Bradley "Skipper" Matthews
Portrayed By: Dan Warry-Smith (TV); Richard Steven Horvitz (Audiobook)
The protagonist. He is a comic book nerd who discovers his favorite supervillain's HQ right in his own town... and soon finds himself starring in the comic book, against his will.
- Acrofatic: Is shown to be quite a chubby person. That doesn't stop him from being able to quickly dodge acid that is thrown at him.
- Adaptational Badass: At the end of the television adaptation of the story, rather than be freaked out by his continued existence as a comic book character, he fully embraces his newfound identity as Colossal Elastic Boy which comes with both a costume and the powers he claimed to have in his fight against the Mutant.
- Ascended Fanboy: He is incredibly fascinated with fictional superheroes, and he ends up meeting them in real life. Taken up further, when he becomes a real superhero himself.
- Big Eater: At least in the show. When he later claims that he's not hungry, his mother immediately realizes he's not feeling well.
- Book Dumb: He is a genius when it comes to comics, but is very insecure when it comes to schoolwork. This makes his father very concerned about him, saying that it's a big problem of his.
- Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: He worries that he will have to get these, and is also worried about embarrassing himself in front of Libby when he mentions his appointment to the orthodontist.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He has no interest in school whatsoever. Even when he promises to his father that he will do his work before reading comics, he just rushes through the questions, not caring if he got many correct answers.
- Changing Yourself for Love: In order to get closer to Libby, he pretends to be suddenly interested in her comics that involve drama, not superheroes. By the time he gets away from her house after reading through some of them with her, he is overwhelmed at keeping up this facade.
- Character Development: After all his adventures, Skipper decides that life is too short and he shouldn't spend it all on comics. When his little sister asks if he'll play catch with her, Skipper happily agrees, and even slices some chocolate cake for her afterward. That's when he learns he is bleeding ink, and asks her to pass him the latest comic book he received in the mail, to find out what the next chapter of his story is.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: His sister Mitzi does not approve of him much, thinking that he's lazy and deceitful. She constantly snitches on him any chance she gets.
- Evil Laugh: In the TV episode, he does this as an Ironic Echo of the Masked Mutant's laugh after defeating him.
- Fat Bastard: Downplayed, as he sure can be quite mean sometimes, and he also has obesity going on with him.
- Guile Hero: Ultimately, he outsmarts the Masked Mutant through trickery via Reverse Psychology and bluffing.
- Hero Antagonist: In the latest issue of The Masked Mutant comic book, in which it depicts him sneaking in the aforementioned supervillain's headquarters to rescue the Galloping Gazelle.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Skipper is not a pleasant person and acts condescending and rude to his friends and family for not understanding the merits of comics. However, he also respects Libby's fear when she's afraid of entering the Mutant's lair, shows that he's willing to risk his life to save others when the Galloping Gazelle is in danger, and eventually gives up comics altogether for more bonding time with his little sister.
- Kavorka Man: He is a very nerdy and chubby boy, yet he instantly hooks up with Libby, a cute and funny girl his age. It's actually subverted, considering "Libby" was actually the Mutant in disguise, and "she" pretended to be attracted to him in order to get to find out his secrets and weaknesses.
- Kid Hero: At the end of the book, he becomes a comic book superhero permanently. Showed traits of this earlier when he defeated the Masked Mutant with his smarts.
- Mistaken for Badass: The Masked Mutant assumes that Skipper must be a formidable superhero, and thus the perfect nemesis for him. Subverted when it turns out that he just might be a badass after all by the end of the story.
- Odd Friendship: His best friend is Clark Wilson. Skipper is sort of a brat and likes superheroes, while Clark is sort of polite and collects rubber stamps. Skipper even wonders sometimes why the two are friends.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: All of his friends call him Skipper, and when he introduces himself to Libby, he calls himself by this nickname. Even his sister and father refer to him by this nickname as well.
- Picked Last: He mentions how, due to his plump body, whenever he is playing sports, he is usually the last to be picked.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: He's not so much a comic book collector as a comic book connoisseur. In the end, his in-depth knowledge of the Masked Mutant's background is what helps him beat him.
