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1[[foldercontrol]]
2
3!Main Characters
4[[folder:The group as a whole]]
5----
6* BreakingTheFellowship: A slower process than usual, but still qualifies. The group's members had had problems with each other before, but the recent intensifying of said interpersonal conflicts combined with relationship drama is gradually tearing the group apart.
7* ChildhoodFriends: The gang has been together since the 5th grade (with Mike and Lucy knowing each other since preschool), though Abbey doesn't join the crew until freshman year.
8* DysfunctionJunction: Each and every one of the group has some kind of problem with them:
9** Mike, while a NiceGuy ChickMagnet, has still a bit of insecurities and was messed up good from his toxic, borderline-abusive friendship with Lucy and being the ButtMonkey of the group for so long. Not to mention his issues stemming from his increasingly dysfunctional long-distance relationship with Sandy, which causes him to become something of a LoveMartyr.
10** Lucy lacked any friends during early childhood (except for Mike), is rather abrasive both in terms of personality and friendships, and [[spoiler:once [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]]]]. Also, she still has a lot of trauma from the events of "Confrontation", [[spoiler:even after she came back from private school.]]
11** Paulo was a CasanovaWannabe who always loved to push Mike's buttons and very arrogant. He gradually gets better though. His family is also quite poor, and he later reveals suffering from trauma as a result of [[spoiler:his mother's ParentalAbandonment]].
12** David is a kind of CloudCuckooLander with regards to how he views the world, though given the major drama that his friends deal with in later chapters, it seems to have a protective effect.
13** Daisy is mostly sane and sensible, though there have been times when even her buttons are pressed. She also has a host of body-image related insecurities, and often compares herself to girls who are considered more attractive than her (Lucy, Sandy, and Tess).
14** Abbey has a clear DarkAndTroubledPast given the abuse he and his family suffered from his father and he is really scary when he's mad, as Paulo finds out the hard way [[spoiler: (he's beginning to get past it though)]].
15* FourTemperamentEnsemble:
16** Sanguine: [[GenkiGirl Daisy]] and David
17** Melancholic: [[ButtMonkey Mike]]
18** Choleric: [[HotBlooded Paulo]] and [[MoodSwinger Lucy]]
19** Phlegmatic: The pets, especially Lily, who is more mature and grounded.
20* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Daisy, Mike and David (Nice), Lucy (Mean), Paulo (In-Between). [[spoiler: Although Mike progressively becomes one of the 'Mean' members following Lucy's LoveConfession]].
21* TrueCompanions: No matter how much grief the group gives each other on a regular basis, when the chips are down, they always have each others backs, even in the most perilous of times.
22* TwoGirlsToATeam: Lucy and Daisy.
23* VitriolicBestBuds / WithFriendsLikeThese: Even on a good day, the group seems to be this. Lampshaded by Augustus in Witch Hunt: [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c105/p29.html "How are any of you friends?"]].
24[[/folder]]
25
26[[folder:Lucy]]
27!!Lucy
28[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5f69acf2_88d7_4381_aaec_56165333ab63.jpeg]]
29Our female protagonist. Sometimes sweet and sometimes mean, Lucy is wrought with insecurity and would rather punch you in the face than expose it. She has spent most of her childhood lonely, with Mike as her only friend until middle school. This gave her a streak of dependency, which, combined with her violent tendencies, has led to a split between her and Mike. She proceeded to desperately look for solace in Paulo, and later [[spoiler:develop suicidal tendencies.]]
30----
31* TheAce: Lucy is [[HeadTurningBeauty stunningly]] [[DudeMagnet beautiful]], intelligent (one chapter reveals that she's part of an advanced math class), [[DeadpanSnarker witty]], athletic, adept at self-defense, skilled at [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c116/p21 several]][[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c116/p11 games]], comes from a well-off family, and is an extremely talented singer. She’s also [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c36.1/part2 really popular at school and has countless people trying to be her friend, as shown in this strip.]] However, considering her attitude issues and emotional baggage, she may be more of a BrokenAce.
32* ActionGirl: She can definitely hold her own in a fight as a few of her friends and even Alejandro can attest to.
33* AnchoredShip: [[spoiler:With Mike, and [[TearJerker heartbreakingly so.]]]]
34* BeautifulSingingVoice: [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c28/p15 She's often described]] [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c59/p1 to have this]]. It's enough for entire crowds to stop and stare at Lucy when she sings, much to her embarrassment.
35* BerserkButton: She has ''many''. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c55/p31.html Flirting with]] Mike near Lucy is a very bad idea. Flirting with Lucy doesn't end so well either...
36** Hitting on her, objectifying her or commenting on her attractiveness pisses Lucy off, as many of the boys who approached her can attest to.
37** She dislikes it when people try to help her and pity her because of her situation.
38** [[spoiler: "You all think you know what's best for me, but you DON'T!"]]
39* BelligerentSexualTension: With Michael. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c41.1/p1.html And how!]]
40** Also with Paulo.
41*** Well, considering they're the only two guys she's ever been interested in, and that this is [[{{Tsundere}} Lucy]]...
42** Lucy in Disaster Dominoes. [[spoiler:After Mike finally got her to smile, he got run down.]]
43* BettyAndVeronica: She is the beautiful, aloof, unfriendly Veronica to Daisy's Betty.
44** However, she's also the Betty (Mike's familiar childhood friend since preschool) to Sandy's Veronica (a successful, worldly child model who moves from one place to another due to her job).
45* BlessedWithSuck: Too much of a good thing is bad, and Lucy's beauty is no exception. See SoBeautifulItsACurse below.
46* BreakTheCutie: Lucy got this in preschool, hence her lack of interest in socializing.
47* BreakTheHaughty: AND HOW.
48* BrokenBird: Lucy is hella unbalanced, mostly stemming from the fact that she had trouble making friends in preschool, then suddenly ''everyone'' wanted her when she became attractive in middle school. She's not completely insane, but she regularly beats and belittles her closest friend, Mike, all while clinging to and depending on him. When they're paired together for a history essay after [[spoiler: months of him avoiding her due to her past abusive treatment of him and he explodes at her for trying to get him back into their friendship, what does she do? She tries to kill herself. Mike was definitely harsher than he needed to be considering her behavior had been improving, but still.]]
49* BrutalHonesty: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c41/p4.html Sometimes.]]
50* BungledSuicide: [[spoiler:Implied in "Breaking Up". Later confirmed--she had jumped from a tall building but survived long enough for Augustus, who'd happened upon her, to call an ambulance.]]
51* ICantHearYou: A non-gag example. Lucy is completely deaf in her left ear, rendering her completely unable to hear someone or something that's on her left side. There have even been a few times where a character tries to talk to her or try to get her attention, only for Lucy to not hear them at all until they move to her right side because of her partial deafness.
52* CannotSpitItOut: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c53/p2.html "Maybe I should just dance around the subject and give everyone headaches. There, problem solved, the Lucy way."]]
53** And then she did. [[spoiler:[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption It didn't help.]]]]
54* CatchPhrase: "Jerkface". She loses it as time goes on. In recent chapters however, she uses "idiot" as her CatchphraseInsult now.
55* CatsAreMean: While Lucy is definitely abrasive, rude, and often violent, her behavior had been improving a bit in more recent chapters.
56* CatsAreSnarkers: ''And how!''
57* CatsHateWater: Lucy became hydrophobic after [[spoiler:Mike almost drowned]] when they were younger. [[spoiler:Oh, and she ''also'' almost drowned trying to save him, since she didn't know how to swim; Paulo had to rescue the both of them. That most likely contributed to the phobia...]]
58* ClingyJealousGirl: Though she tries not to appear that way.
59* ColorMotifs: Pink. Lucy's trademark accessory is her pink bow. In "Pillow Talk", she wears a short pink nightgown, and in an intermission page she wears a pink shirt under a lavender jacket and pants. Her pink motif is also a contrast to Mike's blue.
60* CuteBruiser[=/=]BadassAdorable: Lucy can kick a whole lot more ass than is apparent. She's also one of the shortest characters.
61* CuteGhostGirl: In "Grave Concern", where she [[spoiler:actually died after her suicide attempt]]. She follows Mike around to haunt him, commenting on everything that happens to him from then on and trying to get him to properly deal with his very broken relationship with Sandy.
62* {{Dandere}}: Most notably when alone with her pets.
63* DeadpanSnarker
64* DontYouDarePityMe: She hates being pitied for what she is going through and brutally''SNAPS'' at Paulo in "Double Down", saying that she doesn't need his or any of her friends' help.
65* DudeMagnet: Despite her grumpiness, Lucy gets ''tons'' of male attention for her beauty, much to Daisy's jealousy.
66** Paulo, David, Alejandro, many random kids in her middle school, and several background characters have all fancied her or tried to hit on her at some point (As has Mike, though that has been tumultuous, to say the least).
67** She was also described to be [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c61/p55 popular]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c103/p15.html with]][[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c103/p16.html boys]] several times, and is [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c26/p5.html hit]] [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c102/p13 on]]'''a lot''' throughout the comic.
68* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Has these when going through her bouts of angst.
69* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Jessica's crush on Lucy was revealed in the relationship chart after being hinted at a couple times in the comic proper, eventually comes up in "Golden Hour", after she's over it and started dating Madison.
70* EveryoneLovesBlondes: She has white fur (blonde in human form, as shown in the author's draw stream art) and is seen as ''THE'' most attractive and desirable girl among her friends (despite her abrasive and violent personality).
71** The only person who truly dislikes her in the comic is Madison.
72** Lucy is the subject of unwanted attention and lust from guys (she doesn't like it one bit) and the subject of envy from other girls (Madison and Daisy). This all leads her to develop fears that people only want her for her looks.
73* FanservicePack: Lucy has always been [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c1/p6 rather shapely]], but her figure [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c107/p1 became]] [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c96/p14 even more]] [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c102/p2 voluptuous]] in [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c116/p11 recent chapters]].
74* {{Foil}}: To Daisy.
75** Lucy is an ActionGirl while Daisy is usually a DamselInDistress.
76** Lucy is very attractive and popular with boys, but she is seen as a sexual object against her will. Daisy is seen as less attractive than Lucy, wants attention and desires to be beautiful, but is often ignored by boys in favor of Lucy, no matter how hard she tries.
77** Even their character designs contrast: Lucy has straight, silky fur and a slender hourglass figure, while Daisy has frizzy, curly fur and is (said to be) rather chubby and fluffy.
78* She's also one to Sandy:
79** They are both beautiful girls who Mike has loved at some point [[spoiler: and eventually drifted apart from]].
80** Both Lucy and Sandy are associated with the color blue: Lucy is well known for her [[WhatBeautifulEyes bright blue eyes]], while Sandy wears a blue bow in her hair.
81* And to Mike as well:
82** Lucy's pink ColorMotif serves as a contrast to Mike's blue.
83** Lucy and Mike both have trademark accessories worn around the neck (bow and scarf respectively).
84** Lucy and Mike are both extremely attractive and popular with the opposite sex. However, Mike is [[IndifferentBeauty mostly indifferent to his looks]], while Lucy's [[SoBeautifulItsACurse appearance has contributed to many of her self-esteem issues]].
85** Their CharacterDevelopment goes opposite ways: while Lucy [[DefrostingIceQueen becomes ever so slightly nicer]] [[TookALevelInKindness over time]], Mike [[TookALevelInJerkass becomes more of a jerk]].
86** Lucy's violence towards Mike is almost never called out by the main friend group, who continue to support her wholeheartedly. However, Mike's [[spoiler: rejection of Lucy's LoveConfession, as well as his [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech later treatment]] towards Lucy, leads to all his friends gradually siding with Lucy once she comes back and distancing themselves from him]].
87* FirstLove: Surprisingly, she admits in "Flirting with Disaster" that Paulo was hers. He UsedToBeASweetKid and she found him cute, but then he became the flirt we know now and she got over it.
88* FreudianExcuse: See main page.
89* FriendlessBackground: In preschool, she couldn't make any friends. This, in turn, led to her [[spoiler:developing ''major'' trust and dependence issues.]]
90* HairTriggerTemper: A typical trait of a Tsundere. It's ''ridiculously'' easy to make Lucy angry. She often lashes out at people with rude comments and painful kicks.
91* HatesBeingTouched
92* HeadTurningBeauty: Lucy's attractiveness is constantly pointed out by other characters. Paulo finds her [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c114/p20.html extremely]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c51/p10 hot]] and hits on her constantly, and her looks have captured the attention of several boys (see Dude Magnet above) and many random people in her middle school. [[SoBeautifulItsACurse She doesn't always like the unwanted attention she gets for her looks though]].
93* HeartfeltApology: Is a recipient of this from Mike in "Link Play". [[spoiler: She just stares at him blankly and walks away as a response]].
94* HiddenDepths: How nice she can be is pretty much "pets only" overall. Her pets mentioning that niceness astounds everyone.
95* HiddenEyes: She does this whenever she snaps at others or is under emotional distress, such as in "It's All in the Mind" and "Double Down".
96* HopeSpot: About halfway through "Eternal Flame", she ends up encountering Mike after he had a fight with Sandy. After talking, they seem to have rekindled their relationship. [[spoiler:Sadly, it doesn't last long, as the following day, Mike and Sandy repair their relationship and Lucy is even more upset and now really doesn't want anything to do with him.]]
