Characters / Red Panda Adventures

The characters (heroes, villains and bystanders) of the online Radio series Red Panda Adventures.

The Terrific Twosome of Toronto

The Red Panda / August Fenwick

Portraits by Chris Schweizer

Voiced by: Gregg Taylor

One of Toronto's wealthiest men, who secretly fights crime wearing the mask of the Red Panda. He took it up on a lark but quickly came to take the job of his city's protector very seriously.

• Always Save the Girl:
  • The Red Panda is a true, dyed-in-the-wool superhero. He adheres to Thou Shalt Not Kill and works tirelessly for the betterment of those under his protection. However, it is consistently shown that he will discard all of that the moment any threat to the Flying Squirrel's safety presents itself. In "The Devil's Due", the Red Panda seriously considers killing villain of the week Nick Diablos when he repeatedly hypnotizes the Flying Squirrel to either attack him or torture her. By battle's end, he possibly does even worse than kill Diablos, as the Red Panda delivers unto Nick Diablos the fate he reserved for his own victims: a catatonic state in which he'll experience his greatest fears forever.
  • In "The World Next Door", Alternate Time Traveler Baboon McSmoothie needs to steal the prototype of a device its Nazi scientist creator will eventually use to wreak havoc during World War II, and tries to recruit the Red Panda's aid in doing so. Even after the Red Panda is convinced of McSmoothie's story, he refuses to assist the commission of a crime against someone who, at that moment, is innocent of any wrongdoing and may never be guilty of such. It's then that McSmoothie reveals that his Red Panda expected this and prepared accordingly. That Red Panda had a sidekick called the Flying Squirrel, too. That Flying Squirrel was killed in a deathtrap meant for the other Red Panda, and McSmoothie offers the full case file on the Villain Team-Up that will launch the attack so that it might be prevented from happening to this universe's Flying Squirrel. The Red Panda accepts, even knowing that due to the vast differences between his timeline and McSmoothie's the case file may well be worthless.
  • In "The Field Trip", that once innocent of any wrongdoing Nazi scientist Professor Friedrich von Schlitz has become a proper member of the Red Panda's Rogues Gallery, and shoots the Flying Squirrel in the process of getting away. The Flying Squirrel is fine, due to having protection against the type of weapon von Schlitz used, but the Red Panda doesn't let the matter go so easily, later noting that von Schlitz didn't know that and had every intention of killing one of them. The very next episode opens with an assassination attempt on von Schlitz orchestrated the Red Panda.
• The Atoner: One reason the Red Panda wears the mask is a sense of guilt for the less than savory ways his family has amassed its great wealth.
• Catchphrase: Several.
  • "Kit Baxter, behave yourself..."
  • "The Red Panda swears it!"
  • "...will answer to The Red Panda!"
  • "...will feel the wrath of The Red Panda!"
• Charm Person: The Red Panda is an accomplished hypnotist, and frequently uses his abilities for the purposes of interrogation and removing inconvenient memories from others that might compromise his or Kit's identities. However, he can be resisted by someone with a strong enough will or have trained for such attack. Deadly Nightshade is able to resist long enough to throw a smoke bomb and flee, for instance. Overdoing things can also cause permanent damage. That's why the Red Panda is careful about hypnotizing the same person multiple times or, when questioning a victim that had already been shaken up mentally and emotionally, is very careful to have the man's consent before putting him under.
• Coat, Hat, Mask: His preferred form of costume, with the addition of red gauntlets. Following the war, he traded his shoes for boots, finding them more comfortable. He is actively dismayed that the up and coming generation of superheroes all prefer tights.
• Evil Laugh: All the laugh, none of the evil. Often used to unnerve foes.
• Good Feels Good: He started crime fighting mostly on a lark. However, as he did it, he began to enjoy being able to help others as the Red Panda. By the start of the series he considers himself more the Red Panda than the millionaire playboy.
• Happily Married: As of the Season 4 finale. They keep the fact hidden while in costume but some, like Chief O'Malley, can catch the cues.
• I Work Alone: Refuses to work with other superheroes, with the one notable exception. Aside from the Squirrel the only hero he lets operate within Toronto is the Stranger, out of respect for his status as a superhero veteran and because he was a mentor to the Red Panda. In his later years the Panda's more willing to work alongside other heroes. This is mostly because he's the one who trained them.
• Oblivious to Love: His most frequent response to Kit's flirting or bawdy remarks is his trademark "Kit Baxter, behave yourself!" When everything is out in the open and finally spit out, he admits he'd always thought she was just teasing.
• Retired Badass: After returning home from Europe after the Parker's Rangers arc, the Red Panda operates with an eye towards retirement once the war has concluded. He leads the Danger Federation in part to have potential successors to his and Kit's legacy. The Red Panda and Flying Squirrel eventually manage a proper retirement in "The Final Problem". Some episodes after that feature the pair reminiscing about old adventures as a Framing Device.
• Secret-Identity Identity: Since becoming the Red Panda, he considers the millionaire playboy to be the disguise. Kit's understanding of this is why she became his sidekick instead of being hypnotized to forget about his superheroics.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: With the Flying Squirrel. He and the Squirrel will regularly shoot sarcasm at one another, often to the frustration of anybody else who has to be around to listen.

The Flying Squirrel / Kit Baxter

Voiced by: Clarissa Der Nederlanden-Taylor

The Red Panda's driver, then fiancee, them wife. For much of the series she was the only one who knew the true identity of the Red Panda. She promptly used the knowledge to blackmail him into letting her in on it.

