Characters / The Stranger Times

A list of significant and recurring characters in The Stranger Times.

Stranger Times Staff

Hannah

Hannah Willis

Hannah Willis (married name: Drinkwater) is in the middle of a messy divorce from her philandering husband Karl when she stumbles into the Stranger Times office. She secures a job as the assistant editor and quickly becomes the glue bringing the dysfunctional staff together.

Tropes:

• Action Survivor: Hannah has no magical ability, no fighting skills, no idea about the history behind the Masquerade. Still, she manages to survive multiple life-threatening situations and bounce back in time for the next incident.
• Mrs Degree: Hannah never finished her college degree because she decided to marry her rich husband instead.
• Plot-Inciting Infidelity: When the audience first meets Hannah, she is looking for a job to support herself after leaving her serial-cheater of a husband.
• Trophy Wife: Hannah is a pretty blonde woman who lived a life of luxury thanks to her husband's wealth. Until the divorce, she had never worked and never achieved anything much except hosting a few charity dos.

Banecroft

Vincent Banecroft

Vincent Banecroft is the irascible editor of the Stranger Times. He was formerly the most feared tabloid editor on Fleet Street, but he has fallen far since the death of his wife. Behind the slovenly, rude, ill-tempered exterior is a sharp mind and a whole lot of grief.

Tropes:

• Affectionate Nickname: Charlotte calls him "Lumpy."
• The Alcoholic: Banecroft is never without his whiskey.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Banecroft cultivates an angry, unreasonable exterior which hides his true perceptiveness. So, when he blows his top and fires those nice builders (who are actually making booby traps), or tosses that promising young job candidate (who was sent to be a mole) out on his ear, everyone assumes he's just being his usual Jerkass self instead of a very perceptive and efficient protector.
• Jerkass Has a Point: For all of his unpleasantness, Banecroft is usually correct in his judgements. For example, his editorial decisions are delivered in an incredibly rude way but improve the paper's overall quality. He’s also an Excellent Judge of Character.
• The Lost Lenore: Banecroft is haunted by the memory of his apparently deceased wife, Charlotte.
• Mean Boss: Vincent Banecroft verbally abuses his staff on the regular and is openly disdainful towards his newspaper. However, he actually does a good job editing and used to work for a more respectable publication. He might even be shown to care for some of his staff, every now and again...
• The Nicknamer: Of the more dismissive variety. Banecroft typically refers to his underlings at the Times by anything but their names. Hannah is "the new Tina" (after the last long-term assistant editor) while Reggie and Ox are identified by weight, race, and other superficial traits.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Banecroft swears about every other word and can get very creative with it, even after Grace bans swearing from the office.

Stella

Stella

Stella is a runaway who broke into the Stranger Times office and decided to stay there. She wrestles with mysterious powers and her even more mysterious past, but now that she is no longer alone, she may be able to finally find some answers. She is a clever, determined girl with good instincts and has become Banecroft's protegee and the Time's archivist.

Tropes:

• Deadpan Snarker: Lots of people in this world can be snarky, but Stella stands out for her oft-deadpan delivery.
• MacGuffin Super-Person: Stella is constantly at risk of kidnapping and manipulation by people who want to use her immense magical powers for their own ends.
• Only One Name: Stella has no surname, which poses a problem when it comes to publishing her work in the paper.
• Power Glows: Stella glows bright blue when she uses her powers. Or just when she wants to look cool.
• Puberty Superpower: Stella is a teenager who has recently started to develop magical powers. Or at least, her powers are becoming stronger and harder to control.
• The Runaway: Stella belongs to the Abused subtype. She doesn't like discussing her old home, but it seems she never knew her parents and grew up in a remote location before she came to Manchester.
• Troubled Teen: Stella is a runaway dealing with emerging powers, a Dark and Troubled Past and mysterious forces trying to capture her. She hides her fear and anger behind snark.

Grace

Grace

Grace is the office manager and put-upon mother hen. She is deeply religious and relies on the power of Jesus (and a good cuppa) to give her the strength to deal with the everyday madness of the Stranger Times.