97* InformedAbility: She apparently practices karate, according to Sue, which may explain her preference for [[KickChick kicks inside and outside of combat.]]
98* InformedAttractiveness: She is drawn similarly to the other girls, with the only differences being her bust size and pure white fur. However, she is constantly described as "hot" in-universe and shown to be irresistible to guys.
99* IOweYouMyLife: Augustus was the one who ended up calling the ambulance [[spoiler:after he found her suffering from her BungledSuicide]], so she's incredibly grateful to him and [[spoiler:ends up taking him into her home.]]
100* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Regularly hits, slaps, and insults people for various offenses, but is also willing to take a beating defending her friends. She's also sweet and motherly to her pets.
101* KickChick: Her favorite method of dealing with people is a ''very'' painful kick to the face, usually accompanied by a "PUNT!" sound effect. As usual, she often gets away with her violent behavior.
102* LaceratingLoveLanguage: Lucy is very violent towards Mike, who she's actually in love with.
103* LonelyAmongPeople: She has a loving family, is the favorite in her friend group, is popular and beloved at school despite her violent attitude, everyone pities her due to what she is going through, and is coveted by boys for her looks. However, she still feels lonely and misunderstood, pushing people away, refusing to open up about her problems, snapping and violently hurting those who try to help her.
104* LonersAreFreaks: She was forced to play alone in ''pre-school''. Because she didn't want dolls, but cars, and was a girl. Girls decided she was too boyish. [[GirlsHaveCooties Boys were afraid of her.]]
105* LovingBully: Deconstructed. [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Mike]], after being tormented by her one too many times, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scornfully turns her down]] when she finally does her LoveConfession]].
106* MeaningfulAppearance: Her trademark pink ribbon may count as this. Her icy blue eyes and snow-like white fur may also reference her [[DefrostingIceQueen cold, aloof]] [[SugarAndIcePersonality personality]].
107* MouthyKid: ''Definitely.''
108* MsFanservice: Lucy's said to be so hot that plenty of guys would ''kill'' for a chance to have their way with her, and the comic ''makes sure we know it''. She's often put in [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p9 eye-catching situations]] and many panels focus on her petite but shapely figure.
109** It's even more noticeable in the draw stream art, which often feature her in flattering outfits that highlight her assets.
110* MusclesAreMeaningless: Lucy is petite, but she's ''much'' stronger than her size would suggest.
111* PerpetualFrowner: She's almost always seen with an angry or apathetic expression.
112* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Lucy is the Pink Girl to Mike's Blue Boy. She wears a pink ribbon and Mike often wears a blue scarf.
113* PutOnABus: After [[spoiler: attempting suicide, she's transferred to a private school, though it's suggested later that the transfer is more what prompted the suicide attempt than the other way around.]]
114** TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:In chapter 95.]]
115* RedOniBlueOni: The Red to Mike's Blue.
116* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: Due to her [[SoBeautifulItsACurse good looks]] and sad past, Lucy often gets away with her violence without much consequences [[spoiler: until "December", that is]]. Her abrasive attitude doesn't stop boys from chasing her.
117* SexForSolace: She has a tendency to seek out someone else for comfort in order to get over traumatic emotional experiences, such as with [[spoiler: Paulio in "Another Shoulder" and Augustus in "Burnt Bridges"]]. In both cases, the guys actively have to stop it from going all the way.
118* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: A couple of the reasons why she fell for Mike were because of his kindness, bravery, and willingness to defend her feelings.
119* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Lucy is often the subject of [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c26/p5 unwanted]][[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c14/p15 attention]] and is constantly objectified for her looks, which she dislikes.
120** Boys constantly hit on her and make [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c14/p19 sexual]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c14/p20 advances]] towards her, worsening her fears that people only want her for her looks.
121** Other people, such as [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c14/p4 Daisy]],[[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c61/p55 envy]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c103/p15 her]][[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c103/p16 natural]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c32/p6 attractiveness]] and the attention she gets for it.
122* SoreLoser: Among her many reasons for punching Mike has been losing races and getting beat playing Videogame/{{Pokemon}}.
123** SugarAndIcePersonality: Lucy only regularly [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c43/p8.html acts sweet]] to her [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c27/p6.html pets]]. Everyone [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c25/p5.html else]] is [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c12/p30.html amazed]] to see it. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c25/p4.html But]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c16.1/p1.html it's]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c46/p1.html there.]] To even her brother's [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c61/p3.html shock.]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c57/p1.html "Cracks In The Ice"]] indeed.
124* SlidingScaleOfBeauty: In universe, Lucy treads the line between a Divine-level and a World Class-level beauty.
125* SourOutsideSadInside
126* StrongFamilyResemblance: Lucy looks nearly identical to her mother. Both of them also happen to be [[ICantHearYou deaf in one of their ears]].
127* TenderTears: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c65/p26.html She was scared.]]
128* TookALevelInKindness: While she's definitely still rude, violent, and moody, Lucy shows her considerate side more often in the later chapters.
129** In "Eternal Flame", she acknowledges her past mistakes and previous treatment of Mike during their conversation under the tree. In "Double Down", she tells Augustus that she doesn't want to stop him from making friends and reminding him not to let her get into the way of things.
130* TraumaCongaLine: Her ''whole life'' is this. First, [[spoiler: she became hydrophobic after she nearly drowned while trying to save Mike. Then, she had difficulty making friends in preschool, but everyone wanted her once she became beautiful in middle school. Starting from when she hit puberty, Lucy was often objectified and sexually harassed for her looks by both her male friends and random boys. She developed a tough facade to try to get rid of this unwanted male attention, which ''did NOT help at all''. Aside from that, the boy she loved the most rejected her LoveConfession and gave her a ''painful'' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, which led to her attempting to ''kill herself'', and she would've died if not for Augustus' help.]]
131** All this led her to develop dependence and trust issues, insecurity, and [[spoiler: suicidal tendencies]].
132* TroubledButCute: She has a LOT of emotional baggage from her past and is considered a beautiful girl who no guy can take their eyes off of.
133* '''{{Tsundere}}''': "Why would I be best friends with such a jerk face?"
134** SlapSlapKiss is her style. Interestingly, as she continues to grow up, she moves closer to becoming a KissKissSlap tsundere.
135** This is also deconstructed after the first volume of the comic--[[spoiler: her years of abuse and longtime refusal to admit her positive feelings towards Mike leads to him both bitterly resenting her and becoming convinced she's only around him because of her dependency, not because she really cares. Eventually he explodes when she tries to mend things between them after a falling out.]]
136* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Minus the girlfriend part (obviously), she doesn't take kindly to others ([[HypocriticalHeartwarming other than herself]]) hurting Mike, as the muggers in Confrontation learned the hard way.
137* WeUsedToBeFriends: [[spoiler: After returning from private school, she makes it clear she has absolutely no desire to revisit her toxic friendship with Mike. If this means cutting her other old friends out of her life then so be it. As we see in "Escape Route", she feels bad about it more than she let's on nowadays. And then there's the events of "Eternal Flame", where there's a brief HopeSpot for her friendship with Mike, if not their [[ShipTease romance]], which is [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption of course]] cruelly dashed merely a few pages later.]]
138* WhenSheSmiles: Lucy is almost always angry, so when she [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c114/p17 smiles]], it's a sight to behold.
139[[/folder]]
140
141[[folder:Mike]]
142!!Michael "Mike" S[[spoiler:cott]]
143[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/81bb1b6c_e6fc_4b20_9908_d10b56365d4c.jpeg]]
144Our male protagonist. A star athlete and regular “nice guy”, Mike often finds that the girls who vie for his attention are the source of most of his problems.
145
146Much of the early days of the comic were spent attempting to deal with his long-distance TrueLove, Sandy, and his rocky relationship with Lucy and Daisy. This lasted for years, until a love confession by Lucy prompted him to show what's BeneathTheMask, changing the status quo of the comic forever.
147
148Mike is the only character so far to have had his full name revealed, after Taeshi mentioned his full name in a livestream in 2014.
149----
150* AcademicAthlete: He's the most athletic of the main group of characters and it's implied that he does very well in terms of school grades.
151* AdaptationDyeJob: Began in the author's sketches as a yellow cat, before becoming grey.
152* AffectionateNickname: Daisy calls him "Mikey" while Sandy calls him "Maishul" (the latter being because Sandy couldn't pronounce "Michael" when they were kids, but she continues to refer to him as such).
153* AmbiguouslyBi:
154** He played as a girl in a video game and didn't mind the attention of men.
155** When [[spoiler:James]] kissed him, he was certainly surprised, but wasn't disgusted at all.
156* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: While talking with Sandy about what he did to Lucy at the chapter "December" [[spoiler: he states “Maybe it’ll be fixed if she just died”. Well he (almost) got his [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c75/p17.html wish]]. When he believed she was dead, he was mortified and fell to his knees in despair]]
157* BerserkButton: Criticizing Sandy or his relationship with her is a surefire way to set him off, especially when their relationship starts going downhill and he [[TookALevelInJerkass Takes A Level in Jerkass]]. It's made particularly clear in "High Expectations", where he slams Paulo's face into a table for implying that Sandy ignores him, before viciously screaming at Sue for just asking if he's upset over his relationship.
158* BerserkerTears: In December, [[spoiler:Follow the [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p22.html sequence]] and notice that, while Lucy was hurt worse, he cried more.]]
159** And in "Eternal Flame", [[spoiler: After Sandy breaks up with him, he trashes his room in a crying fit.]]
160* BewareTheNiceOnes: Mike can be a nice guy, but when something pushes him to a point, like Lucy's abuse over the years and his friends taking her side during "Unrequited", he can lash out at times. And when Paulo took his phone in an attempt to make Mike talk about his issues, Mike ended up slamming Paulo's face onto the table, breaking his nose.
161* BlessedWithSuck: Mike has hypersensitive hearing, allowing him to hear what people are saying when they're whispering, even when he's standing a short distance away. However, this makes loud noises even louder for him, such as a school bell or a whistle.
162* BreakingSpeech: Once to Daisy, concerning her inabilty to be rejected, and once to Lucy, concerning their relationship. [[spoiler:It helped Daisy. It didn't help Lucy.]]
163** He's been overreacting lately and Lucy is all-but broken at this point.
164* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:His relationship with Lucy chipped away at his NiceGuy persona.]]
165* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Sandy's increasingly distant relationship with him and everyone gradually taking Lucy's side when she comes back reduces him to being a [[EmoTeen bitter, paranoid loner.]]]]
166* BrokenPedestal:
167** Ever since the guy started [[TookALevelInJerkass Taking Levels In Jerkass]], Mike's newfound toxic behavior gradually turns more and more of his friends against him. Some prominent examples include Lucy, Sue and Daisy, all of whom not only were Mike's best female friends but even looked up to him. Mike himself lampshades it in [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c105/p16.html Chapter 105]].
168** [[spoiler:Mike himself finally has his moment when he learns Sandy was wavering in "Eternal Flame". After that incident, he's still reluctant to truly think ill of her, but he does admit she didn't make enough time for their relationship or treat Daisy fairly.]]
169* BrokenTears: [[spoiler:When Mike learns of her attempted suicide, believing she may be dead, Mike breaks down in tears, remorseful of his actions and words.]]
170* ButtMonkey: Originally a lot. Like so many things from early in the comic, this ends up being deconstructed later. Him constantly being the butt of jokes and slapstick at the hands of his friends (and his "good guy" nature leading to him quietly taking it instead of standing up for himself when he's hurt) has left him bitter and resentful, leading to him feeling he has no emotional support and then cruelly lashing out when he reaches his boiling point. This most notably happened with Lucy, but he also hits this with Paulo and Sue later on after that.
171* ByronicHero: He's brave and loyal on the surface, but he's so desperate for TrueLove [[spoiler: that he's willing to destroy all other relationships to hold on to ''one girl'' who's usually very distant from him]].
172* CantHoldTheirLiquor: It takes ''very'' little alcohol to make Mike hilariously drunk. [[spoiler:Which ends up directly leading to Alejandro attempting to mug the group in Confrontation. Oh God...]]
173** This comes up again during Rachel's party, where he gets drunk and cries over [[spoiler: Lucy leaving, and their shattered relationship.]]
174* CatchPhrase: "Guh!"
175* CharacterizationMarchesOn: His recent treatment of Lucy overwrites some of their more positive earlier interactions, specifically that early in the comic he seemed well aware of her hidden heart of gold and showed no resentment whatsoever for her treatment towards him (though this might count somewhat as a CerebusRetcon, as all her abuse earlier was painted as slapstick comedy rather than taken seriously).
176* ChickMagnet: Mike has had at least three girls (Lucy, Daisy, and Sandy) crush on him and it is implied that he's very popular with the other girls at school (more than likely because he is such a NiceGuy).
177* ColorMotifs: Blue. He wears a blue scarf for the majority of the comic, something that is often alluded to in-universe. His blue also serves as a contrast to Lucy's pink.
178* DidYouThinkICantFeel: His FatalFlaw. Mike almost never makes his real feelings known because he's too meek and it resulted in him bottling up a lot of resentment that he's been unleashing after he TookALevelInJerkass.
179* DisappointingOlderSibling: While Chris is [[BigBrotherWorship fond of him]], Haley doesn't respect Mike at all, considering him a dorky loser but even then, [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c110/p33 these]] [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c110/p34 pages]] hints that deep down, [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther she does care about him]].
