History Characters / Superbook2011

* SimpleStaff: Moses has one in hand nearly all the time, even when he appears to Jesus with Elijah as divinely-brought figures in "Teach Us to Pray."

* SimpleStaff: His EstablishingCharacterMoment in "A Giant Adventure" has him using his shepherd's rod to kill a lion threatening one of his lambs.

* SimpleStaff: Has one during his pre-ascent appearances, though apparently he can walk just fine without it despite his age.

* NiceHat: Pearce wears an orange-and-green beanie that complements the rest of his outfit fairly well.

* NiceHat: He sports a red baseball cap.

A character sheet for the lead characters and significant recurring characters in WesternAnimation/Superbook2011. (For the recurring characters, "significant" means that they physically appear in at least two episodes and are given special focus in at least one of those.)

* RedOniBlueOni: Along with the other disciples, John is the red to Jesus' blue. Among the disciples themselves, he's the blue to Peter's red (appropriately enough, his clothing includes a blue cloak).

* DeceptiveDisciple: Judas Iscariot, natch.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Guess.

* HollywoodAtheist: Conrad needlessly chews Chris out just for muttering a prayer during a training exercise and admonishes him for his beliefs, arguing that in all his years as a space explorer, he's looked into the deepest part of space and seen no evidence of any deities' existence, therefore dismissing the idea of the Christian God as a "fairy tale".

* TheCheerleader: She's prominently shown in a cheerleader outfit in both of her appearances, and the unflattering video Joy intends to post about her shows her at the top of a human pyramid in a cheer display gone awry. As it relates to the personality aspect of the trope, she's got it down pat.

* DreadfulMusician: Zig-zagged. He can play musical instruments just fine, but his singing is absolutely ''atrocious.'' The usual response to Gizmo making any attempt to sing is to cringe, cover one's ears, and/or shut him up as promptly as possible.

* HotBlooded: Since he's usually the Red Oni to Joy's Blue Oni, Chris gets like this a lot, except of course in those episode where Joy's the one with the moral conflict and their Oni roles are switched. Usually, though, Chris is the one who wants to come up with plans where they do something physical to help the Bible hero of whichever story they're there to witness (wanting to aid Joshua's spies at Jericho or help Daniel and his friends escape Nebuchadnezzar's order to kill all the wise men, for instance).

* OnlySaneMan: She kind of has to be the sanest of the trio, what with Chris and Gizmo being, well, Chris and Gizmo... unless, of course, she's the one facing the episode's conflict, in which case some of her rationality drops a little.

* BladeBelowTheShoulder: He's got a pair of buzz-saws built into his arms, which is very useful for cutting through trees.

* SkunkStripe: He's got a white stripe going down the middle of his hair from front to back.

* TokenMinority: Along with Jia Wei, she is one of only two recurring non-white characters in the kids' friend group, and one of only two recurring black characters in general (the other being Pastor Aaron). Presumably, she was added in response to complaints on the series' website about the glaring lack of diversity during earlier seasons.

* TokenMinority: He's the only recurring adult character who's non-white, and one of three recurring non-white characters overall (the other two being Jia Wei and Ellie).

[[caption-width-right:350: [[labelnote:Click to see the disciple John as an older man]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/113_spiritgod1_preview.png[[/labelnote]]]]

The original twelve disciples of Jesus, and the ones who follow Him most closely during His years of ministry. Peter gets the most focus out of the twelve (as noted in his folder above), along with John and Judas Iscariot.

* ManInWhite: John is not only sporting a full head and beard of white hair, he's also wearing a white outfit when the kids meet him in "Revelation."
* OlderAndWiser: John has become this by the time of "Revelation."

* RedOniBlueOni: All of them are the collective red to Jesus's blue. Amongst themselves, John is the blue to Peter's red.

[[folder:The Disciples of Jesus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jesus_disciples.jpg]]

* NiceGirl: Yes, she is, given her willingness to help Joy with Math.

