History Characters / BrodysGhost

* FatalFlaw: Pride. His decision to stand up to the L47s and [[spoiler:confront Landon]] end up being life-threateningly stupid. He knows it's stupid, he's ''told'' they're stupid, but he does it anyway because the idea of letting them walk all over him infuriates him to no end.

* HomelessHero: He's stuck in a one room flat in god knows where, and often resorts to begging and odd jobs to make ends meet. [[spoiler:Thanks to Landon, he doesn't even have that by the end. Though Nicole and Gabe seem to be helping him out of it.]]
* HotBlooded: [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted.]] He claims this, but Talia notes that he seems pretty chill for the most part and content with doing his own thing. Later we see that he can get fired up if under enough stress. It's [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], because most of his worst mistakes in his love life, the Penny Murderer case, and even just getting through the day stem from losing his temper at the worst possible moment. [[spoiler: His decision to confront Landon after he vandalised Brody's apartment is probably the biggest example.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His stalking of Nicole (even if it's to save her life) not only gets him nowhere with the Penny Murderer case, but it draws the ire of her mob boyfriend, making his job more difficult than it needed to be. [[spoiler: Attacking Landon for vandalising his room just makes things worse.]]
* NotGoodWithRejection: He never goes Yandere for Nicole, but his response to their six month long break up is letting his apartment become a pig sty, reducing himself to begging and odd jobs to survive, and desperately spending whatever money he can scrounge up in a vain attempt to reconnect with her. It's not until his training with Kagemura that he's willing to move on.

* StalkerWithACrush: Averted towards Nicole, as it's done in spite of his feelings for her. He does care for her, and he is stalking her, but it's to protect her from the Penny Murderer. [[spoiler: Nicole unfortunately believes him to be a straight example, with dire consequences.]]

Brody's only friend before he met Talia. He works as a cop, and provides some aid for Brody over the course of the story.

* OnlySaneMan: He's one of the few well adjusted people in the series.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Well... as reasonable as a CorruptCorporateExecutive could be. When he first finds Brody "stalking" Nicole ''right outside his own house'', Landon at least gave Brody the benefit of the doubt and let the latter explain himself... until PoorCommunicationKills on Brody's end with a poor choice of words that makes him sounds like TheMentallyDisturbed only cause Landon to jump to conclusions is where he starts threatening him.

--> '''To Brody:''' The cops will never side with you in this situation... because my people basically '''owns''' the cops.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: For all intends and purposes, he's quite reasonable despite being a CorruptCorporateExecutive. When he first finds Brody "stalking" Nicole ''right outside his own house'', Landon at least gave Brody the benefit of the doubt and let the latter explain himself... until PoorCommunicationKills on Brody's end with a poor choice of words that makes him sounds like TheMentallyDisturbed only cause Landon to jump to conclusions is where he starts threatening him.

!!Landon
Nicole's new boyfriend, a wealthy hot-shot from the financial district. It's no secret that he has mob connections, and doesn't appreciate Brody stalking his girlfriend.

* BigBadEnsemble: While the Penny Murderer is the main concern of Brody and Talia's investigation, Landon ends up being the source of Brody's ''many'' woes in the Second half of the series.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He and Nicole believe Brody is stalking her. [[spoiler: After failing to heed his threats, he has Brody's flat vandalised, tries to have him assassinated, and then sics the police on him to torture and kill him.]]
* FakeUltimateHero: [[spoiler: He gets the credit for bringing the Penny Murderer to justice, when he'd actually been trying to shoot Brody in the back.]]
* KarmaHoudini: He's certainly a mobster, and is the one responsible for wrecking Brody's life. [[spoiler: He's punished by being known as the guy who killed the Penny Murderer.]]

* ZettaiRyouiki: She wears a pleated skirt with thigh-high stockings.

* KarmaHoudini: He's certainly a mobster, and is the one responsible for wrecking Brody's life. [[spoiler: He's punished by being known as the guy who killed the Penny Murderer.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Nicole breaks up with him in the time between the Penny Murderer's death and seeing Brody again when she finds out he's a two-timer.]]

