List of Transmetropolitan characters

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Transmetropolitan is a postcyberpunk comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics (originally by Helix). It chronicles the battles of Spider Jerusalem, infamous renegade gonzo journalist of the future. Jerusalem dedicates himself to fighting the corruption and abuse of power of two successive United States presidents; he and his assistants strive to keep their world from turning more dystopian than it already is.

This is a list of the series' characters.

Contents 1 Protagonists 1.1 The Filthy Assistants 1.2 Allies 2 Antagonists 2.1 Presidents 2.2 Other Antagonists 3 Others

[edit] Protagonists

• Spider Jerusalem, main character of the series, gonzo journalist extraordinaire. Inspired by Hunter S. Thompson.

[edit] The Filthy Assistants

• Channon Yarrow, Spider's first assistant in the series. She was formerly an exotic dancer and a bodyguard.
• Yelena Rossini, Spider's second assistant in the series. Daughter of rich philanphropist and political figure, Oscar Rossini.

[edit] Allies

• Mitchell Royce, City editor of The Word, and Spider's boss.
• The Cat, a white two-headed stray cat that Spider finds lurking on the porch of his first apartment. He takes her in, and thereafter she lives a comfortable life eating lizards (which have replaced rats as dominant pests in the City), smoking Russian cigarettes and urinating when and where she pleases.
• Tico Cortez, an old Mexican friend of Spider's from before he left the City. Tico remembers when Spider still had hair, and preferred him that way. He is a "foglet," a sentient cloud of nano-machines that can replicate any form and create matter and objects from thin air. Tico usually appears as a translucent pink cloud topped by the head of a latino man with a goatee and small devil's horns.
• Mary, a "Revival" woman and former photojournalist. At an unspecified time during the early 21st century, Mary suffered chronic heart disease, and she and her husband agreed to take part in a then-new cryogenic system that would allow her to be reborn in a newer younger body in the future. Upon being "revived," however, she found herself alone in a City that was more strange and complex than she could have imagined. She was initially placed in a hostel full of others like herself, and like most other Revivals, sank into depression and near-catatonia. Mary began to recover psychologically when Spider discovered and befriended Mary, lending her financial assistance so that she could get a room of her own, and gifting her with a camera.
• Vita Severn, a political director for The Smiler. Although her own support for The Smiler is not without sharp criticism, she does so because she believes that he is the only candidate who can unseat The Beast, and that she can use her position to promote crucial issues and encourage the population to better themselves. Vita befriends Spider, and the two appear attracted to one another, but the beginnings of a romantic relationship are cut short when Vita is assassinated.
• Detective Malandra Newton, a CPD detective stationed at Dante Street precinct house, and one of the few honest cops in the City. She was involved in the Rory Lockwood investigation and was forced to remain silent about the fact it was deliberately being buried by the police. However, she co-operates with Spider during his investigation prior to his incapacitation in the ruinstorm, and arrests the Smiler at the conclusion of the Martial Law arc.
• Oscar Rossini, Yelena's father and a well-known political figure, who supported Senator Longmarch's campaign against The Beast. Known for his philanthropy and good nature, he bears a striking physical resemblance to Spider, as well as sharing a similar sense of humour. He shelters Spider (as a way of keeping his daughter close and safe) after he is incapacitated during the Dirge arc. When they reveal a massacre perpetrated by the National Guard, he allows Spider, Channon and Yelena to escape and finish their work, while he and Lau Qi remain to capture their imminent arrest on camera and further embarrass the White House. It is assumed that Oscar is eventually acquitted after the Smiler's downfall.
• Lau Qi, a young Chinese-American woman who is co-founder of The Hole, a feedsite (a futuristic website/file-sharing network) that runs unbiased news coverage as well as allowing people to upload, download and share other downloadable media; Qi later admitted that they only set the Hole up in the first place to distribute pornography, and that news had been a "distraction." Spider turns to Qi (pronounced "Kay") and her colleague/boyfriend John Nkrumah when he is forced to leave The Word after the board of directors, pressured by The Smiler, have him fired. During The Cure/Martial Law arc, Spider forces her to accompany him as he and his comrades try to evade the National Guard. She is last seen enjoying a drink with Oscar Rossini and setting up cameras to capture his imminent arrest; it is likely she was apprehended (and eventually acquitted) along with him.