[[folder: Bonnie Scott]]

* AcademicAthlete: Ellie's debut episode "Nicodemus" establishes that she takes Math class with Chris and Joy and is a skilled skier, while "Love Your Enemies" shows her taking part in tryouts for the regional All-Stars soccer team.

* NiceGirl: Yes, she is.

* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: As seen in the above image, Chris's guitar is a reminiscent of a superstrat. [[ArtisticLicenseMusic Bizarrely]], it seems to lack any visible pickups, the bridge has no saddles with which to grip the strings, and the tremolo arm is fixed directly inside the body rather than on the bridge (which makes it completely useless as a tremolo). [[HandWave Perhaps this is some strange futuristic technology]].

* CuteButCacophanic: He frequently exclaims and yells shrilly, often to complain about being a FishOutOfTemporalWater.

* NighInvulnerability: This trope's alternate name, "Made of Titanium," is literal for Gizmo, as he reveals he's made of the stuff in "Nehemiah."

* TokenRobot: Among the main cast, Gizmo is the only obvious robot, having been built by Professor Quantum to serve and protect Chris and Joy (Superbook, despite having the form of a computer tablet, doesn't count for [[EmissaryFromTheDivine fairly obvious reasons]]). He's also of the variety that doesn't get any weird looks in the modern day (because he's from an era where robotics are the norm) or even in Bible times (outside of the occasional moment where a character is briefly not sure what he's supposed to be).

* GoodParents: According to the show at least; both of them are depicted as kind, patient, reasonable, and they clearly care about their son's well-being. They do act more harshly towards Chris on occasion, but this always shown as right in the end.

* GoodParents: She and her husband were certainly this to Phoebe when the latter was growing up, and they raised her in their Christian faith (though Phoebe drifted away during college).

* AgentScully: His stance toward religion. "If we can't demonstrate it scientifically, it's not real."

* BrokenPedestal: Chris initially looks up to Conrad and is excited to be working alongside the space-explorer, but this is shattered after Conrad mocks his belief in God in front of the other space-camp attendees. [[spoiler:It's implied Conrad might be on the way to becoming a RebuiltPedestal, though, if Part Two's final shot of him sitting alone and contemplating the ramifications of the kids' presentation is any indication]].

* HollywoodAtheist: Conrad needlessly chews Chris out just for praying prior to a training exercise and admonishes him for his beliefs, arguing that in all his years as a space explorer, he's looked into the deepest part of space and seen no evidence of any deities' existence, therefore dismissing the idea of the Christian God as a "fairy tale".

* BigGood: As in the Bible, He is depicted as the overarching positive influence in the series' events.
* BlowYouAway: Like the Book of Job depicts, God speaks to the titular character out of a literal whirlwind.

* DivineIntervention: This being a series based on the Bible, of course there'll be quite a few examples of God doing this for His people in accordance with the various Bible stories, such as the deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. In this series, as well, there are two examples that specifically have to do with the time-travelers, one of which is during a life-threatening moment.
** The first example happens in "In the Beginning" right when Adam and Eve are compelled to leave Eden following their sin of eating the ForbiddenFruit. As Chris, Joy and Gizmo prepare to chase after them, the trio's suddenly confronted by a lion which, earlier, had been shown as quite non-aggressive, but now wants to eat them. The kids start running for their lives, the lion chases after them and is closing in... and then, from the stormy sky above, a lightning bolt strikes a tree and sets it on fire, causing it to fall right in the lion's path to make the big cat give up the chase. While there are instances of lightning flashing from the clouds above prior to this moment, this particular lightning bolt is the ''only'' one that strikes from heaven to earth, indicating that God had a hand in the kids' rescue.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: If you challenge or outright defy God, or worse, ''insult'' His capabilities, He ''will'' respond. Just for a few specific examples:
** "Let My People Go" has God, through Moses, telling Pharaoh ten different times to let the Israelites go free. Pharaoh refuses, blaspheming God in the process. Cue HumiliationConga via the ten plagues.

