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The Amazing Karnak
Zodiac: n/a
Catchphrase: "Your lucky number is seven. You will soar to great heights. Be sure to ride the Cyclone."
Our Interactive Narrator, Karnak is an advanced precognition machine whose proclivity towards predicting the deaths of carnival guests caused his owners to set him permanently in Family Fun Mode. This had dire consequences.
- The Atoner: The musical is his attempt to help the children in death in a way he couldn't in life.
- The Chessmaster: Karnak, by virtue of his fortune-telling ability, knows what will happen, and manipulates the characters so they turn out that way. Downplayed, since in life he was set in "Family Fun Mode", unable to do anything.
- Face Death with Dignity: He's come to terms with the fact that his time is running out, presumably because he's always known how things would end for him. When it's finally time for him to go, he shows no fear.
- Foreseeing My Death: Along with being able to predict the exact time, place, and cause of death of all his customers, The Amazing Karnak is also able to predict his own demise. At the start of the show he tells the audience he's got a little more than an hour before a rat chews through his power cable.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: Karnak's in-universe psychic powers allow him to serve as both a character in and the self-aware narrator of the show.
- Interactive Narrator: Karnak, whose precognition and apparent fourth wall awareness enables him to put on the show (which he refers to as "tonight's entertainment"), directly address the audience, narrate the children's lives and the events of their deaths, and script the events of the story, all while interacting with the cast as a character in his own right trying to help the children in death in a way he couldn't when they lived.
- My God, What Have I Done?: It's not focused on much, but he clearly feels awful that he sent the children to their deaths by telling them to ride the Cyclone rather than warn them of the accident. He was set in Family Fun mode by the carnival, so it wasn't his fault, but his monologue at the beginning of the show implies he feels personally responsible.
- Parting-Words Regret: Karnak's last words to the children in life were instructions to ride the Cyclone roller coaster that he knew would kill them. As he was stuck on Family Fun Mode, he couldn't warn them. This is what motivates him to create the musical—an apology by way of eulogy.
- Trickster Mentor: To most of the children to some extent, but especially to Ocean. Most of his mischief and trolling at their expense is implied to be calculated, using his precognition to foresee how and when to provoke the children into opening up about themselves so they can best come to terms with what's happened to them.
Ocean O'Connell-Rosenberg
Zodiac: Capricorn, the ambitious nature
Favorite Ride: Bumper cars
Catchphrase: "Democracy rocks!"
The "Most Successful Girl in Town". President of both the St. Cassian High School Student Council and Chamber Choir, Ocean is a brilliant go-getter (or a chronic over-achiever if you ask her peers) who strives for excellence in everything she does.
- Academic Alpha Bitch: She's a mean high school girl with the highest grade point average in her class.
- Berserk Button: Implying that every story does not, in fact, have a lesson. The reason why this causes her so much distress is likely because she's coming to terms with the so-called "meaninglessness" of her death, and is struggling to find value in it.
- Break the Cutie: She's an optimistic, naive girl who spirals into heavy denial upon a sudden death in a rollercoaster. She grapples with the apparent meaninglessness of life, her own morality, and being the sole decision maker as to which of her classmates should live.
- Control Freak: To an extent. It's implied that it's at least partially influenced by her powerlessness against her death.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Ocean slowly warms up to her classmates over the course of the show, and empathizes with their situations in a way she was unable to do before her death.
- Girlboss Feminist: Ocean spouts slogans about democracy, fairness, and political correctness while using her "I Am Great!" Song, a girl empowerment pop anthem, to put down all her fellow competitors — including a handicapped boy and her best friend — for the chance to be returned to life, arguing that because she is the only one who will have a successful life, she is the one worth saving. She is only told after the fact that the decision of who will be returned must be a unanimous vote amongst the people she just insulted. Eventually subverted — after a lot of Break the Haughty, her Jerkass Realization causes her to realize she was wrong to only value success, choosing to truly be fair by voting to let Jane come back instead of voting for herself.
- Go-Getter Girl: Ocean is a classic overachiever. She's been president of the choir for nearly four years, class president for two, and she plans to be the Prime Minister of Canada when she grows up.
- Hidden Depths: Most of Ocean's character at the beginning hinges on her being naïve, mean and full of herself. But she's clearly self-sacrificing enough to reject the chance to come back to life, in favor of her classmate, Jane Doe, as she believes this to be the most moral option.
- Hippie Name: Her " far-left-of-center Humanist" Hippie Parents saddled her with the name "Ocean."
- It's All About Me: Oh, yes. When Constance states that Ocean has no right to act as if she's suffering the most in the group, because they're all processing their respective fates, Ocean responds saying that, obviously, they're all affected very much by her death, and asks Constance to stop making everything about herself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ocean is self-absorbed, oftentimes unwittingly cruel, petty and shallow, but she's a genuinely good person who sacrifices her own chance of coming back to life in favor of her classmate, Jane Doe.
- Jewish and Nerdy: She's a preppy overachiever, and (despite practicing three religions) her last name implies she's ethnically Jewish.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Played with. Ocean is intelligent and accomplished in her own right, but she's still privy to the shallow ideals and petty judgment common for seventeen-year-old girls.
