Characters / Karel En De Kindermoordenaar

This page lists the characters that appear in Karel En De Kindermoordenaar.

Karel

The protagonist, he lives with his aunt and uncle ever since his parents died in a car accident, which still haunts him. Worse yet is that he becomes the target of the child murderer and begins to fear for his own life.

• Angst: And boatloads of it.
• Despair Event Horizon: When he realizes he'll never be able to escape the child murderer and will surely die, Karel loses all hope and breaks down crying.
• Deus Angst Machina: His whole life seems to be engineered to make him as miserable as possible.
• Embarrassing Nickname: He hates being called Kareltje (the diminutive form of his name) by aunt Alebes, saying that he's not a cat in response.
• A Good Way to Die: When then child murderer offers him to choose how he's gonna die, Karel decides he wants to die a hero. He gets his wish as he dies saving Engeltje from drowning.
• Inelegant Blubbering: His sorrow regarding his parents leads to a lot of this, much to his embarrassment.
• Intergenerational Friendship: While he has no friends his age, he gets along well with Mr. Olivier, Mr. Bult and Mrs. Droog.
• Parental Abandonment: A car accident will do that to you.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: As the child murderer can only get to him when he's alone, he asks Esther to walk him home every day for a while. However, as she constantly wants money, drinks or snacks in return, this quickly loses its appeal to Karel.
• Super Swimming Skills: Karel often takes pride in how well he can swim, considering he sucks at every other physical skill. It's what allows him to save Engeltje from drowning, but doesn't save him when he drowns in the process.
• Heroic Suicide: He wants to die a hero and gets his wish, saving Engeltje from drowning with his last breath.
• Mind over Matter: As a ghost, he's one of very few individuals capable of interacting with the physical world when he concentrates hard enough.
• The Hero Dies

The Child Murderer

A perfectly ordinary looking adult man wearing glasses, a blue t-shirt, and jeans, but he actively pursues and murders children.

• Affably Evil: He's calm and polite most of the time, only getting slightly annoyed when Karel insists he doesn't want to die.
• Anti-Villain: He's not strictly evil, he's just doing his job.
• Improbable Weapon User: Wields a seemingly perfectly ordinary everyday pair of scissors, except for the fact that they can cut right through someone and not harm them physically.
• Intangible Man: Claims to be able to pass through walls and ceilings to go wherever he pleases. Given his tendency to pop up when least expected, he's probably not lying.
• Invisible to Normals: Nobody but Karel ever realizes he even exists.
• Offscreen Teleportation: He comes and goes as he pleases and constantly catches Karel off-guard when he does.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Karel remarks this on first meeting him.
• Psychopomp: He's one specifically for children, and calls himself "Death's little helper".
• Really 700 Years Old: Claims to have been Death's servant for around 2,000 years now.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: His calm demeanor contrasts heavily to how casually he talks about killing others.
• When I Was Your Age...: At one point he remarks how kids nowadays are so hesitant about dying, and how in the old days, poor, starving kids were all too happy to get pox or bubonic plague from him.
• Would Hurt a Child: Duh.

Engeltje

Karel's next door neighbor and classmate, a boy so adored by others for how nice he is that everyone calls him "Engeltje" (little angel). In actuality his niceness is all an act, so others get him whatever he wants and he can relentlessly bully Karel.

• Big Eater: He gets a lot of snacks for being such a good boy, which he happily accepts.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's only nice in the presence of adults. Around Karel he's a constant pest.
• Fat Bastard: He's often described as being quite pudgy. He's also a bully and a hypocrite.
• Hidden Depths: Despite their animosity, him and Karel spend one day rummaging through aunt Alebes and uncle Pronk's attic together, dressing up in their old wedding clothes and having a good laugh about the whole affair.
• Implausible Hair Color: He somehow has white hair.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Jozef, but after his mother starts calling him Engeltje this becomes the only thing anyone ever calls him.
• Ungrateful Bastard: After being saved from drowning at the cost of Karel's own life, his only thought is that he'd have saved himself had Karel not intervened.

