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Main Characters
Sock / Napoleon Maxwell Sowachowski
Our "Hero"
An annoyingly friendly demon. Is the main character.- Accidental Murder: Sock accidentally murdered both of his parents. While he was sleeping.
- Affably Evil: This is a kid who grew up fascinated with killing things and later went on to cheerfully commit himself to driving an innocent young man to "punch his own ticket". And yet... he's so cute! And terrible at his job! Notably, the webcomic outright stated his affability is genuine. He just also likes killing.
- Anime Hair: Sock's hair sits at a 90 degree angle from his head when he removes his hat.
- Ambiguously Gay: He's not explicitly stated to be gay, but his rather effeminate features, his wearing a skirt, his suspicious chumminess with Jonathan, his numerous Ship Tease moments with Jonathan, it's not hard to get suspicoius, and is a common
Fanon interpretation. The creator says his orientation is some version of "gender isn't important." - Beware the Nice Ones: Sock might be very sweet, but he has a twisted mind, and he has killed people before.
- I Call It "Vera": Sock kills himself with his knife, and refers to it as his "old friend".
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Sock has a very wide smile.
- Companion Cube: In one of the pages of the webcomic,
Sock talks to his weapon.
He does for one sentence in the short too, but that cut out the comic's monologue from after Sock stabs himself. Erica says that his knife was his only friend growing up. - Cute and Psycho: Sock is cute, friendly, and murderous.
- Compressed Hair: It is quite impressive how much hair he can fit under his hat.
- Dateless Grave: Played for Laughs: Sock's tombstones don't even have proper names on them, to the point where he marked his own tombstone as just "ME". Discussed in this fancomic
- Driven to Suicide: Sock went through several options in his head before settling on opting for suicide, not wanting to inconvenience anyone with a trial he knew he'd be guilty of.
- Fangs Are Evil: When Sock tells Jon that he is a demon, Sock's teeth go all sharp for a second.
- Foil: Jonathan and Sock are somewhat opposite in personality with Sock being usually excited and hyper, while Jonathan is much more cold and dour.
- Flaming Devil: He is a demon, he is certainly effeminate, and the are hints of him having a crush on Jonathan.
- Friendless Background: Word of God states that Sock's knife was his most trusted friend.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Sock has goggles that just look cool.
- Harmless Villain: Sock wants to drive a teenager to suicide... by annoying him to death.
- Hitman with a Heart: Sock may want to drive an innocent teenager to suicide, but that's no reason to be mean about it!
- Intangibility: As a demon, Sock can pass through objects.
- Invisibility: Only other demons and Jonathan can see Sock.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Sock sports the same bizarre outfit as a demon that he wore when he killed himself.
- Keet: Sock is often very excited and hyper.
- Little Bit Beastly: Sock is sometimes drawn with little demon wings and a tail.
- Mysterious Past: When Mephistopheles asks how Sock got into killing, he says its a long story and kind of personal.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Sock can act very nonchalant to some very disturbing things. An example would be when he kills a squirrel, and gives it to his best friend! At a super young age!
- No Sense of Personal Space: Sock tends to be uncomfortably close to Jonathan, even ambushing and making faces at him in the bathroom!
- Older Than They Look: According to Word of God, Sock is somewhere between 15 and 20.
- Our Demons Are Different: Specifically, he's a dead human that was offered a "demonary position" to haunt Jonathan.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: He's a dead human that haunts someone else.
- Please Keep Your Hat On: Sock has a serious case of hat hair that is about a 90 degree angle from his head.
- Power Floats: As a demon, Sock is reasonably powerful, and floats everywhere.
- Power Glows: Sock glows green when he goes through objects.
- Power Perversion Potential: Sock can enter male restrooms as well as Jonathan's house whenever he wants.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Sock can be super immature for his age, and is a murderer who is trying to drive a teenager to suicide...nicely.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Sock is usually excited and hyper, while Jonathan is much more cold and dour.
- Ridiculous Procrastinator: Sock constantly puts off seriously driving Jonathan to suicide, and is by Word of God in a "Shenanigan-based rut."
- Rummage Sale Reject: Sock has an amazing outfit. What with the crazy hat and the aviator goggles and the scarf and the skirt, it's a very mismatched outfit that somehow works.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Sock wears a scarf, and is apparently strong enough to lift dead bodies, dig graves, and stab himself in one strike.
- Sickly Green Glow: Sock starts glowing a green color when he's phasing through objects. It really applies to hell in general in the short.
- Shout-Out: Sock's Embarrassing Middle Name, Maxwell, is a Shout-Out to Maxwell's Silver Hammer by The Beatles.
- Stalker without a Crush: Sock follows Jonathan around his school for his job, trying to get him to kill himself. Of course, the "without a crush' part is debatable.
