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The Bobiverse

Bobs as a whole

Robert "Bob" Johansson

An engineer and programmer who got lucky with a sudden influx of cash from a buyout, unlucky with a sudden car crash, and very lucky that he had just signed onto a cryostorage company. The original Bob is dead, but all digital copies remember being him.

The Aloner: He finds interacting with other people to be largely annoying. Bobs can go for decades alone without any real trouble, though they usually break down and build a clone eventually. Mario got a double dose of this trait.
Gadgeteer Genius: A computer scientist and engineer by trade. He applies his knowledge in the future to create various technologies to enable the survival of both himself and the human race.
Small Reference Pools: Lots of nerdy sci-fi, not much else. Of course, since the people the Bobs talk to the most are other Bobs, they always understand all their references.

GUPPI

A fully artificial AI assistant given to Replicants to aid them.

Artificial Intelligence: An autonomous (if not very imaginative) intelligence designed to essentially give replicants the calculation abilities that they lack, since they're not true AIs. GUPPI is the one who originally interjects in Bob's thoughts with precise numbers and measurements whenever he thinks of things in vague terms, until he orders it to stop and only respond to spoken commands.
Shout-Out/ Expy: Soon after Bob leaves Earth, he changes GUPPI to look like Admiral Ackbar. The audiobook narrator (Ray Porter) even does a good imitation of his voice!

Bob's Cohort

Bob

Bob-1 Johansson, HEAVEN-2

The Bob who first left Earth. After surviving an attack in Epsilon Eridani, he makes more clones, then goes off to Delta Eridani alone.

Alien Non-Interference Clause: Subverted. He interferes in Delta Eridani to save the Deltan race from extinction and eventually grows attached to the race and a few members in articular.
Cargo Cult: He accidentally starts the first religion on Delta Eridani when he helps the Deltans fight the gorriloids. He's upfront about his abilities, so most of the more intelligent members of the tribe just treat him as a powerful ally, but some of the others start building shrines.
Clone Angst: When his original core is destroyed and he is restored from backup, he spends a few minutes considering the nature of his existence, before deciding that he is similar enough to the original Bob to still be considered Bob.

Marvin

Marvin Johansson, HIC17378-1

One of Bob's Bobs in Delta Eridani. He helps catalogue the Deltans and their behaviors, often stepping in with advice about production of observation drones and busters.

The Quiet One: Not as much as Mario, but he tends to keep quiet unless he absolutely needs to speak up. Bob often forgets he's there.

Riker's Cohort

Riker

Riker "Will" Johansson

The very first of Bob's clones. He went back to Sol with his clone, Homer, to see if there were any survivors.

Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Dealing with the survivors on Earth is not an easy job.
Deadpan Snarker: Generally the straightman, but he has a reserve of wit.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: After Vickers, the leader of VEHEMENT proves unrepentant for his actions, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people as well as Homer, Riker has no problem dropping a buster on his hideout.
Pragmatic Hero: Riker is very blunt, just like his namesake. This causes problems when trying to negotiate with the survivors in Sol, and Homer has to make deals behind his back to keep him from starting another war.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After VEHEMENT hacks Homer and drives him to suicide, he proceeds to track down their HQ and leader drop a couple of busters on them.
"If you have some variation of a god, asshole, you might want to have a very quick conversation with him. And fuck you to hell."

Homer

Homer Johansson

Riker's first clone, built in Epsilon Eridani. He is a clown and a jokester, and grates on Riker constantly. Despite that, he was more than happy to go back to Sol with him.

