Line #138 Characters/Flipside


1	This is a list of the characters from the webcomic Webcomic/{{Flipside}}.
2
3	Be aware: the comic's nature is {{NSFW}}, so click the links to it at your own risk. '''Spoilers from the first few chapters of the main comic are unmarked.'''
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5	[[foldercontrol]]
6
7	!Main characters
8
9	[[folder:Maytag]]
10	!!Veranda "Maytag" Kingfisher
11	A young woman in a jester costume [[GoodBadGirl who is an expert on all things related to sex and sexuality, mostly through practical experience]]. She's also athletic, a master of potion use, [[WiseBeyondTheirYears wise beyond her years]] and has placed [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons all her skill points]] into [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Sense Motive]]. Her only weakness is that her incredible confidence comes from the [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman jester suit that she wears]], and without it [[BroughtDownToNormal she reverts to a shy, timid shadow of her former self]].
12	----
13	* AnArmAndALeg: She allows Bloody Mary to [[spoiler:''chew her arm off from the wrist up'' (she'd already eaten Maytag's hand) to stall for time until help arrives]].
14	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: She uses one to force The Thin Man to reconsider his self-righteous position.
15	-->'''Maytag:''' [[spoiler:Is it morally justified to sacrifice so many lives '''on a gamble?''']]
16	* {{Bookworm}}: She used to be this as a child. She would always go off into a corner and read long, thick, and very difficult books.
17	* BagOfHolding: She has a "Dimensional Bag" that holds a variety of potions, knives, and tools.
18	* BattleCouple: With Bernadette. She's the more clever one, while Bernadette is much more knightly and straightforward.
19	* BecomingTheMask: When Crest confronts her in Chapter 31 [[spoiler:about the reveal that she's always been a self-confident person and expresses that even her current teary remorse and penitence over lying to him might well be an act, she admits that both her "jester" and "shy" masks have basically become instinctual for her. She's still capable of going fully cold if she needs to, as she demonstrates to Crest earlier in the conversation, but going by her reactions to his critiques of her, she's aware of how much dissonance there is between how she acts and who "she is", and is keenly aware of the problems that causes in her relationships with others]].
20	* BlitheSpirit: Maytag has a very "live life freely and in the present" sort of attitude to things, including her choice of sexual partners. She is making an active effort to do this less as [[spoiler:her relationship with Bernadette gets more serious, since she's aware that Bern is a lot less open than she is in a lot of ways and she's trying not to hurt her]].
21	* BreakingSpeech: Delivers one to Bloody Mary after she [[spoiler:ate her arm]], albeit a kind one.
22	* BrokenBird: Her entire character is a downplayed version of this; despite her [[TraumaCongaLine traumatic past]], she's so much of a BlitheSpirit as to nearly be TheUnfettered but there are hints of a darker side underneath. It turns out that by and large, her childhood was extremely isolating, [[spoiler:as her cold and analytical personality left her with few friends. She took up "Maytag" as a way to try and get around this, and while it works, she's been putting the mask of "cheerful, flighty jester" and "shy girl" over her colder personality for so long that she sometimes has an identity crisis over how much of herself is authentic versus inauthentic. Even once she mostly resolves this, she's completely aware that she's not the typical person]].
23	* CanNotTellALie: Zigzagged. While all her statements are technically true, Crest points out that faking her personality is a lie in and of itself. She does not take this well.
24	* CharacterDevelopment: By her own admission, her relationship with Bernadette is what has actually taught her what love is, and there are some implications that she's learned how to moderate her own behavior over the course of the comic--not just because she wants to be liked, but also because she doesn't want to hurt people unless she actively has to.
25	* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Subverted. Up to ''Chapter 30: Blackbird'', her often absurd self-confidence was directly tied to her jester outfit. In that chapter, it's revealed that [[spoiler:she has always been self-confident and that she projects both her confident and shy sides to avoid letting people see who she "really" is]].
26	* CreepyChild: Her fellow orphans certainly thought so, due to her tendency to be alone and read a lot of books.
27	* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: There are times where she's so emotionally drained that her eyes tend to be drawn as completely black and half-lidded.
28	* EmotionlessGirl: [[spoiler:Her "true nature" is something close to this, as she is a highly analytical and detached person beneath her flightier "jester" and her shyer "non-jester" facades. By her own admission, she's aware of how her real personality bothers people, and has a fear of being disliked that she only tries to get past as she becomes more committed to Bernadette. She openly states in Chapter 61 that she ''does'' have feelings--as she wouldn't have been able to form sincere bonds with others if she didn't--but is also very honest in saying that remnants of her colder, uncaring personality still exist underneath the faces she presents to the world.]]
29	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Her hair was long and curly when she was a child. Even as early as Book 0, it's cut short enough that it's not visible unless you're looking at where it comes out of her jester's cap at the back of her head.
30	* EyeScream: Combined with DeliberateInjuryGambit. [[spoiler:She gouges out her own eyes to get past "phase three" of the Dark Cell.]]
31	* FeelNoPain: Downplayed: by "accepting" pain, she is able to ignore it completely even as she feels it. This allows her both to [[spoiler:endure Bloody Mary eating her arm and literally destroy her own eyes to get past Phase Three of the Dark Cell.]]
32	* GoodBadGirl: Maytag is cheerful, excitable, and generally a fun-loving person, but is also a bit of a hedonist (in both the sexual and non-sexual senses) and has quite a few less scruples than it seems at first glance.
33	* IAmAMonster: She says this outright to Crest in Chapter 61. As she goes on to explain, [[spoiler:she didn't really learn how to like people until she met a boy who happened to light a "spark" in her, which led her to conclude that people are interesting in answer to the question "Do I like people?". She attributes the entirety of her survival in the Dark Cell Arc to her "monstrous" personality]].
34	--> '''Maytag:''' "I'm '''''too''''' good at handling my emotions. It's '''''not normal.''''' So much so, that I have to be careful that I don't inadvertently manipulate people around me all the time. I'm capable of all kinds of things, Crest. I could be capable of doing anything...even the worst things...if I wanted to. The only reason I decided not to do bad things...is because I decided to '''''like''''' people. '''''That's''''' the thing that kept my dark side at bay."
35	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Her primary motivation in life is to make as many friends as possible. [[spoiler:This is mostly because she is aware that her "real" personality is extremely off-putting to a lot of people, and she hates being disliked.]]
36	* LackOfEmpathy: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Though she tries very hard not to show her colder side unless she absolutely has to, Maytag had a hard time really grasping how emotional bonds work beyond the intellectual level when she was younger. While she actively works ''not'' to default to cruelty or apathy as her first response, she is still more than capable of saying or doing terribly cruel things without feeling a shred of remorse if she feels that it's necessary.]]
37	* LetsGetDangerous: Normally, Maytag is a goofy LovableSexManiac that loves pushing people's buttons for fun, but when her back's to the wall, she gets ''ruthless''.
38	* LifeOrLimbDecision: She [[spoiler:willingly sacrifices her arm]] to give herself time to talk Bloody Mary out of killing her.
39	* LivingLieDetector: She can see through any lie or con almost instantly.
40	* LonersAreFreaks: She got a lot of grief as a child for her tendency to isolate herself and read.
41	* LovableRogue: Maytag's cheerful nature dovetails nicely with her quick wit and the ease that she pulls tricks on people.
42	* MagicFeather: Her costume acts as one: without it, she's a lot less confident and forthright. [[spoiler:Subverted in that she doesn't need the costume to be confident at all, and mostly uses it to project a more likable personality to other people.]]
