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Contestants
Strings
Connie Basette
Team: Jazz
Grade: 11
Instruments: Bass
Placement: 8th
A junior at East Mountain High. She is a bassist. She usually hangs out with the other string players from her school. She is eliminated in Day 21: "Picture Studies" after losing a tiebreaker to Braeden.- Big Beautiful Woman: She may be large, but she is also very curvy. Some contestants eye her more prominent features.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Connie is the tallest student at 6'6".
- Leitmotif: "No, that's wrong!" is her recital piece. The beginning of it also shows up in "Perfectionism".
- Ms. Fanservice: She shows off her cleavage as early as the first day. On Day 7, she wears a shirt with a low-cut v-neck. Even when she wears her usual crew-neck shirts, they are rather form-fitting.
- Statuesque Stunner: Connie is easily the tallest contestant at 6'6", and she has attracted attention from other contestants.
Paris Forte
Team: Jazz
Grade: 8
Instruments: Piano
Placement: 4th
An eighth grader at Base Mountain Middle. He is a pianist, but he can play the trombone. He usually spends time with Vincent, which gets him into the cousin drama. He is eliminated in Day 16: "Cake at Stake" when he fails to make up for his poor performance with the numerous points he earned through votes, but he returns in Day 19: "Impromptu" after winning the latest instrument popularity contest by a landslide. He is eliminated again in Day 25: "Showdown!"- Clashing Cousins: He is on rather unfriendly terms with Claire. He tries to shove her in Day 8.
- Consistent Clothing Style: A long-sleeved shirt and a neutral-colored jacket.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Zigzagged. He starts out with black-and-white striped bangs that resemble piano keys, fitting in with the other contestants who resemble their instruments. He re-dyes the bangs red and green to fit a theme, which is innocent enough, but then he dyes all of his hair bright peach and red to stand out.
- Signature Headgear: He wears a black flat-topped hat befitting of a pianist in a jazz club.
Vincent Linette
Team: Classic
Grade: 8
Instruments: Violin
Placement: 15th
An eighth grader at Base Mountain Middle who is a violinist. Vincent spends a lot of time with Paris when not clashing with Trudy. In Day 10: "Sol-mi-za-tion", Vincent and Connie tie for elimination, but Connie wins the tiebreaker.- Big "SHUT UP!": Vincent's remark when Trudy makes a snide remark about elimination. It is the only time a word of this level of vulgarity is used.
- Clashing Cousins: Vincent takes every opportunity to insult Trudy. It devolves into a fistfight in Day 6.
- Commonality Connection: Forms a bond with Harry over their shared experiences with Abhorrent Admirer Carella.
- Consistent Clothing Style: A leather jacket and a polo shirt.
- The Dog Bites Back: After Trudy tries to beat up Vincent in Day 6, Vincent overpowers her and punches her in the face.
- Important Hair Accessory: Vincent wears a black bow until the Traumatic Haircut that leads to a temporary loss of personality. Cassie's gift of a bow-headband with hair extensions allows Vincent to recover.
- Insanely International Ancestry: Vincent's mother's side alone has roots in all three continents.
- Precision F-Strike: In a work where even Gosh Dang It to Heck! isn't used, Vincent's Big "SHUT UP!" stands out even more.
- Tranquil Fury: Vincent is not thrilled when Trudy uses a nickname she once made fun of. However, Vincent is too traumatized to snap at her.
- Trans Tribulations: Vincent is heavily implied to be transgender. After much debating in previous days, Vincent shows up in a shirt with the transgender pride flag pattern on Valentine's Day, only to be yelled at by Carella. Vincent suffers a Traumatic Haircut the following day.
- Traumatic Haircut: After taking abuse from Carella on the previous day, Vincent shows up with short, choppy, messy hair and Empty Eyes to match.
- Would Hit a Girl: Vincent has no qualms about punching Trudy in the face because she attacked first.
Guilla Tarah
Team: Jazz
Grade: 10
Instruments: Guitar, Violin
Placement: 1st
A sophomore at East Mountain High. She is a guitarist, but she plays some other string instrument, as she goes with the rest of the high school string players to a festival during Day 7. She has several connections, so she mingles with many groups. She wins the big solo in SWAP Ensemble.- Cheshire Cat Grin: She sports a trollish grin to show that she did, is doing, or will do something mischievous. The first time she sports it is after Caroline catches her taking the podium.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even though Guilla is usually sporting her trademark trollish grin, she is among the few who do not laugh when Troy mocks Patrick for comparing SWAP to an object show.
