Lieutenant Donald T. Kerr
One of the five officers from the Warryn Cox Facility involved in the Firebrand Conspiracy.
- Affably Evil: Casually asks Danny Swann for a cigarette before telling him if he snitches on them, he’ll be shot. He doesn’t even seem to comprehend why this is unusual.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Platonic love, anyway; he’s always looking up in terms of the friendships he can form while dismissing anyone he views as “inferior”- which is anyone who actually wants to be his friend. It’s a self-destructive cycle that’s as pathetic as it is tragic.
- Catchphrase:"...yeah, alright." Also, against Matterson's squad: "Take one more step and you'll die." Matterson gets the chance to use it agaist him in the climax.
- Compliment Fishing: Does this ALL THE TIME, especially to Blackburn.
- Crosses the Line Twice: He has far more issue with minor vices like rudeness or lateness than genuinely terrible crimes such as murder and fascism because the latter is borderline-incomprehensible to him. Matterson remarks to himself that redeeming Kerr would be even harder than a Complete Monster like Alfie Boggs, Connor Gillion or Elvis Kidd, because they acknowledge the morality of their actions and either consider it "right", choose to ignore it, or revel in it, declaring it "revenge" on the world for treating them badly. Kerr simply does not even register that what he's doing has any kind of moral ramification to it whatsoever, because it's just a means to an end for him. He has no more ethical quandary with his work than a plumber would have fixing a broken pipe.
- Disney Villain Death: Hurled from a balcony by Matterson.
- Dull Surprise: Nothing he says ever seems to garner more than a vague comment…unless, of course, you’re Blackburn, who he expresses genuine affection for.
- Easily Forgiven: From his own warped perspective, anyway; he initially resents Blackburn for "stealing" his friendship from Killian, but after Killian's betrayal and subsequent death at the hands of Blackburn, he immediately starts praising Blackburn and insulting Killian. Blackburn, genuinely upset that Killian betrayed him and still reeling from his death, usually responds with some variation of "piss off".
- Even Evil Has Standards: Played with. The list of things he himself won’t do of his own volition is fairly substantial, but there’s essentially nothing he wouldn’t do under orders from the right person. He also convinces Gillion to spare the Swann children, if apathetically.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He genuinely cannot understand why Matterson would choose to sacrifice his life to ensure he cannot hurt Harwood.
- Evil Counterpart: To Michael Matterson. While Matterson struggles between the well-being of him and his squad and doing what's right, Kerr simply does not give a shit.
- Failed a Spot Check: Doesn’t notice until years after the fact that Robert Farry, the CEO of Farry Farms Supermarkets, is the father of his hero Harold Farry. When Private Smollett points this out, he only shrugs.
- Fascist, but Inefficient: His involvement in the Red Reaping just encouraged an enemy mine between the Freedmen and High Babaskians. When civilians just fled from their farmsteads, he responded by burning them down…despite the fact his job was to secure the farms and give them to Americans, not destroy them. Finally, the few Americans who did receive farms had little experience and were stuck with vastly outdated technology, since most of rural Musden had yet to industrialize. And, of course, the entire regime that propagated it collapsed after only three months.
- Fatal Flaw: His apathy to evil.
- Foil: To Michael Matterson.
- Good Feels Good: The only time he seems genuinely happy is when he’s teaching Charlie to play the clarinet. He dismisses the feeling as nothing important.
- Great Offscreen War: Fought during the Emancipation War to free the very people he's now attempting to wipe out.
- Grammar Nazi: Always correcting people’s grammar, regardless of whether it was actually wrong.
- Hidden Depths: Is a genuinely good musician, and Charlie Pike enjoys his tutorship. When Buster Ewart inquires about joining, he cuts the usual dismissive attitude and says he can join as long as he brings his own instrument and points out where he can rent one. Even Rodger Purkiss seems interested by the end.
- Ironic Nickname: When Firebrand congratulates the five officers on their successes in paving the way for the first stage of his coup, he calls him "a man of mighty oak, unyielding in both bravery and virtues." His virtues are more flexible than Travis Starkey's spine. Of course, given what "Oak Man" translates to in German...perhaps it's not that inappropriate...
- Karma Houdini: Got nothing but a slap on the wrist following the Red Reaping, given that President Raymond elected for a “punish the high-profile leaders and let anyone even marginally useful off the hook”.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: His role in the Firebrand Coup is enough for Sergeant Matterson to hurl him off a balcony.
