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The Locke Children
Tyler
Tyler Locke
The oldest of the Locke children, Tyler does his best to be the man of the house, but is still haunted by Sam Lesser's words.
- The Atoner: The quote at the top of the main page torments him constantly.
- Book Dumb: Though he struggles at schoolwork, Tyler is by far the most cunning of his siblings. He is pretty fast at thinking on his feet, manages to piece together that Zack, Dodge and the Dark Lady are one and the same, later creating a very safe hiding place for the Omega Key: inside his own head.
- Cathartic Crying: At his dad's funeral, he's completely dry-eyed - being too caught up in his confused feelings over everything that's happened to express grief - and has nothing but a seething Death Glare for people trying to cheer him up; however, when Duncan arrives to talk with him, Tyler finally breaks down in tears and begs his uncle to take him away.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a very dry and deadpan sort of wit.
- Driven to Suicide: Narrowly averted; guilt-ridden over his perceived role in Rendell's murder, Tyler very seriously considers killing himself. However, the closest he gets to it is interrupted when Bode begins asking about one of their dad's knock-knock jokes, and following the events Sam Lesser's second attack, Tyler recovers his self-confidence and never thinks about suicide again.
- Gentle Giant: A tall, bulky-framed guy serving on both the football and hockey teams, he's nonetheless a surprisingly gentle and soft-hearted character - to the point of reading bedtime stories to Bode. Giant-ness seems to be something he inherited from his father, who is also built like a truck. Runs in the Family, perhaps. Eventually the giant part became literal thanks to the likes of the Giant Key and the Hercules Key, but he isn't too gentle while using them.
- Genre Savvy: Especially obvious when he gives an irrefutable and logical explanation as to why Kinsey can't be trusted with secrets.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: He's infrequently distracted in class by sexual fantasies, while a background detail in his mind when viewed via the Head Key has his teacher in dominatrix gear lecturing him up on his desk in the classroom.
- Hypocrite: In a minor way. He constantly gets on the others to be more careful about using the keys and keeping secrets, but he's barely any better about it for most of the first 4 volumes.
- Idiot Ball: Sure, go ahead and tell everyone about the magical key that can unlock people's minds; nothing bad's going to come out of that one. Lampshaded by Kinsey.
- Instant Expert: Subverted. Turns out simply absorbing the contents of a textbook doesn't help much in actually understanding it enough to write a paper on the subject.
- Like Father, Like Son: Subverted. He bears a great resemblance to young Rendell and has a similar taste in women, based on his relationship with Jordan. However, the final arc of the series is centred around how Tyler has been taught by his father's mistakes and matured into a better man.
- Lovable Jock: Tyler's been on both the football team and the hockey team, although he admits that he didn't enjoy playing football. Despite his bullish frame, he's actually a quiet, contemplative kind of guy who cares very deeply for his family.
- My Greatest Failure: The events leading up to Sam Lesser's attack - from allowing his friend to take Kinsey on a drunken ride home to getting a fight with his father over the justified punishment for this irresponsible act - still haunt him throughout the comics.
- Motif: Associated with centurions
, most notably when his shadow takes the form of one. - Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Every now and again, Tyler will succumb to social pressure and do something pretty dickish.
- The first time it happened was during the backstory, when his desire to fit in and not be seen as a "guidance counsellor" like his dad prompted him to allow a drunken friend to drive Kinsey home. As a result, Kinsey was hurt in the ensuing car crash, the friend got arrested and missed out on a promising football career due to the black mark on his record, and Rendell threw the book at Tyler for his irresponsibility - leading to Tyler jokingly suggesting that Sam Lesser should kill Rendell, and all the regret that followed.
- Later, at Jordan's encouragement, Tyler throws away his dad's fishing hat, clearly thinking sexual favours from Jordan would be worth more than the one keepsake he has of his father. After being betrayed by Jordan later in the same issue, Tyler goes so far as to climb into a garbage truck and retrieve the hat from under a heap of refuse just to make up for this mistake.
- Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Gets a pair of glasses that, according to Kinsey, make him look smart. He comments they do serve a purpose, as they help with his reading.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Jordan.
- Super-Strength: He has used both the Giant Key and Hercules Key to acquire this at different points.
- Tragic Keepsake: His dad's old fishing hat with the fishing lure attached to the brim; despite his turbulent relationship with Rendell and being told to throw it away by Jordan, Tyler always hangs onto it, even retrieving it from a garbage truck after his relationship with Jordan falls to bits. And just as well: there's a tiny chunk of Whispering Iron hidden in the lure, allowing Tyler the means to create the Alpha Key.
Kinsey
Kinsey Locke
- A-Cup Angst: Complains at several points about being relatively flat-chested.
- Badass Boast: Her "I'm not afraid to ___" statements, but especially "I'm not afraid to kill you".
- Big Sister Instinct: Present from the first issue, when she's seen getting Bode onto the roof to hide from Sam Lesser.
