Main Cast
The main characters of What Happens Next. Spoilers are unmarked.
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Milo Holliday
Milo Holliday is the twenty-three year old main character of the series. He copes with his role in Haylie Gorski's murder by regressing into childish behaviors and through running his Tumblr blog, autisticstarlightglimmer.
- Above the Influence: Milo resists Gage's advances when the latter attempts to kiss him. It doesn't end well for either of them.
- Break the Cutie: Before Haylie Gorski's death, Milo is depicted as a sweet, innocent fifteen-year-old. As an adult, Milo is severely traumatized, and copes with his involvement with the murder in very unhealthy ways.
- Hidden Depths: While very passive and rather immature, he's a talented stuffed toy maker, enough so to make a healthy amount selling his work online. (However, as of the chapter "No Matter What", it is revealed that he's had to close down his online store due to the cyberbullying and stalking directed at him.)
- Horrible Judge of Character: He was best friends with Griffin (granted, he was fifteen) and trusts the very manipulative Gage to the point of moving in with him.
- Manchild: He's twenty-three, but acts more like a teenager. Justified, since his trauma has rendered him pretty much unable to move on from the time of Haylie's murder. Additionally, as he himself points out, he's been institutionalized for years, so he didn't actually get the chance to learn how to be an adult.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a happy, quirky teenager until Haylie's murder. Now he's traumatised, drifting and depressed.
Vikki Escamilla
Vikki is a popular crime vlogger, and occasional friend of Milo. She's slightly older and a lot more cynical and realistic than the rest of the cast.
- Creepy Mortician: Mostly averted. While she works at the funeral parlor her mother owns, Vikki is relatively normal in this regard. Her career seems to have influenced her status as a True Crime blogger.
- Disappeared Dad: Her parents only married because Vikki's mother got pregnant, and while they tried to make it work, they divorced a few years later, with Vikki staying with her mother. From what Vikki tells, her father has permanently cut ties with her after she came out as transgender.
- Goth: Her style of dress as well as fascination with morbid subjects puts her under this category.
Griffin Petty
A manipulative, charismatic prisoner who murdered Haylie Gorski eight years before the main plot. He's Milo's ex-friend, and Gage's current romantic partner.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Shows signs of being this. His reaction to Milo wanting to leave the Gorski's house was to start an argument, claiming Milo was "ditching him."
- Psychopathic Manchild: It may be due to his young age, but Griffin's behavior changes on a dime to suit his actions.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: He killed two people at the age of fifteen and tried to sexually assault one of his victims before he murdered her.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His killing of Haylie and Savannah causes a great deal of collateral damage, leaving his surviving victims traumatized and leading to the enacting of Haylie's Law.
- Would Hurt a Child: Savannah was a pre-teen when Griffin murdered her. And he tried to sexually assault her first.
Gage Ludemann
Gage Ludemann is a non-binary true crime blogger on Tumblr who's currently dating Griffin, the antagonist of the series. They tend to fixate on unhealthy and morbid things presumably as a coping mechanism for their traumatic experiences in the past, history of self-harm and current eating disorder.
- Hidden Depths: Originally appeared to be a sheltered true crime junkie who fetishized violence and trauma without any experience of how it actually is. However, they later tell Milo that they were abused by their mother and ex-boyfriend, and are fully aware of the extent of Griffin's morality.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Played with. They have undergone their share of traumatic experiences, but still clearly fetishizes murder and most of Griffin's actions.
- Weight Woe: Implied to have an eating disorder, as they are shown to eat very sparingly, drinks zero-calorie energy drinks, and has their fridge stocked with carrots, exclusively.
The Gorskis
Haylie Gorski's family.
Haylie Gorski
Haylie Gorski was Griffin's girlfriend and second murder victim, and The Catalyst to most of the events of the series. Before death, she was a friendly theatre kid and ukulele player, and a close friend of Milo.
- Nice Girl: She was a normal, kind sixteen-year-old girl, who was (at least, seemingly) in love with her boyfriend, Griffin, and enjoyed theatre and playing her ukulele.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Her hair was shown to be dyed at some points. Though it wasn't pink, she had an optimistic disposition which was shown toward everyone.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Averted. She did have feelings for Griffin, but it didn't overshadow her awareness of his unhealthy and violent tendencies. Before her death, she seemed horribly conscious that something would go wrong.
Claire Gorski
Claire is Haylie's quieter, less sociable younger sister. She's shown to be traumatised from Haylie's murder, after discovering the body at the age of thirteen.
- The Alcoholic: Her relationship with alcohol is clearly not healthy, with her topping up her Slushee with vodka so that she can drink in public without being noticed, or drinking enough at a club to pass out. It's understandable as one of her coping mechanisms with her trauma.
- Gamer Chick: Enjoys playing video games. It's implied that she was playing one whilst overhearing the beginning of Haylie's murder. According to
Word of God, she also has a Reddit account. - Hypocrite: Blames Milo for his involvement in her sister's murder. While she's somewhat justified in this regard, Claire refuses to associate with him and ignores the fact that he was just as traumatized by Griffin's actions as she was.
- One of Us: She explains the concept of
Fridge Horror to her friend, Aaron. - Revenge Myopia: Her speech about Haylie's Law makes it clear that she considers Milo to be an equal participant in Haylie's murder, even though it was shown in court that Milo didn't kill Haylie and was an accomplice after the fact, not before. She also intentionally deadnames Milo and Griffin both, even though she knew Griffin as Griffin when he was dating Haylie, and Milo had changed his name several years ago.
Other Characters
Xandra Blumberg
Vikki's close friend and high school ex-girlfriend.
- Amicable Exes: Though she and Vikki broke up in the past, they seem to get along well.
- Big Fun: She is fairly chubby, and generally laid-back and happy-go-lucky, especially compared to the rather angsty cast around her.
- Satellite Character: Only appears in scenes with Vikki, giving her someone to talk to about Milo.
- The Stoner: Has this general attitude.
Savannah Plunkett
Griffin's first murder victim.
- Posthumous Character: Her murder occurred years before the main timeline of the comic. For a while, even her picture on the comic's cast page was just of her tombstone.
Audrey Hill
Claire's girlfriend.
- Abusive Parents: Her father is an alcoholic who slut-shames her younger sister and resisted getting her younger brother the help he needed.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She got sent to a mental hospital after something happened that resulted in her winding up in the emergency room, banged up.
- Nice Girl: She's a genuinely sweet person.
Aaron
Claire's childhood friend.
- Nice Guy: They're a nice, level-headed person.
- Trans Tribulations: Aaron is introduced at the beginning of Victim Impact Statement as a cisgender boy, but about midway through the chapter, Aaron's transgender friends refer to them with the neutral pronoun, making it all the more hurtful when Claire refers to them as Aaron's "tranny friends".