- Torso with a View: Sock has a gigantic glowing green hole where he stabbed himself.
- Vague Age: Sock's age is supposed to be a Running Gag and it's somewhere between 15 and 20.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Sock is this with Jonathan. The friendship is a variation in which Jonathan is vitriolic, while Sock is much, much friendlier, but wants Jon to kill himself.
- Villain Protagonist: Sock may have plenty of sympathetic traits, but he is trying to make an innocent teen kill himself.
Jonathan Combs
- Anime Hair: Jonathan has very bizarre hair. His hair is even described as "animation" in his hellfile!
- Defrosting Ice King: Gender Flipped. Jonathan is very cold to Sock at first, but begins warming up to him in the second montage.
- Dull Surprise: Jonathan often reacts to the weirdest things in the most deadpan way possible.
- '80s Hair: Jonathan has a hairstyle that can be best described as "blond hedgehog".
- Emotionless Boy: Gender Flipped. Jonathan only rarely shows emotion, even under situations that would be very stressful, like being haunted by a demon.
- Emo Teen: He's a high school student and caustic, dour and snarky.
- Foil: Jonathan and Sock are somewhat opposite in personality with Sock being usually excited and hyper, while Jonathan is much more cold and dour.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: He wears headphones, and he's antisocial and doesn't talk to anyone.
- I See Dead People: Jonathan is the only living person who can see Sock who is a ghost and a demon.
- Only Sane Man: Jonathan is a fairly normal, mentally stable teenager, in contrast to the rest of the cast.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Jonathan is a highschooler, and doesn't seem to have anything weird about him...aside by the fact he's being haunted by a demon.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Sock is usually excited and hyper, while Jonathan is much more cold and dour.
- Skewed Priorities: Jonathan is most surprised at Sock not because Sock's a demon that only he can see, but because Sock had never heard of a band Jonathan listens to.
- Suburbia: Jon lives in a small suburban area.
- The Stoic: Jonathan doesn't talk much unless he is spoken to, and rarely shows emotion.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Sandwiches. Sandwiches are the only food he has been shown eating in the short, and it has been expanded upon that it is his favorite food.
- Unfazed Everyman: Jonathan is an Ordinary High-School Student who is currently being haunted by a demon.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Jonathan is this with Sock. The friendship is a variation in which Jonathan is vitriolic, while Sock is much, much friendlier, but wants Jon to kill himself.
Demons, Angels, and other supernatural beings
Mephistopheles
A man of wealth and taste
The manager of Hell and Sock's boss.- Affably Evil: Despite running Hell, Mephistopheles seems like a nice enough guy, offering Sock a job minutes after just meeting him.
- Benevolent Boss: Meph is very genial to his employees, has great benefits and gives weekends off. She only gives Sundays off.
- Cool Old Guy: Being immortal, Mephistopheles is quite old, and just see the rest of his tropes for the cool part.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Meph runs Hell like a giant company, and is the devil.
- Deadpan Snarker: For Meph, practically every second word he speaks is a sarcastic quip.
- Evil Redhead: Meph has red hair, and is a Satanic Archetype.
- Insistent Terminology: Meph does not like to use certain unflattering nicknames, and prefers to use his given name.
- Lemony Narrator: Mephistopheles acts as this in the opening, which makes him being a rather offbeat narrator somewhat inevitable due to his Deadpan Snarker nature and non-objective point of view.
- Mysterious Employer: Meph employs Sock and other demons, and the short doesn't really go into his backstory much.
- Our Demons Are Different: Meph is the ruler of hell, and employs the other demons.
- Pungeon Master: Mephistopheles uses terrible, terrible puns all the time, even in serious situatons.
- Satanic Archetype: Meph is a Fallen Angel who rules over Demons. Pretty standard, although Meph is much more Affably Evil than most examples.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Meph has a really snazzy suit.
- Shipper on Deck: It's possible that Mephistopheles ships Sock and Jonathan. He's rather quick to assume that Sock only sucks at his job because he likes Jonathan.Sock: I've got him passing balls to a ghost in gym class-Mephistopheles: (amused grin) He's making passes at you?
- Shout-Out: To Faust: First Part of the Tragedy, as Mephistopheles shares a name with the devil-figure in that play.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Mephistopheles has a habit of teleporting out of nowhere to catch up on Sock's work, and disappears just as fast.
- Stepford Smiler: Somewhat. Mephistophiles is smug and full of quips throughout the pilot, but he confides in Sock about how stressed he is since he’s in the middle of rearranging Hell, briefly breaking down in tears before going right back to calmly explaining the job offer.Mephistopheles: “Everyone’s off the hook for now. The only one suffering here…is ME.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Meph is a demon with golden eyes.