- Genki Girl: Guilla almost always wears a wide grin and seeks to keep the day lively. She pretends to be Caroline during break, sings pop songs, and playfully screeches at her cousin Cyrissa and her friend Connie.
- Leitmotif: "Death Strings", her recital piece, which also shows up in the trio piece "Life and Death" and in the violin solo of "Will We Live?".
- Perpetual Smiler: Downplayed Trope. From Day 2 onwards, she almost always sports a trollish grin, but she is sensitive enough not to laugh at Patrick for his enjoyment of object shows.
- Vibrant Orange: She is among the liveliest and most playful contestants. Her hair is orange, so she of all contestants is most associated with it.
Alfred Violon
Team: Classic
Grade: 12
Instruments: Viola
Placement: 7th
A senior at East Mountain High and the older brother of Cedric. He is a violist and proud! He usually associates with the string players from his school. He is wheelchair-bound. He is always wearing a skirt or dress, but it was not explicitly shown for the first several days. He is eliminated in Day 22: "Double Time".- Amicable Exes: He dated Bessie in their freshman year, but they decided they would make better friends than romantic partners. That doesn't stop him from sending all his smackdown points to her because she's a high placer.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: He asks Caroline if there are any rules after she states there will be rules. She responds by saying there aren't any rules and gets more irritated when he believes her.
- Berserk Button: Do not bring up his disability or his skirt-wearing tendencies, or he will physically stand up, slam the table if it exists, and give you a piece of his mind.
- Big Little Brother: He is more than a foot shorter than his younger brother. Justified because Alfred is in a wheelchair.
- Consistent Clothing Style: He usually wears clothes that aren't stereotypically feminine so that it's not readily apparent that he's wearing a skirt.
- Disability-Negating Superpower: Alfred practices a certain type of Magic Music that lets him walk around. However, it drains his musical energy very quickly; he's usually seen collapsing shortly after getting up.
- Leitmotif: "Broken, not Shattered", a piece he composed by himself. He plays it as his recital piece, and it comes up again in "Can't Hear It Crashing".
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Over a week after he asks his stupid question, people remember it and bring it up whenever he makes any allusion to his intelligence.
- Tiny Schoolboy: Alfred is under five feet tall. Getting impaled through the spine by a rock as a child might be the cause.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Alfred always wears a skirt or a dress. In Day 8, he dresses up as another crossdresser, states that he's wearing boys' clothes for once, and tells people to stop making assumptions about his gender.
Cedric Violon
Team: Classic
Grade: 11
Instruments: Cello
Placement: 11th
A junior at East Mountain High and the younger brother of Alfred. He plays the cello. While he often associates with the string players from his school, he has gotten into a relationship with his middle school friend Cassie. He is eliminated in Day 17: "The Power of Three".- Big Little Brother: He is more than a foot taller than his older brother. Justified because Alfred is wheelchair-bound.
- Consistent Clothing Style: He usually wears green or brown tank tops, which sets him apart from Braeden, who wears a wider variety of colors.
- The Generic Guy: A junior of average height and not much of a backstory. When he complains about being Picked Last, Caroline mentions that he's less interesting than Cassie. This does not comfort him because Cassie was eliminated for being uninteresting.
- Graceful Loser: He's one of the few to gracefully accept his elimination, promising to be back by the next rejoin segment.
- Official Couple: He is a bit shy when asking Cassie out, but she finishes his sentence. They agree to go to prom together.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Cedric usually wears shirts without sleeves, which makes him look more masculine than his effeminate brother.
Woodwinds
Harry Boisen
Team: Classic
Grade: 9
Instruments: Oboe
Placement: 19th
A freshman at East Mountain High. He is an oboist. He is frequently seen with Claire, and he talks about her when he is not with her. Everybody expects him to date her, but he denies having any feelings for her while blushing madly. He mentions that he is one of Trudy's tutors. He is eliminated in Day 4: "HisMusicStory".- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: In the latter two rejoin opportunities, he clasps his hands and begs for the viewers to give him back his spot. This contrasts the other contestants' methods of playing themselves up or aggressively demanding votes.