Tropes:

• Beleaguered Assistant: Poor Grace is The Reliable One. When Banecroft throws a tantrum or Loon Day is getting out of hand, she's the one left to clean up the mess. At least her invaluable service means she gets to negotiate with Banecroft vis-a-vis hiring and swearing.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Grace is by far the nicest member of staff, especially before Hannah came along. However, when she has been pushed too far, she may threaten the object of her ire with a sledgehammer. Even when she isn't being overtly violent, the other members of staff give her a wide berth when she's feeling stressed.
• Calming Tea: She's the kind of person who thinks all problems can be solved with a nice cuppa. When things are rough, she compulsively offers to make everyone, or just herself, tea.
• The Reliable One: Banecroft is a drunken, self-loathing mess, Ox and Reggie are off chasing leads, threatening to jump off roofs and dodging debt collectors, Stella is occupied with keeping her Puberty Superpower under control, and Manny is Manny. If Grace didn't manage the daily running of the office, the newspaper would finally collapse. She gets a little relief when Hannah shows up.
• Token Religious Teammate: Grace is a self-proclaimed woman of God who hands out evangelical pamphlets to abominations and is active in her church community. None of her colleagues are similarly concerned with their religious beliefs.

Ox

Ox Chen

Ox is one of the regular reporters at the Stranger Times. He specialises in UFO sightings, though he enjoys a bit of conspiracy theory as well. He has a gambling addiction and a rather disheveled appearance.

Tropes:

• Conspiracy Theorist: Ox truly believes in UFOs and is convinced "the Man" is out to get him. However, there are limits to what he will believe. He makes up the Dex Hex articles wholesale and is as surprised as anyone when one of them proves to be correct.
• The Gambling Addict: Ox has racked up twenty grand in gambling debts. His favourites are dog and horse races.
• Invented Individual: He created the fake conspiracy nut identity Dex Hex to pull a second paycheck. Basically, he would get drunk, hammer out a slew of nonsense, and submit it to the paper as an irregular column.
• Straight Gay: Ox is gay, but most people don't know until he comes out to them. His (platonic) housemate Reggie seems more stereotypically flamboyant despite being "rampantly heterosexual."

Reggie

Reginald "Reggie" Fairfax III

Portly, posh, and tartan-clad, Reggie is one of the regular reporters at the Stranger Times. He covers ghost sightings and other hauntings. Despite his toffish appearance, he is more than capable of defending himself in a scrap.

Tropes:

• Accent Slip-Up: Reggie usually speaks with a campy accent, but when he is pushed to fight, he slips into his native Scouse.
• Ambiguous Criminal History: Reggie clearly has a criminal past, as evidenced by his knowledge of knife-play, prison, and the need to reinvent oneself, but the exact details are unspecified.
• Camp Straight: Reggie is mistaken for gay at least once on account of his flamboyant, plummy-voiced, theatre-loving style. However, he identifies himself as heterosexual. This contrasts with his flatmate Ox, who is gay but not markedly effeminate.
• Drama Queen: While the Stranger Times universe is full of eccentric characters, Reggie stands out. Not only is a actually an amateur thespian, but his introductory scene has him threatening to throw himself off the top of the Times' roof, something that has occurred often enough to become routine.
• Preppy Name: Reginald Fairfax III. Banecroft suspects this is an assumed alias.
• Reformed Criminal: He used to be a criminal of some sort, but has since cleaned himself up and found legitimate employment at a tabloid newspaper.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Reggie always wears a three-piece suit, even in a heatwave. Undermined by the fact that his suit is tartan.

Manny and his "Friend"

Manny and his "Friend"

Manny is in charge of the printing press and building maintenance at the Stranger Times. He usually appears as a harmless, laidback Rastafarian type, but he shares his body with a terrifying guardian spirit bound to the Church of Old Souls.