* ZettaiRyouki: She wears a pleated skirt with thigh-high stockings.

* GrumpyOldMan: A curmudgeonly, wizened samurai from Feudal Japan, living in the near future.

* CharacterDevelopment[=/=]TookALevelInBadass: From a depressed, lazy bum to a Badass OccultDetective.
* ClassicalAntiHero
* FatalFlaw: Pride. His decision to stand up to the L47s and [[spoiler: confront Landon]] end up being life-threateningly stupid. He knows it's stupid, he's ''told'' they're stupid, but he does it anyway because the idea of letting them walk all over him infuriates him to no end.

* GrumpyOldMan: A curmudgeonly, wizened samurai from Feudal Japan, stuck in the near future.

* ByTheBookCop[=/=]TheLastDJ: He's one of the last honest cops in the city, to his unending frustration.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Due to a series of misunderstandings, Nicole comes to believe that Brody's become a StalkerWithACrush, and reveals everything she knows about him to her new boyfriend. She's then horrified to discover from Gabe that Brody was actually trying to protect her from the Penny Murderer, and her boyfriend had made him a fugitive and nearly had him killed as a result. The first thing she does when she see him again is to tearfully apologize for making things worse for him when he was trying to save her life. Thankfully, Brody forgives her for it.]]

* TheUnapologetic: There are two instances in the series where she should have apologized, yet didn't do it. The first was [[spoiler:for lying to Brody about how she died]], after which she can't form the actual words, and states that even saying it was wrong of her to do. The second was [[spoiler:at the climax, after admitting that her revenge scheme has led to Brody's life going down the drain. She outright states that this ''isn't'' an apology, since he could have refused her any time he wanted...before indirectly asking for his forgiveness.]]

* {{Irony}}: She tells her new boyfriend that it pays to be honest when he calls her a "girl scout." [[spoiler:The thing he called her a girl scout for was her giving back her extra change to a man she bought ice cream from--and since that man was the Penny Murderer, in this instance it ''definitely'' didn't pay to be honest.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:The Penny Murderer chose her as his next victim when she returned her extra change to him.]]

* BrutalHonesty: He's not one for sugarcoating things, bluntly stating that the training Brody will have to go will likely kill him, given his piss-poor physique at the time.

* HotBlooded: [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted.]] He claims this, but Talia notes that he ''seems'' pretty chill for the most part and content with doing his own thing. Later we see that he ''can'' get fired up if under enough stress. It's [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], because most of his worst mistakes in his love life, the Penny Murderer case, and even just getting through the day stem from losing his temper at the worst possible moment. [[spoiler: His decision to confront Landon after he vandalised Brody's apartment is probably the biggest example.]]

* UndyingLoyalty: To Brody. After learning about his ghost seer abilities and his investigation of the Penny Murderer, he helps him get into police headquarters. [[spoiler: When Landon attempts to use him to lure Brody out, he instead sends a coded message to warn him.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His stalking of Nicole (even if it's to save her life) not only gets him nowhere with the Penny Murderer, but it draws the ire of her mob boyfriend, making his job more difficult than it needed to be. [[spoiler: Attacking Landon for vandalising his room just makes things worse.]]

* OccultDetective: A variation. He uses his supernatural abilities in his work, but the case he ends up dealing with is a typical SerialKiller case grounded in reality.

* BeneathTheMask: There are hints beforehand, but there's more to Talia than her snarkiness. [[spoiler: She's had to watch her father die of leukemia, and her mother go insane in her absence, and watched herself get choked to death in an OutOfBodyExperience. Her StepfordSnarker persona hides a soul of rage and regret over her life being cut short.]]

* GhostlyGoals: She can't get into Heaven unless she does a "super good deed". [[spoiler:She can actually go anytime she wants to: but what she wants is to see her murderer choked to death at Brody's hands.]]

