List of Penny Arcade characters

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This is a list of Penny Arcade characters.

For other uses, see penny arcade.

1 Protagonists
- 1.1 Johnathan Gabriel
- 1.2 Tycho Brahe
2 Supporting Characters
3 Minor Characters

[edit] Protagonists

Penny Arcade's two top dogs spend their time bickering about games, game makers, movies or just popular culture in general.

[edit] Johnathan Gabriel

Mike Krahulik's comic alter ego is energetic and free-spirited, but has a propensity to become extremely angry. He has a Pac-Man tattoo on his right biceps [1][2], as well as a tattoo in honor of SNK on his back [3]. He also has feet that are similar to hands, which he can use to grip things. This physical trait is an annoyance to Tycho [4]. He has a fascination with unicorns, a secret love of Barbies and is a dedicated fan of Spider-Man and Star Wars. He practices line dancing with the Kansas City Hotsteppers [5]. He has an odd affinity for a large cardboard tube which he had fantasies of wielding as a wandering samurai, often in ancient Japan (see Cardboard Tube Samurai below). He was for a short time addicted to Tribes but soon grew out of it. He also has an obsession with his own genitalia and possible latent homosexual tendencies [6][7][8][9][10].

Krahulik eventually named his son "Gabriel", in honor of the character [11].

[edit] Tycho Brahe

Jerry Holkins' comic alter ego (named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe) is bitter and sarcastic. Almost invariably clad in a blue-striped shirt, Tycho enjoys books, RPGs, unnecessarily large words and deflating Gabe's ego. According to Tycho, "Some people play tennis, I erode the human soul." [12] He is a rabid fan of Harry Potter. He also often plays Dungeons & Dragons (the website's banner illustrates him holding a d20 die). Though extremely intelligent, he has on several occasions made reference to his scarring childhood in which his mother physically abused him [13] and blamed him for his father's leaving due to his body "swelling with evil" [14] (in fact, puberty), as well as his parents taking him on a family road trip to such places as Idaho's largest shitfarm.[15] He shows some animosity toward his brother, noting that "You might recall that Cain and Abel were brothers." [16] It has been mentioned that one of his aunts, believing him to be gay, constantly sends him homoerotic material [17]. Tycho also has a problem with addiction. [18]. He is noted for having "A judo grip on English". Due to his body harboring a "dark spectre from the world of dreams" his eyes turn red when he is particularly annoyed. [19][20][21]. He also likes bestiality, preferring long-necked animals. [22] [23] Tycho also owns a Zune, and claims to be the "only living organism in the universe without an iPod."

[edit] Supporting Characters

Penny Arcade's many supporting characters in alphabetical order.

[edit] Annarchy

The 11-year-old daughter of Tycho's brother (of whom Tycho does not seem very fond)[24], Annarchy (Anne Claire Brahe) is known as an accomplished linguist, like her uncle, employing extensive vocabulary, and some knowledge of the Klingon language, a hardcore gamer, claiming to have played Final Fantasy on the Famicom in the original Japanese, and sneaking into the 2005 E3 in his baggage[25], and recently, a vegetarian [26] out of spite.

Anne won a poll held to determine a new story arc, beating out such fan favorites as Cardboard Tube Samurai, Div, Fruit Fucker 2000 and Twisp and Catsby. The story arc's plotline consists of Ann wishing to attend the "1000 Man LAN", but her parents will not allow her to attend because she is forbidden from dating boys [27]. Enlisting the help of her uncle Tycho, she breaks free and is able to attend. Due to her pony & rainbow case mod, she is mocked by other attendees, but becomes enamoured when one, going by the handle Galahad, comes to her defense. She later beats him in the final round of a tournament, and, much to her uncle's chagrin, she kisses the boy.

Uncle Tycho once allowed her near Gabe (not a particularly wise choice), who in turn gave the young one advice about World of Warcraft. Recently she went shopping with uncle Tycho, for a Valentines Day gift for Galahad. Tycho suggests custom embroidery, and presented Ann with a shirt that reads "Stay the fuck away from my niece!"[28] Ann suggests he's trying to sabotage their relationship, a notion that Tycho unsuccessfully attempts to dissuade. Recently, she was trapped with Galahad in a mall full of zombies, defending herself with a Klingon bat'leth [29] while breaking up with him.