• Action Girl: The reason one of the city's wealthiest men sought to hire her as a driver was a demonstrated knack for car chases. She considers going out and beating up bad guys a romantic night out and new crimefighting gadgets to be suitable apology gifts.
• Blood Knight: Very little makes her night like a night on the town beating up the scum of Toronto. She's far more action oriented than the Red Panda, to the point that O'Malley recognizes she's been less active because there have been fewer thugs being arrested with bodily injury. In The Crime Cabal novel, her battle cry is described as a mix of anger and joy.
• Catchphrase: "Yes, boss." Early on, she was the one to use it on the Red Panda. As time goes by, he starts using it on her. She also tends to make others like John Archer use it for her when she's the one in charge.
• Cute Bruiser: She's the first to call herself cute as a button and few will disagree. She's also one of the most dangerous women in the setting as she fights side by side with the Red Panda.
• Female Misogynist: She's jealous of almost all other women, insults bad guys by calling them girls and bonded with her only female friend over how silly most women are.
• Happily Married: As of the Season 4 finale. They keep the fact hidden while in costume but some, like Chief O'Malley, can catch the cues.
• Intrepid Reporter: Takes a job at the Chronicle in Season Six, in part due to a manpower shortage as agents grow too old, have families, or enlist in the military for the war.
• Jumped at the Call: The whole reason she's the Flying Squirrel in the first place is because she worked out the Red Panda's identity and blackmailed him into letting her in on the action.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: It's not until "The World Next Door" that the Red Panda learns that Kit's name is actually "Katya". As she explains, her father called her "Kit" growing up and it stuck. Everyone except for Ma Baxter refers to her as Kit.
• Pregnant Badass: As of late Season 6 and the first half of season 7. When the pregnancy eventually sidelines her she stays in the action as Mission Control.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: With the Red Panda. They will regularly shoot sarcasm at one another, often to the frustration of anybody else who has to be around to listen.

Agents of the Red Panda

The Red Panda's eyes and ears across the city of Toronto. The agents do everything from patrols, to spy work, to simply passing along handy information to their chief. They have all taken a vow to hold high the lamp of justice and protect their city. Many enlist in the army as World War II heats up, and while many are lost in a cataclysmic battle, those that remain become a force to be reckoned with behind enemy lines.

Andy Parker

The Red Panda's man inside the police department. Debuts alongside and acts as a mentor to young Harry Kelly. During World War II, he leads a squad of commandos consisting of other Panda agents deep behind German lines that becomes known as Parker's Rangers.

• Badass Normal: He is, in every respect, a normal human being with no superpowers, even the Red Panda's hypnosis. This doesn't stop him being a competent police officer and, during the war, leading a unit that consistently fights the various occult creations of the Nazis with such success Parker's Rangers gain a rep for doing the impossible.
• Friend on the Force: He is the Red Panda's primary contact on the police force before O'Malley warms up to the idea.
• Took a Level in Badass: While no slouch to start with, being a talented police officer at his introduction, he truly comes into his own during the war. He creates and leads a unit comprised primarily of fellow agents of the Red Panda and gains a reputation for pulling off the impossible.

Harry Kelly / "Eagle Eyes" Kelly / The Black Cap / The Black Eagle

Harry Kelly is a citizen of Toronto who, as a little boy, became involved in a case of the Red Panda's after hearing the last words of one of the Panda's agents. He impressed the Panda enough that, rather than hypnotize the night's events from Harry's memory, he made the boy his youngest agent. As an adult following World War II, Harry hopes to do more for his city.

• Awesomeness by Analysis: Harry is the one who takes down the real Archangel because he's able to recognize who everyone in the room is actually deferring to.
• Flying Brick: Like Doctor Bumblebee and Mr. Amazing before him, this is Harry's basic powerset as the Black Eagle
• In-Series Nickname: "Eagle Eyes" Kelly. It's entirely self proclaimed, but the adult agents humor the boy because they think it's funny. In "The Rat Lord", he gets a proper codename as the Black Cap. He combines these two nicknames to create his superhero alias the Black Eagle, which neither the Red Panda nor Flying Squirrel find clever.
• Tagalong Kid: Hardly a load, but he often wants to be included in the Red Panda's cases and, while the older agents like him well enough, his over enthusiasm tends to try them.

Spiro Pappas

Owner and proprietor of a boxing gym in Toronto and one of the Red Panda's senior agents. Spiro acts as a contact man, a link between the Red Panda's field agents and the chief himself.

• Grumpy Old Man: Comes in part with being a boxing trainer. His first spoken lines are chewing out one of his boxers, then Andy Parker, then Harry Kelly.
• Killed Offscreen: Spiro dies offscreen of a heart attack. "All the King's Men" opens with Harry Kelly in particular broken up and mourning.
• Shipper on Deck: While he liked to poke fun at Andy Parker for his crush on the Flying Squirrel, he also talks Andy up to the Squirrel, up until he realizes where her affections actually lay. He offers her his support even as the Squirrel threatens him in embarrassment.

Citizens of Toronto

Theodore Chronopolis

One of the Red Panda's and Flying Squirrels most trusted friends and their go-to man for issues both scientific and magical. Even as age begins to catch up to him he remains a reliable adviser on these matters.

• Absent-Minded Professor: Going a bit senile with age. As he puts it the body is willing but the mind is scattered. Senility is much more set in by "The Wild West" but is still plenty reliable in a laboratory setting, where he is in his element and grounded by routine.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Whatever gadgets the Red Panda does not create himself are usually the result of Dr. Chonopolis' work. In particular he's responsible for the Red Panda's and Flying Squirrel's success against magical foes, creating nearly all of the anti-magic tools they employ.
• Mad Scientist: A heroic variant. His area of study is trying to understand the occult from a scientific viewpoint. This makes him one of the Red Panda's go-to men when magic is involved in Toronto.