- Blessed with Suck: Removing your fears and sadness turns out to have some negative side effects on your social life. When you're not afraid of accidentally hurting people or ruining relationships because of impulsiveness, things can go downhill for you and your social circle.
- Broken Bird: Averted; though she initially appears to be taking this role, what with the fear and grief she's suffered in the wake of her father's murder. However, after removing those emotions from her brain with the Head Key, she quickly becomes more outgoing, even outright fearless. As such, the crux of her emotional journey is realizing that she can't afford to do without fear or grief and accepting them back into her life.
- Character Development: Initially she gets over the trauma of her father's death by simply using the Head Key to remove her sadness, fears, and trauma. She eventually comes to realize that this hasn't helped her actually get past her problems and not having any sense of fear is actually causing more problems for her, so she replaces them in order to mature and deal with her problems like a proper human being.
- Expository Hairstyle Change:
- Prior to Rendell's death, she wears her hair in dreadlocks, befitting her outgoing personality; in the aftermath of the murder and the move to Lovecraft, she washes out the dreadlocks and lets her hair grow out in order to avoid standing out - to the point that she almost seems to be hiding behind her long hair.
- As she begins bouncing back from the trauma, she reverts to a short cut with a braid, neatly coinciding with her blossoming friendship with Jackie Veda. This is later augmented with a dyed shock of green hair as her relationships with Scot and Zack take shape.
- Following Dodge's second death, she drops the dye and lets her hair grow out, though she wears it much more casually than she did when she first arrived in Lovecraft - a sign that she's matured and learned how to become confident without abusing the Head Key.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Scot, Jackie and Jamal after they all almost drown together.
- Granola Girl: Prior to the events of the first issue, she was prone to wearing Amnesty International shirts and wearing her hair in dreadlocks as a statement of her political beliefs. The murder of her father badly damaged her confidence, and she dropped both the shirts and the locks prior to starting school at Lovecraft, not wanting to stand out. Later, she becomes a bit more socially conscious again after her use of the Skin Key - though in a subversion of the standard Soapbox Sadie fare, she ultimately criticizes herself for doing something that will probably get two random black kids in trouble for nothing.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jackie.
- Plucky Girl: Actually enforced. She doesn't get scared or sad because she literally can't after using the Head Key to remove her fears and sadness. Deconstructed in that this also means that she lacks the benefits of fears and sadness, such as truly empathizing with others' negative emotions, and avoiding dangers.
- Took a Level in Badass: After removing her fears, although it led to some unforeseen consequences.
- Trauma Button: The smell of paint reminds her of the paint the day her father was murdered and makes her throw up.
Bode
Bode Locke
- Annoying Younger Sibling: A mild version, as he is a very active child with two teenage siblings going through emotional turmoil.
- Cheerful Child: Bode is a relentlessly upbeat youngster.
- Children Are Innocent: As the youngest and purest of the Locke children, the keys' magic means that they are revealed to him first. As soon as Dodge possesses him, the keys start revealing themselves to the next candidates of Tyler and Kinsey.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He's very imaginative, even for a kid his age. Sometimes his siblings and mother have no idea how to understand him or what to do with him.
- Crazy Memory: Because he's so young and therefore emotional and imaginative certain memories personified by the Head Key turn out as deformed caricatures of what they're supposed to represent.
- Curious as a Monkey: He frequently runs wild with his curiosity. He will find ways to explore anything and everything.
- Deliberately Cute Child: He invokes and exploits this at times, especially after being possessed by the spirit that possessed Dodge.
- Generation Xerox: His relationship with Tyler is extremely similar to Duncan's with Rendell.
- Grand Theft Me: Has been kicked out of his body, which has been inhabited by Dodge, and turned into a ghost no one can see.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: What his teacher thinks of his art. Of course, she didn't know everything there was true.
The Rest of the Locke Family
Rendell
Rendell Locke
- Back from the Dead: Defied. After the Mending Key fixes her broken dishes, Nina tries to use it on his ashes. It doesn't work, although his soul does become linked to the cabinet. Later Tyler brings Rendell back as an echo in the wellhouse to say goodbye.
- Broken Ace: He was a cool kid at high school, but his arrogance ended up leaving his friends dead or worse.
- Cool Teacher: Was a caring and kind teacher who tried his best to help his students.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Like all adults Rendell forgot the magic of the keys soon after graduating. He can only half-remember when drunk.
- Parents as People: He could be a very strict parent who didn't let his status as a teacher get in the way of his professionalism, and though he genuinely wanted the best for his kids, his insistence on his children learning responsibility resulted in considerable friction between him and Tyler. As a ghost, he admits that he was trying to make up for the follies of his youth, ultimately reconciling with Tyler upon seeing that he's been able to set things right.
- Posthumous Character: It becomes increasingly clear that Rendell is just as important a character in the series as his children.
