Characters / Rat Queens

Rat Queens

General

• Action Girl: 4 of them
• Amazon Brigade: The Squad is comprised entirely of Action Girls.
• Destructive Savior: If their property damage from battle is not enough to qualify, their hard partying afterward will be.
• Dysfunction Junction: The Rat Queens all have messed up backgrounds.

Betty

The team's Smidgen thief, an insanely cheerful psychopath with a fondness for hard drugs, noisy sex, and brutal stabbings.

• The Alcoholic: During volume 2 she recognises that she's a full-blown alcoholic and gives up drink. She still sometimes uses psychedelics but less frequently and with a more serious approach.
• The Conscience: Despite her role as the team's rogue and her loose interpretation of property law, Betty is committed to keeping the group together and doing the right thing for people in need.
• The Heart: The kindest of the Rat Queens and (relatively and ironically) the most moral.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Relatively femme, entirely lesbian.
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: With longtime girlfriend Faeyri, who is butch.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: To the point that her love of mushrooms is kind of a Running Gag.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: The only one to remember Maddie and Vi after their Ret-Gone. It's implied that Evil Hannah did this deliberately to emotionally torture her.
• Sweet Tooth: Candy is one of her favorite things, right up there with booze and orgasms.

Dee

The team cleric. A human, she was raised in the worship of an extremely evil god, but later quit the cult to go adventuring.

• Badass Bookworm: Dee is much more comfortable reading than she is partying with strangers. In fact the idea of meeting strange new people seems to be the one thing she is more afraid of than unholy tentacle gods.
• Combat Medic: A very capable Cleric in spite of her lack of belief and very handy with a knife and shield.
• The Face: Far less confrontational than the team's nominal leader, Hannah. Dee is more likely to use diplomacy to achieve her ends.
• God for a Day:
  • The power of the mask of N'rygoth has this effect on people. But it's really not a pleasant experience.
  • She winds up getting promoted to godhood to help fix a problem the gods are suffering from (namely, that they're losing power). She retains the power just long enough to help the Queens defeat the Fleshers, then stops using them. She finally returns to normal at the end of The God Dilemma, when the regular gods return.
• Homeschooled Kids: Due to growing up the daughter of the village priests.
• Naytheist: Believes she is "Goddess" enough. Not helped when she learns that a) N'rygoth DOES exist and b) he's evil.
• Shrinking Violet: Hides behind books at parties.
• Team Mom: Very much in the caring/nurturing type, less so in the responsible type. Nobody in this group is the responsible type.

Violet Blackforge

A Dwarvish knight who has turned her back on her own people due to their sexist culture (and defiantly shaves her beard... most of the time). The effective second in command of the team.

• Amazonian Beauty: Deconstructed. Vi's family, a long line of armourers, believed that men fought and women modelled the (practical and not Chainmail Bikini) armour. Despite the non-sexualised nature of the armour, this caused Vi to have to put up with a lot of sexual harassment from guys who thought that she existed solely to look attractive for them.
• Battle Couple: Eventually with Orc-Dave.
• Happily Married: In the last issue of Wiebe's run, Violet and Orc-Dave are happily wed.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Instead of the traditional dwarven axe.
• Hipster: Defines herself by her general rejection of Dwarven stereotypes, only to adopt the same behaviors "ironically" when rejecting them becomes popular. For example, she shaved her Dwarvish beard as a rejection of their culture, but once she realized more Dwarven women were shaving them she grew hers out again.
• Sibling Rivalry: She and Barrie clash a lot due to his unthinking sexism.
• Sword and Sorcerer: The Sword to Hannah and Orc-Dave.

Hannah Vizari

The team leader, a purportedly Elven wizard (although there are strong hints that she's... something else altogether).

