cranking out questionable products and using every trick in the book to squeeze money out of gamers and game store owners.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Gary Jackson]]
!!Gary Jackson
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gary_front.jpg]]
The analog for Gary Gygax (with the surname of Steve Jackson). Show to be a gambler with a fly by the seat of his pants approach to running his company and publishing new game products. After his apparent death in a plane crash, he became a sort of larger than life legend, made still larger recently when it was revealed he's not dead. Currently he's using another company to buy out products being held and (he feels) ruined by his wife who has been running the company in trust for his son.
----
* TheAce: Filled this role during the time he spent apparently dead as the Hard 8 staff would often fondly recall Gary's fly by the seat of his pants style of management.
* DeathFakedForYou: The solution to his KilledOffForReal plot.
* HonestJohnsDealership: Much of his attempts to market games are based on squeezing every last dime from the public despite his honest love of gaming.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Thinks of himself as a brilliant businessman; extremely self-confident; prone to giving his employees "bonuses" by unloading items he can't sell on them and calling them "bonuses".
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: What many people assumed he was. Jolly actually says he was based on the weird idea he had as a teenager that game designers were rich rockstar executives.
* KilledOffForReal: Jolly Blackburn became wary of people assuming Gary was meant to be a parody of RL individuals and did this. He eventually came to regret it.
* PetTheDog: While undeniably a {{Jerkass}}, he does have moments where he'll display a decent streak. Sure, he's probably working some kind of angle, and quite often he's scheming to catch people off-guard so he can screw them over, but he ''does'' have his moments.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Jojo Zeke]]
!![=JoJo=] Zeke
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jojo_0.jpg]]
Second in command who became the man to run the show on site after Jackson's death. Zeke, like Jackson cares passionately about Hackmaster and the work he puts into it. After Gary's death, he was shown being worn to the core by the demands of Heidi Jackson until he finally quit.
----
* TheDragon: Oddly, whether Gary or Heidi is in charge of the company, [=JoJo=] gravitates to the position of second-in-command.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [=JoJo=] is the only Hard8 character who shows up regularly in Muncie to interact with the regular cast. This is because one of his many duties is putting an end to crises... and the gamers in Muncie tend to create crises. They're his biggest headache.
** Except possibly [[NoodleIncident the rogue gamer chapters out in Idaho.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Waco Forsey]]
!!"Waco" Bob Forsey
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/waco_bob.jpg]]
The old man of the group. During Gary's tenure as head of the company, Bob got along largely by agreeing with everything Gary said. This may have been the reason he was the first to get fired when Heidi took over. Tuley quietly organized a campaign where the other employees took a pay cut to get him re-hired.
---
* YesMan: As noted, all he ever did at Hard 8 staff meetings was agree with Gary Jackson's pronouncements. According to the [[WordOfGod cast list]], his playtest reports described every newly developed game as "the next TabletopGame/HackMaster".
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Skip Skipowski]]
!!Pete "Skip" Skipowski
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pete_skipowsky.jpg]]
A college buddy of Gary Jackson's who became a game designer for Hard 8 when the company was formed.
---
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Named after Skip Williams, former editor of ''Dragon Magazine'' and designer of 3rd Edition.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: At one point when [=JoJo=] was unavailable, Skip was sent to deal with the [[RunningGag latest "problem in Muncie".]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Edmund Finley]]
!!Edmund Finley
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edmund_finley.jpg]]
A younger game designer for the company, his pet project was a game called "Abe, Babes and Roller Blades," described as a "sexy, zany, time-travelling romp through history and fashion."
---
* FlatCharacter: Edmund Finley never developed a distinct personality unlike the other characters.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Tully Priswinkle]]
!!Tuley Priswinkle
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tuley.jpg]]
For a long time, Tuley was the company's unpaid customer service representative, under the impression that he was playtesting a virtual corporation computer game. He eventually became a regular employee and even sat in the boardroom for a while during Heidi's tenure.
----
* AscendedFanboy: Started working at the company's phoneline and eventually became part of the board.
* BecomingTheMask: He eventually figured out the ruse but continued to "play" the "game" because it was fun. Shortly after that, he became an actual employee.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Timmy Jackson]]
!!Timmy Jackson
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/timmy_9.jpg]]
The son and heir of Gary Jackson. Gary used to let Timmy create material for the game in an egregious example of nepotism (the kid was eight, and it showed in his work). After Gary's death, Heidi sent him off to military school, where he discovered football and girls and decided roleplaying games were uncool.