43	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: She really enjoys playing this role, most prominently for Regina and Crest. [[spoiler:This is largely a front -- beneath Maytag's excitable, clever cheerfulness and occasional quiet shyness, Veranda is a lot colder and more clinical than she lets on, and she is more than capable of flipping a switch and being exactly as cold-blooded as she needs to be if the situation asks for it.]]
44	* ManipulativeBitch: Make no mistake -- Maytag's cheerful, flirty boundary-pushing belies a clever thinker that has no qualms about prodding emotional weakspots or logical fallacies in people's arguments to gain the upper hand. In the second chapter alone, she uses a series of rapid-fire insights to emotionally unbalance Dice, an enforcer working at the gambling den Crest has been frequenting; she specifically brings up Dice's repressed crush on Crest, which makes Dice hesitate long enough for Maytag to throw a silencing dagger into her shoulder, stopping Dice's magic and letting Maytag get away with Crest safe and sound.
45	* MarshmallowHell: In ''Chapter 4: Sexual Tension'', she pushed Crest's face to her chest when trying to get him to open up.
46	* MeaningfulName: Maytag chose her name based on the names of her two teachers in the art of comedy and showmanship, '''May'''weather and '''Tag'''gert.
47	* MoralSociopathy: [[spoiler:Maytag more or less subscribes to this as a way of living--her conversation with Crest in Chapter 61 goes into a discussion of how she uses her "monstrous" personality in the service of being a "good" monster. She emphasizes that she actively works against the most manipulative and uncaring parts of herself in ordinary life, reserving her ruthlessness for people and situations where she feels she absolutely needs to be cold and calculating.]]
48	* MsFanservice: She likes to tease and mess with people, but also wears fairly flattering jester outfits most of the time, doesn't mind zipping one down partway in public, [[spoiler:and has absolutely no discomfort being nude if she wants to be despite initial suggestions that she loses her confidence without her suit on]].
49	* OnlyOneName: She's primarily addressed only as Maytag in the comic. Her original name is Veranda Kingfisher.
50	* OrphansOrdeal: She's been an orphan since she was very young (at the very least it's known that her mother left her behind), and most of her fellow orphans were horribly cruel to her because she wouldn't show emotion.
51	* {{Polyamory}}: [[spoiler:She begins to explore a triad relationship with Polly and Bernadette once Polly brings Bernadette back to Eschelon from Marvallo. Initially, they're both dating Bernadette separately from each other, but after she and Polly clear the air with each other, they begin to also get closer.]]
52	* RapeAsDrama: She's not above submitting to rape, if it's the only way to save the ones she loves. She states outright that her attitude to sexuality makes rape much less traumatic to her than to the average person.
53	* ReallyGetsAround: She deconstructs this trope; she starts out the series an unabashed hedonist but gets less and less willing to take sexual risks as the consequences of her actions threaten her relationship with Bernadette.
54	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Though it's not shown often in the comic proper since it's usually black-and-white, Maytag's eyes are a bright red color. The trope itself is zig-zagged; while normally she's very cheerful and friendly, she can also be ruthlessly manipulative and cold-blooded when she needs to be, which is most evident if Bernadette is endangered for whatever reason or the situation becomes extremely high-stakes.
55	* SelectiveObliviousness: Her lack of -- and complete inability to understand -- modesty is a deliberate put-on that she uses mostly to mess with people.
56	* SexyJester: Her outfits are cut to accentuate her body, and she is flirtatious and fun-loving as all get out.
57	* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Understands the nudity taboo most people have, but doesn't believe in it. Extends it from "no nudity taboo" to "no sexuality taboo". Remains mostly tamed due to being in a relationship. [[http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=836 Best summed up here.]]
58	* ShowingOffTheNewBody: Her first action while [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic/book0/fs12pg13.html possessing Regina]] was [[ManIFeelLikeAWoman groping herself]].
59	* SociopathicHero: [[spoiler:She gives herself this title in a roundabout way in Chapter 61--she calls her own personality "monstrous" and states that she has chosen to be a "good monster", but repeatedly states that she has no compunctions hurting people without regret if she needs to do so, which her own actions in-comic have backed up more than once.]]
60	* TalkingIsAFreeAction: One sometimes wonders if one of her magical powers is to get people to stop fighting as long as her mouth keeps moving. This is also done a lot in the second fight scene between Bloody Mary and Bernadette.
61	* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Her MO is to be so bluntly matter of fact about her ability to defeat you that you hesitate... often fatally.
62	* TalkingYourWayOut: After being captured by Bloody Mary.
63	* TooKinkyToTorture: She has learned to accept pain rather than fight it, allowing her to be virtually impervious to torture and even mutilation. One scene has her smiling gently as [[spoiler:Bloody Mary eats her arm, which causes Mary no small degree of discomfort]]. It becomes much more jarring during ''The Dark Cell'' arc, as she cheers when [[spoiler:she gets to Phase Two of the Dark Cell and is subjected to illusions that deliver physical pain, much to the dismay of The Thin Man and his underlings.]]
64	* WarriorTherapist: Especially in the chapters dedicated to [[spoiler:Bloody Mary]].
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Bernadette]]
68	!!Bernadette Lashoar
69	A LadyOfWar and Maytag's long-time companion and girlfriend. In contrast to Maytag, she's quiet, reserved, and generally a straightforward woman, with a dislike for sorcery and a very firm sense of both honor and justice. She is a master of the Split Rose DualWielding technique, which focuses entirely on parrying and counterattacking your opponent.
70	----
71	* AchievementsInIgnorance: [[spoiler:Not realizing that the "Split Rose" technique is purely a child's technique designed to teach children the basics of self-defense, she has honed it into an advanced fighting style that is hers and hers alone.]]
72	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: She is ''always'' aware of her surroundings and adversaries. This lets her exploit weaknesses in the heat of battle without batting much of an eye, and makes her very difficult to deceive, both in and out of fights. Her duel with Bloody Mary, seen from her perspective, is full of her considerations about where and how to strike next.
73	* BadassNormal: She doesn't use sorcery, but that doesn't keep her from taking on sorcery-enhanced opponents.
74	* BattleCouple: With Maytag, who provides a lot of the trickier tactics while Bernadette is mostly the muscle. That said, it must be reiterated that while Bern is the one that is better suited to straight fights, she is still extremely perceptive and hard to fool in combat.
75	* ClingyJealousGirl: A mild version, but she's averse to anyone seeing Maytag naked.
76	* CounterAttack: The "Split Rose" technique is based on this. She eventually gets put in a situation where she uses said counter attacks barehanded to great effect.
77	* CurbStompBattle: In ''Chapter 4: Sexual Tension''. Voulger stood no chance against her technique despite his speed. [[spoiler:She winds up on the receiving end later that same chapter from a misogynistic knight who couldn't handle the fact that a girl could beat him in a fair fight, and uses Voulger's magical artifact against her.]]
78	* DualWielding: She uses two swords as part of the Split Rose technique.
79	* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Orransong gives her a sword from her father Grant that was made specifically to counter sorcery, though she can't use it because she needs two swords to sue the Split Rose correctly. [[spoiler:Once Grant gets his shit together and gives her the other sword while she's a gladiator in Marvallo, she becomes more than capable of standing toe-to-toe with adversaries that would've used sorcery to overpower her before.]]
80	* TheFettered: Bern's defining characteristic is her knightly behavior. She believes very firmly in certain boundaries and ways of doing things, and often refuses to waver from them.
81	* FightingYourFriend: ''Chapter 16: Man-Eating'', from Book Zero, is the introduction of [[spoiler:Clairen, an old acquaintance of Bernadette]]. In this chapter, and the next, ''Chapter 17: The Battle Of Old Friends'', Bern is forced to battle against her, as part of her deal with [[spoiler:Seraph]].