- Kick the Dog: Constantly puts down Buster Ewart all the time, because he can see some of himself in his desperation for approval and hates him for it. Not that Buster doesn't deserve it, given that he's equally committed to the Fascist Firebrand Conspiracy and a Smug Snake to boot. And the less said about his anthro plane fetish art, the better.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Sometimes casually slips big words into his monotone statements to sound smart. He’s actually extremely insecure about his intelligence, given that he barely passed high school and has trouble reading long texts. Before you feel too sorry for him, he also casually brags about the atrocities he committed during the Red Reaping in the same fashion.
- Loving a Shadow: Why he will never be happy; any friendships he forms “won’t count” because they’re not absolutely perfect. His own self-loathing means he essentially regards friendships as having an inherent power imbalance that he's on the receiving end of; anyone wanting his companionship isn't deserving of it, and anyone who doesn't want it deserves it.
- Meaningful Name: Donald Taylor Kerr= Don T. Kerr= Don't Care. And he certainly doesn't. Of course, his arch-nemesis is Michael **Matter**son.
- Middle-Management Mook: Killian and Blackburn are clearly the masterminds behind the coup and answer directly to the Man Behind the Man, as does Gillion to a lesser extent. He and the Bought Officer are entirely in the dark as to who they’re serving, although only the latter seems to particularly care- and he’s obviously only interested in having some bargaining power if the coup goes tits up.
- Moral Myopia: Kidd constantly bullying and harassing Pike gets almost no response from him. The moment Kidd turns his attention to Kerr, he immediately punishes him.
- Not That There's Anything Wrong with That: About as far as his own bigotry goes; casual, but certainly there.
- Oh, Crap!: When Pike declares he's had enough and drags The Bully Kidd away to brutally murder, he's left alone facing Matterson. He also gets off another one of these when he realizes Matterson is about to kill him.
- Pass the Popcorn: During the bar fight between Matterson's army lads and Kerr's Marines, he watches Purkiss and Harwood beat the shit out each other while eating his Trademark Favourite Food.
- Pet the Dog: Is the only one of his own Five Bad Band to not make fun of Buster Ewart’s weird anthro plane drawings. He also genuinely helps Pike learn to play the clarinet, but doesn’t even seem to regard this as a good deed; he just does it because Pike requested it and he saw no reason not to. His vague support for Jason Arden in his court battle against Roland Boyd is either this or because he likes the crisps Jason sells at his supermarket. Twice during the Final Battle (his group against Matterson, Wells, and Harwood), he gives him the opportunity to give up without further bloodshed. Of course, this is on the condition he be allowed to assassinate the GPD council and help Firebrand's fascist coup.
- Psychological Projection: When Matterson threatens his Taking You with Me at the very end, Kerr blows him off because he simply cannot comprehend of someone sacrificing themselves for others. This is because he considers his devotion to Firebrand and Blackburn to be absolute, and therefore anyone who shows any greater loyalty than himself is clearly lying.
- Professional Killer: He and his squad are sent to assassinate Commissioner Fitzsimmons so Puppet King Starkey can replace him.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He couldn't care less about Firebrand's plan to establish a brutal fascist dictatorship. This is both his most and least sympathetic trait. He even tries to invoke this against Matterson, claiming he's just doing his job and that he's got no grudge against him.
- The Stoic: Utterly unmutable in most situations. Starts losing it towards the end.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Always seen eating Farry Farms Brand Sour Cream and Chive Potato Crisps. And yes, he ALWAYS says the name in full whenever he mentions them.
- Villainous Breakdown: Gets pissed off when Matterson, Wells, and Harwood come along to wreck his plans, and spends his last few moments swearing desperately as Matterson charges towards him, powerless to defend himself.
Sergeant Buster Bob Ewart
Donald Kerr's second-in-command. Known for brown-nosing his boss, obsessing over airplanes to the point where it's rumored he has an actual fetish for them, and beating the shit out of Rodger Purkiss for making a joke about his brother.
- Amicable Exes: Remained friends with Isabel after they broke up...for a while.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: Was once an Extreme Doormat to his elder brother, Buddy...and later, after he had killed his brother, he did the exact same thing to Rodger Purkiss.
- Easily Forgiven: By Isaac. Not by Isabel.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Is the first to protest against Gillion killing the Swann twins, with Kerr, Purkiss, and Pike joining him.
