History Characters / JoeVsElanSchool

** Shortly after Joe comes home for good, his parents' first priority isn't to question his staph infection from Elan, but rather to parade him in front of the neighbors at a neighborhood gathering, to show off how "well adjusted and mature" he is.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: To Maria, but it's only mentioned in passing by the narration. After Joe and Maria get married and return to the United States for good, they move in with Joe's parents for a ''very'' short time. It doesn't take long for things to get bad, so the newlyweds very quickly move out and relocate far away to New York City.

* TrainingFromHell: Crowe knows how strict Elan is by controlling its students' compliance and access to the outside world, and uses that to his advantage, regularly pushing the kids in his charge past their breaking points knowing full well that ''they don't have a choice''. Joe even links to a ''Runner's World'' [[https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a18751357/eminem-lose-yourself-running-anthem/ article]] written by a female Elan survivor who was brutalized by Crowe's methods.

* BadBoss: Ron threatens Christy that he'll to go to "the top" -- meaning these three -- to get Joe to graduate.

!People from Joe's hometown

[[folder:P]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elan_p.jpg]]

P is one of Joe's two childhood best friends from before Elan, who was arrested for drug trafficking the same time as Joe -- the event which ultimately sends Joe to Elan. Joe eventually reunites with P shortly after leaving Elan.

* TheBusCameBack: He's a crucial part of Joe's backstory, and reappears in the story not long after Joe returns from Elan, but disappears from the story for a while after Joe goes to college, and doesn't reappear later on in the Chapter 80 WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. However, he later briefly shows up again during Joe's separation from Maria, and helps Joe get a job.
* {{Foil}}: P is for Joe's parents after Joe returns home. P very clearly sees from Joe's behavior that whatever happened to Joe during the three years was very traumatic, and asks him about it. Joe's parents, on the other hand, either [[DoesntKnowTheirOwnChild can't tell or are actively ignoring that anything's amiss with their own son]], and callously brush off Joe when he brings up their leaving him at Elan.
* OpenMindedParent: P's parents, when the boys get arrested with weed. They act amused, they chide the boys for getting caught, and they reflect on their own past marijuana usage as teens. Joe notes that he didn't realize parents could even ''be'' that cool, and contrasts them with [[KnightTemplarParent his own parents]].
* PleaBargain: P's parents are amused that P got caught by cops and indifferent to his marijuana use; they lawyer up and get him a plea bargain to get out of the drug trafficking charge in exchange for some community service.

[[folder:B]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elan_b.jpg]]

B is the other of Joe's two childhood best friends from before Elan, who was arrested the same night as Joe and P. Joe later reunites with B while in college.

* AddledAddict: He tries to get Joe to smoke meth with him, and he later shows up at Joe's doorstep practically salivating for money.
* {{Foil}}: As it turns out, B is one for P. After Joe's return, P comes to visit Joe, brings him some weed, and shows some genuine concern for his well-being. The years were less kind to B, as he shows up a few chapters later looking ''far'' worse for wear, gives Joe some LSD, and offers Joe some crystal meth. Unlike with P, Joe says that the "'spark' of friendship wasn't there and that sucked."
* PleaBargain: Just like P, B's parents lawyer up and get him a plea deal to get out of the drug trafficking charge in exchange for community service.
* PutOnABus: Lampshaded; B shows up at Joe's house in Chapter 70, looking drugged out and desperate for money, offering Joe a carrying case of CD's as collateral. Joe gives B $80, and never hears from him again.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Joe notices that his reunion with B didn't have the same "spark" that his reunion with P had. Later on, a strung-out B shows up at Joe's house begging for money; Joe gives B $80, and never hears from him again. Even worse, B is still alive in the present day, and refuses to talk to Joe for unknown reasons; Joe's narration talks about how Joe finds B on a Facebook business page years later. Joe sends a Facebook message to B's wife, who agrees to pass along a message, but then promptly ghosts Joe without another word.
-->'''Joe:''' ''[narrating]'' If by some crazy twist-of-fate you ever read this B, I'm not still mad about what happened, it was a long, long time ago and there is no reason to hide from it. We all go through shit in life and do things we regret. Really man, I just want to say hi to my old friend, even just over the phone...

[[folder:Chloe]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elan_chloe.jpg]]

Joe's close friend from before Elan, who he reunites with shortly after returning home.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Discussed by the narrative; Joe is of the opinion that this would've happened between him and Chloe if his parents hadn't sent him to Elan for three years. It's ultimately averted completely.
* ForWantOfANail: Joe says that if he hadn't been sent to Elan, a RelationshipUpgrade would have likely been the next step in his relationship with Chloe.
* FriendVersusLover: Downplayed. Chloe's new boyfriend seems (to Joe, at least) to be really irritated by Chloe making him stop the car so she can jump out and glomp Joe. Joe is amused by this.
* GirlNextDoor: Joe's narration says she was literally this.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Chloe is introduced in Chapter 63 as Joe's childhood friend, saying that they'd "done almost everything together up until the day Elan took me." She hadn't been mentioned at all in the story up to this point.
* SatelliteCharacter: Chloe only shows up in the story to show how much Joe's world has changed during his absence.