82	* GoodOldWays: She strongly dislikes the use of sorcery and will avoid using or interacting with it whenever possible.
83	* GoodScarsEvilScars: A scar on her cheek.
84	* HonorBeforeReason: She [[RefusalOfTheCall refuses to become a Knight of Lashoar]] because she can't compromise her honor to hide her sexuality from them, despite knowing that they'll reject her if they find out.
85	* LeonineContract: She's the victim of this during the "Gladiatorial Arc". [[spoiler:When Polly is poisoned by an opposing gladiatorial team, the Arena Manager "offers" to resurrect Polly at a cost of a whopping 250,000 marks, which would take a minimum of six years of fighting at A-rank level to clear]]. Bern is immediately aware of the trap she's in, but [[BigDamnHeroes before she can answer, the Warden arrives with a very loud objection to the promoter's "offer".]]
86	* {{Polyamory}}: [[spoiler:Despite her initial misgivings about it, especially given her own views on fidelity, she decides to try a triad relationship with Maytag and Polly once she returns to Eschelon with Polly in tow.]]
87	* RefusalOfTheCall: She chooses to come out of the closet rather than join the Knights.
88	* SonOfAWhore: Her father, Grant, frequently saw sex workers, and Bernadette was born to one of them.
89	* UnresolvedSexualTension: [[spoiler:She and Polly have a ''lot'' of this during their time in Marvallo, most of it baggage left over from the relationship they had prior to Bernadette leaving. It all reawakens with a vengeance during the Gladiatorial Arc specifically--being forced to depend on each other in a series of life-threatening deathmatches winds up unearthing their old feelings for each other.]]
90	* TheWorfEffect: She doesn't do well against spellcasters and magically-enhanced fighters despite being damn near invincible against any normal swordsman. [[spoiler:Once she has both of Grant's anti-sorcery swords on hand, this becomes much less of an issue.]]
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Crest]]
94	!! Crest
95	A former knight cadet, and the son of a famous knight himself. In an effort to raise enough money to pay for an operation to restore his mother's eyesight, he falls into the dangerous world of underground gambling. When he is caught using sleight of hand at a high stakes poker game, his life as he knew it would change...
96	----
97	* CallingTheOldManOut: He tells Orransong exactly why he quit the Knights -- it turns out that it's because Orransong got into an argument with his mother about using sorcery to restore her vision, and Crest overheard them arguing about it, specifically hearing Orransong deny her the option.
98	* CardSharp: He's this in the first chapter, but it goes wrong for him in the same chapter.
99	* CartwrightCurse: Even though he's sweet, sensitive, and treats women with respect, his luck with the ladies is atrocious. He had a girlfriend, and she cheated on him. Then he was attracted to Maytag, only to find out, in public, that she's not the kind of woman she was pretending to be. [[spoiler:And lastly, Suspiria, who he's sweet on, gets kidnapped, has ''something'' done to her and winds up a BrainwashedAndCrazy abomination who is absolutely convinced that her parents are dead and slaughters the Conclave in revenge.]]
100	* CharacterDevelopment: Crest starts off as a young man with a chip on his shoulder from a relationship that went sour. Despite his shy and generally kind disposition in less stressful situatioons, he's more than a little selfish--he only really wanted to become a swordsman to become popular and impress girls, as he admits later on in the comic, and sets his sights on Maytag as a romantic partner despite every indication that she's not breaking up with Bernadette any time soon. His extended time away from Maytag and Bernadette, as well as several traumatic events, force him to mature significantly, and by the time he meets Maytag again, he actively acknowledges his failure to be a good friend to her and is firmly dedicated to becoming a better person.
101	* CoolShades: Wears them to play poker in the first chapter, then dons them again after the [[TookALevelInBadass level up]].
102	* DemotedToExtra: For most of the time, Crest's importance to the story was next to null. It's gotten so bad that in later chapters, other characters seem to be ''[[http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=782 actively ignoring his existence]]''. This eventually gets reversed once he's gotten better at fighting, and his own plotline runs in parallel to Maytag and Bernadette's again after some time.
103	* DoesNotLikeWomen: Although he is explicitly heterosexual, he's always been unnerved by women. He admits as much to Moby when they go out to get something to eat, but as time goes on he becomes less and less uncomfortable around them for the most part.
104	* EmpoweredBadassNormal: He gets a magical sword capable of healing any wound, and curing most illnesses, and uses it to great effect.
105	* ExoticEyeDesigns: Crest's eyes seem to acquire a strange banded look as the series progresses. Whether this is a specific plot point, or just ArtEvolution, remains to be seen.
106	* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: He had a girlfriend prior to meeting Maytag. She cheated on him, and he subsequently did not take Maytag offering to cheat on Bern with him very well.
107	* GoodIsNotDumb: Despite having no formal education (which isn't rare in the world setting), he's an observant, thoughtful, and analytical young man when he puts his mind to it. He's a card shark capable of giving Maytag a run for her money (literally) and has outsmarted Suspiria (who's pretty sharp herself, as a Level 3+ sorceress) multiple times. He's even capable of a debate with the likes of Phalanx hunters.
108	* HeartbrokenBadass: [[spoiler:After Suspiria's FaceHeelTurn, followed by her [[TakenForGranite turning into stone]], he's left despondent and dejected at her loss.]]
109	* LuminescentBlush: Whenever a pretty girl flirts with him.
110	* PinballProtagonist: He spends a lot of the early part of the series getting dragged along in the chaos that follows Maytag and Bernadette. He eventually breaks away from this trope once he gets some training and starts putting some of his cleverness to use.
111	* ShipTease: First with Maytag, then with Suspiria. He gets neither of them -- Maytag is already committed to Bernadette and [[spoiler:Suspiria slowly succumbs to SanitySlippage after Kin's death and getting abducted by The Thin Man, eventually cracking. He winds up with Regina instead]].
112	* StalkerWithACrush: His original goal for going with the party is to wait until Maytag and Bernadette have a breakup and steal Maytag away for himself. He eventually gets over it and makes peace with the fact that he's never going to have Maytag's affection in that way.
113	* TookALevelInBadass: When he gets [[DemotedToExtra un-demoted]], he roughs up the gang from the first chapter for practice, and is openly a more competent swordsman.
114	* TookALevelInKindness: Following his experiences while separated from Maytag and Bernadette, Crest is able to openly acknowledge the less honorable parts of his personality and make active strides toward trying to do and be better.
115	* WishfulProjection: Crest, as part of an extended heart-to-heart with Maytag in Chapter 61, eventually admits to her that he built up an unrealistic expectation of who she really was based on her performances on stage, and that he spent a lot of time wishing she'd have lived up to that image. His expression when he says this, and some of his own observations from a few pages earlier, make it clear that he knows how shitty this is.
116	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Crest refutes Maytag's assertion that she is a monster in Chapter 61, stating that he was a coward for the way he treated her once he got to know her better. He asserts that she's not the monster she thinks she is, and tells her that he has to let go of his idealized image of her and accept her as she is.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	!Allies and friends
120
121	[[folder:Britannus]]
122	Self-proclaimed "toughest mercenary" of Vestige Town, and self-appointed "bodyguard" of Maytag. He only appears in Book Zero.
123
124	* BodyguardCrush: Towards Maytag.
125	* KnightInShiningArmor
126	** ChronicHeroSyndrome
127	** WouldntHitAGirl: The reason he rejected to fight against [[spoiler:the Black Poison Angels]]. So much that Maytag has a hard time insisting until he gets to fight against them, and even then he doesn't fight with all of his will.