- Pride Before a Fall: As a young man, Rendell was quite egotistical and all too proud of the power the Keys gave him, even grumbling over the fact that he needed Duncan's help to find them. After using the Keys to put on the greatest performance of The Tempest his school had ever seen, he became obsessed with creating a Glamour Key that would allow him and his friends to remain as glorious as they'd been on stage. This vainglorious attitude came back to bite him when the attempt to acquire Whispering Iron got Dodge possessed, resulting in the Mind Rape of Erin and the deaths of Mark, Kim, and Dodge himself. In the aftermath, Rendell cursed himself for his arrogance, finally realizing that he'd ended up becoming an object lesson as to why adults shouldn't be allowed to use the Keys; from there, he ultimately abandoned his dreams of lifelong glory and allowed himself to forget magic entirely, soon becoming the sober, serious professional that Tyler and co remember.
- The Reveal: Opening the Black Door was his idea. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
- Strong Family Resemblance: As an adult he just has Tyler's chin, but when we see his teenage incarnation, he's pretty much just Tyler with a different haircut. Arguably this is a smart choice, as much of Tyler's arc is filling in his father's shoes.
Nina
Nina Locke
- The Alcoholic: She has turned to alcohol to deal with her trauma. Kinsey mentions she was drinking even before all the tragedy.
- Broken Bird: Her husband's death and her rape at the hands of Sam and company really did a number on her.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Constantly. As of the end of Keys to the Kingdom, she's trying to quit, though.
- Horribly and forcibly invoked during Omega, where she's pretty much force-fed several bottles of wine and worse by something that, to her, appears to be her own son. Comes with an extra, horrid sting when Kinsey discovers her in that state and simply thinks her mother has fallen off the wagon big-time and is absolutely furious at Nina.
- Mama Bear: As Al Grubb found out via axe to the back of the head.
- Muggle: She has no knowledge of the Keys, and like any other adult, is blocked from learning of them. As a result, she is oblivious to a lot of the weirdness that goes on around her.
- Rape as Drama: It's only mentioned explicitly once, by Kinsey. Other than that, it's just horribly suggested.
- Weirdness Censor: Like nearly all adults, she has one that keeps her from recognizing the effects of the keys. However, when she has too much to drink, she recognizes and tries experimenting with one key. When she becomes drunk again later she remembers her experiments.
Duncan
Duncan Locke
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves Tyler from the shadows in "Alpha And Omega" with a powerful light and helps him to safety in the trunk of his car. Soon after, he comes to the rescue of Nina, Mutuku, and Tyler while armed with the most powerful flashlights he could gather at short notice, successfully destroying several shadows.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Duncan forgot the magic of the keys as he grew up like all adults. However he can temporarily remember parts of it when exposed to obvious magic, such as Dodge or the living shadows.
- Non-Action Guy: He's a skinny intellectual and no real use in a fight... up until he's pitted against the living shadows.
- Sensitive Artist: Cool Uncle Duncan Locke is an artist with a talent for sketches and metalwork (though he's pretty open that he mainly gets by through teaching art as a subject). He's also the nicest of the Lockes, and is often the available shoulder for the increasingly traumatized family members to cry on; plus, unlike his rough-and-tumble boyfriend, he prefers the quieter things in life. For good measure, flashbacks reveal that he was like this even as a kid, being the only member of the family innocent and empathic enough to find the magical Keys. Duncan's empathy and artistic skills pay off in the finale when he helps Tyler create a Key of his own.
- Straight Gay: Though it's implied he might not always be; he suggests they go to a club (as opposed to a bar) that is known to play Cher (though this may be because he correctly thought the club might be safer).
- However as a kid, he liked to become a girl by using the gender key.
- Tagalong Kid: Was essentially this to his big brother Rendell, and Rendell's friends. They were pretty tolerant of him in most cases, however.
- Tap on the Head: Gets knocked out pretty easily. A beer bottle is one thing, but a plastic gas can?
- The Reveal: It was actually his fault that Dodge got possessed.
Friends of the Locke Children
Rufus
Rufus Whedon
- Big Damn Heroes: Grabs Bode!Dodge, takes the Wellhouse Key and throws Dodge through the door, effectively killing him.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He doesn't always have the best connection with reality as most people define it. On the other hand, he also has a much better perception of some of the supernatural events going on around him than normal people do.
- Disability Immunity: His condition makes him immune to the Head Key.
- Disability Superpower: It also makes him able to talk to ghosts. Of course, writing about mentally handicapped people with extrasensory power might run in Joe Hill's family.
- Disappeared Dad: His father left to join the military. According to his grandmother it was because of frustrations from raising a disabled son.
- Nerd Glasses: As the picture shows.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- When seriously upset or afraid, he drops the military fantasies and jargon, to the point of breaking down in tears when Sam Lesser's ghost tells him that he'll have to kill Dodge.
- In the finale of "Keys To The Kingdom," Rufus is left too traumatized to even seek shelter in his fantasies after Dodge murders his mother and can only explain events as they happen to Kinsey in a deathly monotone without any kind of jargon.
- Spanner in the Works: Just when it looks like Dodge might be able to escape and regroup, Rufus is the one to finish off Bode!Dodge by dragging him into the wellhouse.