And I Must Scream: How he describes being under VEHEMENT's control.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Is hacked by VEHEMENT and forced to sabotage the Earth's space-based farming infrastructure which he himself designed and built.
Break the Comedian: He doesn't take being hacked and forced to do things against his will well.
Class Clown: He got a double dose of Bob's humor, to the point that he even uses a cartoon avatar of Homer Simpson for a while, until Riker gets him to stop. However, when the chips are down, Homer is very reliable.
Driven to Suicide: An eventual outcome of being under VEHEMENT's controll.
The Gadfly: Looks to be a significant chunk of his relationship with Riker. He was just as adamant about going back to Earth to make sure everyone was okay, despite not getting along with Riker at all. Riker was confused and irritated by Homer's choice of Homer Simpson as an identity/avatar, because original!Bob found the character grating. And Riker got a lower sense of humor, more seriousness than most Bobs.
Killed Off for Real: Due to the Bobs' constant upkeep of backup drives, Bobs don't die permanently (usually). Homer, after his Mind Rape at the hands of VEHEMENT, destroys all backups of himself before committing suicide.
The Social Expert: The Bobs aren't particularly social, so his ability to make people like him is invaluable. He even goes behind Riker's back and gets a deal with Spitsbergen and the USE, which Riker was too blunt to consider.

Arthur

Arthur Johansson

One of Riker's clones, built in Sol. He is significantly more negative than most of the other Bobs, which Riker finds annoying. But when the chips are down, he does a good job.

Dropped a Bridge on Him: He triggers a nuclear trap while exploring the system and is destroyed. We never even find out where the trap came from; it could have been a remnant from the war or an attack by VEHEMENT.
The Eeyore: Namechecked; Riker semi-accidentally calls him Eeyore a couple times. He always points out the worst parts of any situation, except when things are at their worst and everyone can see what's wrong.

Bill's Cohort

Bill

Bill Johansson

Bob's second clone. A malfunction with his SUDDAR array gave him some interesting data, so he volunteered to stay behind in Epsilon Eridani and terraform Ragnarok, where he would have time to research.

Mission Control: Of a sort. Instead of exploring the universe like the other Bobs, he decides to set up a permanent residence around Epsilon Eridani and serves as a sort of communications hub for the other Bobs (even inventing Bob-Net, the Subspace Ansible mentioned below).
The Smart Guy: He comes up with several important inventions for the other Bobs, from observation drones, to a robotic avatar, and even a Subspace Ansible. The last is the most important, and will eventually link all Bobs together perfectly. But unfortunately, it takes decades to get the plans to the other Bobs in the first place, so by the end of the first book Riker's cohort is the only one he is linked with.

Garfield

Garfield Johansson

Bill's first clone. He decides to stay in Epsilon Eridani to help with research and terraforming.

The Igor: He accuses Bill of treating him this way, using him as an assistant and never listening to his advice. Bill relents, and Garfield's more cautious style proves helpful when moving the ice to Ragnarok.

Calvin

Calvin Johansson

Bill's second clone. He leaves for Alpha Centauri with Goku, despite the fact that they are constantly at each other's throats.

Sibling Yin-Yang: He's calmer than Goku and has more of a sense of humor.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He needles Goku constantly and seems to hate him, except that they happily paired up together to go to Alpha Centauri.

Goku

Goku Johansson

Bill's third clone. He leaves for Alpha Centauri with Calvin, despite the fact that they are constantly at each other's throats.

Sibling Yin-Yang: He's angrier than Calvin and quicker to violence.
Theme Twin Naming: Defied. Calvin wanted Goku to name himself Hobbes, after the comic strip duo. Goku had other ideas.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He constantly threatens Calvin with violence, but he was still happy to pair up with him to go to Alpha Centauri.

Linus

Linus Johansson

Bill's fourth clone. He leaves for Epsilon Indi alone, not wanting to wait for another clone or to pair up with either Calvin or Goku.

Pet the Dog: He saves the Australian replicant and builds him a VR sim, when it would have been simpler to just Mercy Kill him (as he had gone quite insane) and scavenge his wreck.

Milo's Cohort

Milo

Milo Johansson

Bob's third clone. He eagerly leaves for for Omicron² Eridani, the supposed home star of the Vulcans.