* TheUnapologetic: There are two instances in the series where she should have apologized, yet didn't do it. The first was [[spoiler:for lying to Brody about how she died]], after which she can't form the actual words, and states that even saying it was wrong of her to do. The second was [[spoiler:at the climax, after admitting that her revenge scheme has led to Brody's life going down the drain. She outright states that this ''isn't'' an apology, since he could have refused her any time he wanted... before indirectly asking for his forgiveness.]]

* BrutalHonesty: He's not one for sugarcoating things, bluntly stating that the training Brody will have to go will likely kill him, given his then piss poor physique.
* GoodIsNotNice: He's got good intentions, but he's rarely straightforward or nice about them, and his focus on the larger picture makes him unsympathetic to Talia or Brody's concerns or plights.
* GrumpyOldMan: A curmudgeonly, wizened samurai out of Feudal Japan, stuck in the near future.
* KnightInSourArmour: Has a cynical view of the world that Brody lives in, understandably, but still intends to use Brody to help people.
* JerkassHasAPoint: He pointedly makes it clear he couldn't give a toss about the Penny Murderer, but as he points out to Talia, monstrous though they may be, men like the Penny Murderer are barely a drop in the bucket of problems the city or the world suffers from. He sure isn't going to train Brody just to nab one SerialKiller when he could accomplish a lot more with his powers.

Brody's best and only friend before he meets Talia, and definitely his only ''human'' friend. He works as a cop, and provides some aid for Brody over the course of the story.

* ByTheBookCop[=/=]TheLastDJ: One of the last honest cops in the city, to his unending frustration.

* OnlySaneMan: One of the few well adjusted people in the series.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Brody. After learning about his ghost seer abilities and his investigation of the Penny Murderer, he helps him get into police headquarters, no questions asked. [[spoiler: When Landon attempts to use him to lure Brody out, he instead sends a coded message to warn him.]]

Brody's ex-girlfriend; a good-natured and sweet, if a little high-maintenance, girl. Breaking up with her derails Brody's entire life before the story begins, and later becomes significant as the Penny Murderer's next victim.

* DiesWideOpen: Brody's vision of her death shows her eyes as being open slightly.
* {{Irony}}: She tells her new boyfriend that it pays to be honest when he calls her a "girl scout." [[spoiler:The event he called her a girl scout for was her giving back her penny extra in change to a man she bought ice cream from--and since that man was the Penny Murderer, in this instance it ''definitely'' didn't pay to be honest.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Due to a series of misunderstandings, Nicole comes to believe that Brody's become a StalkerWithACrush, and reveals everything she knows about him to her new boyfriend out of misplaced fear and anger. She's understandably horrified to discover from Gabe that Brody was ''actually'' trying to protect her from the Penny Murderer, and her boyfriend had made him a fugitive and very nearly had him killed as a result of what's happened. First thing she does when she see him again was to tearfully apologize for ultimately making things much worse for him for trying to save her life. Thankfully, Brody loves her way too much to hate her for it.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:The Penny Murderer chose her because when he intentionally gave her a penny extra in change, she returned it to him.]]

A SerialKiller who has murdered a series of young women, leaving his trademark penny on their foreheads as a calling card. Despite years of activity the police haven't been any closer to catching him.

* BigBad: There's lots of bad people in the story, but he's the man behind the murders Brody is trying to stop.
* CallingCard: He leaves a penny on the forehead of each girl he kills, [[spoiler:the penny extra that they gave back to him when he gave them their change--proof that these women were "pure" to take the trouble to return something as worthless as a penny.]]
* MalevolentMaskedMen: Wears a dark mask with just two eyeholes when he kills his victims.
* MaskOfSanity: [[spoiler: Does an exceptionally good job at playing an ordinary boring employee to his customers, especially to his victims.]]

* SerialKiller: An actual example in that his crimes takes place over the course of five years, with an average of a victim per year.
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: [[spoiler: An ice cream vendor in his daily life at an amusement park.]]

Nicole's new boyfriend, a wealthy hot-shot from the financial district. It's an open secret that he has mob connections, and doesn't appreciate Brody stalking his girlfriend.

