Rodney R. Rodney
A slender man with a heart of gold, and an appearance most find scary.
- Alliterative Name: All three of his names start with R and it's implied that all of them are the same as well
- Animal Lover: Rodney has a large amount of rabbits, and 2 snakes that he keeps in urns labelled "Mom" and "Dad".
- Caring Gardener: As part of his nature-loving characterization, Rodney likes to grow plants and help other people with their gardening as well, such as Mrs. Smith and Jaz's boss Annika.
- Celibate Hero: He's aroace and a nice guy once you get to know him.
- Creepy Good: Upon meeting him, people immediately assume he's a bad person. He is actually a very nice person.
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: His eyes have bags under them that add to his creepy appearance.
- Drink-Based Characterization: Soy milk... with ice and cream. A bizarre order for a bizarre fella.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: His black hair and pale skin are part of why people are so unnerved by him.
- Granola Guy: You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but he's really one of these at heart. He's an ardent environmentalist and wildlife lover, and is the kind of guy who gives out apples on Halloween. A lot of his more obnoxious behavior actually stems from well-intentioned attempts at getting his neighbors to go a little greener.
- In-Universe Nickname: Joe and a few others call him the "Burb Cryptid".
- Literal-Minded: Unsurprisingly, given his lack of social skills; when Chad calls him "buddy" out of politeness, Rodney is led to believe that this means they're friends now.
- Manchild: Downplayed. He is in his early thirties and independent and mature enough to live on his own, as well as displaying adult wisdom quite frequently (especially with regards to the environment) and working odd jobs for people. He also, however, shows a level of curiosity, naivete and lack of social skills that makes him come off as a bit childlike sometimes. Of course if you asked Karen, Joe or Mr. Johnson they'd all say he's a Psychopathic Manchild.
- Master of Unlocking: He's very skilled at picking locks, and can do it in seconds. This is because he's always forgetting his keys and locking himself out of his house.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: To the point that his character profile references the former Trope Namer.
- Nice Guy: Despite his creepy appearance and occasionally strange behaviour, he's a genuinely good person who cares deeply about the environment and always tries to help people out.
- The Noseless: Subverted. His nose isn't usually visible in head on shots (presumably to make him look a little more unsettling), but it can be seen when he's shown in profile.
- No Sense of Personal Space: A major problem for his reputation among the neighborhood — whenever he wants to get people's attention, he doesn't hesitate to tap or grab their shoulder. People are also quite unnerved by how "cold and slimy" his hands feel, but the real reason for that is simply because he uses a lot of moisturizer.
- No Social Skills: Rodney's main problem. He's kind, gentle, environmentally conscious, and all around well-meaning... but that all comes in a gangly, extremely unsettling package, and he has difficulty with social propriety. Notably, people who actually get to know him tend to like him a lot.
- Queer Establishing Moment: He's shown decorating his plants with asexual and aromantic flags in a bonus comic.
- Repetitive Name: It's not confirmed, but it's implied early on that the "R." in his middle initial stands for "Rodney", which would make his full name "Rodney Rodney Rodney".
- The Scapegoat: The fact that the serial killer's terrible composite sketch just happens to look a bit like Rodney causes everyone to think it's him on account of his unusual behavior making them suspicious. However, not only is he pretty clearly innocent, but there's also Travis, another character who matches the sketch just as well, yet no one suspects him.
- The Stoic: Doesn't express his emotions much. Unless he's laughing, at which point he expresses them too much.
- Super-Reflexes: He manages to catch a blade midair as it's speeding towards Jesse's face.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Seems to have a fondness for apples, especially fresh, home-grown apples. To the point that he keeps some of them year-round, seemingly oblivious to when they start to rot. He also gives them out on Halloween instead of candy.
Chad
Rodney's neighbor and Karen's fiance. Although he's extremely creeped-out by Rodney, he does his best to be civil and give his neighbor the benefit of the doubt.
- Affectionate Nickname: Rodney takes to calling him "buddy".
- Agent Scully: Does not believe Karen regarding her obsession with the idea that Rodney's a criminal. This ends up driving a rift between them.
- Bearer of Bad News: When he learns that Rodney's mother was likely murdered by the serial killer, he ends up trying to tell Rodney about it. The problem is that he finds himself unable to broach the subject carefully.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's somewhat prickly towards Rodney, but is ultimately more willing to give him a chance than Karen is and tries his hardest to get her to see reason.
- Only Friend: Manages to become this to Rodney by accident, after calling him "buddy" and learning the hard way that Rodney is Literal-Minded.
- Smoking Is Not Cool: He seems to smoke when he's stressed, something Rodney is always quick to remind him is bad for both his health and the environment.
Karen
Rodney's neighbor and Chad's fiancee. She is utterly convinced Rodney is a dangerous criminal trying to kill her due to a series of misunderstandings.
- Horrible Judge of Character:
- Not only is she convinced that Rodney's a serial killer who wants to murder her as a result of a bunch of coincidences and circumstantial evidence, but she thinks Joe is worth listening to just because he agrees with her. Lampshaded by Chad, who notes that Joe is not a trustworthy source of information.
- Deconstructed with regards to Chad, as her unwillingness to believe him when he points out to her, repeatedly, that everything she's dealing with is just a bunch of coincidences and his complete willingness to at least try to give Rodney the benefit of the doubt causes a rift in their relationship and eventually leads to her kicking him out of the house.
- Hypocrite:
- Stalks Rodney in order to confirm her suspicions of him, but insists that he's the "real" stalker.
- Chad's "innocent until proven guilty" mentality towards Rodney leads her to think that he's a Horrible Judge of Character, when she's the one assuming the worst of Rodney based on either circumstantial evidence or no evidence at all and listening to random teenagers and crazy conspiracy theorists over someone she's known for years.