128	* LongHairedPrettyBoy
129	* MistakenForGay: In the last panel of [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic/book0/fs02pg06.html this strip]].
130	--> '''Asylum local:''' Hi there, handsome. Would you like to make me feel like a woman?
131	--> '''Britannus:''' Gah!
132	* OutOfFocus: A very minor character. He only appears in the first chapters of Book Zero.
133	* TemptingFate:
134	** In the first chapters of Book Zero, Maytag wants to know if all the skills he says he has is real. So, she drags him to [[TheCityNarrows The Asylum]] first...
135	--> '''Maytag:''' So you want to be my bodyguard, right? That's fine with me... but I'll have to take you out for a test-run first, of course, before I say yes!
136	** ...and later she makes him confront against [[spoiler:the Black Poison Angels]].
137	--> '''Maytag:''' I would like to see how well you perform with a sword...
138	--> '''Bernadette:''' I'll have you know my skill with a sword is top-notch, thank you very much!!!
139	--> '''Maytag:''' Shall we put that to test? I'd like you to meet some friends of mine... this is [[spoiler:Prim, Ashley and Lilia]].
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Lucient]]
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Regina]]
146	!!Regina
147	A shy girl that Maytag befriends during Book Zero. Inspired by Maytag's free-spirited personality, she then goes out into the world and tries to become a sorcerer in her own right.
148	----
149	* AscendedFangirl: Of Maytag. She's been a fan of hers for a while, then actually gets to travel with her for a period of time.
150	* CovertPervert: She enjoys using Glyph's scouter, after he loaned it to her.
151	* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler:After Suspiria turns to stone and the deaths of Moby's friends as a result, Regina takes on a calm, almost saintly mien when speaking to other people. She admits to Crest that nothing really bothers her anymore after Moss attempts to insult her, and remains pleasant and kind to Moby even when Moby clearly hates her for surviving when the others didn't. However, Moss indicates that his eyes couldn't spot a weakpoint "at all" when speaking to her, and several people that speak to her, Crest included at first, indicate that her constant gracious calm is extremely unnerving. For her part, she acknowledges that her change in disposition ''is'' rather odd, but doesn't really mind it herself.]]
152	* {{Foil}}: To Maytag, in a number of ways. Maytag is an incredibly self-confident woman with a sharp wit, great skills at sleight-of-hand, and doesn't mind using sorcery to supplement her shortcomings; Regina, by comparison, is incredibly shy and views herself as clumsy, and while she wants to be a sorcerer, is incredibly unskilled at it. Maytag is also pretty comfortable with her own sexuality, whereas Regina doesn't really even think of herself as attractive and struggles to acknowledge it. Finally, they both react to traumatic events in pretty different ways: Maytag generally powers through it even when she's shaken, while Regina tends to react more "normally" when she's afraid until after [[spoiler:Suspiria becomes a stone statue, at which point Regina is abnormally calm and unbothered in extremely stressful situations]].
153	* IJustWantToBeYou: The fact that Regina, when she reappears outside of Book 0, has also chosen a jester motif for her clothing says a ''lot'' about how highly she holds Maytag in esteem. [[spoiler:She abandons this after Suspiria's death, choosing to go with a modest dark dress and a rose hairband to signify both her change in attitude and growing into her own person. However, she has succeeded in one particular aspect: she's managed to finally emulate Maytag's boundless confidence, but in the form of a graceful, unbothered calm rather than Maytag's constant teasing and sexually liberated behavior.]]
154	* IneptMage: The main source of her insecurities; she's a level 1 sorcerer with not much in the way of talent or skill.
155	* MeaningfulRename: She starts going by Mistral after a certain point in the comic, but still answers to the name "Regina".
156	* NaiveEverygirl: Her defining characteristic when she's first introduced. She gradually grows out of it later on.
157	* PerpetualSmiler: To accompany her newfound sense of calm after [[spoiler:Suspiria's "death"]], she's almost always wearing one of these. It winds up conveying that something's...off about her, as she only really drops the smile when the situation is serious or when she needs to think, and even then is still relatively cheerful or at least unbothered by what people are saying to or about her.
158	* ThePollyanna: She develops into one of these by the time Chapter 57 comes around -- nothing really seems to faze her anymore.
159	* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: In book 0. [[spoiler:This causes her to fail her rank up test, as she's unable to get past the mental block it represents.]]
160	* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Thanks to Glyph, she ''briefly'' runs around town naked. She finds it liberating.
161	* ShrinkingViolet: Prior to meeting Glyph anyway. She's still somewhat shy when not around him.
162	* VirginityMakesYouStupid: In Book 0; then [[DoubleSubversion double subverted]] in ''Chapter 23: Silhouette''.
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Umber and Dirk]]
166	* RapeAsBackstory: Umber, according to the Interviews.
167	* TheNoseKnows: Umber is stated as having a sense of smell as keen as a dog's.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Sierra]]
171	!!Sierra
172	Crest's mother. Her eyesight gradually degenerated over the course of Crest's childhood, leaving her blind by the time the comic starts.
173	----
174	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Sierra is more than happy to sing Crest's praises to anyone that she thinks he has a shot with.
175	* IWantGrandkids: She is vocally enthusiastic about Crest getting into ''any'' kind of romantic relationship.
176	* EyesAlwaysShut: At first, this is because she's blind, but keeps it up even after she gets better.
177	* ShipperOnDeck: Although she's as subtle and delicate as a neutron bomb, she freely advocates Crest having a love life.
178
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Orransong]]
182	!!Nigel Orransong
183	A knight of Lashoar, and an old friend of Crest's family. He was once Crest's mentor before Crest decided not to join the Knights of Lashoar.
184	----
185	* EasilyForgiven: Despite his rude, crass behavior toward Crest's mother and Bernadette himself, neither holds it against him for long.
186	* EyepatchOfPower: He wears an eyepatch, and is one of the best official Knights of Lashoar.
187	* HeteronormativeCrusader: He looks down on Bern for being a lesbian once he finds out about it, and pressures her into keeping it secret so that she can still join the Knights of Lashoar. He eases up on this stance after she chooses to defy his advice and admits it directly to the Knights herself, stating that he understands that she did what she felt she had to do, and no longer expresses any disgust towards her for it.
188	* LoopholeAbuse: A positive example. It would be a crime for Crest or his mother to have her eyesight repaired by seeing a magical healer. This isn't an issue if he's paying the bill for it.
189	* RetiredBadass: Gave up being a Knight of the Order due to old age.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Suspiria]]
193	!!Inverness "Suspiria" Melladol
194	A genius Level 3 sorceress with an ego to match. She is often accompanied by her bodyguard, Kindred.
195	----
196	* AffectionateNickname: Nessy (derived from her real name, Inverness), used only by Kin.
197	* BattleCouple: With Kin.
198	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:She goes through this after the Thin Man experiments on her, becoming a HornedHumanoid with BlackEyesOfEvil. However, it turns out the Thin Man only unlocked her potential to break through the next barrier and become a Level 4 sorceress. By the time her appearance starts changing, she's somewhere around Level 6, possibly Level 7, and has RealityWarper powers tied to her emotions, meaning she looks the way she does because she ''assumed'' the Thin Man did something bad to her and her mind made it real.]]
199	* BrainwashedAndCrazy:
200	** The Thin Man's experiments have convinced her [[spoiler: that her parents are dead, and the conclave killed them. What's worse, if Qtalda can be believed, is that she mind-controlled the Conclave to confess to it, and try to murder her, so she'd be "blameless" when she rebounded Qtalda's ultimate spell back on them.]]
