General Protection Fault (webcomic)

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General Protection Fault

Author(s) Jeffrey T. Darlington
Website http://www.gpf-comics.com/ RSS
Update schedule Weekly (temporary)
Launch date 1998 November 2 [1]
Genre Humour

General Protection Fault (or GPF) is a webcomic created by Jeffrey T. Darlington. It centers around the employees of a small software company called GPF Software and their misadventures. Originally launched on the World Wide Web on November 2, 1998, the comic started in black and white and updated Monday through Saturday; it eventually expanded to full-colour with daily updates, however recently, colour strips on Monday to Saturday have been reverted back to black and white fomat due to the length of time the comic takes to produce in colour. GPF is currently hosted on Keenspot and is one of their most popular titles.

The strip temporarily went on hiatus on September 4, 2006, due to difficulties in Darlington's personal life [2]. The hiatus ended on November 6, 2006, with a temporary weekly update schedule [3]. Darlington has indicated that he has "absolutely no intentions" of ending the series in the "foreseeable future."

Contents

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Nicholas "Nick" Wellington

Nick is the protagonist of the comic strip, a programmer at GPF Software. He's fairly short, quiet, and a bit nerdy. He was introduced in the first GPF strip, which was about his job interview. He has an insatiable imagination and is usually innately optimistic and trusting. However, that has changed since Trudy's betrayal of his trust, and his noticing Bad Trish's odd behavior. He is currently engaged to Ki Oshiro, one of his coworkers.

He has developed the "Inventor's Gene," which allows him to create crackpot inventions and compels him to finish them. His first invention is a remote control that fires a laser. Other inventions include "Project Velociraptor," a 'free energy device' that really taps into other dimensions; the MuTEx, a virtual reality machine; an automatic gun cleaner for his father; and a gift for his uncle, the famous Doctor Otto Wisebottom, though neither of them knows what this does.

During Trudy's plot to take over the world, she used Nick to meet her goals. He apparently developed some feelings for Trudy, but when he was clued in to her evil intentions by Ki and Todd's efforts, he renounced her.

His parents are Charles and Linda Wellington. His father is a police officer (who used to teach secondary school Language Arts), and his mother is a biology teacher. He has a sister, Lori, who is a graduate student. Nick's parents both like Ki, and believe she fits right in with the family. His uncle, Dr. Wisebottom, also has the Inventor's Gene.

Nick prided himself on saving his virginity for marriage, one of the things that ultimately helped to attract like-minded Ki to him.

Nick is currently missing, having been transported to an alternate dimension on the night before his wedding, and his friends tracked him to that dimension while attempting to find out why he mysteriously vanished. He outwitted Nega-Ki and exposed her deception, and does not believe Emperor Nicholas when he claims benevolence. He, however, works on Project Velociraptor for Emperor Nicholas, who has threatened to kill a prisoner for every hour he wastes. While his friends have rescued him, he must now survive the alien invasion and return home.

[edit] Ki Oshiro

Ki is another programmer at GPF Software, as well as their primary DBA. Ki can often appear gruff, sarcastic, and irreverent, but she has a sweet and loving heart and at times can be a bit of a romantic. She is typically pessimistic and suspicious in nature, usually in regard to Trudy. She often rails on the fact that she is so short, and has difficulty buying clothes that fit. She is currently engaged to Nicholas "Nick" Wellington, one of her coworkers. She was once engaged to a football player in college, Sam, but dumped him after he tried to rape her.

Ki took pride in saving her virginity for marriage, but almost gave up on it to try and save her relationship with Sam, leading directly to the rape attempt. In a more light-hearted episode in 2001 during the pregnancy of their boss's wife, she had a moment of weakness and, in a fit of passion, forced herself on Nick briefly before coming to her senses.

She is Asian; her father was born in Tokyo, Japan and her mother in Hong Kong (PRC). Her parents met while both were in school in the United States, and they married and stayed there. Her father is retired, and has become a major traditionalist with an unfavorable view of Americans (he calls them all gaijin, or foreigner), and of inter-racial couples (despite that, as Nick and Ki point out, he and his wife are one). The situation with Sam only made matters worse, partly because he believes that he was fired from his job for Sam's father's company, because Ki broke up with Sam. It took a great deal of work for him to accept Nick as Ki's boyfriend/fiancee, and he still believes that Nick is untrustworthy, especially in light of his disappearance. He walks with a cane after getting hit by a car a few years ago; the driver was Chuck, who was under Trudy's control. He refers to Ki as "Kyoko" out of stubbornness, which is commonly taken to mean that Kyoko is the name he wanted for her but he lost out to his wife (the fact that Ki's brother is named Yoshi may be seen as a compromise). Ki's mother is a homemaker and known for her hospitality. Despite also being traditional and somewhat submissive to her husband, she is more open-minded than her husband. She typically lets him know when he is out of line, such as suggesting that their marriage, done without nakoudo, was a mistake. Her attitude toward Nick has been warm from the time she first met him. Ki also has a little brother, Yoshi, with whom she gets along poorly.