- Too Dumb to Live: He sees a building vanishing and reappearing, learning it was covered by a hologram. It also ostensibly belongs to a supervillain. So what does he do? Go inside the building after verifying it was real. Unsurprisingly, the Mutant has plans where Skipper doesn't live.
- Tricking the Shapeshifter: He pretends to be Elastic Boy and convinces the Masked Mutant that he can only be destroyed by acid. The Mutant then forgets that he can only turn into a solid and back, but once he turns into a liquid, he's stuck in that form.
- What You Are in the Dark: He's a rude jerk to most of his peers, but when he discovers a superhero being tortured in the Mutant's lair through his comic, he can't bring himself to abandon the guy and heads back to save him.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Libby questions him about this, thinking it's his actual name, saying that a person having Skipper for a name would be stupid.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: He is highly hurt and incredulous when the Galloping Gazelle is revealed to be a sniveling coward.
Masked Mutant
Spoiler
As Libby
Portrayed By: Scott Wickware (TV); James Belushi (VG); Townsend Coleman (Audiobook)
"I'm sorry, Skipper. But the story is over. Your part has come to an end."
A comic book supervillain with the power to shapeshift, the Masked Mutant traveled to our world where he met his biggest fan... and tried to kill him.
- Actually a Doombot: The Mutant encountered by Skipper and the Galloping Gazelle is actually a henchman with similar shape-shifting abilities. He's killed by the real deal.
- Affably Evil: He notably acts apologetic towards Skipper before announcing that his part in the story has come to an end.
- Apologetic Attacker: As evil as he is, he does apologize to Skipper before attempting to kill him, as if he feels he has no choice.
- Badass Cape: It's very Batman-esque.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Tells Skipper he's always looking for new, more worthy opponents for his comics, and sees one in Skipper. Unfortunately for him, Skipper turns out to be just this, as he is able use his knowledge of the Masked Mutant to exploit the Mutant's only weakness.
- Big Bad: Of Attack Of The Mutant, as well as the in-universe comic he stars in.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: He knows full well he's in a comic book, and therefore doesn't believe his actions are going to have any moral impact.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Taken to disproportionate levels. Despite having the Galloping Gazelle captive and knowing that at least Skipper is coming to try to rescue him, he leaves ''all'' of the booby traps off.
- Card-Carrying Villain: A very self-aware example. He repeatedly boasts about being a supervillain.
- Consummate Liar: He's known for being an excellent liar. However, as far as Skipper being a comic book character now, he was telling the truth.
- Cool Mask: It makes him look like a demonic Batman.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: How he disposes of Molecule Man. Melting a guy alive,slowly? That's cruel. Melting a guy alive as a pre-teen girl with a plastic toy gun? His eulogy's going to be very awkward.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: It's implied the Masked Mutant comics are made by the Masked Mutant himself, as he even has a printing press in his base. Presumably he makes them for money, but considering he invents an invisibility curtain at one point, you'd think he'd sell those instead as it would be a lot more lucrative.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: The Mutant could be considered a sendup of many grandiose "ultimate" comic supervillains, particularly from the 90s. While he's incredibly powerful and a formidable foe, the Mutant's victories seem to come from his superhero rivals being written considerably less competent to hype him up, if the Galloping Gazelle is any indication. As such he longs for a real challenge, to the point that he's willing to stalk a preteen boy who's hardly hero material himself. For all his buildup as a powerful menace, the Masked Mutant is a petulant and unfathomably immature man who dies in the end because he just doesn't know when to walk away from a fight.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Hands up, who guessed Libby was the villain?
- Evil Redhead: As "Libby", his human guise.
- For the Evulz: The reason why he kills his henchman.
- Genius Bruiser: A ruthless combatant and cunning manipulator who employs some pretty complicated gadgetry.
- Genius Ditz: Despite the above, he's ridiculously overzealous and gullible when he falls for Skipper's "Elasti-boy" ruse. Which is a name he made up on the spot.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His shape-shifting ability ends up dooming him when Skipper tricks him into turning into a liquid, which he cannot revert back from.
- Hollywood Acid: Morphs into a large wave of this to kill Skipper. It doesn't work.
