Characters / Tin Star (Choice of Games)

The Marshal

The Player Character.

• Action Girl: If female.
• Ambiguous Gender: If the player chooses to have them referred to by a title like "Marshal" or "Doctor" instead of assigning a male or female gender, the game will use they/them pronouns and avoid gender descriptors.
• Boxed Crook: Whether or not they're actually guilty, they were sentenced to hang for murder, and then Marshal James steps in to give them another offer.
• Chick Magnet: A gender-agnostic version, because Everyone Is Bi but the can even take the harem ending if they want.
• Death Faked for You: Marshal James saves their life by staging their execution by hanging and having the PC declared dead so that they can start over in Preston Springs. It's not an act of charity so much as an arrangement for their mutual benefit.
• Dirty Cop: Can be played this way.
• Earn Your Title: What the Marshal says to Yiska when they first meet determines what he calls them for the rest of the game.
• Evidence Scavenger Hunt: The Marshal has to gather evidence to prove that they’re the rightful marshal of Lander County after Steele shows up.
• Famed In-Story: They can gain quite a lot of fame and/or notoriety during their stint in Preston Springs, helped along by the series of dime novels based on their exploits.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: The Marshal has opportunities to indulge after a long, trying day.
• Magnetic Hero: You can do this if you want by making friends and doing favors, ensuring that you'll have allies who will ride into Hell with you when the time comes. Marshal James will even comment on it if you have enough allies in the climax, wondering how you managed to do your job as a marshal and still make all those friends.
• The Matchmaker: They can help bring Yiska and Maria together as a couple.
• The Mentor: The Marshal can be one to Sam Pitcavage, a down-on-his-luck prospector.
• Mistaken Identity: People sometimes confuse them with Marshal Steele, the false marshal sent to take their place, even after the man himself has been jailed or killed.
• No Name Given: The PC's real name is never revealed, and the name that the player chooses is an alias.
• The Paragon: A Marshal with high stats in the Karma Meters will inspire others to be good people in turn. One character can even be canonized as a saint as a result of your character's interactions with them.
• Player Character
• Religious Bruiser: Possible, especially with a high Brawling stat.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Can take this stance whenever Preston or anyone else tries to bribe them.
• Secret Identity: To keep people from figuring out that they were convicted for murder and supposedly executed.
• U.S. Marshal: They have to serve a four year stint as Marshal of Lander County, a county that has a habit of either driving them out or putting them in a pine box.

Benjamin Carson

• Cowboy: Ben Carson's a cowpoke working at the Blue Bell Ranch, and you meet him on a couple of occasions when he's working. The Marshal refers to him by this until he introduces himself.
• First-Name Basis: Get his approval high enough and he'll let you call him "Ben."
• Happily Married: To his wife Millie.
• Last-Name Basis: Most people outside of Albion Falls call him "Carson."
• Real Men Love Jesus: He's a member of the Latter Day Saints and the finest rifleman among them.
• The Stoic: He's nearly always calm, quiet, and unruffled.

Daniel Schmidt

• The Big Guy: He's the powerhouse among your companions and the most inclined to brawling.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: He can knock out a bear with a single punch in one scene.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Yiska notes that he won't step on the toes of one friend even to help another and tries to stay neutral as best he can.
• The Drifter: He tends to get antsy and bored if he stays in one place for too long. He will stay longer stretches in Preston Springs during the Marshal's term, however, especially if he's befriended or romanced.
• First-Name Basis: Get his approval high enough, and he'll let you call him "Dan."
• Gay Option: The Marshal's gender identity (or lack thereof) is not a problem.
• Gentle Giant: He's a big guy that you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of, but fortunately he's jovial and rarely inclined to unnecessary violence.
• Last-Name Basis: Most people call him "Schmidt."
• Love Interest: He can be romanced by the Marshal.
• Mountain Man: If he's not being referred to as The Bear or Prospector, it'll probably be this.
• Prospector: His trade. The Marshal refers to him as this before he introduces himself.
• Ship Tease: The Marshal can catch him flirting with Miss MacMurphy in Chapter 6 if he isn't being romanced.
• Snake Oil Salesman: As a child, sort of. His father was the actual salesman, but Schmidt, his mother, and his siblings all helped sell his wares.
• Yandere: He will try to kill the Marshal and anyone they've taken up with if spurned.