[edit] Jason "Fooker" Barker

Fooker was GPF Software's system administrator in the beginning. He is a bit crazy and very unhygienic; his apartment has been condemned by the EPA. (See the Slime Molds below.) He was well established as a Linux zealot but has since tempered his OS elitism with the aid of his friends. The origins of his nickname are a bit uncertain, but most likely have to do with switching the metasyntactic variable "bar" with "foo" in his last name.

During his college days, Fooker took far longer than the usual time to graduate (he says that Ki arrived in the second year of his "senior year"), partly due to having a problem with drinking excessively. He also got along poorly with Ki during that time, but convinced her to help him quit drinking by offering to get her a part-time job at GPF and throw out her disk quota. Soon after, they became friends, and Fooker quit smoking as well.

Fooker eventually was revealed to be a secret agent for the Undisclosed Government Agency (U.G.A.). His brother, Justin, was groomed for the job, but somehow Fooker got it instead, alienating Justin for a long time. His agent number was 6, and his codename was "James Baud." Fooker was forced to go on full-time active duty when his cover was blown and he was framed for murder. Subsequently cleared of charges, he has since retired from the service, allowing Justin to finally take the job that was meant for him (since they looked similar, Justin also took the James Baud alias, and even kept Fooker's hairstyle for a few months).

Although Fooker returned to his friends, he did not return immediately to his old job. Dwayne did not think it right to fire Sharon just because Fooker had returned, so he instead put in a good word for Fooker at Regional Telecom. That company hired Fooker as sysadmin. Ultimately GPF bought out Regional Telecom, hired several of its workers, and rehired Fooker, placing him directly over Sharon in the hierarchy.

Fooker has also resumed his relationship with Sharon. However, it is unclear when, and if, they will get married, as Fooker has had bad experiences with failed marriage, including his parents'. Sharon, hearing about this from him, has promised to allow him to decide when he is ready to propose.

His mother is deceased. His father is a military officer, but abandoned his sons shortly after his wife's death.

[edit] Dwayne Duncan

Dwayne is the founder, president, and lead software engineer for GPF Software. He is a tall, athletic African-American man with a strong work ethic and boundless enthusiasm. He is one of the more sane GPF Software employees, and is rarely involved in the other characters' stranger adventures. During Trudy's grab at world domination, he was framed for torching GPF Software headquarters, and sent to prison convicted of arson. He was exonerated shortly after the plot was foiled, and has rebuilt the company.

He typically stays out of the adventures that his employees have, and usually only gets involved when forced to do so. His role in To Thine Own Self is thus minimal; he supervises Yoshi, who is running the MuTex that has transported the UGA agents and Nega-Trudy.

He is married to Mrs Nicole Duncan, who is an attorney. Together, they have a daughter, Sydney Nicole Duncan, who was born during a major flood on August 17, 2001.

[edit] Gertrude "Trudy" Trueheart-Glowerhausen

Trudy started as GPF Software's director of marketing. It was quickly revealed that she was an evil mastermind, silently scheming and plotting ill will for her coworkers at the company. Eventually, it was learned that her schemes were far more ambitious when she launched an attempt to conquer the world through a criminal secret society known as C.R.U.D.E. (the Commune of Really Unscrupulous and Diabolical Evildoers). She used Nick to this end, and developed a fondness for him while working toward her goals, building on feelings that may have been present since the beginning. After her Surreptitious Machinations were foiled and Nick renounced her, Trudy went into hiding.

Her parents are divorced, having met and quickly married as hippies. After inheriting a small fortune, Trudy's mother became a shady businesswoman. Her father secrety joined the FBI over 20 years ago, and kept up his hippie guise to keep tabs on his now-ex-wife. She is now on the lam as well. Trudy also has a younger sister, given up for adoption, who is in fact Sharon Murphy.

