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Mayview Middle School students
Johnny's gang
Johnny
Johnny Jhonny
"Golfers are NOTORIOUSLY mortal."
A friendly bully who Max fights on his first day in Mayview.- Affably Evil: Schoolyard bully version. Greeted Max enthusiastically, carrying no hard feelings about the day before, then casually decided to beat him up. Another time he extorted Max for fifty cents, but gave him change for a dollar.
- Blood Knight: To say he enjoys violence is kind of an understatement. More like he is actively addicted to it.
- Blunt Metaphors Trauma: He has a tendency to mangle figures of speech.Johnny: Use yer brain, Stephen. Ya don't sell yer chickens before they hatch.Ollie: That's...You do...do that. It's a whole....it's a big thing.
- The Bully: Johnny is this trope cranked up until the knob snaps off. He's not even all that mean, it's just that beating people up is his base state of existence. At least a few times it's shown he needs to punch the crap out of things (or people) to keep from going crazy.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He considers golf cards and a grape to be a good source of income, because grapes might become wine someday and "golfers are notoriously mortal".
- Comically Missing the Point: After somehow having his ass handed to him by Ed in a miserable attempt to force information out of him, Johnny has an identity crisis and Ed tries to take advantage of it to make him change his ways. This results in Ed choosing a stock phrase and Johnny interprets it as he should be a bully.Johnny: I'm a bully, and that's okay.Ed: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh okay.
- Defeat Means Friendship:
- Inverted with Max. Johnny seems less hostile towards Max after kicking his butt.
- Seems to be playing straight with Ed so far as Ed hands Johnny his first ever defeat.
- He also finally gives Jeff some respect after the Hitball game, giving him a proper high-five as he's being dragged off to detention.
- Determinator: Once he's set on bullying someone, it's practically impossible to get him to stop.
- He searches for Max for so long in Chapter 1 that he misses his first period class and keeps pestering him until he obtains his fifty cents.
- He leads his gang through the woods for over two hours in Chapter 4 searching for Max and Isaac after they drive past him in Mr. Spender's car.
Ollie: We're lost, bro. We're tired, my tiny feet hurt, I don't think we're even IN Mayview anymore, Stephen's been dissolvin' social constructs for the last two hours...Let's just give up, yo. You really still think we gonna find those nerds??Ollie: That doesn't even make.... sense. - The Ditz: Exaggerated, like everything else about him. He's best described as "unhinged".
- Empowered Badass Normal: He's a good fighter and gets possessed by Forge.
- A Father to His Men: See how he comforts R.J.
and the rest of his gang. Note that he isn't slapping some sense into R.J., he's wiping their tears. - Fiery Redhead: Definitely the loudest and angriest member of his gang, though his hair is dyed.
- He's on a path to taking that trope literally after being possessed by a weakened Forge.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Parodied. He looks like he's slapping R.J., but he's wiping their tears.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He goes from smiling to trying to beat up Isaac within seconds of meeting him.
- Hidden Depths: He's actually fairly concerned over how other people see him after the hitball match, and wonders what he should be doing with himself.
- Insane Troll Logic: On a constant basis. May have something to do with repeated blows to his head. A shining example is when he and his gang are chasing the Activity Club's car, and lose track of them. Johnny reasons thusly: All roads lead to Rome. But they're not going to Rome. Therefore they must leave the road.
- Large Ham: "THE FRIENDSHIP FUSION IS NOT A LADDER, IT IS A UNION OF SOULS!!"
- Locked Out of the Loop: He ends up being a repeat witness to Max's encounters with the spirit world, but due to not being a spectral physically can't understand the context for any of it. Then he gets unwittingly possessed by Forge, and then he starts to break through after the hitball game.
- Pet the Dog:
- When his gang has a collective mental breakdown after seeing Max and co. "floating", Johnny wastes no time comforting his friends. He wipes the tears off of RJ's face, declares that they'll figure out what's going on, and resolves to take their minds off of the trauma by watching every R rated movie Stephen owns.
- Johnny also takes time during the hitball match to help Max stay calm after HiJeff's rant, even commending him for standing up to him in earlier chapters.
- Johnny also breaks free from being strung up just to give Jeff a respectful high-five after the Hitball ordeal.
- The Power of Friendship: Oddly for a bully, he continuously evokes this with his gang, up to and including the Friendship Fusion.
- Pronouncing My Name for You: His last name is pronounced "juh-hawney," though his teacher claims he said it right.
- Pungeon Master: Seems rather fond of wordplay.
- Repetitive Name: Borderline case. His last name is pronounced "juh-hawny".
Ollie
Ollie Oop
"What genre of story did we just walk into? Oh my god. Are we even important characters?"
The biggest and strongest member of Johnny's gang, he's also far more calm and collected than his boss.- Bald Head of Toughness: Makes him look more menacing. He later reveals he shaves his head in solidarity to his sister Allie undergoing chemotherapy.
- The Big Guy: Of Johnny's group.