Mr. Olivier

Karel's elementary school teacher and Reasonable Authority Figure. He's incredibly understanding of Karel's grief but urges him to try and not let it control his life. Fond of playing the violin in class.

• Cool Teacher: He's well-liked by the kids for never giving them grades, playing the violin in class, and just being generally agreeable.
• Mr. Exposition: He explains a great deal to Karel (and the audience by proxy) about human beliefs regarding death and the afterlife.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's one of the few people who realizes what a profound effect Karel's circumstances have on him and does his best to help however he can.

Aunt Alebes

• Actually Pretty Funny: When she sees Karel and Engeltje dress up in old wedding clothes while they're supposed to be cleaning up the attic, she can't help herself and laughs uncontrollably about the whole affair.
• Big Eater: The biggest there is. Her constant binge eating is a constant source of humor and endless frustration for stingy uncle Pronk.
• Catchphrase: "Jeetje me reetje"
• Fat Bastard: She's "big enough to fit three Karels inside of her" and not particularly mindful towards her nephew's feelings.
• Jabba Table Manners
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: She's the huge girl to Pronk's tiny guy.

Uncle Pronk

Karel's uncle. Fussy and stingy, he often complains loudly about how much money he has to pay for Karel's education and Alebes' gluttony.

• Drives Like Crazy: After he leaves a card tournament empty-handed, he gets quite irate.
• Henpecked Husband: Downplayed; while he's not afraid to speak his mind, he's actually kinda scared of his wife and begrudgingly accedes to her whims.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: He's the tiny guy to Alebes' huge girl, described as being "skinny as a matchstick".

Karel's Mother

Died in the hospital from injuries sustained in the same accident that claimed her husband's life. In life she was apparently rather fussy to Karel's chagrin, but he nonetheless misses her very much.

• Barred from the Afterlife: Her Unfinished Business ties her down to earth and leaves her in a permanent state of grief.
• No Name Given: We never learn her first name nor is Karel's family name ever mentioned.
• Posthumous Character
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Her miserable existence in the afterlife has caused her to look a bit worse for wear. She returns to normal after her Unfinished Business is cleared up.
• Unfinished Business: Her tea set is incomplete until Karel uses his ghostly gifts to return her last cup to her.
• Walking Spoiler

Karel's Father

Died in a car accident. He was something of a slob in life. Karel misses him greatly.

• Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: He spends some time in the afterlife exploring the other planes of existence, until his son dies and he comes back to meet him.
• No Name Given: We never learn his first name nor is Karel's family name ever mentioned.
• Posthumous Character
• Together in Death: Dies together with his wife, later he meets up with his son in the afterlife after he dies too.
• Walking Spoiler

Mr. Bult

An older gentleman who together with Mrs. Droog often goes to visit the grave of his deceased wife at the cemetery, and meets Karel there.

• Can't Spit It Out: His feelings towards Mrs. Droog.

Mrs. Droog

An older widow who together with Mr. Bult often goes to visit the grave of her deceased husband at the cemetery, and meets Karel there.

• Can't Spit It Out: Her feelings towards Mr. Bult.
• Parental Substitute: She has a very motherly relationship with Karel, comforting him and giving him advice.

Esther

A classmate of Karel's, she walks Karel home for a while to help him avoid the child murderer, but uses him to get money or goodies in return.

• Gold Digger: A minor case. She's only interested in Karel because he'll pay her for snacks and drinks.
• My Beloved Smother: She notes that her mother would freak out if she saw her and Karel together.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: She has an aunt who works at a funeral home, who lets her and Karel see the body of a deceased young girl there. Esther thinks she looks like she's sleeping while Karel is significantly more disturbed.
• Ship Tease: The two of them start blushing when they agree to go for a walk together. Nothing comes of it however, as Karel notes he's more interested in Yolanda.