* BigBadEnsemble: While the Penny Murderer is the main concern of Brody and Talia's investigation, Landon ends up being the source of Brody's ''many'', many woes in the Second half of the series.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He and Nicole eventually believe Brody is stalking her. [[spoiler: After failing accidentally to heed his threats, he has Brody's flat vandalised, tries to have him straight up assassinated, and then sics the police on him explicitly to torture and execute him.]]
* FakeUltimateHero: [[spoiler: Gets the credit for bringing the Penny Murderer to justice, when he'd actually had been trying to shoot Brody in the back at the time.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Almost certainly a mobster, and definitively responsible for wrecking Brody's life. [[spoiler: He's punished by being known as the guy who killed the Penny Murderer.]]

The main protagonist. A slacker and bum who spends much of his time playing street music for money, working odd jobs, hanging out with his OnlyFriend Gabriel, and generally mourning over his relationship with his ex girlfriend. After winning a staring contest during one of his guitar days, he gets the shock of his life when his opponents leaves her van via the roof.

* CharacterDevelopment[=/=]TookALevelInBadass: From a depressed lazy bum to a Badass OccultDetective.

* FatalFlaw: Pride. His decisions to stand up to the L47s and [[spoiler: confront Landon]] end up being life threatening stupid. He knows it's stupid, he's ''told'' they're stupid, but he does it anyway because the idea of letting them step all over him infuriates him to no end.
** Speaking of infuriating, to make matters worst, Rage is the other half of his Flaw, seeing how his worst mistakes, in his love life, the Penny Murderer case, and even just getting through the day stem from losing his temper at the worst possible moment, proving that Pride and Rage can be a dangerous combination for Brody.
* HeCleansUpNicely: Whenever he cuts his hair, gets a shave, and wears decent clothes, Brody transforms into a perfectly pleasant and upstanding looking young man.

* HomelessHero: He's stuck in a one room flat in god knows where, and often takes to begging and odd jobs to make ends meet. [[spoiler: With Landon's help, he doesn't even have that by the end. Though he may get help out of this in the end.]]
* HotBlooded: [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted.]] He claims this, but Talia notes that he ''seems'' pretty chill for the most part and content with doing his own thing. Later we see that he ''can'' get fired up if under enough stress. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] because most of his worst mistakes, in his love life, the Penny Murderer case, and even just getting through the day stem from losing his temper at the worst possible moment. [[spoiler: His decision to confront Landon after he vandalised Brody's apartment is probably the biggest example.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His stalking of Nicole (even if its to save her life) not only gets him nowhere closer to the Penny Murderer, but draws the ire of her well connected mob boyfriend, making his job more difficult than it needed to be. [[spoiler: Attacking Landon for vandalising his room just makes things ten times worse than it was.]]
* NotGoodWithRejection: He never goes Yandere for Nicole, but his response to their six months long break up is let his apartment become a pig sty, reduce himself to begging and odd jobs to survive, and desperately spend whatever money he can scrounge up in a vain attempt to reconnect with his ex. It's not until his training with Kagemura that he's willing to move on.
* OccultDetective: A variation. He uses his supernatural abilities in his work, but the case he ends up dealing with is actually a typical SerialKiller case grounded in reality.
* StalkerWithACrush: Averted towards Nicole, notably as it's in spite of his feelings for her. He does care for her, and he is pretty much stalking her, but it's to protect her from the Penny Murderer. [[spoiler: Nicole unfortunately believes him to be a straight example, with dire consequences.]]

* BeneathTheMask: There's hints beforehand, but there's more to Talia than her snark and spunk. [[spoiler: She's had to watch her father die of leukemia, and her mother go insane in her absence, and watched herself get choked to death in an OutOfBodyExperience. Her StepfordSnarker persona hides a soul of rage and regret over her life cut short.]]