- Deadpan Snarker: Shows shades of this, to his dad's chagrin.[after multiple kids burst out of the gym from behind Coach Oop]
Coach Oop: Jeez laWEEZ, what's the flipping rush??
Ollie: Seems they all gotta place they need t'be, pops. Generally a good location t'show up to. - The Heart: He keeps Johnny from beating people up too much. Unless he's telling Johnny to beat them up more.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: His perception of reality seems to have shattered (along with the rest of the group's) as of chapter 4.
- Only Sane Man:
- Not only is he the one who realizes they could clear the fence if Johnny would just let him throw him over, he is also incredulous when Johnny describes Isaac's powers.
- Before the group encounters the Activity Club on the Ghost Train (which looks to them like the group is floating in midair) he mentions that Johnny's been leading the group through the woods for over two hours, they're lost, Stephen's gone a bit out of it, all of them are tired and that his feet hurt, and advises that they give up the search as they're probably not going to find the nerds anyway.
- Punny Name: On "alley-oop."
- The Smart Guy: He's usually the only one to realize the best solution to their problems. Also, reality.
- Top-Heavy Guy: His torso is huge.
Stephen
Stephen
"Lizardmen!"
A member of Johnny's gang with a distinctive scar and a love for conspiracies. He's the main viewpoint character of Chapter 6.- Agent Mulder: Stephen wholeheartedly buys into Johnny's statement of Isaac shooting lightning, deduced that lizardmen were the culprits of a previous incident, and believes that local business owner Dave Jones is a vampire. Two of these are true.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: Stephen's mother is a cop, yet her son turned out a delinquent.
- Cop/Criminal Family: Stephen is a delinquent and his mother is a cop, which is a huge source of conflict between them.
- A Day in the Limelight: Stephen's adventure while he's suspended from school (and thus Chapter 5's events) is the main focus of Chapter 6, "Stephen and the Suspension of Disbelief".
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Played straight. He was on the scar with Davy being a vampire, though he is unaware his accusation is correct.
- Everyone Has Standards: He might bully people for fun with his friends, but animal abuse is crossing a line.Stephen: Beating up innocent people is fun and fine, but innocent animals...that I can't forgive!!
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a rather nasty-looking Evil Scar across his face. It's apparently genetic, as his mother and baby sibling have identical ones, and a background photo showcases another family member with the same scar.
- Hidden Depths: If his stunt of ripping off the tablecloth without disturbing anything beneath it is any indication, he's quite talented at stage magic. The electric guitar in his room also hints at musical ability.
- Lamarck Was Right: Has a scar across his face that's revealed to be hereditary. In real life, scars are a textbook example of traits that don't get passed on to offspring. It would make sense if it were a birthmark, but it's only ever referred to as a scar.
- Nightmare Face: Pulls off a fantastic one to Ritz in Chapter 6 after she claims that the animals she's literally kicking around should get real jobs and stop being layabouts.
- Number Two: Another implication from the first cast page, calling him Johnny's right-hand man. This role actually seems to have been taken on by Ollie, and the new page simply calls Stephen an "underling". He's still the most talkative minion.
- Tinfoil Hat: Wears one while Johnny is telling them about Isaac's powers.
R.J.
R.J.
"Do you think they were all Wonder Women? Invisible... invisible jets..."
A hoodie-wearing member of Johnny's gang. Has a hidden, sparkling mohawk.- Ambiguous Gender: For a while, their gender was a mystery, due to the face-concealing hoodie. They've since been confirmed as non-binary.
- Compressed Hair: How does it fit under that hood?
- Elective Mute: Has only spoken when alone with the gang. Johnny tells Ed that R.J. took a vow of silence after the concert and R.J. agrees. R.J. also recognizes comedic irony.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Lime green irises with concentric circles in them.
- The Faceless: Apart from the eyes and mouth, R.J.'s face is always hidden in the shadow of their hood, even if under direct light. Only when their hood was knocked off by a passing car did the shadow slip off, revealing the top of their head. In their background story the lower half of their face can be seen (they had freckles), though they still preferred wearing a hat and hoodie.
- Hidden Depths: After seeing Anarchyopteryx in concert, they desire to become a musician.
- In the Hood: It casts an all-concealing shadow across their face, even when the shape of their head is clearly visible.
- LGBT Awakening: According to Johnny, RJ began identifying as non-binary (specifically, neither a boy nor a girl) and going by they/them pronouns after learning about the topic from an informational zine at a concert.
- Undying Loyalty: The first line they speak in the comic is "We wouldn't ditch you, Johnny" in response to Johnny's claim that the crew could've just gone home instead of waiting up for him after detention. This becomes more impactful when RJ's backstory reveals that they only use their voice for things they consider truly metal.
Journalism club
Suzy
Suzy Starchman
"Oh, hush. We're not getting paid to tell the truth."
