History Characters / OverTheGardenWall

* ArachnidAppearanceAndAttire: Like a black widow spider, she has a red hourglass pattern on her shawl, a web of yarn strung around her house, and she traps Wirt and Greg by [[AllWebbedUp wrapping them bodily in yarn]]]].

[[folder:Adelaide '''(spoiler)''']]

[[folder:Adelaide]]

* AnimalMotifs: [[spoiler:Like a black widow spider, she has a red hourglass pattern on her shawl, a web of yarn strung around her house, and she traps Wirt and Greg by [[AllWebbedUp wrapping them bodily in yarn]]]].
* BigGood: Beatrice implies to the boys Adelaide is this, and they decide to make finding her the goal of TheQuest. [[spoiler:Subverted. She's not just villainous, but also aligned with the Beast]].
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:She expresses her desire to do this to Wirt and Greg]].
-->'''Adelaide:''' [[spoiler:And once I fill their heads with wool, they'll become just like little sheep and follow my every command.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: She is the initial goal of the duo's quest, but when they reach her [[spoiler:she's revealed to be an evil witch and a servant of the Beast, the BigBad.]]
* {{Expy}}: [[spoiler:Of [[Film/TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West]]. She has the RobeAndWizardHat, is not above enslaving children, is a TrapMaster and has a WeaksauceWeakness. She melts in a manner very similar to the Witch as well, and the song Greg makes up about her is highly reminiscent of "We're Off to See the Wizard". Even her title as given by Beatrice, "The Good Woman of the Woods", has a similar structure to the Wicked Witch of the West's.]]
* EvilAllAlong
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:She speaks cheerfully about needing a child servant, but has no qualms about making them BrainwashedAndCrazy.]]
* {{Hypochondria}}: Played with. Adelaide claims to be frail and teetering at the edge of sickness. This may or may not be paranoia on her part, until Beatrice discovers that [[spoiler:fresh night air is hazardous to her health, ultimately causing her to melt into a puddle.]]
* MasterOfThreads: [[spoiler:She uses yarn threads to constrict her victims, and is implied to have the ability to MindControl a person by filling their head with wool. The curse-breaking magical item she offers Beatrice is a pair of scissors, tying into her evil seamstress vibe.]]

* SolitarySorceress: Adelaide lives alone the woods and Wirt and Greg are seeking her aid in escaping the Unknown. [[spoiler:And Beatrice wants her cure for her curse]].
* SquishyWizard: [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]]. She has a wide array of magical powers (especially [[MasterOfThreads over yarn]]), but she is so old and frail [[spoiler:a gust of night air can kill her.]]
* TrapMaster: [[spoiler:The moment you step into her house, you're in her web]].
* WalkingSpoiler: It's basically impossible to say anything about her without revealing that [[spoiler:she's actually an ''evil'' witch.]]

* WickedWitch: [[spoiler:She's an evil hag who attempted to enslave the heroes. She's also got the hat and the habit of melting.]]

%%* SpiritedYoungLady:

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler:His daughter, whose soul he believes is in the lantern. The comic adds his wife, who died of fever after an arm injury in the woods, which increased his fear of what lurked within.]]

* CoolLoser: [[spoiler:Averted. He ''thinks'' he's a loser, lamenting he wasn't invited to a Halloween party. But when he shows, everyone there is happy he came, implying that his unpopularity is all in his head.]]

* TeensAreShort: He's actually of high-school age, but his height is comparable to a middle schooler.

* VagueAge: Going along with TeensAreShort, Wirt's taller and clearly older than his brother but the reveal that he's high-school age comes as a bit of a surprise.

* BigHam : They're loud and proud about their seeking out of combat and sing about it twice in their sole appearance.

* BigHam: Given his size [[spoiler:and crybaby tendencies]] he tends to be very loud and dramatic.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Strict and confiscates the musical instruments, [[spoiler:So, he sells them to keep the school running.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:Tried to turn Wirt into an Edelwood tree, but eventually went after Greg and very nearly succeeded with him. He orders the Woodsman to kill them with his ax when Wirt exposed his lies. Also, they aren't the first victims the Beast has pursued and therefore not the first children he's turned into Edelwood trees]].

* ExtravertedNerd: At least compared to Wirt.

* AllegoricalCharacter: The Beast embodies depression and possibly suicide. He's associated with both [[DarkIsEvil darkness]] and [[LightIsNotGood light]]: The darkness represents depression, exhaustion, sorrow and generally the idea of giving up... but the light, [[spoiler:the true core of the Beast]], is the idea of death as an escape. He confirms as much in his VillainSong, where he outright calls death "a light for the lost and the meek". Effectively, the Beast is the embodiment of [[DespairEventHorizon that moment where a person falls so deep into despair and pain, physical or emotional]], [[DrivenToSuicide that death becomes the only salvation in their mind]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids You know... for kids.]]

