Kevin & Kell by Bill Holbrook
Tyler Meadowvole: You have complicated friends.
Coney Dewclaw: I attract them.
Coney Dewclaw: I attract them.
These characters are friends and peers of Coney Dewclaw. Most were born during the early years of the comic before Bill Holbrook began aging his characters in roughly real-time. Most of them currently go to Happy Little Offspring School—previously they went to Happy Little Predator Preschool and and Happy Little Forager Preschool before the latter's closing resulted in them merging. This circle includes friends seen at their Summer Camp, which was originally also separated by diet but later semi-integrated.
Collective Tropes
- Appearance Angst: Zig-zagged between Lin and Coney in the 2021 Summer Camp arc. Initially, Lin was worried about her awkwardness
from growing several inches. But throughout, Coney herself had angst initially from not growing like Lin, and soon enough from the realization that she's the shortest of her circle of friends to the point of even being shorter than the younger Francis. - Badass Adorable: Coney definitely keeps good friends. Just like her, all of them are this in one way or another. Especially the predators, though the herbivores (Wendell and Tyler) are resourceful enough to have their way as well.
- Power Trio: Particularly Coney, Lin, and Wendell, especially since they will be together for Easter Bunny duty in 2024. Coney lampshaded it after their first planning session:Kell: Sounds like old times.
Coney: We're a team again!
Harcourt Silvertip (Bear)
The son of Bob and Minora Silvertip, he was introduced as a baby cub during their intro storyline where they reunited with Minora's parents, Manny and Marjorie Ursal. They all moved to Florida at one point, but the Silvertips decided to return to Domain to live. He ended up in Coney's carnivore preschool; difficulties learning to be a predator after his parents originally tried to live as herbivores (which they stopped doing and returned to being omnivores) was one of his early character traits since his return.- The Bus Came Back: He was reintroduced in 2013 after the entire Ursal clan moved away from Domain nine years prior, doubtless to give Coney another friend to connect with.
- Ship Tease: A lot with Coney. A prominent example was her hugging him to encourage him to be a better hunter. It lasted long enough supposedly so that her scent covered his so he could get the drop on something, but it definitely was motivation in and of itself.Harcourt: TO THE HUNT!
- Another example would be Coney and Harcourt dressing up like Fiona and Rudy in a 2014 comic:Coney: How do I look, Harcourt?
Harcourt: How do I look?
- Another example would be Coney and Harcourt dressing up like Fiona and Rudy
Wendell Luckyfoot (Rabbit)
Coney's cousin, Kevin and Danielle's nephew (his mother Prudence is one of Kevin's other sisters). Frequently challenged Rudy's position as the Easter Bunny. Even more of a loner than Kevin was. He was finally named as the area's Easter Bunny for the 2024 season, with Lin and Coney as his bodyguards, and Miranda overseeing.- Accidental Hero: At the Happy Little Forager Preschool, Wendell was the only one with the fighting ability to stand up to Hockley. This turned the young boar's focus away from bullying the other students and more towards to trying to get rid of him. Coney even namedrops the trope, leading him to exasperation:Wendell: I didn't even know I was protecting anyone!
- Card-Carrying Villain: Not exactly a villain, but open and proud about being a trouble-maker. As he puts it in one strip, "I take pride in my roguery."
- Expy: Of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes fame, a strip Bill Holbrook is a huge fan of.
- Deadpan Snarker: One of his defining traits.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Dorothy blithely reveals she's his grandmother when he wonders why his phone is vibrating after she texts all her children and grandchildren.
- Oblivious to Love: Never has quite cottoned on to the fact Lin is smitten with him. Then again...
- Tsundere: ...perhaps Wendell does have feelings for Lin that he's not ready to admit. As time goes on, he may be developing these tendencies regarding Lin's crush on him:
- He got upset with Lin when she gave Hockley a kiss to try to get him jealous.
- And he also got mad at Tyler when he offered to be her valentine to try to get her off his back.Commenter: Silly Tyler. He doesn't want to not be her Valentine!
- And he accidentally revealed his feelings during an Easter Bunny planning exercise:Lin: The same path every Easter?
Wendell: No! We change it so we're not predictable to predators! …And so different kids can find the eggs!
Lin: But… every year, you left eggs for me—YOU DO CARE!
Wendell: *cringe*
Coney: (facepalm) Moving on…
- He got upset with Lin when she gave Hockley a kiss
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Can pass for his cousin Coney with just a wig.
Francis Fennec (Human)
Originally a very indescript furry creature with large ears that liked to climb things like a primate. Eventually shed his fur and became a human like his mother originally was.- Homeschooled Kids: Due to Francis being highly unpredictable, his parents decided it was safer for him to be homeschooled.