----
* [[invoked]]GodModeSue: InUniverse: When [=GMing=] the final round of the grudge match arc, he arbitrarily threw monsters and damage at the players. They managed to beat him by using the same tactic right back at him, causing him to break down and leave the table crying, giving the players a default win.
* {{Nepotism}}: Gary Jackson let him write Hard 8 supplements. The results were about what you would expect from an eight-year-old who doesn't know what he's doing.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Heidi Jackson]]
!!Heidi Jackson
Gary's ex-wife and the runner of a successful paperback publishing company. Gary left Hard 8 to his son Timmy but the company is being held in trust till he turns 18 leaving Heidi to run the company as the trustee. She clearly has an axe to grind with her deceased ex but also is (presumably) trying to protect her son's legacy and make it profitable. Problem is, Hard 8 had always been a labor of love whereas Heidi expects the company to perform like hers does. This is pretty clearly a nod to Lorraine Williams (though not a direct parody) who was part of a business deal that took [=DnD=] from Creator/GaryGygax and played a role in the failure of Creator/{{TSR}}. She also released a new edition of Hackmaster, the only details for which seemed to match up with 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons from real life.
----
* BadBoss: Not incompetent, she was simply mean to the Hard 8 staff, constantly cutting their budget and involving herself overly in aspects of the process she didn't really understand.
* DragonLady: Referred to as such, though she's not asian and only metaphorically fits the type.
* [[invoked]] ExecutiveMeddling: After finally playing a session of Hackmaster, she decided lots of changes needed to be made, which basically ruined the game. Based on the protests, the game has some superficial resemblance to the initial release of fourth edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. WordOfGod has said it wasn't a conscious decision but not a wrong take either.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: How the Hard 8 staff view her despite how badly Gary mismanaged the company. They are proven right since her products are terrible.
[[/folder]]
The makers of most of the games played in the Muncie community, most notably Hackmaster. Hard 8 is loosely based on Creator/{{TSR}}, and when Hackmaster was first published in real life, all but the first foreword was written as though the Hard 8 characters were the ones writing it. Though regularly featured, the interactions between this set of characters and the Knights are infrequent and almost always indirect.
----
* AuthorAppeal: Not so much in the early days, when the comic strip was appearing in the backs of other publishers' magazines, but in the years since ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' and [=KenzerCo=] became associated, strips about the pitfalls of ''making'' games have replaced Hard 8's earlier function of introducing inexplicably bad products and gouging gamers for paid-by-the-minute phone support.
* {{Expy}}: Hard 8 itself is an expy of [=TSR=], but the games they produce are also typically expies of real life products Hackmaster (''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''), World of Hackcraft (''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''), and Spelljacked (The similarly ill-fated ''TabletopGame/{{Spellfire}}'' CCG) being some of the most common.
* HonestJohnsDealership: As noted above, many of the early Hard 8 storylines showed them cranking out questionable products and using every trick in the book to squeeze money out of gamers and game store owners.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Gary Jackson]]
!!Gary Jackson
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gary_front.jpg]]
The analog for Gary Gygax (with the surname of Steve Jackson). Show to be a gambler with a fly by the seat of his pants approach to running his company and publishing new game products. After his apparent death in a plane crash, he became a sort of larger than life legend, made still larger recently when it was revealed he's not dead. Currently he's using another company to buy out products being held and (he feels) ruined by his wife who has been running the company in trust for his son.
----
* TheAce: Filled this role during the time he spent apparently dead as the Hard 8 staff would often fondly recall Gary's fly by the seat of his pants style of management.
* DeathFakedForYou: The solution to his KilledOffForReal plot.
* HonestJohnsDealership: Much of his attempts to market games are based on squeezing every last dime from the public despite his honest love of gaming.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Thinks of himself as a brilliant businessman; extremely self-confident; prone to giving his employees "bonuses" by unloading items he can't sell on them and calling them "bonuses".
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: What many people assumed he was. Jolly actually says he was based on the weird idea he had as a teenager that game designers were rich rockstar executives.
* KilledOffForReal: Jolly Blackburn became wary of people assuming Gary was meant to be a parody of RL individuals and did this. He eventually came to regret it.
* PetTheDog: While undeniably a {{Jerkass}}, he does have moments where he'll display a decent streak. Sure, he's probably working some kind of angle, and quite often he's scheming to catch people off-guard so he can screw them over, but he ''does'' have his moments.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Jojo Zeke]]
!![=JoJo=] Zeke
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jojo_0.jpg]]
Second in command who became the man to run the show on site after Jackson's death. Zeke, like Jackson cares passionately about Hackmaster and the work he puts into it. After Gary's death, he was shown being worn to the core by the demands of Heidi Jackson until he finally quit.
