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Characters / Kevin & Kell — The Core Family

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Kevin & Kell by Bill Holbrook
Tropes: A to B | C to I | J to R | S to Z
Main Character Page | Core Family | Kindle Extended Family | Dewclaw Extended Family | Lindesfarne's Peers | Rudy's Peers | Coney's Peers | Younger Characters/Turvy's Peers | Other Characters

Common tropes:

  • Badass Family: Kell is an apex predator and the best hunter for miles, Kevin is an unusually large and strong rabbit who can only at best be taken down with surprise attacks (of which he deals with both ease and routine), their biological daughter Coney takes after both of them, Rudy can be both surprisingly scrappy and clever when he needs to be and it's practically impossible to get to Lindesfarne without getting skewered on her quills (ignoring that her intelligence makes getting that close nigh-impossible).
  • Happily Married: Currently twice over with Kevin and Kell, and Lindesfarne and Fenton (perhaps three times, as Rudy and Fiona are on their way there).
  • Magnetic Hero: All of them attract a group of friends who can be counted on in one way or another, or will develop to be over time. This is especially prominent for the children, and most of all Rudy and Coney. Just look at the pages for each of their sets of peers.

Kevin Dewclaw; née Kindle (Rabbit)

Father and alpha male of the Dewclaw clan. Originally ran the Herbivore Forum, an online chat room which evolved into dating site Flea-Bay, and eventually grew into the ISP Hare-Link, which is run out of his basement, with servers located in Lindesfarne and Fenton's basement. In addition, he serves on the Rabbit Council for the local Rabbit Warren, the Domain School Board, and the Board of Directors of Herd Thinners due to DFW's acquisition of a stake in the company in 2022.

  • Beware the Nice Ones: A generally sweet-tempered, easy-going guy who loves his family and is happy to be friends. He was a famous wrestler in his younger years, and even now he packs a punch capable of downing bears with one blow.
  • The Big Guy: Considerably larger than any other rabbit in the series — in fact, he's roughly as tall as some of the bears that show up in the comic.
  • Gentle Giant: He's big and tough, but very gentle.
  • Killer Rabbit: Though nowhere near as literal an example as his youngest child, Kevin has the pure strength — and lack of fear — to hold his own in defense of himself.
  • Memetic Badass: Invoked during the 2022 Easter Bunny arc. When a bear thinks there's a large rabbit around,note  another bear thinks of Kevin. The reaction of the first bear suggests that many predators still don't believe there is a large, strong, fearless rabbit in civilization.
    Bear 2: You have heard of "Kevin Dewclaw", right?
    Bear 1: Old wives tale.
  • Nerves of Steel: Simply put, there is no predator that really scares Kevin when it comes to him actually being hunted, a feature of his he's had since childhood.
  • Papa Wolf: Especially where Lindesfarne is concerned, physically or emotionally — when he sees her boyfriend out with another girl, he gets furious, bordering on homicidal.
  • Righteous Rabbit: He's a rabbit who's pretty heroic, from joining the school board to try and eliminate high stakes tests (which would result in students being devoured) to terrifying his ex-wife Angelique as part of a plan to end her and Herd Thinners' hunting of rabbits.
  • Small Parent, Huge Child: As an adult, Kevin is an oversized rabbit who's more than twice the height of either of his parents Bentley and Dorothy Kindle, who are both Miniature Senior Citizens. His siblings aren't as big compared to him, but his sisters Danielle and Prudence (the rarely-seen mother of Wendell Luckyfoot) are still far taller than their parents.
  • Took the Wife's Name: When they married, Kevin took Kell's last name. At the time, he was estranged from his family, and him marrying a wolf pretty much solidified that, though they have since come around.

Kell Dewclaw (Wolf)

Mother of the Dewclaw clan. Worked at Herd Thinners Inc, originally as a hunter, then running the company website, finally as an executive. After being removed from that position, she founded her own company, Dewclaw's Fine Meats.

