The character page for Within Lapenko. Only spoilers for the final episodes of seasons 3 and 4 are marked.
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Introduced in season 1
Engineer
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Batman Grabs a Gun: When Grigoriy offers Engineer to help him stop Natella using dangerous chemicals, he refuses, saying that violence will lead to more violence. He changes his mind after he sees Crimson Phantomas and Gvidon losing their instruments, Igor Katamaranov losing his booze and the lady getting evicted from her flat.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He can be really dangerous when he gets angry.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He is so dreamy that he can easily get distracted by "Look! There is a bird!" and spend the rest of the day trying to notice the bird.
- Girlfriend in Canada: He always talks about his girlfriend, but nobody else sees her. And for a good reason, as the lady doesn't really exist. Engineer created the lady in his mind to cope with loneliness and stress. He gets so obsessed with her that he rejects a real girl because of his loyalty to an imaginary one.
- Kubrick Stare: Engineer has one when he shoots Grigoriy in season one finale.
- Leitmotif: Most of his monologues start with Kalina
by Orizont. - Nerd Glasses: It's obligatory for such kind of characters.
- No Name Given: Even after three seasons, we still don't know his name.
- Real Men Wear Pink: His skiing suit has prominent pink details.
- Save the Villain: He does that by saving Grigoriy from drowning. And it leads to their friendship.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He believes that all people are good and even thinks Iron Sleeves are just pretending to be bad guys.
Crimson Phantomas (Roza Robot and Shershnyaga)
Played by: Anton Lapenko (both), Rodion Lapenko (Shershnyaga in the background)
Roza Robot (left), Shershnyaga (right)
Engineer's neighbors and a rock band. Roza Robot is the singer and the guitarist. Shershnyaga (Yakov Shershanskiy) is the drummer. Their goal is to finish their album and become famous.- The Alcoholic: As aspiring rock stars, both of them drink quite a lot.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Roza Robot's real name is Leonid Weisenberg. This last name is associated with Germans or Jews.
- Animal Motifs: Shershnyaga's nickname is based on the Russian word meaning "hornet".
- Bros Before Hoes: That has always been clear for Roza Robot. Shershnyaga accepts that after his misfortune with Roza Krepygina.
- Chubby Chaser: Shershnyaga is one.
- Cool Shades: Both of the musicians wear them. Shershnyaga's are more like Round Hippie Shades.
- Driven to Suicide: Roza Robot couldn't get over Shershnyaga's betrayal in season three and went drowning his sorrows and himself.
- '80s Hair: In season 4, Roza Robot sports a mullet.
- Energetic and Soft-Spoken Duo: Roza Robot speaks most of the time. Shershnyaga is not so talkative.
- Escaped from Hell: Roza Robot did this very easily by teaching Satan's son how to play the guitar.
- Flower Motifs: Roza is "rose" in Russian and it is also a female name. A strange choice of a nickname for a male rock guitarist.
- I Am the Noun: One of their songs is called I Am Crimson Phantomas. After Shershnyaga leaves the band, Roza Robot says: "Now I am Crimson, and I am Phantomas."
- I Call It "Vera": Shershnyaga calls his drum set Lucifer's Feet. Roza Robot's guitar is Black Widow.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Shershnyaga has them, he and God are the only Anton Lapenko's characters whose eyes are not brown.
- Named in the Sequel: Technically, Named In The Prequel. The future Roza Robot's grandmother calls him Lyonya (short for Leonid) before sending him to the summer camp.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: They were heavily inspired by amateur rock bands that appeared in Russia in the 80's and the 90's. Their band's name is similar to Black Obelisk.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Roza Robot's real name is not mentioned in seasons 1-3. Subverted with Shershnyaga.
- Pals with Jesus: Both of them died, made friends with God and came back to life. And also both of them made God angry.
- Shot in the Ass: Roza Robot, courtesy of Drop Dead or Die host mistaking him for a panda.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Roza Robot's "nakhren", which he often says, is a low-grade swear word.
- Those Two Guys: They always stick together for the first two seasons.