[edit] Brenna

Tycho's wife, with red hair and glasses. Unlike Kara, she doesn't really understand her husband's obsession with computer games and consoles. Tycho accidentally killed her demonstrating a move from Splinter Cell [30], which he then used as an excuse to sue the entire country of France in the storyline "Ripped from Today's Headlines". It was nearly a year before she returned, spotlighting Tycho's bizarre sexual fetish involving giraffes. [31]

[edit] Charles

A somewhat fanatical Mac user (formerly known as Chuck) who underwent a drastic makeover around the same time as the Mac OS X release.[32] He is very vocal with his contempt for Gabe and Tycho's lack of appreciation for Apple products, and regularly tells the two to "shut [their] pie holes".[33] [34] In addition to telling people to shut their pie holes, pies are often worked into strips with him (he baked a pie, and in another, Gabe was eating a pie). He also prefers to greet Gabe and Tycho with the colorful phrase, "Hey, fuck you". Gabe once painted a big red penis on his door to annoy him, with considerable success. Other shenanigans with Charles included a phone conversation with Gabe while Tycho was dead of SARS; Charles replies with the quip "I'm really excited that you might die". However, he still remains something of a friend to the pair, once trying to get them into an Apple store by mussing up their hair to make them hip (he failed, and Tycho and Gabe ended up standing out in the rain with other friends not hip enough to enter the Apple store). He was also seen working in an Apple store when Gabe and Tycho came in to buy an iPod for their friend, who was being deployed to Iraq. Recently Charles helped Gabe learn to work his first Mac; when Gabe asked what cologne he was wearing, he replied "Macintosh".[35]

[edit] Div

A drunken, talking DIVX player with a hostile, surly attitude and a penchant for consuming large quantities of alcohol. He is also known to have rough, yet "magical" sex with Gabe's PS2 and considers Gabe and Tycho as weaklings.

[edit] Jesus Christ

In the context of the strip, he is a big fan of FPS and fighting games. He enjoys shooting people in online games when they are talking, and "throwing up the horns" when he wins[36]. Also known for his legendary skill in Mario Kart: Double Dash - for his ability to "bring those blue sparks"[37]. He has visited Tycho and Gabe for years and is on a personal level with them, such that he has gone Christmas shopping with Gabe for Tycho. Jesus also once warned Judas against being a dick for team killing [38]. In the strip, the character has also momentarily returned to Earth - not for the rapture, but out of excitement over the prospect of deep fried twinkies.[39]

[edit] Kara

Gabe's wife. She has reddish-brown hair and is usually seen wearing a purple t-shirt adorned with a grinning wombat's head. She became a gamer under her husband's influence, though this is rarely mentioned in the strip itself and is instead only referred to in the newsposts written by Krahulik. Kara as a character is directly based on Mike Krahulik's actual wife of the same name, to whom he proposed in a Penny Arcade strip in 1999. [40]

[edit] Minor Characters

A list of minor characters that have appeared on Penny Arcade, in no particular order of importance or number of appearances.

Cardboard Tube Samurai: An alter ego of Gabe, who uses a cardboard tube as if he were a samurai wielding a katana. The birth of the character came when Tycho was going to throw out a cardboard tube, which Gabe objected to and showed him the fun that could be had with it [41]. The first appearance of the Cardboard Tube Samurai came when Gabe went to Taco Hole after they did not give Tycho his proper order [42]. The samurai later appeared again in his own short series of comics, which saw him in a style reminiscent of old samurai movies[43]. He has later appeared in many other comics, sometimes in a series of comics making a story, sometimes just for one. These comics have made him a popular character. Video game developer Crystal Dynamics paid homage to Cardboard Tube Samurai by implementing a code in their game Legacy of Kain: Defiance which replaces character Kain's sword with a cardboard tube (in which Kain says "Fear the tube"). This was likely a response to Penny Arcade's fond references to the Legacy of Kain series in the past. The Tube is also referenced in Eidos/IO Interactive's Hitman: Contracts with a Tube-Wielding protagonist. The link here is more explicit as the cheat code used to acquire the tube is IOIPENNY, with accompanying text referencing "The Wandering Age".