- Gag Penis: Claims to have a 10.2-inch dick, having added the decimal to make it sound "more realistic". (Spoiler alert: doesn't work)
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He and Isaac both competed for the affection of Isabel Waters; Isaac won, and he remained friends with both. Until the incident with Buddy Ewart, of course.
- Smug Snake: His attitude to everybody outside of Kerr's squad.
- Unknown Rival: Utterly hates Isaac Bridge, claiming that his obsession with helicopters is unhealthy and weird. When Emma later meets Isaac, he says he really misses being Buster's friend and having endless arguments over which was better: planes or helicopters. Which was followed by them inevitably teaming up against Isabel when she argued for trains.
- Your Head Asplode: Courtesy of Gavin Wells' perfect headshot, which mirrors how he finished off his brother.
Corporal Rodger Beau Purkiss
The muscle of Kerr's squad. A massive tower of a man, he's famous for nervously spluttering out terrible jokes and growing unreasonably aggressive if nobody laughs. He calmly accepts a beating from Buster Ewart, a man almost half his weight, yet kicks Alan Melkonis half to death for saying his jokes are shit.
- Death Equals Redemption: Spends his last moments holding Harwood's hand and apologizing for everything he did in life.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Protests when Gillion moves to kill the Swann twins.
- Extreme Doormat: Towards anyone he perceives as a friend.
- Fantastic Racism: Hates the Gikani, simply because American propaganda typically portrays them as being more impulsive and emotion-driven, which is what he wishes he could be. He does establish a friendship with Ryan Harwood during his dying moments, however.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: His primary motivation, really. He knows on some level that his only real friend, Buster Ewart, only pretends to like him because he's so incredibly averse to conflict and likes having some degree of control over him. He does kinda get his wish after being fatally shot by Ryan Harwood who uses his last moments to forgive him.
- Not Good with Rejection: Grows extremely angry whenever anybody doesn't embrace his awful jokes.
- Secret-Keeper: He, Isaac Bridge, and Isabel Waters are the only people who know what happened to Buster Ewart's brother.
- Your Mom: A frequent butt of these jokes; when people find out his surname, they usually respond with "Is that what your mother charged?" Will promote rage with anyone except Ewart, who he essentially worships.
Lance Corporal Elvis Angus Kidd
The incredibly annoying "smart" guy of Kerr's squad. Self-obsessed, resentful, and not half as smart as he thinks he is.
- Hate Sink: Even in comparison to the other awful people in Kerr's squad, he's especially detestable.
Private Charles Pius Vicks
The Token Good Teammate of Kerr's squad.
- Kick the Dog: It's implied he leaves for Newhaven at the very end to kill Benny Allbright because he was one of the men who killed his father, despite said killing being mostly justified.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Is a kind and compassionate Gentle Giant, while his father was a cruel Drill Sergeant Nasty who was killed by his own men after he tried to summarily execute one of them.
- Not So Above It All: Usually pushes for the least violent option...but, before he kills Kidd in the most painful manner possible, he implies that he did much the same with Travis Levine.
- Pet the Dog: Regardless of whether or not he killed Travis Levine in a fit of anger or premeditated it, he does genuinely spare Ryan Harwood's life at the end of the hotel shootout.
- Sole Survivor: After killing (or or maybe not)) Kidd, he escapes from the hotel and is never seen again, except for a few scant sightings in Cabrol.
- They Call Him "Sword": Attempts fencing a few times under Parry-Frost's tutorage, and tries to draw parallels between swords and pikes, without much success.
- Trapped in Villainy: Blackburn blackmails him over his murder of Travis Levine into supporting the coup.
- Unknown Rival: To Benny Allbright and Perry Parry-Frost, the other two Marines who helped kill his father. Benny, deaf in one ear, is happily running a small business up in Newhaven, while Parry-Frost is a League of Nations adjudicator specifically to prevent situations like Pius Pike's tyranny occurring again.
- What You Are in the Dark: He simply allows Ryan Harwood, the only other survivor of the shootout, to walk away. So he can make sure Kidd dies painfully in peace.
- You Killed My Father: Why he killed Travis Levine- not only because he killed his father, but because he harassed him about it constantly and threatened to kill him too. His treatment of Kidd and confession to Matterson and Kerr at the end implies Levine did no such thing and he pre-meditated the crime solely because he killed his father.