Caraway

• Action Girl: She's an accomplished gunslinger and can assist the Marshal with their duties. Being the daughter of an outlaw probably helps.
• Affectionate Nickname: Get her approval high enough, and she'll let you call her "Carrie."
• Amicable Exes: She used to be involved with Hungry Snake, and they still get along pretty well.
• Bounty Hunter: She can become one in the epilogue.
• Color-Coded Eyes: She fits the "American Civil War-era superstition" stereotype for gray eyes. Upon meeting the Marshal for the first time, the Marshal notes that her "storm gray eyes watch [their] every move and promise thunderous retribution should [they] somehow escape the imminent flash of lightning."
• Combat Pragmatist: Defied. She understands if you have to fight one of her old friends (this is the West, these things happen), but if you say Let's Fight Like Gentlemen and then shoot the guy, she's gonna take it personally.
• Fiery Redhead: The companion with the reddest hair and quickest temper.
• Gay Option: The Marshal's gender identity (or lack thereof) is not a problem.
• The Gunslinger: Her undisputed specialty.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: There's hardly a time when she isn't drinking or doesn't at least have alcohol nearby. She even keeps a bottle reserved at the Babylon. Tellingly, a very high influence with her is described in the "Story Mode" of the Marshal's statistics as "She loves you more than whiskey itself."
• Intoxication Ensues: Pretty much what happens whenever the Marshal drinks with her.
• Love Interest: She can be romanced by the Marshal.
• Race Fetish: While she can be romanced by a Marshal of any race, she seems to have a thing for Native Americans in particular. She used to be involved with Hungry Snake, she carries a torch for Yiska, and will immediately hit on an NA Marshal (which they can comment on).

• Woman Scorned: She will try to kill the Marshal and anyone they've taken up with if spurned.
• Yandere: see above

J.T. Preston

The founder, mayor, and sheriff of Preston Springs.

• Bling-Bling-BANG!: His Smith and Wesson Model 1 revolver has ivory handles and a polished silver trim.
• Egopolis: He names his town after himself.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: Tiberius. It's something of a family tradition, and he hates it. The epilogue can also tell you his full name without romancing him, though it won't tell you how he hates it.
• Fatal Flaw: Greed. Preston can't resist the chance to profit from any operation he's involved in, and because he doesn't understand the importance of long-term investment, this is ultimately damaging the economy of Preston Springs and destroying his hope of building it into something that lasts.
• Gay Option: The Marshal's gender identity (or lack thereof) is not a problem.
• Given Name Reveal: If he's romanced, he'll reveal that it stands for James Tiberius. It's a family name, and he hates it.
• Ladykiller in Love: An unattached Preston tends to enjoy the attention of local dancing girls. If romanced, he can remark that he hasn’t looked their way since he’s had the Marshal.
• Literalist Snarking: He indulges from time to time.
  The Marshal: "How did he get shot?"
  J.T. Preston: "With a pistol, I expect. Though, I suppose a rifle or shotgun might have done it."
• Love Interest: He can be romanced by the Marshal.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: He's always immaculately groomed, exquisitely dressed, and eager to surround himself with finery.
• Only Known by Initials: He refers to himself exclusively as "J.T."
• The Pioneer: After dreaming of his ideal town, he rode west, bought a plot of land, and built the town of Preston Springs from the ground up.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Miss MacMurphy.
• Professional Gambler: After declining to renew his ninety-day enlistment with the Confederate army, he made his living as this.
• Saloon Owner: He owns most of the saloons in town, actually.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He's nearly always dressed in exquisitely tailored suits with a solid gold watch and fine cufflinks.
• The Sheriff: Of his own town.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: How his romance path starts. Literally.
• Small-Town Tyrant: Preston definitely gives off this vibe, as the mayor, sheriff and landlord of a gold-mining Boom Town. He uses his deputies as muscle to enforce what little law he wants in town, owns most of the saloons, and tries to bribe the Marshal to stay out of town business and let the money flow into his pockets. However, while he is quite thoroughly corrupt, and something of a Feudal Overlord over the place, he's not really evil.
• Southern Gentleman: He's a native of South Carolina who built a prosperous Boom Town up from nothing. Bonus points for the wardrobe of fine suits, abundance of pride, and love for gambling.
• War Is Hell: He describes his brief and reluctant career in the Confederate army to be this.

Yiska

• Beta Couple: He and Maria can end up together.
• Badass Bookworm: He's a lawyer, sure, but he's also an Indian brave who can fight with the best of them.
• Crusading Lawyer: Yiska is a Shoshone with a legal education who works on behalf of his people to fight for their rights. Unfortunately, laws that span societies are complicated, and the people he deals with often don't give a damn what the law says.
• Gay Option: The Marshal's gender identity (or lack thereof) is not a problem.
• Hero Antagonist: If you're trying to save the railroad from the Uptons' machinations, Yiska will be forced to at least make a token effort to stand against you to preserve the Shoshone's way of life. He can be convinced to stand down and even side with you, though, if you're noble enough.
• Literalist Snarking: He indulges from time to time.
  The Marshal: "I'm the Marshal of Lander county but I won't be serving as such forever."
  Yiska: "Indeed, I should hope not for that would be a difficult contract to craft," Yiska chuckles, "though they could have you stuffed and mounted I suppose, but then how would you make the rounds?"
• Love Interest: He can be romanced by the Marshal.