Chief O'Malley

Chief of the Toronto police. At the start of the series he sees the Red Panda as a menace that must be arrested. As the series progress, and much to his own surprise, he grows to trust the Red Panda and rely on him as much as, of not more than in some cases, his officers.

• The Commissioner Gordon: Not at first, but he warms up to it and even laments that the younger officers don't seem to realize if he still wanted to arrest the Panda he probably would have by now.
• Passing the Torch: The final chronological episodes of the series see O'Malley retiring as chief with Andy Parker as his successor. The Crime Cabal novel shows that he was considering Parker as a potential choice when Parker was still a constable.

Editor Perley

• Catchphrase: Mentions of his blood pressure. Also, "Aint'cha never hearda' freedom o' the press?!"
• Benevolent Boss: For all his yelling and bluster, Perley does care about the welfare of his employees. In "Girls' Night Out", he edits Kit's article about the sabotage ring to remove anything that might get her labeled a Japanese sympathizer as much to protect her as the paper. He's also sympathetic to Kit when he realizes that the story seems to have gotten to her
• Da Editor: Many of his scenes feature him shouting at Kit about the merits of a particular story she's working on and making clear which angles he wants her to explore to sell papers with.
• Hidden Depths: He's the first person to notice Kit is pregnant without being told, having seen his wife go through several already, and promotes Kit to a desk job.
• Large Ham: Screaming tirades are his preferred form of communication, even when he's being nice. There's very little change in his gruff demeanor even when he's promoting Kit to a desk job to accommodate her pregnancy.

Rogues Gallery

Friedrich von Schlitz

• Big Bad: He's the face of the Nazis within the series, the head of the secret occult war on the German side, and any plot concerning the Nazis or the War will trace back to him in some way, regardless of whether he's present in an episode.
• Death by Irony: Goes out in an extremely poetic way. He was a sociopath who tried to meld magic and technology to create weapons, who was always looking for greater sources of power, who defected to the Yanks. Then an android with a grudge drags the bad doctor to the test site of the most powerful weapon humanity has ever created, which is intended to be used against his former side. For further irony, the doc actually helped with its development.
• Eviler than Thou: One of his plans is kidnapping supervillains from around the world and forcing them to assist him. Their willingness to help is not a factor.
• Killed Off for Real: After surviving assassination attempts, being trapped in an unstable pocket dimension, and more, von Schlitz finally meets his end in "The Gadget" by being brought to point-blank range of the atom bomb tests in New Mexico.
• Mad Scientist: His specialty is Magitek, fusing the powers of the occult with modern science in ways previously unheard of to give the Third Reich the edge it needs.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: When the Flying Squirrel first reads a file with info on von Schlitz, she notes he has nine degrees while "The Field Trip" has another professor state that it's easier to count the degrees he doesn't have, such as history and archeology.
• Stupid Jetpack Hitler: Von Schlitz is the man inventing the jetpacks. Specifically his research and melding of science and magics are the reason the Nazis have things like dinosaur squads and a One-Man Army ubermensch.

Professor Zombie / Antonia Zombanistro

The first supervillain to appear in the story, appearing in the second episode. Professor Zombie is the creator of a compound, Necronium 234, which can be used to reanimate the bodies of the dead into slaves obedient to her will. She often commits crimes for either the monetary benefit or the sake of her research, though that changes in the ninth season when she becomes obsessed with hurting the Red Panda as much as possible.

• Evil Is Hammy: Her debut episode features her threatening Toronto's upper crust from a theater stage and making the most of it. Even when she adopts the Golden Claw's more subtle tactics, she can't resist pulling a big public, audacious job like having a minion dressed as the Red Panda steal war bond money live on the radio to get the Red Panda's attention. Word of God from notes in the Night of the Red Panda comics is that the sheer hamminess of Andrea Lyons' performance as the Professor saved her from being merely a one shot supervillain.
• Mad Scientist: Her Necronium 234 zombification formula is entirely her own creation, which she attributes to a combination of modern science and voodoo wisdom.
• Revenge Before Reason: In season nine, Professor Zombie cares far more on taking revenge on the Red Panda, to the point she'd unleash a true zombie apocalypse on Toronto; something she'd avoided in the past and even helped fight. The Panda eventually learns she was victimized by the Chimaera group, buried alive, and left for dead. They wiped her memory just enough that she didn't know who had done it to her, causing her to focus her hatred on the Red Panda by default.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: Her real name is Antonia Zombanistro. Gregg Taylor himself acknowledges it's not unlike a guy named "Otto Octavius" becoming a multi-limbed supervillain.
• Would Hurt a Child: In season 9's "Knight's Gambit", she has her gang distribute Frost, a variation of her necronium drugs created specifically for children. In the following episode "Naughty and Nice" she's ecstatic at the idea that the Red Panda's efforts have inoculated a fifth of the city's population against necronium, because most of those vaccinations were children who would not be turned into zombies by her latest plan while their parents would.
• Zombie Apocalypse: Avoided for much of her career as a villainous necromancer. Professor Zombie finds little use for minions she can't control. She even assists in fighting an Apocalypse in season seven. However, when driven by revenge in season nine, this goes out the window as by that point all she wants is to cause as much carnage as possible.

The Mad Monkey / Anton Cresswell

The Red Panda's self-proclaimed archnemesis. Originally just a trading company representative, he was the sole survivor of a plane crash in Africa. In the years before his rescue, he lived among the baboons and gained the ability to communicate with and control them on a psychic level. He briefly made a name for himself on the lecture circuit, but turned to crime after getting overshadowed by the discovery of a lost English lord who could talk to apes and an Indian boy who had been raised by wolves. Now he seeks nothing more than to challenge the Man in the Mask at any opportunity.