- Third-Person Person: Most of the time he expresses himself through his action figures, referring to himself as "the kid." He does seem to know that it's pretend, though.
- Unstoppable Rage: His reaction to learning that his mother's killer Dodge is alive and inhabiting Bode's body? Immediately try to strangle him.
- Urine Trouble: Still wets the bed.
Jackie
Jackie Veda
Kinsey's best friend at school, although Kinsey's social problems due to her head tampering drive her off for a time before the two eventually reconcile.- Ambiguously Brown: Could possibly be Indian, given that Veda is an Indian name, and the mural in her home (we see it when Kinsey picks her up to go running with her new hairdo) depicts a woman in traditional Indian garb (presumably her mother) sitting with a man and a young child (her father and her).
- All Love Is Unrequited: She loves Scot who loves Kinsey and oh...
- Cool Big Sis: It’s unrevealed if she has any actual siblings but she babysits for Rufus and seems to be good with him, bringing over a toy to play with his collection.
- Demonic Possession: She becomes possessed by one of the parasites that Dodge unleashes.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: With Scot.
- Dying as Yourself: Dies after the Alpha Key is used to remove the demon.
- Genre Savvy: Quick to note the potential dangers of the cave. She also takes interest in how bad "Zack" is at modern technology.
- Graceful Loser: Introduced being beaten by Kinsey in a foot race after having been unrivaled on the track team for some time and saying “fuck” as she kneels over panting. Then she clarified that was an impressed “fuck” and not an angry one, and congratulates/befriends Kinsey.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: She initially has this relationship with Kinsey, although Kinsey's insensitivity due to the Head Key drives Jackie off for a time. They eventually reconcile.
- Only Sane Man: Generally comes off as the most level-headed in her group of friends.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Objects to Kinsey showing Scot and Jamal the Head Key, and its effect on them.
Jamal
Jamal Saturday
One of Kinsey's friends.- Deadpan Snarker: Prefers sly and deadpan quips to Scot's Large Ham tendencies.
- Disappeared Dad: His dad died in Afghanistan.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Scot, although their relationship is strained for a time after some experiments with the Keys and a fight over Kinsey's affections. They eventually bury the hatchet.
- Token Black Friend: Discussed. He takes exception to this trope. While Scot is otherwise his best friend, Jamal is infuriated by the thought that Scot may see him as a stock black friend from a tv comedy.
Scott
Scot Kavanaugh
One of Kinsey's friends. Has a British punk jokester thing going on, although it's unclear if he actually is British or has just very thoroughly adopted the slang and subculture.- Cool Shades: He seldom removes his shades, to the point where you'd think they were glued to his head.
- Delinquent Hair: Occasionally dyes his mohawk.
- Demonic Possession: He becomes possessed by one of the parasites set loose by Dodge.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: With Jackie, after the demon parasite is removed from him.
- Dying as Yourself: Dies after the Alpha Key is used to remove the demon, although thanks to the Hercules Key he lasts for quite a while and is able to save and help his fellow students.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jamal, although their relationship is strained for a time after some experiments with the Keys and a fight over Kinsey's affections. They eventually bury the hatchet.
- Hopeless Suitor: He is head over heels for Kinsey, who generally only thinks of him as a friend.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be cocky and not above dropping a racist joke just to get a rise out of Jamal, but he's fiercely loyal to his friends, even getting a commemorative heart tattoo in honor of Kinsey and Jamal. Alos, during Scot's video tribute to his fellow students, Tyler begins confessing some very personal details about his relationship with his father, Scot quickly turns the camera off, realizing that it wouldn't be right to commit Tyler's private regrets to recording.
- Love at First Sight: Towards Kinsey, although it’s unrequited.
- Naked Nutter: After being introduced to the Head Key, Scot has his sanity removed from his mind and decides to perform Byron naked in front of the entire school, forcing Kinsey and Jamal to rescue him before he embarrasses himself any further.
- The Quincy Punk: He may not be in the time era when they were most common, but he's got a dyed mohawk and unconventional/rebel attitude associated with this trope.
- Wholesome Cross Dresser: Goes to prom wearing a wedding dress as a gag (and has Jackie wear a tuxedo).
Jordan
Jordan Gates
A friend (sometimes girlfriend) of Tyler Locke.- Broken Bird: Has deep-seated psychological issues (Zack mentions she's been in psychiatric wards multiple times) that drive her towards self-destructive behavior.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Often wears at least some dark clothing but is a dependable ally.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Parent: Wants to study at the Chicago Institute of Art, but her father enrolled her at Vasser.
- Good Bad Girl: Has a reputation for promiscuity (and even cheats on Tyler at one point) but is still unambiguously good.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde and friendly.
- Hairspray Flamethrower: Once fights off an attacking demon with hairspray and a lantern.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Kills herself by jumping to her death to save Jamal and Kinsey from choosing which one of the three has to die.
