History Characters / EdgarAllanPoesMurderMysteryDinnerParty

--> '''Portrayed by''': Sean Persaud
* BerserkButton: After [[spoiler: Annabel's death, he finally loses it when Eddie casually gloats about killing her.]]
* CaptainObvious: After Agatha Christie literally drops in [[spoiler: with a knife and several stabbing wounds in her back]], Edgar takes a few seconds and comes to the following conclusion:

* ColdHam: Stoic, constantly frowning and usually talking in a very low voice. Yet, he does have an affinity for melancholic dramatics.
* TheComicallySerious: Along with Mary Shelley, he's always the most funny when he's completely serious.The times he does try to be funny it doesn't work.
* CrazyPrepared: Edgar's house is ''very'' well-equipped just in case anyone wants to commit a murder there, complete with a vault for storing bodies. This [[WhatWereYouThinking turns out to be a problem]], including when he's trying to [[NotHelpingYourCase argue his innocence]]. He even always carries a vest full of candles just in case of a seance.

* DarkIsEvil: Subverted and played with, the murderer plans on using this trope to blame Edgar for the murders. Edgar himself thinks that no one would belive that. Everyone disagrees with him.

* EurekaMoment: After Oscar jokingly states that [[spoiler: Emily]] was "crushed by the feather of loneliness" he realizes that the authors are killed off in a manner which befits their writing.
* {{Foil}}: To Ernest Hemingway. Poe is stoic and dislikes smoking while Hemingway is loud, boisterous, TheAlcoholic and a heavy smoker. Both have an interest in Annabel; Poe is deeply in love but unsure about Annabel's feelings towards him, Hemingway on the other hand is very confident about himself and misses every subtle sign that Annabel is not interested in him.
* ImplausibleDeniability: Several times, including denying writing down what [[spoiler: Eddie]] said about being mad, despite having just done that five minutes earlier.

-->'''Edgar''': I don't need to act things out in order to write them. I have what we like to call an imagination. Have you ever heard of that? Oh-no-no-no-no-no, please tell us more about [[Literature/TheOldManAndTheSea The Old Man...]] [[TakeThat and the Boat!]]
* LonersAreFreaks: This party is the first attempt at social interaction Poe has had in a while.

* NotHelpingYourCase: Poe claims that he can't be the murderer, because he wouldn't have done it in room full of people he invited. Fair enough. ''Then'' he proceeds to explain in great detail how he would have done it, before realizing how incriminating that sounds. ''And then'' states that this [[DiggingYourselfDeeper was just one idea he had]].

* AdaptationalJerkass: This Lenore isn't a bad person at heart, but she's certainly much more immature, callous and mean than the saintly TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth subject of the poem. A deliberate contrast with her best friend Annabel Lee, who is every bit the saint that the character in her namesake poem is.

* TheFashionista: According to her mother, Lenore was into fashion the moment she came out of her womb, and is rather condescending about Louisa Alcott's (admittedly ugly) dress.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: It ''is'' very well hidden behind a ton of snark, eyerolls and her constantly uncaring attitude, but she has a soft spot for Guy de Vere, H.G. Wells, Annabel, Poe, and maybe even [[OddFriendship Oscar.]]

* CreepyCrows: Has a whole room in his house for these. Although they're actually [[Literature/The Raven ravens]].

* {{Foil}}: To Ernest Hemingway. Poe is stoic and dislikes smoking while Hemingway is loud and boisterous, TheAlcoholic and a heavy smoker. Both have an interest in Annabel; Poe is deeply in love but unsure about Annabel's feelings towards him, Hemingway on the other hand is very confident about himself and misses every subtle sign that Annabel is not interested in him.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: Poe finds himself accused of that more than once. In all fairness, he didn't look too unhappy when Annabel said Eddie wasn't breathing.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: It ''is'' very well hidden behind a ton of snark, eyerolls and her constantly uncaring attitude, but she has a soft spot for Guy de Vere, H.G. Wells, Annabel and Poe. Maybe even [[OddFriendship Oscar.]]

* OnlySaneWoman: As she's the most levelheaded (read: unable to give shit about anything), she developes into this role.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: This show clarifies the extent of Lenore's powers from the earlier Socially Awkward Poe sketches -- she can interact with the world like a living person when she's concentrating, is otherwise a visible and audible but incorporeal presence, and can't do any ghost tricks like flying or teleporting because she hasn't been dead long enough to learn them. I.e. she's just powerful enough to be a suspect in the murders without [[StoryBreakerPower being so powerful]] that she could trivially stop the murderer.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Claims to be that after an epically stupid moment from constabled Jim and Jimmy. She has a point.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: With the exception of Annabel Lee and her plus one, the authors are rather quirky and eccentric. They are famous for a reason, though.