- Humanoid Abomination: We are never told exactly what he is, but he's far from human.
- Invisibility Cloak: His lair employs this to keep away enemies, as well as to lure a curious Skipper into his trap.
- Jerkass: He acts pretty sardonic as Lilly.
- Kill and Replace: Possibly how he got the "Libby" persona. Skipper gets to see "her" house, which isn't the Mutant headquarters, and he always appears to Skipper in the outside world disguised simply as one girl.
- Large Ham: In the TV episode, he absolutely devours every scene he's in.
- Manipulative Bastard: As "Libby" he tries to discourage Skipper from heading to the invisible base, while knowing full well he's going to do it anyway after reading the latest comics.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: What we see of his comics would have you believe he's just some campy weirdo. He proves otherwise in some truly horrifying ways.
- Noodle Incident: No explanation is ever given for how he came to the real world.
- Objectshifting:
- Has the power to transform into any being, animal - or object. This comes back to bite Skipper when he infiltrates the Mutant's office, only to find too late that the Mutant is already there - disguised as the desk. It's actually the Magnificent Molecule Man impersonating the Mutant, but there you go.
- In the TV series, he takes the form of a chair and waits until the Gazelle makes the mistake of sitting on him. Cue immediate constricting attack.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Kills his henchman for trying to finish off Skipper before him.
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Toward Skipper. His insane logic is that since this kid knows everything about him while the heroes of his world are complete idiots, he'll make a perfect opponent. Surprisingly enough, he was right.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: In his "Libby" persona, he has his own collection of comics. The fact that they are ones Skipper considers lame and poorly written just sells his disguise even more.
- Practically Joker: He's a villain for the hell of it, can't go more than a few seconds without cackling like a loon and his headquarters is painted in secondary colors. His arch-nemesis is even played by Batman himself. The way Skipper outsmarts him is also similar to old-school Batman comics where the Caped Crusader uses his wits to wipe the grin off the Joker's face.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Once he confronts his kid "nemesis", he makes a surprisingly effective and chilling one:"I'm so sorry, Skipper. But the story is over. Your part has come to an end."
- Punch-Clock Villain: The whole point of his existence is to be the perfect villain for his target audience. Then again, he seems to really enjoy his job.
- Reverse Psychology: As Libby, he pretends to have a completely different taste in comic books than Skipper so that he has no idea of her true identity until it's too late.
- Shapeshifting Seducer: Tries to gain Skipper's trust in the form of an attractive young girl named Libby. Thankfully, this remains strictly platonic.
- Shapeshifter Default Form: A towering figure with a purple mask and cape. However, we never see him unmasked, and it's not even clear if this is his true form.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: His form as Libby, who has carrot-colored hair and eyes.
- The Sociopath: The Mutant has no trouble deceiving and stringing along others, seems to view everyone else as plot devices for his own story, and worst of all, will casually murder people in cruel ways for little to no reason.
- The Spook: While most entities in this series are given a few hints to just what they are (either in book or tie-in material), the Mutant doesn't even have that. We never know his real name, just what he is, the origin of his powers, or how he even crossed over into our world. He's just there.
- Story-Breaker Power: A possible reason he hasn't been used since. He can become almost anything he wants and Skipper was only able to beat him through trickery. Most normal kids wouldn't stand a chance.
- Terminal Transformation: Skipper bluffs him by posing as a superhero named Elastic Boy and claiming that his only weakness is sulfuric acid. Naturally, the Mutant turns himself into a wave of the stuff. However, though the Masked Mutant has the power to shapeshift into any individual, animal, or object, he can't tolerate liquid transformations - as it means that he'll be unable to reform himself: as soon as he's finished his one failed attempt at attacking, he splashes into the carpet with a fizzle and dissipates into nothingness.
- Too Dumb to Live: Your only weakness is turning into a liquid. A boy, claiming to be made of elastic, tells you his only weakness is sulfuric acid, which is a liquid. What do you do? Turn yourself into sulfuric acid.
- Tricking the Shapeshifter: How Skipper takes him down.
- Villain Protagonist: In-universe example. The comic books Skipper collects feature the Masked Mutant as the main focus of the stories.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Supposedly accomplished by "rearranging his molecules."