- Too Dumb to Live: Shershnyaga died trying to fix electricity with bare hands. And Roza Robot deliberately got run over by a car. Luckily for them, they live in the world where Death Is Cheap.
- Untranslated Catchphrase: Roza Robot often says "you know" in English.
- Younger Than They Look: Shershnyaga is only 21 in season one. Roza Robot had always thought Shershnyaga was a "young grandpa" before he learned that.
Journalist (Yuri Grachevich)
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Cloudcuckoolander: During one of his investigations, he tries to ask trees, ants and mushrooms about radioactive swamps.
- Dirty Coward: When Yuri and Engineer are caught by Iron Sleeves, the former states he's not afraid of them and urges them to show how evil they are by shooting... not him, but Engineer.
- Distressed Dude: He gets abducted by Iron Sleeves for his investigation. Fortunately, Engineer saves him.
- Foreshadowing: A subtle one that only Russian speakers could understand. In Richard's fairy tale, he is depicted as a rook ("grach" in Russian). And later it is revealed that his last name is Grachevich.
- It's All About Me: One of his first decisions as the director of Channel Nine is to show The Mystery of the Hole, which is his programme, non-stop.
- Large Ham: Only when he is recording The Mystery of the Hole. When the camera is off, not so much.
- Leitmotif: Time Forward by Georgiy Sviridov.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Yuri came up with an idea to poison Richard during the latter's wedding with Tatiana. He failed because Richard drinks only from his own bottle.
- Nostalgic Narrator: He has this function, telling about the events that happened in the summer camp to his actually Richard's daughter in 1996. Whether he was involved in 1971 events remains to be seen.
Grigoriy Strelnikov
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Big Bad: Of season one.
- Big Good: He surprisingly becomes one by the second half of season two.
- Conspicuous Gloves: He wears them all the time and never takes them off, which causes some difficulties for him, such as inability to use the phone or put on a wedding ring.
- Cool Shades: He always wears them.
- Ex-Big Bad: He stays in the show after losing his Big Bad status.
- Faking the Dead: Grigoriy decided to stay "dead" after season one in order to have leaders of other gangs killed at his own funeral.
- Light Is Not Good: He wears a white coat, but he is the boss of Iron Sleeves.
- Mad Libs Catchphrase:Grigoriy Strelnikov: As Americans say, [first part of the quote], [weak second part of the quote].
- The Mafiya: Obviously.
- Not Me This Time: Grigoriy claims he hasn't stolen Engineer's lottery ticket. It turns out he's right. Too bad for the seven Iron Sleeves killed by Engineer...
- Our Presidents Are Different: Grigoriy is President Target, Iron and Minority (until recovery).
- Papa Wolf: Grigoriy loves his son actually nephew so much that he is ready to instantly get rid of his disability to save him.
- Same Clothes, Different Year: In season 4, he wears the same coat as he does later as an adult.
Iron Sleeves
Played by: Anton Lapenko's brothers
with their boss
Three underlings of Grigoriy Strelnikov: the gun man, the synthesizer man and the phone man, who is later revealed to be Grigoriy's son (and later revealed to be Zakhar's son).- Ascended Extra: The phone man got a more significant role (and a name reveal) in season 3.
- Cool Shades: All three members have them.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: There used to be a female member of their gang, but she disappeared after her Fanservice scene in season one premiere.
- Foreshadowing: After a few phone calls from an unknown woman in season 1, Grigoriy says to the phone man: "Your mom called", referring to Natella. Later the viewers find out that Grigoriy is Natella's husband and the phone man's father. Or uncle.
- Left the Background Music On: The synthesizer man is the source of this gag.
- No Name Given: Played Straight with the gun man and the synthesizer man. The phone man's name is Artyom Strelnikov.
- The Quiet One: They don't speak much.
- Recurring Extra: Out of all characters not played by Anton Lapenko, they have most appearances in the show.
Natella Strelnikova
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Asshole Victim: Even the other members of Iron Heels weren't really upset after she died.
- Big Bad: In season two.
- Early-Bird Cameo: She appears in season one as an unnamed prostitute.
