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The main and supporting characters from the four books of The Last Dogs book series.


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    Main Characters 

Max

Max is a male Labrador retriever and the main protagonist (and main POV character) of the series. After learning that humans have disappeared from town (and pretty much the entire country), he escapes from a kennel thanks to Rocky the dachshund. Brave, heroic, and clever, Max will stop at nothing to protect his friends and find his family.


  • Agony of the Feet: In Journey's End, Max ends up breaking a paw while luring the wolves and coyotes away from his friends.
  • Anger Born of Worry: He's at first angry at Rocky for making them worry that they lost him on the monorail only to end up fine at the zoo. But he does stop yelling at Rocky and apologizes when he realizes that he's made the dachshund afraid of him.
  • Badass Boast: Even while surrounded by wolves and coyotes in Journey's End, Max eventually locks and loads on the predators when the humans arrive just in time.
    Max: You have no idea what I'm capable of. I'm NOT just some house pet who got lost. I have summoned blazing fires to destroy my enemies. I have made giant mountains come alive to trample those who'd dare to attack my friends. A cloud of bats came at my friend's call, swarming Dolph's pack and tossing them into a chasm. Dolph knows what I can do. When he asked for my help when he was starving, I gave it. But every time he attacks, I strike back even harder. You came after me...and now I make the noise to drive you crazy! ... You have underestimated me. Now you will find out what I'm truly capable of!
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: At one point in Dark Waters, Max jumps into a river using Rocky's "Hiii-yah!" quote.
  • The Determinator: Max is very determined to find his family again, no matter how long he has to travel.
  • Dog Stereotype: He's the usual heroic retriever, good with kids and friendly with other dogs.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending the entire tetralogy journeying to find his family, Max finally finds them. What's more, Rocky and Gizmo get adopted by Max's owners, and they all live happily together.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Max usually prides himself on being a good boy, being friendly with other animals and humans. But he can't stand the stuffy Dandyclaw and the brutal Chairman.
  • Friend-or-Idol Decision: Now reunited with his owners, Max is horrified that he, Rocky, and Gizmo are going to be separated. Between the owners he had longed to see again and the dogs he had bonded with, he chooses Rocky and Gizmo and decides to run away with them. Dr. Lynn sees how much they'd miss each other and proposes that they can still stay together, and Charlie and Emma ask their parents if they can adopt the two smaller dogs (which they do).
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Max is a heroic dog who's gotten scars over the course of his journey. The Mountain even remarks on how much scars he's gotten while trying to find his owners.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A male example. Max is often described a golden Labrador, and he's a good-natured dog.
  • Heroic Dog
  • Honorary Uncle: In the epilogue of Journey's End, Max becomes an uncle to Rocky and Gizmo's puppies.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: The younger Max likes talking with the older and wiser Madame Curie while they're at the vet.
  • It's All My Fault: In Dark Waters, he becomes so busy in finding out about the Praxis symbol that he doesn't notice Rocky boarding the monorail by accident and with a hungry hyena. Max blames himself for Rocky being separated from them.
  • Nice Guy: Max is helpful, kind, and heroic.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In The Vanishing, he throws dog food down for the pursuing wolves to eat while they make their getaway. This just gives the wolves more fuel and energy to chase them, and Max even thinks that this wasn't a good idea.
  • Papa Wolf: To his child owners Charlie and Emma, to the point of crossing half of the country to find them.
  • Shipper on Deck: He seems to like the idea of Rocky liking Gizmo.
  • Was Too Hard on Him: When yelling at Rocky in Dark Waters, he sees that Rocky had become briefly afraid of him. So Max apologizes, and Rocky apologizes as well for making Max and Gizmo worry about him.
  • White-and-Grey Morality: He believes that while many pets are good, there are also bad pets who react the way they do because of being in despair over their missing owners. He also ultimately believes that not all wolves are bad and that it was only Dolph who was the true bad wolf, yet he also hopes that Dolph finally finds peace with himself and lets go of his hatred.

Rocky

Rocky is a male dachshund and one of Max's best friends. He was a vet's new dog until the humans disappeared, and he becomes fast friends with Max after he saves the latter from a wolf. Snarky and sarcastic, Rocky will always find something to remark about.