Student at Mayview Middle School and president of the (unofficial) Journalism Club. Rather bubbly, but constantly ignores school rules and doesn't really care. Hates the Activity Club because her attempt to make a report on all the clubs went incomplete because they refused to be interviewed.- Bad Boss: How Collin sees her, anyway.
- Berserk Button: Mentioning the Activity Club around her. When Max asks her about them, we get this reaction:Suzy: [crushing her milk carton] GOOD QUESTION!!
Collin: Pandora's Box, Max. You just ripped it in half. - Cheshire Cat Grin: Whenever she's excited. It's not a good sign.
- Establishing Character Moment: She's waiting at the school entrance on Max's first day to greet him as a journalist, having stolen his file from the principal's office so she could recognize him. Equally telling is the Alt Text on her intro page:Responsible adult originally meant to meet Max at entrance drugged, tied up, put in closet.
- Everyone Can See It: She repeatedly denies that she has a crush on Isabel in Chapter 8...all while blushing like a beet and having an Imagine Spot featuring Isabel surrounded by Bishie Sparkle.
- Extracurricular Enthusiast: Skirts between "intrepid student journalist" and "domestic terrorist" repeatedly.
- Genki Girl: All the time. Comes complete with bipolar mood swings and taking her work for the school newspaper very seriously. Her pupils are uncolored, giving her a (literally) bright-eyed look.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She has several stuffed animals on her bed.
- Large Ham: She has a lot of over-the-top reactions to things and is very expressive in general.
- Making a Spectacle of Yourself: Wears rose-colored glasses seemingly just for decoration.
- No Sense of Personal Space: The Rant on this page confirms that "Suzy has no qualms about reaching into other people's pockets" after she does just that with Max.
- Pet the Dog: During the Hitball game Hijack tries to attack Isabel, but is stopped when Suzy grabs his arm much to Suzy's shock. Commented on by Collin here, before Suzy ruins the moment.Collin: I'm just saying, it's nice to see that at least on some base instinctual level you can momentarily pass for a reasonable facsimile of a good pers—
- Pink Means Feminine: She's always wearing pink, and usually wearing girly styles of clothing.
- School Newspaper Newshound: The paper isn't very high-budget, but she's always on the scent for happenings to report.
- Sleep Mask: Has one with pink sunglasses on it.
- Withholding Their Name: Her last name is implied to be a secret. Lisa addresses her as "Miss…" and Suzy freezes up; then Lisa says "…Suzy," and Suzy breathes a sigh of relief.
- Eventually revealed to be to hide her relationship with her father, Mr. Starchman, who she thinks of as 'the world’s most mortifying jester of a man'
Collin
Collin Sloinne
"Is this going to end with you blowing up his house?"
Student at Mayview Middle School and member of the (unofficial) Journalism Club. He has a low tolerance for his boss's actions.- Beleaguered Assistant: To Suzy.
- Butt-Monkey: Whenever Suzy gets involved with something.
- Deadpan Snarker: To Suzy.
- Intrepid Reporter: Its implied he does take some pride in being a reporter and seeking out information... but its hampered by working for Suzy.
- Non-Standard Character Design: He's the only Pie-Eyed character.
- Shaped Like Itself: "Sloinne" is Irish for "surname".
Dimitri
Dimitri Danger
"This is going to end with her blowing up his house."
Student at Mayview Middle School and member of the (unofficial) Journalism Club. Too laid-back for life, Dimitri mostly appears in the background either sleeping or doing nothing in particular.- A Friend in Need: Deconstructed. Dimitri, to people that know him well, is (usually) a calm and collected kid who will always lend a hand. Unfortunately, that hand is given at the cost of his own personal feelings due to his inability to refuse.
- Alliterative Name: His initials are D.D.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Ordinarily he's fairly laid back and relaxed, but turns into a terror on the Hitball court. And despite being reluctant to fight Hijack, he threatens Max to not tell Suzy, though it does get played as a joke.
- Body Horror: When Hijack tries to punch him in the face, it deforms and moves out of the way of his fist, freaking both Hijack and Max out.
- Boring, but Practical: He utilizes spectral energy by shaping boxing gloves and pads, then using basic but powerful jabs.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Initially was mostly just someone for Suzy and Collin to play off of, but got increased focus in Chapter 5, culminating in the reveal that he's a Spectral and an ex-member of the Activity Club.
- Deadpan Snarker: His subdued demeanor means that his joking will likely be this.[Collin is setting up the radio]
Suzy: TURN IT ON, TURN IT ON!
Dimitri: Cut the green wire, Collin.
Collin: PLEASE BE QUIET, I NEED TO FOCUS!
Dimitri: Save us all. - Hidden Depths: Initially appeared to be a relatively lazy and relaxed student, he turned out to be very adept at Hitball, more durable than a normal kid would be, and is a spectral himself.
- In-Series Nickname: Suzy and Collin call him "Dee". Peekaboo calls him "Didi".
- Lazy Bum: His actions include greeting Max, sleeping, not paying attention in class, and sleeping.