Trudy has been revealed as "s1r3n," someone that Ki's little brother, genius programmer Yoshi Oshiro, had been in correspondence with. He was building Project Velociraptor for her, but after secretly witnessing Nick's proposal to Ki while visiting him, she ordered him to destroy the device and assumedly left his life forever, going on the run once more. She was once wounded during her flight during a fistfight with Agent #18, and Dr. Akhilesh Seghal cared for her. He forgave her when he found out what she had done, and allowed her to continue running if she took his Bible with her, which she did.

Trudy has currently returned, appearing at the site of Ki and Nick's would-be wedding. She turned herself in to the UGA a few days before, supposedly to be punished for her crimes. She accompanies the team with the GPF employees and her counterpart to the resistance base, in order to give her counterpart a way to atone for her crimes.

The character of Trudy is also related to Pete Abram's character Gywnn in the comic Sluggy Freelance; according to her, Gwynn, despite her flaws, is the "white sheep of the family."

[edit] Fredrick "Fred" and Persephone Physarum, the Slime Molds

Fredrick the slime mold supposedly gained sentience from living in the squalor of Fooker's cesspool of an apartment. Fred learned to speak by watching PBS and tends to have an intellectual slant(his IQ is tested as 139, but Fred thought it should be 209). Fredrick briefly served as a literature professor for an undisclosed major online university until it was revealed that he(Fred technically has no gender, but answers to male identifiers) had no teaching credentials. He was eventually hired by Dwayne as GPF Software's customer support operative.

Persephone is another slime mold that sprang into existence when Fred reproduced by mitosis, one who considers herself a female. Although she should be genetically identical to Fred, she is a different color (yellow as opposed to Fred's green) and has a very different personality. They can alter their colors at will, and there have been hints of other, different colored slime molds (possibly from another timeline). Persephone often seems quite naive, but has shown the occasional hint that she is far more intelligent than she lets on.

Fred(and Persephone by association), thrives in a filthy environment, which is no problem with Fooker, but Nick and Sharon, who have allergies, require clean environments, leading to conflict with the molds. Both molds also gain nutrients from eating decomposing food, can be destroyed by cleaning products such as bleach, and, like humans, require sleep. Fred has learned that he has the ability to control people's bodies by planting pseudopods on them, and used this ability to force Trent to perform various embarrassing and illegal acts. It is implied that Persephone can also do this, although she has never done so(Fred wanted her to help him possess Sharon and Fooker so that they could have sex, but Sharon disapproved).

Fred is manning Nick's MuTex console in the home universe, but has mysteriously been prevented from communicating with Nick.

[edit] Sharon Murphy

Sharon is Fooker's girlfriend and currently GPF Software's system administrator. She became GPF's sys admin when Fooker was called to active duty as a secret agent. Before that, she was their account administrator at their ISP, Quantum-Net. Sharon is a fiery red-head with a violent temper, but more often than not is very pleasant and cheerful. She is diabetic and reportedly lost a great deal of weight to improve her health. She is also a Mac-ophile, which is rare among GPF Software's PC-centric Windows and Linux environment. She usually wears custom contact lenses, and is allergic to dust, pollen, chocolate and COBOL programs.

Sharon typically gives people such as Trent and Trudy the benefit of the doubt, but often comes to dislike such individuals. She is best friends with Ki, and gets along well with most of the rest of the GPF crew, except for Trent, who supposedly sexually harassed her.

Sharon is adopted, and is in fact the lost (by adoption) biological sister of Trudy Trueheart. She is extremely distressed to hear this, possibly because of her sister's crimes.

[edit] Dexter J. Smith

Dexter was briefly an external contractor during a major Y2K-compliance project. He was brought back as a contractor when GPF Software was rebuilt after Trudy's plot for world domination, and was later hired by Dwayne to become a full-time employee. He is a large, grossly overweight man with an unhealthy obsession for science fiction in general and Star Trek in particular. Although he has a tendency to be selfish, self-centered and occasionally lost in some fantasy world, he has opened up and become friends with most of his coworkers.

Dexter is single, but has dated both Ki and Sharon in the past. He tended to be smothering and possessive in both relationships. Since then he has mellowed out, but he has very little social luck. He originally hated Nick because Nick has been condescending of him in the past. Still, Dexter helped Nick save some stranded children during a major flood then pulled Nick from the flood when he nearly drowned, allowing Ki to give him CPR and save his life. Since Dexter permanently joined GPF Software, he and Nick appear to have made up; Nick explains that he was cast as a villain in his comic books because they weren't friends at the time. However, Dexter is interested in finding out how evil his character was.