• Arch-Enemy: He seems to think so, at least. This becomes more true as the series goes on, as the Mad Monkey is one of the few rogues to consistently escape from and occasionally even outwit the Red Panda. Over time, the Mad Monkey's schemes also become more and more about crossing swords with the Red Panda than about any monetary gain he could get from his capers.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Upon realizing that the Red Panda's heroism isn't some con he can become a part of by playing the archenemy, the Mad Monkey decides that if the Panda can be good for the sake of Good, he can be evil for the sake of Evil.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The Mad Monkey is many things, but a traitor to his country is not one of them. For this reason he stays mostly quiet during the war years, stealing only enough to keep afloat and letting the Red Panda focus on dealing with Nazis.
• Evil Laugh: His evil laugh is punctuated with ape grunts and monkey screeches.
• Friendly Enemy: He's generally quite friendly toward the Red Panda, even as he's trying to kill the mystery man. Less so towards the Flying Squirrel, since he considers her an extra. As time goes on, the Mad Monkey's plots revolve more around fighting the Red Panda, and because, more often then otherwise, the Monkey doesn't put human life at serious risk, the Red Panda seems to reciprocate. At the end of "Stop the Presses", when the Red Panda is forced to let the Mad Monkey escape to capture all of Archangel's goons, he takes the time to make sure the Mad Monkey sees him waving his fist at him angrily.
• Idiosyncrazy: Invokes this as much as he falls victim to it. He gladly embraces the trope in his first appearance by committing monkey related crimes because he feels it better positions him to be the Panda's nemesis. At the same time, to hear him tell it, he's driven to crime in part by the righteous fury of the baboons he recruits and, when he learns martial arts, he focuses on the monkey style. After his first appearance, the monkey themed crimes stop in favor of plots directed against the Red Panda, with actual crimes mostly committed to keep himself funded.
• Immune to Mind Control: One of the few that the Red Panda's hypnosis simply does not work on. The Mad Monkey's own psychic abilities make him immune to hypnosis such that no hypnotist he ever visited to try and relieve himself of his power was ever able to put him under.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Made easier as the season progresses as he's one of the few of the Red Panda's enemies that aren't dead, incarcerated, conscripted by the Government into service, kidnapped by the Nazis, or retired. In "Stop the Presses", he helps the Red Panda resolve the hostage situation at the Chronicle because the Red Panda wouldn't survive otherwise and, even worse, Archangel would get the credit.
• Quantity vs. Quality: The Mad Monkey's ability to control humans works based on how few or many baboons he has with him. When it's just his trusty Beauregarde to stimulate his powers, he can control human beings with relative ease. When multiple monkeys are present he has a potential army at his disposal, but is too overwhelmed by their presence to use his powers for anything else. "The Golden Idol" features the Red Panda releasing several baboons in proximity to the Monkey to break his hold over humans he had hypnotized. Another episode, "The Missing Link" features the Mad Monkey trying to achieve a middle-ground by combining several Awesome, but Impractical inventions to devolve humans into ape men that are stronger and more highly evolved than his baboons, but still low enough he can control an army of them unlike with full humans.
• Secret Identity Apathy: The Mad Monkey's biggest priority is his battles with the Red Panda. This goes so far that he doesn't want any real names, his, the Panda's or the Flying Squirrel's, involved. Indeed, calling him "Anton Cresswell" serves as a Berserk Button in their first confrontation, and "The Final Problem" reveals he's known the heroes' identities for years and never did anything with the information.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: "The Final Problem" reveals that the Mad Monkey has known about the Red Panda's and Flying Squirrel's secret identities since shortly after "Stop the Presses" as a result of his and the Red Panda's psychic abilities mixing. In all the time in between he never did anything with this knowledge, mostly because he didn't really care.
• Took a Level in Badass: From "Stop the Presses" on, the Mad Monkey has taken up martial arts and has gotten good enough to fight the Red Panda to a draw. However, due to his Idiosyncrazy, he focuses solely on the monkey style of fighting, making him more predictable.

The Genie / "Dr. Cornelius Thorne"

• Boxed Crook: He is forced onto the Home Team to aid the war effort, joining the heroes. It's made quite clear to him that if he doesn't play along, the government would sooner kill him than let the Nazis capture him.
• Heel–Face Turn: Sort of, as the Home Team's "scientific advisor" and he is not seen as a supervillain again after the war is over.
• Insufferable Genius: Nearly every line of dialogue the Genie speaks makes a point of pontificating on how much more intelligent he is than anyone else in the room and he takes poorly to any implication he isn't as smart as he likes to think he is. He's self-aware enough that, in "Barbarian at the Gates", he behaves humble and uncertain knowing it would make the Red Panda suspicious that there's more going on in that episode than meets the eye.
• Mad Scientist: Of the mad inventor variety. He is especially adept at reverse-engineering the technological advances of others and adapting them to suit his own ends. In "A Dish Best Served Cold" he's responsible for creating a death trap that, had the Red Panda not been forewarned of its existence, would almost certainly have either killed the Red Panda or the hostage the Villain Team-Up of that episode had caught to lure him in.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: The Genie's real name is never revealed. The only name he has, Dr. Cornelius Thorne, is a false identity given to him by the government to facilitate working with other scientists without the "reformed villain" thing becoming issue.

Captain Clockwork / Marcus Bennett

One of Toronto's wealthiest men, who wanted still more and utilizes his genius as an inventor to create robot soldiers to help achieve his ambitions.