* EnergyBeings: Whenever God is given a personal appearance, He is shown as a disembodied light or as a humanoid light-figure (as shown in the image above), though His face is never seen.
* TheFaceless: Only twice has God been shown in person in the series, in the episodes "In the Beginning" and "Revelation," and in both cases His face is never shown. In the former episode He is depicted as [[GodInHumanForm a being of light with a humanoid appearance]] and is only shown from behind or at torso-level with His face just out of sight, and in the latter episode He is shown as pure light on Heaven's throne with Jesus standing on His right side.
* GoodIsNotSoft: God is the BigGood, but that doesn't mean He's going to go soft on those who openly defy Him, as the Israelites repeatedly have to learn the hard way. Also, as Pharaoh and Sennacherib had to find out firsthand, DoNotTauntCthulhu exists as a trope for a reason.
* GiantWallOfWateryDoom: Employs this twice in the series to destroy those who would oppose Him. The first time is in "Let My People Go," when, with Moses as His vessel, He brings the waters of the Red Sea down on the Egyptian army after it was previously held back to let the Israelites go across. The second time is in "Noah and the Ark," with the worldwide flood destroying everyone who's not in the ark.
* GodIsGood: He is the focus of this recurring theme in the show.

* LightIsGood: As befitting the BigGood.

* TheOmnipotent: Yes, and the Creation story in "In the Beginning" and the reconstruction of Earth in "Revelation" are the biggest examples of this. In other situations thereafter, He usually works with human followers such as Moses or Elijah in order to display His power.
* TheOmniscient: Again, yes. Where the kids are concerned, it's implied on a couple of occasions that He knows all about them (which would certainly be fitting for this trope), and that He's looking out for them during their Biblical adventures (mostly via Superbook).

* ReasoningWithGod: While He expects His commandments to be obeyed, He's open to discussion, as demonstrated in "The Ten Commandments," where Moses tells the people that he was able to convince God not to immediately smite them for their idolatry in making the golden calf--and in fact, as with the original scripture, His willingness to hold discussions with those who seek to serve Him is [[GodIsGood kind of the point]]. Though on His end, the discussion may take the form of [[ArmorPiercingQuestion pointed questions]] intended to make the other party (such as Adam or Job) acknowledge their place compared to Him.
* TheVoice: How He usually makes His presence known.

The Son of God, Rabbi of the Apostles, and prophesied Savior of the world, as in the original text of the Bible; many New Testament stories as depicted in the series revolve around Him, though He also makes a few cameos in Old Testament stories. Most of the character tropes listed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheFourGospels here]] and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheBible here]] apply to this version of Jesus as well; this list focuses primarily on tropes specific to this show.
* AnAesop: Just like in the Bible, every parable He tells has a lesson to be learned, and not just for the hearers of that time; in several cases the lessons also help Chris and Joy to deal with their personal conflicts back home. The titular parable in "The Good Samaritan," for instance, helps Joy to see that she needs to be neighborly to a schoolmate who she would've previously ignored.

* BerserkButton: Okay. So. Jesus has gotten angry a few times, or at least has gotten stern, even with His own disciples when it comes to their lack of faith. But as shown in "The Last Supper," just like in the original scripture, you should not ''dare'' to turn His Father's temple into a noisy and irreverent marketplace unless you want for Him to [[FlippingTheTable dash your money-changing tables aside]] and run you out with a whip.[[note]]For those who may be wondering, in the Bible, there are actually two events when Jesus runs the money-changers out of the temple. The first time occurs around the start of His ministry, depicted in John 2:13-17; the second time occurs just shortly before His crucifixion, depicted in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, and Luke 19:45-46, but those three passages don't mention Him wielding a whip on this occasion. What we see in the episode is basically [[AdaptationDistillation a combination of details from the two events]], since this is the only time in the show where the incident is depicted.[[/note]]

* DecompositeCharacter: As explained under the ArchangelMichael trope page, some Christian denominations treat that character as a separate being from Christ, while other groups treat them as the same person, with Michael being just another name for Jesus. For the latter group, this trope would be played straight here, with Michael being his own character separate and apart from Jesus.