- Insecure Love Interest: Has trouble handling Tyler's sincerity and faith in her, and cheats on him in order to drive him off.
- Killed Offscreen: While Kinsey and Jamal argue over who should be sacrificed to the demons or die, Jordan jumps before either realized she was already gone. They later find her body on the ground, where she had died off-screen when her body hit the ground.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Tyler.
- Sex with the Ex: At one point, sleeps with Tyler after they've broken up and agree to stay that way.
Brinker
Brinker Martin
The captain of the hockey team and an acquaintance of Tyler.- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: He blames this for sleeping with Jordan, who he seems to dislike, at one point.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He’s a more distant acquaintance of the siblings and they never tell him about the keys. The only involvement he has with their conflict with Dodge is when he’s briefly made Brainwashed and Crazy near the end of the series.
- Hidden Depths: While focused on sports and perhaps somewhat irresponsible he's seen playing a guitar for a couple of girls at a party near the end of the series.
- Lovable Jock: Downplayed. He’s a bit haughty but doesn’t come across as a bully or a toxic influence.
- Satellite Character: He isn't very important to the plot and mostly appears in relation to Tyler.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He’s confused and disgusted by the implications that Jordan seduced him in a manner designed to deliberately have Tyler see them in order to drive him away.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: If Brinker is his real given name, it’s a pretty rare one.
Friends and Associates of the Entire Locke Family
Brian
Brian Rogan
Duncan's boyfriend.- Bury Your Gays: Toyed with. At the end of Head Games when he's run over, but is later revealed to be in a coma, which he eventually wakes up from to deliver important plot-relevant information.
- Hot Blooded Sideburns: He's got big sideburns and is entirely willing to fight it out with nasty, homophobic locals.
- Manly Gay: Though he's a bit on the portly side instead of a muscle man.
- Nice Guy: He treats Tyler basically like his own nephew.
- Straight Gay: He doesn't want to go to a club with Duncan, but to a local bar so he can watch the game.
Detective Mutuku
Detective Mutuku
A local police detective who helps out the Lockes. Seems to have a bit of a thing for Nina.- Badass Longcoat: Wears one in the style of many good detectives.
- Chekhov's Skill: Played with. He mentions to Nina at one point that his mother enrolled him in fencing classes because she had a dream that, one day, he would need to defend himself with a sword. However, when Dodge attacks him with a rapier, Mutuku just starts knocking him around with a rolling pin while lecturing him about how this isn't a fencing match. That said, while he wasn't actually wielding a sword, knowing how to defend against someone who is using a sword certainly came in handy.
- Determinator: He's an extremely determined man, and will shrug off obstacles and wounds to reach his objectives.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Unceremoniously impaled by a shadow.
- Dual Wielding: Kitchen knife AND rolling pin.
- Fair Cop: Somewhat handsome.
- Friend on the Force: Constantly helpful and supportive towards the Locke Family.
- Great Detective: Or at least a competent and damned dogged one.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: One of the large shadows controlled by Dodge runs him through.
- Improvised Weapon: Unable to use his gun while Dodge is attacking him with a sharpened rapier, Mutuku grabs a knife and a rolling pin that happen to be in the kitchen where he's standing and starts kicking ass and taking names.
- Ship Tease: Has some with Nina, but nothing is shown to have come from it.
Rendell's Old Circle of Friends, AKA "The Keepers of the Keys, The Tamers of the Tempest"
Ellie
Ellie Whedon
The track coach at the Locke's high school. Was one of Rendell's original circle back in 1988.- Abusive Parents: Her mother is a major one, regularly raking Ellie over the coals for perceived failures and treating Rufus like shit. Ellie herself is a kind and caring parent.
- Accidental Murder: Accidentally destroys the echo of Rendell's mother when she pushes her out of the wellhouse trying to defend Dodge.
- Break the Cutie: Her experiences as a teen - from seeing her boyfriend possessed to losing all her friends to death or heartbreak - just about ruined her life, and the breaking just continued throughout her adulthood thanks to her mothers' abusiveness.
- Cool Teacher: Introduced complimenting Kinsey on her track skills, especially given what she’s been going through.
- Facial Horror: After fatally wounding her, Dodge goes the extra mile to desecrate Ellie by tearing her lower lip off. For good measure, the results are kept in full view as Rufus cries over her body.
- Hot Guy, Ugly Wife: Her relationship with Dodge was commented on a few times as this, with the handsome Lucas Caravaggio being paired with the sporty, unglamorous Ellie. Taken to a horrifying extreme in present day, when the still-handsome Lucas is implied to have raped the much-older and distinctly haggard Ellie.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Dodge runs her through with a sharpened rapier.
- Lip Losses: After impaling her, Dodge pretends to briefly return to normal enough to beg Ellie to kiss him; Ellie does so... whereupon Dodge rips her lower lip off with his teeth.
- Lovable Jock: As a student. As an adult she becomes a coach.
- Matricide: Attempted. In a flashback she comes very close to pushing her mother off a cliff after the evil old woman put a cigarette out on Rufus' neck, but can't go through with it. Dodge had no such hesitation, however.