* SatanicArchetype: Let's count the ways. He's called "The Beast", possibly after the demonic monster from the Book of Revelation. His shadow is that of a HornedHumanoid. [[spoiler:He's the original bearer of the lantern ("Lucifer" means "light-bearer")]]. He tempts people to despair. When he's not tempting people to despair, he's offering them a DealWithTheDevil. He lies to everyone he interacts with (you might even call him the Father of Lies). He gives orders and acts with authority while hidden in the darkness of the woods, making him a symbolic Prince of Darkness. And he's the BigBad of a story and setting, which frequently draws from [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante's Inferno]] (which also ends in the bitter cold) and may actually be [[spoiler some kind of afterlife or limbo]]. ''And'', as a bonus, his VillainSong is deliberately the same cadence as "Oh Holy Night", inspiring connections to the way Satan was a fallen angel in the way the song is a corrupted Christian song.

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: His attempts to run away from Sara after she gets his mixtape and the fear he had of her listening to his poetry ends up with him and his brother drowning in a lake and entering the Unknown, where Greg nearly became an Edelwood Tree. And if he got the nerve to actually speak to her like Greg insisted, he would've learned that Sara hadn't listened to it yet since she ''doesn't have a cassette player'' to play it. Whoops!]]

--> [[spoiler: '''Beatrice's Mother''']]: At least wait until the storm dies down a bit. You'll be no good to your brother dead.\\
'''Wirt''': I was never any good to him alive, either.

* HeroicSacrifice: Comes close to making one [[spoiler: by accepting the position of lantern-bearer so he can save Greg's soul]] but [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]] at the last moment.

* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: When Greg makes a deal with the Beast.]]

--> '''Beatrice''': Hey, Dunce! This is dreadful!\\
'''Wirt''': Good! I'm glad you feel that way.

* PurpleProse: Every single one of his poems. [[spoiler: The [[{{Defictionalization}} defictionalized]] "For Sara" tape is a treasure trove of overwrought high school versification.]]
* RefusedTheCall: [[spoiler: When the Beast offered to make him the new lantern-bearer, he refused and instead threatened to blow the lantern out.]]

--> '''Beatrice:''' Well, Wirt, sounds like you're a real loser back home. \\

--->'''The Beast''': [[spoiler:Lower the sun into this china cup.]]
--->'''Greg''': ([[{{Beat}} Greg looks at]] [[spoiler:[[{{Beat}} the cup]]]]) Well that sounds impossible.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Subverted, since he gets saved just before death. However, as he is being turned into an Edelwood tree, he doesn't leave crying or fearful. He simply tries to hand Wirt his "Rock Facts Rock" to return to Mrs. Daniels garden for him, as he's aware he likely won't be able to return it himself.]]

'''Greg''': Give up? I'll never give up!

* AuthorAvatar: [[spoiler: {{Inverted}}--"[=JasonFunderburker=]" is the name of the show's [[http://jasonfunderburker.tumblr.com/ official Tumblr blog.]]]]
* ConstantlyChangingName: The name of Greg's frog changes nine times before settling on the name [[spoiler: "Jason Funderburker"]].

* UpliftedAnimal: He become more humanlike as the series goes on, possibly [[FisherKingdom as a result of being in the Unknown.]] At the series's beginning, he's an entirely normal frog then a NearlyNormalAnimal. By the sixth chapter, he's capable of [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on his hind legs]], clearly understands the meaning of Greg and Wirt's words, notices he's naked compared to some more humanlike frogs, and [[spoiler:can sing with a human voice!]]

* MeaningfulName: Creator Pat [=McHale=] confirmed that she's named after Beatrice from ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' [[spoiler: who helps guide wayward souls through Limbo.]]

* MustMakeAmends: To her family [[spoiler: for cursing them into bluebirds, and later to Wirt and Greg for tricking them.]]

* BadassBoast: "Hold your tongue or I'll remove it from your mouth!" Said in the final episode, to [[spoiler: the Beast]].

* {{Foil}}: To Wirt, which emphasizes the latter's CharacterDevelopment. His isolation and singleminded quest to keep his lantern lit mimics Wirt's fear of socializing and Wirt's preference of safe, no-brainer solutions to his problems. [[spoiler: It's best seen when the Beast offers Wirt the chance to take on the Woodsman's role. Wirt (after his HowWeGotHere flashback showed him how flawed he was before entering the Unknown), refuses, having finally understood that such an existence is pointless and stupid. ]]

* TheHermit: He lives a self-imposed exile in a repurposed mill, milling wood from the Edelwood trees into lantern oil. [[spoiler: The epilogue shows he's moved back to a normal house with his daughter.]]