- Legacy Seeker: Despite every member of the St. Cassian choir being rightfully distraught at their deaths, Ocean seems to be most affected by her lack of concrete accomplishments due to her young age.
- Never My Fault: One of her defining characteristics is an inflated perception of her own worth, and an inability to accept shortcomings.
- Oh, Crap!: After her snobby "I Am Great!" Song, Karnak politely informs her that the way to revival is unanimous vote by every other spirit...who she just spent the whole song insulting. She rather sheepishly pleads for a do-over.
- Soapbox Sadie: She cheerfully describes herself as a far-left-of-center believer and shouts a lot of slogans and fairness doctrines...and she's also completely self-absorbed and argues in favor of Social Darwinism for why she should be revived.
- White Sheep: Discussed by Karnak when describing Ocean. The O'Connell-Rosenbergs aren't evil, per-se, they're just aged hippies trying their best to raise a kid in a carbon-neutral lifestyle in a podunk town in Saskatchewan. Ocean, by contrast, is a pushy, relentlessly self-centered overachiever who thrives on structure, order, and "democracy" (read: meritocracy). She excels when given a framework where she can measure her self-worth via her achievements, so she loved going to a rule-filled Catholic school.
Noel Gruber
Zodiac: Pisces, sign of passion
Favorite Ride: Ferris wheel
Catchphrase: "Being the only gay man in a small rural high school is like having a laptop in the stone age. I mean sure, you can have one, but there's nowhere to plug it in..."
The "Most Romantic Boy in Town". The only gay guy in all of Uranium, Noel yearns to leave his boring job at Taco Bell and the drab world of Saskatchewan behind for a life of glamour and extravagance.
- Bad Girl Song: Played with. "Noel's Lament" has Noel working as a prostitute, drinking, doing drugs, swearing and stabbing his pimp ten consecutive times, but in reality, Noel is a meek virgin who hasn't even had a sip of alcohol.
- Camp Gay: He's swishy, snarky, and more feminine than the other guys in the show.
- Drag Queen: His daydream self is a woman named Monique, who does sex work in post-war France and lives the over-the-top tragic, exciting, romantic life Noel longs for. During "Noel's Lament," he gets a chance to dress up as Monique and act out his fantasy.
- Eccentric Artist: As Monique Gibeau, his post-WWII prostitute alter ego. She writes poems to burn by firelight.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Played with. "Noel's Lament" shows him daydreaming about being a tragic French sex worker, who he describes as "a hooker with a heart of black charcoal".
- Iconic Outfit: His dress in "Noel's Lament".
- Le Film Artistique: He enjoys these, and his song, "Noel's Lament", is clearly derivative of certain tropes in arthouse films.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Downplayed, but he's clearly fascinated by morbid and tragic things, likely because he has little experience with them growing up in a boring, sheltered small town. He considers Mischa pointing out how tragic his life was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to him.
- Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: By his own description, he's watched The Blue Angel "a billion and one times."
- Transparent Closet: It's heavily implied he never had to come out as gay. At the start of the show, everyone clearly already knows, and he's not making an effort to hide it, despite his mother's warnings.The Amazing Karnak: Very early on in Noel's life, his mother realized two things... The second was his pension for all things nihilistic.
- Will They or Won't They?: In his song, he has noticeable sexual tension with Mischa Bachinski. This continues throughout the rest of the show, depending on the production.
Mischa Bachinski
Zodiac: Leo, sign of aggression
Favorite Ride: Shooting gallery
Catchphrase: "My gangsta persona is just armor to conceal that I am a naked child wandering through the wilderness, holding in my hands my wounded, fragile heart."
The "Angriest Boy in Town". A teenager recently adopted from Ukraine by parents who thought they were getting a toddler, Mischa maintains a strained relationship with his new family and a reputation for angry outbursts.
- Adoption Angst: Mischa's adoptive Canadian parents thought they were getting a two-year-old Ukrainian toddler. Instead they got Mischa, with a "five o'clock shadow and a hint of alcohol on his breath." Since they can't send him back, they do what they consider the next best thing and ignore him, leaving meals outside his basement room and shooing him away whenever he tries to speak to them.
- Ambiguously Bi: He sure doesn't mind Noel kissing him, or dancing with him. Mischa shrugs it off, saying where he's from, it's normal for men to show affection by kissing—though he admits he's never kissed a guy wearing high heels before. Many productions will also play up a bit of Ship Tease between him and Noel, suggesting there might be something there. However, he's also very in love with Talia.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His backstory is significantly darker than those of his classmates, who mostly led boring lives before the accident.
- Even the Guys Want Him: He's an attractive guy, and Constance and Noel both show some degree of interest in him.
- Hidden Depths: Despite his tough "gangsta" persona and overtly macho leanings, Mischa's very open-minded. He tells Noel his performance in drag was "dope", doesn't mind being kissed by him, and is very friendly to and supportive of both Ricky and Constance. In at least one version of the script, he also mentions liking RuPaul's Drag Race.