- Mind Rape: Dodge got her to enact his resurrection by having a part of his personality infect her mind; for good measure, it left her unable to resist his commands and unable to fight back without being hit with Sanity Slippage. For good measure, Dodge ends "Head Games" by using the Head Key to remove the personality fragment, remove all her memories of Lucas, and force her into believing the "Zack Wells" cover story. Throughout this process, Ellie can only respond with helpless, whimpering terror.
- Rape as Drama: It's heavily implied that Dodge is in the habit of raping her, which only leaves Ellie even more traumatized as the story continues.
- Sanity Slippage: A combination of stress and abuse from her mother have already driven her to the breaking point a year prior to the events of the story; Dodge's return from the dead - followed closely by all the abuse, Mind Rape, actual rape, complicity in various crimes, and assorted threats to Rufus - pushes her over the edge, leaving her a broken, traumatized husk of her former self.
- Shower of Angst: After helping Dodge cover up Joe Ridgeway's murder, she is found huddled in the shower under a cascade of freezing water, half-naked.
Erin
Erin Voss
Formerly one of Rendell's circle, she is now a mental patient.- All Love Is Unrequited: She nursed a crush on Rendell, but he never noticed.
- Big Damn Heroes: Not her exactly, but her extracted memories are able to sneak up on Dodge-as-Bode and remove the Crown of Shaodws from him, giving Tyler the perfect opportunity to use the Alpha Key.
- Black and Nerdy: The only black member of Rendell's clique, and arguably the most scholarly.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After Dodge is finally defeated and killed, the Lockes return her memories to her, allowing her to live her life.
- Empty Shell: Essentially everything inside her head was removed with the Head Key. This was done to such a degree that nothing new seems to be able to form either as the years go by.
- Fate Worse than Death: What was done to her with the Head Key is absolutely horrific. Now imagine spending decades like that...
- Locked into Strangeness: The trauma of having her head emptied out turned her hair white.
- Mind Rape: During the backstory, Dodge used the Head Key to literally empty out the contents of her mind while the rest of the Keepers were restrained and Forced to Watch in horror at the violation taking place.
- Mistaken for Racist: Her distressed cries of "WHITE! WHITE!" are taken to be this, but is actually referring to the empty white space she sees whenever she tries to think coherently.
- Moment of Lucidity: Normally too mentally ruined to speak or even act independently, meeting something familiar from her past will briefly allow her to recall something important before it slips away again. Most prominently, in "Alpha And Omega," she can be heard encouraging Rufus to stop Dodge; later, in the same issue she and her nurse catch Rufus in the act of breaking out - but before the nurse can stop him, Erin deliberately swings her wheelchair around and knocks her over, giving Rufus time to escape and save the day.
- The Smart Guy: Arguably the intellectual of the Keepers of the Keys, she spends a good deal of the flashback sequence in "Clockworks" explaining the deeper rules of magic for the benefit of her friends (and the audience). Plus, from prior research, she correctly recognizes that Dodge was lying about managing to escape possession. This makes Dodge's Mind Rape all the more horrific, as it renders her almost incapable of coherent thought.
Mark
Mark Cho
- Agonizing Stomach Wound: After distracting him with the sexy new female form, Dodge stabs Mark in the belly; for good measure, he tortures him by jabbing some of his toes into the wound so he can make Mark scream, before leaving him to slowly bleed out.
- All Love Is Unrequited: He has feelings for Ellie, but they're not noticed thanks to Ellie's infatuation with Lucas.
- Asian and Nerdy: He comes across this way.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Despite being a chubby, nerdy, constantly put-upon kinda guy, Mark proves surprisingly competent in emergencies. When Dodge turns on the Keepers, it's Mark who uses the Crown of Shadows to subdue him. Later, when Dodge gets his memories back and starts attacking Keepers, Mark immediately uses the Owl to send a message to the others before donning the Crown and using it to apprehend Dodge.
- Commonality Connection: Thanks to his crush on Ellie, he clearly sympathizes with Erin for her unrequited crush on Rendell, and when he paints the names of the Keepers of the Keys on the wall of the Drowning Caves, he makes sure that Rendell and Erin's names are together.
- Cool Uncle: His uncle is a movie producer who the group hoped to impress by using the keys to spice up their Famed In-Story performance of The Tempest, although he ended up missing the play.
- Dying Alone: Bleeds to death with nobody but an unconscious Ellie Whedon for company while waiting for his friends to rescue him.
- Killed Off for Real: He is stabbed and killed by Dodge and is the first of Rendell's friends to die.
- Raging Stiffie: He is distracted by Lucas's attractive female form. Lucas makes fun of him for it, right before he kills him.
Kim
Kim Topher
Rendell's high school girlfriend.- Drunk with Power: She enjoys using the keys and is upset at the idea of losing the ability to assess (or even remember) them once they became adults.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She is killed while trying to save Duncan.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Prone to being kind of hurtful, but loyal to her friends, and willing to risk her life for them.