  • Big Damn Heroes: He does this two times, both involving saving Max. The first was in The Vanishing, when Rocky pushes a gumball machine onto Wretch's head to keep him from killing Max. The second was in Journey's End, where Rocky arrives in time to jump onto Dolph, biting wherever he can reach.
  • Big Eater: Rocky is always wanting to eat, his favorite food being dog kibble.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: He says this in Journey's End.
    Rocky: Is it Dolph? Is it food? Is it Dolph eating food?
  • Buffy Speak: While trying to get back at Max for saying that he was calling him "sausage dog" in his mind, he retorts that Max is a giant...golden...furry...dog thing.
    Rocky: Yeah, I got nothing.
  • Catchphrase: He's got a jumping cry that goes "Hiii-yah!"
  • Character Development: He goes all the way from a spoiled and lazy pet to a braver dog. He even lampshades this when Max admits that Rocky and Gizmo have become family to him.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He's been described as having something funny to say in several situations.
  • Dog Stereotype: He's the stubborn and spunky dachshund.
  • Fantastic Racism: He has a thing against Dalmatians due to one Dalmatian being rude to him once. Max reassures him that not all Dalmatians are rude, even adding that not all dachshunds are friendly.
  • Formerly Fat: Rocky had been pretty plump before the humans disappeared, and lots of travelling has caused him to lose weight. It's subverted in the epilogue in Journey's End, when Rocky had regained some weight back.
  • Interspecies Friendship: Thanks to their love of food, he gets along well with Barbs the hyena. He's also friends with many rats, who hail him as a hero.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In spite of being lazy and snarky most of the time, he's willing to help his friends out.
  • Living Legend: He's this to the rats, who are in awe of him being a hero and call him "Silver Tongued Rocky".
  • Self-Serving Memory: Played for laughs in The Long Road. When telling Flicktail the rat about his adventures, he tells his own version of what happened so far. For example, he didn't get lost on the monorail (which he did), and he declares himself the leader of the gang (though Max does the leading).
  • Ship Tease: With Gizmo throughout all four books. Ultimately, the two end up having puppies together.
  • The Smart Guy: He's said to be the brains of the trio, coming up with clever tricks to outsmart their enemies.
  • True Companions: With Gizmo and Max, who confirms that he's family to him.
  • Verbal Tic: He often calls animals bigger than him "big guy" or "big gal".
  • Wangst: In-Universe, where Rocky whines that it's Max's fault that he's a stray now, with no food and no shelter. He stops complaining immediately when Max tells him that he's got food and shelter at his owners' house, and Max is surprised about how Rocky went from complaining about him to being his friend again. In return, Rocky just says that he gets cranky when he's hungry.

Gizmo

Gizmo is a little female Yorkshire terrier. She was once a dog from the Enclave until she decides to join Max and Rocky on their adventure. She's very hyper and friendly, having a positive side of things.


  • Badass Adorable: She's a cute little terrier who's able to stand up to animals bigger than her. Examples being a wolf, a gorilla, and an alligator.
  • "Be Quiet!" Nudge: She gives these to Rocky whenever he says something rude.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Even if she likes many animals, she doesn't like the red panda sisters (for being bratty) nor Gertrude the pig (for her haughty attitude). She even says at one point that she absolutely hates the Chairman and that she'd usually never hate anyone.
  • Fatal Flaw: Her main flaw is being reckless and rushing head-long into dangerous situations.
  • Genki Girl: She's very outgoing and friendly with dogs and other friendly animal. She doesn't even back down from scolding a big male gorilla towering over her.
  • Interspecies Friendship: With cats, saying that all cats love her.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Her Fatal Flaw is rushing head-on into situations. She admits that this was the reason why she was separated from her old owners, because she had instantly chased a squirrel as soon as it came by.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: When confronting the wolf pack for the first time, one of Gizmo's first reactions is to declare that she's wanted to mess with the wolves for a long time. She even gets to bare her teeth and snarl at any wolf coming too close.
  • Nice Girl: Her frisky and kindly nature make her determined to make plenty of friends, even those that aren't dogs.
  • One of the Kids: With her and Rocky's puppies, she's more than eager to play games with them.
  • The Pollyanna: Nothing bad ever keeps her down for long.
  • Ship Tease: With Rocky throughout all four books. Ultimately, they become mates and have four puppies together.
  • True Companions: With Rocky and Max, the latter confirming that she's family to him.

Dolph

Dolph is a male gray wolf with scars over his muzzle. He is the main antagonist of the series, hell-bent on revenge on Max and his friends for wounding one of his packmates.