• Clockwork Creature: All of his creations. The first of his minions seen in the Androids Assassins novel are literally human sized tin soldiers.
• Embarrassing Nickname: He regards "Captain Clockwork" as this. The name was given to him by the press and it stuck. When naming himself in The Android Assassins, he refers to himself as "the Viper". The Red Panda, upon learning this, decides to make it a point to call him "Captain Clockwork" now that he knows it annoys him. When he appears later in the Night of the Red Panda comics, he seems to have gotten over it enough to the point he prefers it to Marcus Bennett.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: The Android Assassins actually details the second appearance of Captain Clockwork. His first is described as sending his robots out on bank heists. Once the Red Panda figured out how to interfere with the radio signals he used to issue commands, he vanished and did not reappear until the events of the book.
• The Unfought: The Red Panda and Flying Squirrel never encountered Captain Clockwork face to face the first time he appeared, only his robots. Part of The Android Assassins is discovering his identity so he can't vanish again.

Kid Chaos

A megalomaniacal criminal with a penchant for bombs. He regards the Red Panda as a worthy foe and enjoys matching wits with him.

• The Dreaded: When he tried to retire from crime and live relatively quietly, he couldn't do it in part because the terror invoked by being this was too much for him to resist.
• Joker Immunity: Has been considered dead only to come back so frequently that the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel feel the need to go and exhume his grave when they hear he was executed. The body they find at where his grave is supposed to be is discovered to be the wrong size to be Kid Chaos.
• Mad Bomber: The first thing he does when coming out of retirement in "Operation Cold Feet" is stock himself with dynamite. His skill with explosives is such that, in The Crime Cabal, the Red Panda realizes he's part of the plot due to the precision bomb work Kid Chaos employs to herd him and the Flying Squirrel into a trap.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Despite the Syndicate having a perfectly operable trap in play, Kid Chaos still finds the need to make sure one of his bombs is the thing that kills the Red Panda.
• Spanner in the Works: When the Syndicate hires Kid Chaos to help them kill the Red Panda, Chaos sets bombs to blow them up when the plan had been to shoot them from hiding. Some of the Syndicate's own men get caught in the blast and one of them is captured by the Red Panda's agents, giving them a chance to infiltrate the Syndicate's hideout. Kid Chaos himself lampshades the whole thing by noting how foolish it is to trust someone calling himself Kid Chaos to go along with an orderly plan.

The Poet

A writer who finds his inspiration in committing crime. His trademark is to describe his crimes in the finest of prose and send his work to the police as a mix of preemptive clue and calling card.

• Heel–Face Turn: When crime is no longer a sufficient muse for his work, the Poet is convinced to sign on with the war effort and turn his creative skill to creating strategies for the Allies.
• Informed Ability: The Poet is described as writing about his crimes in sonnet and prose of such quality universities teach by it. His every on screen appearance, however, has the characters note a drop in his usual quality either because he's being impersonated or a personal issue is affecting him. This is a necessary evil as the Poet is a master wordsmith and Gregg Taylor, by his own admission, is not.
• The Strategist: His crimes are as meticulously planned out as his writing. The Flying Squirrel is certain he even had a hand in crafting the D-Day Landing.

Doctor Bumblebee / Nikolai Darius

A scientist and one of the first supervillains the Red Panda ever faced. On that first occasion, he used a super suit. When he appears in the show, he's gotten his power from a formula he created in an attempt to end world hunger.

• Flying Brick: In "Flight of the Bumblebee", he got super strength, energy beams, and flight from a formula designed to end hunger and bestowed superpowers as a side effect.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The reason the Red Panda captured him was because Darius went back to save a child who got caught in a building collapse he himself had caused.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Darius started his career as an inventor who created a mechanical exoskeleton, which he used to commit his crimes as Doctor Bumblebee. Later, he's become so adept to the relatively new science of chemistry that he creates a formula that reduces the need for food by significant margins and gives superpowers.
• Professor Guinea Pig: In his desperation to demonstrate his Royal Jelly formula, he used it on himself. He became a Flying Brick with little need for sustenance, but he admits the reaction is still unstable and creates too much power.
• Reformed, but Rejected: He had a rough time of it after prison, living in a rooming house and plagued with back rent. Despite this, he managed to remain honest in his endeavors, kidnapping scientists to demonstrate his work only after they all rejected him.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Doctor Bumblebee went out of his way to avoid killing anyone during his crime spree. Keeping to this, going back to save a child he accidentally endangered is what led to his capture.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: As the Red Panda puts it, he was seduced into crime after first putting on his original exoskeleton. He manages to resist it the second time around, his "crime spree" consisting of only a single theft of several hundred dollars and kidnapping major tech company moguls for the sole purpose of demonstrating his Royal Jelly's effects.

Ajay Shah

The villain of the book The Mind Master. A student of the mental arts who studied alongisde the man who would eventually become the Red Panda. He comes to Toronto with the express purpose of facing off with the mystery man, who he regards as the one person who might actually be a threat to his ultimate plans for world domination.

• Big Bad: The main villain of the book The Mind Master. He comes to Toronto setting traps both physical and metaphysical for the Red Panda. The very first scene of the book is a bank robbery he is responsible for.
• Mind over Matter: One psychic skill Ajay Shah possesses that the Red Panda does not is telekinesis. He can even use it when he is not physically present, so long as one of his thralls is.
• Mind Rape: Shah's main modus operandi. He can enter a persons' mind, tear it apart and, if he is so inclined, put it back together again. In flashbacks, he's able to go so far as to force multiple soldiers commit suicide, something that should be impossible using regular hypnosis. In the present, he uses it to make create mindless thralls to serve him and which allow him to channel his psychic abilities even if he's not physically present.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: "Ajay Shah" is not his real name, and we never learn what his real name is. During his training with the future Red Panda, he insisted on being called "One", to go along with their master's calling the Red Panda "Two" when he would not give his own name. In Toronto, he adopts the name "Ajay Shah", which the Red Panda explains is Nepalese for "Unconquerable King".
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: He was the senior student to Rashan, the Nepalese master who taught the Red Panda hypnosis and eventually gave him his name. Rashan threw him out after he used his powers to force multiple soldiers approaching their home to kill themselves. In the present day, he's a villain seeking nothing less than world domination.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: The final flashback of The Mind Master reveals that Ajay Shah is, in fact, Rashan's biological son. Whatever else he says, a large part of Shah's animosity towards the Red Panda is the feeling that he abandoned their mutual master to die alone. The Red Panda himself is aware of this, as he states during their battle that he knows why Shah is really attacking him.