201	** [[spoiler:Later it turns out the Thin Man didn't brainwash her, he [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3531 unlocked her potential to increase her sorcery level]], reaching Level 6, verging on 7. She just assumed something bad had been done to her and [[YourMindMakesItReal her mind made it so.]]]]
202	* ClingyJealousGirl: In regards to Kin. [[spoiler: She once agreed to a threesome, only to get so jealous afterwards that she magically shaved the girl bald and turned her skin blue.]]
203	* DoNotCallMePaul: She prefers Suspiria to her real name, Inverness Melladol.
204	* ExpressiveHair: Her hair changes its style to match her mood. This can turn it into PrehensileHair when she's feeling especially emotive.
205	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: [[spoiler:Her hair stops being so expressive and colorful after she cuts it following Kin's death. It happens to match her more somber, less self-absorbed personality.]]
206	* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: After Kin is killed.]] She becomes extremely regretful of her previous arrogance, and is subsequently much more open and friendly to at least the main cast.
207	* InsufferableGenius: When she was introduced. She gets better when she learns that Crest is at least as smart as her, if not smarter.
208	* MundaneUtility: She does this a lot. The very first thing we see her doing is using a magic forcefield umbrella.
209	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Suspiria falls victim to this with respect to Bloody Mary in a truly epic example of GenreBlindness. Or maybe it's because she's an InsufferableGenius. Or both...
210	* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:The Thin Man allowed her to increase her sorcery level, which resulted in her [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3541 having the power to change the world around her]], [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3543 unconsciously]].]]
211	* SignificantHaircut: She cuts her hair short [[spoiler:after Kin's death]], and keeps it that way.
212	* SuicidalOverconfidence: She rushed ahead to face Bloody Mary before her Phalanx reinforcements, especially her senior Q'talda, were in place. On the one hand, it saved Bernadette's life. On the other, both she and Kin paid dearly.
213	* TooCleverByHalf: More than once, her massive overconfidence in her own abilities has been painfully undercut by her corresponding lack of practical experience (specifically, a tendency to overextend herself and run out of [[{{Mana}} juice]] before the job is done).
214	* UnwittingPawn: Under careful scrutiny, her story about the Conclave being responsible for her parents' death, and the Conclave's response completely falls apart. While it's not certain who is directly responsible for manipulating her into this series of actions, the primary suspect is The Thin Man.
215	* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler:The Thin Man's experiments on her actually [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3531 only unlocked her potential]], allowing her to [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3537 become a Level 6 sorceress]], possibly on the way to Level 7. [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=3543 She just assumed he did something bad to her like he did with Bloody Mary, so she unconsciously caused both the physical changes to herself and changes in the world around her]].]]
216	[[/folder]]
217
218	[[folder:Kindred]]
219	!!Kindred
220	Suspiria's boyfriend and bodyguard, a skilled knight with a talent for drawing.
221	----
222	* BattleCouple: With Suspiria.
223	* HeroicSacrifice: He takes a hit from Bloody Mary to make sure Suspiria doesn't get hurt, and dies from his wounds.
224	* ItsNotPornItsArt: Loves to draw nude paintings of beautiful women.
225	* KilledOffForReal: Bloody Mary poisons him with her claws and Suspiria's too drained to extract the venom thanks to showing off against Mary earlier on.
226	* LovableSexManiac: He loves painting females in nude, erotic poses. Suspira fully supports him in this endeavor, even hiring sex workers to model for him every now and then. They were both thrilled when Maytag allowed him to paint her, for free.
227	* SacrificialLion: He's the first major ally to die in the comic, and his loss sets the tone for the next couple of chapters.
228	[[/folder]]
229
230	[[folder:Glyph]]
231	!! Glyph
232	A member of the Phalanx, Eschelon's premier group of magic users. He hosts a soundstone program called the Showgram, which is a variety talk show with his friends about the various adventures and mishaps they get into.
233	----
234	* ButtMonkey: Glyph's perversion often makes him the target of several jokes in his friend group.
235	* ChivalrousPervert: While he may have, and freely use, a device that allows him to see through women's clothes, often without their consent, he is otherwise a perfect gentleman, and truly treasures the female form, as well as the personality that goes with it.
236	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a pervert ButtMonkey... and also a member of the Phalanx, and he's the first to wound Moss' uncle.
237	* GagPenis: He has one of these, if Regina's reaction to seeing him nude is any indication.
238	* LovableSexManiac: While he's a pervert, he generally keeps his flirting just that unless people actively look to take him up on it.
239	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: As perverted as he is, he was shocked, outraged, and horrified when Moss's uncle [[spoiler:drugged his food, took control of his body, and tried to make him have sex with Bernadette when she was also under the effect of a powerful magical aphrodisiac without her knowledge or consent.]]
240	[[/folder]]
241
242	[[folder:Moby]]
243	!!Mobius "Moby" Niosiv-Rorret
244	A resident of Eschelon, a friend of Glyph's, and one of his cohosts on the Showgram. She's also a member of the Phalanx alongside Glyph.
245	----
246	* BitchInSheepsClothing: While she is outwardly very pleasant and cheerful, she can be rude, a bit selfish, and prone to bullying people. Crest even admits as much to Maytag:
247	--> '''Crest:''' I've never really liked Moby. Even though, in a weird way, she seemed to kind of '''''like''''' me...she's also been unpleasant to me. And she can just be needlessly cruel.
248	* EyeScream: [[spoiler:She loses an eye in the "mysterious hole" incident that gets her other friends killed.]]
249	* PerkyGoth: Her general style lends itself to this.
250	* TookALevelInJerkass: After [[spoiler:losing all of her friends to the mysterious hole that they all went to investigate in search of Suspiria]], she is much more morose and outwardly hostile to people, especially Regina for being [[spoiler:the only other person aside from Crest and Moby herself to survive the incident]].
251	[[/folder]]
252
253	[[folder:Polly]]
254	!!Polly/"Blackbird"
255	The former leader of the Steel Serpent Gang, known as "Blackbird" at that time. She reformed and now works as an Enforcer in Marvallo.
256	----
257	* BackFromTheDead: Thanks to The Warden.
258	* DarkIsNotEvil: Her philosophy in general leans towards this -- she finds the darkness comforting and dislikes its immediate association with evil, to the point that her apartment walls and floor are all a solid, uniform black.
259	* EthicalSlut: Agrees to be a SexSlave for nearly a month to purchase Bern's chance for a "Rank Up" match.
260	* ReallyGetsAround: When dosed with a TruthSerum, she admits she's had 17 lovers.
261	* SmokingIsCool: Is often seen with a cigarette in her mouth.
262	* TakingTheBullet: Jumps into the path of a poisoned dart while protecting Bern.
263	[[/folder]]
264
265	[[folder:What Lies Beyond the Dark Cell ('''unmarked spoilers''')]]
266	!!Eye and the Black Hole Cat
267	Eye is a little girl that lives at the center of the Dark Cell that The Thin Man is researching, accompanied by the Black Hole Cat. She holds the secrets of the world... and is the central pivot of a literal zone of suffering. Because of the danger she presents to the world, she has been kept imprisoned, waiting for someone with the resolve or innovation to overcome the Dark Cell to free her and become her guardian. Thousands have tried, and of the hundreds that could overcome their primal fears and the dozens that could walk through a wall of fishhooks, none could continue the fight past soul-crushing despair.
268	----
269	* CursedWithAwesome: Eye is protected by a very powerful and near impenetrable FogOfDoom, and all her needs for food and shelter are met by Black Hole Cat. She even gets to watch the outside world through a magic mirror. The price? The same thing that protects her from harm, also cuts her off from people who want to be her friend.