- Commonality Connection: Forms a bond with Vincent over their shared experiences with Abhorrent Admirer Carella.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Downplayed. Harry sees the tiny and withdrawn Patrick as competition and gets paranoid when he hears that Claire and Patrick have known each other for eight years, despite already knowing that. However, he thinks nothing of Claire blushing when she sees Angelo Harmony because she couldn't possibly be attracted to him.
- Demoted to Satellite Love Interest: Inverted. His role early on is little more than a mutual attraction to Claire. He gets a more prominent role in Vincent's arc while Claire is focused on the competition.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: He is physically small and on the quiet side, but he is not a pushover and proactively helps Vincent upon discovering the Carella situation. He also expresses his feelings openly and non-aggressively.
- Satellite Love Interest: Much of his characterization was about his obvious crush on Claire until he joined forces with Vincent and Paris to stop Carella.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Claire and Harry are most frequently seen in very close proximity to one another, but Harry denies that he likes Claire while his face turns red.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Subverted. Despite being eliminated second, he takes on a prominent role in Vincent's character arc.
Angelo Cors
Team: Classic
Grade: 12
Instruments: English horn/coranglé
Placement: 14th
A senior at West Summit High. He plays the English Horn, or coranglé, as he puts it. He is usually seen with Bessie and Braeden, but he likes to have fun with Claire and Harry as well. Much to Harry's dismay, Angelo is eliminated on Day 11: "Perfect Pitching".- Big Little Brother: His younger sisters, Marianna and Josefina, are his Big Little Sisters by one inch, which contributes to his Height Angst.
- Consistent Clothing Style: A Fun T-Shirt, a jacket with an odd pattern, and shorts. If he wears pants, it must be cold outside.
- Eye Glasses: Fenori draws him this way, as seen on page 2 of Day 4.
- Fun T-Shirt: Angelo shows off his nerdy side with a quadratic formula shirt. Later, he previews a shirt with a system of linear and quadratic equations shaped in a heart for Valentine's Day.
- Graceful Loser: The first to wear a smile during his elimination. Harry is more upset about the elimination because of the antics Angelo will bring to The Practice Room.
- Height Angst: Angelo stands at 5'5 3/4" but rounds it up to 5'6" to alleviate his insecurity. He dotes on Claire because he is certain that she is the only family member who will not outgrow him.
- Keet: He is always full of energy, whether he is acing his tests or playing basketball. He doesn't mind when a basketball falls squarely on his head. Unlike Guilla, he can't help but laugh at Patrick's love for object shows.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Angelo starts wearing glasses on Day 3, after something happens to his contact lenses. He gets a perfect score on Day 4's history test, and Braeden refers to him as their school's "valedictorian to be".
- Tomboyish Name: Gender-Inverted Trope. Angelo happily goes by the nickname "Angie".
Bessie Inez
Team: Classic
Grade: 12
Instruments: Bass Clarinet
Placement: 3rd
A senior at East Mountain High and the older sister of Claire. She plays the bass clarinet. She frequently spends time with Braeden (her boyfriend) and Angelo (her cousin). She makes it to the finale and places third.- Amicable Exes: She dated Alfred in their freshman year, but they decided they would make better friends than romantic partners.
- Coordinated Clothes: She and Braeden sometimes wear the same clothes. It doesn't matter if the clothes are "meant" for the opposite gender.
- Go-Getter Girl: She's outgoing, a model student, and the president of her school's instrumental music student staff. She hopes to get into the same prestigious school that Angelo is aiming for.
- Leitmotif: "Fantastic Musical Listening", her recital piece. When Guilla and Braeden sing its vulgar lyrics, she's standing right there. It also pops up in "Can't Hear It Crashing" and the piano solo of "Take the A Train".
- Ms. Fanservice: She's not as well-endowed as Connie, but she tends to wear sleeveless and low-cut tops more often.
- Official Couple: With Braeden. They are the only couple established from the beginning.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: She is the cheerful and joke-loving sister of the serious and rigid Claire.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Bessie and Braeden will sometimes coordinate clothes. That is, they will wear the same articles of clothing, regardless of which gender the clothes are "intended" for.