  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: His idea of confronting any threat is attacking whatever is in his pack's way.
  • Big Bad: He's the main bad guy of all four books.
  • The Big Bad Wolf: He's the biggest, toughest, and meanest wolf in the pack.
  • Break-In Threat: When first threatening Max and Rocky, he threatens to gut them, skin them, and wear their pelts so that he can pretend to be a groveling dog.
  • Bullying a Dragon: In spite of seeing an elephant charging at the wolves (an animal that easily outweighs and overpowers them all), Dolph still decides to take The Mountain on. It ends up being a Curb-Stomp Battle, with The Mountain easily kicking him away.
  • The Determinator: Nothing will stop Dolph from tracking Max and his friends all across the country. Not even a rampaging elephant stops him from his goal.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In spite of wanting to hunt Max down in The Long Road, he admits that he and his pack are too weak to hunt and fight, and that they can't risk hunting livestock because of the police dogs. When Rudd attacks Max and tries going for livestock, Dolph rounds on him and threatens to exile him if he did anything like that again.
  • Evil Versus Evil: His savage wolf pack faces against the dictator-like Chairman at the end of The Vanishing. Dolph ends up winning.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Dolph is a ruthless battle-scarred wolf. He gets a lot more injuries in his pursuit of Max throughout the series.
  • Grudging "Thank You": After getting something to eat thanks to Max in The Long Road, he thanks Max for the food but says that this won't stop him from chasing him down.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: After spending a long time pursuing Max, the humans arrive to put an end to the fight. Dolph is so furious at having his chance for revenge ruined that he tries attacking the humans. One tranquilizer dart later, and Dolph is unconscious and sent to a wildlife preserve, alone with no pack to travel with.
  • I Lied: When he and his pack attack the house of cats, he tells one cat that he'd let him go if he'd tell his pack where Max and his friends were at. When the cat finally tells him, Dolph lets the cat be devoured by the pack instead.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: The Mountain guesses that Dolph is only challenging him so that he could save face of being strong due to being beaten by an elephant.
  • Kick the Dog: He's at first a bully that seems to want to make Max pay for defying him. But the first act he does to show that he's serious is killing Raoul the cat and bringing his mangled body to Max.
  • Large and in Charge: He's the biggest of the wolves, and he leads their pack.
  • Last of His Kind: Out of the wolves that chased Max all the way to Texas, Dolph was one of the last wolves of his original pack. Once he gets relocated to a wildlife preserve, he becomes the last true wolf of his pack.
  • Makes Us Even: After Max helps Dolph and his pack find food, the wolves save him and his friends from Belle's mutts. Dolph considers that even.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He attacks Belle and her mutt pack because he believes that if there is one animal who will finally take Max down, it would be him.
  • Savage Wolves: He and his entire pack are all greedy brutish wolves, ready to tear the dogs apart.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Upon seeing the humans come rescue the dogs, Max tells him that their personal war is over. Dolph roars that it's not over and even tries attacking the humans for interfering with their fight. This gets him tranquilized.
  • Villainous Rescue: Dolph pulls this in The Long Road, rescuing Max and his friends from the crazed Belle and her pack of mutts. He tells Max afterward that they're even and that his pack will still hunt him down afterward.

    Introduced in The Vanishing 

Madame Curie

Madame Curie is the same breed as Max (a Labrador retriever) but black-furred with a strange symbol on her collar. She's been a good friend to Max during their visit to the Vet, and she even warns him of dangers to come.


  • Chekhov's Gun: The symbols on Madame's collar is eventually revealed to be the symbol of the Praxis virus, which she was an experiment for.
  • Cool Old Lady: Her wisdom and friendliness is why Max likes to call her a friend.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: She dies surrounded by Max, Rocky, and Gizmo to make sure she doesn't die alone.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With the younger Max, who likes hearing about the older dog's wisdom.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: She's named after Madame Curie, who had been the first person to discover radioactivity. Dr. Lynn even explains that Madame Curie was her role model, so much so that she named her dog after her.
  • Spirit Advisor: She becomes a major one to Max after she dies.

Wretch

Wretch is a male wolf, one of the top wolves in Dolph's pack. He's also the first wolf Max encounters.


Dandyclaw

Dandyclaw is a male poodle. He runs a group of abandoned pets called the Enclave, where kibble is akin to gold.