270	* TheFaceless: The Black Hole Cat [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is a cat with a black hole for a face]].
271	* GlassCannon: If anything, or anyone, manages to breach The Dark Storm, Eye is completely helpless as neither she nor Black Hole Cat have anything in the way of offensive or defensive abilities. Black Hole Cat can't even summon a shield of any kind.
272	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Eye is desperately lonely, only being able to see the world through a magic mirror that Black Hole Cat summoned. When she meets Maytag, and is promised to visit the outside world in person, she's ecstatic.
273	* MeaningfulName: Her name is Eye and she lives in the Eye of a magical storm.
274	* PowerIncontinence: The Dark Storm, a vortex of fear, pain, and despair, is directly linked to Eye. Wherever she goes, so does the Dark Storm. She has no control over it.
275	[[/folder]]
276
277	[[folder:Grant]]
278	!!Grant Lashoar
279	Bernadette's father, and a former Knight of Lashoar. No one knows his whereabouts at the start of the story.
280	----
281	* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler:Grant spends pretty much all his time and money drinking his life away in Marvallo.]]
282	* ExactWords: Promises Bernadette he'll quit drinking, but he didn't promise he'd quit immediately.
283	-->Well, when I said I'd quit, I really did mean it... I'm definitely going to quit! And what better day than tomorrow to quit! Today I'll celebrate! ''[downs the bottle]''
284	* RetiredBadass: Grant was one of the strongest knights that the Knights of Lashoar had. [[spoiler:He's become a layabout drunkard by the time Bernadette finds him again.]]
285	[[/folder]]
286
287	!Enemies
288
289	[[folder:Clairen]]
290	An old friend of Bernadette, who turned into a deadly assassin. She has a tattoo covering the right part of her body.
291
292	* AntiVillain
293	* BrownNote: Her tattoo paralyzes those men who look at it.
294	* [[spoiler:FightingYourFriend]]
295	[[/folder]]
296
297	[[folder:Voulger]]
298	* BloodFromTheMouth: Blood can be seen in and around his mouth while he's unconscious on the ground after Bern defeats him.
299	* DefeatByModesty: How he was able to subdue Maytag.
300	* FakeDifficulty: He's introduced as someone far too strong for the local Knight Order to take down. Even Orransong, who is no pushover, was swept aside with ease, using an OffhandBackhand with the hilt of his sword. Bern shows up, and completely curbstomps him, literally, using a single counter-attack.
301	* FragileSpeedster: His only advantage in battle is the raw speed granted him by the "pactio" collar. If anyone manages to land a blow on him, he crumples like a napkin.
302	* TheNudifier: His sword "Thread-Reaper", [[http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=103 which he used to submiss Maytag]].
303	* StrawMisogynist: The only thing revealed about his backstory is that he had a habit of raping women until they're completely broken and then killing them because he's bored that they're too traumatized to resist, and he publicly proclaimed the intent to do the same to Maytag, calling her a "dog to train" until Bern showed up.
304	* SuicidalOverconfidence: Combined with TemptingFate and MuggingTheMonster. When Bern challenged him to battle, not only did he think he'd already won, he called Bern "a dog to train", complained that she had too many clothes on, and insulted her ability because she told him to attack her first. One counter-attack later and he was literally on the end of a CurbstompBattle.
305	[[/folder]]
306
307	[[folder:Derrick]]
308	* AttemptedRape: Using a magic collar he stole from Voulger, he beats down Bern, rips her clothes off and tries to rape her, for the "crime" of beating him in a duel that he demanded himself.
309	* HemanWomanHater: This character is ''highly'' misogynistic. Not only does he try to rape Bern for daring to defeat him in a sword duel, that he himself demanded, but when Maytag comes to Bern's rescue, he uses Bern as a hostage to demand that Maytag ''cut off her own breasts with a knife.'' Even Maytag was visibly shaken by that demand.
310	* IWasBeatenByAGirl: He took his loss to Bern very, very poorly.
311	* KickTheSonOfABitch: On both ends of this. Nobody cried for Voulger after what he did to Maytag, and nobody cried for Derrick after what he tried to do to Bern.
312	* SuicidalOverconfidence: Like most of the Knight Order, his sword skill isn't anywhere near as good as he thought it was.
313	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: This is the official cover story used for why his "pactio" collar "mysteriously exploded," and he winds up a laughing, drooling loon, unable to complete a coherent thought.
314	[[/folder]]
315
316	[[folder:Danzig]]
317	* BitchInSheepsClothing: At first glance, he appears like an affable inn-keeper. In reality, he's a particularly depraved agent of The Thin Man.
318	* CarryABigStick: His weapon of choice is a magic staff that he can magically extend or retract at will. [[spoiler: At least until Glyph disables it.]]
319	* {{Expy}}: Of [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Josuke Higashikata]], or possibly of Araki characters in general. He even shouts "ORA! ORA! ORA!" when attacking.
320	** As well as parodying Son Goku from Dragon Ball, not only with his ProudWarriorRaceGuy motif, but in his weapon.
321	* FauxAffablyEvil: He speaks in polite, cheerful tones, and acts like an affable inn-keeper at all times, but is an utterly depraved individual who throughly exploits and abuses anyone and everyone unfortunate enough to become his "guest" and when he's done, either pawns them off to The Thin Man, or simply kills them and destroys their bodies. Considering what we've seen of the Thin Man's organization, the latter is likely to be the more merciful alternative.
322	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: According to Moss, his favorite hobby is drugging people with potions of possession without their knowledge or consent, controlling their bodies, and then using them to have sex with their companions. He displays this in graphic detail with Glyph, who was drugged into trying to have sex with Bern while she was also under the influence of a magical aphrodisiac without her knowledge or consent. What's truly horrific about all this, is that the people controlled in this manner are fully aware of what their bodies are doing, but completely helpless to do or say anything about it.
323	[[/folder]]
324
325	[[folder:Melter]]
326	The Thin Man's trusted minion. He was the one who brought in Bloody Mary and gave her advice on killing.
327
328	* ArtificialHuman: According to The Thin Man, he is one of these.
329	* BadassLongcoat: The collar is so high it often hides the lower part of his face.
330	* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Oh boy. Turns out that what he did to Suspira, without her knowledge, consent, or proper explanation, ForScience left highly unstable with no control of her powers. To make things worse, he goes all BreakThemByTalking to her. Yeah, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong
331	* FauxHorrific: Melter's "disturbing" images in [[http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=1053 Intermission 19]].
332	* LoopholeAbuse: Combined with DisproportionateRetribution. When ordered to seize Maytag, he was told to make it a "clean" capture, that means "no witnesses, no innocent deaths." When Maytag was being stalked by an invisible man who sabotaged her costume so it would disintegrate on stage to ruin her chances at the comedy festival, Melter considered that sufficient to exempt him from the "no innocent deaths" clause.
333	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: He will obey The Thin Man's orders without question, even or especially, if it involves kidnapping and murder.
334	* SmallRoleBigImpact: He doesn't appear very often, and his scenes are small. Still, every time he appears, the story changes in a ''big way.''
335	[[/folder]]
336
337	[[folder:The Promoter]]
338	!! The Promoter
339	The first character met by Bern and Polly when they arrive at the Arena to pay off Bern's sentence.
340	----
341	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: He would ultimately prove to be this [[spoiler: when he rigs a match by supplying the team that are Bern and Polly's opponent with fast-acting poison darts to force Bern into a LeonineContract.]]
342	* FauxAffablyEvil: His jovial demeanor and apparent friendly tone only emphasize the sinister implications he packs into everything he says.
