Zellquist Bakery / Characters

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Gezeiten denizens

Nicole "Dutch" Kleiser

A kindhearted, spacey, and spineless woman who arrives in Gezeiten to voluntarily operate her husband's bakery.

The Ace: Dutch is a decent baker and, later on, learns how to become an equally excellent fisher.
Anxiety Dreams: A good number of her fantasies involve Dutch dreading about the possibility of something bad happening, much to her constant discontent.
Brainy Brunette: Subverted, but still downplayed nevertheless. She is often detached from real life and thinks more with her heart than her head.
Cannot Spitit Out: For all the help she gives those around her to realize and work out their true feelings, Dutch is quite guilty of not typically following her own advice. However, since her morals are brought into question, her inability to open up is justified as she is still emotionally confused.
Celibate Hero: Carrying on the tradition found with many of Gavin Nowak's protagonist characters. She does get along with most kids, though.
Character Tics: She is prone to nodding to signify that she is paying attention to a conversation.
Cloudcuckoolander: Her mind is prone to some, er... unusual thoughts. She'll often make strange non sequiturs without provocation, whether that be musing about the nature of weather, taking great humor in the most random of subjects, or gleefully showing her friends sea urchins.
Consummate Liar: A rare example of this trope that isn't of any malicious intent. Rather, Dutch had a habit of pretending to like particular things in order to please others. Just look at her whole opinion of the Third Reich.
Curtains Match the Window: Brunette hair and hazel eyes.
Devotedto You: Being as she is so hopelessly in love with her husband, she would never even entertain the prospect of remarrying.
Delicate and Sickly: No one can really give Dutch the benefit of having the best diet. This, and also probably her anxiety, she has been prone to get down with a sickness quite a few times in the series. A major plotline set during the Winter especially centers around her having a cold.
The Ditherer: Much to everyone's chagrin. Due to the insecurity involved in making a solid decision, let alone damage anyone's feelings in the process, Dutch prefers to remain on the fence about most things. In fact, it's what drives her character.
Does Not Like Spam: She doesn't have much of the stomach for sauces like tartar or mustard, claiming that they freak her out.
Extreme Doormat: Thanks to her peaceful and empathetic nature, she is well-known for being rather spineless.
Friend to All Children: She gets along well with kids, especially Lotte who often goes out of her way to visit her. Helps that Dutch had a job as a substitute teacher too. She also makes an effort to make Tupfen feel included because his mother spends a lot of time on business trips during summer vacation.
Happily Adopted: There is no angst on Dutch's part regarding her parentage. In fact, she thought that being raised by your grandparents was actually normal until she was 8.
Happy Rain: Contrasting her neighbors, who react to storms with lethargy at best, Dutch has no issue walking in the bad weather. She has also admitted that she sleeps better if its raining outside.
The Heart: She has been shown many times to be there to help those in need of emotional support, such as Schulz, Tupfen, and Irma, among many others. Although even despite this, Dutch acts very reserved in terms of her own feelings.
Genius Ditz: Dutch herself fully recognizes that she is slow to grasp things, and she also proves to be a skilled baker, a creative thinker, and quite skilled when it comes to puzzles and wordplay.
Grewa Spine: At the beginning of the series, Dutch was very easily pushed around and manipulated. Over time, thanks to Schulz's influence, she goes through character growth by learning to stay firm in her beliefs.
Guilt Complex: Since she has always been walked over most of her life, Dutch has grown into the unhealthy habit of blaming herself for a lot of things that go wrong, regardless whether or not it was actually her fault. It additionally manifested into her being fearful of making decisions out of the worry that she will blamed for it.
Her Heart Will Go On: By the story's end, even despite the grief of her husband's unfortunate death, she manages to act mature about it and decides not to cling too tight on his memory as a means to continue her life. That isn't to say she remains very fond of their marriage, but it's best for her to keep it off her mind.
The Hyena: It doesn't take that much to get her into a laughing fit. A lot of folks seem to comment on how cute it is, though.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Tupfen, who is about 30 years younger, and Irma, who is about 30 years older.
Magnetic Hero: Dutch is very kind to everyone she meets. It seems a good amount of the Gezeiten townsfolk are drawn to her positive disposition.
Ms.Imagination: Her mind often drifts into the clouds, on top of her quixotic nature, so she isn't exactly all that closely clung on reality. These far-out delusions of hers sometimes end up with her completely tuned out from a conversation.
Nice Girl: Despite her spaciness, she is unfailingly gentle and friendly to pretty much everyone she meets, regardless of social status or opposing beliefs.
Older Than They Look: She's nearly in her middle age, but actually looks much more like a nice young woman in her early 30s.
Old Maid: Dutch used to be this. She got married to Muschel when she was in her late 30s.
Oneofthe Kids: Subverted. Dutch is often hanging out and keeping conversation with both Tupfen and Lotte, both of whom are considerably younger than she is. They mainly get along, not because Dutch is immature and childish in any way, but because she retains a strong sense of imagination that many kids also have.
Platonic Co-Parenting: Altough Greta raises her son on her own, Dutch frequently visits their home to babysit Tupfen, dote on him, or invite him on impromptu trips.
Pungeon Master: She can figure out wordplay and riddles in a matter of moments, and has even come up with a few lame jokes of her own.
Silk Hiding Steel: She's by far the nicest character on the show. Her headstrong attitude in the face of adversity tells otherwise.
Statuesque Stunner: Dutch is quite the beautiful woman and is also the tallest character in the series.
Stepford Smiler: It's few and far between the instances that Dutch relinquishes her sunny mood.
Sweet Baker: Considerate, idealistic, mild-mannered, and works full-time baking pastries.
Team Mom: Has a caring and motherly aura to her, especially with Tupfen. If another character is tangled up in some personal troubles, expect Dutch to drop by and provide support. For instance, she once dropped everything she was doing in order to comfort a particularly suicidal Irma.
Trademark Favorite Food: Blueberries, sauerkraut and, after a visit to Hamburg, currywurst.
Tranquil Fury: Of course, she rarely loses her temper, but even when she does her expression just looks a little irritated and not much else.
Verbal Tic: Ends a lot of her statements with the suffix "-ja", which means yes in German. In general, her sentences sound a lot more sporadically broken up than a normal person, mildly resembling You No Take Candle.
Dutch: "Ah, Mr. Hollenfeuer, hm hm. It's a pleasure to see you again, yes. Sorry for my manners. Bitter breakfast."
Western Zodiac: Her birthday is February 20, making her a Pisces, which is very befitting of her. She is sensitive, compassionate, peaceful, poetic, irresolute, over-sentimental, spineless, and is usually caught up in their own world.