-->'''Peter:''' ''[pointing out a herd of pigs]'' Rabbi, we must find a way around those swine. Such creatures are unclean and dangerous.\\
''[ungodly sounds come up from behind the group]''\\
'''Jesus:''' ''[looking back knowingly]'' No. There is something else...
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He's the recipient of this in "Jacob and Esau," after a fashion, being the divine figure with whom Jacob wrestles [[CueTheSun until daybreak]]. "After a fashion" because He cripples Jacob by touching his thigh to put it out of joint, in order to bring an abrupt end to the struggle; yet in acknowledgment of Jacob's perseverence (both in the physical combat and then in seeking a blessing before facing Esau), He gives Jacob a MeaningfulRename.

* MagneticHero: Natch, as it relates to the Bible characters. For the time-travelers specifically, they can't help but follow Him and stick close to Him every time they interact with Him.

* AngelicBeauty: Look at his picture here; he is certainly a very handsome figure as shown in this series. This particular design for Michael is likely done to contrast him to Lucifer, who is also conventionally handsome but has a perpetual sneer or frown on his face even when in angelic form.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's kind, friendly, polite, compassionate, ready to lend a hand in times of need, but if you ever dare to try and overthrow Heaven, he will personally and ''physically'' throw you out. Lucifer found that out the hard and painful way.

-->'''Michael:''' [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Do not be afraid. No harm will come to you here.]]

* GoodIsNotSoft: He's friendly to the kids and loyal to God, but he doesn't hesitate to give the treacherous Lucifer a thrashing or kick him out of Heaven. In fact, watch the two angels' duel closely--for a good chunk of it, Michael is on the offensive ''more'' than when he's on the defensive. The DVD cover for "In the Beginning" outright shows him [[http://ph-en.superbook.cbn.com/episode/in-the-beginning-creation-the-fall knocking out Lucifer with one punch]].

* LargeAndInCharge: As shown in the first episode, Michael leads the warrior-angels of Heaven, and he is a tall figure. How tall? Let's compare: Chris comes up to Professor Quantum's chest, but Joy, who's slightly taller than Chris by roughly an inch or so, only just reaches up to Michael's ''waist''. [[https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts113/v4/c8/2c/84/c82c8494-e1e5-3743-f737-1f2620d98365/mza_6086623328329919887.jpg/600x600bb.jpg This promotional image]] provides a more direct comparison--Michael and Professor Quantum are standing right next to each other, and while Crispin isn't a short man by any means, he only just comes up to Michael's chest, with Michael being roughly equal in height to Goliath (not counting Goliath's helmet).

* MeaningfulName: The meaning of his name takes the form of a question, "Who is like God?" Michael himself, staunchly loyal to God, makes absolutely certain to let it be known that ''nobody'' is like God when he casts Lucifer out of Heaven for daring to try and usurp the Lord.
-->'''Joy:''' Why did he do this?\\
'''Michael:''' He ''thought'' he could be like God.

* TheQuietOne: In every episode where he appears but doesn't have a major speaking role. Most notably in "Job," he's silent as he witnesses Satan making his bold challenge to God about the pious Job.

* BigBad: In the show's universe, the whole problem of sin, and a lot of the misfortunes in the Bible stories it depicts by extension, can be traced back to him.

* CompositeCharacter: With the series being based around teaching the theology of Evangelical Protestant Christianity, he is one of Hassatan, God's appointed prosecutor of the Heavenly Court in the Hebrew Bible and Synoptic Gospels and the origin of the name "Satan", and Lucifer, the fallen angel depicted in later, mostly non-Biblical works such as ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' who is named after the "morning star" (Venus) that the Literature/BookOfIsaiah briefly references when describing the War in Heaven.