Tropes:

• Cloudcuckoolander: Manny is perpetually spaced-out from the pot. Or maybe he's just like that. Either way, it's difficult to steer conversations with him in a meaningful direction. Also, he considers clothing optional.
• Dreadlock Rasta: Manny has long white dreadlocks, a Caribbean accent, and a laid-back temperament.
• Expository Pronoun: Manny and his Friend are referred to with separate pronouns by other people, but Manny usually uses the first-person pronoun "we" in recognition of the fact that he shares his body with another being. When he refers specifically to his Friend, he uses "she."
• Guardian Entity: Manny's Friend is bound to the Church of Old Souls, so the body she shares with Manny cannot leave the grounds. She repels most magical threats, including vampires.
• Mellow Fellow: Manny is super chill about everything, even things other people might find alarming, like monsters and an evil magic conspiracy and a lack of clothing. His Friend, by comparison, can spring into action the minute an "abomination" crosses her threshold.
• Naked People Are Funny: Manny is usually too spaced-out to notice if he's walking around without clothes. This is played for comedy, especially in his Naked First Impression scene where he and Hannah first meet.
• Recovered Addict: In a way. He's still The Stoner, but his old life was a wreck because of his addiction to heroin or other intravenous drugs. He's happier and healthier now than he was before meeting his Friend.
• The Stoner: Manny enjoys smoking weed, allegedly to treat his glaucoma. He sometimes shares a blunt with Ox.
• Symbiotic Possession: Manny shares a body with his Friend, an immensely powerful spirit who protects the Church of Old Souls/Stranger Times office. Of course, she does not like calling it "possession."

Betty

Elizabeth Cavendish III

Betty temporarily takes over the role of assistant editor in the third book. She is a sweet-looking but feisty older woman who is ostensibly sent by Mrs. Harnsforth to audit the Times.

Tropes:

• Cool Old Lady: She looks to be in her sixties, but in this world she could be Older Than She Looks. She has an active career as a professional problem-solver, a job which requires a cool head, powerful magic, and the occasional spot of grave robbing.
• Little Old Lady Investigates: She purposefully leans into this trope. She is a cheerful but seemingly eccentric older lady who wanders about asking if someone would like a sweet, only to hit them with intense stubbornness and keen insight.
• Taken for Granite: She is temporarily petrified after an animated stone cherub bites her.

Mrs. Harnforth

Alicia Harnforth

Mrs. Harnforth is the owner of the Stranger Times. She established the newspaper as a means of keeping the Folk apprised of magical happenings and continues to fund it despite the paper hemorrhaging money.

Tropes:

• The Atoner: Mrs. Harnforth feels great shame at her past as a Founder and this is what drives her to protect the peace of the magical world.
• Pink Means Feminine: She is an elegant older woman with pale pink hair.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Mrs. Harnforth is a proper, refined lady with a strong backbone, able to out-glare Banecroft of all people!
• The Team Benefactor: She's the owner of the Stranger Times, which she established to investigate problems in the supernatural community. She isn't involved in the day-to-day running of the paper, but without her support, the newspaper would fold.

Other Humans

DI Sturgess

Tom Sturgess

DI Sturgess is the only member of the Manchester police willing to engage with "woo woo" stuff, so he becomes an ally to the Stranger Times. He is supremely dedicated to his work, but his brusque personality and eccentric beliefs put him at odds with his colleagues.

Tropes:

• By-the-Book Cop: Sturgess is known as a bit of a hardass, but he never takes shortcuts when investigating and holds himself to the same standards as his colleagues. Even when he loses control and threatens Ox, he refuses to let Wilkerson cover for him, preferring instead to take the full blame and notifying Ox of possible legal recourse. When suspended, however, he’s slightly more willing to bend the rules.
• Friend on the Force: Sturgess and Hannah meet up to swap information on each other's cases and even start to develop Unresolved Sexual Tension.
• Married to the Job: Sturgess has no friends outside of work acquaintances and hasn't visited his family for years because he refuses to take a holiday. A love life? Forget about it.
• Puppeteer Parasite: He has a parapsyche in his head. It’s normally a passive passenger, but it can control his body at will.
• Virgin-Shaming: Married to the Job as he is, Sturgess has never gotten around to having sex. When this fact comes to light, Banecroft gleefully jumps on the chance to tease him about it. Sturgess himself starts blushing as he confirms his virginity to his love interest Hannah.
• Workaholic: Sturgess' life revolves around his work as a police officer. He doesn't have hobbies, doesn't take care of his house, and won't take a holiday unless he's ordered to by the higher-ups.

