Characters of the webcomic Façade (2013).
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High Mountain Heroes
Benjamin 'Ben' Remmy
The balloon enthusiast enters his home.
- Ben: Well, no point in stalling any longer. I'm ready when you are.Elise: Alright, deep breaths. Let's do this.
The primary hero of Facade, whose hot air balloon crashed-landed on the mountaintop Elise has been living on. Both of them are now trying to make their way back to civilization.
- Balloonacy: Ben's never throws away a balloon, even after it deflates. When Elise released a balloon into the sky, he fought her over it. He used to live in a balloon before it was shot down!
- He does leave a pair of balloons behind in Elise's house, deciding they wouldn't be wise to bring into a haunted mine.
- Blue Is Heroic: Yep, Ben's a blue-colored hero.
- Constantly Curious: Ben always has lots of questions, especially for people he's just met. Lampshaded by Hank.Ben: Anyway... What was it you guys were mining for?Hank: uh hello do you have coal in your ears i said im not doing this q and a bullshitBen: Oh, coal, you said?Hank: that was a fucking expressionBen: So silver then.Hank: noBen: Gold?Hank: shut the fuck up it was diamonds you imbecile we were mining for diamondsBen: Oh, interesting.
- Indy Ploy: His strategy for confronting the ghosts.Ben: Are you afraid of [the ghosts?]Elise: …I'd face them head-on if I could.
- Memento MacGuffin: The piece of jewelry left by his grandmother.The chain is too small to fit around anybody's neck, but too large to be worn around one's wrist. It's basically useless. It makes a good paperweight, though.
- Team Dad: Once he and Elise become companions, Ben becomes really attentive to her; treating her nicely, eating breakfast together with her, insisting she have a weapon on her before they enter the mine, etcetera.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Ben makes sure he and Elise are equipped with wooden planks as makeshift weapons… even though she pointedly reminds him that they won't have much effect on ghosts.
Elise Pipers
Time to see what's down there.
- Elise: If we manage to clear the mine of ghosts… Then I'll have a way to and from civilization.
A woman living in a mountainous home close to an abandoned mineshaft. This mineshaft represents the only dependable passageway to and from the city at the mountain's base. But a horrible calamity befell the mine years ago which ended the lives of eight miners. Their ghosts have since made the mine into their personal haunting ground, effectively cutting Elise off from human civilization for all that time. With Ben by her side, she's now ready to risk braving the mine at last…
- Call to Agriculture: She's learned to grow her own food in her garden.
- Disaster Scavenger: Elise's debut into the story has her robbing stuff off of Ben's shot-down hot air balloon. It's not the first downed flying device she's scavenged from, either.
- Face Your Fears: Zigzagged Trope. Elise claims she doesn't actually fear the ghosts, but has delayed in taking action because she had no clue how to fight them. Nonetheless, Ben convinces her that now's the time to stand up to them.
- Girlish Pigtails: They curl around and point upwards at the tips.
- The Hermit: Though not by choice. The miner ghosts have forced this role upon her.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The first time we see Elise encounters a ghost, she immediately hides in a locker.
The Unpicked Girl
Guess who just got selected to star in an adventure?
- A young man and a young woman stand near a cliff. But wait. Which one are you?
At the very beginning of the webcomic, the players were given a choice between having a male or a female protagonist. Ben was picked. This girl… whatever her name might've turned out to be, was not.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: On Page 4 of the webcomic...BEN: Talk to the girl.
- Pink Is Feminine: She's pink, and she's a girl.
- Screw This, I'm Outta HereYou're quite sure that she left several hours ago, long before the sun began to set.
- The Unfavorite: Of the players.
- We Hardly Knew You: Gone in four webcomic pages.
Abandoned Mineshaft Apparitions
Kathleen Mc Nabb
- Courier: The memorial says that Kathleen spent 'hours running messages back and forth through the mine' as part of her daily mining duties.
- Green Thumb: Kathleeen loved growing flowers and giving them out to others.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In life, this dark blonde woman spread much joy to others.
- Heroic SacrificeMemorial: When the disaster occurred, it appears that Kathleen had the opportunity to escape, but stayed behind to help the others. This final, kind act of hers ultimately sealed her fate.
Leonard Fargo
- Cool Shades
- Hey, Let's Put on a Show: Leonard was an aspiring filmmaker, who'd enlist fellow miners into starring in his amateur productions.
- Never Found the BodyMemorial: Leonard's body was never found, but after nearly a week of searching, he was pronounced dead. The investigators believe he got trapped in the mine where nobody could hear him.
- The Leader
Thomas Sutton
- Mr. Fixit
- Never Found the BodyMemorial: Thomas' body was never found. Investigators claim that Thomas was far out into the mine and could not get out in time.
- The Funny Guy
Hank O'Donnell
A foul attitude to match his foul mouth.
- Hank: this place does have lights you know. i recommend turning them on before exploring dark caves especially when those caves are haunted. what are you dipshits doing here?
The former explosions expert for the mine.
- Badasses Wear Bandanas: This trash-talking demo expert has one around his head.
- Bold Explorer: The memorial said that he enjoyed exploring new areas of the mine alone.
- Demolitions Expert: His job at the mine.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Hank's abrasive, rude, and mocking when he first meets Ben and Elise, and uses his poltergeist powers to block the exit with a huge stalactite when Ben tries to leave. But then Hank brings them up to see the mine's communications room. For a while, he's a bit nicer, especially when speaking of Marvin. But soon enough, Hank's bad attitude returns; he pointedly refuses to help them escape, and leaves them trapped with the stalactite still blocking the exit.
- Nice Job Breaking It, HeroMemorial: Investigators suspect that Hank may have caused the disaster, though no blame was put upon him in death. Hank's body was located far inside the mine, far from the others.