Maria Agustina Toledo y Santarosa

• Arranged Marriage: With her first husband.
• Beta Couple: She and Yiska can end up together.
• Blue Blood: She's Spanish nobility.
• Cool Sword: She carries a saber made of Toledo steel.
• Gay Option: The Marshal's gender identity (or lack thereof) is not a problem.
• Love Interest: She can be romanced by the Marshal.
• Master Swordsman: She's an excellent fencer.
• May–December Romance: With her first husband, who was twenty years her senior.
• Out with a Bang: Her first husband collapsed shortly after they consummated their vows.
• Overly Long Name: Maria Agustina Theresa, Maria de Zapopan, Maria de la Descalzas Reales, Maria Paulina de Toledo y Santarosa.
• Parasol of Prettiness: She's scarcely seen outside without one.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: She notes that her and her first husband were a good match, had many things in common, and she reflects upon his death with genuine sorrow.

• Real Women Love Jesus: She's a devoted Catholic, and she plans to found a hermitage in the Sierra mountains during her stay. Also, when pushed to it she's a fine swordswoman.
• Silk Hiding Steel: The saber she carries isn't ornamental.
  • She also tends to hide a knife up her sleeve.

Marshal Simon James

• Good Is Not Nice: He's a hero trying to stop criminals. He's also kind of an asshole and not particularly sociable.
• Happily Married: To Julie Moore, though it's possible for their relationship to fall apart if the Marshal doesn't get revenge against Upton.
• Mistaken Identity: The Marshal doesn't know much about him, hence when Steele comes around trying to pass himself off as the rightful marshal, it's easy for the Marshal to get confused when people say that Marshal James died at New Years. The Marshal James they're referring to is actually Simon's brother Eugene, who was shot by Tumbleweed Jack.
• Revenge: His motive for saving the Marshal from execution and sending them to act against Upton is to get revenge for the death of his brother.
• Sociopathic Hero: He's willing to murder innocents in cold blood if they won't cooperate with him, or kill an Indian PC who isn't willing to take an English last name.
• U.S. Marshal: He recruited the Marshal for their job in Lander County and works as one himself.

Julie Moore

• Happily Married: To Marshal James, though it's possible for their relationship to fall apart if the Marshal doesn't get revenge against Upton.
• Undertaker

Regina Upton

• Action Girl: She's as ready and able to fight as her brother.
• Angsty Surviving Twin: A possibility.
• Co-Dragons: She and her brother are serving as their father's boots on the ground in Lander County.
• Daddy's Little Villain: She and her brother are both in Lander County to execute the schemes of their father.
• Determinator: Particularly if you capture or murder her brother or Hungry Snake.
  • If you manage to derail the train, the powder barrels aboard explode, killing nearly everything aboard. Except possibly Regina, who manages to climb out of the burning wreckage and draw on you.
  The Marshal: "You could surrender, you know..."
  Regina Upton: "Not while there is breath in my body and a gun in my hand. And look, here I have both."
• High-Class Glass: The Marshal notes her monocle nearly every time she appears.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The more reckless and passionate Red to Reginald’s meticulous and stoic Blue.
• Revenge: She can take up this cause against the Marshal for the murder of Hungry Snake and/or Reginald.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Figuratively and literally, as she tends to hide a derringer up her sleeve.

Reginald Upton

• Angsty Surviving Twin: A possibility.
• Bling-Bling-BANG!: His Smith and Wesson Model 1 features ivory handles.
• Co-Dragons: With his sister. They're the Upton family's chief agents in Lander County.
• Daddy's Little Villain: He and his sister are both in Lander County to execute the schemes of their father.
• Determinator: If you manage to derail the train, the powder barrels aboard explode, killing nearly everything aboard. Except possibly Reginald, who manages to climb out of the burning wreckage and draw on you.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: Roscoe, after his father's deceased dog.
• Literalist Snarking: He indulges from time to time.
  The Marshal: "How could you say that?"
  Reginald Upton: "Very easily: by speaking the words."
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The stoic and careful Blue to Regina’s smug and reckless Red.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He rivals Preston in this regard.
• Stoic Spectacles: He's about as calm, measured, and level-headed as Carson.
• The Un-Favourite: Fredrick dotes on Regina but insults Reginald just about every time he's mentioned. Reginald seems to have given up trying to win his approval.

Fredrick Charles Upton

• Big Bad: A very removed one. He's pulling the strings on the plan to destroy the transcontinental railroad that drives much of the game's arc.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He says as much if the Marshal asks him if his schemes were personal. Of course, he changes his tune pretty quick if the Marshal reveals that they killed any of his children.
• Impoverished Patrician: His house is in a state of decay, giving off the impression that his family has fallen on hard times. This is a smokescreen to hide just how powerful and influential they actually are.
• I Want Grandkids: He's intent on his family line continuing, so this is a requirement if the Marshal marries one of his children.
• Revenge: He thinks he's gotten this against the Marshal, who was convicted for murdering his child. The Marshal has the chance to disabuse him of that notion before getting a little revenge of their own.