Gabe cites Usagi Yojimbo as a primary inspiration for the character.^[1]

Christian Boggs: A real-life individual who, at the Child's Play dinner and auction, donated $20,000 to Child's Play for the privilege of appearing in a Penny Arcade comic strip. According to Tycho, "as a young man, a grievous injury gave our benefactor the 'opportunity' to see just how the care at a children's hospital can change a person's life," which was the impetus behind his donation. In the strip in which Christian is featured, Tycho and Gabe tell Boggs they need him to buy them each a Lexus to inspire them to write a strip about him. [44]

Frank: A Vietnam War veteran turned store manager at Electronics Boutique; although he has been referred to as working at Software Etc in different strips. He is based on the manager of the NorthTown Mall Software Etc. in Spokane, WA during 1998. Frank, who is somewhat mentally unstable, often intimidates customers and deflects their complaints or questions with surreal stories about patrolling in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He has asked for Gabe's pants on at least two occasions. He also once crucified customers in front of his shop. In the most recent strips, he has been fighting off zombies inside of a mall (the zombies are there due to the release of the game Dead Rising) with his M16 rifle, Mabel.[45] He is shown in the next strip as being ready to assault the patrons of an Apple store, mistaking them for zombies. He is, however, warded off by Charles. [46]

Fruit Fucker 2000: A small, robotic juicer with an unusual means of extracting juice. It was first mentioned in this comic. Brenna and Kara tie Fruit Fucker in a sack and set him adrift at sea at one point in the strip, after he touches Brenna's hair in an inappropriate manner.[47] This leads to a multi-comic cross-over story arc. He later saves Tycho and Gabe when they are trapped in the mall with zombies by activating "Code Omega".[48]

Hector: A subservient, old golf caddy, apparently of Eastern European descent, who first appeared on the second part of the story arc "An Alternative Lifestyle". After countless hours of playing Mario Golf, Tycho proposes he might be a good golfer, so he grabs Gabe to try his skill out on a real golf course. Hector's livelihood depends on gratuity from golf players and he is forced to carry out Gabe's outrageous demands. Unfortunately for Hector, Tycho embraces the golfing lifestyle as well and is too intoxicated to intervene on Hector's behalf. In the later strip "Our Latest Comic Strip", Gabe threatens to lock Hector in a box for allowing a raindrop to touch his arm while playing golf during a violent storm [49].

Jim: Gabe and Tycho's long-lost roommate who loved RPGs and (supposedly) was a foil to the Penny Arcade duo. Everyone thought he moved out of the apartment, but he simply was lost in the cable jungle behind the television when he went to install the N64. He appeared in 2 of 3 strips named after him, the "Jim Saga". [50] His skeleton is seen wearing a red t-shirt with a 12 sided die, a dodecahedron, used in table-top RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons, similar to that sold on the site's store, except it's red instead of black, 20 sided instead of 12 and has the die on the middle without text. Appropriately, the die on his shirt displays the number 1, a value associated with critical failures. Jim returned at the end of the Armadeaddon arc as the necromaster, leader of the undead that had been swarming a mall many of the main characters had been trapped in, his plans were foiled by Tycho's Natural 20. The die on his t-shirt now shows a natural 20, a result associated with victory.

The Zombie Roommate: The Zombie Roommate was originally a roommate of Tycho and Gabe, until they asked him leave because he ate all of Gabe's chips.[51] He borrowed a shirt from Tycho, who allowed him to keep it when he left. The Zombie roommate is typically treated in a manner that would otherwise evoke sympathy, if he weren't a zombie. He was shown to be one of the zombies infesting the mall, led by the skeleton of Jim.

Mr. Period: Your helpful guide to the English language. Often appears with his compatriots Capital Letter, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, and their 'pet' Comma. His strips have him and his companions starting off quite happy and child-friendly, yet throughout it, it gets progressively darker.

Mr. Tails: A violent, top hat-wearing monkey. He is usually seen biting various characters. He also once donated blood to Tycho.[52]

Porkfry: A friend of Tycho and Gabe. He has accompanied them to E3 and often suggests solving problems with a knife. He is colorblind.

Randy Pinkwood: A television news anchor whose broadcasts usually contain humorously blunt references to his alleged sexual prowess. According to Jerry Holkins in the book Attack of the Bacon Robots, Randy is often used when they want to touch on multiple topics within the same strip.