Claire Inez
Team: Classic
Grade: 9
Instruments: Clarinet
Placement: 2nd
A freshman at East Mountain High and the younger sister of Bessie. She plays the clarinet. She is frequently seen with Harry, but she also spends time with the Tempo siblings. She is eliminated in Day 13: "Baton Pass" due to Paris winning favor in the smackdown voting and turning his votes against her. She returns in Day 14: "88 Keys" and makes it to the finale, placing 2nd.- Clashing Cousins: She is on rather unfriendly terms with Paris. A flashback shows her slapping him.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Cool-colored sleeved dresses and skirts that fall a bit above the knee. This sets her apart from Cyrissa's warm color palette.
- Friendly Address Privileges: Claire Inez is on a First-Name Basis with her close friends and a Last-Name Basis with everyone else. This doesn't come up until the eighth day because she mostly spends time with her friends and family.
- Height Angst: She is 5'4" and insecure about her relative lack of height. During the Day 8 challenge, Turie tells the team to focus on the foundation of the tower, which Claire views as a jab at the rest of the team's lack of stature.
- Last-Name Basis: Claire Inez prefers to be called "Inez" by people she is not close to. She also refers to Corbin as "Harmony".
- Leitmotif: "Une âme folle", which also comes up in "Perfectionism".
- No Sense of Humor: Claire does not like puns or jokes. Her typical reaction to the older students' antics is a pronounced frown.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: She has No Sense of Humor and will not participate in her playful sister's antics.
- They Call Me Mr Tibbs: In a case of Early-Installment Weirdness, she doesn't seem to mind when Turie first addresses her by her first name in Day 7. In all subsequent cases, she makes a point of correcting anyone who is not in her close circle.Claire: That's Inez to you!
- Two First Names: Because she goes on a Last-Name Basis with anyone she is not close to, she could have made "Inez" sound like her first name if she didn't introduce herself with her full name.
- Weakness Turns Her On: Claire has an obvious interest in Harry, who is very sensitive and one head shorter than her. Harry feels like he has competition with Patrick, who is even more sensitive and even smaller. On the other hand, she appears to be attracted to Angelo Harmony, whom Harry dismisses as too tall and too athletic.
Braeden Sound
Team: Classic
Grade: 12
Instruments: Bassoon
Placement: 6th
A senior at West Summit High. He plays the bassoon. He usually spends time with Bessie and Angelo, and he sometimes clashes with Corbin. He is eliminated in Day 23: "Cast a Spell on You".- Coordinated Clothes: He and Bessie sometimes wear the same clothes. It doesn't matter if the clothes are "meant" for the opposite gender.
- Her Boyfriend's Jacket: Gender-Inverted Trope. In Day 8, Braeden wears Bessie's custom-tailored jacket. It is painfully obvious that it isn't his.
- Insanely International Ancestry: While most of his ancestry is in Basgot (east continent), his family name comes from Kroustambor (north continent) and he has a bit of ancestry in Zalthera (west continent).
- Leitmotif: "Long Lived," which also comes up in "Life and Death".
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Braeden has the longest hair among the boys, at least in the back. He is In Touch with His Feminine Side and enjoys wearing earrings and sleeveless shirts that are sometimes identical to those of his girlfriend.
- Official Couple: With Bessie. They are the only couple established from the beginning.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Braeden always wears shirts without sleeves. He even wears a sleeveless dress shirt under his suit jacket, as seen in the work's page image. This pegs him as more masculine than Angelo.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Bessie and Braeden will sometimes coordinate clothes. That is, they will wear the same articles of clothing, regardless of which gender the clothes are "intended" for.
Flo Tempo
Team: Jazz
Grade: 10
Instruments: Flute
Placement: 10th
A sophomore at Emerald Hills High and the older sister of Patrick. She plays the flute. She usually takes care of Patrick and hangs out with Claire. Out of all the contestants, she cares the least about winning, even after her silent brother. She is eliminated in Day 18: "Run, Run, Jump!"- Big Brother Instinct: She is very protective of her brother. She confronts Troy for his actions at the end of Day 1, and she forces Harry to take care of Patrick in The Practice Room with a thinly veiled threat.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Athletic shirts and jackets and soft black pants.
- Emotionless Girl: Flo's facial expression rarely strays from a series of horizontal lines. She is said to be dead inside
. One of the few times she breaks that expression is when she gives Harry a sinister smile to make him take care of Patrick. - Empty Eyes: Though eyes usually lack shading, Flo's eyes actually show her trauma. When eyes are shaded, Flo's eyes are not.
- In Harm's Way: She does rooftop gymnastics for thrills and can only be dissuaded by injuries or Patrick. According to a side story from 2015, her mother used to do the same.