The Home Team

A team of superheroes, and some supervillains, assembled by Colonel Fitzroy to defend the Canadian home front from Nazi infiltration. When the Red Panda himself enlists, he's quickly brought on board.

Doc Rocket / Wentworth James

August Fenwick's friend and lab partner when they were in school. A brilliant inventor who helped save and revolutionize his father's company during the Depression. Upon witnessing his inventions stolen by the Genie, James decided he needed to take a more active role in determining how they were used. To that end, he's strapped on a rocket pack of his own design and lent his services to the Canadian government, who call him Doc Rocket. While a nice fellow, overall, James is known for a certain smugness and for considering himself the smartest person in any given room.

• Catchphrase: Throughout "The Puzzle Master", his first superhero outing alongside the Red Panda, he would constantly exclaim "That's impossible!" to the various tricks they encounter together. Later appearances show he's taken to heart the Red Panda's advice that "nothing is impossible."
• Gadgeteer Genius: Many of the inventions he uses are of his own design. Superheroism aside, his work is also responsible for saving his father's company from bankruptcy during the Depression.
• Good Counterpart: Something of a counterpart to the Genie. Both are Insufferable Genius inventors, but in terms of ego the Genie views everyone else as stupider than he is while James sees himself as smarter than everyone else is. This difference is demonstrated by the Genie only ever using disposable minions to carry out robberies to further his research where James is a Benevolent Boss whose research is intended for the betterment and security of mankind.
• Insufferable Genius: In The Android Assassins, his default expression is described as "smug satisfaction". He's earned a right to be smug, as his work saved his father's company from bankruptcy in the Depression, but the Red Panda still makes it a point to humble him when they work together against the Puzzle Master, as James constantly refers to everything they encounter as "impossible" even as he's constantly proven wrong by events.
• Jetpack: His primary trick, and the source of his name. Even when behind enemy lines during World War II, he jury-rigs a one-use jetpack for emergencies.
• Mad Scientist: At least a Mad Inventor. He is at least the equal of the Red Panda and the Genie when it comes to engineering and invention.
• Secret-Keeper: He learns of the Red Panda's identity in "There Will Be Rain, Tonight" and, though the Red Panda promises to hypnotize him into forgetting about it, their plane crashing and separating them behind enemy lines means they never get around to it. In "Voice from Above", James goes along with what he thinks is the Red Panda faking amnesia to help cover for that secret.
• Upper-Class Twit: At first. He's a rich man's son and "smug satisfaction" is his default expression. He retains a degree of this even as the life of a superhero teaches him that nothing is truly impossible.

John Archer / John Doe / Red Panda II / Red Ensign

One of Captain Clockwork's Mechanical Men turned Home Team member in Season 6. When the Red Panda is lost overseas during season seven, John is recruited to fill in as the Red Panda under Kit's tutelage. When he's finished with that role he rebrands himself as the Red Ensign and joins the Allied Super Services.

• Bash Brothers: While initially hesitant when they're teamed up for the first time in "Barbarian at the Gates", John quickly becomes one of the very few other superheroes that the Red Panda has no issue whatsoever teaming up with. They get along well, operate similarly thanks to John having been trained by Kit, and together were able to stop a Nazi weather machine from freezing the North American continent and take down Tevas the Ubermensch.
• Captain Patriotic: As revealed in "The Sunday Serial", prior to John's taking up the mantle the Red Ensign was a Propaganda Hero created by the Canadian government. One of the men in charge of the Red Ensign's stories states the name was taken from a nickname for the flag used by Canada prior to adopting the modern-day Maple Leaf. John would later refer to himself and the other heroes he works with as walking flags that are also supposed to be secret agents.
• Deadpan Snarker: Extremely so, on account of being an android with a very subdued affect.
• Heartbroken Badass: When he works with the Flying Squirrel, she notes that he throws himself into his work even more than she does, and for the same reason, to not think about the loss of their respective loved ones. Kit notes that a large part of the problem for him is that, as a machine with perfect recall, he will never forget what happened to him.
• Identity Impersonator: Fills in for the Red Panda when he goes M.I.A. during the war. It works on the general thugs in Toronto, but nobody who knows the Red Panda personally is fooled for long, if at all. The Mad Monkey figures it out just on hearsay.
• Master of Disguise: The codename John Doe is derived from the fact his face can be replaced with anyone else's, enabling him to disguise himself and infiltrate as needed.
• Phlebotinum Rebel: He was created by Captain Clockwork to essentially be a suicide bomber.
• Revenge Before Reason: His hatred for those who killed his wife and nearly killed him drives him to be reckless in pursuit of revenge. Kit manages to talk him down enough that, when confronting the one who organized that event, Nightshade, he's able to terrify her into unconsciousness rather than kill her. However, he has no such restraint where Friedrich von Schlitz is concerned. In "The Gadget", when John, Kit, and the Red Panda are infiltrating an American military base they know von Schlitz is at, Kit flat out tells him that she doesn't trust him not to fly off the handle if faced with the Nazi.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: John is a self aware robot created by Captain Clockwork. In one episode, while filling in as the Red Panda, he's assured that not only does he have a soul, which is proven by the nature of that episode's events, but that the soul of another is waiting for him.
• Taking You with Me: In "The Gadget", when he finally has at his mercy the man he holds responsible for all he's endured, Friedrich von Schlitz, the Red Ensign bodily carries the Nazi to the atom bomb testing site in New Mexico so they can both die together. The act merits Silent Credits at the end of the episode.
  von Schlitz: Please! Please! I will give you anything you want!
  Red Ensign: This is what I want.
• Tomato Surprise: At the end of his introductory episode he's revealed to be a particularly advanced automaton on Captain Clockwork.