  • Humans Are Bastards: Dandyclaw is sure that the humans abandoned their dogs on purpose, so he decides to make himself a savior and keep the dogs away from their owners.
  • Glad I Thought of It: Max and Rocky stay with the Enclave for a while and show Dandyclaw how to use the wagon to haul food and water to their camp. In return, Dandyclaw takes all credit for this and declares that their wagon is now the Enclave's wagon.
  • Insistent Terminology:
    • He refers to be called only Dandyclaw and not Pinky, his given name. Rocky sarcastically calls him "Dandypuff" and other names like that, and Dandyclaw will snap "It's Dandyclaw". When Rocky finally says Dandyclaw's name seriously, Dandyclaw starts to snap "It's Dandy - ", but then he realizes that Rocky said his name correctly.
    • He also insists that the dogs in the Enclave go by their given names, like "Softspike" for Gizmo.
  • No Sense of Humor: He's not the kind of dog who jokes around a lot.
  • Moving the Goalposts: He offers to let Max and Rocky stay for a while to show them how the wagon they're dragging works. Once the wagon works wonders (like holding plenty of dog food bags and water), Dandyclaw starts making Max and Rocky stay even longer. Eventually, he starts calling the wagon "the Enclave's wagon" and takes credit for discovering this.
  • Psycho Poodle
  • Villainous Breakdown: He's angry that Max and his friends are leaving the Enclave to find their humans, going into a Motive Rant about how humans abandon their dogs and how he's the savior of dogs. And when the wolves are coming for the Enclave, he starts to cry and moan about how he needs Precious with him.

Raoul

Raoul is a tomcat. He's in charge of the Crazy Cat Lady house, stern but fair.


  • Defiant to the End: He goes down fighting Dolph's wolf pack, intent on protecting his cats from the wolves' wrath. Unfortunately, the wolves kill him and bring his mangled broken body to Max.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: He's rather aloof towards the dogs at first, but after hearing much of their mission, he starts to warm up to them and even opens up to them about the cats' owner.
  • Spock Speak: Most of the time, he speaks in this manner. When he's telling the dogs about his owner, he forgoes this dialect a little bit.
  • The Stoic: Raoul usually speaks in a stoic tone.

Panda and Possum

Panda and Possum are two cat sisters living in the house of cats. They're some of the first cats to befriend Max and his friends.


  • Fat and Skinny: Panda is fat while Possum is skinny.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Possum is more snappy and impatient with the dogs, but she acts civil with them.
  • Nice Girl: Panda. At first wary of the dogs, she quickly warms up to them as she learns that they're finding their owners.
  • Polar Opposite Twins: Panda and Possum are from the same litter, but Panda is shy while Possum is more brash. Their fur color is even almost identical (being bicolored cats), except Panda is black-and-white while Possum is gray-and-white.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Possum is the Red Oni, snappy and more bold, while Panda is the Blue Oni, shy and soft-spoken.

Longtooth

Longtooth is a rat and the leader of a gang of rats in the subways.


  • Large and in Charge: Longtooth is the biggest rat in the subway.
  • Rhymes on a Dime: He's led his rats into rhyming whenever they sing or even talk. But it's subverted when he slips up a few times and admits to Max that he's faked the rhyming.
  • You Dirty Rat!: Subverted. He and his rats seem menacing, but once Rocky impresses them all, he's in a friendlier mood and decides to spread Rocky's "legend" to many other rats.

The Chairman

The Chairman is a male Doberman pinscher. He runs a group of dogs like a corrupt corporation called, well...The Corporation, a society run only by dogs.


  • Bad Boss: He sends dogs who are defiant to him to the abandoned parking lot, locked up and starving until they're ready to serve him.
  • Dog Stereotype: He's the aggressive guard Doberman pinscher.
  • Embarrassing First Name: His real name is Precious.
  • Evil Versus Evil: The Chairman and his Corporation face off against Dolph and his wolf pack. His side loses, and the Chairman flees from Dolph.
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Precious is a tall, intimidating, and cruel Doberman pinscher.
  • Hypocrite:
    • The Chairman boasts about how he loves making the other dogs follow his commands, but when it comes to human tricks, he's just as obedient. Gizmo even remarks on how this make the Chairman hypocritical.
    • He also claims that he and the other dogs in the Corporation are civilized animals, only for Rocky to point out that he beat Madame Curie and left her for dead for defying him.
  • Jerkass: Nothing about the Chairman is really redeemable, being a stoic and cruel dictator to the other dogs.
  • Kick the Dog: In a case of an actual dog doing the dog-kicking, he savagely attacks Madame Curie and leaves her in an abandoned office to die alone.
  • Sarcastic Clapping: The Chairman tells an escaping Max that if he had human hands, he would clap for his determination.

