The characters features in The Death Series are as follows:
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Newlydeads
The protagonists of the series. The souls of the deceased from different backgrounds, this group of unlikely heroes have been tasked to complete the 100 Trials of the Afterlife in order to be granted access to heaven.
General Tropes assosiated with these characters:
- Cursed with Awesome: Upon entering the afterlife, each of the souls gains an ability based on how they die. For instance, if they died by drowning, in the afterlife they would have the ability to breathe underwater.
- Killed Off for Real: They ain't going back to the Mortal Realm any time soon, folks.
Jigrumth the Tall
A former member of an ancient Norse warrior tribe before he was killed in battle. Jigrumth now takes part in thee Trials hoping that they will bring him one step closer to Valhalla.- Fish out of Temporal Water: The fact that he died hundreds of years before the others makes it hard to relate to them at times.
Johnny Nitro
A professional stuntman and thrillseeker, Johnny met his end when one of his more elaborate stunts got out of hand and resulted in his death. Despite this, being dead hasn't phased him much, as he now looks forward to taking on the challenge of the 100 Trials.- Affectionate Parody: Of the archetypical Hot-Blooded Shonen protagonist.
- Anime Hair: Shonen Hair, to be specific.
- Cool Shades: A pair of Triangle Shades as a shout-out to Gurren Lagann.
- Embarrassing First Name: His middle name is literally "Distraction". His parents had real foresight.
- Hairy Hammerspace: His hair conceals a number of different useful tools, including a grappling hook, a chainsaw, and a jetpack.
- Incendiary Exponent: As a result of dying in a fiery explosion, he is now able to set himself on fire with no ill effects in the afterlife.
- Sunglasses at Night: Johnny never takes off his sunglasses. Ever. Sometimes he even wears multiple pairs at once.
- Vague Age: While he's presumably old enough to be living on his own and having a career as a professional stuntman, his mannerisms and short stature makes it look like he may be a teenager.
Eix Xie
A manufacturer of leather pants, Eix was killed when he was mistaken for a monster and poisoned. The whole incident has left him rather bitter, as you would expect. He now assists the others in completing the 100 Trials.- Ambiguously Human: Not even
the player that created him knows just what he is. - Acquired Poison Immunity: Since he died as a result of being posioned, in the afterlife he is immune to poisons of any kind.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: Often the one referring to the fourth wall. Whether it's complaining about his author's absences or yelling something at the GM.
- Shout-Out: To the song from Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, "Leather Pants"
Kylie Sten
At first glance, one may get the impression that Kylie was just an innocent little girl. In reality, she is a deranged serial killer who was spoiled rotten by her rich parents, who were blissfully unaware of her ruthless behavior. She died in a limosine accident and is now another participant in the Trials.- Leeroy Jenkins: Her strategy for overcoming most obstacles seems to be "Poke it with something sharp until it stops moving".
- Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear: Her pet Timmy, the Homicidal Teddy Bear.
Meow
A kitten who died when he was thrown the window of the higest floor of the Sears tower. He was somehow able to learn how to speak English from listening to the people inside the building talk on the way down. He is now another member of the group hoping to complete the Trials.- Animal Superheroes: When Jorgan dresses up as a superhero to impress Renée, Meow decides to become Jorgan's Non-Human Sidekick.
- Cats Are Mean: Subverted. He's actually very sweet, but he inadvertedly causes others pain.
- Flight: As a result of his death being via falling, though he can only do this while wearing his "Super Meow" costume.
- Lethal Joke Character: He's just a cute, harmless kitten...with a head that's harder than rock.
- Magic Feather: According to Word of God, Meow is perfectly capable of flying without the aid of his superhero costume, but neither he or any of the other characters in-universe are aware of this.
Forest
An enigmatic man who, while alive, had the ambition of becoming a farmer. This changed, however, when he was shot by a group of thugs tresspassing on his property. Now his only goal is completing the Trials, just like everyone else.- Berserk Button: In his backstory, he mentions killing one of the burglars that attacked him on his property...because they trampled on one of his plants.
- Blood Knight: While he's much more subtle and restrained than Kylie, Forest still makes it clear that he enjoys what he does. Back when he was a farmer, he'd even practice using his scythe as if it were a weapon.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Most likely due to the circumstances that led up to his death, he freezes up just from hearing one.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He calls out Vicente on his own cowardice and hypocrisy while trying to convince him to not kill himself. It works.
- Tranquil Fury: Since he claims that his loss of his heart has left him incapable of showing actual emotion, this is the closest he can get to being actually angry.