Molecule Max / Professor Max Weisman

• Incredible Shrinking Man: As his name implies, Max can change his size to shrink down small enough that an oxygen atom is the size of a football to him. He even notes the issues this should create, such as how he can breathe oxygen when he's that small, and notes that his technology doesn't break the laws of physics, but sure bends the heck out of them.
• Jewish and Nerdy: He wishes his powers were more impressive precisely because there aren't a lot of Jewish superheroes out there, and is actually put out that the Red Panda brought him along in "Small Wonders" because he wanted Professor Weisman rather than Molecule Max.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Feels this way about his own powers. While impressive, he laments that they aren't flashier like the Flying Bricks have. He wishes to do more in part because there aren't a lot of Jewish superheroes out there.

Other Masked Heroes

Tom Tomorrow

• Clear My Name: He helps the Red Panda deal with this, and later asks the Red Panda's help in returning the favour.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A Noodle Incident in the Season 6 Time Skip. The most we get is he was protecting Great Britain from a German air fortress.
• Secret-Keeper: Played with. Tom knows how to find the Red Panda's lair due to knowledge from his home time and has used it to seek out the Panda as needed. The Red Panda can tolerate that, as shown by the fact Tom got in twice, but still uses his hypnosis to keep Tom from knowing his and the Flying Squirrel's actual identities, despite Tom's assurance he's trustworthy.
• Time Travel: Traveled back in time to try and help in what he knew would be especially dark times. Part of his reason for doing so was seeing historical records of a man he eventually came to believe was himself.

The Stranger / Maxwell Falconi

Internationally renowned stage magician and one of the world's first mystery men. The Stranger, Master of Magic, battled evil on his own and as a member of the League of Gentleman Adventurers from about 1890 until his retirement. He briefly mentored the Red Panda when he tracked down the League's members for training and acts as a consultant when magic is involved. The Stranger has the unique status of being the only superhero the Red Panda lets operate in Toronto for much of the series.

• Catchphrase: "Danger is my constant companion." He's quite pleased to hear the much younger Kit Baxter recognize it despite his having been retired so long.
• Cool Old Guy: Old age has not stopped Maxwell nor his old contemporaries from being a force to be reckoned with. "The Field Trip" notes an Offscreen Moment of Awesome where the Red Panda gleefully recounts the League of Gentleman Adventurers coming out of retirement to clean the present day Justice Union's clock after they tried to sanction the League.
• Famed In-Story: Both as the Great Falconi and the Stranger. The Stranger was one of the world's first mystery men, and his catch phrase is remembered even by younger folks like Kit long after his retirement. The Great Falconi, meanwhile, was an internationally famous stage magician in his day and characters as far removed from one another as Dr. Chronopolis and Editor Pearly were big fans.
• Magicians Are Wizards: Maxwell Falconi began as a stage magician but gave up performing to find real magic and real power. He claims it found him rather than the other way around.
• Retired Badass: The Stranger retired years before the Red Panda became active, but helps consult with magic issues and has the Red Panda's permission to operate in Toronto, a status the Red Panda would otherwise only extend to heroes he's trained himself. However, the growing darkness coming from Germany's dabbling in the occult pulls him out of retirement to help combat that threat. The Pyramid of Peril novel has him note that had that started a few years later his retirement might have stuck.
• Secret-Keeper: He's immediately aware of Kit's feelings for the Red Panda, but makes clear he will not press the matter nor say anything to the Red Panda. In Pyramid of Peril Kit's narration notes that being able to safely share the secret with Maxwell means a great deal to her.

The Red Squirrel / Kim Fenwick

A superheroine from the future. She comes to 1930s Toronto to defend the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel from an attack by one of her Rogues Gallery. She wears a red version of the Flying Squirrel's costume. While it's no secret she was inspired to be a hero by the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel, what is a secret that she's their great-great-granddaughter.

• Immune to Bullets: Where the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel use hypnosis and misdirection to avoid being shot by bad guys, the Red Squirrel's costume is simply bulletproof. In each of her appearances she uses this to intimidate bad guys who try to shoot her.
• Kid from the Future: Great-Great-Grandkid to be exact. The Red Squirrel is the great-great-granddaughter of the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel. She's in the past specifically to protect her ancestors and predecessors from one of her own supervillains.
• Legacy Character: The Red Squirrel grew up hearing stories of the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel from an elderly Kit Baxter and decided that a superhero was the only thing she wanted to be herself. Her costume signifies this, being a red version of Kit's.
• Skilled, but Naive: The Red Squirrel is an established superhero in her era with a Rogues Gallery of her own. At least one member of said Gallery is so determined to get rid of her they use time travel to try and prevent her rise as a superhero from ever happening. However, she easily falls for a trick the Red Panda uses to get her to reveal herself and, while she has enough hypnosis to put crooks to sleep, it's not enough to resist the Red Panda's attempts to get into her mind. The only thing that saves her then is the Red Panda's removing her mask and seeing how much she resembles Kit.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: When the Red Panda first sees her face, he's so shocked at her resemblance to Kit that it breaks the hypnotic spell he was trying to put on her. When Kit sees her face in "Operation: Cold Feet", she's shocked by her resemblance to the Red Panda.