Fester

Fester is a male Rottweiler. He's one of the many prisoners the Chairman keeps in the abandoned parking lot.


  • Dumb Muscle: He admits that he's not the smartest dog around. But Max reassures him after their escape that, after all that Fester helped them through, he's pretty smart after all.
  • Foil: To the Chairman. Both are intimidating dog breeds with black-and-tan fur, and they're leaders of their own packs of dogs. But while Fester warms up to Max and helps him get all the other dogs out, the Chairman sees Max as an asset rather than a dog and imprisons many dogs who defy him.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He wants to rough up Max once the latter introduces himself, but once he's beaten, he's willing to cooperate and help everyone escape.
  • The Nicknamer: Thanks to Max beating him in a duel, Fester decides along with the other dogs to call him "Fleetfoot".

    Introduced in Dark Waters 

Boss

Boss is an old male Australian shepherd. He's the alpha in charge of a southern cruise boat called the Flower Of The South. Initially gruff, he comes to soften up as he gets to know Max and his friends.


  • Benevolent Boss: After experiencing Dandyclaw and the Chairman, Max fears Boss is a Bad Boss at first, but it's soon proved that Boss proves to be a much better alpha than Dandyclaw and the Chairman.
  • Cool Old Guy: He's mentioned to be old, but he's proved that he's a capable alpha. He's even confident enough to drive away a hungry wolf by barking at him.
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: He stays on board while the Flower Of The South is burning and ready to explode. When it does, it damages him beyond repair, and he dies on the riverbank.
  • Interspecies Friendship: He's friends with some of the animals in the zoo. These include Oliver the owl, Willa the gorilla, and Mortimer the elephant.
  • The Lost Lenore: Played with since Belle isn't actually dead, but Boss believes that it's his fault that his owners couldn't bring Belle with them.
  • Spirit Advisor: He becomes this to Max in The Long Road.

Zephyr

Zephyr is a female Dalmatian. She lives with Boss and many other dogs on the Flower Of The South, where she helps organize what goes on at the boat. She's also the leader of a gang of firehouse Dalmatians.


  • Dog Stereotype: Zephyr and her fellow Dalmatians had been raised by firefighters and accompany them on their missions of putting out fires.
  • Heroic Dog: She mentions that it's her and the other Dalmatians' duty to help firefighters put out fires. At the end of the series, she and the other Dalmatians are heralded as heroes for helping the other dogs on the boat.
  • Number Two: She's most likely Boss's second-in-command.

The Mountain

The Mountain is an African elephant living in an amusement park in a zoo. Along with Madame Curie, he's one of the eighteen animals tested in the laboratories for the medicine called Praxis.


Gertrude

Gertrude is a female pig living in a petting zoo in the zoo. Along with Madame Curie and the Mountain, she's one of the eighteen animals used in the Praxis experiment.


  • Bait-and-Switch Comment: When Rocky performs tricks for her to get on her good side, he gets this response.
    Gertrude: That...was a complete waste of my time.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She often speaks in an arrogant and snarky attitude.
  • Dirty Coward: She remarks that the chickens getting eaten by the big cats is better than herself getting eaten.
  • Insufferable Genius: She's a very smart pig, but she's also very pretentious.
  • Manipulative Bastard: She's very clever in her words and convinces the dogs to take her to the laboratory where the Praxis experiment took place. Once there, she has Max, Rocky, and Gizmo injected with Praxis.
  • Messy Pig: Gertrude plans on using an unused part of the petting zoo as her own mud pit.
  • Properly Paranoid: She claims that predators will see her as a walking ham lunch, but Max thinks that it's just big talk. But after they escape the lab and see Gertrude surrounded by Dolph's wolves, he realizes that Gertrude was right in needing protection.

Barbs

Barbs is a female spotted hyena. She comes from the zoo near the Flower of the South and is the first zoo animal Max and his friends meet.


  • Heinous Hyena: Averted for the most part. The worst thing she does is laugh at inappropriate times, but she means no harm to the dogs.
  • The Hyena: Befitting of a hyena, she often laughs even when she's nervous.

Willa

Willa is a male silverback gorilla. He lives in the same zoo as Barbs and is very territorial.