The Knights Who Say "Squee!": He jumps at the opportunity to go to the Vulcan home star. When he discovers twin worlds, he immediately names them Vulcan and Romulus.

Mario's Cohort

Mario

Mario Johansson

Bob's fourth clone, and by far the most antisocial. He leaves for Beta Hydri, a relatively distant star, so as to stake his claim early.

The Aloner: As Bob put it, "He makes Guppy look like a social butterfly." Ironically, Guppy quickly becomes Mario's only friend once Mario gives him enough memory to grow as a person.
The Quiet One: He barely speaks to the other Bobs in Epsilon Eridani, and doesn't seem particularly concerned when he can't create a communications station in Beta Hydri.

Others

FAITH

Dr. Landers

The man in charge of training Bob and ensuring the success of the project as a whole. He is friendly and amenable, and acts much like how Bob would expect someone from the 21st-century to act.

Celebrity Resemblance: According to Bob, he's an absolute dead ringer for Sigmund Freud.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: He gets killed in a bombing shortly after Bob leaves Earth. Bob doesn't even get to say goodbye.
Eternal English: Subverted. He was specifically trained to speak in a dialect that Bob would find familiar.
Reasonable Authority Figure: While he works for FAITH, he's not a theocrat. He empathizes with Bob's plight, and warns him about the loyalty switches and kill triggers hidden in his code.

Minister Cranston

Minister Michael Cranston

The ambassador of the FAITH survivors on Earth once Riker returns. He is initially angry and demanding, but proves reasonable once all other options are exhausted.

Just a Machine: Constantly refers to Riker as "replicant," orders him to give special consideration to FAITH, and tries to use the secret command override. Of course, all that does is get him ignored.
Reasonable Authority Figure: After his attempts to control Riker fail, he puts forth a reasonable plan to help other survivors in exchange for special consideration. It's implied that Homer suggested it, but either way it's a real turn around.

Brazilian Empire

Medeiros

Major Ernesto Medeiros, BES Serra do Mar

The replicant in the Brazilian probe. He is a ruthless military mind who has decided that the best way to colonize the stars is to kill all the other probes.

Axe-Crazy: He is very much of the "shoot first, ask questions never" mindset. It's not just that the Bobs are FAITH ships, either; he killed the USE probe without any signs of discussion.
Big Bad: Of the first novel. He by far the biggest threat the Bobs face initially and manages to ambush and kill Milo, forcing the Bobs to create a fleet of probes just to take him out. Later on he becomes part of a Big Bad Ensemble with Vickers and the Others' Prime and is the only major antagonist to not be confirmed dead by the end of the trilogy.
Boring, but Practical: He's not an engineer or a programmer, but he is an excellent tactician and a ruthless soldier. He is able to set several ambushes for Bobs using unexpected tactics, including secret Brazilian projects he was keeping in reserve.
Evil Counterpart: To Bob. While Bob chose to help all of humanity regardless of past national grudges and rivalries. Medeiros goes in the exact opposite route and decides to continue fighting everyone else despite the fact that the war is long over and everyone lost.
Hero Killer: Kills Milo in 82 Eridani.
Lensman Arms Race: A variant develops between him and the Bobs. He counters the Bobs' SUDDAR with cloaking technology, their plasma spikes with Deflector Shields and deploys nuclear weapons against the Bobs, which they struggle to effectively defend themselves from. Subverted later when it's made clear that he's merely using experimental Brazilian Empire technologies that were never put into widespread use before the war and is ultimately defeated as he never creates his own version of the Bobs' Subspace Ansible which allows them to ultimately defeat him.
Superweapon Surprise: His use of nuclear weapons and cloaking technology developed by the Empire before the war takes the Bobs by surprise.
Undying Loyalty: He keeps fighting for the Brazilian Empire long after the Brazilian Empire is no more. Of course, if he has similar loyalty switches as the ones FAITH put in Bob, he might not have a choice.
We Have Reserves: He has this attitude towards himself and his clones. While this attitude is inevitable to a point, he occasionally leaves his clones behind unprotected with nothing but a 3D printer.

