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Characters / Kevin & Kell — Dewclaw Extended Family

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Kevin & Kell by Bill Holbrook
Tropes: A to B | C to I | J to R | S to Z
Main Character Page | Core Family | Kindle Extended Family | Dewclaw Extended Family | Lindesfarne's Peers | Rudy's Peers | Coney's Peers | Younger Characters/Turvy's Peers | Other Characters

These are members of Kell Dewclaw's family, her friends, and employees of both Herd Thinners and Dewclaw's Fine Meats.

Franklin Dewclaw (Wolf)

Kell's father, he had a full career at Herd Thinners, something he hoped for with both of his children, though only his daughter Kell lived up to it. Died early in the strip's history after a bout with dementia. Stuck around a while in spirit, though he departed for the Great Beyond when she became CEO of Herd Thinners.

  • Identity Amnesia: Due to his dementia, he forgot everyone around him and his own identity. The silver lining was forgetting Ralph, who had been an embarrassment to him for many years.

Elanor Dewclaw (Wolf)

Kell's mother. She was a homemaker during Franklin's career. Though his retirement could've provided for her after his death, she misinvested it and lost everything. She now lives with Kevin and Kell, and eventually un-retired, becoming an accountant for Aby's Auto Repair, a job Dorothy assisted with before she married Douglas.

  • Better as Friends: While she enjoys the long-distance romance with Bentley while he's incarcerated, liking the dramatic fiction of having a Lovable Rogue for a romantic companion, she gently lets him down when he gets out of prison. She explains both that she's still grieving her husband, and that the romance would fade if she came to know him in real life.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: Apparently, she was very beautiful when she was young, as seen here, to the point where Ralph found it hard to realize that she was the "hot babe" in the old photo he'd found.
  • Meet Cute: Smashed head-long into Franklin when they both tried to catch Bentley, who escaped into a convenient rabbit hole at the right moment.
  • Odd Friendship: Forms one with both Kevin's father Bentley when he's in prison and later on with Dorothy, Kevin's mother.
  • Riches to Rags: She gets a huge amount of money day-trading, but loses it all plus everything she'd already saved up when Herd Thinners Inc stock gets sold, leaving her penniless.
  • The One That Got Away: A non-romantic example. Bentley is one of the few that she was never able to catch and kill.
  • To Absent Friends: Eleanor is saddened when Franklin's spirit decides to leave for the Great Beyond after Kell becomes CEO of Herd Thinners. Kell interprets it as wishing he were there to see it.

Randy Foxglove (Fox)

Kell's first husband, Rudy's father. Died in a hunting accident when he was trampled by a moose. Later revealed to have cheated on Kell, resulting in Vin Vulpen. Very little is known about him.

Ralph Dewclaw (Wolf)

Kell's younger brother, Kevin's brother-in-law, Corrie's father. Early on in Kevin and Kell's marriage, he tried to hunt Kevin. Usually resulted in Hilarity Ensues due to his ineptitude. He eventually gave up and became a tech, eventually working for Kevin at Hare-Link and rising to Vice President of Marketing.

His ineptitude was eventually revealed to be the result of the death of Corrie's mother. Currently married to Martha Fennec, making him Fiona's stepfather as well.

  • Amusing Injuries: Managed to end up hurt every time he hunted Kevin, from getting fried with a bug zapper, shot with his own gun, ripped up with a chainsaw, and ending up with a poodle cut after Kevin shaved him. It got so bad that, at one point, he lost his pelt to Corrie and Dolly.
  • Formerly Fit: For a number of years, he was thin and resembled just about every other wolf character in the comic. However, after working with Kevin for a while, as well as his mother overfeeding him to help prevent Kevin getting eaten, he gains a terrific amount of weight. He doesn't seem to mind, though.
  • Freudian Excuse: As part of his added backstory, Ralph tried to hunt Kevin because he didn't want Kell to feel the pain he felt losing Corrie's mother. Ironically, he stopped hunting after her death, and was so out-of-practice by the time Kell began dating Kevin that he was completely inept.
  • Fur Is Clothing: This gag would be used once when he tried to hunt Corrie and Dolly.note  Corrie took his pelt, then wore it when pretending to be a wolf. As part of the joke, Ralph was shown working from home until his fur grew back. Ironically, his pelt would give Rudy the idea that Corrie was Ralph's daughter more than a year before it was revealed that she actually was.
  • Karmic Jackpot: Things came together fairly quickly for him once he was hired at Hare-Link and buried the hatchet with Kevin. Not only did he quickly rise up the ladder with his previously-untapped marketing prowess, but he also fell in love with Martha, and soon discovered his daughter, Corrie.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Well, not really, but once he becomes fat, he has a truly epic set of chins, mainly one big one that's about the size of his head, and it's shaped similarly to a traditional Lantern Jaw of Justice.
  • Parental Sexuality Squick: His brain imploded when he found out that an old photograph of a beautiful woman was actually his mother.
  • Vague Age: He was in his teens when he had Corrie, since he was already an inept hunter in a strip confirmed to be set twenty years from the present. This doesn't really give a good indication of whether he's supposed to be in his thirties or forties.