  • Action Mom: Comes with the territory of being an expert huntress.
  • Cat/Dog Dichotomy: She fell into cat-dog stereotypes as a pup, prone to chasing cats up trees; something even Rudy didn't do in the current timeline of the strip. This includes making amends with Aby for having done that to her once. A Red Herring for this came when Sheila revealed she once did this to Frank and played it off on Kell, resulting in their early rivalry at Herd Thinners. Even today, she would occasionally fall into old stereotypes; when Marty suggested Rhonda—without a second thought—as a young employee worthy of leadership training at Dewclaw's Fine Meats, Kell initially questioned whether she was capable of being a leader due to feline stereotyping before immediately stopping herself.
  • George Jetson Job Security: During her time at Herd Thinners, Kell did fall victim to this trope once, when R.L. fired her as a cost-cutting measure. She would spend time as office manager at Aby's auto repair shop. He hired her back the next summer, but only after Kell convinced him to contract company vehicle maintenance to Aby's shop.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: She definitely had the occasional rush to give in to the power when she led Herd Thinners. But once she founded Dewclaw's Fine Meats, she got over that.
  • Mama Bear: Goes hand-in-hand with Action Mom, especially where Coney is concerned...that is, on the rare occasion Coney needed her help.
  • Noble Bigot: Sometimes pops up, as per Cat/Dog Dichotomy
  • My Beloved Smother: Starts to fall into this behavior when she forbids Rudy from seeing Fiona during the coronavirus quarantine as if he's still a young teenager, despite the two of them being adults and clearly able to make their own decisions regarding who, when, and where they want to see anyone. She then seems to think the best solution is to have Fiona move in, with the rest of the family assigned chaperone duty. This went away after the tree rot incident, as she was satisfied by the demonstration of their Character Development enough to accept Rudy moving in with Fiona.
  • Professional Maiden Name: ...Murky. See the Fridge subpage for the situation regarding her first marriage. But it's averted now—certainly since she was widowed whether she changed her name back or never took Randy Foxglove's name, and especially after she married Kevin since he Took the Wife's Name.

Lindesfarne Dewclaw, Ph.D. (Hedgehog)

Adopted daughter from Kevin's first marriage. Wife of Fenton Fuscus, mother of Turvy. After completing doctorate studies in astrophysics at Beige University, she is currently doing astrobiology studies for NASA.

  • Badass Bookworm: Has Improbable Aiming Skills with her quills.
  • Calling Parents by Their Name: Unlike Rudy vis-a-vis Kevin, Lindesfarne does refer to Kell as "Mom" occasionally. She does call her by her name at times as well, even though she stopped calling her adoptive mother Angelique "mom" long ago.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: In the beginning of 2010, Lindesfarne's quills started turning white because of the stress of possibly having to leave Tree after she married Fenton and graduated from Beige U. A flood swept through Domain not long after, overwhelming Tree's root system. They used flood insurance to move Tree to more stable ground near Beige U, permitting her to do post-grad research without leaving Tree behind. Lindesfarne's quills soon regained their natural black color.
  • Happily Adopted: Both initially by Kevin, then when he married Kell, ultimately taking Kell's last name along with her father.
  • Humanity Ensues: Inverted Trope - she's a human that became a hedgehog when she was a baby.
  • Informed Species: She was intially written as a porcupine, before it was retconned that this was something her rabbit parents told her so they could raise her herbivore. However, being a nocturnal insectivore is the only thing that makes her a hedgehog; she's still got long, loose porcupine quills rather than short, firmly attached hedgehog spines. And for compatabilty, all other hedgehogs are the same.
  • Meaningful Name: Lindesfarne is an alternate spelling for "Lindisfarne", an Anglo-Saxon monastery known for its literary works before it was sacked by Vikings in the 8th century.note 
  • Professional Maiden Name: She kept her last name after marrying Fenton, likely because she was already a published researcher at that point. She did give Fenton's last name to Turvy, though.
  • Renaissance Man: No one has a more diverse set of skills than Lindesfarne. General scientific research, specific technological expertise, and also a missionary for plants.
  • Really Royalty Reveal: Eventually finds out she's a member of the British royal family, but switched her DNA with that of a homeless hedgehog girl named Chertsey so she could get a home and Lindesfarne could stay with the Dewclaws. Turns out Lindesfarne is the human world's version of Chertsey, meaning that while she is royalty, she's human royalty.
  • The Smart Girl

Rudy Dewclaw (Fox/Wolf)

Kell's son from her first marriage. Typical teenager. A twist of fate led him to receiving an athletic scholarship at Beige University for their Gardening team. Has been with long-time girlfriend Fiona Fennec since very early in the comic, and now engaged.