Tupfen Majewski

A clumsy young Polish boy that lives in Gezeiten who often joins along on Dutch's antics.

Adorably Precocious Child: Zigzagged. There are times when he acts exactly as you would think an eight year-old would act. There's also times he does or says things that you would expect from someone older, although this is almost always a result of him repeating what he heard somebody else saying.
Bad Liar: His lies are easy to see through, as he tends to sweat bullets and nervously glance to the side.
Cheerful Child: Downplayed, as he seems to understand mature subjects and often solemnly remarks on real-world problems. Nevertheless, he generally has a sunny disposition.
Constantly Curious: Tupfen is full of questions, particularly when it comes to something new.
Encyclopaedic Knowledge: Because of how naturally analytical he is, he has some basic knowledge about a great many things, such as constellations. It's sometimes justified as being a part of his education.
Flat "What": This is Tupfen's reaction when he finds out that the Zellquist Bakery has hired an assistant.
Hidden Depths:
- He has an interest in astronomy, particularly studying the constellations.
Intergenerational Friendship: Other than a few of the local Gezeiten kids, the majority of Tupfen's friends seen in the series are considerably older than he is, with Lotte being the closest in age at fifteen. Justified as he isn't in school for the most part.
Meaningful Name: Tupfen means "speckle" in German. This could possibly represent his role as the young kid.
Shared Family Quirks: Takes after his mother Greta, notably his inquisitive nature and romanticism.
What the Hell Is That Accent?: A weird example as his mother is from Warsaw, and she has a pretty strong Polish vernacular. However, Tupfen was raised in Germany, so his dialect tends to be a melding of Polish and German.

Irma Lebensmude

An elderly woman that lives in Gezeiten and slowly but surely develops a bond with Dutch.