Despite apparent morbid obesity, he proved to have extraordinary physical prowess during Trudy's power grab in 2002, defeating a large, muscular C.R.U.D.E. henchman in hand-to-hand combat. He is also a skilled and active bowling enthusiast.

[edit] Trenton "Trent" Naomi Terrell

Trent is a marketing guru and from after Surreptitious Machinations until recently acted as GPF Software's director of marketing. In fact, he attended college with Trudy Trueheart and the two were briefly engaged to be married... until Trent stole Trudy's submission for a job and passed it off as his own. Trudy found out what he did, and not only secured her job, but had him sent to prison as revenge. Trent was eventually sent to prison for dropping safes on the heads of several of GPF's competitors (acts actually committed by Trudy, although Trent actually attempted to drop a safe on Dwayne to frame Trudy), but was later pardoned for his part in helping prevent Trudy from taking over the world(although he knows he did next to nothing in the struggle). Conceited and arrogant, Trent works for GPF only to help build up the company Trudy once worked to destroy as an act of revenge against his former lover.

After a series of escalating arguments between Fred and himself, Trent attempted to sue Fred for Libel but was in the end unsuccessful and was fired by Dwayne soon after the case was closed for shooting bleach(which Trent knew would destroy slime molds) at Fred.

[edit] Minor characters

  • Charles and Linda Wellington Nick's parents. Charles is a police officer and former English teacher. Linda is a biology teacher who is welcoming of Ki, despite Nick never having a girlfriend before.
  • Professor Otto Wisebottom Nick's uncle, Linda's brother. A crackpot inventor who has designed a time machine and the Fractal Explorer.
  • Lori Wellington Nick's younger sister, a college student. Was going to be a bridesmaid at Nick and Ki's wedding, but Trish stole and disposed of her car. This necessitated replacing her with Trish, and then Patty.
  • Todd Wellington Nick and Ki's son from an alternate future. Since Surreptitious Machinations, he has been separated from the time stream, and works for The Gamester.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Oshiro Ki's parents. Mr. Oshiro is a retired businessman with a low view of Americans. Mrs. Oshiro is a homemaker, although Yoshi alluded to her "new job" while her husband was recovering.
  • Yoshi Oshiro Ki's younger brother, a child genius and current college student at age 15, as well as an avid black hat. He has a low view of Ki's coworkers, with the exception of Fooker, whom he regards as a skilled systems administrator. He unwittingly worked with Trudy(who took the alias "s1r3n") in trying to revitalize her domination plans, after apparently designing her mind control chip prior to Surreptitious Machinations before she abandoned them and told him to straighten up his life. Despite this, he completed Project Velociraptor just before Ki's wedding; when he hooked it up to his replication of the MUTEX and powered it up, "Pseudo-Trudy" was transported into his basement.
  • Chuck Fooker's former next-door neighbor. He spent over a year under mind control by Trudy, and died during her original domination plans. He lingers in Trudy's dreams as an emblem of her guilt.
  • Justin Barker Fooker's younger brother. Took over as James Baud when Fooker retired from U.G.A. The job was supposed to be his in the first place, but the U.G.A. abducted Fooker by mistake, and Amadeus chose to hire him instead due to his record-breaking test scores. He replaced Fooker as James Baud during Rendez-Vous Á Paris.
  • Patrick Stewart, also known as Amadeus, leader of the U.G.A.
  • Dr. Nefarious Founder and Leader of C.R.U.D.E. Captured in the Florida Keys by environmentalists and handed over to the F.B.I.
  • Sean Connery, also known as Moldfinger, a high-ranking agent of C.R.U.D.E. who has had a run-in with Trudy in the past. Currently at large, and has not been seen since Surreptitious Machinations.
  • Dr. Not, also known as Dr. Nadda (Surreptitious Machinations), or Dr. Nicht(Rendez-vous A Paris). Another high-ranking agent of C.R.U.D.E., taken into custody when the sabotaged device she received from Nefarious incapacitated her.
  • Mister Inertia Another high-ranking agent of C.R.U.D.E. Despite his gargantuan size and incredible strength, Dexter defeated him, and the U.G.A. took him into custody.
  • Nicole Duncan Dwayne's wife, an attorney, junior partner at Soh, Urbanski, Edwards, Edwards and Minsk (which spells SUE 'EM).
  • Sydney Duncan Dwayne and Nicole's daughter. Born August 17, 2001.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Glowerhausen Trudy's parents, now divorced. Mrs. Glowerhausen was a hippie-turned-shady businesswoman. Mr. Glowerhausen was a hippie-turned-FBI agent who used his hippie persona to keep track of his villainous ex-wife and daughter.