- I Reject Your Reality: Whenever she's confronted with evidence that Rodney isn't as bad as she thinks he is, she flat-out refuses to accept it. Anyone who's nice to him or helps him or says anything good about him at all? They must be accomplices of his. Including her own fiance.
- Obliviously Evil: Karen's harsh treatment of Rodney is due to fear, not malice, and she's fully convinced that she's doing the right thing by trying to "expose" him.
- Stalker without a Crush: Frequently spies on Rodney and tries to take pictures of him as "evidence of his crimes". All while calling him the stalker.
- Windmill Crusader: She's part of a suburban clique dedicated to 'exposing' Rodney, and is completely wedded to the idea he's genuinely dangerous.
Cassandra
An Instragram model with a crush on Rodney, who works as her photographer. Best friend of Jaz.
- The Ditz: She's a bit of an airhead, especially when her crush on Rodney starts influencing her thinking.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Loves to model these outfits.
- Incompatible Orientation: She's head over heels for Rodney, he's aromantic and asexual.
- Nice Girl: One of the few people who doesn't judge Rodney on his appearance.
Jaz
A Goth barista and practicing witch, Jaz is one of the few people who understands Rodney is a pretty decent guy. Best friend of Cassandra.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Cassandra, Rodney and Travis.
- Only Sane Man: She deals with Rodney's eccentricities much better than most people — once she learns he's not a ghost, anyway. In particular, she instantly believes that he's not a serial killer because he was bleeding the first time she met him, and, as she notes, a serial killer would never be so stupid as to walk around spreading his own DNA evidence everywhere.
Jesse
A teenager who comes to believe Rodney is his own personal curse.
- Celeb Crush: Appears to have one on Cassandra.
- Emo Teen: Shades of this in his fashion and music taste.
- Hidden Depths: He's aiming to be a valedictorian.
- Mistaken for Gay: Jaz asks (apparently sincerely rather than mockingly) if he's Travis' boyfriend.
- Ungrateful Bastard: He's too creeped-out by Rodney to register the fact that Rodney actually saved him from serious injury or worse by stopping a pair of garden shears careening toward his head bare handed.
Travis
An extremely obnoxious teenager whose face resembles a smiley emoji. Best "friend" of Jesse.
- Abhorrent Admirer: He hits on Jaz, who's not interested in him.
- Ambiguously Evil: He's mostly just an annoying dick, but there are several moments that imply that he's actually the true identity of the serial killer that's been lurking around the neighborhood. Even then, there are hints that if this is true, he's more remorseful about it than he leads on.
- Ambiguously Related: His true identity might be Rodney's brother, Kenneth.
- Fratbro: He's still in high school, but he acts the part.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He just kind of inserts himself into Jesse's life. Very loudly.
- Hidden Depths: During Chapter 16, he suddenly says "I don't know if I can be good." after Jesse advises him to take Rodneys advice to be a good kid. At the end of the chapter it's shown that he lives in a rundown house, where it seems that he has to sneak in when he comes home.
- It Amused Me: Why he encourages Jesse to believe he's cursed.
- Knight of Cerebus: He's implied to be a serial killer, and therefore the first actually frightening character in the comic.
- Non-Standard Character Design: His face is almost entirely featureless except for his Black Bead Eyes and his constantly smiling mouth, both of which make him look like a smiley face. He also doesn't have a nose, which is noteworthy because all of the other characters do (Rodney's nose is usually not visible head on, but can be seen when he's in profile). Notably, this makes him resemble the composite sketch of the serial killer far more than Rodney does.
- Teens Are Monsters: Provided he truly is the serial killer, of course.
Old Man Joe
An old reddit-browsing conspiracy theorist who calls Rodney "The Burb Cryptid".
- The Alcoholic: He's first shown getting so drunk that the bartender kicks him out.
- Deep South: An uneducated hillbilly conspiracy theorist.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite the type of person he's parodying, he fully agrees with the phrase ACAB due to the police working for the government.
- Jerkass: Given what type of person he's a parody of, it's not surprising that he's fairly unpleasant.
- Take That!: He's a walking one to conspiracy theorists on Reddit and anti-vaxxers.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Like Jesse, he gets angry at Rodney for saving his life by stopping him from driving drunk and later helping him out of a burning building.
Mrs. Smith
A little old lady who's friends with Rodney, since he helps her with her garden. She also apparently steals packages.
- Intergenerational Friendship: She's an old lady who's friends with Rodney, a man in his early thirties.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's crabby and apparently steals people's mail, but she's one of the few people who unhesitatingly supports and defends Rodney when others are judging him.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: She's very short and very old.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: She's somewhat grouchy towards everyone except Rodney.
- Stealth Pun: Well, it was stealth until Rodney explained the joke — she's an old lady named "Smith" who grows and sells apples. She's a Granny Smith.
Mr. Johnson
A librarian who really doesn't like Rodney.
- Jerkass: Like Joe and Karen, he's very insistent on "exposing" Rodney and very distrustful of anyone who's nice to him.
The Killer
A mysterious serial killer who's been sighted and investigated throughout the neighborhood. Most people suspect that it's Rodney, but there's hints that this isn't truly the case...
- Greater-Scope Villain: Has been alluded to and is lurking in the background, but has yet to get directly involved in the story.
- Serial Killer: Is responsible for several murders, including implicitly, that of Rodney's mother.
- Terrible Artist: In-universe, the "composite" sketch of him is mostly just a smiley face. Some people think that this is supposed to represent Rodney, but it also bears a striking resemblance to Travis.
- Unseen Evil: So far, we haven't seen him in person. Or have we?
- You Killed My Father: He's implied to have killed Rodney's mother.