  • Interspecies Friendship: He's on good terms with Boss and even lets the red panda sisters hang out with him.
  • Killer Gorilla: Played straight at first, where he threatens to kill Barbs for stealing from his food source. This simmers down when Gizmo tells him and Barbs to just talk things out.
  • My God, You Are Serious!: When asking Barbs to not steal his food anymore and says that she can share with her clan, Barbs replies that she doesn't like being with her pack because they laugh too much. This causes Willa to laugh pretty hard and then say that it wouldn't hurt to at least deal with them.
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: When Gizmo calls him out for threatening Barbs, Willa explains himself
    Willa: This hyena is always in here. Always stealing my food. She has plenty of food back with her pack, but she keeps taking mine. It makes me so angry!

Rose and Scarlet

Rose and Scarlet are two red panda sisters. They hang out with Willa the gorilla and tease other animals in the zoo.


  • Fantastic Racism: They seem to look down on Barbs for being a hyena.
  • Spoiled Brat: They're pretty bratty for zoo animals, taunting and teasing other animals.

    Introduced in The Long Road 

Georgie

Georgie is a male Saint Bernard living in the swamp. He's known around the swamp area as the "Mudlurker", a beast whose long and mournful howls keep enemies at bay.


  • Cowardly Lion: He's not the bravest dog, but he does keep the alligators at bay with his howls. In the climax, he ends up keeping Belle's mutts at bay while Max and his friends make their escape.
  • Determined Defeatist: Georgie is convinced that it's no use leaving the swamp and that he'll have to be the Mudlurker forever, but he trusts Max and his friends to help him. It turns out to be a good thing, because Georgie soon sheds the defeatist attitude and becomes a happier dog.
  • The Dreaded: At first before he's introduced because of his eerie reputation. When Max and his friends meet him, however, he proves to be a kind and gentle (if somewhat cowardly) dog.
  • Gentle Giant: As befitting a Saint Bernard, he's a Big Friendly Dog.
  • Horrifying the Horror: Because of a howl he makes during a cave-in, this scares his pursuers (a gang of hungry alligators) into fleeing for their lives.
  • Living Legend: The police dogs in a town near the swamp have heard the Mudlurker's cries, and they're pleased to see Georgie in the flesh.
  • Red Baron: He's known at the Mudlurker, a horrifying beast that preys on anything in the swamp. In his actual appearance, he's anything but horrifying.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Over the course of The Long Road, Georgie grows from a timid and lonely "Murlurker" to an outgoing and somewhat brave dog. It's shown the most when Georgie starts leading the way to Baton Rouge due to knowing the dogs and paths there.

Hank

Hank is a male Virginia opossum living in the southern swamp.


  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Initially gruff and wanting to be left alone with his kids, Hank ultimately helps the dogs avoid the gators.
  • Papa Wolf: He directs the dogs towards the alligators on the threat of the alligators threatening his kids.

The Alligators

A group of alligators that live in the swamp.


  • Breaking Speech: The head alligator tries breaking Max by telling him that there's no escaping the swamp and that his owners would never love him again. But all this does is encourage Max to retort that the gator is wrong and that he'd never stop looking for his owners. With that trick used, the gators decide to just attack.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: They believe that the Murlurker from the swamp is hunting them, so they decide to abandon their pursuit of the dogs and flee.
  • Never Smile at a Crocodile: Double subverted. The alligators appear to be brutes who want to eat Max and his friends. A wise old gator, however, seems to subvert this by saying that they were just trying to invite the dogs to a party. But Gizmo sees that this is a subversion. She's proven right when the head gator sneers at Max at how they're trapped in the swamp and his owners must have decided to never love him again, which causes Max to retort that he's wrong.
  • Terrible Trio: There are only three alligators that talk.

Julep

Julep is a male German shepherd. He and his fellow police dogs keep guard over a Louisiana town and keep the pets safe from predators.


  • Dog Stereotype: He's The Hero of the Louisiana town thanks to him and his fellow German shepherd police dogs.
  • Heroic Dog: He's a police dog, so this tends to fit the bill.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: While the other pets want Max and his friends to leave due to Dr. Lynn leaving and the wolves arriving, Julep's calmer about the situation. He does say that Max has to leave so that the pets can be safer, but he also knows that Max and his friends aren't to blame for Dr. Lynn leaving town. Earlier, though suspicious, he does agree with Max to let the wolves eat and drink before sending them away.