- Made of Iron: He blocks a hitball from Hijack with a slight wince and nothing more. The balls thrown by Hijack are strong enough to leave a crater in bleachers and when Max gets hit by one, he's left in serious pain with a broken bone. This is explicitly called out and noticed by characters as being odd.
- The Mole: He sabotages Suzy's attempts to spy on the Activity Club, such as by unplugging the radio, leaving the recorder off, and just plain telling her the wrong information.Dimitri: [listening to the club talk about Hijack] Ok it's mostly static but I'm pretty sure I heard the words "burning" and "the governor" and "in effigy."
Suzy: [frantically writing] HOLY GOD - Obfuscating Stupidity: It's been suggested that he may know about spectrals, and possibly has been sabotaging the Journalism Club's efforts to learn about the Activity Club. Chapter 5 reveals that Dimitri used to be a member of the Activity Club itself.
- Powers via Possession: Due to being possessed by Peekaboo, Dimitri can utilize their powers himself.
- The Resenter: Downplayed. He privately admits to himself that he's jealous of Max for taking his place in the Activity Club, but he also clearly admires Max's ability to strategize during a battle.
- Retired Badass: He's revealed in chapter 5 to be a spectral and ex-Activity Club member, and can still hold his own against Hijack despite being out of practice.
- Sleepyhead: Dimitri sleeps. A lot. And when he's not, his perpetually bored expression and quiet, snarky demeanor give the impression that he wishes he still was.
- Smart People Play Chess: When he starts scheming in hitball, a chessboard appears over his head.
- Stepford Smiler: Is pretty goofy normally, but he's extremely aloof and detached about being a spectral.
- The Strategist: Fancies himself as able to read a Hitball court as well as Sima Yi. Whether or not he actually can is up for debate, but at the very least, he can do it better than the Student Council.
- Surrounded by Idiots: His plan to stop Hijack (through Max) goes off without a hitch, until the end when the other students don't realize they're supposed to rush the field.Dimitri: Tch. Pawns.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Thanks to Peekaboo, Dimitri possesses the ability to manipulate his body, allowing him to warp himself to evade blows or completely change his appearance. He can even form his body into objects such as a camera.
- Willing Channeler: Like Isaac, he's a medium. Unlike Isaac, Dimitri and his spirit Peekaboo can actually get along.
Other students
Jeff
Jeffavorite Flavors
"If only I had my blade..."
A student at Mayview Middle School. Rather excitable and friendly. Also a big nerd.- Demonic Possession: Gets possessed by Hijack in Chapter 5.
- Eyes Out of Sight: His hair covers his eyes.
- Keet: He's very excitable and can change emotions on the drop of a hat.
- Sudden Name Change: Retroactively. Jeff was originally short for "Jeffrey" before Zack decided that not naming him "Jeffavorite" was "an act of cowardice."
Cody
Cody Jones
"Wow, Jeff! Nice throw!"
One of Max's classmates at Mayview Middle School. Seemingly one of the few kids around who doesn't have some odd trait, other than an excessive tolerance for weirdness.- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Mayview's student council is this trope, and he's a member, though he claims to not be a part of the new black ops-esque regime. This is eventually revealed to be Metaphorically True. He's actually the President of said council.
- The Ace: Turns out he's really good at Hitball.Cody: Well, I have to go carry the team now.
- Ambiguously Human: In-Universe, even he was unclear on how "human" he counted as, being a Dhampyr born from an undead vampire and a then-mortal human, on top of missing his actual heart to boot. He expresses subdued relief at the bifurcated Hijack's ability to possess him, because it proves he counts as a living being, when he only had his Consummate Liar father's word on the matter otherwise.
- Animesque: Easily rivals Isaac in anime-ness during Chapter 5, giving Hot-Blooded speeches and dropping dramatic I Am Your Opponent lines during Hitball.
- Batman Gambit: His plan to Escape home to meet his missing mom. He is limited by the fact that he has to obey his father's orders, being his vampire sire, but has the loop of spirit posession not counting for that. But his father also has his heart and immediately would check if he senses it's starting to beat too fast to make sure he's not in danger. So, his plan is to ruin his father's biggest night in public so that he grounds him and orders him to stay in his room. Since Davy trusts his own word over anything else, he would not check if Cody's heart starts acting, since he'll assume he cannot leave his room.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He gets really into hitball, to the point of giving off anime villain/anti-hero vibes. Also tells his vampire father to let go of Hijack, because, direct quote, "He's mine to destroy, not yours."
- Blatant Lies: His cast description treats him as The Generic Guy. He's not. His father is a vampire, his mother was a vampire hunter who became a super-powerful werewolf, he's aware of spirits (though he's not a spectral himself), and he's secretly the Student Council President.
- Body Horror: Chapter 8 Page 46 reveals that Cody is quite literally heartless, since Davy Jones forcibly split his heart from the rest of his body and stored it in his own chest so that Cody couldn't be staked, effectively making him invincible.