  • Calling Parents by Their Name: Even as their relationship matured, Rudy never calls Kevin "Dad". He has referred to him as his stepdad to others.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: An early source of comedy for the strip was him challenging Kevin to be the alpha male of the family. He eventually accepted Kevin as his stepfather, especially once Randy's infidelity came to light.
  • Cool Shades: Sunglasses are an ever-present feature for him.
  • Coming of Age Story: Undergoing a (slightly belated) one at the age of twenty-two during the coronavirus arc, where he has to decide whether or not to keep obeying his mother Kell, who has been the Alpha his whole life, or decide to strike out with Fiona now that they're young adults and can make their own decisions in life. Some fans felt this might result in a conflict between Kell and Rudy, or even Kell and Fiona. But instead, Rudy and Fiona proved their ability at adulting when they worked together to identify rot that had endangered the Dewclaw Tree. This permitted Kell to trust them enough to allow them to stay together alone while the Tree was being repaired.
  • Hidden Depths: Over the course of the comic, Rudy has picked up a fair amount of wisdom and skill. Much of the former was learned the hard way.
    • Rudy picked up that Lindesfarne's initial "cure" for domestication was actually a placebo by watching her lab mice.
    • When Corrie was pretending to be a wolf using Ralph's wolfskin, Rudy presumed she was Ralph's daughter from her scent.note 
    • When Vin escaped to the wild, Rudy told him to avoid the cult there that he once fell into.
    • Finding out his talent in gardening, even surpassing Kevin, was as much a shock for him as it was for the others.
    • He's also pretty resourceful with asking for help from his family. Perfect example: using one of the meat wagons from Kell's business to bring Carl home to his family from the hospital.
    • He also wisely told Edgar not to intervene when Leona confronted Miranda over their sudden Love Triangle, where Edgar had cheated on the former with the latter.
    • This came together in the arc where Rudy saved the Dewclaw Tree. He and Fiona located a major branch that was about to break off due to rot. He was able to secure it enough (with some quick-thinking assistance from Bruno and Corrie) so it was repairable.
    • As Rudy is close to graduating, he finds out that while talented in gardening, he doesn't have the skills to go pro or excel like fellow teammates Miranda and Carl. However, he does learn that he does have another hidden talent: coaching. After all, he taught himself how to garden by following online instructions step-by-step until he was confident enough to do things on his own. In addition, he also had a paw in coaching Wendell on being the Easter Bunny.
  • It's All About Me: Some of his actions early on reek of selfishness, and wanting a part of the spotlight when it's meant for others. The most acute example is when he stowed away on a space mission Lindesfarne was selected for.
    Reporter: Mr. Dewclaw, aren't you sorry for the trouble you caused?
    Rudy: Heck no! I'm famous! Everyone knows who I am! Right now, the whole world is watching me!
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He started off this way and was for many years until Character Development kicked in.
  • "L" Is for "Dyslexia": Has "dystracksia", an in-world version of this. It eventually became a bonding moment opportunity with step-grandmother Dorothy, who also has it.
  • Men Can't Keep House: Frequent joke for Rudy while he was growing up. And though he cleaned up his act at Beige (mainly to avoid the squalor tax), it's still an issue that, at least initially, prevented Coney from moving into his room when he went to college.
    Lin: Why not? It's bigger.
    Coney: Yes, but I'm not licensed to operate a backhoe.
  • Noble Bigot: Prior to his mother marrying Kevin, Rudy wasn't terribly fond of herbivores. Many of the more serious storylines during the first decade of the strip revolve around his Character Development out of this trope. This came to a head when his best friend, wolf Bruno Lupulin, came out as trans-diet. Since then, it has largely disappeared, and Rudy is a lot more accepting to the point of even adopting competitive gardening as a sport.
  • Nom de Mom: It's unclear if Rudy ever had his biological father's last name of Foxglove, just as it's unknown if Kell ever took it. If he did, it's further unclear when or why it was changed to Dewclaw. There is supposedly source material that claims Rudy once did have the last name Foxglove, and it was changed to Dewclaw after Randy's death.note 
  • Relationship Upgrade:
  • Short Teens, Tall Adults: Due to being half-fox, Rudy was never going to reach the size of a full-blooded wolf like Bruno. But he's stayed small even by the standards of the comic, not even reaching his mother's shoulder as of 2017, when he's a freshman in college at eighteen years old.
  • Take a Third Option: When he finally resigns himself to accepting his gardening scholarship at Beige, he accepts it, and decides to major in carnivore studies anyway. This throws everything into chaos, and he relishes every moment of it.
    Rudy: If you'd told me how much trouble I'd cause, I wouldn't have griped like I did.

Coney Dewclaw (Rabbit/Wolf)

Kevin and Kell's daughter; both their second, their only one together. Firmly at the top of the local food chain. Currently a student at mixed-diet Happy Little Offspring School.

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