Safety Monkey: A kindhearted, nice friend of Tycho and Gabe who is usually picked on. Gabe has described him as being the friend the others bring down for amusement, including telling him the group will be at a certain location and then never showing up.

The Merch: A cute cartoon character whose premise is that only copious purchasing of his merchandise by boys and girls can revive him (and only temporarily) from a wizard's curse. Failure to do so turns The Merch into the bloody Fleshreaper which "goes house to house, collecting torsos." The Merch satirizes entertainment that demands constant commerce (such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, among many others). Tycho's niece, Annarchy, always wears a Merch t-shirt. Other PA characters are shown wearing both the Merch and Fleshreaper t-shirts, of which only the Merch is available at the store as a t-shirt. The Merch often is connected to a comment that kids should buy merchandise even if it requires stealing from their parents (compare to Soupy Sales' televised 1965 stunt of asking children to mail him the "funny green pieces of paper" from their parents' wallets and purses). Most recently, from December 19 [53] to December 30, 2005, The Merch was featured in a six part story-arc called "An Unbelievably Merch Christmas". In it, a Merch-turned-Fleshreaper is out of control because children haven't bought enough Merch merchandise. A shotgun-wielding Santa Claus saves the day by telling the children what to do (purchase more merchandise) and by doing battle with the Fleshreaper, buying enough time for children to carry out his advice. Santa loses his left arm in battle, but the kids do buy enough Merch goods in time, reverting the Fleshreaper to his Merch form and presumably saving the Free world once more. As the arc closes, The Merch imparts keen insight, commenting to a badly wounded Santa with its perpetual broad grin, "Santa? I fucked your dad," to which Santa can only comment, "I know, Merch. I know." They walk off into the sunset as The Merch cheerfully adds, "I fucked him all night long."

Thomas Kemper (the cat): A cat with advanced computer skills, possibly MCSE certified. Thomas is named after the Thomas Kemper brand of soft drinks. Though he has had no dialogue whatsoever, Div has appeared to interact with him as if he was fully lingually responsive, although it is unclear if Div was just drunk out of his mind. Though in other comics Gabe has both mentioned in some way that he has spoken to the Thomas. In a comic where Tycho and Gabe acquire an industrial laser, used to open the packaging on an Xbox controller, much to the chagrin of the space devil who designed it, Gabe remarks "I don't know if you have spoken to the cat recently? He is fucking smart." (which implies that Thomas constructed or at least designed the laser)[54]. Gabe claims that Thomas informed him how to build a time machine, as well as warning Gabe of the dangers that may arise if he meets his future self.

Twisp and Catsby: An anthropomorphic cat and an imp who are featured only in sepia toned strips. Contrary to what one might infer from the names, Catsby is the imp character and Twisp is the cat; Tycho said of this curious inversion at a lecture at MIT, "Well, we never really asserted who each one was... like everything else is so ridiculous where they live that it seemed perfectly legitimate at the time."[55]. Everything about these characters and their strips is even more bizarre than "regular" Penny Arcade continuity with non sequiturs and Twisp speaking only in single word sentences. The duo was created out of Gabe and Tycho's mystification that they were seemingly unable to create something that their readership would dislike, and also as a direct shot at Kevin Smith's quote that the movie Jersey Girl was "not for the critics". (The first appearance of this strange pair was also labelled as "not for critics".[56]) Although Twisp and Catsby effectively mocked Smith's quote, the pair ironically became two of the most popular characters. Prints of their panels have since sold for over a thousand dollars [57].

Wombat: A wombat's head design that makes various appearances in the comic strip, and is featured as the site's favicon, making it something of an unofficial logo. Penny Arcade newcomers often mistake the wombat for a bear, or as a reference to the "scary bears" found in Radiohead's merchandise. The Wombat first appeared on a green pennant Tycho was holding on January 22, 1999, in the strip "Saving Private ION" [58] before settling in as the identifying icon on Kara's clothing, imitating the iconographic association between Gabe and Pac-Man. In June, 2005 Penny Arcade began selling a lavender t-shirt featuring the wombat logo, which matches the one worn by Kara in the comic strip. Between August, 1999 and December, 2005 there has only been a single comic strip sighting of the wombat disassociated from Kara. The wombat is also indirectly referenced by the phrase "Necrowombicon" (a parody of the Necronomicon in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos) when Tycho attempts to "uninstall" the Mortyr demo and as the name of a fictitious gaming convention. It should be noted that "Necrowombicon" later became an actual gaming convention, held in Vancouver BC. (It is now defunct, having been replaced by the Penny Arcade Expo.)