- Cheerful Child: Tends to keep a smile even if the situation is tense (With a few exceptions).
- Chekhov's Gunman: Mostly a background character early on, before becoming a lot more prominent in Chapter 5, even being intricately tied into both the supernatural goings on in Mayview as well as the more mundane school plot.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander:
- While he initially appears to be the Only Sane Man, it turns out he's just as crazy as everyone else. Look at him chuckle in the face of insanity.
- His way of winning hangman◊ is to spell "Victory" with the unused letters.
- Or his reaction to Jeff throwing a ball at Max hard enough to take a head off.Cody: Wow, Jeff! Nice throw!
Everyone Else: READ THE MOOD!
- While he initially appears to be the Only Sane Man, it turns out he's just as crazy as everyone else. Look at him chuckle in the face of insanity
- Dhampyr: His dad is a vampire, while his mom is a human woman. Cody describes himself as fifty percent "monster", the catch-all term in Paranatural for humans that have become something more supernatural.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: A minor case - his eyes are a noticeably darker blue in early strips than the Icy Blue Eyes they appear as later on. This is presumably because Morrison intended to draw attention to them (and by extension, Cody's supernatural heritage) as a clue to his connection to Shrike — or as she's presently known, the West Hill Horror.
- Forced into Evil: Despite hating Hijack's guts and claiming to want to kill him personally, he's one of the people who understands that Hijack is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood and was going to let him go. Unfortunately, his father isn't taking prisoners, and orders Cody under vampire rules to do the deed.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Events late in Chapter 5 reveals that he's a Dhampyr.
- Icy Blue Eyes: His eyes are piercingly blue and seem to almost glow when he's serious. Considering that his father is a vampire, the glow may not just be stylistic.
- I Own This Town: Or in his case, Mayview Middle School, thanks to being the Student Council President. It's for well-intentioned reasons; specifically allowing Cody a place where his vampire dad doesn't have complete control over him.
- Nice Guy: An upbeat, friendly guy.
- Nonchalant Dodge: Avoids Johnny's hitball throws while casually stretching, yawning, and lying down with a book.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: His Cloud Cuckoolander behaviour covers up a surprising amount of knowledge and skill. Later events confirm that he's aware of spirits (his dad is a vampire, incidentally), and may be aware that Jeff's Out of Character behaviour is due to Hijack's influence, based on his desire to kill Hijack. A particularly hilarious example is when Cody is talking about the student council and explains that the reason no one knows who the Student Council President is is because it was a secret ballot, to which Max replies that's not how it works. Turns out, Cody is the President.
- La Résistance: Reveals himself to be a member of the student council before they became the Vice Principal's dogs and wants them to return to a normally-powered student council. Things get more complicated when it is revealed that he's the Student Council President.
- Loophole Abuse: He's not a spectral, so he can't see spirits. However, his Dhampyr vampiric abilities allow him to hear them, and he can use echolocation to perceive their rough location, with his vampiric reflexes allowing him to make up for his inability to fully perceive the target, as shown by Hijack.
- One-Hit Polykill: During the hitball game he takes out the Student Council operatives with one throw through absurdly precise ricochets.
- Shared Unusual Trait: He can speak in the same font that his father sometimes uses.
- Spock Speak: Briefly while confronting Stephen. Emphasizes his hall monitor-esque quality.
- Stepford Smiler: He has a tendency to smile over his own feelings in tense situations. When Max and Collin are arguing, he keeps up a conciliatory smile throughout, which cracks when Serge crashes in. When he's arguing with Violet, he has a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. When he meets Jeff again in the wake of the hitball incident, he's clearly upset at first, but quickly covers it up with a sunny smile, acting like nothing happened.Alt text: i keep my eyes in a U... so you can't see Me
- Straight Gay: He's kind of ditzy and adorably perky, but there's nothing "effeminate" or stereotypical about him. Chapter 5 hinted that he was gay when he blushed over the idea of a guy liking him, with
Word of God confirming it shortly afterward. - Superpower Lottery: As a dhampyr, he got all the benefits of being a vampire with almost none of the traditional weaknesses - he can go out in the sun, see his reflection, ingest garlic, enter places without being invited, ages normally, and doesn't need to drink blood. The only thing that could possibly get him is a stake to the heart, and even then Cody speculates that his father lied about that so he could justify taking his heart away.
Violet
Violet
"I need the stars..."
Student at Mayview Middle School. She's considerably more mature than the rest of her friends and tends to make smart remarks if they do something she considers stupid. Best friends with Lisa.- Deadpan Snarker: Does this whenever someone does something dumb.
- Drunk on Milk: Is shown to be visibly "drunk" on juice. Cody mentions that she has an addiction to sugary drinks, and Violet claims that she's "not addicted to anything," and just has "poor impulse control in general".
- Funny Background Event: When Coach Oop sees the wreckage caused during the Hitball game and demands to know who is responsible, everyone points to Jeff, but Violet can be seen glaring and pointing at Oop.