L.D. (Wolf)

The original CEO of Herd Thinners. Drowned in his own saliva and died when he met Coney shortly after her birth.

  • Connected All Along: A flashback reveals he has a history with Douglas Squirrel, though neither of them knew it — in 1971, L.D. found the bag of money that Douglas Squirrel had gotten from hijacking an airplane and then lost, and used it to start Herd Thinners.
  • The Faceless: Like his replacement R.L., only his snout and hands were ever seen.
  • Undignified Death: Drowned in his own saliva after seeing Coney.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: He dies in his third appearance, less than three months into the strip's run (and about two months after the first two strips he appeared in). Since then, he's only appeared in a single flashback.

R.L. (Wolf)

The current Owner, Chairman and CEO of Herd Thinners. Bloodthirsty and malevolent. Was on the sidelines for three years after Kell won the CEO position at Herd Thinners, but eventually ousted her in a corporate hostile takeover.

  • Armored Closet Gay: The Domain equivalent. He was so petrified of anyone finding out he married a rabbit that she (willingly) underwent cosmetic surgery to become a rat so that he wouldn't lose any standing.
  • Bad Boss: Does everything from eating his employees to making his hunters give up even more food just so he can have a bonus.
  • Big Eater: He's known for eating entire full-grown animals in between meals as snacks. When in prison, he kept eating his cellmate every night (until they made Angelique his cellmate), thinking they were giving him a second dinner.
  • The Big Guy: As shown when he wrestled Kevin, he's huge for a wolf, standing well over six feet tall, with a muscular build. He's as big as some of the bears and lions shown in the strip!
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: As skilled as he is in underhanded tactics, he finds conquest and racketeering to be too much work.
  • Career-Ending Injury: It was eventually shown that the R.L. who's been appearing in public for the past couple of years was an imposter. R.L. never fully recovered from his fight with Frank Mangle and instead disappeared into the Wild, since he was so weakened that any prison sentence would inevitably end in his death.
  • The Faceless: Only his snout has ever been seen. Same goes for his doppelganger.
  • He's Back!: A villainous example when he usurped Kell as CEO of Herd Thinners.
  • Hidden Depths: Despite being a jerk otherwise, he's shown to genuinely love Angelique and his adopted skunk children.
    • Turns out to be domesticated just like Kell and Rudy.
    • After Kell defeats him during Frank's challenge fight for leadership of Herd Thinners, he reveals he can speak feline and other languages just as well as they can.
  • Super-Persistent Predator: When someone defects from Herd Thinners for Dewclaws, R.L. typically doesn't take it well. He pursued Dip for some time after he defected. However, this was averted with Marty:
    Angelique: Marty left to ask Kell for a job.
    R.L.: Meh. Let 'im go. He's been a dead weight...and not the kind with meat value.
  • Unholy Matrimony: He and Angelique together is an absolute nightmare, causing many headaches for the cast.

Martha Dewclaw; nee Fennec, nee Redfox (Fox)

Originally married to George Fennec, they divorced when they mutually cheated on each other with members of their own species. Eventually she fell in love with and married Ralph Dewclaw, adopting Corrie. Fiona lives with her and Ralph.

  • Arranged Marriage: The reason she and George got married was that their families were too inbred. Love never really factored into it.
  • Chubby Chaser: Is wildly attracted to Ralph, whose shape can charitably be described as rotund.
  • Humanity Ensues: She got temporarily turned human after going through a portal to the human world. It was thought to be irreversible until she got boomeranged back through the same portal.
  • Irony: Broke off her relationship with Ralph after she found out he had a fourteen year old daughter and claiming it made everything different...while having a fourteen year old daughter herself.
  • Rich Bitch: Prior to meeting Ralph, she had the attitude. It was implied she and George were reasonably well-off even before the Microtalon arc, but it was her daughter really got her rich. She mellowed out after some character development.
  • Species Surname: According to the first attempt at a family tree in 2002, Martha's original maiden name was "Redfox".