Simon

Simon Brush

Simon is a geeky young man who wants nothing more than to be a journalist at the Stranger Times, despite Banecroft's repeated refusals. He spends his days either lookin for leads or sitting outside the office, hoping that he'll be invited in. He is killed by the Were but comes back as a ghost.

Tropes:

• Camera Fiend: Simon always has his camera on him, to the point that the newspaper staff become suspicious when it goes missing. Simon's dedication works to the heroes' advantage when he takes a picture of the Were, which helps them to identify the monster.
• Intrepid Reporter: Simon is far more excited about investigating the supernatural than any of the actual staff at the Times. His lack of caution is what gets him killed.
• The Team Wannabe: Simon desperately wants to join the newspaper and become an Intrepid Reporter. He sits outside every day in a shirt that reads "I work for the Stranger Tims" [sic]. Dress for the job you want and all that.
• Unfinished Business: Simon wants to see his name on the byline of a Stranger Times article. When Stella credits him as the author of an interview she conducted with him, he can finally pass on to the afterlife.

Stanley

Stanley Roker

Stanley is a renowned (that is, reviled) tabloid hack. His life is upended after a spider-like hooker sexually assaults him and tries to eat him alive. His investigative skills and web of contacts become useful tools for the staff of the Stranger Times.

Tropes:

• Everyone Has Standards: Stanley Roker might be a sleazy tabloid reporter with few morals to speak of, but woe betide the person who even insinuates he would cheat on his wife.
• Heartbreak and Ice Cream: After his wife leaves, Stanley drowns his woes in ice-cream and baked goods. Eventually even the owner of the dessert bar he frequents decides he's had enough and throws him out.
• The Stakeout: One of Stanley's specialties. It's very handy for finding his next scoop.

Ronnie

Ronnie

Ronnie runs the the Roxy cinema. She takes pride in making a space where all freaks and geeks are welcome.

Tropes:

• Bald Head of Toughness: Ronnie has close-shaven hair, fitting with her overall gender-nonconforming look. She is also undeniably tough. She has no problem breaking up fights by dumping both combatants out on their asses.
• Demonic Possession: She is possessed by the Roxy ghost who is in turn possessed by a greater power. The ghost compels her to re-enact a hackneyed but gender-swapped silent movie script. She kidnaps Sturgess and ties him up in the cinema, where he is menaced by vampires and saved by a daring heroine.
• Unabashed B-Movie Fan: The Roxy's brand is showing cult favourites and silly [[ B-Movie B-movies]]. Ronnie, the proprietor, is well-versed in these movies and presumably enjoys them enough to make showing them her livelihood.

The Tombs family

Gregory and Victor Tombs

Victor Tombs is a self-made vampire who frequents the weekly vampire-movie nights at the Roxy. His father Gregory is a security consultant who wants nothing more than to protect his son from harm.

Tropes:

• Crazy-Prepared: Gregory keeps a dossier on all of his Victor's acquaintances. He has also kitted out his house with multiple locks, blaring sirens, a full surveillance system, and a Secret Underground Passage, which pays off when an angry mob comes calling.
• Papa Wolf: Gregory is very protective of his son and is suspicious of anyone who might hurt him, emotionally or physically. This makes him reluctant to open up to Hannah and Reggie, since he's afraid they'll hold up Victor's strange behavior as newspaper fodder.
• Sham Supernatural: Victor is a human who lives as a vampire. He dresses in frilly gothic clothing, only leaves the house after dark, and even drinks blood (in small quantities willingly donated by his father).

