History Characters / GunnerkriggCourtParentsAndCourtStaff

* EldritchAbomination: They may be friendly, but they still look like something out of [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft's]] sketchbook. Notably a portion of Linday's brain functions in a different dimension. That's not getting into what their etheric forms look like.

* TheAce: She's both medium (Annie's vocation) ''instructor'' "among other things" and embodiment of some sort of perfection with "SeenItAll" undercurrent. The only two limitations mentioned are her inability to use a blinker stone and her abnormal density preventing her from swimming.

* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: [[spoiler: Is probably the oldest being in the Gunnerkrigg Universe, especially if Coyote's theory is true. Throughout all this time her appearance has never changed]].
* InexplicablyAwesome: So inexplicable that [[spoiler: Jones herself doesn't know what she is]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: As revealed in ch. 40, Jones is old, [[spoiler: '''immensely''' so (see TimeAbyss below)]], but her appearance hasn't changed, only her clothes and hair to keep up with the times...and her name. [[spoiler: She took the name "Jones" during one of the World Wars. Which one isn't clear]].

* SuperStrength: She breaks through a stone wall with no difficulty in ''Spring Heeled'' and has stated that the measuring equipment available to the Court, which is a place of superscience, can't determine her strength, and that the only material on this planet she can't "manipulate like wet clay" is... her own flesh.

* TheUnreveal: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]]. Ysengrin explained to Annie what Jones was over the summer break she stayed in the Woods, but the details aren't revealed to the reader. Reynardine comments that she's "interesting company." Chapter 40 is a long reveal of what Jones is...until [[spoiler:Jones says that she doesn't know what she is]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:His return in Chapter 51]] is made especially jarring by his failure to explain what the hell he's actually doing, even to his closest friend and confidant. When the explanation finally comes in ch. 53, it becomes even clearer that he's his own worst enemy in this respect: [[spoiler:He [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1549 tells]] Donald that he was [[searching for the psychopomps, and put himself through hell in order to do so...but if his communication skills with his wife and daughter were better, ''he could just have asked Annie to have a word.'']]

* AmbiguousDisorder: He legitimately has extreme difficulty understanding people. When he was younger a potential romantic situation threw him into extreme emotional turmoil for weeks, and even as an adult he still is by and large stoic. One might compare him to a robot if not for the fact that the Court's resident robots [[InsultToRocks display a fair amount of emotional variety]]. The flashback chapter "Get Lost" shows that when he's in the field and away from the Court's physical presence, his temperament relaxes considerably. He explains that he can't be himself when he's around more than one person.

* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: When Coyote comes to the Court to [[spoiler:demand Annie's return to the Forest and goes so far as to knock over a building in his temper, Tony not only refuses but uses Coyote's actions as a reason not to. However, it appears that he ultimately relents to Coyote's demand.]]

* JerkassFacade: It's unknown how much of the coldness he has shown his daughter is genuine and how much is an act but it is clear that he is playing up how much of a {{Jerkass}} he really is to hide something from the people around him. He lets it slip a little around Donald where he shows guilt over Surma's death and especially the impact it had on Antimony.

** Another problem Tony faces is his tendency to immediately clam up when in the presence of anyone but a ''very'' select group of people. [[spoiler: Kat hated his guts before spending some time alone with him and afterwards Annie finds the two of them laughing together. But since Annie was now there, Tony immediately shuts down and curtly departs.]]

* MagicVersusScience: He sought a scientific explanation for why Surma died after Antimony was born, unwilling to accept the established magical one. However, [[spoiler:in ch. 53, after failing to get results his way, he starts looking into magical means. He eventually contacts what he thinks are psychopomps and makes a deal to sacrifice his right hand to create an etheric "antenna" to reach Surma on the other side. However he is clearly out of his depth, and nearly gets himself ''and'' his daughter killed]].

** And then he [[spoiler: almost killed Annie because he wanted to see Surma again during "Divine" (when he realized what he did he wished he could die) then lashed out at her in "The Tree" because he was unprepared for her resemblance to Surma]].

* NonStandardCharacterDesign: His face his drawn in a more detailed and realistic style than the other characters [[spoiler:upon his return in the Court as a teacher]], apparently to show old facial injuries and unhealthy weight loss. It gives him an imposing and intimidating figure, and Donny and Anja are both shocked at how weathered he looks.
* NoSocialSkills: In his school days, he magnified things like taking a girl to a movie into arduous ordeals. [[spoiler: After his return, he [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1524 smothers the conversation like a lead blanket]].]] "Get Lost" provides a good look as his problem communicating when he tells Donnie to stay with Anja in the wake of a death in the family instead of going on their planned expedition and he's clearly trying to help console Anja but he also bluntly says said expedition will have to be canceled as a result, driving Anja to tears again. He flat out told Surma that he can't open up when he's faced with more than one person.

** To Reynardine: Both did misguided things [[LoveMakesYouStupid out of]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil love for Surma]], with terrible consequences: Rey killed an innocent man to be with her; Anthony [[spoiler: refused to accept that Surma's "condition" couldn't be cured with muggle science and even after researching the supernatural looking for answers he was still so ignorant about what actually happened to Surma's spirit that he almost killed Annie by dragging her fire-elemental half (what the aether identified as Surma) out of her]]. They're also both unwilling "captives" of the Court but are willing to stay out of [[LoveRedeems love for Annie]].

* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: [[spoiler: Stronger than anything else ''on earth''. Including Gods]].

* ThereWasADoor: [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1015 Donaldl can generate]] a magical "portable door" on top of an existing door.