- Like Father, Like Son: She takes after her mother's thrill-seeking tendencies, mentioned in an old side story.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Flo's most common expression.
- The Un-Smile: One of the few times she breaks her default expression, Flo smiles at Harry and reminds him how nice he is to convince him to take care of Patrick.
Patrick Tempo
Team: Classic
Grade: 8
Instruments: Piccolo
Placement: 20th
An eighth grader at White River Middle and the younger sister of Flo. He plays the piccolo. He is almost always with Flo, but he interacts with Claire, Harry, and others from time. He is eliminated in Day 3: "I Got Rhythm".- Dumb Struck: After Patrick makes a comment and is laughed at, he never speaks again. His unique speech color does not show up until the first rejoining, and his "dialogue" is just an ellipsis.
- Empty Eyes: Though eyes usually lack shading, Patrick's eyes actually show his trauma.
- Idiot Hair: Patrick gets a clump of hair in his face after the majority of the contestants laughs at him.
- Limited Wardrobe: He always wears the same black coat and pants, and he never willingly removes his coat.
- Nothing but Skin and Bones: His jacket hides his true size. Hinted in Day 9, when Harry squeezes Patrick's upper arm and his thumb meets the other fingers. Fully revealed in Day 10, as the skin on Patrick's forearm sinks between the bones.
- Older Than They Look: For his (lack of) height, one would think he is still in elementary school, not in eighth grade. It does not help at all when Piena Baker, an actual elementary school student, shows up; she's taller than him.
- The Quiet One: He can talk, but he refuses to say a word after being laughed at.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Patrick's most common expression.
- Tiny School Boy: He is the smallest contestant. When Claire kneels down to hug him, she nearly reaches his height.
Brass
Turie Bassa
Team: Jazz
Grade: 7
Instruments: Tuba
Placement: 13th
A seventh grader at White River Middle. He plays the tuba. While he often spends time with Troy and Trudy, he has interacted with Corbin on more than a few occasions. He is eliminated in Day 12: "Class v. Jazz Round".- Acrofatic: Despite his largeness, Turie is capable of running a mile in five minutes and thirty-five seconds.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: With Troy and Trudy. Turie is one of the physically largest contestants.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Sweater vests and button-down shirts.
- Dork in a Sweater: He almost always wears a sweater vest over a dress shirt, emphasizing his reserved nature.
- Gentle Giant: Turie is physically large and capable, but he only uses his capabilities during relevant challenges or to break up violent fights. He is otherwise very reserved.
- Precocious Crush: He is immediately smitten when he meets Elise O'Daunt, who is ten years older than him.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Turie is the sensitive guy to Troy's manly man; he is a Gentle Giant who generally acts smaller than he is.
- Shrinking Violet: If his general demeanor was not indicative enough, he crumples under Cedric's attempts to make him more assertive. His first response is to dismiss them as a joke, and his second is to apologize.
- Younger Than They Look: Because of his abnormal height, he looks like a high schooler. In an outtake of Day 18, Sally tells Elise not to hit on high schoolers and freaks out when Turie reveals he's younger than that.
Troy Bonsen
Team: Jazz
Grade: 7
Instruments: Trombone
Placement: 16th
A seventh grader at White River Middle. He plays the trombone. He usually spends time with Trudy and Turie. He is eliminated in Day 9: "Chem Is Try" not because of his brash personality, but because people did not like his face or his instrument.- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Most contestants are happy to see him eliminated.
- Daddy Didn't Show: Three days before Valentine's Day, Troy is on the phone with his father, begging him to show up. Everyone except Troy's father shows up.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: With Turie and Trudy. Troy is almost as tall as Turie but nowhere near as wide.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Athletic jacket, Fun T-Shirt, and khaki pants.
- Dumb Jock: He has a tendency to do the worst at non-athletic challenges, but he tends to win the athletic challenges.
- Fun T-Shirt: Troy shows off his love for basketball and jazz with his T-shirts.
- Jerk Jock: On the first Day, Troy makes a rude comment that causes Patrick to shut down. He is also terrible with teamwork. He only shines during athletic challenges like basketball and track.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Troy is the manly man to Turie's sensitive guy; he is a brash Jerk Jock who excels at athletic challenges and nothing else.
- Younger Than They Look: Even though he is abnormally tall, he is only in seventh grade, which makes him younger than Patrick.