Ludwig von Schädel
The main group's guide sent to assist them in completing the Trails. Ludwig can be uptight and snobbish at times, but he is willing to lend a skeletal hand when neccesarry.- Author Avatar: He often acts as the GM's mouthpiece for self-criticism.
- The Drag-Along: He wasn't exactly thrilled when he learned that he was assigned the job of guiding the others.
- Genre Savvy: Tries to be, anyway. It just happens that everything he expects doesn't happen, and it occasionally backfires on him.
- Meaningful Name: "Schädel" is German for "skull."
Jorgan Erkel
A hip geek from The '90s who committed suicide due to the hype of Y2K.- Berserk Button: Due mostly to his cause of death, he gets pretty mad whenever someone mentions the year 1999.
- Composite Character: Based on Jeff and Steve Urkel, with a dose of Totally Radical.
- Cool Shades: They're also his reading glasses.
Riley Smith
A writer who was killed under mysterious circumstances during his town's annual "Zombie Walk". Unlike the other souls, Riley is convinced that he is not actually dead and that he was sent to the afterlife by mistake. Since then he has been in constant denial about his death and is only participating in the Trials because they might help prove that he is alive.- Everything's Deader with Zombies: While not an actual zombie, he died while dressed as one, and he remains in-costume even after death.
- Unfazed Everyman: apart from his zombie getup, he is more or less the most "normal" character in the series.
Elizabeth Delfi
A young woman from the 1600's who was executed after being accused of witchcraft. Being something of a loner, Elizabeth had completed twelve trials on her own before being reassigned and forced to join the other Newlydeads, much to her annoyance.- The Ace: Well, she did complete a dozen Trials on her own. Not that she has to be so smug about it...
- Blessed with Suck: Her Psychic Powers (see below) might seem awesome, except for the fact that they are incredibly limited, she has no control over them, and they resulted in her being put on trial and later executed for witchcraft.
- Joan Of Archetype: Well, she's a Lady of War, has supernatural visions, and was prosecuted and later executed for suspected witchcraft.
- Meaningful Name: Her last name is a reference to the Oracle of Delphi in Greek Mythology.
- Not So Above It All: Most notably when she
accidentally "breaks" the Internet. - A Sinister Clue: She's left-handed, which didn't help her case in her witchcraft trial. She was found innocent, though.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Since she died as a result of drowning, she can now breathe comfortably underwater. Not that she considers it very useful...
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Averted. While her take on Early Modern English is still flawed, her creator is trying to be as accurate as possible.
Patrick
A later addition to the Newlydeads. Patrick was an artifact hunter who "died" after he accidentally triggered an artifact that separated his soul from his body. Not a traditional death, but either way his soul wound up in the afterlife.- Adventure Duo: With his girlfriend, prior to the incident resulting in his "death".
- Hyperspace Arsenal: Consisting of a Flaming Sword, Golem Battle Suit, and Anti-Gravity Boots.
- Naïve Newcomer: Zigzagged. Most of the time he's not sure what's going on, but occasionally his experience from his archaeologist days will manage to bring him up to speed.
Dyana Raine
A former Monster Hunter and cast member of the Monster Mashers TV show, Dyana was one of the last members to leave the show after its decline in popularity, and the only readon she had to leave was because she died. Having some of her friendly monster companions getting destroyed along with her, she can now temporarily borrow their abilities in combat in the afterlife.- Transplant: Like Albert, she's originally a character from Smile For The Camera.
- Winged Humanoid: When using her Griffin's wings.
Supporting Cast
Charon
The ferryman of the Afterlife, it is Charon's duty to deliver the souls who manage to reach the river Styx to the King and Queen so they can be assigned their trials. He is currently composing a petition to change the name of the River Styx to the River Aerosmith. Also one of The Seven Masters, who specializes in exploiting his opponent's weak points.- Training from Hell: His first "lesson" consists of hitting the protagonists with a stick repeatedly.
- Actually, that wasn't even a lesson. He just wanted to hit something with a stick.
Death Himself
The slayer of kings, the end of gods, and the player of children's games, Death Himself is the one responsible for sending the dead to the Land of the Dead.- Don't Fear the Reaper: He's a bit of a pushover when it comes to kids, apparently.
- Friend to All Children: Okay, so he's the personification of death and a borderline Eldritch Abomination, but he seems to get along with Bridget rather well.
- Large and in Charge: In addition to being the leader of all minor Deaths, his default form is a twenty-foot tall cloaked...thing carrying an equally large scythe.