- Tsundere: Can be quite temperamental and angry but can often follow up on her moments of anger by being genuinely caring. When Duncan's inquisitiveness nearly gets him possessed, she immediately rounds on him angrily, only to comfort him when he starts crying.
Joe
Joe Ridgeway
Drama teacher at the high school, Joe was the director for the school's legendary production of The Tempest starring Dodge's circle in 1988. He recognizes Dodge when he sees him again, which doesn't work out too well for him.- Cool Old Guy: A kindly teacher who is getting quite old.
- Full-Frontal Assault: He dies leaping out of the bathtub hitting Dodge with a rocks glass while quoting Shakespeare. Not a bad way to go.
- Go Out with a Smile: He dreams that he's reunited with his wife, both young and beautiful, at the bottom of the river on the glorious summer day she almost drowned.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He smokes a pipe, of course he's a good guy.
- Irony: He is teaching Kinsey's class Hamlet, while at the same time he is paralyzed with inaction when he sees the ghost of Dodge. He later comments upon the irony.
Antagonists
Dodge
Dodge, aka Zack Wells
- And I Must Scream: The thing controlling him isn't bonded to his body, but his soul, and persists even after death, barring his soul from experiencing a peaceful afterlife.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: When he uses the Gender Key, he makes for an attractive woman.
- Back from the Dead: Sort of. He is actually a living echo of his former self. At one point his corpse can be seen at the bottom of the Drowning Cave even while his echo is up and about.
- Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: His condition has rewired his personality such that he thinks pain feels good and he can't stand being nice to people.
- Big Bad: While there are bigger fish on the other side of the Black Door, Dodge is the main villain.
- Big Bad Friend: He befriends Tyler and Kinsey so he can figure out where all the keys he needs are without blowing his cover.
- Character Development: In the last story arc, he reveals his original goals changed several times over. Initially he wanted to open the Black Door, releasing his demonic siblings and take over/destroy the world. After living in the human world for so long, he realized this was a bad idea because his species are violent by nature. He then decided on only allowing a few of his demonic siblings access to human hosts, and would use the keys to become gods over the humans.
- Demonic Possession: Has a... *thing* lodged in his soul (if some lines in Clockworks are to be taken seriously, it may be one of the Thousand Young) that guides his actions. Comments by Sam Lesser indicate that the parasite has completely taken over and he simply retains Dodge's memories and personality, ala a Joss Whedon vampire.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Has a pretty sinister and suspicious demeanor, even without knowing he's the main antagonist of the series.
- Dying as Yourself: He's the last person Tyler uses the Alpha Key on. As the Whispering Iron in his veins slowly kills him, he begs Tyler for forgiveness and explains that the demons rewire their hosts, making horrible things feel wonderful. Tyler accepts that Dodge was not at fault.
- Evil Wears Black: has natural black hair and mainly wears black after becoming evil. His true form is also mostly black with some orange accents.
- Faux Affably Evil: Knows how to say all the right things, but there is an absolutely vicious, ruthless bastard hiding underneath it.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Continually wowed and confused by modern technology, since the last computer he owned was a Commodore 64. All things considered he adapts fairly well, and thinks that modern technology kicks the crap out of what he was used to in the 80s. Justified - possessed or not, he's only 18, an age where learning and picking up new ideas and concepts is very easy to do.
- Gender Bender: Has no problem with using the Gender Key to switch back and forth from a male and female form.
- Hellish Pupils: Sometimes when the parasite is pissed. Notice that when Dodge sports them, he tends to be a lot more vicious and violent than usual.
- Humanoid Abomination: He looks like a normal human, but is actually something like a spirit that has been taken over by a demon and given physical form.
- Hybrid Monster: Dodge is both a living echo and possessed by a demon.
- Inopportune Impersonation Failure: By the events of Alpha And Omega, Dodge has performed a Grand Theft Me on Bode Locke and has been able to uphold his disguise so effectively that his host's family doesn't notice that anything's amiss. When the time comes to enact his master stroke in the Drowning Caves, he tries to lure a group of partying students to their doom by guiding them to the scene of an emergency - one that just so happens to be right in front of the Black Door... only for Kinsey and her friends to begin asking questions, prompting Dodge to lose patience and drop an F-Bomb, even calling Jamal an "ignorant cocksucker." In the stunned silence that follows, Dodge realizes his mistake and gives up on subtlety, unleashing the shadows on them.
- Instant Expert: He is so good at fencing because he used the Head Key to absorb a VHS tape of fencing masters.
- Jabba Table Manners: Displays some shortly after getting possessed, when the parasite is still getting used to new human sensations.
- The Lancer: Was this to Rendell before the demon possessed him.
- Loophole Abuse: Echoes dissipate leaving the Wellhouse only when actually going through its doors. With the Anywhere Key he can bypass this and move freely.
- Manipulative Bastard: Even when he isn't using the Head Key!