** To God, in that while God is the BigGood, Satan is the BigBad. It's also present in how they relate to humans; God desires a genuine relationship with humans, while Satan will pretend to be their friend in order to further his own ends.
** To Jesus, concerning their respective roles as mentors to humans. Focusing specifically on the disciples, Jesus tends to mentor Peter as a future leader of the apostles, guiding him in the right way and encouraging him to grow as a follower of God's will and to strengthen the brethren; conversely, Satan is the one who directs Judas to betray Jesus, and Jesus also notes at one point that Satan wants to sift Peter like wheat.
** To Michael, in a much more obvious way than with God and Jesus, since both of them served together as angels in Heaven before Lucifer's fall. As an angel, Lucifer wears [[DarkIsEvil black armor]] and can transform into black SuperSmoke to contrast Michael's [[LightIsGood white armor]] and LightEmUp powers, and while Lucifer wants to uplift himself above all creation, Michael's all about uplifting God as the Creator. Satan has also sought to corrupt Chris more than once; Michael, in turn, encourages Chris to put his trust in God. And, of course, Satan leads TheLegionsOfHell to counter Michael's command over TheArmiesOfHeaven.

* FauxAffablyEvil: When he's trying to tempt someone up close and personal, he'll act like he's got their best interests at heart, only to drop the facade and show his truly malicious self if they reject his suggestions.

* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Or, in this case, The Devil Knows About 21st-Century Concepts; this shows up on two occasions, both times during situations where he's trying to tempt Chris over to his side. The first time is in "In the Beginning," where he and the kids confront each other while he's in the form of the serpent, shortly after having deceived Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. He [[RealityWarper creates a pool of water out of nowhere]] to show in its reflection Chris flying with a jet-pack, something that obviously hasn't been invented at that time and that none of the kids has openly spoken about in that place (one prior scene implies he's read Chris's mind and knows exactly what emotional buttons to push). The second time is in "Revelation," where, while showing Chris that HumansAreBastards, Satan presents the image of a modern-day army with rifles and ballistic gear, then showcases an image of a random child in a wheelchair--and since the setting of the episode is during the vision of John the Revelator, said rifles, ballistic gear and wheelchair obviously have yet to be invented at that point.
* KnightOfCerebus: Anytime he appears in an episode, expect the slapstick to be ''significantly'' less than usual.

* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: Exemplifies this in "Job," right after afflicting the titular character with his bodily sores to the point that Job's howling in utter pain.

* ManBehindTheMan: In "He Is Risen," Satan is explicitly shown as the one behind Judas's betrayal of Jesus, whispering to the disciple to follow through with identifying Jesus to the mob when they come for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.[[note]]This is actually in keeping with two passages in the Gospels where it's stated that Judas was led by Satan (Luke 22:3 and John 13:27).[[/note]]

* WouldHurtAChild: Considering how many children we see suffering in different episodes of this series because of sickness, disease, war and famine, and considering how all these are stated both in-series and the original scripture to be the result of sin, which in turn has its roots in Satan, yes, this is pretty much a given by default. [[spoiler:More directly, in "Revelation" he gets ScaledUp and attacks Chris repeatedly after the boy rejects his temptations]].

The Father of Jesus, creator of the world and everything in it, and the series' BigGood, just like in the Bible. While [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheBible this page]] has several character-tropes about Him that also come into play throughout the series, the list below will focus on tropes specific to this show.

* BigGood: But of course.
* BlowYouAway: Remember that passage in the Book of Job where God speaks to the titular character out of a whirlwind? Well, in "Job," we get to ''see'' that whirlwind up close with Job.