180* DoggedNiceGuy: At first.
181* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Paulo has [[StupidSexyFlanders recurring thoughts]] of finding Mike attractive, and James seems to have a crush on him.
182* ExtremeDoormat: A primary reason why he ended up becoming resentful is because he's too much of a NiceGuy to stand up for himself. And it's not just in his relationship with Lucy either. Sandy developed a habit of saying that he's too nice [[spoiler:out of guilt because she was undergoing AbsenceMakesYourHeartGoYonder with her hairdresser]]. It got to the point where calling him nice is enough to [[spoiler:make him remember Sandy bitterly]], [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c114/p30 as Daisy found out]]. Shen then lampshades this trait of his in the following pages.
183* GreenEyedMonster: Despite being on the outs with Lucy he's clearly angry and jealous over her [[spoiler: spending so much time with Augustus]].
184* {{He Who Fights Monsters}}: His grudge against [[spoiler: Lucy]].
185* InformedAbility: He apparently practices karate with Lucy, although it barely shows in the few times he fights.
186* InsecureLoveInterest: Oh ''boy howdy''. Especially in regards to Sandy; as we see in "Everyday Life", he's unwilling to go enjoy himself because he remembers her saying he needs to "grow up" (after he challenged her to a race), and thinks avoiding his more competitive hobbies like video games will make him more mature. [[spoiler:Of course, following Sandy's admission in "Eternal Flame" that she had been cheating on him, his insecurity is made somewhat more reasonable.]]
187* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite being smushed together in an angry rant over everyone not taking his attitude, Mike did have a point about Daisy's unnatural fixation on Lucy (even if [[{{Hypocrite}} he's still nursing a grudge on her himself]]).
188* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even after he TookALevelInJerkass, he still has his moments of clarity and his genuine love of Sandy shows it's more his temper and troubles within their relationship that make him this way more than anything else.
189* JerkJustifications: Lucy's toxic friendship in the early parts of the comic led to Mike becoming irritable and downright cruel to her come the CerebusRetcon, to the point where his climactic confrontation in "December" turned into less a list of grievances and more a venom-fueled BreakingSpeech. He even spreads a little meanness his friend group's way for enabling her. Of course, he has a HeelRealization later on, but he still struggles with his temper.
190* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Him yelling at Zach about [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c45/p4.html Lucy not caring about him]] sure makes it seem like [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c12/p29.html he's forgotten]] about [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c12/p19.html Confrontation]].
191* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Mike cruelly told Lucy that he was going to isolate her, which contributed to her breakdown. When Lucy returns to school, Mike gets exactly what he said he wanted -- she's at peace putting up boundaries with her old friends, while he's stuck lying about his misdeeds to an increasingly toxic and unpleasant group.]]
192** Even more so later, when [[spoiler:his increasingly unstable and rotten attitude basically leads to the isolation from the group he predicted will happen to Lucy after he cut ties with her happening to ''[[HoistByHisOwnPetard him]]'']].
193* LimitedWardrobe: Enough so that him changing the color scarf he wears (or wearing no scarf at all) is a major thing.
194* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Lucy. [[spoiler:He's aware of this, and resents it.]]
195* LongDistanceRelationship: With Sandy. [[PlayedForDrama Which definitely has its ups and downs]], considering that Sandy's always busy but well-meaning when she can't meet Mike halfway, while Mike doesn't want to bother her with his problems while still craving some intimacy with her. In "Eternal Flame" [[spoiler:Mike finally calls Sandy and insists on talking about the lack of communication from her. This prompts Sandy to reveal [[AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder that she has been developing feelings for her hairdresser]], and ultimately she breaks up her relationship with Mike due to the lack of communication between them.]]
196* LoveMartyr: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in his relationship with Sandy. She's not a bad person by any means, and does genuinely love Mike. However, her job as a model keeps her so busy that her and Mike's relationship increasingly develops into an AllTakeAndNoGive situation, where she shows little interest in putting any effort into it, while Mike insists that his only job is to love and support her, regardless of how distant she becomes, or how lonely and insecure that makes him feel. When Paulo points out the imbalance in their relationship in "Witch Hunt", Mike even calls his own feelings "dumb" and claims that he's selfish and unreasonable for even having them.
197* MistakenForGay: Paulo loves teasing him about this.
198* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:As of the end of "Breaking Up", he seems to be genuinely guilty about his behavior towards Lucy. Also, as seen in "Burnt Bridges", he feels extremely guilty for kissing Lucy after Sandy broke up with him, and then getting back together with Sandy ''immediately after''.]]
199* MustMakeAmends: He tries to do this with Lucy (mostly out of guilt for causing Lucy's attempted suicide and to get everyone off his back), but his nervousness over it, his relationship with Sandy, and each other's stubbornness all get in the way of reconciliation. [[spoiler:They almost seem to make up when they talk after Sandy admits to developing feelings for someone else and breaks up with him in "Eternal Flame", but their relationship suffers yet another massive setback when Mike kisses Lucy before almost immediately getting back together with Sandy.]]
200* NeverMyFault: He never asked to be responsible for other people's mental wellbeing, so he doesn't see it as his fault when he leaves others to their own devices for his own mental health.
201* NiceGuy: One of his most defining traits early on in the comic. It's gone down quite a bit as his emotional issues skyrocket, however, with most of his time in the most recent comics either anxious and withdrawn or angry and unpleasant.
202* OneHeadShorter: Sandy is noticeably taller than him, which he points out in "Just Beautiful".
203* OnlyFriend: He was this to Lucy from when they first met up to the 5th grade [[spoiler:which makes their friendship breakup all the more tragic]].
204* OnlySaneMan: Compared to the other main characters, he is the most level-headed of them all.
205* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Mike is the Blue Boy to Lucy's Pink Girl. He often wears a blue scarf and Lucy wears a pink ribbon.
206* PintsizedPowerhouse: He's one of the shortest members of the cast, but he's also the most athletic member of the group, easily beating [[ActionGirl Lucy at sports.]] He was also the only member of the group besides Lucy to deal any successful hits on Alejandro...and that was before he graduated from junior high school. He's also capable of holding his own on brief confrontations with Paulo and Abbey, the former being an athlete that's nearly on par with him and the latter being a very intimidating BullyHunter when he gets angry.
207* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler:[[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p29.html Harsh.]]]]
208* RedOniBlueOni: The Blue to both Lucy's and Paulo's Red.
209* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The sensitive guy to Paulo's manly man.
210* StepfordSmiler: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p17.html Hm...]]
211* SuperHearing: Michael has excellent hearing, to the point that sudden yelling and pep rallies really [[CursedWithAwesome mess him up]]. He can even hear a low whisper despite being a short distance away. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c42/p9.html Ace hearing]] indeed. [[spoiler:The trap in Confrontation took advantage of this to get the group in an alley for mugging.]]
212* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler:His rescue of Lucy]] in Confrontation.
213* TookALevelInJerkass: Lucy is considerably nicer to him and others than she used to be. He's, on the other hand, become less friendly to her since her [[spoiler:LoveConfession.]] Granted, he does get better, [[spoiler:but by the time he does so, it's unfortunately 'too late' since Lucy was transferring schools and attempted suicide on top of it.]] He also becomes very irritable due to his making him bitter.
214** Eventually, the combination of the [[spoiler:breakdown of his friendship with Lucy]] and [[spoiler:the latent tension in his relationship with Sandy]] starts making him downright unpleasant, and he starts pushing away the rest of his friends as a result.
215* WeUsedToBeFriends: [[spoiler:Though he feels very guilty about his role in Lucy's suicide attempt and tries to apologize for it, he still doesn't seem too keen on (at least fully) reforming their friendship, given that he still holds her (rightfully) responsible for the bullying and abuse he suffered during its course and how he still has flashbacks of it as shown during dodgeball in Chapter 96]].
216* WithFriendsLikeThese: [[spoiler:He calls his friends out on never taking his side, as he's set a precedent for handling all the shit Lucy and Paulo give him, and how everybody treated him as a bad guy when Lucy got all the sympathy.]]
217[[/folder]]
218
219[[folder:Daisy]]
220!!Daisy "Daze"
221[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dc5fcd4f_25f4_4132_93ff_6da63e25c10c.jpeg]]
222Smart and hardworking, this bubbly cheerleader spends her time immersed in books. She longs to be more than everybody’s “little sister”.
223
224After a long time of playing second fiddle to Lucy, then third fiddle to Sandy, she spent some time exploring her wild side in middle school, culminating into strong-arming Mike into a date with her. It took a long time to realize that her efforts were meaningless, and settled into a steady relationship with Abbey in the summer of sophomore year.
225----
226* AcademicAthlete: Daisy is a smart bookworm who is also a cheerleader.
227* AppearanceAngst: Daisy envies Lucy for her beauty and the attention the other girl receives for her looks.
228* BetaCouple: With Abbey. [[spoiler:But not anymore.]]
229* BettyAndVeronica: The Betty to Lucy and Sandy's Veronica.
230* BiWildered: [[spoiler:As revealed in "Track Meet", Paulo admitting his struggle with coming to terms with his bisexuality caused Daisy to question her own sexuality. She explains that this made her realize that part of the reason she resented Mike as much as she did for stealing Sandy's attention away from her when they were young was because she may have had some romantic feelings for Sandy]].
231* {{Bookworm}}
232* BrokenPedestal: As of Chapter 90, [[spoiler: Paulo is this to her.]]
233--> Daisy: [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You're]] ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech terrible.]]''
234* BewareTheNiceOnes: While Daisy is normally a NiceGirl, she does not pull her punches when angered, as evidenced by her stinging [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "The Reason You Suck" Speeches]] to [[spoiler:Paolo and Mike at different times]].
235* CantHoldTheirLiquor: She gets hammered during "Happy Hour."
236* ChildhoodFriends: Was childhood friends with Sandy back when she lived in Roseville, but drifted apart when Sandy started becoming friends with Mike. Sadly, Sandy doesn't remember her friendship with Daisy at all.
237* ClingyJealousGirl: [[spoiler:For a few chapters. She gets better.]]
238* CovertPervert: She hides it well, but her discussion with Paulo at her birthday party in "Moments Apart" has her bringing up how she always wanted to hug him because he seemed strong and soft and his scent was something she really liked.
239* DudeMagnet: While obviously not as much of a dude magnet as Lucy or Sandy, Daisy still does well enough for herself since both Abbey and Augustus are in love with her.
240* GaveUpTooSoon: {{Inverted}} with her crush on Mike. She waited so long for him that [[spoiler:she didn't even notice Abbey liked her.]]
241* GenericCuteness: While still seen as pretty (Augustus has called her 'gorgeous' and Carter at one point even mistook her for Lucy), Daisy is regarded as being much less attractive and slightly fatter than most of the other main girls. However, Daisy is part Ragamuffin, which develop later than most cat breeds, so her lack of attention probably stems from her poor self-confidence and the fact she isn't as developed as the other females.
242* GreenEyedMonster: Daisy is jealous of [[HeadTurningBeauty Lucy]]'s beauty, [[DudeMagnet popularity with guys]] (Mike, Paulo, David, Carter, Augustus), and the attention the latter receives for her looks, which is worsened by the fact that Lucy blows all her suitors off and said guys all ignore Daisy in favor of Lucy. [[SoBeautifulItsACurse It's not like Lucy enjoys all that attention anyway]].
243* {{Hypocrite}}: Calls out Abbey for attacking Paulo and states that she's not fine with violence, yet Daisy was shown to have violently hit people in the past, especially towards Abbey.
244* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Specifically, she wants to be seen as desirable instead of just cute. It's the source of her conflicted feelings towards Augustus (scared of him but also liking the attention) and some of her friction with Lucy (who she envies for her beauty). Lucy ends up having to explain to her that it's [[SoBeautifulItsACurse not actually fun to be the subject of unwanted attention for your looks.]]
245* ImStandingRightHere: In "Confrontation", Daisy and Paulo make hurtful comments regarding Daisy's jealousy of Lucy's closeness with Mike. She also questions why Paulo and Mike even bother with Lucy. It doesn't help that Lucy was ''right there and heard everything''.
246* InnocentlyInsensitive: She can be quite oblivious to the feelings of others, despite usually being very kind. She also finds euthanasia "fascinating," which creeps Sue out. This becomes more apparent as Daisy does not take Abbey's feelings into consideration when she helps Paulo guilt-trip him into getting back together again.
247** While she blows off her jealousy of Lucy's natural attractiveness to the girl, Daisy accidentally touches on Lucy's memories of Alejandro, making the girl think Daisy was indirectly victim blaming her for it.
248* InWithTheInCrowd: She spends some of Freshman year away from her standard clique, and instead with DumbBlonde Katie and pseudo-bullies Jess and Rachel.
249%%* LoveTriangle:
250%%** [=AbbeyxDaisyxAugustus=]. In canon, [[spoiler:Abbey got her]]. In a WhatIf chapter, [[spoiler:Augustus did]].
251** [[spoiler:With Daisy in the middle between Abbey and Mike. As it turns out, she never really let go of her feelings for Mike, even while she was dating Abbey. As a result, Abbey dumps her for it.]]
252%%** [[spoiler:And it seems like Paulo is getting himself wound up in it too...]]