[[folder:Darren]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elan_darren.jpg]]

Joe's childhood bully, who Joe runs into about a month after returning from Elan.

* BullyingADragon: After lifting a bottle of beer from a neighborhood get-together shortly after returning from Elan, Joe runs into his childhood bully Darren hanging out with some other kids. Darren steals Joe's beer and mocks him, and Joe coldly tells him, "If your mouth touches my beer, I'm going to punch it." Darren laughs it off and starts to drink it, and Joe lays him out in one punch.
* EnemyEatsYourLunch: Subverted. Darren swipes a beer from Joe, and Joe decks him when Darren goes to take a sip.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: A downplayed example. Darren had spent years bullying Joe before Elan, then gets decked by Joe after Joe's return. That said, the act of punching Darren [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone still gives Joe pause]].

!People from Joe's college

[[folder:Eva]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elan_eva.jpg]]

Eva is a girl who Joe meets in college, who he starts a toxic relationship with.

* TheConfidant: Against Joe's better judgement, Gino -- who openly sees through and rejects Elan's bullshit -- becomes Joe's confidant. Joe acknowledges that his need for Gino's confidence is almost like an addiction, as it's one of the only "real" friendships he makes in Elan. This almost comes back to bite Joe when Gino starts naming people who'd confided in him, although Gino ultimately doesn't name Joe.

* SlutShaming: Part of Elan's modus operandi. Any contact between girls and boys, no matter how benign, is forbidden; and if a girl gets caught, the program makes an example out of her through slut shaming.

** At the very top is Jay Cirri, who runs the school but is more TheManBehindTheMan.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: When she's seen in Katie's chapter, she denies Katie's dorm breakfast for not correctly dusting the lampshades, and makes sexist remarks by yelling about how girls "were supposed to be better than the boys at these things," then ranting about how the girls will all end up as irredeemable prostitutes if they don't comply with her demands.

** It's a small moment, but at one point they talk about how difficult Joe's time at Elan was...for ''them''.

* HateSink: While there's a number of detestable people running Elan, Christy's cruelty gets a lot of attention, and Joe even introduces her by saying that he'd "grow to truly despise" her. She's one of the heads of Elan 8, and she directly causes much of the hardship that Joe endures, while characters like Cirri and other higher-ups are so far away that Joe only really understands the depths of their cruelty after the fact. Christy's actions are contrasted with Ron's -- Ron is a man who's much more directly vicious, but who Joe ends up [[EnemyMine befriending]]; and even though Joe still hates him, he admits that Ron shows him more respect than Christy ever did. It's ultimately Christy who extends Joe's stay at the school, which Ron objects to because Christy had became reliant on Joe to do her dirty work. At the end of his time at Elan, Joe is allowed to invite staff members to speak at his graduation; he invites Ron, whilst Christy invites herself.

* KnowledgeBroker: A major part of Gino's personality before, during, and after Elan; he's able to uncover information about other people and broker that knowledge to his own advantage. After they leave Elan, Joe points out that he has no idea how Gino is able to find out the exact room Joe is living at any given time.

* IShallTauntHim: Shortly after Christy is introduced in the comic, she's seen with Ron taunting Joe about being TheUnfavorite compared to his sister, and further taunting him when he flips out after Nathan accuses Joe of attempting to organize an escape. Taunts like this become normal for her.

* HateSink: While there's a number of detestable people running Elan, Christy's cruelty gets a lot of attention. She's one of the heads of the house that Joe is in, and she directly causes much of the hardship that Joe endures, while characters like Cirri and other higher-ups are so far away that Joe only really understands the depths of their cruelty after the fact. Christy's actions are contrasted with Ron's -- Ron is a man who's much more directly vicious, but who Joe ends up [[EnemyMine befriending]]; and even though Joe still hates him, he admits that Ron shows him more respect than Christy ever did. It's ultimately Christy who extends Joe's stay at the school, which Ron objects to because Christy had became reliant on Joe to do her dirty work. At the end of his time at Elan, Joe is allowed to invite staff members to speak at his graduation; he invites Ron, whilst Christy invites herself.

Matt is one of Joe's classmates at Elan, who Joe faces in "the Ring."

* InnocentBlueEyes: Matt, who mercifully refuses to fight an already beat-up Joe during Joe's first Ring, is depicted with blue eyes.