  • Trish Marshall Also known as "Good" Trish (see Negas below), she arrived at around Nick's fifth anniversary at GPF, and had a very timid personality, in contrast to her counterpart. Her actions led Sharon and Ki to suspect that something was amiss, and investigated her apartment, where "Bad" Trish shot and impersonated her. Good Trish is apparently recovering in the hospital with Akhilesh Sehgal's help. The GPF crew has only now become aware of the fact that there are two Trishes.
  • Scott, Tim and Patty Former workers of Regional Telecom who were hired by GPF recently in their expansion. Scott and Tim, former officials in the now-dispersed Brotherhood of the Twisted Pair believed at different times that Fooker and Sharon were the Chosen Ones prophesized by their nerd organization. After Sharon helped "debug" the code used to derive the prophecy, they now believe that Fooker and Sharon will produce the real Chosen One as their child.
  • Dr. Akhilesh Sehgal A philantrophic doctor at a local hospital; alienated his Hindu family by converting to Christianity. He tried to convert Trudy, and is the one keeping Good Trish alive through his treatment and personal savings.
  • Mercedes de la Croix Attorney, and rival of Nicole Duncan; a ruthless attorney with an almost flawless record. She represented Trent during his libel suit against Fred.
  • The Gamester An extradimensional being charged with insuring the temporal integrity of the metaverse. He is apparently one of many others, including the Trans-Dimensional Council and extra-dimensional enforcer Justice. He has played a key backstage role in many events in the GPF universe, most importantly Surreptitious Machinations, and is keeping a constant eye on Nick. Since he is unable to directly interfere with the timeline, he uses Todd to do so for him.
  • Mischief The Gamester's apprentice. She typically possesses a playful and joking personality, hence her name, and once played billiards with the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet as a cue ball.
  • Maddie O'Hara Agent #12 in the UGA, and one of the best. Initially very hostile towards Fooker, as she was reluctant to defend him during his trial. She also did not relish spending several months with Fooker in Iraq, where the UGA almost captured Saddam Hussein. However, her view towards him improved since he rescued her in the operation against Dr. Nefarious in the Florida Keys. She developed feelings for Fooker, until he returned to civilian life- and Sharon. She seems to have forgiven him for leaving her in Paris.
  • Agent #18 Another agent in the UGA, apparently the third best (based on C.R.U.D.E. reports, and that, as agent numbers are multiples of 6, he is the third agent in the series). He has primarily attempted to capture Trudy, interrogating Yoshi as to where S1r3n was, raiding her "wedding" to PC, and pursuing her in a blizzard. He almost captured her during a blizzard, but was severely wounded in the process. He joined the team sent to rescue Nick, but was captured with the others.
  • Socrates A third slime mold, reddish-brown colored, who took part in the resistance during Surreptitious Machinations future. He was particularly desperate for Fred to win the lawsuit. He has unsuccessfully attempted to speak with Fred.
  • Sam The "jerk from college that (Ki) almost married," Sam was engaged to Ki, but external pressures such as from his parents, and the rest of the team put a strain on their relationship. Ki was especially upset by the teasing about his not having sex with her, and went to have sex with him. She could not go through with it, leading to his attempt to rape her, and her subsequent breakup with him.
  • Craig Ridge An old friend of Sharon's, who works for a major European company. The German replaced him during Rendez-Vous Á Paris.
  • The German A master of disguise who disguised himself as Craig Ridge and stole valuable information in Rendez-Vous Á Paris. He presumably escaped (although Justin briefly spoke with Maddie about intelligence services pursuing him), but it is unclear what he will do next, as his employer, Dr. Not, was captured.

[edit] The Negas

The Negas are conterparts to the characters of GPF from an alternate universe in the Year 8 megastory To Thine Own Self... (see Major Storylines below), that are "different parts of the same whole" in relation to the GPF cast. For example, while Trudy and Nega-Trudy both grew up spoiled and selfish, Trudy became even more so after her father left her, but Nega-Trudy began thinking of others when her mother fell ill and begged her to find her sister.

(Note: The use of the term "nega" to describe the alternate universe counterparts is primarily a fan connotation. No official label has been designated within the comic itself to describe these characters, although several fan labels such as "nega", "pseudo", and "alt" have worked their way interchangeably into the story.)