[edit] Antagonists

[edit] Presidents

• The Beast, The Beast is (and was) a three-term president whom Spider Jerusalem despised for his political tactics and condescending attitude toward the population. A Richard Nixon-esque President, The Beast possesses something of a superiority complex and has few qualms with punishing those who don't vote for him. Spider repeatedly accused The Beast of being a power-hungry politician who had no real beliefs, who wanted to be president but had no interest in actually doing the job required of him. However, as Spider finds out in an interview, The Beast simply believes in "getting through the day," doing the bare minimum required of him in order to ensure that the country continues to run and that at least the bare majority of the population survives.

  Unlike The Smiler, The Beast's real name is never mentioned in the series, and it was Spider who gave him the nickname. Apparently, The Beast's supporters and even his own children refer to him by his nickname, for which he despises Spider. Spider explains that the name originated from his mental picture of the man, "a big black animal squatting in the heart of America...the thing in us that votes to fuck other people in the gall bladder, the lizard brain that says nothing but eat-kill-hump-shit."

• The Smiler, real name Gary Callahan, is the presidential candidate who is elected at the end of the first story arc of the comic. Nicknamed as such for his wide, rigid, nearly perpetual grin, The Smiler is originally given Spider's grudging support, until he proves to be far, far more corrupt and dangerous than The Beast. The Smiler privately admits to Spider that he hates everyone and only wants to be President in order to control and oppress people, and begins a personal vendetta against Spider after the journalist repeatedly humiliates him in the public eye. The Smiler goes so far as to send assassins after him, have him fired from The Word, and sicc the National Guard on him. Eventually, at the end of the comic, the Smiler is arrested.

[edit] Other Antagonists

• Alan Schact, The Smiler's political consultant. Schact and Vita constantly try to make one another look bad. Unlike Vita, who believes that Callahan can embody a "third way" between conservatism and liberalism, while to Schact, the "third way" means finding a balance between honesty and outright deception. Spider believes that Schact is the prime architect of Vita Severn's assassination, and eventually exposes him as a predatory pedophile.
• Fred Christ, leader of "Transient" genetic movement, and later the Church of Christ religious movement. Fred began as a manager for rock bands, but later became a figurehead among "Transients," inter-species body modification fetishists who were in the process of transforming their own DNA into that of an alien species from a colony called Old Vilnius. Taking up residence in the Transient-heavy slum of Angels 8, Fred turned the Transient movement into a cult of personality centered around himself, and announced the intention of Angels 8 to secede from The City to Old Vilnius. However, Fred made a deal with The Smiler to start a riot that would leave many Transients killed or wounded by the police, in order to damage the Mayor's reputation.

  After the riots ended, Fred set up the Church of Christ, continuing his cult with the Smiler's backing, in exchange for certain favours for Callahan and members his administration. Fred, who already had a reputation for being extremely lecherous, prostituted female converts to his Church (known as "Brides of Christ") to Callahan and his staff, and paid for a "massive wetware upgrade" for Josh Freeh, the Smiler's straw man running mate, who was in fact grown in a cloning tank to specification so that Callahan's vice-presidential nominee would have a clean record. During the rioting following the Smiler's declaration of martial law, Fred and most of the other Transients were shot and killed by National Guardsmen.

  Fred Christ may be a reference to Malcolm McLaren, English impresario and self-publicist who is best known as being the manager of the punk rock band, the Sex Pistols.

• Bob Heller, a virulently, openly archconservative and racist candidate who has overwhelming support in the state of Florida. Heller commands the support of a large group of provincial, xenophobic, mostly working-class nationalists, and despises anyone he can label as a pacifist, "weirdo," or member of a "lower race," all of whom he sums up as "The Weak." (Spider, in turn, dismissively generalizes his average supporter as "Joe Fuckface Sportsbar.") The Smiler cuts a corrupt deal with Heller in order to get the Floridan vote.
• Stomponato, a vicious, sentient, talking bulldog who is also a police officer. Stomponato swears vengeance against Spider when, after catching Stomponato trying to brutalize and extort a stripper, Spider knocks him unconscious and pays a shady veterinarian to neuter him.
• Indira Ataturk, a former assistant of Spider's whose life and reputation were ruined while working for him. During the investigation of a strip bar which was reputed to be using technology to transform the patrons into sex-crazed maniacs, Indira fell under its effects and accidentally became a famous amateur porn actress when someone captured video footage of her engaged in orgiastic group sex.
• The Wife, a woman to whom Spider was briefly married. Little is known about her except that she was violent, alcoholic, promiscuous, unfaithful, and utterly hated Spider. Spider's wife hated him so much that she had herself put in cryogenic stasis (like Mary and the other Revivals) with orders to revive her only once Spider was dead. Before doing so, she offended a xenophobic religious sect in order to motivate them to kill Spider so that she could be revived soon.

[edit] Others

• Ziang Huai