* KarmaHoudini: Joe mentions in the Chapter 80 WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue that Gino is making loads of money and traveling around with Ron to this very day, which can be taken to mean that Ron was never held culpable for his work at Elan and still lives comfortably.

* DumpedViaTextMessage: Or the late-90s equivalent. Eva's breaks up with Joe over the telephone rather than in person, and the conversation is basically a super-casual, "I don't wanna do a long distance thing, I took care of the abortion, we had fun, bye!"

'''Joe:''' ''[narrating]'' When I looked up at Gino, there was this faraway look on his face... and then he snapped out of it and acted like he was about to say something important. But he didn't. He made the wierdest face. Almost like he was angry and proud at the same time.\\

-->'''Gino:''' ''[mumbling]'' Of course it was.

* BefriendingTheEnemy: In Chapter 72, Gino tells Joe that he's on his way to Las Vegas to party with Ron; Joe is so shaken by this statement that he has no response. Gino later shows up again and says that he's gone into business with Ron, which Joe observes is likely selling drugs. According to the Chapter 80 WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, Joe says that Gino still travels around with Ron to this day; a few chapters later, Joe does an internet search and finds that another Elan survivor had accused Gino of being a recruiter for Elan.

* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: When Joe starts going after Elan in earnest after 2009, he hides his activities behind an alias so that he and his family aren't harassed by Elan acolytes (like Maura Curley was). Joe even introduces himself to Katie as "Dave." The only person who apparently learns his true name is Dee-Ray.

* TheBusCameBack: He runs into Joe in New York City, and they catch up on the subway.

* BigApplesauce: When Joe temporarily escapes Elan, he ends up in Brooklyn. Years later, he relocates to New York City with Maria.

* AddledAddict: In Chapter 85, Joe's narration strongly insinuates that Gino does drugs after excusing himself to the bathroom for a really long time; he spends part of their cab ride passed out. Eventually, as releaved in Chapter 98, he died from a drug overdose.

* BigApplesauce: Gino originally hails from Staten Island. As of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue in Chapter 80, however, Joe says that Gino has since left New York and primarily lives in another major metropolitan area.

* {{Foil}}: Gino for Joe. He's a few months younger than Joe, and because he's forced into Elan to get out of a supposedly worse sentence, he's arguably in a similar predicament that Joe was in at the beginning of the story. By the time Gino shows up, though, Joe has been in Elan for a few years and is pretty far into his own indoctrination. Gino openly ridicules many of the things about Elan that Joe himself ridiculed at the beginning of the story, and this serves as a brutal contrast to what Joe has become. Later on, though, it's turned on its head: Joe leaves Elan still hating Ron, while Gino has not only bonded with Ron (due to UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome), but has also gone into "business" with Ron. To cap it all, when Joe Googles Gino's name after seeing Gino wracked with religious guilt, he finds that Gino was listed as an ''Elan recruiter'' by another Elan survivor.

* HappyEndingOverride: Gino shows up a few chapters after the first WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, and Joe sees him strung out on some kind of drug, and wracked with some kind of religious guilt. Joe eventually Googles Gino's name and finds out that Gino was accused of being an Elan recruiter. Gino then eventually dies from a drug overdose some years later, the day before he was secluded to go to prison for an undisclosed crime.

* AddledAddict: In Chapter 85, Joe's narration strongly insinuates that Gino does drugs after excusing himself to the bathroom for a really long time; he spends part of their cab ride passed out.

* HappyEndingOverride: Gino shows up a few chapters after the first WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, and Joe sees him strung out on some kind of drug, and wracked with some kind of religious guilt. Joe eventually Googles Gino's name and finds out that Gino was accused of being an Elan recruiter.

* HappyEndingOverride: Chapter 80 sees Joe marrying the love of his life and moving to New York City. Subsequent chapters describe how their living and financial arrangements are less than optimal, how his obsession with taking down Elan affects his mental health, and how his marriage disintegrates.

* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: When Joe starts going after Elan in earnest after 2009, he hides his activities behind an alias so that he and his family aren't harassed by Elan acolytes (like Maura Curley was). Joe even introduces himself to Katie as "Dave." The only person who knows his true name is Dee-Ray.

** Joe notes that there were a wide gamut of reasons why kids were put into the Elan School. You had genuinely dangerous juvenile delinquents mixed in with kids who had minor legal charges, kids who had talked back to their parents, kids from strict religious families, kids like Julian who were dumped there by an uncaring foster system, or kids like Katie and Sandra who were put there supposedly because they needed "structure." Regardless of the reasons why anyone was there, though, the program's brutal "therapy" was exactly the same for all inmates, and was not tailored to their individual situations.