Agent Mulder: She has quite a few books about cryptids and UFOs. Her vague explanation behind her belief in the supernatural is this...
Irma: I've experienced an entire life, and even then, there's so much I can't even begin to explain.
Bookworm: Reading seems to be a hobby of hers, as she'll often sit and enjoy a book given she has very little else to accomplish. It appears that she has an interest in books about occult phenomena or undocumented history. She gets uncharacteristically passionate about bringing Dutch to a local bookstore, and is genuinely interested to hear that Schulz translates foreign novels into German.
Cool Old Lady: She apparently used to be a storm chaser and has camping knowledge to spare, is decently caught up on the most recent trends (although less so because she's trying to seem cool, but more because she has nothing else better to do), and her Death Glare is piercing enough to intimidate feral cats. Once her icy exterior thaws out, she is still the Germanic Depressive, but at least she gets a kick out of gloating to her friends.
Defrosting Ice Queen: She keeps mostly to herself at the start of the show, and early on most of the townsfolk have come to forget about her. As she starts to get to know Dutch more, she gradually warms up to her and is more willing to try new activities.
Germanic Depressive: She is cold, aloof, introverted, and is unhappy with how mundane her life is.
Granola Girl: She tends to be the most environmentally conscious member of the cast, such as her fondness for recycling and her suggestion that Dutch take up composting. Even still, Irma admits that her lifelong habits have prevented her from going full vegetarian with her diet.
Hidden Depths:
- She really enjoys trying out new things, and believes in the saying that you're never too old to learn. Unpleasant tasks like gutting fish or fanning down a campfire also don't bother her too much.
Last-Name Basis: She calls most people by their family names, except Dutch.
Meaningful Name: "Irma" means "universal", which could imply her sage worldliness. Her surname "Lebensmude" means "tired of life". This correlates directly with how she has become weary of her ordinary routine.
Nature Lover: Irma spends time outdoors as a way to relax.
Perpetual Frowner: She is described by Dutch as someone who looks like they're angry all the time, but in reality that's just how their expression is.
The Quiet One: She does speak every now and then, but compared to the rest of the cast she's very reserved. About half of her dialogue is delivered through inner monologues.
Situational Sociability: A rather amusing example. Irma is stiff, laconic, and comes across as somewhat detatched in regular conversation, but her conversations via text message are a lot more openly friendly.
Technologically Blind Elders: Zigzagged. She does own a cell phone, gloating pridefully how she knows all of the functions. At the same time, she struggles with texting and doesn't understand what software is.

Schulz Hoss

A passionate former pilot and literary translator that lives in Gezeiten who frequents the bakery.

The Big Guy: He is a mammoth of an individual, both in height and in breadth.
Big Ol' Eyebrows: Especially when compared to everyone else in the cast.
Characterization Marches On: During the first half of the series he is more spontaneous and emotionally driven but in later chapters he is depicted to be a more down-to-earth guy.
Childhood Friends: It's implied he's been friends with Marcel since their teenage years. During the camping trip, he suggests going to a field that he and Marcel visited once when they were adolescents. Dutch even seems to think that he's Marcel's only friend, as stated in his introductory chapter.
Consistent Clothing Style: Having lived in Oahu for two months sometime in the past, Schulz is typically seen wearing short-sleeved aloha shirts.
Cunning Linguist: Schulz has a knack for foreign linguistics, so he ended up landing a job as a literary translator after retiring from the air force. At the start of the series he is fluent in German, English, and French. Throughout the show he additionally studies both Czech and Portuguese.
Faking the Dead: Played for Laughs alongside Lotte. They both pretend to have died from a mysterious new influenza in an effort to get an amusing reaction out of an unwitting Amelyn.
Friend to All Children: He gets along well with kids, although some of them such as Tupfen and Lotte seem to have a bit of a rivalry with him. It could potentially be just because of how intimidating he is.
Gratuitous English: Justified given that he is an Omniglot. This is lampshaded early in the series, where Schulz casually spouting "Delicious! Super tasty!" is immediately followed by a caption reading that he can speak five different languages.
Hidden Depths: Among many things, he was a former pilot and aircraft cargo loader, displays a passion for antiques, is fluent in five different languages, is a literary translator, and possesses a keen knowledge of geology.
Honorary Uncle: He eventually assumes this role for Tupfen and Lotte, who sometimes call him "Uncle Schulz".
Killing Intent: Invoked. His sense of humor is either purely sarcastic or intimidating. He will typically give a Death Glare and make a threatening comment in a joking manner. Some people don't understand that these are jokes and are genuinely worried that Schulz is out for them.
Money Dumb: Although he is known for being very reliable when the situation calls for it, Schulz has a bad habit of spending his money extravagantly on impromptu trips and various commodities, without so much as a second thought. He even admits that, while excellent at keeping a secret or organizing an event, it's probably for the best that he should never be trusted with cash.
Platonic Life-Partners: With Dutch. They're great friends, can sometimes be each other's confidants, are willing to lend each other a helping hand, and is even considered an honorary member of the family. There is no romance between the two, which is additionally justified since Dutch is married.
Spiky Hair: Schulz isn't embarrassed in the least regarding the fact that he rarely combs his hair.
Two First Names: An inverted example, as both "Schulz" and "Hoss" sound like last names. This is lampshaded by Schulz himself.

Birnbaum

Jonas Birnbaum

A Gezeiten denizen and bicycle salesman.

Kruger

Philip Kruger