* FakeNationality: [[spoiler: Eddie uses the name "Eduardo Dantes" to mislead people -- including his girlfriend Annabel -- that he's a globetrotting European, when really he's a Baltimore local, just like Lenore, Krishanti and his brother Guy. Just as Dantes in Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo was a Frenchman pretending to be English, this Dantes is pretending to be French to hide his English ancestry -- specifically that he's a descendant of the Earl of Oxford who wrote Shakespeare's plays.]]

* IdenticalGrandson: [[spoiler: Eddie is actually Edward de Vere VI, the descendant of the original Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, from whom Creator/WilliamShakespeare stole his plays, and still bears his ancestor's chip on his shoulder against [[SinsOfOurFathers the entire English-speaking literary community]] centuries later.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: By his own admission, he [[spoiler: courted Annabel for the sole purpose of bringing the authors together, so he could kill them off]].

* GrowingASpine: After being ignored too long, Emily finally stands up for herself to help Krishanti find the sage for the seance. It's a small moment, but rather satisfying none the less.

* NiceGirl: Despite her treatment she is very nice and forgiving. She mentions that she wrote Eddie Dantes a few ''strongly worded poems''. That's about as mean as she got.

* TheAlcoholic: He's constantly seen drinking and regulary produces alcoholic beverages out of HammerSpace.

** To Oscar Wilde. Ernest a rough BoisterousBruiser who never misses a chance for action, while Oscar is more of a foppish NonActionGuy who ScreamsLikeALittleGirl. Ironically enough during the climax [[spoiler: Ernest, being drunk out of his mind gets easily defeated by Eddie, while Oscar, after taking a beating, ''does'' manage to take out the Brontë sisters out]]. Oscar also is a GentlemanSnarker prone to longwinded speeches, while Hemingway's catchphrase is "Get to the point!".

* LargeHam: His actor being Joey Richter, this is a given. He accidently knocks out Wells with his arm while pointing accusingly at Poe.
* RatedMForManly: His very first scene has him bringing a knife instead of a dish, so they can skewer a wild boar in the backyard and roast it over an open flame. ''Only'' and open flame.

* GranolaGirl: Downplayed but still there. She shows up with twigs and leaves in her hair for some reason, and her contribution to the potluck is some random weeds she picked off the side of the road. Her next birthday party is tree-themed, everybody has to come as their favorite tree.

* CampGay: Oscar is decidedly flamboyant in his mannerisms and also TheDandy.

* {{Foil}}: To Ernest Hemingway. Ernest a rough BoisterousBruiser who never misses a chance for action, while Oscar is more of a foppish NonActionGuy who ScreamsLikeALittleGirl. Ironically enough during the climax [[spoiler: Ernest, being drunk out of his mind gets easily defeated by Eddie, while Oscar, after taking a beating, ''does'' manage to take out the Brontë sisters out]]. Oscar also is a GentlemanSnarker prone to longwinded speeches, while Hemingway's catchphrase is "Get to the point!".

* GentlemanSnarker: As the situation grows more tense Wilde is becoming increasingly snarky, espescially towards Hemingway.

* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Implied. Oscar seems honestly distraught that [[spoiler: Eddie was drunk when they spend the night together and didn't take kindly to being rebuffed without an explanation]], and apparently Anton Chekhov cheated on him with Charlotte and [[spoiler: Anne Brontë]].

* OddFriendship: Of sorts with Lenore. They both are very into fashion and constantly high-fiving each other after a snarky remark, but have no qualms accusing eacht other with murder. Also with George Eliot, though it's YMMV as to how far that's friendship.

* SpurnedIntoSuicide: The character poster shows him tying a noose around his own neck.

* PaperThinDisguise: Thinks that wearing mans clothes, a fake moustache and a ponytail will have everyone believe she is a man.

* ForcedIntoEvil: [[spoiler: It was Anne who killed Jane Austen, not her, and she could've gone to the police... But instead she stays loyal to her family and becomes SiblingsInCrime with Anne. It helps that she was always the kind of person to whom EvilFeelsGood.]]

--> '''Brontë''': I'm not staying her with the crying cupcake and Miss Havisham!

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Charlottes reaction, after being paired with Dostoevsky to search for clues.

* CloudCuckooLander: Wells is socially awkward, always wears a pair of goggles (to a suit, no less) and is always seen inventing something, no one except him believes in.

* StuckInTheirShadow: No one really remembers she existed until Charlotte brought her up, or has apparently read her book Literature/TheTenantOfWildfellHall when she introduces herself. Even Charlotte earlier mentioning Emily's death seems like a bit of misdirection to make people forget there was a third, less famous Brontë sister.