----
* TheDragon: Oddly, whether Gary or Heidi is in charge of the company, [=JoJo=] gravitates to the position of second-in-command.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [=JoJo=] is the only Hard8 character who shows up regularly in Muncie to interact with the regular cast. This is because one of his many duties is putting an end to crises... and the gamers in Muncie tend to create crises. They're his biggest headache.
** Except possibly [[NoodleIncident the rogue gamer chapters out in Idaho.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Waco Forsey]]
!!"Waco" Bob Forsey
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/waco_bob.jpg]]
The old man of the group. During Gary's tenure as head of the company, Bob got along largely by agreeing with everything Gary said. This may have been the reason he was the first to get fired when Heidi took over. Tuley quietly organized a campaign where the other employees took a pay cut to get him re-hired.
---
* YesMan: As noted, all he ever did at Hard 8 staff meetings was agree with Gary Jackson's pronouncements. According to the [[WordOfGod cast list]], his playtest reports described every newly developed game as "the next TabletopGame/HackMaster".
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Skip Skipowski]]
!!Pete "Skip" Skipowski
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pete_skipowsky.jpg]]
A college buddy of Gary Jackson's who became a game designer for Hard 8 when the company was formed.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Named after Skip Williams, former editor of ''Dragon Magazine'' and designer of 3rd Edition.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: At one point when [=JoJo=] was unavailable, Skip was sent to deal with the [[RunningGag latest "problem in Muncie".]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Edmund Finley]]
!!Edmund Finley
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edmund_finley.jpg]]
A younger game designer for the company, his pet project was a game called "Abe, Babes and Roller Blades," described as a "sexy, zany, time-travelling romp through history and fashion."
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* FlatCharacter: Edmund Finley never developed a distinct personality unlike the other characters.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Tully Priswinkle]]
!!Tuley Priswinkle
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tuley.jpg]]
For a long time, Tuley was the company's unpaid customer service representative, under the impression that he was playtesting a virtual corporation computer game. He eventually became a regular employee and even sat in the boardroom for a while during Heidi's tenure.
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* AscendedFanboy: Started working at the company's phoneline and eventually became part of the board.
* BecomingTheMask: He eventually figured out the ruse but continued to "play" the "game" because it was fun. Shortly after that, he became an actual employee.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Timmy Jackson]]
!!Timmy Jackson
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/timmy_9.jpg]]
The son and heir of Gary Jackson. Gary used to let Timmy create material for the game in an egregious example of nepotism (the kid was eight, and it showed in his work). After Gary's death, Heidi sent him off to military school, where he discovered football and girls and decided roleplaying games were uncool.
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* [[invoked]]GodModeSue: InUniverse: When [=GMing=] the final round of the grudge match arc, he arbitrarily threw monsters and damage at the players. They managed to beat him by using the same tactic right back at him, causing him to break down and leave the table crying, giving the players a default win.
* {{Nepotism}}: Gary Jackson let him write Hard 8 supplements. The results were about what you would expect from an eight-year-old who doesn't know what he's doing.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Heidi Jackson]]
!!Heidi Jackson
Gary's ex-wife and the runner of a successful paperback publishing company. Gary left Hard 8 to his son Timmy but the company is being held in trust till he turns 18 leaving Heidi to run the company as the trustee. She clearly has an axe to grind with her deceased ex but also is (presumably) trying to protect her son's legacy and make it profitable. Problem is, Hard 8 had always been a labor of love whereas Heidi expects the company to perform like hers does. This is pretty clearly a nod to Lorraine Williams (though not a direct parody) who was part of a business deal that took [=DnD=] from Creator/GaryGygax and played a role in the failure of Creator/{{TSR}}. She also released a new edition of Hackmaster, the only details for which seemed to match up with 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons from real life.
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* BadBoss: Not incompetent, she was simply mean to the Hard 8 staff, constantly cutting their budget and involving herself overly in aspects of the process she didn't really understand.
* DragonLady: Referred to as such, though she's not asian and only metaphorically fits the type.
* [[invoked]] ExecutiveMeddling: After finally playing a session of Hackmaster, she decided lots of changes needed to be made, which basically ruined the game. Based on the protests, the game has some superficial resemblance to the initial release of fourth edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. WordOfGod has said it wasn't a conscious decision but not a wrong take either.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: How the Hard 8 staff view her despite how badly Gary mismanaged the company. They are proven right since her products are terrible.
[[/folder]]