Corbin Harmony
Team: Classic
Grade: 9
Instruments: F horn
Placement: 12th
A freshman at Rising Sun High. He plays the F horn. As the only student from his school to participate in SWAP, he did not have a friend group at first. He sometimes spends time with Turie or makes passing mentions about his sister or cousin, whom many contestants are familiar with. He is eliminated in Day 15: "Geometric Dances".- Big Little Brother: His younger sister Elsie is a few inches taller than him, as shown when she forcibly combs his hair.
- Character Tics: Corbin usually adjusts his glasses by the corner, which fits his nerdy personality. And he does this a lot.
- Consistent Clothing Style: As a Sharp-Dressed Man, he always wears button-down shirts, ties, and slacks.
- Fish Eyes: When the entire ensemble messes around to exploit Caroline's magical conducting, Corbin's eyes look in opposite directions, showing that even this refined young man is Not So Above It All. He does it again on the last page of Day 16 when he shovels cake into his mouth.
- 420, Blaze It: His birthday is April 20, which was a complete coincidence on the author's part. A Noodle Incident in middle school led him to refuse cakes and brownies as gifts on his birthday.
- Idiot Hair: He develops one midway through Day 8. His sister combs it down on Days 14 and 15, but it springs back up when he is eliminated.
- Not So Above It All: He may be very uptight at times, but he is not above messing with the conductor when she's outed as tone-deaf or shoveling cake into his mouth.
- Phrase Catcher: "Nobody cares, Harmony!" in response to his pointless smart remarks, usually said by Claire Inez.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Corbin is always wearing a dress-shirt and tie. Suit jacket or vest optional.
- Significant Birth Date: April 20 is an ironic birth date for someone as serious and studious as Corbin. The author was unaware of the significance at first but decided to roll with it.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Corbin is initially the only person who wears glasses. He likes to explain the votes, much to Caroline's dismay. On Day 4's test, he gets the highest score among the underclassmen.
- Waistcoat of Style: As a Sharp-Dressed Man, Corbin often wears these when he doesn't have a suit jacket.
Trudy Pratte
Team: Jazz
Grade: 7
Instruments: Trumpet
Placement: 18th
A seventh grader at White River Middle. She hangs out with Troy and Turie when she is not clashing with her cousin, Vincent. She is tutored by Corbin's sister and Harry. She is eliminated in Day 6: "Team Players".- Big, Thin, Short Trio: With Turie and Troy. She is the second shortest contestant and does not even reach her friends' shoulders.
- Clashing Cousins: She takes every opportunity to insult Vincent. It devolves into a fistfight in Day 6.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Horizontally striped shirts and torn jeans.
- Flipping the Bird: In Day 6, Trudy shows Vincent a finger after he throws her trumpet mute at a wall. The finger has a colored nail, and her middle fingernail is shown to be the only colored one. If not for that, the finger she uses would be ambiguous.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Trudy, the smallest girl, always hangs out with Troy and Turie, the tallest boys. She doesn't even reach their shoulders.
- Important Haircut: She cuts her hair short in solidarity with Vincent, who suffered a Traumatic Haircut. This symbolizes a truce between them.
- Insanely International Ancestry: Her mom's side alone has roots in all three continents. She knows little about her father except that he was obviously from Claromba, on the opposite end of the continent from Kroustambor.
- Meaningful Appearance: She has a mole below her left eye, which lines up with the rough life that Philyra suggests she has. Vincent punches that eye in Day 6.
- The Napoleon: Trudy is the second shortest contestant (only taller than Patrick) and has an equally short temper. She tends to blow up at Vincent's snide remarks and eventually gets into a fight with him.
- Tsurime Eyes: She's the only contestant who has these, emphasizing her harsh nature.
Percussion
Cyrissa Bales
Grade: 11
Team: Jazz
Instruments: Drum set, cymbals
Placement: 9th
A junior at Snowy Pines High. She is a percussionist, and she takes over the drummer when percussionists seem redundant. She usually hangs out with Cassie and Gretta. Because SWAP takes place at her school, she will guide the contestants if the contest takes place outside of the music room. She is eliminated in Day 20: "Instrument Shuffle" after the points smackdown leaves her in last place.- Boyish Short Hair: Inverted. She sports a layered bob, but she is the girly girl to Cassie's tomboy.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Warm-colored skirts and dresses that often don't have sleeves, to distinguish her from Claire's cool color palette and sleeves.