- The Jinx: The kid causes chaos no matter where he goes, often just by being himself.
- Meaningful Name: Francis is named after Fran Caudal, who was the midwife for his birth.
- The Nose Knows: Subverted. While a study concluded that humans sense of smell is just as or even more powerful as any other mammal he relies more on his eyes for details rather than his sense of smell. Not that this makes him unaware of his world compared to his friends, as relying on his sight is what allowed him to learn that Rudy was the Easter Bunny from a young age.
- Plot-Powered Stamina: One of Francis' recognized advantages as a human is greater stamina than most animal species.
- The Speechless: He spent a great deal of time in this trope; prior to 2021, the number of times he was seen speaking could be counted on one hand. As the characters began to regularly age, he finally began speaking normally with the 2021 Summer Camp arc.
Lin Lee (Tiger/Cat)
Quickly became best friends with Coney when she started in carnivore preschool.- Ambiguous Situation: Her mother is biologically a cat. Her father appears to actually be a tiger, but (along with his name) that is not canonically known for certain.
- Coming of Age Story: Got a thread of this when she roared for the first time
- Did Not Think This Through: She can be impulsive at times, such as kissing Hockley to make Wendell jealous, never thinking that the boar would then get a crush on her.
- Interspecies Romance: Well, she certainly wants one with Wendell, though he still hasn't reciprocated her crush.
- Operation: Jealousy: Lin has a crush on Wendell. Wendell didn't care. Lin impulsively kissed Hockley to make Wendell jealous, causing the boar to form an unwanted crush on her, and Wendell to be upset.
- Rebellious Princess: She likes to buck against her Tiger Mom's authority on occasion. She was also particularly proud of the fact that they were busted for breaking the rules at Carnivore Summer Camp three years in a row.
- This has accelerated as of late 2021. Mei-Li, who has been directing Lin toward the legal profession, began to insist she dress professionally, and Lin rebelled by instead wearing dresses all the time. Even as it complicated her friendship with Coney.Mei-Li: Actually, I'd have preferred she'd gone goth...
- This has accelerated as of late 2021. Mei-Li, who has been directing Lin toward the legal profession, began to insist she dress professionally, and Lin rebelled by instead wearing dresses
- Secret-Keeper: She became this in regards to Domain's Easter Bunny franchise when she figured out who all the principles connected to in 2018.Lin: (to Coney) Spill.
- Coney kept Lin quiet by intimating that one day, when her crush Wendell became the Easter Bunny, he would need a bodyguard of his own. Which is currently set to become reality in the 2024 Easter season (though Coney will also be a bodyguard).
- Coney kept Lin quiet by intimating that one day, when her crush Wendell became the Easter Bunny, he would need a bodyguard
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Enforced with Lin's ongoing wardrobe rebellion, as she's always wearing dresses, and Coney has remained more tomboyish. They were fairly similar in wardrobe prior to the fall of 2021.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Seems to have this dynamic with Harcourt. Summed up thusly at the end of the 2013 Summer Camp arc when the kids were asked to list things they learned:Lin: Harcourt could be a decent hunter if he had more drive.
Harcourt: Lin is looking for a guy she can change.Context
Jessica "Jess" Jersey (Cow)
A friend Wendell made at Herbivore Summer Camp. Now goes to his herbivore preschool.- Rescue Romance: Gains a mutual crush on Harold after he helps rescue her from being stranded in the predator camp.
- Tomboy: Her farm-style aesthetic led some, including Wendell, to assume Jess was a boy. It was only at school, when she was listed on the class roster as a girl that everyone realized that.Wendell: WHAT?
Jess: What part of "cow" don't you understand?
Harold Hoatzin (Bird)
An unusual herbivorous bird who befriended Wendell—and became very close to Jess—at Herbivore Summer Camp.- Commuting on a Bus: Rarely seen outside the summer camp arcs, is not a student at Happy Little Offspring School. However, he has been shown being examined by Dr. Caduceus, so he likely lives close to Domain.
- Gasshole: Has a naturally foul odor since he is one of the few herbivorous bird species.
- Species Surname: Refers to himself as a "stinkbird", which is the colloquial name for his real-life species, the hoatzin.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Has a crush on Jess who is easily twice his size.
Mary Canid; Originally Dolly Canid (Sheep/Wolf)
The clone of Corrie; was originally a joke revolving around the real-life first mammalian clone, the sheep Dolly. Eventually, Dolly began to age rapidly, then suddenly reverted to a baby lamb after an incident with Mrs. Aura. When this happened, she was left on the doorstep of Candace Canid, who adopted her under the new name Mary. She eventually moved with Candace to New Zealand.- Always Identical Twins: Corrie and her look identical, which is justified since most sheep tend to look like one another without clothes in the strip. They test just how identical they are by playing rock-paper-scissors.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Dolly wishes she was young again....and gets turned into an infant by a time machine as a result!Mary: I wished too hard.