-->'''Woodsman''': ''I didn't know!'' I didn't know ''this'' is where the Edelwood comes from!

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: At some point in the past, he fought the Beast and ''won'', taking his lantern in the process. Of course, considering the true purpose of the lantern, it's plausible that the Beast ''let'' him take it.]]

* SoulJar: [[spoiler: The lantern. It must be kept constantly lit, else the soul inside will burn out.]]
* SweetAndSourGrapes: [[spoiler: After Wirt points out the Lantern actually contains the Beast's soul and not his daughter's, he finally accepts that his harvesting of oil for the lantern has alienated him from society and will never save his daughter. However, after the Beast's defeat, his daughter is seen to have been alive all along and finally united with him.]]
* TragicHero: He's devoted to keeping his lantern lit, which has made him a recluse in the woods, living only to harvest the oil from Edelwood trees. [[spoiler: He ultimately runs out of oil, and is given a choice by the Beast to harvest Greg's body in the form of a tree or let his lantern go out and lose his daughter forever. He chooses to help Greg.]]

* ConsummateLiar: He's not to be trusted, but he manages to make plenty of people fall for his lies because he's just that good. [[spoiler: Most notably, after losing his lantern, he tricks the Woodsman into thinking his daughter is dead and that her soul is in the lantern. This keeps the Woodsman working for ''years''.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: He's surprisingly patient with Greg [[spoiler: while trying to get him to freeze to death,]] and generally is very calm and composed. While he rarely presents himself as being outright '''good''', he always makes it sound like [[DealWithTheDevil submitting to his will]] is [[NecessarilyEvil the most reasonable choice]] in any given situation. This results in a strange ambivalence about him, in that everyone knows he is evil and cannot be trusted, but they end up doing what he says anyways because '''he just seems to make sense''' until you really think it through. This ties into his "light and darkness" theme and feeds into his symbolism of [[AllegoricalCharacter death as an escape]] - he has to be able to make something that people tend to be naturally terrified of [[DrivenToSuicide start sounding like an attractive prospect]].

* SatanicArchetype: Let's count the ways. He's called "The Beast", possibly after the demonic monster from the Book of Revelation. His shadow is that of a HornedHumanoid. [[spoiler:He's the original bearer of the lantern ("Lucifer" means "light-bearer")]]. He tempts people to despair. When he's not tempting people to despair, he's offering them a DealWithTheDevil. He lies to everyone he interacts with (you might even call him the Father of Lies). He gives orders and acts with authority while hidden in the darkness of the woods, making him a symbolic Prince of Darkness. And he's the BigBad of a story and setting, which frequently draws from [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante's Inferno]] (which also ends in the bitter cold) and may actually be [[spoiler: some kind of afterlife or limbo]]. ''And'', as a bonus, his VillainSong is deliberately the same cadence as "Oh Holy Night", inspiring connections to the way Satan was a fallen angel in the way the song is a corrupted Christian song.
* SoulJar: [[spoiler: The Woodsman's lantern houses the Beast's soul. The Beast carried it originally, but after the Woodsman took it, he tricked the man into thinking the soul in it was his daughter's so he would keep it lit.]]

* FriendlySkeleton: [[spoiler: The whole village with the exception of Enoch.]]

-->'''Wirt''': Fred's a talking horse. He can do whatever he wants.\\
'''Fred''': I wanna steal.

Quincy Endicott is the wealthy and extravagant owner of "Quincy Endicott’s Health Tea”, which he himself never drinks. He believes that his mansion is haunted by the ghost of a woman, which he has fallen in love with.

* CuteGhostGirl: Quincy Endicott finds her to be one. [[spoiler: Turns out she's very much alive - unknown to them both, her house in interconnected with his, and her 'haunting' presence in the house was merely her going about her home.]]

--> '''Adelaide''': [[spoiler:And once I fill their heads with wool, they'll become just like little sheep and follow my every command.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Enslaves Lorna with the ringing of a magic bell to keep her at chores and prevent her from meeting others and escaping. [[spoiler: This is to keep the evil spirit in Lorna from harming anybody, and it's implied that she keeps the spirit instead of commanding it away because she's afraid of losing Lorna's company.]]

* DelicateAndSickly: Has a wan complexion and is prone to coughing fits. [[spoiler: These clear up when the evil spirit is banished]].