* CurseOfBabel: Started this at the Tower of Babel, of course, in "Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost." In the episode in question, God accomplishes this by sending numerous tiny balls of light into the people's mouths, making them speak different languages in an instant. Amusingly, one of those light-balls swirls around Gizmo, who's got a problem with his updated language-translator, and the problem is fixed immediately.
* DestroyerDeity: It's not something that comes up too often in this series, but when it does happen, it's a clear sign that you really ought ''not'' to challenge God. Pharaoh finds this out the hard way in "Let My People Go," when his persistent refusal to release the Israelites results in God sending the ten plagues in succession to show the Egyptians exactly who they're dealing with. Then in "The Ten Commandments" and "Joshua and Caleb," God almost goes this route again when he tells Moses to stand aside so He can smite the Israelites for, respectively, their idolatry and rebelliousness, but Moses manages to talk Him out of it. "Noah and the Ark" shows Him in this mode on a more global scale, with the flood that destroys everything and everyone who's not in the titular ark.

* MythologyGag: Her surname, Pepper, is an allusion to Peeper---Chris's last name in the [[Anime/{{Superbook}} original anime]].

* MeaningfulName: The two parts of his name have their own meanings, depending on the Chinese characters that are used, and the character combinations can provide different meanings. "Jia" can mean "home," "family," "good," "fine," or "excellent." Meanwhile, "Wei" can mean "bright," "protect," "guard," "extraordinary," "power," "pomp," or "magnificent." Combining the "good," "excellent," "power" and "pomp" definitions perfectly illustrates Jia Wei's brightness when it comes to his use of the school's security-camera system in his duty as the hall monitor, plus the power and authority he derives from his position. [[spoiler:Combining the "family" and "protect" definitions illustrates how he becomes part of the Superbook group and is their first SecretKeeper]].

* MeaningfulName: Ellie's name is a pet-name derivative of Eleanor, which in Hebrew is roughly translated as "God is my light." Ellie is introduced as desiring answers to questions she has about the Bible and Christianity, and as she gets those answers over time, her "darkness" of ignorance is ''enlightened''.

* MeaningfulName: The name Aaron means "strong" or "exalted" in Hebrew, and it's also the name of Moses's older brother who co-led the Israelites during Moses's tenure. Pastor Aaron is the leader of his church's youth group and also a source of godly wisdom for the kids he supervises.

* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: As seen in his picture here, Chris's guitar is a Stratocaster model.
* AnimeHair: How many people do we know of whose hair hangs forward the way Chris's does, and in such heavy volume at that? Though it's probably a slightly exaggerated way of drawing what's supposed to be a normal hairstyle. One episode even shows him combing his hair, only for a couple of strands to be standing up in rather wild fashion (and then it goes back to its normal look following Superbook's warp). Another episode has his whole hair standing up in spiky formation not unlike what you'd expect in a typical anime series (and, again, it goes back to normal after the Superbook warp).

* MeaningfulName: His full first name, Christopher, means "bearer of Christ," and throughout the series he learns and eventually applies important lessons about what it means to live up to that definition in following the ways of Jesus. His surname, Quantum, is a physics term that refers to the smallest amount of energy or matter, and is also the Latin term for "amount;" Chris himself is energetic and always looking to come up with plans to try and help the hero of whichever Bible story they're witnessing, plus he has a pretty brilliant scientific mind and is at least able to follow his father's descriptions and instructions, although his expertise isn't quite on Professor Quantum's level.

* MeaningfulName: Joy's name pretty obviously refers to a great feeling of pleasure or happiness, and she herself is generally very friendly, pleasant and optimistic (at least, in those episodes where she's not the one with the moral conflict). Her surname, Pepper, brings to mind the similarly-named plant or spice, many of which are known to be quite hot, and Joy happens to have a fiery disposition whenever she gets angry. There's also the fact that peppers are common pizza toppings, referencing Joy's FamilyBusiness.
* [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]]: Usually.

* OneHeadTaller: A very downplayed version; she's actually taller than Chris by an inch or so.

* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: In "A Giant Adventure," Todd rocks a blue and white Stratocaster-like guitar while trying out to become the school band's guitarist. Chris's guitar is identical save for being red.