- Only Sane Man: She's the only one who sees Hitball as a game and is quick to try and get Coach Oop when things start to go off the rails. She's also the only one who blames Oop for the Hitball disaster, while everyone not in the Activity Club sees Jeff as the one to blame.
- This appears to be a double edged sword at times, since she's intelligent enough to recognize the strangeness hanging over the school but lacks the inside information to understand it. In strip 296 Lisa seems to both admire this quality but also worry that it will put Violet in danger if she asks the wrong questions. Unless, of course, she really was "Juuuuust kiddiiiiiiiinnnnngggg".
- Sweet Tooth: Violet drowns her worries about Jeff with multiple sugary confections at the School Store. Cody brings this up during their argument, claiming that she has an addiction to sugary drinks (which she clarifies as just bad impulse control in general).
Lisa
Lisa
"Incidentally, how much is your house worth?"
Student at Mayview Middle School. She's rather... eccentric, and has a large vocabulary that she attributes to Mr. Starchman's teaching. Knows all the goings-on at school. Best friends with Violet.- Ambiguously Human: She has the same pale complexion and Icy Blue Eyes as Cody, who's a confirmed Dhampyr. She also recognizes that Jeff is Not Himself during the hitball game and doesn't seem surprised by it at all, and a later talk with Violet likewise implies she's aware of some of Mayview's supernatural happenings.
- Axe-Crazy:
- She goes from being friendly to a teammate to threatening him with murder in a heartbeat when she gets hit with the switch.
- When Hijack tries to dodge the final barrage, she grabs him and forces him to take it.Lisa: Well since you're new here, some advice—you should be more careful in this school. There are some scary people here you really don't want to offend.
- The Bartender: She works the bar at the Student Store. Which is an old-fashioned saloon. Mayview, man.
- Comical Overreacting: During hitball, Lisa reacts to herself and others being hit by the Golden Switch, a ball that only makes kids to switch teams, as though they just sold their souls to the devil.After Max gets hit with the Golden SwitchCollin: Oh no...! I'm so sorry, Max, I-Lisa: Hush, Collin. That's not Max. Not anymore.
- Deal with the Devil: Apparently she has information that is useful for the school newspaper (at least when Suzy is looking to fill a story with something besides facts), but she's too clever to rely on.Suzy: If she knows we're relying on her info, she'll start asking for souls, Collin, and those are harder to harvest than Starchman Stars.
- The Dreaded: For the most part she's friendly with everyone, but her fellow students treat the concept of getting on her bad side, or owing her anything, with terror. And then there's her playing hitball.Lisa (switching teams): Make peace with your god, hotdog froth, for this is the day he dies.
- Exorcist Head: Turns her head 180 degrees to face a bar patron.
- Only in It for the Money: While she's the only one with the influence to stand up against the student council president, Cody notes that she's not exactly a key figure of the rebellion, since all she cares about is Starchman Stars.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Her main character trait. Lampshaded, even.
- Slasher Smile: During the hitball game, most of the kids look like they're ready to win. Lisa looks like she's ready to kill.
- Sweet Tooth: She makes some sort of extremely sugary drink - it looks like hot chocolate with whipped cream and syrup - while sitting at her desk in English class. It appears she just carries the ingredients around with her.
- Young Entrepreneur: Claims to be the one who turned the Student Store into a Bar/Café ("or Barfé, if you will"), charges by the sip, will allow you to pay to look at her confections, and uses wordplay to wring every last Starchman Star from her customers:Lisa (to Max): [N]ormally [an ice water] would be ~one Starchman Star ☆~ but for the big Hitball hero? It's on the house! Incidentally how much is your house worth?
Would you like to open a tab? (opens can of Tab) That's two stars.
Alex
Alex
"Oh my."
A classmate of Max. She claims to know about the Activity Club.- all lowercase letters: Speaks and writes like this.
- Alien Abduction: Claims she was to Max, and is apparently abducted again at the end of chapter 6.
- Bait-and-Switch: Her introduction heavily hints that she knows about spectrals and spirits, but it turns out she thinks the Activity Club is the Extraterrestrial Activity Club.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Was present when Max jumped through a bus, thus knows about it.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Her reasoning for the activity club being an alien hunting organization? The late-night secretive meetings, the shady government-employed leader, and the quirky-yet-charming person secretly being an alien. From her perspective, it makes perfect sense, but it's completely wrong.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: Is aware that her character design has changed since her first appearance, and is sure that the Activity Club are the main characters in some story.
- Forgettable Character: Parodied; she is in most of Max's classes and yet Max has absolutely no memory of her, despite apparently having had several conversations with her.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Says she doesn't always want to be in the background.
Serge
Serge
"Consider yourselves...DEPUTIZED."
One of the Student Councillors, and the one who takes charge during the hitball fiasco.- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: He's on it.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Does a cool display where he leaps into the air, kicks a ball out of another Councillor's hands, grabs it, does a front flip...and then just lands and throws it normally.