Sheila (Wolf)

Kell's cousin. Sometimes acts as a Doppelgänger for Kell due to Uncanny Family Resemblance. Eventually married Frank Mangle offscreen.

  • Green-Eyed Monster: Envies the fact that Kell has managed to have it all as a career woman and mother while she's been roaming the world without ties. Elanor points out to Kell that what a wolf covets most is territory.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: She attempts to make one for Kell when she's due to have her first fight as CEO. Even knowing she wouldn't stand a chance, she offers to take Kell's place so she'll be there to raise Coney. But Kell won't allow her to.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: In order to avert this, Frank makes sure all the pictures in his office of the two of them also include Kell. The ones of just the two of them lead to some awkward questions.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: She and Kell perfectly resemble one another when she doesn't wear her make-up.
    • This was elaborated on by Lindesfarne in one of her blogs. It's not just that Sheila and Kell resemble one another, by a genetic quirk, they have identical scents, and since that's how most of the animal world views each other, it makes them a match.
  • Thrill Seeker: Loves to do things like take Frank on a motocross journey for a date.

Aby Eyeshine (Cat)

Expert auto mechanic. Owner and head mechanic at Aby's Auto Repair. Originally a Silicon Valley tech, she moved to auto mechanics with the dot-com bust. Her business got so good, she hired Elanor Dewclaw and Dorothy Kindle both to manage the business so she could continue repairing cars. She lives in the Ursals' former cave across the street from Kevin and Kell, and is married to a mouse racecar driver named Mark Meadowvole.

Mark Meadowvole (Mouse)

A professional race car driver in the MOUSCAR circuit, and cheese delivery truck driver on the side. Also a combat veteran. Aby's husband. Dewclaw's Fine Meats sponsors his #42 car.

Frank Mangle (Lion)

One of Kell's closest co-workers at Herd Thinners; frequently The Rival, though a friendly one. Currently he is one of the top executives at Dewclaw's Fine Meats. A single parent of daughter Leona; was forced to begin hunting for himself when his wife died after a long illness. Became good enough to hunt professionally. He has since gotten into a relationship with Sheila.

Mrs. Mangle (Lioness)

Frank's first wife. She died when Leona was 8 years old, following a long illness.

  • Missing Mom: Died after an illness when Leona was 8. She was first seen in a photograph clutched by Frank when Leona got engaged to Carl.
  • The Nameless: Her name has not been revealed.
  • Sky Face: Appeared to Sheila once when she fell asleep, implicitly while watching The Lion King.

Mei-Li Lee (CatTiger)

Lin's mother. Is an attorney by profession, and acts as counsel for Dewclaw's Fine Meats. Actually a cat, but decided she preferred to be a tiger instead, and willed herself into becoming one. She is married; her husband, though he's appeared numerous times, has never been named in the strip.

  • Determinator: She is biologically a tabby cat, but decided to will herself to be a tiger.
  • Education Mama: Oversees Lin's upbringing with an iron fist.
  • Give a Man a Fish...: Mei-Li invoked this once when a wolf got indignant about a rabbit (in this case, Kevin) being her client.
    Mei-Li: Give a lawyer a meal and she eats for five minutes. Give her a client and she bills hourly for years.
  • My Beloved Smother: As connected to Education Mama, she puts incredible pressure on Lin's upbringing, and Lin regularly rebels against it. Most recently, by moving to wearing dresses to subvert Mei-Li's desire for her to begin wearing business suits.
  • Visual Pun: A true "Tiger Mom".

Mr. Lee (Cat?Tiger)

Lin's father and Mei-Li's husband.

  • The Nameless: Like Fenton's dad and Leona's mom, his name has never been given despite numerous appearances in connection to Mei-Li and Lin.

Madelaine (Cheetah)

One of the rank-and-file predators at Dewclaw's Fine Meats. A young mother, which is why she abandoned the feline conspiracy to oust Kell at Herd Thinners in 2011.

Caniche Chien (Dog)

Head of Security at Dewclaw's Fine Meats. Originally from France. Girlfriend and eventual wife of Dip. Specific breed is Standard Poodle. Her former employer keeps trying to kill her after she testifies against him in court.