Araújo

Captain Matias Araújo

A Brazilian replicant left behind in the Sol system. He was uploaded to a number of gunships rather than probes, so he has no real manufacturing capability, but he is the last military force standing in Sol.

Axe-Crazy: He makes Medeiros look sane, spitting vitriol and trying to render the Earth uninhabitable out of spite.
- Put Them All Out of My Misery
Undying Loyalty: Like Medeiros, he keeps fighting even after it's clear that the Brazilian Empire has lost. In his case, he's willing to render the entire Earth uninhabitable—killing numerous Brazilian survivors—to get the last blow against China, who killed Brazil.

United States of Eurasia

Butterworth

Colonel George Butterworth

The highest-ranking member of the USE still alive, and in charge of a large group of refugees on Earth. He is the first one to contact Riker after Riker diverts Araújo's asteroids, saving the planet.

Reasonable Authority Figure: Although he and Riker often butt heads, he has a pretty strong bargaining position. He provided the plans for the colony ships, so his people should be the first to go. His biggest problem is that he gets mad about anything that seems to delay construction. Homer goes behind Riker's back to make a deal to delay the ships slightly so that the Spitsbergen ship can be built faster.

The Australian Federation

Roberts

Henry Roberts

The Australian replicant. He was a fisherman before his mind was cloned, and he was chosen for his ability to last for a long time away from people. Unfortunately, once he was in space, he went insane from lack of stimulus.

Go Mad from the Isolation: Between being locked in a ship with no real body and having no one to talk to, he goes crazy and his personality splits, switching between declaring himself "Emperor Mung of the Intergalactic Jalapeno Empire" and believing that he's a prisoner of said "Empire" under interrogation. Linus builds him a VR body, but lets him believe he's not a replicant for the meantime. He eventually comes around, but still has trouble interacting with the Bobs and prefers to be alone on his ship (but Linus is always welcome).

Deltans

Archimedes

A young Deltan that displays an abnormally high intelligence compared to his peers. Ends up being mentored and befriended by Bob to aid the Deltan society.

Teen Genius

VEHEMENT

Vickers

Bertram Vickers

The leader of the terrorist organization VEHEMENT, which seeks to drive the human race to extinction believing that humanity had its chance and that the nuclear war was proof that Earth would be better off without it.

Big Bad: As the leader of VEHEMENT he is the Big Bad of Riker's storyline in the Sol System.
Big Bad Ensemble: With Medeiros and The Others' Prime who are the antagonists of the Bobs outside the Sol System.
Enemy Mine: He's actually not in favor of destroying humanity, merely destroying all replicants, which he views as perversion of his life's work and sees his association with VEHEMENT as means to that end.
Jerkass: When he finally has a conversation with Riker he doesn't even try to justify his actions and seems to have no regrets over killing hundreds of people including Homer.
Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction when he realizes that Riker knows where he is and is about to drop a buster on him.

The Others

A race of insectoid aliens that seek to consume all life and resources to build their roving home base ever larger.

Absolute Xenophobe: In the Others' minds, only two things exist in the universe: the Others themselves, and food. Anything and everything that crosses their paths are to be consumed on sight, or destroyed if it cannot be consumed.

The Prime

The hive queen of the Others.

Aliens Speaking English: Chinese to be exact, after taking out the Chinese probe and acquiring its database.
Badass Boast: "You have been upgraded to pest."
Big Bad: Of the second and third books after Medeiros has been reduced to a non-threat and Vickers has been killed.
Extreme Omnivore: Along with the rest of her species.
Horde of Alien Locusts: Leads an entire race of them.
Omnicidal Maniac: Refuses to negotiate or even co-exist with other sapient life, viewing them as either food to be consumed, pests to be eradicated, or both.

Characters / We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

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