- Mind Rape: Knowing that they can't do anything about the demon and not wanting to kill their friend, Rendell's circle instead use the Head Key to rob him of all his memories of the last three years; the demon is still there but doesn't know about the keys or the Black Door. Ellie explicitly compares this to rape.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Has this reaction when Tyler frees his soul from the parasite.
- Neck Snap: He's fond of killing people with this move. In fact, his MO is so distinctive that it's almost his undoing: the similarities between the deaths of Candace Whedon and Sam Lesser get the attention of Detective Mutuku, unmasking Dodge as the killer in both cases.
- Our Monsters Are Different: An eldritch abomination that would transform into supernatural (and implicitly still living) metal if exposed on the earthly plane. It needs a human host to survive, specifically it needs to bond to a human soul.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: he delights in using sensitive subjects as a weapon in manipulation or just to be a dick, and even when he’s not going after someone he’s extremely fond of using the r-word as a general insult.
- Pretty Boy: Was definitely an attractive man, and remains attractive when using the Gender Key.
- Psycho Knife Nut: Fond of stabby things, and uses both knives and a sharpened rapier to deadly effect.
- Puppeteer Parasite: The thing controlling Dodge's body.
- Sanity Slippage: By "Keys To The Kingdom," his composure is beginning to fray with impatience, to the point that he's openly fantasizing about murdering all three of the Locke children and very nearly snaps after getting beaned with a snowball by Bode.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Is initially bound to the wellhouse, but schemes to find a way out.
- Sense Freak: The main thing the demon possessing Dodge loves about having a body is the sensation of feeling.
- Dodge: I like the way the meat feels. Even when it's bad, it's good.
- Shout-Out: Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl? Trapped in a well? Actually male? Sounds familiar...
- Smug Snake: He underestimates Tyler's intelligence repeatedly, as well as the resourcefulness of the entire Locke family.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Without the Puppeteer Parasite, Dodge was actually a pretty cool guy.
- Would Hurt a Child: aside from most of his enemies being under eighteen due to adults not being able to perceive magic, he enjoys hurting kids as much as he enjoys hurting anyone else, abusing Rufus while living with him and throwing Bode’s friend under a bus without a second thought when he figured out Dodge had possessed Bode.
Sam
Sam Lesser
- Abusive Parents: He definitely had them, which didn't do him or his chances in the world any favors.
- The Atoner: As a ghost, he realizes how he was manipulated by Dodge and attempts to kill him. Sam fails and is tricked by Dodge into being killed by Kinsey in Zack's body, but the information that he passes onto Rufus leads to Dodge's ultimate undoing.
- Back from the Dead: For about a minute before Kinsey re-kills him.
- Chainsaw Good: Forms an astral chainsaw at one point.
- The Dog Bites Back: Attempted and failed.
- The Dragon: To Dodge in Welcome to Lovecraft.
- Empty Shell: According to Dodge, this is what allowed him to contact Sam; an echo's voice can reach anywhere hollow, like caves, wells and Sam's soul.
- Freudian Excuse: Sam is a very smart kid (getting all 600s on his SA Ts; he's actually a year younger than everyone else having skipped a grade) consistently picked on and abused by classmates and family. As a result he just wants some love and affection, something Dodge takes advantage of.
- Extreme Mêlée Revenge: On the receiving end of this when Tyler bashes his face in with a brick (he gets better) and one in Dodge's body when Kinsey beats him to death with an ice skate. (He doesn't get better this time.)
- Gonk: In addition to abusive parents and being poor, the guy was born with a face that won't be winning any pageants.
- The Sociopath: Dodge heavily implies he is such. Some of his behaviour implies that he is just severely mentally disturbed instead.
Al
Al Grubb
A friend of Sam's, Al helps him murder Rendell.- Bald of Evil: Has a shaved head, and willingly/enthusiastically takes part in rape and murder.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: "Now where'd I leave my hatchet?"
- The Sociopath: Probably the only wholly evil human character who appears in the whole series. He's just a depraved rapist.
- Teens Are Monsters: Unlike Sam, he's neither crazy nor being strung along by an evil spirit. He probably just tagged along for the chance to rape Nina.
Parsons
Parsons
An obnoxious orderly at the local booby-hatch, Dodge uses him to find Erin Voss.- Death by Racism: When his very first line is calling Obama a "halfrican" you know he'll come to a bad end.
- Fat Bastard: He's a portly guy who is a complete jerk.
- Foreshadowing: Of the ironic variety. In one scene, he and a co-worker discuss who would win; Freddy Krueger or Leatherface. Parsons insists that strength and weight are the only things that matter in a fight, and he'd make quick work of any skinny guy with knives. Dodge later shows up with knives and dispatches him effortlessly.note
- Jerkass: A creepy orderly who shows multiple forms of prejudice and is a jerk even to people he isn't prejudiced against.
- Orderlies are Creeps: This nasty racist is not the sort you'd want looking after you.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: As soon as he's done what Dodge wanted... knifeneck!