- Expy: Natella Strelnikova is a psychotic mob boss with pale skin and an evil look. She has an Evil Laugh, and Anton Lapenko conceals his moustache when he plays her. She's obviously based on one certain Clown Prince of Crime...
- Killed Off for Real: In the show where Death Is Cheap, Natella is the only character who died and didn't come back.
- Non-Standard Character Design: She is the only character played by Anton Lapenko who doesn't have a moustache. And there is a reason for it.
- Not Quite Dead: Natella wasn't killed by Richard because it was Drop Dead or Die host disguised as her. And even he didn't drop dead or die.
- Our Presidents Are Different: Natella is President Evil, Jerkass and Minority.
- President Evil: She is really ruthless when she becomes a President.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: In season two finale, Natella bans all kinds of art and starts mass production of heels, making factories in living areas.
Igor Katamaranov
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- The Alcoholic: Obviously.
- Almighty Janitor: He is much tougher than he looks.
- Ascended Extra: In seasons 1-3, Katamaranov is just a Running Gag. In season 4, he is the Deuteragonist of the story.
- Big Damn Heroes: He is the one who saves Engineer from drowning in season two.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: No one takes him seriously until it is too late.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When the barn with the lady inside was on fire, Katamaranov and Engineer rushed to save her. Engineer and the lady made it out alive, but Katamaranov couldn't get out before the explosion. He survived, but Came Back Wrong.
- Homeless Hero: He doesn't have a permanent home and lives wherever he can.
- The Pig-Pen: He always has dirt on his face.
- Thrill Seeker: He gets into risky situations just for fun.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In season 4, young Katamaranov is a Soviet equivalent of a boy scout. Who could expect him to become a homeless alcoholic 15 years later?
Colonel Sergei Zhilin
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Back from the Dead: Zhilin was killed by Iron Heels for betraying Natella. But Gvidon somehow managed to bring him back to life.
- Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: Zhilin sees Engineer leaving the restaurant where someone has just killed seven Iron Sleeves... and thinks the culprit is Igor Katamaranov. Then he stops pursuing Katamaranov after the latter seemingly drowned in the swamp without even looking for his body.
- Born Detective: He's been interested in detective stories and spying since childhood.
- Colonel Badass: Subverted. He is too incompetent for the rank of colonel.
- Generation Xerox: In season 4, his father looks the same as the older Zhilin himself in seasons 1-3.
- Enemy Mine: He teams up with Iron Sleeves (an organised crime group) to stop Natella.
- Heel–Face Turn: He used to be bribed by Natella until he blew up her house instead of the restaurant full of the show's main cast.
- Last-Name Basis: Everybody calls him Zhilin in seasons 1-3. His first name (Sergei) is mentioned only in season 4.
- Like Father, Like Son: His father was also a cop.
- Oddly Small Organization: He is the only cop shown in the city where the show takes place.
Richard Sapogov
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Big Damn Heroes: He is the one who enters the burning Channel Nine building and saves Yuri.
- Bizarre Beverage Use: He uses whiskey as a perfume.
- But Not Too Foreign: His first name is English, and his last name is Russian.
- Camp Straight: He has a feminine fairstyle and likes fashion a lot, but he is interested only in Tatiana.
- Domestic Abuse: He gets really abusive with Tatiana when she accuses him of selling out to Natella.
- Enemy Mine: A very brief one during the duel with Yuri. When Yuri drops his glasses, Richard picks them up and puts them on him. Yuri thanks him, and they continue fighting.
- Fauxreigner: His real name is Kirill Sapozhkin, and he is a Russian pretending to be an American.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: He is a big fan of American culture despite not being American himself.
- Funny Foreigner: His English accent is occasionally made fun of.
- Good Costume Switch: Yuri spills coffee on his waistcoat, forcing him to replace it with a nerdy sweater. That marks the beginning of his Heel–Face Turn.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Tatiana saved Yuri and knocked Richard out during their wedding using the vertical BBQ grill, which was Richard's wedding gift to her.
- Leitmotif: Stopp, Seisku Aeg! by Velly Joonas.