  • Emperor Nicholas the Puissant Nick's alter-ego, who, unlike the main Nick, conquered his world. His personality is starkly different; he is very cruel and tyrannical, executing subordinates for offenses ranging from failing their missions to forgetting to charge his toothbrush. He seeks to control the Project Velociraptor in order to escape the alien invasion. He sent "Bad Trish" to spy on Nick, and when she failed, set Duchess Ki to kidnap Nick. He has abducted his counterpart, and plans to make him reveal his secrets, first by trying to use Duchess Ki to trick him into doing so, then by attempting to deceive Nick, and then by forcing Nick to work. The rest of the GPF crew and the resistance infiltrated the palace, and have captured him. The Gamester fears that he will cause an interdimensional catastrophe greater than the one that was prevented in Surreptitious Machinations.
  • "Bad" Trish Marshall "Bad" Trish is an agent working for Emperor Nicholas. Believing she killed the other, Bad Trish has taken over Good Trish's life, claiming that Good Trish's actions were the result of multiple personality disorder. She attempted to get her hands on some of Nick's inventions, but failed and has apparently been executed for her failure.
  • Duchess Ki In the service of Emperor Nicholas as Duchess of Europe, and a parallel version of Ki (whose voice and appearance match that of the Ki Nick and the others know). She transported Nick to her dimension, making him think that he was using the MUTEX, and is attempting to discover Nick's secrets by impersonating Ki. As her performance is based on the surveillance footage of her counterpart, she is prone to making mistakes, such as believing that the (intentionally incorrect) name of a kingdom in "The Counsel of Ethendale" is the real name, leading Nick to disbelieve her. Nick discovered that she had deceived him, and she is now proceeding with "Plan M." after the simulation she was using was terminated. She was tortured in order to break Nick's will, and may be used as a hostage to keep Nick working on Velociraptor. She may be beginning to sympathize with Nick, and questions are arising as to how willing she is to die for Nega-Nick. She, along with Governor Duncan and Emperor Nicholas, has been captured by the rebels.
  • General Jason "F**k*r" Barker Another corrupt GPF employee in the parallel universe. He was sent to investigate Nick, but Nick bribed him and the rest of the UGA. He was made general of Nick's armies and secret police, and came up with the plan to use Gray technology. Unlike his counterpart, he is very muscular. He claims that he took responsibility for Nega-Justin after their father died and their mother left(the opposite of what happened in the primary universe), and, in sending Justin to the Nega-U.G.A., caused his death. He told the story in an attempt to gain mercy from Justin. Justin, however, rejected his plea and shot him in the chest, causing him to fall off the ledge to his death. He damaged the power systems' primary distribution node, which will result in the reactor exploding and destroying the palace.
  • Nega-Chuck: He claimed that he joined after feeling betrayed by his friend Fooker, but he was actually serving the Emperor by infiltrating the rebels. His treachery caused Nega-Trudy's capture, and the annihilation of the rest of her team. Recently it was revealed that he was actually working as a "triple-agent," a spy pretending to be a traitor, in order to give Nega-Trudy and her allies a shot at Nega-Nick.
  • Governor Dwayne Duncan In sharp contrast to his idealistic and fair counterpart, this Dwayne is corrupt and cheats clients out of money. His involvement with Nick's takeover is unknown, but he was rewarded by being made Governor of Asia. He was a prisoner of the resistance for a short time, being at the palace at thte time of their raid. But with the alien invasion, it was revealed that he and "nega-kilgore" were under the control of said aliens. They were killed by Fooker and Justin.
  • "Nega" Sharon A timid and depressed cleaner for Emperor Nicholas, someone who most likely was unable to get over her flaws in the way her counterpart did. While she seemed to help the rebels, she lured them into a trap in order to curry favor with "F**k*r". An explosion, however, buried her in rubble and killed her.
  • "Nega" Trudy A person from a parallel universe who has the same name as Trudy, but a starkly different role. She leads a resistance movement against Emperor Nicholas, whom she formerly regarded as a friend. She was accidentally transported into the primary GPF dimension when Yoshi test-ran his reproduction of the MUTEX. She told the cast of Emperor Nicholas's rise to power and need for Nick's Velociraptor device, and introduced them to the members of the resistance. She infiltrated Emperor Nicholas' throne room with the other members of the resistance, with Chuck posing as a double agent, and was about to kill the Emperor, but Nick talked her out of it by mentioning the dark side within her.