- Poltergeist: Hank's able to snuff out fires, flip light switches, and even break off huge cave stalactites with his ghostly powers.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Hank's the first character in this webcomic to drop f-bombs.
Rina Kitamura
- Cunning Linguist: Fluent in five languages.
- Go-Getter Girl: Rina died young. Yet in the course of her short life, she managed to master several foreign tongues, landed herself a job at this mine from China, obtained a supervisory role while still an intern, and was said to be 'an expert when it came to business.' Pretty good for a 22-year-old.
- Going Down with the ShipMemorial: It is unknown why Rina was inside the mine when the disaster occurred. She was located near the entrance to the mine, and investigators determined that she was close to escape, but something stopped her.
- Mission Control: In life, Rina gave orders to the other miners, while rarely setting foot inside the actual mine.
- The Intern: Came from Beijing to work for this mine on an internship.
Marvin Pedari
- A Father to His Men
- Eyepatch of Power: A strong-hearted man; Marvin shrugged off the loss of sight in one eye like it was nothing.
- Happily Married: Everyone around him knew he loved Nicole, and Nicole loved him back.
- The Scapegoat: Despite Hank being the suspected cause of the disaster, Marvin was somehow 'blamed for most of the catastrophe.' Shortly after, Marvin's bosses swooped in and seized most of the Pedaris' money, which was why Nicole had to turn to Scott.
- Tragic KeepsakeMemorial: Marvin's body was never recovered, though it is suspected to be near the entrance the mine, as his eyepatch was located somewhere near the mine's beginning.
- Treasure Hunter: In life, Marvin had a remarkable knack for locating large deposits of ore. Thanks to this, he and his wife were able to live a rich, cushy life after he promoted to one of the chief miners.
Simon Bloomquist
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Simon was a scientist, and his glasses are quite prominent.
- Nice Guy:
- Never Found the BodyMemorial: It is assumed that Simon was caught further down in the mine and could not escape when the disaster occurred.
Evan Lasky
A surprisingly spiritless sort of spirit.
- Evan: (describing death) its lonelyBen: What? But there's a bunch of you guys around here.Evan: i dont talk to them at least i try not to theyre not the same they feel like strangers... i feel like a stranger
The first of the ghosts which Ben and Elise encounter; a languid, melancholy loner who spends all his days alone in what used to be his boss' office.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: Death seems to have completely reversed every personality trait Evan was reported to have in life.
- Hates Being Alone: In life, Evan was said to be "always there
for the others, and would never let any of them work alone... In whatever way he could, he stayed in touch with friends and relatives, and offered to be everyone's friend."- This trait is completely inverted in death. Evan can't stand the company of his fellow ghosts at all.
- Porn Stache
- Senseless SacrificeMemorial: Evan appears to have went back into the mine after escaping to help the others. He may have actually retrieved one of his co-workers when they both became trapped.
- The Charmer: In life, he was reported to be quite the lady's man. In death... well, at least he's not violent.
City Citizens
Nicole Pedari
Hates it here.
- Somehow Marvin was blamed for most of the catastrophe... Or at least that's what they told you. Cutting to the chase, they took all your money and cut your connection to the mining company. Unable to support yourself, you were forced to take this sorry excuse for a job. There's more to it than that, you remind yourself, but the rest isn't your favorite thing to talk about. So yeah. You hate this place.
Nicole is the widow of Marvin Pedari, who is now working as a office secretary; a job she has no love for. She acts as a third protagonist in her own separate side-story.
- Ascended Extra: Nicole Pedari's name is first mentioned on the memorial just outside the mine… with absolutely nothing to hint that she'd have any larger plot importance above that of Janice Sutton, Waverly O'Donnell, Kiley Valis, or any of the other surviving relatives which the memorial also listed.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Nicole despises practically everything about her job, and Scott Starter most of all.
- Living with the Villain: Somehow, someway, Nicole Pedari has been coerced into living with Scott in his house.
- Sassy Secretary: Scott lets Nicole get away with a lot of open snark at himself. He takes it in stride, and serves up snark of his own.
- Take This Job and Shove It: How Nicole would love to tell Scott this! But she doesn't quite dare.
Scott Starter
The bane of Nicole's existence.
- Nicole: Scott. What do you think of the work I do here?Scott: Woah, where did this come from? Since when do you care about work?Nicole: I'm just making conversation.Scott: I think you do everything I ask you to.Nicole: And if I asked for a promotion?Scott: I would laugh at your ignorance.
Nicole's extremely domineering narcissist of a boss.
- Alliterative Name
- Braggart Boss
- Put on a Bus: His trip to attend the World's Fair in Dubai frees Nicole's schedule up a bit.
- Straight Edge Evil: Business-wise, his company couldn't be more squeaky-clean and law-abiding. Start exploring his domestic life, and especially Nicole's place in it, and Scott start smelling rotten.
- Trophy Room: AKA his office.
Harold 'Harry' Lehman
Chicks dig the beard.
- Nicole: Harry, I was wondering. This weekend, if you have a chance, I'd like to have dinner with you.Harry: Oh? What's the occasion?Nicole: Nothing special. I like to think of us as friends, yes?
A co-worker of Nicole's who works in the office mail room. Harry's a goodnatured, low-key, down-to-earth kind of fellow. He and Nicole are on good terms.
- Foil: Harry makes a dramatic contrast next to Scott Starter.
- Relationship Upgrade: Nicole certainly wouldn't mind making this happen.
- Seadog Beard: Despite his magnificently piratical beard, Harry's not what you'd call a seafarer… though he does enjoy fishing on his days off.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: So far, Harry has no obvious vices... especially none of the rampant narcissism of Scott Starter. Nicole likes that in a man.