253* MoralityPet: For Augustus, truth be told. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c78/p21.html Her mere presence keeps him from committing theft.]]
254* NiceGirl: Daisy, despite being very occasionally immature or jealous, is very kind-hearted and supportive of her friends, often going to huge lengths to help them out.
255* PerpetualSmiler: Daisy often has a happy, cheerful expression, except during her more petty moments.
256* TheNicknamer: Often refers to other characters by nicknames that are essentially their name, but with a "y" sound at the end. Examples include Mikie (for Michael), Suzy (for Sue), Tessie (for Tess) and Davy (for David). When the characters point out how she doesn't have a similar nickname for Paulo, she struggles to come up with one.
257%%* NerdsLoveToughSchoolwork
258* PintsizedPowerhouse: She may be one of the shorter characters, but her Cheerleading has given her strength that rivals even David's and carry [[spoiler: Lucy]] [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c96/p20.html#talk with one hand!]]
259* RunningGag: [[Videogame/MarioKart "Hi, I'm Daisy!"]]. But she no longer says this.
260* SheCleansUpNicely: When she makes an effort to dress up for events, such as on her birthday and her date with Mike, Daisy looks absolutely ''stunning''.
261* SlidingScaleOfBeauty: In-universe, Daisy is a Cool/Special Average. While Lucy, Sandy, and Tess are considered much more attractive than her by most, Daisy's friendliness sets her apart. It helps that Daisy also [[SheCleansUpNicely becomes absolutely stunning when she makes an effort to dress up]].
262* TeenGenius: So much so that she regularly finds herself tutoring all of her friends in various subjects.
263* YaoiFangirl: Her response to [[spoiler: Paulo admitting he might be attracted to guys]] is 2 panels of [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c88.1/p1.html glittery happiness]] and {{Squee}}.
264--> '''Daisy''': That is ''so cool!''
265[[/folder]]
266
267[[folder:Paulo]]
268!!Paulo
269[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ef7370d5_8751_403c_84b9_17dd02a1e09f.jpeg]]
270Paulo spends more time hitting on girls than paying attention to class. Despite his talent for timewasting, he is fiercely loyal and will always stand up for his friends.
271----
272* AboveTheInfluence: Paulo manages to put his feelings (and hormones) aside when [[spoiler:Lucy comes on to him in the midst of her HeroicBSOD over Mike rejecting her, and refuses to take advantage of her emotional fragility]].
273* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Paulo's mother didn't even ''want'' him, and made no secret telling him that. [[ParentsAsPeople His dad at least tries, though.]]]]
274* AmicableExes: With Tess, and later, [[spoiler:Jazz.]]
275* BeneathTheMask: It's shown multiple times in the comic (even as far back as volume 1) that much of Paulo's bravado, bullying, and CasanovaWannabe tendencies are a result of massive insecurities on his part, both in school and his reputation as a lady's man. This even extends to his sleeping around--Daisy tries to get him to open up about losing his virginity when she's thinking about it herself, and it's heavily implied by his (tight-lipped) response that he seriously regrets it.
276* BetaCouple: He and Jasmine were at first considered this, but then Pillow Talk subverted this, and [[spoiler:as of "Ten Seconds to Midnight", it's completely averted]].
277* BiWildered: As the story goes on, we learn more and more about Paulo's bicurious exploration and how he and the narrative come to acknowledge it:
278** In the chapter "Boy Toy", Paulo's attempt at GayBravado backfired and he was worried he might actually start liking guys. At the end of it, he states that he's still not quite figured it out.
279** [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/store/#posters in a poster series]] that depicts certain characters and their prospective romantic choices, Paulo's poster features Lucy, Rachel, Jazz, and ''Mike.''
280** [[spoiler:Becomes less ambiguous and more textual later on, when he blushes at Matt and actually considers dating Lucy's brother, on top of fantasizing about Mike. The chapter ends with him crying in Matt's arms about both of their fates, finally acknowledging his bisexuality.]]
281** "Track Meet" shows Paulo's struggle with [[spoiler: what seems to be a developing crush on James. Meanwhile, Daisy comforts Paulo by telling him that she once had feelings for Sandy when they were younger.]]
282** [[spoiler:By New Year's 2009, he's officially, openly admitted to liking Mike the same way he does James, in the middle of a teary breakdown.]]
283* BurgerFool: He actually enjoys working far more than school.
284* BrutalHonesty: Paulo in "Another Path" [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c59/p25.html failed at tact.]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c59/p16.html A few times.]] And Lucy [[MegatonPunch thanked]] him a few times.
285* ButtMonkey: Paulo had some butt monkey time randomly if Lucy (and sometimes Yashy) was nearby until high school. And [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c59/p25.html then]]...
286* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: Paulo is particularly protective of Daisy, and immediately shapes up when she's watching.
287** In the "Intervention" chapter, David muses that Paulo may have a crush on Daisy, due to how he shapes up around her and tries to behave himself when she's nearby.
288** In the chapter "Return", it's revealed that Paulo now thinks of Daisy as more of a sister anyway, and doesn't mind her going out with another guy. Paulo realizes how disgusted he was at the idea of having a crush on Daisy.
289*** However, it is hinted at in "Back and Forth" that he still doesn't want to be seen as a sexual deviant in her eyes, as he immediately notices her and seems worried about her opinion of him when [[spoiler:Tess and Lucy start some drama because of his sleeping around and being a man-whore in general]].
290*** At one point, Daisy wonders if Paulo hates her, just because she's the only girl he's never hit on.
291* CatchPhrase: Paulo's abuse of the word "AWESOME" and common usage of kid, wimp, wuss, etc. when referring to Mike.
292* CharacterDevelopment: Started the series as the "cool guy" with jerkass and perverted tendencies. Now, Paulo has become a more level-headed and responsible person, getting a job he's genuinely happy with and acting something akin to a mature older brother within the group.
293* ChickMagnet: While he occasionally displays jealousy at Mike's ChickMagnet status, he actually does all right for himself, attracting romantic attention from Tess, Jasmine, Rachel, and even Lucy every now and again.
294* ChivalrousPervert: When the well-being of Daisy or Lucy is in danger, Paulo tends to forget his perversion in favor of helping them or, at least, trying to. He also reacted this way [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c12/p11.html when Sue got hurt in Confrontation]].
295** Also, he absolutely refuses to make use of [[spoiler:Lucy's fragile state when she almost imposes herself on him.]]
296* DesperatelyCravesAffection: [[spoiler:In the deepest part of his heart, he's still angry about his mother walking out on the family, which fuels his need to be loved. Mike has to ask him what ''kind'' of love Paulo is actually seeking, but he's unable to give a straight answer.]]
297* {{Deuteragonist}}: He takes center spotlight when [[spoiler: Lucy's departure]] causes both main characters to drop from center stage.
298* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: The fluff around his cheeks gets cut short in the late stages, and he keeps it short.
299* FagHag: When he goes on vacation with Jessica and finds himself surrounded by gay people.
300* FieryRedhead: He has vibrant orange fur and a ''very'' [[HotBlooded feisty]], outgoing personality.
301* FriendsWithBenefits: With Rachel. He's still hoping Lucy will come back to him, and Rachel's wanting a family of her own in the future, and so he's feeling guilty about her struggling feelings for him in turn.
302* HandsomeLech: He enjoys hitting on and fooling around with as many girls as possible, and can be quite a perv, while several girls comment (usually begrudgingly) that he is quite handsome.
303* HasAType: He seems to like bubbly, extroverted people, or at least ones who are very passionate about their hobbies and interests. Lucy is the latter, while Rachel, Daisy, and [[spoiler:James]] are the former.
304* HeroicBSOD: Has started undergoing this with [[spoiler:Lucy's departure]].
305* {{Hypocrite}}: He calls out Mike for stringing along Lucy when she never got over him, where he's the same guilty party in messing with Jasmine and dating Rachel while still explicitly pining for Lucy.
306* GayBravado: At one point he decides to mess with Abbey's head by kissing him, and later begins hitting on Lucy's little brother as a joke. [[spoiler:He messes it up and becomes scared that he's actually gay, with the latter incident leading to a realization that he may be bisexual after all.]]
307* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. One of the central themes of the comic is that bullying and the bullies responsible for it are remembered by the people they do it to. As such, while Paulo is a nice person at heart, it doesn't excuse his {{Jerkass}}ery, and that is starting to catch up with him. This leads to several ''blistering'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech The Reason You Suck Speeches]] being given him, and [[spoiler: Abbey outright attacking him in the bathroom and warning him to stay away from Daisy]] due to Paulo's CasanovaWannabe tendencies.
308** It even reached the point where ''[[NiceGirl Daisy]]'' has had enough of his actions. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness And if Daisy starts screaming at you]], there is a ''problem.''
309* LikeBrotherAndSister: Shares this with Daisy, viewing her as a younger sister. [[spoiler:Much to Daisy's chagrin, later on.]]
310* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His arguably tactless and manipulative attempt at getting Abbey to [[spoiler:[[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c81/p26.html reconcile with Daisy via guilt tripping]]]], and then spending an inordinate time around Daisy and indirectly inspiring jealously from Abbey, while continuing to annoy and taunt Abbey every now and then results in [[spoiler: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c89/p35.html Abbey finally snapping and attacking Paulo in the bathroom during Daisy's convention trip, demanding him to stay away from Daisy from now on.]]]]
311* ObliviousToLove: [[spoiler:To Daisy, it turns out. She begins dropping increasingly obvious hints that she likes him, but Paolo can't seem to catch on. It's particularly excruciating in "Featured Attraction", where he brings David along on what she thought was a date. And even ''[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} David]]'' figures out what's going on, but Paolo remains oblivious.]]
312* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:He reveals to Abbey that [[AbusiveParents his mother]] left him and his father to start a new family, and apparently told him ''to his face'' that he was a mistake and that she didn't want him around.]]
313* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Is a frequent recipient of these. [[spoiler: Jasmine]] gives him a short but ''stinging'' one that picks apart his character in four panels, then walks off and leaves him to think about it. He receives one by proxy from [[spoiler: Mike]] when [[DidYouThinkICantFeel Mike finally cuts loose on all of his friends regarding the situation with Lucy.]] He receives a more violent one [[spoiler: from Abbey]] later on, regarding Paulo's treatment of the women in his life [[spoiler: along with a threat to stay away from Daisy as a result of it.]] After that, he receives one from ''[[spoiler: Daisy]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness of all people]]'' for his previous treatment of Abbey and being a {{Jerkass}} to him.
314** He manages to ''give'' one In Chapter 109, when he's had enough of Abbey's antagonistic attitude towards him and tells him [[MiseryPoker he's lucky enough to have family members who care for him]].
315* RedOniBlueOni: The Red to Mike's Blue.
316* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The manly man to Mike's sensitive guy.
317* SexForSolace: "Another Path" shows what would happen if he gave this to [[spoiler:Lucy after her breakdown following Mike rejecting her confession]]. Later, [[spoiler:he himself gets in on it (canonically, no less) [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c76/p11.html at the end of "Leaving Home"]], after Lucy leaves.]]
318* SirSwearsALot: Often from sophomore year onwards.
319* StupidSexyFriend: On occasion, Paulo will have fantasies that segue into them involving Mike somehow.
320* ThirdOptionLoveInterest: Instead of getting together with Lucy or Daisy as expected, he joins with new character Jasmine. [[spoiler:Subverted; he and Jasmine ultimately don't stay together, he had a couple other girls he needs to sort his feelings out with, and Chapter 98 shows that his main love interest was [[CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest Daisy]] all along]].
321* TookALevelInKindness: After many, ''many'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "The Reason You Suck" Speeches]], Paolo eventually starts getting his act together and becomes increasingly more [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold "heart of gold"]] than {{Jerkass}}.
322* {{Tsundere}}: Actually gets in on this himself when he [[spoiler:gets confused about his sexuality]]. Justified somewhat in this case--[[spoiler: he's uncomfortable and nervous about understanding his sexuality, and Matt (the target of his behavior), who is gay himself, simply reminds him of that]]. He ends up apologizing for it though.
323* UsedToBeASweetKid: He used to actually be a rather shy boy, who lacked confidence to speak with girls. Then he got the idea to learn from watching an older teen flirt with them and took the lessons to heart.
324[[/folder]]
325
326[[folder:David]]
327!!David
328[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/60bcfaca_a495_4098_ae91_7393034906f7.jpeg]]
329Chipper and dimwitted David sees the world a little differently to those around him. His distance from the others sometimes yields surprisingly astute observations.
330
331He's never had any solid relationship, if not for trying. He's too busy stalking other girls or goofing off to really get one.
332----
333* AchievementsInIgnorance: Eliminating Abbey from a dodgeball game by catching a ball thrown by him doesn't seem like much, but it means a LOT when it's thrown when the former is a BullyHunter that's quite infamous for being near invincible when having an UnstoppableRage after eliminating his girlfriend in the same game right in front of him. David's reaction to beating Abbey is to make a friendly joke after eliminating him from the game.
334* BigLittleBrother: Despite being the tallest of the group, David is actually the youngest.
335* BerserkButton: Eating his popcorn or flirting with his love interest can get him to growl and bark at Paulo, whom he worships, like a savage animal.
336* BewareTheSillyOnes: Looks ready to maul Paulo in the earlier chapters for trying to eat his popcorn or flirt with his crush.