- Victory Is Boring: Apparently his motive for targeting Skipper. He was always one step ahead of the heroes in his world, and in his opinion, the kid was the only one who would provide a challenge.
- The Worf Effect: By way of a twelve year old.
- Walking Spoiler: He never makes a full appearance until the last four chapters, but his reveal puts the story in a much, much more disturbing context.
- Worthy Opponent: To a degree. He takes time to explain what's going on to Skipper so he won't die too confused.
The Galloping Gazelle
The Masked Mutant's arch-nemesis.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the video game he starts out as cowardly as he was in the book and TV show, but realizes this attitude is wrong and starts acting braver.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: In the episode his costume is yellow and he wusses out as soon as the Masked Mutant gets the drop on him.
- Big Good: He's the leader of the League of Good Guys, an organization of superheroes determined to stop the Masked Mutant.
- Dirty Coward: After the Masked Mutant kicks his ass, he simply ditches Skipper and leaves him at the Mutant's mercy. Skipper laments that he should call himself the Galloping Chicken instead.
- Distressed Dude: The Masked Mutant kidnaps him as bait to lure Skipper back into his HQ, and into a trap.
- Heel Realization: In the video game through interactions with the player character.
- Hero Antagonist: Since the Masked Mutant is more of the focus in the comic than he is.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: "I'm too old for this superhero stuff. You're on your own, kid!"
- Weaksauce Weakness: In the book, he tries to use his Super-Speed to create a vacuum around the Mutant (actually the Magnificent Molecule Man disguised as him) by running in fast circles. The villain isn't even remotely worried as he sticks his foot out to trip the Gazelle and send the hero careening into a wall.
- The Worf Effect: Despite his reputation as a famed hero, he gets soundly trounced by the decoy Mutant to show Skipper's in serious trouble.
The Magnificent Molecule Man
Portrayed By: Michael Donovan (VG)
One of the Masked Mutant's henchmen, a fellow supervillain.
- Adapted Out: There is no Molecule Man or Mutant impostor in the TV episode.
- Adaptational Heroism: He was as nasty as his boss in the book, but the video game has him horrified by the Mutant's plan, and team up with the heroes to stop him.
- Asshole Victim: Given he's a sadistic brute happy to murder two children, nobody would feel sad when one of said children turns the tables and executes him.
- Ax-Crazy: Possibly even more so than the Mutant himself, since he seems to get sick pleasure from toying with Skipper before trying to kill him.
- Body Double: The Mutant used him as a decoy as part of his plan to trap Skipper, then disposed of him when he didn't need to keep up the charade.
- Combat Pragmatist: When the Galloping Gazelle tries to trap him in a miniature tornado, he simply sticks his foot in front of the hero, causing him to trip and leaving him open to attack.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: "Libby" blasts him with a "Molecule-Melter" which slowly dissolves his body into nothing, molecule by molecule, and he's moaning in agony the whole time.
- The Dragon: He was apparently this to the Masked Mutant, since he's the only one of his gang who appears in the book.
- Empty Piles of Clothing: An empty costume is all that's left of him after his death.
- The Faceless: In the original book, he never appears outside his Masked Mutant guise and we don't learn it was him until after his death.
- Mugging the Monster: When Libby bursts in to save Skipper, Molecule Man thinks finishing off the kids will be easy and laughs at the girl's attempt to intimidate him with a plastic gun. Unfortunately for him, said girl was actually an even deadlier super-villain holding a deadly weapon.
- Shout-Out: He is likely named after the Fantastic Four villain of the same name, though he doesn't seem to have similar powers.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Provided the player get the good ending in the video game, Molecule Man isn't killed by the Masked Mutant and even celebrates when the world is saved.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He has similar powers to his master, which makes him a more convincing decoy.
- Walking Spoiler: Talking about him at all spoils the book's third act twist.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He receives very little characterization before the Mutant murders him, and it's not even clear how much of his behavior impersonating the Mutant was his actual personality.
- Would Hurt a Child: He gleefully prepares to kill Skipper and when Libby shows up, decides to murder both children. Which wound up being his undoing.