• Bad Powers, Good People: For certain definitions of "good people." Hannah's powers are explicitly necromancy, and at one point she seriously jokes that the phone-like device she uses to call her mom is actually powered by the trapped souls of the damned.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: She is often in danger of this without the support of her friends. In the volume 1 timeline she goes full-evil, and in the timeline when Vi is Ret-Gone she randomly kills sapient beings to test her spells, and accidentally destroys the whole of Palisade in a fit of battle-rage and gets committed to a mental hospital.
• Dual Wielding: She dual-wields magic wands on occasion.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: In issue #15, after deciding to embrace her half-demonic heritage. She shaves the sides and crops the middle to show off her horns.
• Friends with Benefits: With Sawyer.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: When she is channeling a lot of her power.
• Handicapped Badass: She loses an arm to an enemy mage's attack in Wiebe's run, then has to finish the main fight without it. It's apparently permanent, as Dee states that the magic used to inflict the injury is too corrupt to be readily healed. She eventually replaces it with a magic arm that's made of metal.
• Harmful to Minors: Her mother was stabbed to death by a witch-hunter in front of her, which was traumatic even if it didn't end their relationship.
• Hide Your Otherness: Hannah's designed her signature hairstyle to conceal her half-demon heritage. Over time she becomes more comfortable and grows them out.
• Horned Humanoid: The reason she buns her hair. Sawyer's surprised reaction to them is one of the reasons they're not a couple. She eventually stops hiding her horns as part of her Character Development.
• Human-Demon Hybrid: Well, elf-demon.
• The Lad-ette: Hannah drinks, swears, does drugs and sleeps about like the best of them.
• Lady of Black Magic: A supposedly Elven sorceress who can tap into black magic, specifically necromancy, and the most mature member of the team.
• Rockabilly: Her main aesthetic, complete with Bettie Page haircut and James Dean cigarettes.
• Sir Swearsalot: Almost once a sentence. She's also notable for her inventive creation of obscene compound words.
• Tattooed Crook: She is the most outright and seriously criminal of the Queens, and she has tattoos all over her arms, shoulders, back and upper chest.
• Team Chef: The only Rat Queen capable of making delicious food. Betty is ecstatic upon finding out she made breakfast for the Queens one morning.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: To some degree with Tizzie.

Other adventuring parties

The Peaches

Initially the Rat Queens' main rivals, half of them were killed during the first arc and the survivors went freelance.

Braga

An Orc barbarian and mercenary of a different company than the Rat Queens, Braga quickly becomes their ally after half her company dies in the assassin attack. While a bit more serious than our heroes, she has no problem drinking and rabble-rousing along with them. She ends up joining the Queens permanently after Tizzie leaves Palisade.

• Action Girl: Even in this cast, Braga is a particularly impressive warrior. The Braga Special issue reveals that she is transgender.
• Amazonian Beauty: Dwarfs the other characters by several heads and unsurprisingly for an orc is incredibly bulky. However, she is still very voluptuously curved. Human-Dave seems positively giddy when Braga picks him up and carries him back to bed.
• Badass Boast: "Orcs only know one language: blood. I'm the fucking alphabet."
• The Big Girl: Braga is easily the biggest and brawniest member of the cast.
• Blood Knight: Braga is one hell of a tough orc and she loves battle when she gets about to it.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: As tough and violent as Braga can be with enemies, she's very gentle and kind to those she cares about, and a very loyal friend with a strong moral compass.
• Cain and Abel: Braga's brother Voon tried to murder her to usurp her birthright when she was still his brother Broog of the clan. When Voon reappears in the final arc of Wiebe's run, we see how deep Voon's hatred for her goes.
• Depending on the Artist: Some artists (such as Upchurch) draw her with a lot of visible muscle definition while others (such as Fowler) draw her as a Big Beautiful Woman with a lot of squishiness overlaying the muscle.
• The Dreaded: Orcs throughout the land know her only as "The Bastard," and seem to soil themselves at the name.
• Ethical Slut: While it's implied that most of the characters have had numerous relationships, Branga is shown actually in more relationships than any other character over the course of the series. She hooks up with Human Dave early in the comic's run, is implied to have been in a relationship with Tizzie prior to that, ends up with Maddie after the retool, and had another lover shown in the past in the Braga Special. Each time she's shown to be very caring and considerate toward her partner.
• Friends with Benefits: Braga's relationship with Human-Dave is one of 'happy fuck buddies.'
• Genius Bruiser: Not often shown, but she's quite intelligent while simultaneously one of single deadliest fighters in the series. During the Braga Special it shows that she had been trying to institute changes for her Orc Tribe that would have greatly increased its strength and wealth, but it was rejected because it involved not fighting everyone else all the time for everything.
• In Love with Your Carnage: One reason she gravitates towards Human-Dave? They find one another sexy when they kill things.
• Kind Hearted Cat Lover: Braga is, under all her toughness, a very nice woman...and she owns a cat she dotes upon.
• Sixth Ranger: Braga is introduced as a member of a rival adventuring group. The rivalry ebbs and flows depending on the larger conflicts until she is officially adopted into the Queens in retool #1.