The Army

Colonel Archibald Fitzroy

Head of the Home Team whose dedication to regulation often sees him butting heads with the Terrific Twosome.

The Captain / The Major

The only woman in the Home Team and second in command to Colonel Fitzroy

• Always on Duty Just like Fitzroy, though she seems to get less fun out of it.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: "The Trojan Horse" ends with Nightshade being interrogated by the Major. The sounds of hitting enter the equation almost immediately.
• Emotionless Girl with some exceptions, notably after the Home Team massacre and around Anna Chronopolis, the Major is a stoic, no nonsense woman.
• Secret-Keeper: The Major not only knows the Red Panda's and Flying Squirrel's, but after the loss of the Home Team knows that they messed with official government file to keep them secret. Despite this playing a direct role in Fitzroy's death, she's never revealed this knowledge, as evidenced by Canada's Prime Minister, one of the Major's direct superiors, using the wrong name in trying to show the Panda what he knew.

Dr Anna Chronopolis

Daughter of Dr Chronopolis, who is also a doctor. After having her existence leaked to the Major she is basically commandeered into the army.

• Gadgeteer Genius: Far better with robotics and conventionally modern science than the magic her father focuses on.

The Danger Federation

A collection of rookie superheroes assembled by the government to replace the Home Team with the Red Panda as their leader and mentor.

The Grey Fox

The Flying Squirrel's best friend, the Grey Fox is a Japanese-Canadian female superhero based in in Vancouver prior to World War II. Despite being born in Canada, her Japanese heritage lands her on the wrong end of anti-Japanese paranoia. She spent time in a Japanese internment camp during the war until the Red Panda gets her released to join the Danger Federation at the Flying Squirrel's request.

• Action Girl: A female superhero, just like the Flying Squirrel. Unlike Kit, the Grey Fox started solo and doesn't have the Red Panda's resources. However she's just as good as the Toronto Twosome when it comes to defending her city.
• The Dreaded: The Grey Fox makes as much, if not more, use of this trope than the Red Panda does. When she needs information, but lacks resources like the Red Panda's many agents, she goes to the worst bar she knows, lets the Mass "Oh, Crap!" sink in, makes her demands, roughs up anybody who argues, and usually gets what she wants soon after.

Molecule Max II

Originally a graduate student under the original Molecule Max. He dons Max's name and gear when the Danger Federation is assembled.

• Legacy Character: The Red Panda and Flying Squirrel initially find it awkward to be around him, since they were friends with the original Max. He wins them over with his desire to honor his predecessor's name and being sharper about superheroics than the Federation's other rookies.
• Secret Identity: The fate of the first Molecule Max, killed by a bomb at the university he taught at, has taught the second Max to take this more seriously than his predecessor.
• Skilled, but Naive: While all the heroes of the Federation are rookies, Max is clearly more on the ball than the rest. Enough so that he impresses the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel. Any mistakes he makes are clearly the result of his inexperience than a lack of ability.

Mr. Amazing

They call me Mr. Amazing. But only because I was kind of an arrogant jerk when I took the name.

A volunteer for the government's super soldier program, Mr. Amazing was given his powers by a variation of Dr. Bumblebee's "Royal Jelly", but never deployed to the field. The Red Panda takes him under his wing personally while trying to discover why that is.

• Death by Depower: The Applied Phlebotinum that gives him his powers is finite, and when used up he'll die. He knowingly does just that and uses the last of his power to stop the Nazi ubermensch Tevas.
• Good Feels Good: On being told about the finite nature of his powers, Mr. Amazing decides to be a hero for as long as he can rather than live quietly for a long time. His stated reason is the joy he felt being able to help people with his gifts, and prefers a short period of that to a long, safe life.
  Mr. Amazing (on finding a cause worth dying for): It was in that girl's eyes when she saw daylight again. It was in her mother's tears, and the expression on the face of every man and woman there. They felt their lives touched by a miracle. And every single one of them will have hope in their hearts that they didn't have before. If I can do that for a week, a month, a year... and I choose not to so I can live to be a hundred? No. Not me, buster.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: When introducing himself to Tevas, he says they call him Mr. Amazing, but admits it's only because he was such a jerk when he took the name originally.
• Sanity Slippage: Mr. Amazing's first appearance has him stalking and attacking the other members of the nascent Danger Federation because he wasn't chosen to be part of it and wants to prove he is the best hero. Before that he was also turned down to serve as a hero for the army and the Allied super services. Once the Red Panda takes him down a peg and allows him into the Federation, he calms down considerably. For this reason, the Red Panda begins pursuing why Mr. Amazing was actively prevented from becoming a hero.
• Smug Super: Mostly in his first appearance, as constant rejection and Sanity Slippage has him taking down the other, "inferior" heroes to prove himself the best. Even after that's resolved, he maintains a cocky attitude that the Red Panda tries to keep in check. The discovery of the potentially fatal nature of his powers and discovering that Good Feels Good removes the smugness from him for good.
• Superman Substitute: He has the standard Flying Brick powerset, wears a stylized letter A on his costume, and the Red Panda describes him as an ubermensch who draws power from the sun.
• Your Days Are Numbered: The driving question about Mr. Amazing is why he was rejected to be a superhero for the government when he was clearly powerful and driven enough to be so. The answer eventually comes that the experiments that gave him his powers only gave him a finite amount and once that power was expended he would die. He decides to remain a hero after learning of this and eventually sacrifices his life using all of his power to defeat Tevas.

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