- Misery Builds Character: His Character Development starts when he loses his job and becomes a school teacher.
- Never Gets Drunk: He is almost always seen with a glass of whiskey, but his behaviour doesn't change no matter how much he drinks.
- Older Than They Look: In season 4, he is a young adult working as a counselor in the summer camp. That makes him older than the likes of Engineer, Roza Robot, Zhilin, the Strelnikov brothers and Natella.
- Poirot Speak: He sometimes switches to English and tends to add "-able" suffix to Russian adjectives.
- Sliding Scale of Beauty: He has a huge in-universe fanbase because of his looks, so he is World Class Beauty.
- Waistcoat of Style: An important part of his suit.
Tatiana Vosmiglazova
Played by: Anton Lapenko, unknown actress (stripping scene body double)
- Beehive Hairdo: Downplayed. Her hairstyle, along with heels, makes her look tall.
- Demoted to Extra: In season 4, she appears only for one moment in 1996.
- The Ditz: She's not good with numbers. During the lottery, she gets a ball with number 24, but says "100!".
- Girls with Moustaches: Neither Richard nor Yuri seems to be bothered by this.
- Ms. Fanservice: She can be considered this in the stripping scene if the viewer can forget that she's played by a man with facial hair in all other appearances.
- Sliding Scale of Beauty: She is considered World Class Beauty in-universe.
- The Smurfette Principle: In season one, she was the only named female character. Natella showed up as an unnamed prostitute, and we still don't know the lady's name.
- Statuesque Stunner: Due to wearing heels, she is taller than all other characters played by Anton Lapenko (except Cobra).
- The Unintelligible: The way she speaks until the accident with the arrow. The only characters who understand what she says without the arrow are Richard, Zhilin and Taxi Driver.
Vsevolod Starozubov
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Bit Character: He doesn't take part in any storyline and shows up only to sing his songs.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Vsevolod is inspired by Soviet singers from the 60's and the 70's. His song, Lalahey, is quite similar to the famous song of Eduard Khil, known as Mr. Trololo.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Whenever he appears, he always wears a suit.
Viktor Vishnevskiy
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Aerith and Bob: Viktor is a common name in Russia. His brother's name, Gvidon, is quite rare and usually appears in fairy tales.
- Older Than They Look: He is roughly 75 years old, but there is not a single grey hair on his beard.
- Promotion to Parent: It is implied that he started taking care of Gvidon after their parents had been taken away.
- Young and in Charge: He became the institute's director at the age of 10.
Drop Dead or Die host
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Character Tics: His hands are always in the posture shown in his picture.
- Crazy-Prepared: Played for Laughs. He always has the life-saving stuff with him, but he may lose the keys to the car where this stuff is.
- Leitmotif: Fatal Fight by Shockwave-Sound.
- Literal-Minded: All participants of Zarnitsa must wear shoulder straps. The future host takes this way too literally and sews the straps to his bare shoulders instead of clothes.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In season 4 finale, he makes the fireworks and saves the final concert. However, his careless usage of the fireworks leads to the barn full of turpentine exploding, Katamaranov turning into the permanent alcoholic and the lady leaving the city and breaking Engineer's heart.
- No Name Given: He doesn't mention his name.
- Out of Focus: After a few remarkable appearances in season one, he shows up only once in season two and a couple of times for product placements in season three.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: In season 4, he works as an instructor and teaches kids to breathe underwater.
- Unexplained Recovery: He can get shot in the back or be attacked by a mutant rat, but he will always come back for the next programme.
Mark Bagdasarov
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Corrupt Politician: Iron Sleeves paid him to get rid of the institute and build a market instead of it.
- Put on a Prison Bus: He gets arrested in season one and appears again only in mid-credits scene in season three finale.
- Tattooed Crook: He got a lot of tattoos while serving time.
News Host
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Motor Mouth: He tends to speak quite fast.
- Mr. Exposition: His function is to describe offscreen events to the viewers.
- No Name Given: His programme is so short that he has no time to introduce himself.