Dr. Lynn

Dr. Lynn is Madame Curie's owner. She is one of the humans who had experimented with the Praxis virus.


  • Cool Old Lady: She's an old woman who loves animals, caring for as many as she could while looking for a cure for the virus. Because of this, they all love her.
  • Must Make Amends: She had wanted to use the Praxis virus for good, to help people and animals. When it goes out of control, she decides that since she introduced Praxis, she'll be the one to stop it.
  • My Greatest Failure: After the Praxis virus goes out of control, she blames herself for letting it spread.
  • Nice Girl: She's a very sweet-hearted old lady.

King Flicktail

Flicktail is the king of the junkyard rats on the outskirts of Baton Rouge. Having heard of Longtooth's encounter with Rocky, he prepares his kingdom to welcome Rocky with open arms.


Whitey

Whitey is a male Labradoodle who lives on the outskirts of Baton Rouge. He helps Max and his friends escape from the junkyard rats.


  • Innocent Bystander: He had been a normal stray before the rats keep him hostage in the junkyard, just so they can boast that they run the place.
  • Traumatic Haircut: Max thinks that his curly fur is a result of the rats keeping him hostage. However, Whitey reassures him that he was just born this way.

Belle

Belle is a female collie. She lives in Baton Rouge and is known to be the sweetest dog around and is Boss's lost love.


  • Friend to All Children: She's mentioned to be friendly with the puppies in Baton Rouge and visits them often.
  • Go Mad from the Isolation: Being alone with no humans or her dog friends around makes her start losing her sanity. The revelation of Boss leaving with his owners pushes her way over the edge.
  • Heel Realization: Having a heart-to-heart talk with Gizmo about Boss makes Belle realize that her behavior hasn't been good, and she resolves on becoming a better dog.
  • Nice Girl: Before the humans left, Belle was regarded as the sweetest dog in Baton Rouge.
  • Sanity Slippage: The humans not being around has not been kind to her. She's let the mansion she lives in become filthy, hires a gang of angry mutts to be her bodyguards, and insists on ever referring to her as a lady.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: She becomes insane and downright hostile over the course of the humans disappearing. Also, she snaps at the other dogs for mentioning Boss's name despite having loved him before. Fortunately, she has a Heel Realization after hearing about Boss's death and decides to become good.

    Introduced in Journey's End 

Rosy and Duskborn

Rosy and Duskborn are two horses travelling with a big herd of horses. They stop briefly to tell the dogs about the silver wall they're fleeing from.


  • Bratty Half-Pint: Out of the two horses, Duskborn the colt acts disdainful to the dogs. Rosy says that he was born in the wild and thus has little patience for the domesticated life.
  • Horse Jump: Rosy says how the silver wall is impossible for any horse to jump over, and she even mentions that she's an award-winning show jumper.
  • Known Only by Their Nickname: Rosy's full name is Savannah Rose, but she doesn't mind others always calling her Rosy.
  • Nice Girl: Out of the two horses, Rosy is a domesticated horse and is the nicer of the duo.

Samson

Samson is a white mouse. He lives in an abandoned mall with lots of other mice.


  • Catchphrase: "Go big or go home," he says while boasting of having over one hundred babies.
  • Humans Are Bastards: He doesn't like humans that much, and he says that the people behind the silver wall on TV look happy, which is actually the opposite.
  • Nice Mice: Zigzagged. He's at first suspicious of the dogs, trying to warn them away with a megaphone to keep them from eating the mice. When the dogs say they don't want to eat mice, he relaxes and shows them around the mall, even helping them find kibble. But once the wolves come looking for the dogs, Samson gets angry at the dogs for leading them there and says that he'll tell the wolves where they are.
  • Papa Wolf: He threatens to reveal the dogs' hiding spot to the wolves, but like with Hank the possum, he does it to protect his family and the other mice.
  • Really Gets Around: He mentions that he has one hundred and sixty seven babies to look after. That's why his motto is "Go big or go home".
  • The Man Behind the Curtain: After being chased by cats one day, Samson had come upon a megaphone and shouts into it, scaring them away. From then on, he uses the megaphone to pretend to be a monster and scare off predators.

Spots

Spots is an old male Bluetick coonhound. He works with his owner at the local train museum.