343	* ImplausibleDeniability: Tries to claim that he had nothing to do with Polly's poisoning and the group responsible would be "punished." The Warden doesn't buy it.
344	* MrExposition: He's the one who explains the rules and environment of the Arena.
345	* NeckSnap: Or something close to it. [[spoiler: The Warden seizes him around the neck with her chain, slams him to the ground, and then after ordering the guards out of the room, either crushes his windpipe, chokes him to death, or shatters his neck. The panel is not exactly clear, although the result is that he dies.]]
346	* NoNameGiven: His name is never mentioned. Up until The Warden reveals the fate of Harker, his predecessor, many forumites believed that he ''was Harker'' in an EnemyWithin, SplitPersonalityTakeover, SharingABody, or even ThatManIsDead sense.
347	* PerpetualSmiler: The man just does not stop smiling, ever, not even when The Warden has a chain around his neck. [[spoiler: At least, not until The Warden Orders the Arena guards out of the room, and he starts to panic, but even then he goes right back to smiling up until the Warden actually kills him.]]
348	* ShameIfSomethingHappened: When introducing Bern and Polly to the prison he goes to great lengths to point out how they should be thankful to him that they're ''not'' currently being violently raped.
349	* SmugSnake: He thinks he's in charge of the Arena. [[spoiler: The Warden would ultimately prove him wrong.]]
350	* VillainsWantMercy: His last words were begging The Warden to release him. She doesn't comply.
351	[[/folder]]
352	!Other
353
354	[[folder:The Black Poison Angels]]
355	An AmazonBrigade of three women, Prim, Ashley and Lilia, who appear in Book Zero.
356
357	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Lilia, Ashley, Prim.
358	* BloodKnight: The three of them.
359	* IShallTauntYou: Directed to Britannus:
360	--> '''Ashley:''' Don't waste your breath, Maytag... I think he's afraid to lose with a woman.
361	* TheLadette: The three of them.
362	* SwordsAreJustBetter: Prim.
363	[[/folder]]
364
365	[[folder:Seraph]]
366	A Level 3 wizard, who's also the master of both Regina and Lucient. He hires Bernadette in Book Zero in order to grant them protection.
367
368	* KillItWithFire: How he killed [[spoiler:Clairen]] in ''Chapter 18: Many Plans Come To Fruition'', from Book Zero.
369	[[/folder]]
370
371	[[folder:Noventia]]
372	* PrehensileHair
373	[[/folder]]
374
375	[[folder:Moss]]
376	* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: Though not actual mindreading, his talent has the same implications.
377	* BlessedWithSuck: His curse allows him to see everyone's weaknesses has left him a bitter misanthrope.
378	* HiddenEyes: Initially, this was assumed to be because he was always so horribly depressing, {{emo}}, sarky, {{goth}}, etc. It turns out that [[spoiler:he had magical eyes which caused him to only see the worst in people, causing both his BAD attitude and his hiding of his very weird-looking eyes]].
379	* JerkAss: Though not without justification.
380	* ScarpiaUltimatum: He pulls this on Maytag in ''Chapter 23: Silhouette''. Subverted when he doesn't follow through.
381	[[/folder]]
382
383	[[folder:Ash]]
384	[[/folder]]
385
386	[[folder:Bloody Mary]]
387	!! Bloody Mary
388	A cannibalistic monster created by The Thin Man. She terrorized the town of Brahma, but gives her tragic story after an encounter with Maytag.
389	----
390	* ApologeticAttacker: When her HorrorHunger initially took over, she apologized to her victims. After a while, she was DrivenToMadness by its endless nature and stopped doing this.
391	* BarehandedBladeBlock: She catches a blade with her ''teeth''.
392	* BlackEyesOfEvil: After The Thin Man's cruel, horrific "experiment," her eyes are solid black.
393	* BloodyMurder: She can use her blood as a weapon.
394	* EmotionBomb: Bloody Mary can produce a "Fear Demon" from her vomit, which induces mind-numbing terror when her victims look at it.
395	* EyeScream: One of the first things Maytag does while fighting her is throw a dagger through her eye, hoping to pierce her brain. It doesn't even slow her down.
396	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Unwillingly.
397	* HealingFactor By consuming human flesh, she can regenerate from just about any injury.
398	* HorrorHunger: Bloody Mary's Bloodlust curse, which [[ImAHumanitarian requires her to consume human flesh]].
399	* IncompletelyTrained: Her current form is not her "true" form. Accordin to Lehm, she's going to have to consume lots, and lots of human flesh to achieve what Lehm intended her to become.
400	* NighInvulnerable: At least her vital organs, anyway. The rest of her can [[HealingFactor regenerate]].
401	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: When captured by the Conclave, she was cursed with "Morioh Mortis", which summons a flesh eating bacteria. [[spoiler:Somehow, she survived. And now has two clones.]] Before that, Suspiria [[spoiler:hit her with a meteor. All it did was inconvenience her a bit as she dug out from underneath it]].
402	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Maytag manages to find Mary's humanity [[spoiler:after letting Mary eat her arm]].
403	* SelfMadeOrphan: Not by choice. Among the first people she ate were her own parents, after her HorrorHunger compelled her to do so.
404	* ShrinkingViolet: What she was like before her transformation.
405	* TragicMonster: She was kidnapped, conned, and turned into a monster, compelled to eat her own parents. She never asked to become this way.
406	[[/folder]]
407
408	[[folder:The Thin Man]]
409	!! The Thin Man/Lehm
410	A rich, mysterious man affiliated with several shady characters in the world setting; he created Bloody Mary and is responsible for several more experiments that the characters have to deal with.
411	----
412	* TheAdjectivalMan: He's called The Thin Man for a reason: his limbs are long and spindly, as are his fingers. His real name is Lehm.
413	* TheAllegedBoss: His organization lets him ''think'' he's in charge. He's not. If any of his psycho supporters get it into their heads to "play" with the people he "recruits", they'll do so the moment he turns his back. As long as his "goals" are met, he'll let them do exactly that.
414	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: He ''claims'' that all his test subjects were willing volunteers, and he says that gives people the choice to refuse participation. However, one has to remember that pretty much all the people we've seen him experiment on in-story were kidnapped, he tries to outright con Maytag when she arrives at the Dark Cell, and he adamantly refuses to release any of his test subjects if they adamantly decline to participate. What's worse is that he's well aware that he's surrounded by a PsychoSupporter group, and he sees nothing wrong with letting his "guests" be violated by certain members of said group if they're not useful to his agenda, whatever agenda that is.
415	* ArtAttacker: The Thin Man has a magic paint brush. Subverted, in that this isn't use to "attack" so much as expose the truth.
416	* AndThenWhat: Presuming he's telling the truth about his intent to pay his debts to the people he experimented on, and turn himself in to the authorities, he's still leaving the world a considerably ''worse'' place than when he came into it. His "burning passion for the truth" has led him to build a very large and very well-funded organization of kidnappers, rapists, thieves, murderers, and various types of madmen, who are responsible for numerous atrocities either under his orders or for fun, if not both. None of them are going to be eager to hand over their ill-gotten gains, or let themselves be taken into custody. In fact, the organization has enough funds and personnel to be its own country, and when the Thin Man turns himself in, it could well start a war.
417	* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Taking full advantage of the LaserGuidedAmnesia to which he subjects his "candidates," he has ''not'' paid any of them the money he promised for their "consent" to his organization's experiments. He has rationalized that "showing up after having been missing for days with bits of their memory missing" ''would be made worse'' if they showed up with bags of money too. Like a compulsive gambler with a massive debt, he "promises" that "once the truth gets out," he'll not only pay what he owes, but turn himself in. Maytag is right to believe that he's lying to himself.