337* CatchPhrase: David to Kizuna: "Who are you?" Poor girl can't get a break...
338** David also tends to come out of nowhere with an "'''AWKWARD'''" announcement.
339* CloudCuckoolander: Because of this, his [[LoveConfession profession of love]] to Paulo goes ignored... at first.
340* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's the second most athletic member of the characters, behind Mike, actually besting Paulo in sports in a few occasions. He even caught a dodgeball thrown by an [[UnstoppableRage enraged]] [[TheDreaded Abbey,]] after he eliminated Daisy in a dodgeball game. And he did it while still retaining his silly nature.
341* FlatCharacter: Although he actually tries to be this, as he attempts to protect himself, and sometimes Paulo, from drama and CharacterDevelopment. His attempts to stay flat and keep the status quo is only hinted at in one or two occasions, but those two occasions actually cause the character development he tried to avoid.
342* FourthWallObserver: The only character who consistently refers to the narrative and interacts with the audience. Also dips into MetaGuy at points, saying opinions that the audience would be more likely to think.
343* OccidentalOtaku
344* ReferenceOverdosed: He constitutes over half the references alone.
345* HeroWorshipper: Looks up to Paulo.
346* SatelliteCharacter: There are few moments where he's not around Paulo, honestly speaking. And aside from his comic relief gimmick he has very little story to contribute himself. Sue even lampahades it:
347--> '''Sue:''' All you do is cheerlead on Paulo and Daisy, dude.
348* ShipperOnDeck: "Everyday Life" shows that David is an avid supporter of Paulo/Daisy, and wants them to sort out their feelings together. He even refers to them as his "OTP" in "Golden Hour".
349* SmarterThanYouLook: By his junior year, he's taking English classes with Daisy and Abbey, both of them among the smartest characters in the series, in spite of him starting high school at the lowest English class level available.
350* TokenMinority: He was the only dog among the original five.
351* ToxicFriendInfluence: David admonishes Paulo for his positive character development, since David looked up to Paulo when he was womanizing.
352[[/folder]]
353
354[[folder:Abbey]]
355!!Abraham "Abbey"
356[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c906dd9a_db2a_451b_b1f4_5c6c472a19ca.jpeg]]
357Bound by a strong moral code, Abbey struggles to balance his protective nature with his short temper. While he may butt heads with the more easygoing members of the class, he’s working on it.
358----
359* AbusiveParents: His father was extremely physically abusive, and, from what we see of their interactions, emotional as well.
360* ArmorPiercingQuestion: In Chapter 90, he hands Daisy a biting example of one when [[RageBreakingPoint he makes it clear that he is not taking any more of Paulo's crap]] and pointing out her MoralMyopia, as she was fine defending [[LoveTriangle Mike]] against Lucy while she doesn't say a word against Paulo.
361--> '''Abbey''': If I ever ''did'' do anything to stop him, how would you react?
362--> '''Daisy''': P... Paulo's a good person. He's just... [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold a bit rough sometimes.]] He's just like that.
363--> '''Abbey''': Lucy was '[[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale just like that]]', yet every time you ended up on Michael's side... [[MoralMyopia isn't that right?]]
364** He also ends up on the receiving end of this from Jasmine after seeing Paulo and Daisy together nearly puts him in a rage.
365-->'''Jasmine:''' You shouldn't let [Paulo] get to you.
366-->'''Abbey:''' Let me guess: "[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold He's not so bad]]"?
367-->'''Jasmine:''' And what if he isn't?
368* BerserkButton: Don't abuse/insult a girl in front of Abbey, unless you want [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown a face full of fists]].
369** [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c62/p12.html This]] could be [[Manga/DeathNote a bad sign]].
370** He develops one about Daisy as well, in a CrazyJealousGuy sort of way. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c89/p35.html And not in the fun way, either.]]
371* BigDamnHeroes: Manages this twice, no less, saving Tess the first and Daisy the second.
372* BetaCouple: With Daisy. [[spoiler:Originally. Now it's complicated...]]
373* BewareTheNiceOnes: He tries his best to be a good person, and if you treat him and those he cares about with respect, he's quite kind and cheerful, if a little stuffy. But [[BullyHunter never bully someone with this guy around]]. [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge He will beat the shit out of you.]]
374* BigBrotherInstinct: Is incredibly protective of his little sister, and women in general.
375* BullyHunter: Abbey hates bullies, mostly as a product of living with an [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] who terrorized him, his mother, and his sister. During the student council election debate against Sue, he even argues that the punishment for bullying in school should be immediate expulsion. It's also one of his main problems with Paulo who, despite having redeeming qualities, can be a bully in the way he harasses certain people, like Mike and Abbey himself, for no real reason.
376* DarkAndTroubledPast: Had an abusive father. [[spoiler: Said father had an affair, which Abbey happened to witness. He told his mother, who confronted him about it. She ended up getting beaten so badly that she had to go to the hospital, and later died (implied to be from her injuries). Abbey ended up internalizing the entire thing as being his fault because of it, which wasn't helped when, upon being arrested, his father told him [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild he was the one who destroyed their family.]]]]
377* FreudianExcuse: Has rage issues due to his father being abusive, having cheated on his mother, and may or may not have been the direct cause of [[spoiler: his mother's death]].
378* FullNameBasis: Abbey rarely uses nicknames on his peers. While it's not too noticeable with most of the cast, he pointedly never stops referring to Mike as his proper name "Michael".
379* GreenEyedMonster: While he does have genuine reasons to dislike Paulo (Paulo gives him a ''lot'' of grief during most of the run of the comic), some of his more violent anger towards him comes across as this, growing increasingly incensed by even seeing him ''talking'' to Daisy out of the belief that that Paulo is trying to steal her away and hurt her. In reality Daisy is the one person Paulo ''doesn't'' try to score with.
380* HeelRealization: Not that Abbey was ever really a heel per-se, but during a talk with Jasmine he breaks down in tears at the thought that he may be wrong about Paulo being nothing but a scumbag to Daisy, which in his eyes makes ''him'' a bully for all the intimidation and threats of violence he passed his way.
381** He gets another one later on when he accidently sets off Paulo's insecurities over being abandoned by his mother, even trying to comfort him when he starts crying despite having just gone off on a tangent over how much he hates Paulo and sees him as worthless. This one seems to stick, as when they're seen later Abbey is noticeably less hostile to him.
382* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Dangerously borders on this, which he worries about constantly. [[spoiler: In the process of trying to stop bullies, he engages in their very same tactics of violence and intimidation, sometimes for minor offenses like teasing.]]
383* InternalizedCategorism: His daddy issues causes him to hold disdain for any overtly masculine men.
384* JerkassHasAPoint: In spite of his issues, Abbey has [[http://askbcb.tumblr.com/post/128946115681 justified reasons to dislike Paulo...at least most of them.]]
385* KnightTemplar: Well, at first he seemed to just [[BullyHunter hate bullying]] thanks to his FreudianExcuse, but as of Chapter 62, [[spoiler:and being elected onto Student Council, [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c62/p11.html he's ready to expel]] ''anyone'' [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c62/p13.html for the slightest bullying.]]]]
386* MatchmakerCrush: He initially tries to make Mike accept Daisy's feelings, since that is what would make Daisy truly happy.
387* PetTheDog: One of the reasons of his dislike for Paulo is that he's disgusted with him for having the female student body beat up Mike during the earlier chapters for "cheating" because Paulo refused to acknowledge Sandy's existence. It is the only reason in his rant about his hate for Paulo that is not personal.
388* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Hands one [[spoiler: to Paulo]], with a brutal assessment of his character [[spoiler: regarding Paulo's treatment of the women in his life, along with a threat to stay away from Daisy.]] And this is after choking him long enough to leave him gasping for air.
389---> '''Abbey''': "''Stay away from her.'' I know the kind of person you are. [[TheCasanova Taking advantage of every girl who even looks your way.]] On to the next, and on to the next. [[BerserkButton I'm not letting it happen to her.]]... You're not fooling me. [[IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer I'm simply giving you a warning.]] That's all."
390** He gives Paulo another one after they end up in the principal's office, calling him out on his mistreatment of others and essentially stating that no one genuinely cares about him, they just put up with him. This winds up making Paulo cry and reveal that his mother abandoned him, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone something Abbey was clearly not expecting.]]
391* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness
392* ShadowArchetype: [[spoiler:His "Disaster Dominoes" version. Abbey hates abuse, that Abbey was abusive. Abbey loves Daisy, that Abbey constantly tried to beat what he didn't like out of her. Abbey gets therapy, that one clearly didn't.]]
393* ShipTease: With Daisy until they got together, and a little bit here and there, with Jasmine after they decide to befriend each other in "Clean Slate".
394* SingleTargetSexuality: Unlike the other characters who have had multiple love interests and crushes, Abbey has always been solely devoted to Daisy. [[spoiler: This unfortunately ends up causing him great heartbreak when he discovers she still loves Mike, and still finds herself wanting to talk to Paulo.]]
395* TallDarkAndSnarky: Abbey is the second tallest male character next to David, and also has the second darkest shade of fur. Abbey is usually polite and genial, but his snarkiness manifests around those he dislikes or thinks are stupid (like Paulo).
396* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] Abbey is currently seeing a therapist about the mental issues that resulted from his [[AbusiveParents past.]] He's slowly recovering. [[spoiler: Maybe.]]
397* TurnOutLikeHisFather: He does in "Disaster Dominoes", but is otherwise struggling with it throughout the whole series. He fears this trope more than anything, and his small doubt that his behavior towards Paulo as a perceived threat to Daisy is nothing more than violent misunderstandings is just a leadup to it.
398* [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Violently Protective Boyfriend]]: In the process of thinking he's doing what's right for Daisy, he ends up hurting the people he thinks will mistreat her the most, and stays very wary of Paulo for this reason. [[spoiler:He ends up assaulting Paulo, giving him a forearm choke in the bathroom of a convention, warning him to not try anything on Daisy.]]
399* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates people who are abusive, while he himself physically threatens and harms what he considers to be acceptable targets.
400[[/folder]]
401
402!Secondary Characters
403[[folder:Sue]]
404!!Susan "Sue"
405[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/89ce6c69_2f9f_4640_b192_67243a2594e0.jpeg]]
406Always busy behind the scenes, Sue's interest in the dramatic doesn't always extend to her social life. She'd much rather be writing or directing.
407----
408* AmbiguouslyGay: She ''really'' likes hanging out with Amaya. Although she recently mentioned having broken up with a boyfriend (which was [=McCain=]).
409* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Early in the comic she wanted to have a part in her classmates' drama, feeling her own life was boring or uninteresting. Her involvement in Mike and Lucy's problems later on eventually leads to her feeling guilty about Lucy's breakdown and having [[TookALevelInJerkass Mike scream at her for always taking Lucy's side when she's trying to get him to open up]]. The next time there's a dramatic outburst she practically flees.
410* CantHoldTheirLiquor
411* CoolKidAndLoserFriendship: With Stacy, eventually.
412* DramaClub
413* GoGetterGirl: She's got a fairly extensive list of extracurriculars and difficult classes. Unfortunately for her, she can't measure up to Daisy and has slightly below average natural talent for balancing it all. In fact, she's become comfortable with losing.
414* GracefulLoser: When Daisy "steps in" Abbey's place during student government elections, she first asks if she's joking. But by the end, she's impressed how Daisy can parlay her charisma into a dark horse victory.
415* NotSoAboveItAll: After claiming she knows how to drink responsibly, she throws up.
416* IJustWantToBeSpecial: She spent the first part of high school feeling sad that she didn't get to be a part of her friend's exciting soap opera drama type lives. She walks back on this as the drama starts to have lasting negative consequences.
417* OnlySaneMan: Understandably doesn't want to be a part of any of the relationship drama that plagues her classmates. Even now that she's got a bigger role in it than before, she's still the most emotionally well adjusted and rational out of the main cast.
418* PutOnABus: During freshman year. She later got a supporting role in sophomore year.
419* ShipTease: A lot with [=McCain=], although after [=McCain=] got hit with the ChuckCunninghamSyndrome, this sadly never got explored in the comic proper. Apparently they had an entire relationship and breakup ''offscreen''.
420* TeamMom: As the most normal person in the central circle of friends, she's usually the one that can be relied on for an unbiased opinion on a subject, and is stable enough to be supportive of any (or all) sides.
421* [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Two Girls]]: With Amaya, though it is [[AmbiguouslyGay heavily implied]] they are ''dating''. For a while, she was this with [=McCain=] until he left the comic.
422* YaoiFangirl: Appparently she seems to ship [[http://askbcb.tumblr.com/post/49005900924 MikexPaulo...]]
423* YouNeverAsked: She went through an entire relationship with [=McCain=] and a breakup, but it was so understated in comparison to everyone else's drama that nobody even noticed. The breakup was so amicable that her life essentially continued unchanged.
424[[/folder]]
425
426[[folder:Sandy]]
427!!Sandy
428[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/689c748a_fdf3_44d3_bc67_579edfdc5b10.jpeg]]
429Mike’s very own green light on the horizon, Sandy is Mike’s earliest childhood friend and his current love interest. Having found success as a young model, she struggles with the demands of work, school, and a budding long-distance relationship.
430----
431* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: In "Eternal Flame" [[spoiler: it's revealed she started to develop feelings for her hairdresser during her work abroad.]]