  • "Nega" Yoshi Oshiro Ki's younger brother, and currently the most developed member of the resistance. A mechanical savant, as he has a keen understanding of machinery, but his other mental faculties are like a toddler. This was supposedly caused by Duchess Ki pushing him down the basement stairs out of jealousy, an urge that Ki herself felt but did not act on. His status is unknown; he was most likely killed during the attack, but may have escaped into the sewers; the stormtroopers were ordered to fan out to search for survivors.
  • Wong Li The resistance movement's demolitions expert. He is extremely small, but is a formidable operative. His primary universe counterpart is unknown, but he may be an "opposite" of Mister Inertia.
  • Dr. Nefu A scientist for the resistance who has designed much of their technology. He was killed during the attack on the resistance headquarters.
  • "Nega" Trent The leader of the resistance and "Nega" Trudy's lover. Is modest and brave, unlike the egotistical and cowardly primary Trent. He was killed during the attack on the resistance headquarters.
  • Lord Dexter the Diabolical One of Nega-Nick's prisoners. His crimes are unknown, but he is extremely strong and homicidal in nature, and apparently helped design Nega-Nick's palace. He escaped after Dexter-Prime let him out, and seems to be cooperating with him and Justin, despite the fact that they do not completely trust him. After learning of Emperor Nicholas's palace's imminent self-destruction, he abandoned his companions and made his way to the streets, but has seen something unsettling, presumably the hostile alien forces. This proves true when the aliens attack with a massive invasion force.
  • Nega-Butch Kilgore One of Nega-Trudy's resistance members. The degree to which his personality differs from that of his counterpart is unknown; by the time the GPF crew arrives, he is already possessed by the alien invaders, and he works to render Earth vulnerable by fomenting unrest. However, after he revealed the Aliens' plans to the GPF crew, Fooker and Justin shot and killed him and Nega-Dwayne.
  • Pi and Planck Two gray spies for the Resistance, named because of their numbers. Pi seems more serious and cynical, while Planck is more easy-going. Pi fears Persephone, and has attempted to destroy her. However, he failed, and Persephone apparently made him forget the incident. The explosion in the cell block has collapsed a holding cell, killing most of the hibernating Greys and cutting Pi, Planck and the rest of the survivors off from the resistance base. While typically under the control of the drugged Nega-Skaboola, the control has somehow weakened, and Planck has rallied the aliens against the Emperor's troops. However, they are now being forced to fight the invading aliens.
  • The Aliens Aliens that are enemies of the Nega Grays, and are invading Nega-Nick's empire as a result of his allying with them. Forum readers speculate that they are the Nega-slime molds, and while Nega-Nick suggests that they are using humans to do their bidding the way slime molds do, and Pi feels similarly, the true nature of the aliens has yet to be definitively revealed. While the aliens have attack ships and ground creatures that include hybrids of crabs and scorpions and squids with feet, it has not been determined whether those creatures are possessed by the aliens, or are serving on their own free will. The Aliens planned to stir unrest on Earth in order to weaken it, so that they could consume its diverse fauna. Because Emperor Nicholas allied himself with their enemies, the Grays, they found Earth far earlier than they otherwise would have. It has been discovered that the aliens leave a trail of slime in their path.
  • Pandemonium (Nick's Informant) "His" exact nature is unknown, as only his eyes and mouth are visible in the shadows, but many speculate that he is an extradimensional entity, citing the appearance of his speech bubbles. This theory seems to be confirmed, when the Gamester notices an extradimensional entity interfering, presumably being responsible for Fooker's failure to contact the "home universe." He enjoys chaos and destruction, and gives Emperor Nicholas the advice he thinks he should know, as he believes that his goals will be accomplished when Emperor Nicholas' are. He also was responsible for Empress Trudy's rise to power, and presumably the creation of the alternate future that never should have existed, but it is unclear how he did this or what the ramifications are.