418	* BigBad: He is the most overtly antagonistic force in the comic, as the majority of the conflicts that aren't rooted in interpersonal problems have started because of someone or something that he influenced. Most notably, his creation of Bloody Mary drastically changes Suspiria's life for the worse, [[spoiler:as it results in Kin's death and lets the Thin Man use one of his operatives to unlock Suspiria's potential--this, in turn, results in the deaths of most of the members of the Conclave, and severely traumatizes Moby when Suspiria has a FreakOut and winds up killing most of her friends and costing Moby an eye]].
419	* ConsummateLiar: For a man "with a burning passion for truth," he is very quick to lie to anyone and everyone the moment it's convenient. In fact, his first words to Maytag were a bald-faced lie. The reason he usually gets away with it is that he makes himself believe his lies are true and manipulates the people he's lying to in order to avoid major consequences.
420	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: His minions (two of whom are stoic, another who calls him master against his will, and another who alternates between crazed and a sweet cook), his penchant for toys, the ridiculous mask he wears, insistence on snacks (to the point where Maytag literally tells him to stop), and some of the gestures and mannerisms he has lend to the impression that he and his group are more goofy than evil.
421	* DontCallMeSir: He repeatedly reminds Corona of this, to no avail.
422	* FauxAffablyEvil: While he cheerfully greets his captives in a [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=1799 room full of stuffed toys]], maintains a polite and humble demeanor, and tries to paint himself as a humble AntiVillain devoted to exposing "the truth", with the results of his experiments being largely accidental in pursuit of that goal, the events of the story give the lie to that image. He is perfectly fine with kidnapping test subjects or deliberately approaching those that have no other options, engineers his experiments so that he doesn't have to immediately give people what he promised to pay them (because he's wiped their memories, so they don't even know what happened to them or what they're owed), and relies heavily on dubious consent for many of his experiments, including a proven instance where the person he experimented on ''did not actually give her permission to be experimented on''.
423	* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: He tends to use his pointer finger a lot, anyway. But especially [[http://flipside.keenspot.com/comic.php?i=2671 this scene]].
424	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Whule he claims Mary is a failure, he doesn't mean she became something undesirable. He means that the manner by which she became what she is is undesirable, meaning that in order to reach her true intended form, she's going to have to consume lots and lots of people, and he couldn't think of another way to do it.
425	* KnightTemplar: While it is revealed that he is actually guilt-ridden due to the deaths his "experiments" have caused, he's wholly convinced that he's justified in doing it because he's "seeking the truth of magic." That is, until Maytag points out that he's ''gambling'' with those lives and hits him between the eyes with a powerful ArmorPiercingQuestion. The shock doesn't last.
426	* LaserGuidedKarma: After a long history of kidnapping people and conning them into letting themselves be experimented on, Maytag works with Eye to give him a taste of his own medicine by tying him up, robbing his organization blind, and maybe kidnapping him. To further highlight how this is the right decision, she finds out that The Thin Man takes advantage of altering people's memories to specifically get out of paying them what he promised.
427	* LoopholeAbuse: He hasn't actually paid any of his "willing" test subjects because altering their memories to erase their knowledge of what they experienced in his organization's clutches effectively nulls his contractual obligations to them.
428	* TheManBehindTheMan: He serves as this to a few of the antagonists in the story -- most specifically Bloody Mary, as it's ''literally'' his fault she is the monster that she is.
429	* MoralSociopathy: His self-righteous nature goes beyond all reason. When it's pointed out to him that he's committed so many atrocities that nobody is going to care if he's a man that pays his debts, and turning himself in will only lead to his public execution, he admits that the population ''should'' and would hate him, but he pays it all no mind "because he's doing what he thinks is right".
430	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: His moniker, "The Thin Man", is well deserved. Not only is he of such a slim build one would accuse him of anorexia, his fingers, hands, and all his limbs are exceptionally long and thin.
431	* ObliviouslyEvil: He fully understands that he's ''legally'' responsible for the atrocities his "experiments" have done, but doesn't comprehend how turning ''kidnapped'' people into monstrosities in the first place is wrong. Especially since those people have their memories altered, thus making any concept of "consent" rather dubious.
432	* PrinciplesZealot: He thinks that his "burning passion for truth" not only makes him immune to deception (in his words, "you can't lie to one whose burning passion is the truth") but will ultimately justify his actions, no matter how morally dubious they are.
433	* SunkCostFallacy: While he claims he doesn't need any more experiments "now," he is insistent that he ''must'' complete his work, or else the people who've been killed either in his experiments, or as a result of what his experiments have done, will have died in vain. If he can't get Maytag to fully cooperate in helping him open "Dark Cell," he may just have to start "experimenting" again. Maytag, being well aware of this, claims it's the only reason she's still in the Thin Man's custody.
434
435	[[/folder]]
436
437	[[folder:Fata Morgana]]
438	* MasterOfIllusion: Their magic specialty is in casting illusions.
439	[[/folder]]
440
441	[[folder:The Warden]]
442	!! The Warden
443	An especially cold and harsh woman who runs the prison/coliseum where Bern finds herself during the Gladiatorial Arc.
444	----
445	* ChainPain: Her weapon is a long, magically enchanted chain that she can manipulate in just about any way she wants.
446	* DealWithTheDevil: If she offers a service or favor, the price tag is going to be very steep.
447	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Other characters only refer to her as "Warden."
448	* IGaveMyWord: She promises Bern that Polly will be revived regardless of Bern's personal opinion regarding the Arena, so that Bern would answer her honestly.
449	* ForJustice: She reminds Bern that the vast, vast majority of prisoners in the Arena are truly violent and depraved individuals who have all more than earned their punishment as gladiators.
450	* MachiavelliWasWrong: She was shocked when Bern won the "rank up" match without sacrificing her ideals in the process, especially considering that said match was rigged so that Bern's opponents could deliberately kill her without penalty, while if she killed them, even accidentally, she'd be penalized. She even goes so far as to admit it, and apologizes to Bern.
451	* MisanthropeSupreme: Her long experience as the Arena's warden has given her a very dark and cynical view of humanity.
452	* NoNameGiven: She's merely addressed as "Warden." Her name is never mentioned.
453	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: To the surprise of many fans, she would ultimately prove she is when [[spoiler: she goes after the Arena's promoter for rigging a fight and poisoning Polly to death just to use a LeonineContract against Bern]].
454	* StealthMentor: All she's done in to Bern in the Arena has purely been for the sake of making Bern a better warrior, and it looks like she succeeded.
455	* TattooedCrook: She's got some rather striking facial tattoos and all evidence to date is that she's also a prisoner in the arena.
456	* ThinkNothingOfIt: When Bern officially thanks her for dealing with "the promoter" and promising to revive Polly, The Warden deflects the praise.
457	--> "Hmph... Don't thank me for obeying the rules... That is what a person '''ought''' to do. If you really wish to thank me... simply '''''remember my words.'''''"
458	[[/folder]]
459
460	[[folder:Ozramobius Kingfisher]]
461	!! Ozramobius Kingfisher
462	A mysterious woman claiming to be Maytag's mother.
463	----
464	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Asks Maytag who she loves most after giving her, Bernadette and Polly a TruthSerum.
465	* ItRunsInTheFamily: Polly states she must be Maytag's real mother, because she's just as much of a weirdo (Polly quickly apologizes for the comment).
466	* ParentalAbandonment: Abandoned May as a child. Claims it was her idea of how to raise her by letting her loose on the world because of Maytag's "unique mind". When Polly calls her a bad mother, she agrees, admitting it's an internal rationalization.

Context Characters / Flipside