432* AllTakeAndNoGive: Implied to be this in the main story, but blatantly portrayed this way in "Grave Concern". Mike supports her and cherished her whenever he could, but Sandy doesn't have the time or the patience to do the same and barely contacts Mike during their LongDistanceRelationship.
433* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Eventually the pressures from her modeling career and her StageMom start to get her, [[spoiler: leading to her becoming noticeably more uptight and her relationship with Mike becoming more unbalanced and distant]].
434* ChildhoodFriend: With Daisy when they were little kids, but doesn't remember her now.
435* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Mike. [[spoiler: It's less than ideal.]]
436* FurryFemaleMane: Has a black one, which stands out against her white fur.
437* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: "Track Meet" hints that [[spoiler: Daisy used to have feelings for her in the third grade.]]
438* GrowingUpSucks: Working as a model since she was a preteen unfortunately puts her at odds with other people her age. She acts like a young adult more than a teenager.
439* InformedAttractiveness: Supposed to be model-like in appearance, but looks similar to most of the other females. However, the comic presents her modeling success to be more a product of her demeanor and manner if anything.
440* LongDistanceRelationship: With Mike. [[spoiler: It's a pretty bad one.]]
441* NiceGirl: She is a rather sweet person, but can be InnocentlyInsensitive at times. [[spoiler:While the way she goes about her breakup is rather abrupt, even then she felt guilty about developng feelings for another man while still dating.]]
442* MyBelovedSmother: With a heaping dose of StageMom too. The few things we get about Sandy's relationship with her mother indicates that a ''lot'' of her upbringing is controlled by her. Her moving was dictated by her, her contracts and show appearances go through her (to the point where it's hinted that Sandy struggles with schooling and work), and even her relationships go through her. In Chapter 115, Sandy all but outright states that the leading reason for [[spoiler:her breakup with Francis]] was because her mother didn't approve, and ''explicitly'' states that she can date Mike because [[spoiler:her mother sees him as the "safe" option since he's nowhere near her]]. It seems like the story doesn't really blame her for her aloof nature because of this, as even Lucy in an alternate chapter acknowledgegs that Sandy's mom is the cause of most of her grief.
443* PutOnABus: Rather literally.
444* TheGhost: for the longest time.
445* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Mike misinterprets some advice from her to badly damage his relationship with Lucy.
446[[/folder]]
447
448[[folder:Jessica]]
449!!Jessica "Jess"
450[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/263005f9_e50c_4bcb_9382_febb121d287d.jpeg]]
451Jessica is a proud, quick-witted member of the cheerleading team who is never afraid to voice her opinion. Together with her closest friend Rachel, she has been quick to offer compassion to Daisy.
452----
453* BerserkButton: Jessica [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c63/p18.html hates it]] when called out about how she bullies Tess, which led to Lucy's button being pressed... [[spoiler:Tess pretty much just takes the bullying.]]
454* BreakTheCutie: Jessica got this from a lot of the school and Tess as a freshman.
455* FreudianExcuse: See main page.
456* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Has been seen drunk in "Back and Forth".
457* IncompatibleOrientation: With Lucy, for a bit.
458* LipstickLesbian: Her sexuality was previously only implied, before being confirmed by her relationship with Madison.
459** Her crush on Lucy was revealed in the [[LoveChart relationship chart]], and, after being hinted at a couple times in the comic proper, eventually comes up in "Golden Hour", after she's over it and started dating Madison.
460** There's also the "Ask Roseville High" post where Jasmine is asked about her thoughts on homosexuality, and recieves glares from Jess and [[AmbiguouslyBi David]].
461** She also calls Katie "hot" in "Casting Call".
462** And she makes it clear that she only slept with Paulo to piss off Tess.
463[[/folder]]
464
465[[folder:Rachel]]
466!!Rachel "Rachie"
467[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/46aaf7c2_4bbf_4bff_9f31_3f3889d9967c.jpeg]]
468A true flirt, Rachel revels in playful jokes that make light of those around her. While her open nature is often confronting to friends, her cheerful demeanour always shines through.
469----
470* ButtMonkey: In Pillow Talk.
471* FagHag: Her friend group is overwhelmingly filled with bisexuals and homosexuals.
472* FriendsWithBenefits: With Paulo starting out, since she has her desire for a family in the future and Paulo's still holding onto Lucy. But she finds it very difficult ''not'' to fall in love with him. [[spoiler:She eventually ends even this when Lucy returns in "Unspoken Rule".]]
473* FriendlyEnemy: Her teasing of Tess was never really mean spirited. During a sleepover at Daisy's, she barely cared that Tess was there, even stating that she's 'gotten used to her'.
474* LoveHurts: She honestly does love Paulo, but in between his problems and his continuous pining for Lucy, she can't catch a break. [[spoiler:Eventually, she accepts they won't be together and moves on.]]
475* LovableSexManiac: She's not shy at all about her love of sex, but she's on good terms with the group and a sweet girl.
476* NiceGirl: Is perhaps ''too'' understanding of Paulo's insecurities.
477* ReallyGetsAround: A self-admitted slut.
478* SecretSecretKeeper: She knew all along that [[spoiler:Jessica wasn't nearly as experienced as she claimed.]]
479* SexForSolace: She engaged in this for Paulo, which started their complicated relationship.
480* SmarterThanYouLook: She's smart enough that she's got a realistic chance of getting into high quality colleges.
481* VitriolicBestBuds: While Tess definitely doesn't feel this way, as some point Rachel's dislike for her morphed into this.
482--> ''Hey bitch! Glad I won't be seeing your sorry face again... I was just kidding. Good luck, okay?''
483[[/folder]]
484
485[[folder:Jasmine]]
486!!Jasmine "Jazz" "Jazzie"
487[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b54ef73c_4d80_434f_97e8_26ca59d4098c.jpeg]]
488A peppy freshman girl whose life is dominated by school activities. While she’d ordinarily keep to her own group of friends, Jasmine has taken an immediate liking to Paulo, happily adopting the role of his girlfriend and principal partner-in-crime.
489----
490* AsianAndNerdy
491* BetterAsFriends: [[spoiler: While they don't exactly become best buds, she and Paulo mutually split after realizing they don't have the time (on her end) or the emotional commitment (on his end) to maintain the relationship.]]
492* ButNotTooForeign: She's ''kinda'' asian.
493* EducationMama: implied to be the reason why she's in so many clubs and sports, although she actually enjoys most of them and harbors no resentment.
494* ExtracurricularEnthusiast: Is part of at least three clubs and one sports team.
495* GoGetterGirl: Has a frankly oppressing amount of extracurricular activities, to the point where she barely has time for her boyfriend. Not helped by the fact that when she does have free time, she's more likely to waste it with her regular friends than her boyfriend.
496* NowOrNeverKiss: Paulo and her date for a long time without making any technically romantic contact. They kiss [[spoiler:on the very night they break up.]]
497* SixthRanger: She joins the cast long after the core dynamic has been established, and is dropped not long after.
498* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: A short but harsh one, [[spoiler:toward Paulo.]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c77/p18.html And what a zinger it is.]]
499* ThirdOptionLoveInterest: [[spoiler:It doesn't last.]]
500* WiseBeyondTheirYears: While not free of issues herself, she is shown to be one of the most emotionally mature and reasonable characters on the cast, despite being younger than the core group herself.
501[[/folder]]
502
503[[folder:Augustus]]
504!!Augustus / "Final Fantasy Cat"
505[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/94503761_c55e_419b_8d4e_e46b2d8b5f01.jpeg]]
506Calm and composed, Augustus is always sure of himself and executes his tasks with quiet efficiency and biting wit. While he keeps his emotions close to his vest, there’s one girl who can unravel everything…
507----
508* AntiVillain: Arguably, as he genuinely cares for and respects Daisy and cares enough about Lucy to prevent her from following him home, given how terrible we see his home life to be. Also, he doesn't seem to be very keen [[spoiler: on helping Alejandro get revenge on the main cast, and is fully aware of how horrible Alejandro truly is.]]
509* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler:Looked like he was about to do [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c40/p17.html this]] to Daisy, but Abbey intervened, though it turns out he never planned to go there in the first place.]]
510* BrutalHonesty: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p9.html In]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p10.html spades.]]
511* TheCharmer: Used on Daisy, and it almost worked until Abbey came along. Averted with Lucy as she cut him off at jump street before he could begin to try with her.
512* TheCorruptible: He wasn't always the way he is now - he was turned that way. [[TheCorrupter Alejandro saw to that.]]
513* EveryoneHasStandards: He's rather harsh to Lucy about her reasons for feeling depressed, but when it looks like she's about to actually attempt suicide, [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c73/p15 he does freak out]], and tries to stop her. He later calls an ambulance when it actually happens.
514* EvilGenius: Apparently plays this role in Alejandro's gang [[spoiler: since Alejandro assigned him to develop a plan to get his revenge on the main group]], though he's [[AntiVillain not all that evil]]. And he's at least intelligent enough [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c86/p27.html to maintain an A-average.]]
515* {{Foil}}: To Lucy. Taeshi herself says that "[[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c63/p7.html [Augustus] renders her NORMAL.]]"
516* FriendlyEnemy: His thick skinned attitude makes him a good friend to Lucy, since unlike most of her other friends he'll never take her insults to heart, in addition to dishing to her as well as she gives. [[spoiler:Leans more towards "friends" after he saves her life when she survives her BungledSuicide.]]
517* HeelFaceTurn: Appears to be going down this route, since he saved Lucy's life by calling an ambulance instead of letting her bleed out when she attempted suicide; him being accepted into Lucy's family and his aspirations to graduate high school make this even more plausible.
518* JerkassHasAPoint: His TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Lucy below is just one example of many times he's done this because he's not the sugarcoaty type.
519* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Augustus might be rough around the edges and can be perceived as untrustworthy but deep down, he's not really a bad person, which can be observed in his friendship with Lucy and genuine respect and love for Daisy. He even goes out of his way to [[spoiler: reach out to Mike to hear his side of the story in regards to the events of "Eternal Flame", despite giving him a very harsh TheReasonYouSuckSpeech]].
520* LikeBrotherAndSister: His eventual relationship with [[spoiler:Lucy]], after [[spoiler:he saved her after her suicide attempt and she allowed him to stay in her home]]. While he does tell her he loves her, he means it strictly in the familial sense.
521* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: Seems to be his reasoning for talking to Lucy despite the two's apparent disinterest in one another.
522* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives a short one to Lucy [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p10.html to call her out on her]] DespairEventHorizon in regards to Mike, seeing them as SkewedPriorities.
523-->'''Augustus''': "[[AdultsAreUseless Do you have parents?]]"
524-->'''Lucy''': "Yes?"
525-->'''Augustus''': "[[ParentalNeglect A place to sleep?]]"
526-->'''Lucy''': Yeah...?
527-->'''Augustus''': "[[DarkAndTroubledPast In a safe neighborhood?]]"
528-->'''Lucy''': "What?"
529-->'''Augustus''': "And you want to ''die'' [[SkewedPriorities because some stupid kid won't return your feelings.]] [[BrutalHonesty You're absolutely worthless.]]"
530* OnlySaneMan: One of the more levelheaded characters. This is becoming his more seen side.
531* TheSmartGuy: Of Alejandro's crew, being the one in charge of making schemes for revenge. Because Alejandro himself ''is too lazy to do so''.
532* {{Schemer}}: Was this for Alejandro and even makes some schemes for himself, to the point he does it unintentionally now.
533* SmugSnake: More so in his first appearances, especially in his interactions with Abbey when he taunts for being just like his abusive father.
534* TookALevelInKindness: In his earlier appearances, he was actively malicious. He eventually realizes how horrible Alejandro is and settles on trying to befriend the main cast.
535* UsedToBeASweetKid: He really did, and though he was stealing in his origin story he states it is only because nobody at home really cared for him. [[TheCorruptible But then Alejandro got a hold of him.]]
536[[/folder]]
537
538!Pets
539[[folder:Yashy]]
540!!Yashy
541Lucy’s first pet, and the loudest by far. Yashy is something of a prodigy, with a sharp wit that betrays her young age. Bratty, loudmouthed, and rude, deep down she wants nothing more for Mom to settle down with her flea.
542----
543* ActionGirl: She's seen as pretty hot-headed and violent towards others.
544* BrattyHalfPint: What she lacks in size, she more than makes up for in volume.
545* CatchPhrase: "Whore!!" to Daisy.
546* ChildProdigy: The character page states she's one of these, but would rather insult others than put it to other uses.
547* DeadpanSnarker: Is a user of this very frequently.
548* {{Expy}}: She was originally supposed to be a baby VideoGame/{{Yoshi}}, but after many years, the tone of the story changing, her personality developing, and [[YouWannaGetSued a fear of copyright law striking]], Yashy was slowly changed into a lizard-thing that somewhat ''looks'' like a Yoshi but isn't. Any references to Yoshi like laying multi-purpose eggs or using a prehensile tongue to attack/swallow were also removed, most notably in the remake of "Chirpy's Introduction". Her name stayed, with the in-universe justification that Lucy simply [[InspirationNod named her after Yoshi]] because of the physical resemblance.
549* [[GamerChick Gamer Girl]]: She's seen playing video games often and is seen trying to coerce Chirpy into one of them during her first appearance in-comic.