- Spell My Name with a "The": Spell My Name With A "Himself"
Langston
One of the many minor Deaths serving under Death Himself. Langston first met the protagonists when they ended up saving the life of someone who was scheduled to die, and as retribution he decided to have them walk a mile in his shoes.- Cool Bike: His main method of transportation.
- Cool Sidecar: Unfortunately subverted, as when he ends up attactching the sidecars to his ride the whole thing looks ridiculous.
- The Gunslinger: His "scythe" is actually a handgun.
- Hypocritical Humor: Calling Ludwig "Mr. Skellington", despite being a skeleton himself
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Seems pretty aloof and distant at times, but shows genuine sympathy for some of his more unfortunate people he has to escort to the afterlife, and tries to comfort Meow after having to release the soul of the dying woman.
Albert Circlesmith
The second Master who taught the Newlydeads how to work together. He is a ghost that possessed a suit of armor to avoid going to the Land of the Dead.- Big Damn Heroes: He shows up to stop Lannister from going back on his word and killing Demi. By punching him in the face.
- Calling Your Attacks: He calls the name of a different attack to trick people.
- Transplant: From Smile For The Camera.
Villains
Gregory and Herbert
Two semi-incompetent bank robbers who were caught and turned in by the heroes as one of their first Trials. Unknown to the heroes, the criminal duo are actually part of a mysterious woman's secret agenda...- Heterosexual Life-Partners: To the point where their lifetimes have become literally intertwined.
Mungo
A gorilla, apparently trained in the use of firearms.- An Arm and a Leg: He loses his arm in a fight with Forest.
Jack Turbo
An ex-stuntman, he holds a grudge against Johnny for constantly overshadowing him. After Johnny got killed, Jack gave up on trying to beat him and turned to a life of crime after fusing his motorcycle to his body.- Attention Whore: His entire motivation for getting revenge on Johnny is because of how even in death, the latter always manages to steal his thunder.
- Badass Biker: He's both the biker and the bike!
- Emergency Transformation: He only became a half-motorcycle cyborg after a near-deadly accident during one of his stunts.
- Evil Counterpart: Jack represents what Johnny would be if he cared more about fame and fortune than mere excitement...and was also part-motorcycle.
- Smarter Than You Look: He may seem pretty silly, but he's apparently graduated from Stanford.
- What Could Have Been: His name was originally Johnny, until there was a player character named Johnny...
Sergio Segale
A senior member of the Segale Family (read: mafia) with a mysterious agenda. His moustache would like to be acknowledged as well.- Prehensile Hair: His facial hair is his primary weapon, consisting of a moustache and Goatee Of Evil.
Maximillion Lannister
A businessman who became incredibly rich in just six months. Suspected of being a psychic, the heroes were sent to negotiate with him so he'd register with Interplanar Affairs. After his initial defeat, he returns stripped ofboth his psychic powers and his fortune. Blaming the Newlydeads for his loss, he assembles Jack, Mungo and the Segales to form a Legion of Doom to get back at them.- Genius Cripple: As a result of the same strain he put on his mind that led to the loss of his powers, he is now paralyzed from the waist-down as well.
- Psychic Powers: Oh most definitely. Ranges from mind-reading to telekinesis.
- Squishy Wizard: So much so that he goes down afer one hit.
Vicente Viciousse
A professional assassin hired by the mysterious woman to kill Gregory and Herbert.- Badass Cape: With retractable knives hidden in the hem
- Dance Battler: He has a fighting style based on ballet, no less.
- Driven to Suicide: In a twist, it's the Newlydeads who have to talk him out of it.
- Implausible Hair Color: His hair's naturally green. No one seems to believe that, however.
- Super Window Jump: He makes his exit this way after facing the Newlydeads for the first time, most likely for showing off/intimidation purposes.
- Villainous Breakdown: After losing his fight he actually begins to consider suicide. Justified in what his employer would most likely have in store for him otherwise.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Definately one of the toughest challenges faced by the protagonists.
Minor Characters
Characters with only one or two appearances in the series and no seriously important role...so far.
Demi Armstrong
A mortal girl with the ability to see ghosts. For some reason the mafia appears to be after her, resulting in one of the souls' trials to be to prevent her assassination.- Disability Superpower: Ludwig's explanation for how she can see ghosts is that essentially the part of her brain that controls her Weirdness Censor is defective.
Agon
Another superhero and Renée's unofficial rival. A narcisstic brute with a penchant for hogging the spotlight, The Newlydeads secretly help Reneé defeat him in a public duel.- Made of Iron: Most of Renée's attacks barely manage to scratch him.