Moira

Moira Everhart

Moira is the head of a stationery empire. She has checked herself into the Pinter Institute to work through some body image issues and quickly befriends Hannah.

Tropes:

• Big Fun: She sees herself as "tubby, straight-talking comic relief" despite not being fat at all. This is indicative of her body-image issues.
• The Gadfly: Moira enjoys taking the piss out of the self-important Pinter Institute patients and overbearing staff. She dismisses some of the catty socialites at the retreat as "dry shites" and openly disregards the rules about not bothering Winona Pinter.
• Weight Woe: Hannah does not think Moira is at all fat, but Moira is clearly insecure about her weight. She calls herself "tubby" and makes jokes about the ground shaking when she runs. Her remnant, representing a part of her mental state, is revealed to be several stone heavier than the actual Moira.

Supernatural Beings

The Founders

The Founders

The Founders are a conspiracy nut's dream come true. This secret organization of immortals rules over both the magical and the mundane worlds with a hidden hand. Their main representative to the Stranger Times is Dr. Carter, though as the series progresses they recruit other ambitious up-and-comers such as media mogul Tamsin Baladin.

Tropes:

• Ancient Conspiracy: The Founders are a shadowy cabal of immortals with limitless influence and resources. A single member has a small personal army, enough money buy the silence of victims of paranormal events, and enough influence to make police enquiries vanish in a matter of minutes.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Founders are not allowed to procreate, and Dominic Johnson shows why. He loves his son and wants to save him from death by making him immortal as well. This prompts the plot of the first and third books.
• Immortals Fear Death: The moment a Founder first drains life from one of the Folk, they receive a vision of Hell and the knowledge that their soul is forfeit. Needless to say, they are very motivated to stay alive.
• Life Drinker: The Founders drain the Folk of life force to keep up their immortality.
• Older Than They Look: Founders are immortal and ageless.

Moretti

Charlie Moretti

Moretti is the main antagonist of the first book. He is a rogue Founder who creates a forbidden Were and sets it loose in Manchester.

Tropes:

• Blood Magic: Moretti practices illegal blood magic and has been tortured and imprisoned as punishment. It doesn't stop him from planning a bloody ritual as soon as he escapes.
• The Cake Is a Lie: Moretti promises Merchant to heal his daughter in exchange for his services as a Were. In fact, he intends to make another child, Daniel, immortal.
• Deal with the Devil: A Were can only result from a willing sacrifice. So, a man agrees to become a Were if Moretti promises to save his daughter's life. Moretti never intended to keep his end of the bargain and is killed by the Were when his betrayal is revealed.
• Hypno Pendulum: Moretti hypnotizes normal humans with a spinning coin on a chain.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Moretti can wipe the memory of specific events, as he does with the real estate agent who set him up in the warehouse.

The Were

Gary Merchant

A family man turned hideous wolf-like creature. In the past, Weres were used by the Founders to track down members of the Folk, but have since been forbidden. That doesn't stop Moretti from making one anyway.

Tropes:

• Deal with the Devil: A Were can only result from a willing sacrifice. So, a man agrees to be reborn as a Were if Moretti promises to save his sickly daughter's life. Moretti never intended to keep his end of the bargain and is killed by the Were when his betrayal is revealed.
• Healthcare Motivation: Merchant went along with Moretti's plans because the latter promised to heal his daughter Cathy's cancer.
• In a Single Bound: The Were can leap extraordinarily far, even to the top of a 40-story building.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Initially, Merchant is simply given super-senses and the ability to change shape, but the Beast inside him slowly warps his mind to become wrathful and animalistic. Not that old Gary was a particularly nice guy to begin with.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: The main monster in the first book is a Were, a human who has become a supernatural, shape-shifting hunting dog. They can have historically been used by the Founders to capture Folk.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Weres will not stop until they have their prey in hand (or maw). This is why they were ideal hunting dogs for the Founders.
• Super-Strength: The Were can swat aside a desk with a flick of its wrist. It can easily overcome any mundane weapon.