- Control Freak: Due to being used to the highly regimented lab structure, she fit right in at home with the obsessive compulsive nature of the border collie Canids.
- Fountain of Youth: Accidentally messed with a time machine that turned her into an infant.
- Joke Character: Dolly was originally this. Until one day she started aging rapidly...
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Despite still maintaining the ability to talk and reason like her old self as an infant, Mary developed some rather childlike behavior, liking playtime with Coney, and in a gross punchline, apparently lost the ability to be toilet-trained.
- Pretending to Be One's Own Relative: So as not to inform the Canids of what was going on, Corrie posed as Dolly while Dolly posed as (their) own mother. Candace fell for it because their scents were the same.
- Put on a Bus: When she moved to New Zealand with her adoptive parents in 2004. Her last appearance in the comic was a non-speaking cameo at Lindsefarne and Fenton's wedding in 2010.
- Rapid Aging: Because of her clone DNA, Dolly aged quickly into an adult around 40 years old over the course of less than a day.
- Shout-Out: Her new name Mary is a play on the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Lampshaded in the strip where she's left on the doorstep of the Canids.
Tyler Meadowvole (Mouse)
Mark Meadowvole's nephew. He was orphaned when his father, Mark's brother, was eaten by an owl.- Fantastic Racism: Had to deal with some at summer camp as rodents are supposedly all thieves that will steal grain from anyone.
- Longing for Fictionland: His coping mechanism is a preference for pop culture over reality.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Downplayed but still present. He was quite standoffish when he first met Mark and engaged in a lot of sarcasm. It faded away once he realized he wasn't going to be put in social services with thousands of other mice, giving him no chance to be adopted.
- Ship Tease: Has a little bit with Coney, such as when she asked him to dance at his uncle's wedding.
- Tangled Family Tree: He was adopted by Mark and Aby, which means his uncle and aunt are now technically his stepfather and stepmother.
Hockley (Boar)
Began as a bully, particularly to Wendell, in an effort to get him out of the way (since Wendell was the only one at the Happy Little Forager Preschool with the fighting ability to stand up to him). At his closest, borders on Token Evil Teammate.- Art Evolution: He was drawn with a longer snout and more detailed build before Bill decided on his current more cartoony design.
- Adults Are Useless: Averted. Rachel takes his bullying very seriously and does all she can to curb it.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While being the youngest of his brothers gives him a good reason for wanting to act tough and bully others, his behavior goes way beyond that, showing that the only reason Hockley is the way he is happens to be Hockley himself.
- The Bully: Of the entire Little Happy Offspring School.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He's yet to show any redeeming qualities, instead being a loudmouthed bully who just likes to hurt others for fun.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: He's the youngest of five brothers.
- Puppy Love: He got a one-sided crush on Lin after she kissed him.
- Put on a Bus: It's been almost four years as of 2024 since he's appeared in with a speaking role in the comic. Given fan backlash to the way his presence kept being forced into the plotlines, particularly the Easter Bunny plots, this might be deliberate.
- Too Dumb to Live: His desire to humiliate Wendell ended up with him almost being eaten by a pack of wolves. Only Rudy and Wendell's quick thinking saved him.
- Troll: In later arcs, he's turned more to this tactic than outright bullying. For example, he once tried (and failed) to get Harcourt jealous of Tyler over Coney.Harcourt: (to Tyler and Coney) Hockley stinks at baiting people.
Tyler: Avoiding baited traps is my skill set.
Crockett (Alligator)
Another of Coney's schoolmates. Typically characterized as not as nice as Coney and her friends, but not nearly as mean as Hockley. A background character most of the time.- Depending on the Artist: His green coloration sometimes is lighter or darker than his usual shade depending on the strip, a side effect of being a character that doesn't show up too often.
- Furry Reminder: He grabs his coat with his teeth because his arms are too short to reach the back of his cubby.
- No Name Given: Despite appearing in strips going back to 2013, Crockett's name was only revealed in a 2020 strip.
- The Trickster: While he has been shown to have some trollish whims (like suggesting the AC at Happy Little Offspring get turned up slightly each time Tyler's frog social worker visited), he's not an active bully like Hockley.
Llisa Llama (Llama)
One of the campers at Herbivore Summer Camp.- Commuting on a Bus: Rarely seen outside the summer camp arcs, is not a student at Happy Little Offspring School
- Super-Strength: Typical of her species, she's sometimes shown carrying many times her weight. This came in handy when she had a hoof in saving Carl from drowning, hauling his dead weight out of the river despite being around Coney's age.