* NiceGirl: Quite lovely and well intentioned, or as Anne called her "Goody Two-Shoes".

* CreepyCrows: Has a whole room in his house for these.

* InstantMessengerPigeon: Uses ravens to communicate this way. Both.a MythologyGag about the poem "The Raven" and a literal mythology gag (the Norse god Odin used ravens this way).

** A ManInWhite in casual outdoor clothes while Edgar is a Man In Black who's always in a formal suit.

** A ManUnWhite in casual outdoor clothes while Edgar is a Man In Black who's always in a formal suit.

** A in casual outdoor clothes while Edgar is a ManInBlack who's always in a formal suit.

* OnlyOneName: No surname, even on her formal place setting.

** A ManInWhite in casual outdoor clothes while Edgar is a ManInBlack who's always in a formal suit.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: In this universe Poe apparently wrote both "Lenore" and "The Raven" based on the story of the real Lenore's death, because he thinks she reminds him of his own "creepy child bride" and her untimely death. (She does not appreciate this gesture.) The poem "Annabel Lee" is apparently also creepy RealPersonFic about the real Annabel.
** This show also establishes that he really does have the cellar described in "Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado" and is obsessed with [[Literature/TheRaven ravens]]. And eventually Poe not only steals the first lines of "Literature/TheTellTaleHeart" from [[spoiler: Dantes']] MotiveRant but bases the whole story on how he [[spoiler: hid Dantes' body after killing him to avoid going to trial.]]
** The J.M. Barrie Prologue demonstrates Poe CannotTellFictionFromReality and wrote all his famous stories based on things that happened to him, despite his attempt later on to defend himself to Hemingway that [[BlatantLies his morbid writings have nothing to do with his personality]].

[[spoiler: * SmugSnake: Even before she grabs the VillainBall in the ending, she repeatedly gets herself in trouble talking more than she should, usually because she can't resist bragging about herself and her family or insulting the other guests]].

* WomanInWhite: A lady ghost who died shortly before her wedding in her wedding dress.

* SmugSnake: Even before she grabs the VillainBall in the ending, she repeatedly gets herself in trouble talking more than she should, usually because she can't resist bragging about herself and her family or insulting the other guests.

* CreditsGag: The closing credits of the show have "The Microwave" listed as a credited character, thanks to a single [[AnachronismStew wildly anachronistic joke]] where Poe's microwave plays a recording saying "Your popcorn is ready" after [[spoiler: Oscar Wilde uses it to electrocute the Brontës]]. This is the BrickJoke punchline to a bonus feature showing the ''entire cast and crew'' of the show putting enormous effort into auditioning for this role, only for all of them to be rejected, and for The Microwave to eventually be played by a totally separate name actress (Rachel [=DiPillo=] from Series/JaneTheVirgin).

[[folder:Anne Brontë]]

* EvilRedhead: A {{Foil}} for her [[HeroesWantRedheads heroic redhead]] counterpart Annabel Lee, one of the nastiest and most selfish people in the cast. [[spoiler: And one of the murderers, to boot.]] Notably an AdaptationalDyeJob -- the real Charlotte Brontë was a brunette who was always jealous of her sister Anne's auburn (their hair colors are reversed in this show).

-->''Edgar'': I think we can all agree that the most innocent person here is the beautiful and innocent Annabel Lee, and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment also she's the most beautiful]].

-->''Edgar'': I don't need to act things out in order to write them. I have what we like to call an imagination. Have you ever heard of that? Oh-no-no-no-no-no, please tell us more about [[Literature/TheOldManAndTheSea The Old Man...]] [[TakeThat and the Boat!]]

-->'''Edgar''': There, there -- ''(Jimmy flinches away)''

* TheSuffragette: Mary Ann's decision to fully embrace the male persona of her stage name seems less because she actually wants to be a man (hence her constant slip-ups about how much she likes dresses) and more a desire for political equality, like the real George Eliot.

* CreditsGag: The closing credits of the show have "The Microwave" listed as a credited character, thanks to a single [[AnachronismStew wildly anachronistic joke]] where Poe's microwave plays a recording saying "Your popcorn is ready" after [[spoiler: Oscar Wilde uses it to electrocute the Brontës]]. This is the BrickJoke punchline to a bonus feature showing the ''entire cast and crew'' of the show putting enormous effort into auditioning for this role, only for all of them to be rejected, and for The Microwave to eventually be played by a totally separate name actress (Rachel DiLillo from Series/JaneTheVirgin).

-->'''Portrayed by''': Rachel DiPillo