550* TheNicknamer: Mike is "Flea," Daisy is "Whore."
551* OneOfTheBoys: More action-oriented, snarkier and less feminine than the other characters and rarely gets upset over the dramatic situations the main characters are facing, with one exception.
552* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[spoiler: When Mike goes to see Lucy in the hospital following her suicide attempt, he sees Yashy. Yashy doesn't even bother to look at him and [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious refers to him by name]], rather than her usual "Flea"]].
553* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Along with Lily, she's moved to Lucy's grandmother's house and insists on not coming back to Roseville. But not before delivering a WhamLine.]]
554* ShipperOnDeck: Yashy considers Lucy and Mike to more or less be a couple, hence why she refers to Daisy as "Whore", as she thinks she's trying to steal Mike from Lucy. [[spoiler: She probably doesn't think Lucy and Mike would be a couple now.]]
555* SpeaksInShoutOuts: Lucy claims that the reason she won't take Yashy to movies anymore is because Yashy keeps quoting them.
556* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: She's the tomboy to Chirpy.
557[[/folder]]
558
559[[folder:Chirpy]]
560!!Chirpy
561Innocent and naïve, Chirpy remains in awe of the world around her. She clings to Yashy and always does her best to follow the examples of grown-ups (while making frequent mistakes in the process.)
562----
563* CheerfulChild
564* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:She eventually rediscovers her mother and sibling and goes on to live with them again.]]
565* HalfIdenticalTwins: She has an estranged twin brother, who she never got to grow up with until years later.
566* TheNicknamer: Refers to other characters by simplistic, descriptive nicknames; Lucy is Girl-Kitty and Mike is Boy-Kitty.
567* ParentalAbandonment: Her mother was attacked by a snake, and only had the strength to carry one egg. [[spoiler:Lucy may have gone this way.]]
568* PutOnABus: [[spoiler: Along with Lucy and the other pets in "Breaking Up". She continues to stay gone after Lucy returns, where it's revealed she's staying with Lucy's grandmother.]]
569* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: She's the girly girl to Yashy.
570* WideEyedIdealist: She's ''far'' less happy about Yashy's violent habits.
571[[/folder]]
572
573[[folder:Lily]]
574!!Lily
575Lucy’s most mature pet, Lily is a source of wisdom for much of the cast (and babysitter to others.) Patient and understanding, she is usually able to steer her friends in the right direction.
576----
577* PutOnABus: [[spoiler: Along with Yashy, she moved in with Lucy's grandmother When Lucy is transferred to private school.]]
578* ThereAreNoTherapists: Lily averts this one single-handedly.
579* SecretKeeper: She's the only one of the pets who knows about Sandy and Mike's relationship...[[spoiler:at least until Lucy finally reveals the secret to Yashy and Chirpy, much to their devastation.]]
580* WhatTheHellHero: To Mike after [[spoiler:his directly causing Lucy's breakdown]].
581* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Assuming she's not [[OlderThanTheyLook Older Than She Looks]].
582[[/folder]]
583
584[[folder:Blur]]
585!!Blur
586Mike’s pet bird Blur was rescued from a fire as a youngster and has trouble remembering what came before the incident. He counts Yashy as a close friend and can often be seen playing or arguing with her.
587----
588* LineOfSightName: In a sense, Yashy declared Blur to be his name after he called his memory a "blur."
589* MeaningfulName: "You're as quick as a blur and your memory sucks!"
590* NoNameGiven: Due to amnesia, we never learn anything as to who he was before that fateful thunderstorm.
591* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname
592* {{Shoo Out the Clown|s}}: Sort of. [[spoiler:He runs away after Lucy is PutOnABus, since her own pets left with her.]]
593* TheOneGuy: Of the pets.
594[[/folder]]
595
596!Fan Characters
597[[folder:Tess]]
598!!Tessa "Tess" Canning
599A rich party girl with a rebellious streak, Tess departed the scorched earth of Junior year to find newer, younger friends. She has since struggled to reconcile her upcoming graduation with the close friendships she quickly forged.
600----
601* BelligerentSexualTension: With Paulo. [[spoiler:Originally.]]
602* BigFancyHouse: Lives in one. Mike and Lucy are [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c28/p4.html suitably impressed]].
603* BookDumb: Still needs to study for [=PSATs=] in ''senior year.''
604* ButtMonkey: Tess has minor butt monkey time around Jessica and Rachel.
605* DemotedToExtra: After becoming a major character up until the main characters' sophomore year, her relevance to the plot decreases as she continues to focus on her studies.
606* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Tess has drinking mentioned in her character bio. She was seen drinking wine in the "Arrival" chapter of the Summer Vacation arc.
607* HeelFaceTurn: A pre-story example.
608* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:She graduates high school and heads off to college late into the series.]]
609* RichBitch: During her relationship with Roger. Junior and senior year, still rich but not a bitch anymore.
610* TheTease: She's occassionally like this with Paulo.
611* {{Tsundere}}: Tess is one, [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c45/p7.html too.]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c44/p5.html Sometimes.]]
612[[/folder]]
613
614[[folder:[=McCain=]]]
615!!Alec "[=McCain=]" [=McCain=]
616Alec "[=McCain=]" [=McCain=] remains detached at all times, making blunt pronouncements in situations which do not always welcome them. His tone-deaf flavour of cold rationality doesn’t earn him many favors with most of the cast.
617----
618* TheCameo: Finally makes an apperance in Chapter 89 Guest of Honor, [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c89/p44.html Page44]]
619* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: He made a lot of appearances in earlier volumes, but nowadays he is either offhandedly mentioned or reduced to a non-speaking [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c89/p44.html cameo]]
620* BrutalHonesty: He tends to say what's on his mind, no matter how insensitive or poorly-timed they are.
621* DeadpanSnarker: Usually the one to bring in some snark, which ends up making him a prime target for: "Shut it, [=McCain=]
622* PhraseCatcher: Whenever he tries to say something, almost always everybody tells him to "Shut it, [=McCain=]."
623* PutOnABus: He gets a more graceful exit than Kizuna, but he simply quietly stops appearing, unlike Tess.
624* OddFriendship: His friendship with Sue stems mostly from their shared positions as Straight Men. Still, they get along pretty well and seemingly has gone somewhere once.
625* ShipTease A lot with Sue back in the day, unfortunately after he got hit with ChuckCunninghamSyndrome it has more or less gone nowhere.
626* YouDidntAsk: His now non-canon relationship with Sue was going to be revealed this way, until he was dropped from the comic.
627[[/folder]]
628
629[[folder:Kizuna]]
630!!Kizuna "Kizu"
631Madly in love with David, Kizuna never has [[AllLoveIsUnrequited any luck getting David to notice her, let alone consider her romantically.]] Airheaded and clumsy, Kizuna is nevertheless a skilled cook, sadly for David. She appears oblivious to his dimwitted comments.
632----
633* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:In Disaster Dominoes.]]
634* AmusingInjuries: Two notable instances include EyeScream and being used to make a fire.
635* CuteClumsyGirl
636* BusCrash: in a reference to [[ShooOutTheNewGuy Poochie]].
637* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Her artist requested Taeshi cease using her.]]
638[[/folder]]
639
640[[folder:Carson]]
641!!Carson
642Carson is a manifestation of his creator’s heartfelt objection to the pervasiveness of the [[StereotypeGay “token” gay stereotype]] in modern pop culture. (He [[AbhorrentAdmirer blindly loves Michael]], [[CampGay dresses flamboyantly]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] borrows his name from “Series/QueerEye”.)
643----
644* AbhorrentAdmirer: Blindly loves Mike, in which Mike doesn't return his feelings
645* CampGay
646* CrossDresser: He dresses up as a ''japanese schoolgirl'' for Halloween.
647* ForgottenFallenFriend: For a definition of friend, anyway. During Halloween, Mike leaves him at the bottom of a basement with no way out. Nobody cared. However, this is non-canon, and has been removed from the story.
648* IncompatibleOrientation: With Mike.
649* KilledOffForReal: To an extent. The pages where Carson is trapped were removed and are now non-canon, but Carson has seemingly disappeared from the story since then.
650* StereotypeGay
651[[/folder]]
652
653[[folder:Carter]]
654!!Carter
655He loves Lucy.
656----
657* AbhorrentAdmirer: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c33.1/p3.html His absolute weirdness turns everyone off.]]
658* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal]]
659* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He's drawn in a StylisticSuck fashion.
660* RealityWarper: He created a cardboard box TIEM MASHENE. Which also functions as a teleporter, which he uses to spy on Lucy.
661* SingleTargetSexuality: For Lucy.
662* StylisticSuck: He's barely more than a stick figure.
663* StalkerWithACrush
664[[/folder]]
665
666!Minor Characters
667[[folder:Amaya]]
668!!Amaya
669[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6c8c2a6c_6a89_4fe2_95e5_40fa38791e3e.jpeg]]
670Mild-mannered popcorn merchant Amaya is Sue's best friend. She chooses to remain mute. Her job at the cinema can sometimes be very useful to those who know her!
671----
672* AmbiguouslyGay: It is heavily implied she and Sue are dating.
673* CuteMute: Gives off this impression due to her insanely shy nature. Given that she only seems to talk off-camera, she's actually TheSilentBob.
674* FlatCharacter: By virtue of an inability to really contribute to the plot, and having never been in a major relationship. Her only actual trait is a generically sunny disposition.
675* NotSoStoic: Her constant smile ''vanishes'' when Mike slams Paulo's face into the table and has a look of concern for him afterwards.
676* PerpetualSmiler: She is almost ''always'' seen with a smile on her face. The only times where she's not is while she's in contemplation.
677* ThoseTwoGirls: With Sue, to AmbiguouslyGay standards.
678* TheQuietOne: Amaya ''can'' talk. She just chooses not to. At least while she's on-screen, anyway.
679[[/folder]]
680
681[[folder:Katie]]
682!!Katherine "Katie" He
683Precocious Katie spends most of her time worrying about makeup and hair styles and has been duly rewarded by her position as the most popular girl in school. She’s not necessarily mean and cruel… she just doesn’t think too much about others.
684----
685* AlphaBitch
686* BrainlessBeauty: Oh, my gawd. That is, like, sooo Katie, y'know? Like, totally.
687* CarloadOfCoolKids: Her apparent standard state of being.
688* CleavageWindow: Seen [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c19/p5.html here]]
689* ForbiddenFriendship: While she genuinely enjoys Daisy's company, Daisy is "uncool" and thus can't hang out with her at school.
690[[/folder]]
691
692[[folder:Stacy]]
693!!Stacy
694Katie’s best friend. Fluent in the written word, Stacy’s peers haven’t (yet) deterred her from a passion for reportage, creative writing, and poetry.
695----
696* ClosetGeek: She loves to cosplay and talk about her hobbies, just not when she's around more popular company. Sue eventually gets tired of this attitude and has a minor spat with her about it, but they decide to keep the friendship.
697* IHaveThisFriend: She didn't give Mike that love note, honest. But she's sure whoever sent them was very thankful Mike kept them.
698* GamerChick
699* ShrinkingViolet: Due to being ashamed of each and every one of her hobbies.
700[[/folder]]
701
702[[folder:Flower Girl]]
703!!Flower Girl
704This mysterious girl is absent from just about everything besides David’s fantasies. While she remains unaware, she has completely captured David’s affections, and he spends a lot of his time clumsily stalking her.
705[[/folder]]
706
707[[folder:Molly]]
708!!Molly
709Abbey’s little sister seems to have an endless reserve of childish positivity, showing strong dedication to schoolwork and her local Girl Scout troop. She loves her brother dearly, and shoulders more of their shared burden than he’d like.
710----
711* CheerfulChild: [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c56/p14.html Just don't mention her mother.]]
712* CowardlyLion
713* CuteKitten
714* FearlessFool: Her failure to grasp the magnitude of danger is what allows her to stay calm during a ''kidnapping''.
715* KiddieKid: Despite a 3 to 4 year age difference between her and Abbey, her stature and demeanor make her seem younger. {{Lampshaded}} when Paulo asks if she's six/seven years old, only to be shocked when she reveals herself to be 12 (as of 2009).
716* PrecociousCrush: "Everyday Life" reveals that she's gained one on Paulo. Even though she's far out of his strike zone, he can't seem to help attracting tsunderes.
717* TheTell: While she always acts happy...
718--> Justin: ''You don't look too happy yerself! Yer ears always down!''
719* TomboyAngst: Her 2009 New Years resolution is to get stronger and much more "buff" than she is; but when Paulo is in earshot, she quickly amends it to be "dainty and beautiful like a model" with an embarrassed face.
720[[/folder]]
721
722[[folder:James]]
723!!James
724[[quoteright:321:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_bcb.png]]
725A member of Roseville High's track team who seems to have a rather keen interest in Mike. He also works with Paulo at the Burger-Tron.
726----
727* EvenTheGuysWantHim: "Track Meet" hints that [[spoiler: Paulo has a crush on him.]]
728* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: He has golden fur and a sunny, friendly personality, if not a bit [[InnocentlyInsensitive insensitive]] at times.
729* InnocentlyInsensitive: Shows shades of this in "Link Play".
730* Keet: He's very friendly, bubbly, and excitable.