[edit] Major Storylines

[edit] Surreptitious Machinations

Surreptitious Machinations is a massive storyline that took up the entire fourth year of the comic's run, from November 4, 2001, to November 2, 2002. It was published as a graphic novel in 2005. It involves the meddling of a Trudy from the future, travelling back in time to ensure her world domination. Todd Wellington, the son of Nick Wellington and Ki Oshiro in this timeline, also travels back to stop her and change history in his world.

[edit] To Thine Own Self...

To Thine Own Self... is the next massive storyline for GPF. It began on November 20, 2005; originally scheduled to finish in October 2006, it is being extended due to the current hiatus. The story concerns Nick and Ki's wedding, and the attempts by Emperor Nicholas the Puissant, who is from a parallel dimension, to steal Project Velociraptor. On the night of his wedding, Duchess Ki, one of the Emperor's agents, kidnaps Nick and forces him to work on Project Velociraptor. His friends, however, joined a resistance movement in Emperor Nicholas's dimension, but while they succeeded in finding Nick and capturing Emperor Nicholas, they are now faced with an alien invasion that threatens the alternate Earth.

The storyline will reportedly include the tying of loose ends from Surreptitious Machinations, as well as plotlines from Years 5-7, and may, like Surreptitious Machinations, introduce new developments in the story.

[edit] Crossovers

General Protection Fault has taken part in several fictional crossovers with other online comics.

  • HOSERS/GPF Crossover A crossover with HOSERS, was a week-long thread of silliness starting on February 14, 2000.
  • Ubersoft v. GPF Software A crossover with Help Desk, where Fooker got the source code of Ubersoft's Doorways operating system from Phil at Ubersoft, setting off a three-week-long legal battle beginning on January 29, 2001. Trudy got the company off the hook by screwing up Fooker's hard drive, destroying the evidence. Conversations with Boss indicate that Trudy once worked for Ubersoft.
  • Intervention A crossover with Absurd Notions. Fooker and Warren are brought to an intervention for Operating System elitism against their will; Fooker for breaking up with Sharon, Warren for alienating his friend. Unlike the other crossovers, both comics seem to have largely separate stories, centered in the same location.
  • Evil Minds Unite A crossover with Funny Farm, begun July 27, 2003. Trudy, still on the run, tries to rekindle her domination efforts by getting in contact with Clifford Mayers, an evil businessman involved in a criminal conspiracy known as the Concordat. He agrees to grant her safe passage out of the country, for a price. She fails when the U.G.A. intervenes, and partly because of Tor the Calculator's interference, and is abandoned to take the rap. She ends up back on the run once again, with an even less trusting personality.
  • A Tail of Two Species A crossover with Kevin and Kell. Afflicted with the "Inventor's Gene" once more, Nick rebuilt the MuTEx using Project Velociraptor as the power source on January 18, 2004. When he and Ki went to test it out, they got transported to the dimension where Kevin and Kell takes place, and turned into animals (Nick into a mouse, and Ki into a cat). They transported home on February 7, 2004, not knowing it was The Gamester, the superdimensional being that oversaw Surreptitious Machinations, that sent them back. The experience set into motion a series of major events in Kevin and Kell, and was the first instance in which the MuTex was revealed as an interdimensional teleport.

Characters from Sluggy Freelance have also appeared in the comic; apparently, Gwynn is related to Trudy as a cousin. The only plot siginificance of this revelation is that Trudy would attempt to seek shelter with a relative; Gwynn's ties with Trudy's family are limited, as she is "the white sheep of the family."

The Judge from Help Desk presides over trials involving GPF characters, and is less than pleased to see Fooker involved with them.

Characters that were human versions of characters from the webcomic Newshounds covered the Battle of New York during Surreptitious Machinations. As a distinction between the two, the human versions represented "WPET", whereas the animal cast of Newshounds represent "KPET". The web comics Help Desk, User Friendly, and Sluggy Freelance were all featured during Surreptitious Machinations as well when Ki was trying to find work after GPF Software's collapse.

Characters from miscellaneous webcomics appear in certain strips as background figures; for example, "Rude, CRUDE, and Socially Unacceptable" featured villains from other webcomics.

[edit] Continuity errors

  • On Thursday, October 14, 2004, Ki tells her father, "Sam was a mistake, and I'm still glad you and Mom helped me see that." However, the "Sam" storyline suggests that the breakup was entirely Ki's decision and a direct result of Sam's attempting to rape her.
  • In "A Tail of Two Species," in Kevin and Kell's February 1, 2004 strip, Corrie is wearing a "No Species Registry" button and Bruno is wearing fake horns on his sheepskin (in order to prevent himself from being mistaken for a female sheep). However, in General Protection Fault's February 2 strip, both Bruno's horns and Corrie's button are missing.

[edit] Bibliography

Several cartoon compilations have been published:

Although Wikipedia provides an extensive list of links from which these books can be purchased, the author suggests that the books may be cheaper if purchased directly from the publisher, Plan Nine Publishing.

[edit] External links

[edit] General Links

[edit] Suggested Story Links

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