- Informed Attribute: Mischa is given the superlative of "Angriest Boy in Town", but he's rarely all that angry in the show, instead being quite supportive of others in the choir. He gets frustrated with Ocean a few times, but no more so than Noel, while his masculine rap is about him being awesome rather than cursing out anyone or anything else. The most angry the audience sees him is in flashbacks to his adoption. Possibly justified since Uranium was such a small town, so him being the angriest in town didn't mean much (especially considering they live in Canada, with a reputation for niceness).
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He has a bad boy reputation, but his love for Talia and support of the choir kids show he's actually a gentle person beneath all the masculine posturing.
- Ladykiller in Love: Despite portraying himself as a charismatic, suave player in "This Song is Awesome", Mischa seems to be a one-woman man after meeting Talia, his long-distance girlfriend from Ukraine.
- Mundane Luxury: His description of the kind of life he'd live if he was a rich and famous rapper involves... playing PlayStation (albeit on a giant screen) with friends in a nice apartment (one that has new appliances), eating McDonald's and drinking Kristal. Take away the giant screen and it seems that after a childhood of poverty in Ukraine followed by growing up in an abusive foster home, Mischa's idea of absolute decadence is having access to the kind of comforts middle-class kids in the west take for granted.
Ricky Potts
Zodiac: Gemini, the dual nature
Favorite Ride: Gravitron
Catchphrase: "Level up!"
The "Most Imaginative Boy in Town". Suffering from a degenerative disease that will eventually kill him, Ricky copes by maintaining a vivid inner life of fantasy and self-expression.
- Healthy in Heaven: Arriving in limbo, Ricky discovers that the degenerative disease that robbed his body of the ability to walk and talk (and that would have eventually killed him) does not affect his ghostly form. He no longer needs his crutches to move around, and he spends the rest of the musical dancing, singing, and playing the accordion.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Ricky's unfulfilled make-a-wish request was to "make love in zero gravity," and his song describes a fantasy wherein he plays a galaxy-hopping hero who saves a race of sexy cat-people with his "seed", later teaching them the ways of free love and intergalactic peace.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: An odd variation, considering his fantasy involves making love to sexy cat women, but he grew up around cats and is the most pacifistic and gentle of the group.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: All his time spent with only his thoughts while alive has made him philosophical for a 16-year-old, with the other kids impressed by the depth of his thoughts once he is able to express them.
Jane Doe
Zodiac: Aries, the lucky nature
Catchphrase: "When the lioness has children, she stops making love to the lion. The lion gets jealous, sometimes so jealous he eats the children. You'd think this would upset the lioness; far from it. They make love again like the children never existed. I find that idea terrifying."
A mysterious, emotionless, deeply creepy headless girl who appears beside the Choir in limbo.
- Back from the Dead: After being assigned the sole vote, Ocean chooses Jane to come back to life, as she is the only one without a full memory of her past.
- Emotionless Girl: Lost her head and memories in the accident, and now uses a doll's head as a replacement. As such Jane doesn't emote well in conversation, or seem to understand the nuances of body language and sarcasm.
- The Faceless: As her head was sliced off during the rollercoaster accident, she has no idea what her face looks like, so her features in the afterlife are based on her doll.
- Ghost Amnesia: Exaggerated — Jane arrives at the afterlife without a head because she was decapitated in the accident. She's missing all the memories of who she was in life, even her name and what she looked like.
Constance Blackwood
Zodiac: Scorpio, the secretive nature
Favorite Ride: The Cyclone
Catchphrase: "Sorry!"
The "Nicest Girl in Town," Constance is a kind, considerate girl whose genuine affection for her hometown puts her at odds with her peers.
- Apologises a Lot: Her literal catchphrase, as determined by Karnak, is "Sorry" (though she does use it more sarcastically at one point after punching Ocean).
- Beware the Nice Ones: Constance may be known as the "nicest girl in town," but she also has a resentful, subversive side. She punches Ocean (in the boob) in an act of pent-up aggression, and reveals she had sex with an older man right before she died.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Many productions have Constance played by plus-sized actresses.
- Covert Pervert: She may be a sweetheart, but she's also not-so-secretly into porn and gets aroused by guy-on-guy kissing to the point of distraction. She's likely only covert due to her friendship with Ocean.
- Extreme Doormat: Constance has won the "Nicest Girl in Town" award in her class three years in a row because she's kind and thoughtful and friendly, but she also lets her best friend walk all over her. Her catchphrase is "sorry" for a reason.
- Nerd Glasses: Wears these in some productions, to emphasize her timid and sweet nature.
- Nice Girl: Before her death, Constance was primarily known for being the "nicest girl in homeroom", an award she'd won three times over. Secretly, she resented being belittled or cast aside for her kindness, as many people thought less of her for her positive view on the town.
- Shipper on Deck: Constance is clearly supportive of Noel and Mischa's budding relationship, as she excitedly comments on their kiss. This could potentially tie into a non-sexual version of Guy on Guy Is Hot.