Tizzie

An evocation mage and member of the same mercenary company as Braga, Tizzie is Hannah's rival dating all the way back to their college years. She's a much more traditional Elf than Hannah but is no less foul-mouthed and prone to destruction as the rest of the cast.

• Alpha Bitch: Implied to be as such during their school time.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Hannah, they insult each other a lot but don't usually do anything more serious. When Tizzie violently attacks Hannah in the second arc, it's because she thinks Hannah gruesomely cursed Bernadette.
• We Used to Be Friends: A flashback reveals that they were initially friends at university as mutual social outcasts (Hannah due to her part-demon heritage and her family's dark reputation, Tizzie because she was considered lower-class) but grew apart due to personality clash and Tizzie opposing Hannah's use of dark magic.

The Four Daves

The only adventuring party other than the Rat Queens who all survived the first arc.

In general

• One-Steve Limit: Averted, they are a team of guys who are all called Dave.
• Race-Name Basis: They are distinguished by referring to their species.

Orc Dave

A druidic healer who has an on/off relationship with Violet.

• Big Beautiful Man: His depiction varies between muscular and outright stout, but he's always sexy.
• Gag Penis: Averted, Violet recognised an evil shapeshifter impersonating him because it was much bigger down there than he is.
• The Minion Master: He can create small birds from his beard, blue ones for healing and, when he's really enraged, red ones to attack people.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: In contradiction of orc stereotypes, he's a gentle nature-lover and healer.
• Truly Single Parent: He comes from a peculiar line of orc druids who have a symbiotic relationship with a forest. There is always a Father raising and training a Son, and when the Father gets too old he is absorbed into a tree and a new baby Son is created from a magic pool.

The Cat Kings

In general

• Dirty Coward: They tend to run off and leave the Queens to do the work.
• Similar Squad: An all-male mirror of the Rat Queens, with some additional contrasts.

Barrie Blackforge

Violet's twin brother, who was initially opposed to her leaving the family, but later decided to become an adventurer himself.

• Big Brother Bully: He has this dynamic with Violet despite them being twins.

Zestrum the Retired

An elderly Teddy Boy mage.

• '50s Hair: He has a spectacular white quiff.
• Grumpy Old Man: Elderly and ill-tempered.

Neil

A "fungus druid".

• Bad Powers, Good People: He has yucky fungus powers but is a very kind and cheerful guy.
• Garden Garment: He clothes himself with his fungi.
• Mundane Utility: He can create mushrooms for food or hallucinogenic purposes.

Buddy

An ambulatory mushroom who follows the team around.

• Team Pet: It's unclear if he's actually sentient.

The Chorus

In general

A team who specialise in hunting heretical cults.

• Burn the Witch!: Their profession.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Although their profession is stereotypically ruthless, they are quite pleasant individually and their job really is needed in this world.

Other friends, relatives and lovers

Sawyer Silver

The sheriff of Palisade, officially in conflict with but usually an ally to the local adventurers.

• The Atoner: He was an assassin-for-hire before becoming sheriff of Palisade.
• Distressed Dude: Sawyer is tied up and forced to watch in issue 7 as tentacle monsters descend on Palisade.
• Friends with Benefits: With Hannah.
• Male Frontal Nudity: In issue 7.
• Mr. Fanservice
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The closest thing Palisade has to one. Of course, he tries to keep groups like the Rat Queens in the city in order to prevent it from becoming a great place to live.

Mezikiah

Dee's husband "Kiah", a fellow cleric of N'Rygoth

• Amicable Exes: He doesn't resent Dee leaving him, although he hopes that she'll change her mind eventually.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He follows an evil religion, but is a very nice guy.
• Mal Mariée: The marriage was arranged by their families, and when the other Queens meet him they're united in considering him too old for her.

Senoa

Dee's brother, possibly now a mage.

• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Killed off unceremoniously by Hazirel.
• Impersonation-Exclusive Character: Actually possessed by Hazirel for almost all his on-panel appearances.

Sadie

A founding member of the Queens, Sadie left the team and was replaced by Dee.

• Bigot with a Crush: Sadie has spent years fighting orcs in her wilds and is casually racist against them - but one look at Orc Dave and she's willing to except present company.
• Cute Monster Girl: Zigzagged with Sadie. Her torso is humanoid and very attractive, but she's rocking four avian limbs plus wings and an owl head. Doesn't stop Hannah.
• Druid: She was the healer filling out The Squad, but took an assignment as a lone defender of the wilderness.

Gerard Vizari

Hannah's father, a necromancer.

• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: He intentionally trolls Hannah by treating her like his little darling in front of her friends.
• Boy Meets Ghoul: Necromancy means that his relationship (in all ways) with his wife isn't ended by her death.
• Cool Old Guy: After being rescued, in Volume 2.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: He left Hannah without explaining why, but it was to overthrow the old Council of Nine and prevent them from going after her.
• For Science!: He campaigns against other magicians who think that certain kinds of magic are too dangerous to be practiced, in the name of intellectual freedom.

Maddie

The waitress at the Black Satyr who longs to be a Queen. Then she becomes one.

• Ascended Fangirl: Maddie is introduced as a side character who envies the Queens' adventures. When the Queens' allies are targeted by the Colossal Magic Nothing she is one of the first victims; she joins the team officially in the Infernal Path arc.
• The Bard: Dangerous with a sword or violin bow.
• Shrinking Violet: Desperately envious of the Queens but too timid to approach them until circumstances force her into the spotlight.
• Straight Gay: She's fairly normal in appearance and attitude and winds up in a relationship with Braga.
• Took a Level in Badass: While she starts as a back-bench bard, Maddie learns swordplay quickly and is absolutely lethal by the end of The Once And Future King.

Villains

"Old Lady" Bernadette Song

A cloth merchant who is upset that the Rat Queens keep trashing her shop.

• Age Insecurity: One of the reasons that she hates the Queens is that they call her "Old Lady" when she's thirty-nine.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Even the people who she tried to kill are absolutely horrified at what Gerrig does to her.
• Eye Scream: Gerrig's use of her for a summoning ritual causes her eyes to be replaced by spiral pits inhabited by some kind of insect.
• Meaningful Background Event: Her surname is only revealed by closely examining one of the documents that Betty steals from Gerrig.
• Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: She's entitled to be annoyed at the behaviour of some of the adventuring parties, but trying to kill them all is a bit much.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Attempts to leave Palisade after the failure of her plot.
• Starter Villain: The villain of the first arc.

Gerrig Lake

The head of the Palisade Merchants' Guild

• Facial Horror: The "haruspex requiem" mask leaves his face a bloody mess when Dee removes it from him.
• The Man Behind the Man: To Bernadette in the first arc.
• Put Them All Out of My Misery: He has come to hate everyone in Palisade, and plans to have them all killed by monsters while using those monsters' effect on time to spend his last moments reliving a moment of happiness with his wife.
• Revenge: He is motivated by vengeance on Sawyer, who killed his wife as his last job as an assassin.
• You Have Failed Me: Uses Bernadette as a sacrifice after their plan to kill the adventurers fails.

Voon

Braga's villainous brother, a very conservative Orc.

• An Arm and a Leg: When he first tried to kill Braga (and killed her boyfriend) she spared his life, but cut his arm off in mockery of their father's similar disability.
• Evil Reactionary: His original motivation, when Braga wanted to reform the tribe so that they had more sophisticated relations with other communities than just fighting all the time.
• Princeling Rivalry: He and their father despise Braga, the heir apparent, even before she transitions, and try to kill her.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: The evil version, who despises anything but war and violence.

Hazirel

A demon who Hannah made an infernal pact with.

• Big Red Devil: Although he isn't red, he has the usual horned and goat-legged appearance.
• Bus Crash: Evil Hannah later claims to have killed him.
• Luke, I Might Be Your Father: It is possible that he is Hannah's biological father, although this is never explicitly confirmed or refuted.
• Manipulative Bastard: Possesses Senoa in order to alienate the other Queens from Hannah.
• Painting the Medium: His speech bubbles are white-on-black, with jagged outlines and scrawled text.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: He has a belt of human skulls.

Spoiler Volume 2 Character

Evil Hannah

A Hannah who was abandoned by her friends when she wanted to rescue Gerard and turned fully to the dark side.

• Alternate Self: The Hannah from the original time line who turned to the dark side at the end of Volume 1, who somehow survived the Cosmic Retcon before the start of Volume 2.
• Arch-Enemy: To the Rat Queens in Volume 2.
• The Man Behind the Man: She is in some way connected with most of the other villains of Volume 2.
• Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Hannah's standard wardrobe isn't prudish, but only shows off her shoulders and upper chest and back. Some of Evil Hannah's costumes, however, cross the line straight into fetish lingerie.
• Straw Nihilist: Being abandoned by her friends at the end of the first volume convinced her that the world is nothing but loss and suffering.
• Wizard Classic: In her first appearances, she disguises herself as a stereotypical robed wizard with an enormous white beard.