Tumbleweed Jack

A young gunfighter with a grudge against U.S. Marshals.

• The Atoner: Can become one, if the Marshal plays their cards right.
• Dirty Coward: He shot Marshal Eugene James through a crack in his office wall.
• The Drifter: Caraway is surprised that he's back, as she thought he'd died or gone to Missouri.
• It's All About Me: Schmidt contemptuously remarks that Tumbleweed acts as if he's the only person who has ever lost family and he doesn't listen to anyone but himself.
• Misplaced Retribution: He's set about killing any U.S. Marshal he can find until he can actually track down the ones who actually killed his brother. As far as he's concerned, anyone who wears a tin star shares in their guilt. Gets even worse when it turns out his brother wasn't killed by U.S. Marshals but by four members of the Marshall family.
• Professional Killer: The Marshal can learn that Jack was paid by the Uptons to kill the marshals of Lander County. He was using the money as funds to get to Kansas for his revenge.
• Rags to Riches: Dropping charges against him has him return to Kansas and help around his town, leading him to be a shoe-in for mayor and later become an excellent senator.
• Revenge: He wants to kill the U.S. Marshals who killed his brother.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in one or maybe two scenes as a bit player, but as the killer of Eugene James, he's responsible for setting off most of the plot.

Richard Hartigan

A known outlaw who has plagued Lander County for over a year.

• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He clubbed one of the previous marshals of Lander County to death.
• Older Sidekick: He becomes a variant of this if the Marshal stays in Lander County and has a decent amount of influence with him.

Hungry Snake

A Bannock warlord who works for Richard Hartigan and the Upton twins.

• Amicable Exes: He used to be involved with Caraway, and they still get along pretty well.
• Blood Knight: He enjoys fighting and shedding blood.
• Worthy Opponent: He can see the Marshal as one.

Miss MacMurphy

A partner of J.T. Preston, who co-owns and runs the Babylon saloon.

• Beware the Nice Ones: She's a sweet proper lady who will take up a knife and advance against a man with a pistol if provoked.
• Icy Blue Eyes: To match her cool, calm, and dignified demeanor.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Preston.
• Proper Lady: The Marshal muses that they could easily see her in an east coast salon.
• Ship Tease: The Marshal can see Schmidt flirting with her if he's not romanced, and she definitely responds in kind.
• True Blue Femininity: She's wearing something blue pretty much every time she appears.

Jeff Donner

The butcher of Preston Springs.

• Arranged Marriage: He was set to enter into one with Pamela Winthrop, the sister of Harold and Larry, as a way to bring their businesses together in a more permanent way than a contract. Until he was shown a tin-type of the woman in question, that is...
• The Big Guy: He's a big dude, and the Winthrops are probably lucky he didn't start snapping necks when tempted.
• Malicious Slander: On the receiving end. The Marshal can choose to help stop the rumors or ignore it.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: If the Marshal convinces him to meet Pamela in person, they hit it off in a major way and he enthusiastically proposes. They marry and live happily, and he eventually passes control of his business onto their children.
• Small Town Rivalry: Engaged in one with the Winthrops after an arrangement between them fell apart.

Harold and Larry Winthrop

Two brothers who run a tannery.

• Malicious Slander: They spread a lot of terrible rumors about Jeff Donner, which starts to affect Donner's standing in the town.
• Small Town Rivalry: Engaged in one with Jeff Donner after an arrangement between them fell apart.
• Woman Scorned: They were looking to bring their business together with Jeff Donner's by having him marry their sister, only for Jeff to run for the hills upon seeing a picture of her. Because of this insult, the brothers are looking to get back at Donner however they can.

Mother Maddy

The proprietor of the Mother-Lode Saloon.

• Cool Old Lady: She runs the saloon that will take the business of anyone who can keep their temper in check and has a little coin to spend.
• Never Mess with Granny: She runs the rowdiest saloon in Preston Springs, and there isn't a person who doesn't show her respect.

Kevin Coolidge

The blacksmith of Preston Springs.

• The Blacksmith
• The Quiet One: He doesn't speak more than is necessary and rarely in complete sentences.

Preston's Deputies

Four rough-looking thugs hired by Preston to act as his deputies.

• Dirty Coward: If the Marshal takes control of Reginald's bandits and attacks Preston Springs, Preston reveals that they looted what they could and ran the first chance they got.
• Hired Guns: Preston hired them to act as bodyguards, enforcers, and occasionally gophers.

---