Introduced in season 2
Gvidon Vishnevskiy
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Aerith and Bob: Two brothers are named Viktor (a common name) and Gvidon (a name usually seen in fairy tales).
- Back-Alley Doctor: When characters are in big trouble, they ask him for healing.
- Portal Picture: He has made two of them: Absolute Entrance and Absolute Exit.
- Starving Artist: He is heavily implied to be this.
- Summon Magic: He summons spirits to help him during the final battle against Natella.
God
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: He and Satan are friends in this show.
- Air Guitar: He can play this, as well as Air Drums.
- Cool Old Guy: He is very laid-back and likes driving his car, fishing and listening to rock music.
- Cool Shades: His ones are similar to Roza Robot's.
- Given Name Reveal: His name is Sasha (short for Alexander).
- Grandpa God: Just look at his picture.
Satan
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Unlike most of his counterparts, this Satan is God's friend and doesn't do anything evil.
- Good Parents: He is really concerned about his son's guitarist competition. He even asks his favourite guitarist, Roza Robot, to teach his son.
- Horns of Villainy: His ones are quite small.
- I Gave My Word: He released Roza Robot from hell because of this.
- Out of Focus: He has much less screen time than God.
Iron Heels
Played by: Anton Lapenko's brothers
with their boss
Natella's gang and rivals to Iron Sleeves.- All Girls Want Bad Boys: They start dating Iron Sleeves in season two finale.
- Distaff Counterpart: To background Iron Sleeves.
- Karma Houdini: They don't get any punishment for helping Natella after her death.
- Left the Background Music On: The saxophone girl plays the same tune every time Natella shows up.
Taxi Driver
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He never introduces himself.
- Product Placement: That's the entire purpose of this character.
- Verbal Tic: He often uses some unusual sayings invented by him.
Zakhar Strelnikov
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Big Bad: Of season 3.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He appears in season 2 finale as Natella's Mook. His name and story are revealed in season 3.
- Evil Chancellor: He was this in Grigoriy's government.
- Putting on the Reich: Does his Mook uniform remind you of anything?
The false lady
Played by: Irina Gorbacheva
- Ambiguous Situation: After the reveal from season three finale, it is unknown whether she really exists or she is also made up by Engineer.
- Non-Standard Character Design: She is the only character with speaking lines who is played by a woman.
- The Un-Reveal: By the end of season two, the audience may think she is the lady, but she is actually not.
Introduced in season 3
Zina Kashina
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- All Love Is Unrequited: The intern has a crush on her, she is in love with Engineer, who has a girlfriend who doesn't really exist.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: She makes mistakes all the time.
- Girls with Moustaches: Like most of the women in this show, she has a moustache.
Roza Krepygina
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Big Beautiful Woman: She is much chubbier than all other characters played by Anton Lapenko.
- Domestic Abuse: Does this to Shershnyaga and then to Cobra.
- Girls with Moustaches: It's normal for this show.
- Yoko Oh No: Shershnyaga's interest in her leads to the breakup of Crimson Phantomas. The band reunites only after she is revealed to be an abuser.
Cobra
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- Animal Motifs: Apart from calling himself Cobra, he has snake-like eyes and teeth.
- It's All About Me: When he joins Crimson Phantomas, he (a non-singing drummer) puts himself in the center of the stage instead of Roza Robot (the band's lead singer and guitarist).
- Ladykiller in Love: An extreme version. He becomes a slave on Roza Krepygina's leash after he starts dating her.
- Lead Drummer: Invoked by Cobra himself in both of the bands he played in.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He is the tallest character played by Anton Lapenko, has dark hair and a lot of groupies.
Margarita Sapogova
Played by: Anton Lapenko
- All There in the Script: Her name is given only in the credits for season 3 finale.
- Like Father, Like Son: The viewers can understand who her father is by her glasses and facial expression.
- Walking Spoiler: Her last name is marked as a spoiler for a reason.
Introduced in season 4
The lady (Unmarked spoilers)
Played by: unknown actress (hallucination, seasons 1-3), Anton Lapenko (the real lady, season 4)