731* MirrorCharacter: To Daisy. [[https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c116/p6 Mike even notes the resemblance they share]]. They're both energetic, friendly, fluffy-furred cats, albeit with a tendency to be InnocentlyInsensitive at times. Both of them are also quite athletic, with Daisy being a cheerleader and James being a member of the track team.
732* NewTransferStudent: He went to another school when he was first introduced, but he trasferred to Roseville High offscreen sometime after the summer. [[HandWaved He's not even in the same year as Paulo]], so he never saw reason to bring it up.
733* NiceGuy: Very much so.
734* ShipTease: With [[spoiler:Mike]] in the "Date Night" chapter.
735* StalkerWithoutACrush: Freely admits to stalking Mike for over four months to scope him out for the track team. To his credit, it worked. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}}. As it turns out, he ''does'' have a crush on Mike]].
736[[/folder]]
737
738[[folder:Justin]]
739!!Justin
740A hapless kid dragged into various misadventures by other members of the cast, Justin is generally seen looking for cover and wishing he could just go back home.
741----
742* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: He hasn't made an appearance for several chapters straight!
743* GogglesDoNothing
744* TheDragAlong
745* PreciousPuppies
746* WhatYouAreInTheDark: He comes back to save Molly upon realizing how ashamed he felt to abandon somebody.
747[[/folder]]
748
749[[folder:Matt]]
750!!Matt "Oreo Cat"
751[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matt_bcb.png]]
752A true optimist at heart, Matt always tries to make the best out of every situation. His inclination to be kind has made his friends fiercely protective of him. [[spoiler: Also confirmed to be gay and has a crush on Jordan, Lucy's Big Brother.]]
753----
754* GentleGiant: He's a big chubby guy with an equally big heart.
755* HiddenDepths: [[spoiler:Obviously due to the fact that he's gay]], he has some emotional baggage and is very kind and understanding. To other people's plights.
756* IncompatibleOrientation: [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, Jordan's straight]].
757* NiceGuy: Probably one of the kinder characters out there in the cast. Even when Paulo, [[spoiler:outright lashes out on him for being gay (due to Paulo himself having to work through his bisexuality), he doesn't get mad at him and is very understanding. Even letting the somali hug him so he could "work things out".]]
758* ShrinkingViolet: He's very shy and quiet, but his shyness increases [[spoiler:when it come to his crush on Jordan.]]
759* [[spoiler:StraightGay]]: Matt is shy, and soft-spoken but he’s not all campy. To the point that [[spoiler:him being gay is quite a shock to Paulo]].
760[[/folder]]
761
762[[folder:Madison]]
763!!Madison
764Madison swears she’s a nice person, but it’s not all that obvious when she’s letting you know about every little thing that annoys her. Jessica, her new girlfriend, finds this adorable.
765----
766* AlphaBitch: Is not afraid to say how much Paulo irks her.
767* BrutalHonesty: Her main method of angriness.
768* ClingyJealousGirl: Mostly over Jess's old crush on Lucy. She flips out when David suggests that she is Jess's ReplacementGoldfish, and later threatens to kill Lucy if she ever comes back. [[spoiler:She also tends to respond to Lucy's presence with unbridled fury after she returns to Roseville High]].
769* GotMeDoingIt: Even if her default mode of interaction is acting bitchy, she can easily get swept up in the enthusiasm of others.
770* InsecureLoveInterest: While yelling at [[spoiler:Lucy]] in "PDA", she reveals that she doesn't think she's good enough for Jess.
771* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite coming off as generally abrasive, she was right to tell Paulo off for ignoring Rachel's feelings for him.
772* ReplacementFlatCharacter: She takes Lucy's place in the circle of personalities when Lucy [[spoiler:transfers out of Roseville High for a year]]. [[spoiler:And when Lucy comes back, Madison serves as a sharp contrast from how Lucy used to act to how she acts after her character development.]]
773* LipstickLesbian: She's in a relationship with Jessica.
774* RunningGag: Everybody keeps calling her Lucy due to the fact that she's pretty much a carbon copy of her, much to her ire.
775* UnknownRival: She pretty much starts to get sick of the fact that people calling her Lucy and threatens to lynch her when she finally meets her.
776* WhatTheHellHero: Calls out Paulo for being blind to Rachel's feelings for him, and treating it as just a FriendsWithBenefits relationship.
777[[/folder]]
778
779[[folder:Alejandro]]
780!!Alejandro/ "Confrontation Cat" or [[spoiler:"Rapecat"]]
781[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alejandro.jpg]]
782A mugger that the gang runs into in the Confrontation arc. After getting beaten by Lucy and Mike, he plans to exact revenge on them.
783----
784* AffablyEvil: Downplayed, as he is only this to the other members of his gang. Usually, he's FauxAffablyEvil.
785* ArchEnemy: To pretty much ''everyone'' in the main cast, specifically Mike and Lucy for the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown they gave him.
786* AssholeVictim: Of a non-lethal sort, he is given a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown by Mike and Lucy, but it was in self-defense.
787* AxCrazy: A ruthless and sadistic gang leader, what did you expect?
788* BadBoss: To his own [[DomesticAbuse girlfriend]] horrifyingly enough, the worst part is, he actually treats the other members of his gang with ''respect''.
789** Some keen-eyed forum users suggest he was the one who [[spoiler:date-raped Tess when she was a freshman]].
790* BigBadFriend: He was friends with Augustus.
791* TheBully: Implied, if he was the boy Tess was dating.
792* ChildHater: Considering he is antagonizing a bunch of teenagers.
793* CloudCuckoolander: A dark example, as he once [[DomesticAbuse beat his girlfriend]], Melanie, because he ''had a dream'' were she cheated on him.
794* CombatSadomasochist: Alejandro took two of Lucy's [[GroinAttack kicks]], had his teeth smashed into each other hard enough to chip one and draw blood, and was still okay enough to [[WouldHitAGirl beat Lucy senseless]] before Mike came back, smashing his face into an alley floor and still not stopping him. It took Mike and Lucy together to turn the fight around (at which point it became a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown). And he beat Mike (and was about to '''crush his skull''') before all this happened.
795* TheCorrupter: If Augustus is anything to go by.
796* TheDreaded: ''Everyone'' in the main cast is terrified of this guy, with good reason of course.
797* DirtyCoward: Abused his defenseless girlfriend, and spent a majority of his on panel time harassing a bunch of teenagers.
798* DomesticAbuse: To Melanie, in a manner disturbingly similar to Abby's dad.
799* {{Ephebophile}}: Had a relationship with a 15-year-old girl named Melanie, and attempted to start one with Lucy as well.
800* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Subverted with Melanie, for [[DomesticAbuse obvious reasons]]. However, it's played straight with the other members of his gang.
801* EvenEvilHasStandards: When Lucy tells a panicking Daisy to shut up, he responded by smacking the former in the face, and telling ''her'' to shut up.
802** He was also clearly disturbed when Lucy gave his [[TheDragon dragon]], Toby, a GroinAttack.
803* EvilDuo: With his [[TheDragon dragon]], Toby.
804* EvilGloating: Probably the only reason Lucy didn't get raped.
805* FauxAffablyEvil: Until you make him mad.
806** He does seem [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c12/p14.html to genuinely care]] [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c41/p1.html for the members of his gang]]. He's a complete douche to everyone else, though.
807* ForTheEvulz: Probably his most defining characteristic, ''everything'' this asshole does is for no reason.
808* GoodScarsEvilScars: Alejandro states in "Confrontation" that his ex-girlfriend [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c12/p17.html is the one who gave him his trademark scar]] when she tried to hurt him, which he proceeded to get her back for.
809* GreaterScopeVillain: While the story doesn't exactly have a primary villain, being an ensemble teen drama, he's most certainly responsible for most of the cast's problems. His manipulations led to Paulo's jerk mentality and phobia of barking, Augustus's corruption, and "Confrontation" in general, which was a key factor in Lucy's worsening self esteem.
810* HatedByAll: Nobody likes this violent jerk, not that he cares.
811%%* HateSink: Easily the most detestable character.
812* {{Jerkass}}: Beyond any reasonable doubt. He's aggressive, violent and extremely confrontational, it is even in his nickname.
813* KnightOfCerebus: This series was always a Dramedy, but the characters were never in any real danger. Alejandro changed that.
814* KickTheDog: This is basically his entire M.O., worst of all, he mostly does it ForTheEvulz.
815* LackOfEmpathy: This guy kicks the shit out of people, robs them blind, and possibly ''raped'' Tess ForTheEvulz.
816%%* LargeHam: "THIS FUCKING GUY!"
817* LaughablyEvil: At least when in a good mood.
818* LazyBum: It's his one weakness as an antagonist. He completely delegates the task of devising a plan for revenge against the main cast to Augustus and has been doing so for two years.
819* MoralMyopia: He doesn't like it when people hurt his gang, even when ''they're'' the ones who started it.
820* PetTheDog: He actually cares about his gang.
821* SerialRapist: ''Heavily'' implied, his ''other'' nickname doesn't help.
822* VillainousFriendship: With his gang, more specifically, his [[TheDragon dragon]] Toby.
823* WouldHitAGirl: And hits two on-panel. He also hit his old girlfriend Melanie when he even ''dreamed'' about her cheating on him.
824* WouldHurtAChild: Alejandro is in his ''twenties.'' And while the main cast is in high school, they aren't even adults, much less his age - which doesn't stop him from beating the crap out of some of them. Or plotting vengeance against them for ''two straight years'' after they turned the tables on him.
825[[/folder]]
826
827[[folder:Toby]]
828!!Toby
829Alejandro's [[TheDragon dragon]] and only true friend.
830----
831* AffablyEvil: Let's just say he is ''a lot'' nicer than his boss.
832* AngryGuardDog: Him defending Alejandro in "confrontation" gives off this vibe, he even savagely barks as he is beating down Paulo.
833* ArchEnemy: To Paulo, as he caused his fear of barking.
834* AssholeVictim: Like Alejandro, of a non-lethal sort, but he was given a pretty vile GroinAttack by Lucy.
835* AxCrazy: His SlasherSmile can be just as big as Alejandro's.
836* TheBrute: He is noticeably stronger than Alejandro, to the point were the latter usually relies on him in a fight.
837* TheBully: Just like his boss.
838* CoDragons: With Augustus to Alejandro, though Toby is much higher on the chain of command than him.
839* TheDragon: To Alejandro, though technically CoDragons with Augustus he is noticeably a lot more involved with Alejandro's crimes.
840* DirtyCoward: Runs like a scared child after Lucy kicks his ass and gives him a GroinAttack.
841* TheDreaded: To Paulo at least, as he caused his fear of barking.
842* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He is Alejandro's only real friend, and they seem to get along.
843* EvenEvilHasStandards: Stopped Alejandro from killing Melanie.
844* EvilDuo: With Alejandro.
845* PunchClockVillain: Implied.
846* FalseFriend: To Augustus.
847* FatBastard: He's quite overweight, not that this stops him from beating the crap out of Paulo.
848* FauxAffablyEvil: Has his moments, like when he explained to Augustus that Alejandro can have him killed at any time, with a big friendly smile.
849* ForTheEvulz: He has no reason for what he does, other than being friends with Alejandro.
850* GreaterScopeVillain: Downplayed, but he is ultimately the cause of Paulo's fear of barking, turning much worse after he and Alejandro discovered it back when Paulo was in sixth grade.
851* HeroKiller: He almost killed Paulo, ''twice''.
852* {{Jerkass}}: He's ''a little'' nicer than Alejandro.
853* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: At first it seems like he is horrified by Alejandro's treatment of Augustus, that flashback in "Trapped" reveals that he isn't.
854* KarmaHoudini: So far, he didn't seem to suffer any long term consequences for his involvement in "Confrontation".
855* KickTheDog: His treatment of Paulo in "Confrontation".
856* KnightOfCerebus: Serves as this with Alejandro.
857* LaughablyEvil: At least when he and Alejandro are just screwing around.
858* NearVillainVictory: He would have most likely ''killed'' Paulo if Lucy didn't show up.
859* ObviouslyEvil: He and Alejandro aren't the nicest looking guys.
860* SmallNameBigEgo: Despite how he's played up, it can't be ignored that he was defeated by children half his age.
861[[/folder]]
862
863[[folder:Melanie]]
864!!Melanie
865Alejandro's old girlfriend.
866----
867* {{Ephebophile}}: [[spoiler: After she pierces Augustus' eyebrows, she kisses him and sleeps with him. {{Downplayed|Trope}} as she's just two years older than him (15 to 13 at the time).]]
868* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler: Subverted. The story seems to point to her dying or some other tragedy happening at the end of her story, but in reality she's merely hospitalized and then manages to escape Alejandro's grasp.]]
869* LoveConfession: [[spoiler: To Augustus.]]
870* TheOneThatGotAway: [[spoiler:Again, to Augustus]].
871* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: Alejandro's abuse has really taken a toll on her.]]
872* StartingANewLife: Dreams of this, as her entire intent is to get a scholarship to a college and escape her current life. Most specifically, she wants to get away from [[DomesticAbuse Alejandro]].
873** [[spoiler:She gets her wish, by being ''hospitalized'']]
874* TheSmurfettePrinciple: So far the only known female member of Alejandro's gang.
875* TokenGoodTeammate: She's easily the nicest member of Alejandro's crew, and objects to bringing a kid in.
876[[/folder]]

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