  • And This Is for...: When they get the miniature locomotive train running, Spots yells this to the sky for his brother.
    Spots: This is for you, Dots!
  • Bonding over Missing Parents: Max gets Spots to open up more by mentioning that his owners would have loved visiting the older dog's train museum. Spots feels better after hearing that kids still love trains and explains about the wall he and his brother had gone to.
  • Cool Old Guy: Once he starts opening up more, he becomes friendly and helpful for Max and his friends.
  • Defrosting Ice King: He's at first unwilling to listen to Max asking him about the Wall of Doom, but after hearing of how Max's owners loved trains, he softens and tells him all he knows about the Wall.
  • The Determinator: Like Max, Spots and his brother Dots had wanted to follow their humans and help them.
    Stripes: I tried to make you stay. I had a bad feeling.
    Spots: I know you did, darlin'. And I shoulda listened. But Dots and me, we were stubborn fellows. Nothing could stop us.
  • Friend to All Children: In spite of his grumpy nature, Spots seems to like kids and is touched to hear Max say that one of his child owners (Emma) wanting to be a conductor one day. He also keeps the train station open to help the younger animals be entertained.
  • Interspecies Friendship: Spots the coonhound is good friends with Stripes the skunk.
  • Posthumous Sibling: Max and his friends assume that Spots's brother Dots had died, but it's subverted when it's revealed that Dots was only captured, not dead.

Stripes

Stripes is a female skunk and is one of Spots' closest friends.


  • Humans Are Bastards: Though she's polite about it, she says that she's glad that the humans are gone.
  • Interspecies Friendship: Stripes the skunk is friends with Spots the coonhound.
  • Nice Girl: Unlike Spots (at first) and Tiffany, Stripes is very friendly to Max and his friends and is willing to help them out.
  • Smelly Skunk: She uses her stench to keep the wolves at bay and even threatens to use it on Spots if he kept acting more aggressively. When she's adopted by Spots' owners, they mention that despite her sometimes smelling, she would fit in right at home.

Tiffany

Tiffany is a young female raccoon. She's very adventurous and boasts about how she's a famed robber named the "Silver Bandit".


  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: She tells the dogs about how she stole "bobcat eggs", claiming that the dogs had never seen a bobcat lay eggs before. It can be justified because of her juvenile age.
  • Do Not Call Me "Paul": She hates being called "Tiffany" and wants to be called the "Silver Bandit".
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At the end of the day, this raccoon proves that she's not as bad as the dogs thought her to be.
  • Rascally Raccoon
  • Red Baron: "The Silver Bandit" is her nickname.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: She boasts about being a master thief, sure of her own apparent thieving skills.
  • Spoiled Brat: She's not as bad as the red panda sisters, but she's this most of the time.

Coyotes

The coyotes live as a small pack, led by Bonecrusher, in the desert in Journey's End.


  • Enemy Mine: Once Max breaks his paw, the coyotes and the wolves decide to briefly join together to kill him. Suffice to say, when it comes to deciding on who tears Max apart, they start fighting amongst themselves.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Like Dolph, Bonecrusher is ruthless and battle-scarred, especially with claw marks on his muzzle.
  • Those Wily Coyotes: Played with. For their savage nature, the coyotes in the series don't appear to be too smart. The coyotes manage to have the dogs in their grasp, but when Max mentions that they know where to catch rabbits, they're easily fooled and don't realize it until the dogs lose them in the canyon. The wolves even call the coyotes out on this way of thinking.

Edwina

Edwina is a female armadillo living in a chasm. She gives Max and his friends shelter to stop the coyotes from chasing them.


  • Good Parents: She takes good care of her four children.
  • Rolling Attack: As befitting of an armadillo.
  • Scare 'Em Straight: She doesn't mind Rocky telling her babies about the "Mudlurker", telling the dogs that her babies would need to avoid any monsters and predators.

Blue, Milo, Lola, and Chloe

A couple of Dachshund/Yorkie puppies. They're Rocky and Gizmo's sons and daughters introduced at the very end of Journey's End.


  • Babies Ever After
  • Cheerful Child: Like their mother Gizmo, they're happy and friendly puppies.
  • Patchwork Kids: They have wiry fur like Gizmo and long bodies and short legs like Rocky, and they're black-and-tan like both of their parents.
  • Superpowerful Genetics: Downplayed. Thanks to the remaining Praxis in Rocky and Gizmo, they pass Praxis down to the puppies, who end up learning to operate TV remotes and making their yips sound like actual words.

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