  • Altar the Speed: She and Dip have a fairly quick wedding, planning it in only a few weeks, partially because they wanted to make sure she'd be legally able to stay.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Caniche is the French word for the Poodle breed, and Chien is the French word for "dog".
  • Important Haircut: She had to cut her hair to hide out in the Rabbit Warren while evading the authorities when they mistakenly thought she was an illegal immigrant. She was not happy about it.
  • Office Romance: Dip was instantly smitten when he was first interested to Caniche. The feeling was quickly found to be mutual. Toss in some Rescue Romance, and the rest is history.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Marries Dip after she was almost deported because they both agree they never want to be without each other again.
  • Shown Their Work: True to her breed, Caniche is adept in the water. Once, a bus she and Dip were being driven in drove off a pier, and she rescued him from the wreck and beat up the alligator that drove the bus.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Probably the closest Western equivalent in the strip. Caniche is a young, beautiful French poodle who is able to handle herself in a fight, is skilled enough to prepare meals for the Dewclaw family, and always is composed with grace and dignity.

Wally (Pig)

Wally was trained to be a limo driver/meal for Herd Thinners, and was the first sent to pick up Kell after she became CEO. She declined the meal, and hired him as her personal chauffeur. He was let go after Kell was removed, and bought his own limousine.

  • Let's Meet the Meat: Defied in his first appearance as he presented himself to be eaten at the end of Kell's ride to work. Being Kell, she declined the offer. Though she almost reconsidered when he suggested she was really going to eat him before the ride and then walk to work to "walk off the pounds".
    Kell: Are you here to drive me to the office?
    Wally: And to provide you with breakfast. It's standard.
    Kell: Okay, I guess. What's for breakfast?
    Wally: Me.
  • Put on a Bus: Literally. After being let go of Herd Thinners, his most-recent appearance had him as a bus driver taking a tour to California. While he was initially hired as a delivery driver for Dewclaw's Fine Meats, either that did not last long or was subject to a retcon.

Marty (Polar Bear)

Back when Kell was CEO of Herd Thinners, a polar bear employee was her first challenger for the position. She defeated him. Years after she left Herd Thinners, he finally followed when he discovered he was about to be downsized. After re-earning her trust, Kell put him to work as a trainer. As of 2022, he is establishing a DFW branch in Alaska.

Spork Johnson (Leopard)

In 2021, Spork escaped from Herd Thinners to The Wild, part of the first trickles that would lead to the company's Great Resignation. Unable to fend for himself, he tried to pick off the Summer Camp with predictably bad results. As part of community service, he got a job working for a dung beetle company. The next year, his co-workers alerted him to the truth about Herd Thinners' bug-sourced fake meat. He eventually went to Marty's Alaska branch of DFW, where he and the dung beetles work.

  • The Atoner: He was paired with the dung beetles for community service after trying to predate the summer camp in 2021.
  • Someone to Remember Him By: Indirectly, since the offspring he's raising are someone else's. But before they died, his original dung beetle co-workers left him a bunch of eggs for him to raise and continue his work in Alaska. When they hatched, he formally adopted them, and they call him Daddy.
  • Too Dumb to Live: In desperation during his summer in The Wild, Spork tried to hunt the Summer Camp. This being the Domain area's Summer Camp, this brought him snout-to-snout with Coney Dewclaw and her friends.
  • Unperson: Another indirect trope, but this is essentially his job in Alaska. He and the dung beetles remove the evidence of the existence of DFW prey to limit competition.

Gingly (Nurse Shark)

In 2023, Kell decided to expand Dewclaw's Fine Meats to seafood, and Mei-Li recommended one of her old colleagues. Gingly is combining her legal skills with her extroverted nature to put together Kell's first seafood-oriented franchise. She is married to a remora fish, Larry

  • Animal Occupation Stereotypes: As sharks in the K&K universe tend to be, Gingly started as an attorney. She also has experience with contract law, though she thought it was boring.
  • The Gadfly: When younger, Gingly had an entourage of remora. She eventually fell in love with one of them, Larry, and along the way dismissed the rest of them.
  • Stock Animal Behavior: One of Gingly's motivations is to prove sharks can be controlled in their predation:
    Mei-Li: Well, sharks are eager to prove they're not just mindless killing machines...and that they can fish without swallowing.
    Kell: I guess their finesse is underrated.

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