Characters / Jim Cutlass

Allies of Cutlass

Lieutenant Jim Cutlass

The main character of the series. Jim Cutlass is a redheaded lieutenant and Civil War veteran from Louisiana. After returning from the war, he leaves the care of his plantation in the heart of his cousin and sweetheart Carolyn, in favor of rejoining the army. However, he soon runs into a plot targetting his cousin's plantation (among others), led by The Klan, and accordingly tries to stop it, only to be entwined in the vast underground Evil Versus Evil showdown between the mysterious White Alligator and The Klan.

• Anti-Hero: Shows some pretty brutal tendencies on occasion, such as wanting to cut of Lewis' fingers as revenge for Brown's death.
• Berserk Button: Even thinking to hurt Carolyn. At the mere suspicion that Woodrow had participated in torturing her, Cutlass nearly tears his head clean off.

• Clear My Name: Frequently becomes an issue for him. Namely in The Man From New Orleans, where he is forced to evade being hanged due to the machinations of Playcard.
• Fed to the Beast: Woodrow tries this as a way to dispatch Cutlass in The White Alligator, and nearly succeeds, but he manages to evade the alligator.

• Hero with Bad Publicity: As the albums progresses, public animosity towards him becomes worse and worse, thanks to Clay and Playcard.

• Oh, Crap!: Upon sighting The White Alligator for the first time.

Carolyn Grayson

Cutlass' cousin and girlfriend, and his co-inheritor to the plantation, she handles the maintenance of it while Cutlass is in the army.

• Action Girl: Grabs a rifle and fights The Klan during their attack on the plantation herself.
• Damsel in Distress: Once The White Alligator has her kidnapped.

Brown

A negro working for Carolyn's plantation. As revealed in Thunder in the South, he was originally hoping to create a movement for an independent black state in the south, and grew to hate the White Alligator. He became a follower of the White Alligator, but was used as a mole in the organisation by Don Clay, to retrieve information. Eventually, Clay concluded that he knew too much, and had him tortured and killed, due to a fear of him having actually joined the Alligator.

• Fingore: During his torture at the hands of The Klan, his fingers are cut off.
• The Mole: Used by Clay against the White Alligator. Clay eventually feared he was The Mole.

Woodrow

A young, intellectual negro, also working on Carolyn's plantation. Also a member of the White Alligator's organisation, but undergoes a Heel–Face Turn in Thunder in the South, and instead helps Cutlass.

• Heel–Face Turn: After the murder of the Morrows family, he loses faith in the White Alligator.

Neuville and Prosper

Two negroes working for Carolyn, and two main allies for Cutlass.

• Agent Scully: Neuville, whom refuses to believe Woodrow's explanations relating to the White Alligator.

• Big Damn Heroes: Turns up in time to shoot McKee just before he manages to impale Cutlass.

• True Companions: Both to each other and Cutlass.

Members of The Klan

Don Clay

The Grand Wizard of The Klan, and the fundamental Big Bad of the series. Much of the plot consists of his continuing power struggle with the White Alligator, culminating in the final albums.

• Bad Boss: Shoots down Phil, one of his henchmen, in cold blood after he has outlived his usefulness.
• Big Bad: Of one faction, at least.

• Coitus Uninterruptus: Behaves this way when Playcard accidentally disturbs his Three-Way Sex.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Used against his enemies, ( such as Brown) without hesitation.

• Evil Versus Evil: His conflict with the White Alligator.

• Faux Affably Evil: He frequently seems affable enough, cracking jokes and laughing with his henchmen. But he also doesn't hesitate to murder civilians to accomplish his goals.
• Not Quite Dead: He survives being shot by a derringer in Mississippi River.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: As a member of The Klan, this is a must. It's more played-with than most examples however, since he also seems to be interested in money, as this is his sole motivation for attacking Carolyn's plantation.

• You Have Failed Me: Uses a combination when shooting down Phil.

Playcard

The Dragon to Clay and his movement, a high ranking officer in The Klan.

• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Plans to behave like this around Mrs. Lewis, but does not get around to it.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Played With, as he seems equally motivated by money as racism.
• Oh, Crap!: Epically, when he accidentally disturbs Clay during his Three-Way Sex.

McKee

A sergeant in the US army, same batallion as Cutlass, and also a mole for The Klan.

• Eye Scream: Cutlass blinds one of his eyes during their final confrontation in Thunder In The South, shortly before he is shot dead by Neuville and Prosper.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Tries to subject Cutlass to this fate, but Neuville and Prosper kill him just short of it.
• The Mole: For Clay, in the army. Used to bring down Cutlass.

The White Alligator and his Followers.

The White Alligator(person)

The White Alligator is a mysterious albino negro wizard, with an immense amount of power in underground black movements of the south. According to Woodrow, he had managed to predict several dates in the Civil War, including the murder of Abraham Lincoln, and is amassing a vast cult, intending to break out an independent negro state in the south. And apparently he has the ability to enter dreams and cause nightmares.

• The Beastmaster: Controls the actual white alligator.

• Evil Is Bigger: Absolutely towers over everyone else.
• Evil Laugh: A Nightmare Sequence caused by him often ends this way.
• Evil Versus Evil: His battle with Clay and The Klan.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: His intentions for Carolyn.

• Politically Incorrect Villain: According to Woodrow, he intends to rape all white women, and make them sex slaves of black men.

• Troll: Surprisingly, he frequently acts like in his nightmare sequences. Highlights include calling Cutlass a negro due to being whiter than him, and offering Cutlass payments for being an Unwitting Pawn in another.
• Where da White Women At?: Apparently intends to rape and marry Carolyn, and has this plan in store for all white women.

The White Alligator(reptile)

An enormous albino alligator, controlled by the White Alligator, and used to consolidate his power.

• Animals Not to Scale: Though excusable by the voodoo backstory, it is grossly larger than normal alligators, as lampshaded by both Cutlass and Woodrow. A specific size is not given, but during the brief pages where it appears, it appears to be at least 7 metres long, the size of a very large saltwater crocodile, and much larger than any American alligators, which can, in extreme cases, never exceed five metres.
• The Dragon: Close to a literal example, though it can also count as a Right-Hand Attack Dog.
• The Dreaded: Just as much as its master.
• Eldritch Abomination: Considered this by the swamp inhabitants, and for a good reason.