Cogs and Zeke

Cogs and Zeke

Cogs was a traveling minstrel who made the mistake of snubbing a river goddess. Now he lives on a houseboat where is is compelled to give anyone who offers tribute an honest answer to their questions. He lives with Zeke, a talking bulldog who is not actually a bulldog.

Tropes:

• Animorphism: Zeke used to be a human but is currently a talking bulldog. He isn't too upset by the change though, as his human life was "a lot of hard work."
• Cannot Tell a Lie: Cogs was cursed by a river goddess to only tell the truth. Sometimes he is forced to tell the truth when he'd rather keep silent, like when he admits that Zeke has been a good friend to him.
• Woman Scorned: Cogs made the mistake of jilting a river goddess. She cursed him to always tell the truth and to always remain on the water.

The Roxy Ghost

The Ghost of the Roxy Theatre

The Roxy theatre is haunted by the organ-playing ghost of a woman who is said to have been abandoned by her lover.

Tropes:

• Demonic Possession: The ghost possesses Ronnie and uses her host to act out a campy silent movie ending. The ghost herself is possessed by a mysterious power strong enough to create vampires, a previously non-existent species.
• Does Not Like Men: The Roxy ghost leaves female theatre staff alone but harasses male staff, culminating in the head chef getting stabbed in the hand. Her hatred leads her to curse some predatory men with vampirism. Her misandry is cured by The Power of Love from Banecroft, no less!
• Woman Scorned: The ghost of the Roxy was left at the altar and has turned her rage onto all men, and specifically turned the sexual predators who frequented the area into literal monsters.

John Mór

John Mór

John Mór runs a bar catering to the Folk. He uses his immense strength and canny ability to read people to help the Mancunian Folk community.

Tropes:

• The Bartender: He runs a bar that serves members of the Folk. This puts him in a position to gather rumours and forge connections with other players in the Folk community.
• The Big Guy: John's a seven-foot-tall wall of muscle. He has a background as a resistance fighter against the Founders, so clearly his muscles aren't just for show.
• Genius Bruiser: He is huge, muscular, and knows his way around a fight, but he also shows tactical skills, like when he plans a raid on a Ceathramh stronghold. He's also the one who realizes that the Big Bad of the third book is using an invisibility bubble to conceal his location.

The Vampires

Phillip Butler, Andrew Campbell, Leon Gibson, Alan Baladin, others

Vampires never existed, even in the world of Founders and Folk, until a group of young men sprouted fangs and started prowling around Manchester. Dealing with this sudden outbreak of vampirism is the main focus of the second book.

Tropes:

• Colourful Theme Naming: The members of the group never used their real names. Their codenames were based around the colour of their outerwear: Mr Red has a red hoodies, Mr Green has a green anorak, etc.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: Some of the vampires panic when they realise that they are no longer human. Others, like Mr Red and Mr White, embrace their vampirism.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The men who became vampires were targeted because they already had a predatory nature. [[Spoiler: Specifically, they were using a prototype dating app to emotionally manipulate women into having sex with them.]]
• Our Vampires Are Different: Traditional Folk knowledge says that vampires do not exist, but were invented as an allegory for the Founders. Of course, that doesn't stop these "allegories" from popping up in Manchester and ripping out a few throats.
• Technically-Living Vampire: The vampires never actually died. They just woke up one morning with fangs, an aversion to sunlight, and Horror Hunger.
• What Have I Become?: Most of the vampires have this reaction when they realise that they have been transformed into monsters.

The Ceathramh

The Ceathramh

Before the Accords were established, a group of Folk rose up against the Founders. Even now, after the war is supposed to have ended, a group of resistance fighters continue to stir up unrest in the magical world. Not much is known about this organization's plans, but there's no doubt that they're dangerous.

Tropes:

• Facial Markings: The signature markings for the Ceathramh are a quartered face (the society's name comes from the Scottish Gaelic word for 'quarter'), with each section dyed a different colour.
• Mind over Matter: One of them uses telekinesis to float Stanley over a cliff and attempt to pull him apart.