- The Fashionista: She wears the most detailed outfits and enforces the first dress-up theme.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She wears the preppiest of clothes, but she also enjoys playing sports like basketball and baseball.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: She recolors her hair the most frequently out of the entire cast. She started out with several silver streaks, then colored all her hair peach, then made just the tips red.
- Leitmotif: "You Got Me". The beginning of it, which didn't show up in the "88 Keys" video, is also present in "Can't Hear It Crashing".
- Lipstick Lesbian: She's the most "light feminine" girl in the cast and only shows interest in girls. She first gets envious of Cassie's relationship with Cedric but later moves on to date Marianna.
- Official Couple: With Marianna Cors, Angelo's younger sister. They meet on Day 14 and have their first date on Day 20.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Cassie's tomboy. Cyrissa always wears a different dress or skirt each day.
- Town Girls: The femme of the percussionists. She is the fashionista and the only one in the trio who wears dresses on a daily basis.
- Whole Costume Reference: She pulls this off without any mentions with a recolored Pyrrha outfit in Day 5.
Gretta Bashford
Team: Jazz
Grade: 11
Instruments: Drum set, vibraphone
Placement: 17th
A sophomore at Snowy Pines High. She is a percussionist, but she usually plays the vibraphone while Cyrissa takes the drum set. She usually hangs out with her schoolmates, Cyrissa and Cassie. She is eliminated in Day 7: "Run, Run, Run!" because nobody knows what a vibraphone is. Her surname used to be Basettie before it was changed on September 12, 2020.- Boyish Short Hair: She has the shortest unstyled hair (before Trudy chops her hair short), and she has the masculine aspiration of becoming a bodyguard.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Sweater-like shirts and black jogging pants.
- The Generic Guy: She has a tendency to either tag along with Cassie and/or Cyrissa or be entirely Out of Focus. Caroline accuses her of being too generic when she gets eliminated.
- Tomboy: The butch version. She is the most masculine among the percussionists.
- Town Girls: The butch of the percussionists. She can lift a heavy case alone when Cyrissa and Cassie cannot do so with their combined efforts. She also wants to be a bodyguard.
Cassie Clara
Team: Jazz
Instruments: Drum set, saxophone
Grade: 11
Placement: 5th
A junior at Snowy Pines High. She is a percussionist, but she plays the saxophone while Cyrissa takes over the drum set. She often hangs out with Cyrissa and Gretta, but less so when she starts dating Cedric. She is eliminated in Day 5: "I Got Melody" because she is capable of playing the saxophone, but she rejoins in Day 8: "Power Tower" after she mentions she is a junior drum major. She is eliminated again in Day 24: "Run, Climb, Jump!"- Consistent Clothing Style: Plain T-Shirts and shorts that end several inches above the knee. She apparently doesn't get cold in that.
- The Generic Guy: Caroline accuses Cassie of being bland when she gets eliminated. Cassie proves her distinctiveness by stating that she is a junior drum major.
- Girl Next Door: Cassie is an ordinary girl, and Caroline calls her out on her lack of interesting traits. Despite her plainness, Cassie manages to date her former schoolmate, the equally plain Cedric.
- Hidden Depths: Cassie is quickly eliminated for her plainness, or rather her ability to play the saxophone. At the rejoin voting, she mentions that she's a junior drum major and wins.
- Leitmotif: "Shining Stars of Excellence", which also shows up in "Perfectionism".
- Official Couple: She asks Cedric out on a date after Day 4, and they agree to go to prom together.
- Teacher's Pet: She tries to take the Sales Pitch challenge, and she tries again when she finds that Klezmer is facilitating it. Klezmer says she is a great student.
- Tomboy: The effeminate version. She clearly spends far less time on her looks than girly girl Cyrissa, but she dresses more feminine than butch tomboy Gretta.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Cyrissa's girly girl. Cassie only wears T-shirts and shorts, and she's the second character to repeat outfits.
- Town Girls: Among the percussionists, she is neither the butch nor the femme. She is far less feminine than Cyrissa, but she lacks Gretta's physical strength.
Other
Supervisors
Caroline Doctrina
- Cartoon Conductor: In Day 10, it is revealed that Caroline can control the music that the ensemble makes. The entire ensemble, starting with Cassie, messes around except for Paris. While Caroline is conducting, the music looks distorted on one end of her baton but perfectly fine on the other. When she puts the baton down in frustration, Philyra and Paris can finally hear the cacophony that the band is creating.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Full-length dresses with sweater-like tops.