Guy, the Adversary: A nerdy-looking man working retail for some unspecified store that sold Nintendo DS Lite early and ran afoul of Tycho. He attempts to pass himself off as knowledgeable about technology and hardware by using obfuscating jargon, but his attempt only proves his own ignorance, which Tycho savagely mocks. Guy retaliates by refusing to sell Tycho the hand-held game console, hence becoming Tycho's adversary. In desperation, Tycho enlists Gabe to go into the store and buy it for him. Unfortunately, Guy sees through the straw purchase, adding a touch of sarcasm with a call from his "wife" on his "invisible phone", which the ever credulous Gabe is easily taken in by. Giving up on the straw purchase, Gabe heads to the pet store to teach a pet parrot how to say vulva. Tycho then angrily misquotes Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famous remark "you go to war with the Army you got, not the Army you want." [59][60] He makes a reappearance in a more recent strip, apparently on more friendly terms with Tycho, commenting on the many incarnations of the OS Windows Vista.[61]. His adversarial relationship may begin even earlier than the Nintendo DS incident [62].

L.H. Franzibald: Cruel and conceited author of the "Song of the Sorcelator" [63] whom Tycho believes has plagiarized his fantasy fiction work "Elemenstor Saga" and butchered Tycho's eloquent prose in the process. When Gabe expresses interest in the rival author's penmanship, Tycho delcares it trash and flings it to the waste basket. Gabe then secretly begins to read the forbidden book in the attic under a blanket and becomes a fan to the point of taking a bullet for Franziblad at Readiation 2006. [64] This character is loosely based off of Tim Buckley, whom Holkins and Krahulik mock at times.

Cheeto: An overweight friend of Gabe and Tycho, whose mouth and fingers are perpetually covered in orange powder, presumably from eating large amounts of Cheetos.

Valgariad, Mr.: Organiser of Readiation 2006, a small convention, who booked both L.H. Franzibald and Tycho Brahe to appear on the same panel, "The Writing Craft: Drawing the Story from Stone". When Franzibald learned that Tycho was also invited as an honored guest, he pulls a whip and whips Mr. Valgariad. [65]

Nightstand: A rabid fan of the "Elemenstor Saga" dressed as a nightstand (complete with lampshade) who tries to kill Franzibald after yelling "I am the sword of Ronard" but wounds Gabe in the arm instead. [66]

Gus: A member of Rooster Teeth Productions and creator of Red vs. Blue that wanted to wrestle after hitting the sauce at PAX 2005. [67]

Burnie Burns: Director of Red vs. Blue that advises Gabe on Gus' wrestling style at PAX 2005. [68]

GM Gabriel: Gabe as a Game Master in a MMORPG that unfairly harasses other players for their in-game items. [69][70]

Satan: Prince of Darkness and Father of All Lies as a consultant for the makers of a popular MMORPG, advising them how to keep the subscribers obsessed with WoW using a CCG. [71]

Dr. Raven Darktalon Blood: Protagonist of a gothic horror comic created by Gabe within Penny Arcade canon, whose movie rights were fictionally sold to Warner Bros. during Hollywood's mad dash to obtain comic book intellectual properties. [72]

Leviathan: An uncharacteristically cute winged-character of a comic-within-a-comic summoned by Dr. Raven Darktalon Blood to aid him drive back the servants of Hell when the energite levels in his pistol fall too low. [73]

Galahad: Annarchy's boyfriend who is seldom seen. In a recent comic Annarchy is shown breaking up with him (calling him a p'tahk in the process). [74]. In the Epilogue of the Armadeaddon Arc he is shown reading the Klingon dictionary to understand her insults.

K-Real: A suburban wanna-be gangsta thug used by Gabe to illustrate the target audience for gangster crime games. While his real name is Kevin, he also goes by Keazy and Kreazle and speaks street talk . His greatest fear is being caught "riding dirty". [75]