- Not So Above It All: After a dead serious attempt to recruit Max, he admits that a hypothetical team-up between Darth Vader and Han Solo "would be sick, though."
- Terse Talker: Talks like a middle school Rorschach.Serge: Student Jeffavorite Flavors to blame. Under surveillance since morning. Behaviour: atypical. Threat of rulebreaking: extremely high.
Mayview Middle School staff
Mr. Garcia
Jean Garcia
"Don't tell anybody. Please?"
Max's science teacher. A lethargic and tired-looking man.- Ambiguously Human: He got a gnarly scar from a "dog bite", and said that he'd be fine until the full moon, implying that he's a werewolf.
- Apathetic Teacher: Definitely gives off this vibe. This has been a trait of his for a long time, as when he was younger he worked as a camp councillor and was paid very little for his work due to the camp being technically considered a restaurant. As such, he didn't really care enough to go check for fire hazards when he was supposed to and just hung out instead.
- Badass Normal: Appears to be a non-spectral, but holds off Isaac's weather attacks with a juice box.
- The Comically Serious: We see him floating down a river for no reason with a deadpan look on his face and he later threatens a dog with a plastic sword he confiscated from Jeff.
- Crazy-Prepared: Has apparently set up several traps on the school grounds.
- Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: Young Garcia has constantly half-lidded eyes, giving him an apathetic look. Present day Garcia has this too to some extent, but less constantly.
- The Gadfly: He acts as this sometimes, particularly in his younger years. He once asked Isabelle about a scar of hers, showing one of his own. When she says she got it from a dog, he says he got his from a dog as well... which Spender admonishes him for joking about.
- Ham and Deadpan Duo: The Deadpan to Mr Spender's Ham.Spender: And is this, then, the curative poultice?
Garcia: It's spaghetti. What in the hell is a poultice. - Hunter of Monsters: Owns a crossbow and talks about how he'll be fine because "moon's not full just yet", implying that werewolves are also a thing in Mayview.
- Mr. Fanservice: After Art Evolution hit him.
- Noodle Incident: Suzy describes some incident involving him and "the entire pizza!" but we don't get to hear it.
- Odd Couple: The deadpan, perpetually exhausted Jean Garcia and the overly dramatic Rich Spender are very much in love.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: He's all but directly stated to be a werewolf. He was bitten by some kind of dog, which left a nasty scar and stares he'll be fine until the full moon, though Spender can supposedly use his powers to nullify this. Unlike Spectrals, he can only smell spirits rather than see or hear them
- Rousing Speech: Gives one to Isabel about scars. It's the first time anyone's called her tough, apparently.
- Secret-Keeper: Knows about the supernatural, probably because of his relationship with Spender; it's also confirmed that he has ties to the Cousinhood, although not particularly deep ones.
- Straight Gay: Is in a relationship with Mr. Spender. He doesn't display any overt signs of being this.
- Super-Senses: He can smell spirits. And only smell them.
Mr. Starchman
Mr. Starchman
"Gooooood... AFTERNOON!!! IT'STIMEFORENGLISHYESITIS"
Max's English teacher. He's... enthusiastic about teaching. Gives out Starchman Stars which can be redeemed for prizes.- Acrofatic: Rotund and almost impossibly agile.
- Big Fun: Maybe a little too fun.
- Cloudcuckoolander: In the running along with Max's dad and Ed.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: He manages to pin Johnny's shoelace to the floor with a Nurf dart with his back turned.
- Incoming Ham: His introduction.
- Insane Troll Logic: You're not supposed to say "Can I go to the bathroom?"... no, saying "May I go to the bathroom?" is not the right way either.
- Irony: He's the most outwardly bizarre teacher of Mayview Middle School, yet he turns out to be the only one without any sort of Dark Secret or ulterior motives.
- Large Ham: Twirls and shouts his way through Max's first class with him.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: Has this in common with Ed. Probably the reason why they're both so odd.
- Really 700 Years Old: Maybe? A massive crowd of pursuers claim they've been after his stars for "centuries", though it's more than likely hyperbole.
- Weird Currency: The students use his stars to trade among each other.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: He's the Wacky Parent to his daughter Suzy's Serious Child, much to her horror and embarrassment.
Ms. Baxter
Mary Rose Baxter
"Is there... something you want to talk about? I mean, not with me, but, like, with someone who'd want to talk to you."
Max's math teacher. Kind, but frazzled.- Beneath the Mask: As Isabel notes, she's a lot more of a slob without an audience, eating junk food and slouching in her chair. Even more in private, she's a devoted, gleeful, and kind of sadistic member of the Death Cult.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's plenty accommodating of Johnny when he arrives late, but she has an outburst when he and Max get into a scuffle. And that's not even getting into her true colors as Cat...
- Chekhov's Gag: This page gets a lot less funny when chapter 8 reveals that Ms. Baxter is a member of the death cult.Max's Dad: Because eleven is a prime number. That's a math thing, Zoey, look it up. Death cultists love math.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: A quarrel between Max and Johnny is enough to get her to scream "Be SYE-LENT!!"