- Deaf Composer: She's a kind of conductor who can control music. However, she is tone-deaf, so she relies on her pitch clips to do her job effectively.
- Fanservice Pack: Zig-zagged She started off with a modest bust size, but it got progressively bigger to emphasize her lack of hips. She becomes more realistically proportioned later on.
- Game Show Host: Caroline runs the majority of the competition, with occasional help from Tierney, Philyra, and Samuel.
- Magical Accessory: She wears an assortment of creatively-shaped hair clips that allow her to hear differences in pitch. When her clip falls off, she is outed as tone-deaf.
- Sexy Sweater Girl: Her sweater-type dresses are warm and modest on top but emphasize her bust size.
- Totally Radical: Caroline attempts this before and during practice in Day 7. It does not end well for anybody.
- Working with the Ex: Day 20 reveals that she and Samuel used to be in a relationship for three years. Previous interactions show that they are not on good terms.
Tierney Cabalbag
- Author Avatar: She is one of The 8th Grade Wars. She also fulfills in-universe duties that the author would perform in real life, including collecting votes from people who don't know about SWAP.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Tierney is the only character who has eye bags. It contributes to her perpetually unhappy look that resulted from The 8th Grade Wars.
- Scars Are Forever: Tierney got her scar during The Eighth Grade Wars, fourteen years ago.
Philyra Illagan
- Author Avatar: She is a less hardened version of Tierney, following the author's unembellished life, void of the massive amounts of deaths in ''The 8th Grade Wars".
- Rule-Abiding Rebel: After admitting to shifting the voting bias away from Alfred in Day 12, Philyra also admits to sneaking into music groups without telling her parents.
Samuel O'Flannigan
- Artificial Limbs: He has a prosthetic foot, which is shown detached in the last page of Day 16. Just like Tierney got her scar, Samuel lost his foot in the 8th Grade Wars.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: None of the other adults seem to be fond of his presence. When Paris asks Tierney where Sam is during the chemistry contest, Tierney remarks that he's the only one who cares.
Other recurring adults
Taylor Klezmer
- Ambiguous Gender: Taylor Klezmer, the chemistry teacher, has an androgynous appearance, has a gender-neutral name, and is never referred to with pronouns.
- Gender-Blender Name: The chemistry teacher's given name, Taylor, contributes to the Ambiguous Gender.
Lerato Illagan
- Animal-Eared Headband: He puts on a pair of cat ears as he prepares to count the votes for Day 17. His eyes become cat-like as well, and he promptly goes playfully wild on the voting slips.
- Expressive Accessory: His cat ears add to his expression when he judges music performances in Day 17.
Laika Baker
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": Downplayed; she is a baker, but she married into the name Baker.
Recurring students
Elserina Harmony
- Big Little Brother: She's less than a year younger than Corbin but stands two inches taller than him. She has been the taller sibling for a long time.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Long-sleeved tops with cut-out decorations, knee-length skirts, and knee-length socks.
- Huge Schoolgirl: As an eighth grader, she stands taller than all the eighth-grade contestants and several of the high school contestants.
Marianna Cors
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Marianna is focused on her studies and trying to finish her project, while her twin sister Josefina enjoys a social life.
- Official Couple: With Cyrissa Bales. They meet on Day 14 and have their first date on Day 20.
- No Social Skills: Downplayed. She turns down invites to extensive social interactions because she thinks they come at a price. Josefina had to intervene before she could refuse Cyrissa's phone number.
Carella Watanabe
- Abhorrent Admirer: She persistently chases after Harry when he wants nothing to do with her.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She makes a huge fuss when Vincent looks at or mentions other guys.
- Hate Sink: Carella Watanabe antagonizes several contestants in different ways and is a very abusive girlfriend to Vincent. Even her sister refuses to sympathize with her.
- No Accounting for Taste: She doesn't really seem to be attracted to Vincent, but she won't let go.
- Only Friend: She befriended Vincent, who was too shy to make any other friends. Then she proceeded to make sure she was the only friend until she moved on to high school.
- Weakness Turns Her On: A more sinister example than Claire. She keeps the shy, soft-spoken Vincent as a boyfriend while chasing after the similarly small Harry.