* ProperLady: Is very polite, sweet, and holds no hard feelings against Auntie Whispers. She even [[spoiler: wants to stay with her out of love and loyalty when she is cured of the spirit.]]
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Partially a result of her illness. [[spoiler: She is shown to have a rosier complexion after being cured.]]

-->'''Rhondi''': You okay, Wirt?\\
'''Wirt''': Yeah! Everything --Everything's [=JasonFunderberker=]!\\
'''Rhondi''': What??\\
'''Wirt''': Uh! Uh! [=JasonFunderberkerI=]-I-Igottago!

A massive man(?) who takes up his entire house which is in the middle of a small field where he lives with his two daughters

* AnimalLover: Implied, It's likely the family dog in the issue is his specifically, since [[spoiler: his daughters obviously don't care about it's well being]].
* BigHam: Given his size [[spoiler: and crybaby tendencies]] he tends to be very loud and dramatic.

* TheDreaded: Is this to Wirt in the his sole apperance. [[spoiler: This perception proves to be somewhat unwarented.]]

* [[spoiler:GoodAllAlong]]: His daughters say he becomes "uncontrollable" when upset, it turns out this [[spoiler:is referring to him being so sad he floods the garden with his tears ]].
* LargeAndInCharge: He's the biggest living thing in The Unknown and is [[spoiler: ,at first glance]] the main authority figure in the issue he appears in.

* MoodSwinger: When his daughters tell him what Wirt did [[spoiler: he goes from roaring rage to inconsolable sobbing in the span of two lines of dialogue]]

* [[spoiler:OcularGushers]]: [[spoiler:When he cries he literally floods the whole valley his house is in.]]
* PapaWolf: His first concern when his daughters cry for him is to sort out whoever did it [[spoiler:,or it would be if he weren't a massive softie]].

[[folder: Papa's daughters]]

* {{Jerkass}}: They hold the brothers hostage to do their chores and [[spoiler: lie to and emotionally manipulate their father out of laziness]].

* ShoutOut: They're visually based on Sun Bonnet Sue
* TroublingUnchildLikeBehavior: The girls are scarily well versed in using threats,manipulation and double speak to get their way.
* XanatosGambit:[[spoiler: Whether Wirt understood their cryptic instructions and did what was asked, messed up the chores or refused to do them the sisters wouldn't have to do the chores themselves.]]

[[folder: The Animal King]]

* BigFun: A jolly creature who offers a [[spoiler: non-cursed]] pear and moment of peace to everyone who comes across his pear tree.

* [[spoiler:GoodAllAlong]]: [[spoiler: Not only did his pears NOT turn the brothers into animals but he tries to console Beatrice about her inner conflict]].

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Zigzagged, He doesn't transform but the pears from his tree can [[spoiler: seemingly]] turn humans into animals and he may not even be aware of it [[spoiler: being seen that way by others]].

[[/folder]]

* BadassBaritone: Enoch has a rather deep voice.

* XanatosGambit:[[spoiler: Whether Wirt understood their cryptic instructions and did what was asked, messed up the chores or refused to do them the sister wouldn't have to do the chores themselves.]]

* CrocodileTears: They use this to their advantage several times

* {{Jerkass}}: They essentially hold the brothers hostage to do their chores and [[spoiler: lie to and emotionally manipulate their father out of laziness]].

* {{Expy}}: Of Creator/DanteAlighieri. Both characters even wear a red hat, have a romantic engagement with a girl named Beatrice, they're Author Avatars based on a real-life person and have a companion that accompanies them to a dangerous place.

* Expy: The group, but The General in particular, have a lot in common with Don Quixote.

* Jerkass: They essentially hold the brothers hostage to do their chores and [[spoiler: lie to and emotionally manipulate their father out of laziness]].

* Foil: He can be seen as this to The Beast, as both sing, have multiple creatures reflected in their designs and are tied to a certain type of tree, [[spoiler:but while The Beast preys on those who he comes across The Animal King tries to help them]]. There is also the fact that his physical appearance is fairly close to a typical fairy tale "beast".

* Leitmotif: At the end of the issue he appears in is the sheet music to his song "Round the Old Pear Tree"

* [[spoiler:GoodAllAlong]]: [[spoiler: Not only did his pears NOT turn the brothers into animals but tries to console Beatrice about her inner conflict]].

* NoSell: When Beatrice smacks his instrument out of his paws and demands he tell her how to turns the brothers human again he just stares at her blankly before picking his instrument off the ground and playing it again.

* NoNameGiven: The above name comes solely from his appearance and actions as he doesn't seem to have and canon one.