- In Love with Love: Implied and Played for Laughs, as her dating profile simply lists "dating" for all her interests.
- Meaningful Background Event: Chapter 8 Page 35 has the poor woman subjected to yet more supernatural shenanigans, observing Max's conversation with Scrapdragon from the outside (aka, seeing a young child moving through the hair at Super-Speed and flying through walls) and being appropriately wordlessly freaked out by it. In her carrying bag can be seen a piece of black cloth with something spiky poking out the side of the bag, implied to be the skull mask and cloaks worn by Mayview's secret death cult - and sure enough, Page 42 reveals that she's indeed a member.
Coach Oop
Coach Oop
"It's time for Hitball!"
Max's gym teacher and Ollie's father.- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Gets his son, Ollie, to assist him in demonstrating the rules of "hitball", calling him "my baby boy" in front of the other students. Ollie doesn't exactly look happy to be there.
- Exact Words: Responded to the school district banning dodgeball by having the students play "hitball" instead.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: His whistle is actually his Tool, but it's never suspected of being such because, as a school gym coach, he's practically expected to have one.
- Large Ham: He's definitely a loud man, and most of his lines are shouted.
- Top-Heavy Guy: To a lesser extent than his son, but his legs are still pretty tiny.
Principal Pleezdoo
Principal Pleezdoo
"Um... okay..."
The principal of Mayview Middle School, she is a small African-American woman who is constantly bowled over by the Vice Principal.- Expy: Her base design is very similar to Madame Foster from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
- Horrible Judge of Character: She goes along with everything the Vice Principal says. While she seems to understand that it might not all be completely accurate, she still gets swept along with it.
- Punny Name: It's a spin on "Please Do", befitting her Extreme Doormat nature towards the Vice Principal.
- Puppet King: The Vice Principal makes a few token concessions to her, but mostly does whatever she wants.
Vice Principal
Vice Principal Devilora Demonelle DuNacht
"What-ho fellow youths!"
The vice principal of Mayview Middle School, and the power behind the throne. She swears to punish the person who jumped through a moving bus (Max) before his "virus" can "infect" the rest of the student body.- Ain't No Rule: She lives to avert and subvert this trope. As far as she's concerned, there always is a rule, causing her to pursue bizarre infractions like jumping through a bus.
- Ambiguously Human:
- Dave and Patchworm refer to her as "the Witch", Dave thinks it would be bad if she "got her legs on" Hijack, she is associated with spiders, and she seems to know about spirits. Chapter 8 confirms the latter fact, and demonstrates that either she or something on her person is able to absorb Spectral energy.
- Mina claims that "the Witch" is fear itself.
- Enhance Button: Parodied. She tells the principal she's going to enhance the image... and then opens up a window of MS Paint where she's crudely redrawn the picture to be more offensive.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She claims her name is Vice Principal, and ignores the principal's attempts to correct her.
- Expy: Seems to be one to Ms. Bitters from Invader Zim.
- Fangs Are Evil: She is villainous and her teeth sometimes appear to be pointed.
- Felony Misdemeanor: As she's telling Hijack various ways he could end up taken to the principal's office (wearing normal clothes on pajama day, injuring a fellow student), she is horrified to realize that she's just giving him ideas.Vice Principal: I swear to various lesser demons, if you wear normal clothes on pajama day I will hunt you down.
- Gag Nose: Her nose stretches down to her (also very long) chin before ending in a big circle with nostrils. She even uses it as the head of her Paper-Thin Disguise as a student.
- Lean and Mean: Tall, skinny, and delights in handing out detentions.
- The Man Behind the Man: She's clearly the one in charge of the school, as she has the principal completely cowed.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: She is some kind of villain, and she has a blatantly villainous name to match: her first name is Devilora, her middle name Demonelle, and her last name "DuNacht" ("nacht" is German for "night"). Doesn't get any more ominous.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Even in a world of spirits, ghosts, and who knows what else, her design is weird. Tall and skinny as a flagpole, thin slits for eyes, and a really broad mouth filled with too many teeth.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She's noticeably more stoic and less overtly malevolent when she spots Dr. Zarei on student grounds. She simply stares at her and quietly instructs her latest victims to "come along." Whether that's because she recognizes Zarei from her mysterious past as The Witch or if she's just playing a role around an adult is unclear.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: She hides among the students by covering with a military camouflage quilt that doesn't cover her completely and uses an obvious marionette that doesn't even touch the ground. And the marionette's head happens to be her nose.Student: I think it's cool that he levitates!
- Punny Name: "Do not", a direct mirror to the Principal's, referencing her overly obsessive Felony Misdemeanor tendencies.
- Totally Radical: Speaks like this when disguised as a child.Normal Child: Dag, sons! Those BARNHOUNDS are wiggity wiggity worse than homework! Let's show them our pep, fellow youths!