* AmbiguousDisorder: He legitimately has extreme difficulty understanding people. When he was younger a potential romantic situation threw him into extreme emotional turmoil for weeks, and even as an adult he still is by and large stoic. One might compare him to a robot if not for the fact that the Court's resident robots display a fair amount of emotional variety. The flashback chapter "Get Lost" shows that when he's in the field and away from the Court's physical presence, his temperament relaxes considerably. He explains that he can't be himself when he's around more than one person.

* NotSoDifferent: To Reynardine: Both did misguided things [[LoveMakesYouStupid out of]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil love for Surma]], with terrible consequences: Rey killed an innocent man to be with her; Anthony [[spoiler: refused to accept that Surma's "condition" couldn't be cured with muggle science and even after researching the supernatural looking for answers he was still so ignorant about what actually happened to Surma's spirit that he almost killed Annie by dragging her fire-elemental half (what the aether identified as Surma) out of her]]. They're also both unwilling "captives" of the Court but are willing to stay out of [[LoveRedeems love for Annie]].
** Also to Annie. TheStoic who nevertheless feels quite strong emotions behind their emotionless face and dislikes relying on others? Lampshaded by Tom.

* MagicVersusScience: He sought a scientific explanation for why Surma died after Antimony was born, unwilling to accept the established magical one. However, [[spoiler:in ch. 53, after failing to get results his way, he starts looking into magical means. He eventually contacts what he thinks are psychopomps and makes a deal to sacrifice his right hand to create an etheric "antenna" to reach Surma on the other side]].

* BizarreSexualDimorphism: Lindsey is a giant house-sized crab. Her husband Bud can fit in an normal-sized bucket. Apparently they're also a bit different personality-wise: He seems more fun-loving while she's a somewhat serious [=PhD=].

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Implied to be the reason why she [[LoveTriangle married Anthony instead of Eglamore]] after BreakingTheFellowship. She even tells Anja that the reason she volunteered to take Donny's place on the expedition with Tony to Brazil is because with them and Eglamore being away, she didn't want to be left alone.

* ExtremeDoormat: To the Court and to Surma. He's tried to escape from the Court before, but they leveraged Annie against him and if he doesn't cow to their demands, he risked her expulsion. [[spoiler:He initially disagreed with Surma's decision to go into hiding from the Court and felt awful that they're betraying Eglamore, but he ultimately listened to her.]]

* ParentsAsPeople: The revelations of chapter 53 firmly put him in this category, revealing him as [[spoiler: a deeply flawed individual who's simultaneously made extremely poor decisions and had some extremely poor luck and believes he doesn't deserve to be in Annie's life as a result of his choices. He'd rather [[DeathSeeker die]], but has been forced back to the Court by higher powers.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Details about the past imply that Surma wasn't the beacon of light that her friends constantly describe her as. She is mentioned to have been something of a rule breaker who was able to avoid being caught, actively manipulated Renard into falling in love with her so the Court could capture him, and was said to dislike Jones, someone even her AdultsAreUseless minded daughter actually trusts. [[spoiler:She cheated on Eglamore with Tony.]]

* TraumaButton: Annie wearing a lot of makeup sets him off, not because he thinks it's delinquent... [[spoiler:[[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1893 all that makeup reminds him of Surma.]] Ironically, he demands for Annie to remove hers, while in the past, it upset him when Surma wasn't wearing hers.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Details about the past imply that Surma wasn't the beacon of light that her friends constantly describe her as. She is mentioned to have been something of a rule breaker who was able to avoid being caught, actively manipulated Renard into falling in love with her so the Court could capture him, and was said to dislike Jones, someone even her AdultsAreUseless minded daughter actually trusts.

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler:She [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1898 kissed Tony]] while still with Eglamore. Tony, for his part, didn't seem to realize what was happening until she literally sat in his lap.]]

* NoSocialSkills: In his school days, he magnified things like taking a girl to a movie into arduous ordeals. [[spoiler: After his return, he [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1524 smothers the conversation like a lead blanket]].]] "Get Lost" provides a good look as his problem communicating when he tells Donnie to stay with Anja in the wake of a death in the family instead of going on their planned expedition and he's clearly trying to help console Anja but he also bluntly says said expedition will have to be canceled as a result, driving Anja to tears again.

* AmbiguousDisorder: He legitimately has extreme difficulty understanding people. When he was younger a potential romantic situation threw him into extreme emotional turmoil for weeks, and even as an adult he still is by and large stoic. One might compare him to a robot if not for the fact that the Court's resident robots display a fair amount of emotional variety. The flashback chapter "Get Lost" shows that when he's in the field and away from the Court's physical presence, his temperament relaxes considerably.

* NoodleIncident: James ''really'' dislike Anthony. What event(s) led to this dislike has not been discussed.

* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Lindsay has 47 eyes and 15 "not-eyes".

* TraumaButton: Annie wearing a lot of makeup sets him off, not because he thinks it's delinquent... [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1893 all that makeup reminds him of Surma.]] Ironically, he demands for Annie to remove hers, while in the past, it upset him when Surma wasn't wearing hers.

* TraumaButton: Annie wearing a lot of makeup sets him off, not because he thinks it's delinquent... [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1893 all that makeup reminds him of Surma.]] Ironically, he demands for Annie to remove hers, while in the past, it upset him when Surma doesn't wear hers.

* TraumaButton: Annie wearing a lot of makeup sets him off, not because he thinks it's delinquent... [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1893 all that makeup reminds him of Surma.]]

* NoSocialSkills: In his school days, he magnified things like taking a girl to a movie into arduous ordeals. [[spoiler: After his return, he [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1524 smothers the conversation like a lead blanket]].]]

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Implied to be the reason why she [[LoveTriangle married Anthony instead of Eglamore]] after BreakingTheFellowship.