* GhostlyGoals: She can't get into Heaven unless she does a "super good deed". [[spoiler: In reality, she can go anytime she wants to: but what she wants is to see her murderer choke to death at Brody's hands.]]
* IntangibleMan: She's a ghost, so aside from breaking windows she can only go through stuff. This is the reason why she wants Brody to help her nab the murderer.
* ItsPersonal: Averted with the Penny Murderer. Much as she loathes him, she doesn't like thinking about the injustice of him living at the expense of his victims as those thoughts lead down some dark paths. [[spoiler: Actually, played straight. As his first victim, Talia's been ''itching'' to make him pay from the moment she realised she was a ghost.]]
* TheUnapologetic: There's two instances in the series where she should have apologized and yet couldn't quite do it. The first was [[spoiler:for lying to Brody about how she died]], after which she can't form the actual words "I'm sorry" and drags out even saying it was wrong of her to do. The second was [[spoiler:at the end, after admitting that her revenge scheme has led to Brody's life turning out like crap. She specifically states that this ''isn't'' an apology, since he as a grown man could have refused her any time he wanted... before indirectly asking for his forgiveness.]]
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:By kindly picking up and returning a penny she saw someone drop, Talia inspired a series of murders by the man who witnessed her do it, who wanted to "protect" pure of heart women like her.]]
* PickedFlowersAreDead: She relates to Brody how there was a vase of flowers in her hospital room when she was dying of leukemia, and she cries as she recalls wondering why people did that, putting them in water as if it was going to keep the flower from dying. It's clear she's thinking of it in the context of when she was on life support. [[spoiler:Although she never had leukemia, we later learn that the story is true--her father died of leukemia and had a vase of flowers by his bed.]]

* ZettaiRyouki: She's got a pleated skirt and long thigh-high socks.

A site spectre - a ghost stuck to one specific location - who Talia courts for help in awakening Brody's supernatural talents. Resides in the dilapidated remains of a Shinto shrine.

* BrutalHonesty: Not one for sugarcoating things, bluntly stating that the training Brody would have to go would likely kill him giving his then piss poor physique.

* TheUnapologetic: There's two instances in the series where she should have apologized and yet couldn't quite do it. The first was [[spoiler:for lying to Brody about how she died]], after which she can't form the actual words "I'm sorry" and drags out even saying it was wrong of her to do. The second was [[spoiler:at the end, after admitting that her revenge scheme has led to Brody's life turning out like crap. She specifically states that this isn't an apology, since he as a grown man could have refused her any time he wanted.]]

* MoralityPet: [[spoiler: Talia is an immoral, manipulative, and callous spirit, but she still loves her mother and becomes enraged when Brody risks upsetting her by visiting Talia's old home.]]

!!The Penny Murderer
A SerialKiller who has murdered a series of young women, leaving his trademark penny on their foreheads as a calling card. Despite years of activity the police haven't been any closer to catching him.

* BigBad: There's lots of bad people in the story, but he's the man behind the murders Brody is trying to stop.
* CallingCard: He leaves a penny on the forehead of each girl he kills, [[spoiler:the penny extra that they gave back to him when he gave them their change--proof that these women were "pure" to take the trouble to return something as worthless as a penny.]]
* MalevolentMaskedMen: Wears a dark mask with just two eyeholes when he kills his victims.
* MaskOfSanity: [[spoiler: Does an exceptionally good job at playing an ordinary boring employee to his customers, especially to his victims.]]
* PretentiousLatinMotto: "Malo mori quam foedari" is written on a penny in a vision Brody has while holding one of the murderer's possessions, which Brody translates as "death before disgrace." [[spoiler:The killer wanted to preserve the "purity" of the women he killed by ending their lives before they'd really begun.]]
* SerialKiller: An actual example in that his crimes takes place over the course of five years, with an average of a victim per year.
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: [[spoiler: An ice cream vendor in his daily life at an amusement park.]]

!!Gabriel
[[quoteright:141:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gabe_4.png]]
Brody's best and only friend before he meets Talia, and definitely his only ''human'' friend. He works as a cop, and provides some aid for Brody over the course of the story.
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!!Landon
Nicole's new boyfriend, a wealthy hot-shot from the financial district. It's an open secret that he has mob connections, and doesn't appreciate Brody stalking his girlfriend.

* OccultDetective: A variation. He uses his supernatural abilities in his work, but the case hew ends up dealing with is actually a typical SerialKiller case grounded in reality.

* HotBlooded: [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted.]] He's actually pretty chill for the most part and content with doing his own thing, but he can get fired up if under enough stress. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] because most of his worst mistakes, in his love life, the Penny Murderer case, and even just getting through the day stem from losing his temper at the worst possible moment. [[spoiler: His decision to confront Landon after he vandalised Brody's apartment is probably the biggest example.]]

* StalkerWithACrush: Subverted towards Nicole. He does care for her, and he is pretty much stalking her, but it's to protect her from the Penny Murderer. [[spoiler: Nicole unfortunately believes him to be a straight example, with dire consequences.]]

* ItsPersonal: Averted with the Penny Murderer. Much as she loathes him, she doesn't like thinking about the injustice of him living at the expense of his victims as those thoughts lead down some dark paths. [[spoiler: Oh so double subverted. As his first victim, Talia's been ''itching'' to make him pay from the moment she realised she was a ghost.]]

A site spectre - a ghost stuck to one specific location - who Talia courts for help in awakening Brody's supernatural talents. Resides in the dilapidated remians of a Shinto shrine.

* KnightInSourArmour

** MyGreatestSecondChance: Hence why he's even considering tutoring Brody on the subject.

A SerialKiller who has murdered a series of young women, leaving his trademark penny on their foreheads as a calling card. Despite years of activity the police haven't been any closer to cathcing him.

* BigBad

* ByTheBookCop[=/=]TheLastDJ: One of the last in the city, to his unending frustration.
* OnlyFriend: Probably Brody's remaining contact with human society after his break up and before he meets Talia.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Due to a series of misunderstandings, Nicole comes to believe that Brody's become a StalkerWithACrush, and reveals everything she knows about him to her new boyfriend out of misplaced fear and anger. She's understandably horrified to discover from Gabe that Brody was ''actually'' trying to protect her from the Penny Murderer, and her boyfriend had made him a fugitive and very nearly had him killed as a result of what's happened. First thing she does when she see him again was to tearfully apology for ultimately making things much worse for him for trying to save her life. Thankfully, Brody loves her way too much to hate her for it.]]

* HomelessHero: He's stuck in a one room flat in god knows where, and often takes to begging and odd jobs to make ends meet. [[spoiler: With Landon's help, he doesn't even have that by the end.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His stalking of Nicole (even if its for saving her life) not only gets him nowhere closer to the Penny Murderer, but draws the ire of her well connected mob boyfriend, making his job more difficult than it needed to be. [[spoiler: Attacking Landon for vandalising his room just makes things ten times worse than it was.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: While the Penny Murderer is the main concern of Brody and Talia's investigation, Landon ends up being the source of Brody's ''many'', many woes in the later volumes.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He and Nicole eventually believe Brody is stalking her. [[spoiler: After failing to heed his threats, he has Brody's flat vandalised, tries to have him straight up assassinated, and then sics the police on him explicitly to torture and execute him.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His stalking of Nicole not only gets him nowhere closer to the Penny Murderer, but draws the ire of her well connected boyfriend, making his job more difficult than it needed to be. [[spoiler: Attacking Landon for vandalising his room just makes things ten times worse than it was.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: From a depressed lazy bum to a Badass OccultDetective.

* HotBlooded: [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted.]] He's actually pretty chill for the most part and content with doing his own thing, but he can get fired up if under enough stress. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed,]] because most of his worst mistakes, in his love life, the Penny Murderer, and even just getting through the day stem from losing his temper at the worst possible moment. [[spoiler: His decision to confront Landon after he vandalised Brody's apartment is probably the biggest example.]]

* GrouchyOldMan: A curmudgeonly, wizened samurai out of Feudal Japan, stuck in the near future.

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