The Guys Of Gateways
Welcome to the page for my Gateways characters! Now, I know there's a lot of characters here! The vast majority of dudes here aren't crucial to the plot, (of course I won't say which ones are tho...) with many just being a result of my uncontrollable urge to create. Some might star in their own spin-off graphic novels - but for now enjoy the neat art and awkward descriptions!
Ani
Ani is our protagonist, unfortunately. Living at an orphanage since birth, she spent her early childhood being very sensitive. Due to her creative but admittedly eccentric personality, potential parents and other orphans alike would rather leave her be. This coupled with any friends she made being adopted and the remaining ones either not bothering with her or telling her to change, has left her in a state of emotional overload with nowhere to turn to. Ani now feels sadness almost always - sometimes unable to tell why - paranoid, hallucinating, and is suffocatingly lonely. An already sensitive girl now dealing with deteriorating mental health, she needs someone to ground her emotionally and balance out her mind before she overheats. Until whenever that might happen: she escapes her hurt through art and writing.
Fritz Smith
Fritz is the Void's most popular hairdresser - but not for the reasons he would like. Troubled with a very rocky past, he now suffers the consequences of his old life - stuck in purgatory between old and new. He's retained the unfortunately apathetic, threatening, blunt, (unlike his scissors) and sinister demeanour from his past which prevents him from truly changing how he comes across and arguably himself too. Without any real oppotunities to prove himself or any huge motives to find any, Fritz arguably survives due to his friendship with the Void's President, (and his other contrastingly shady friends). Thankfully, Fritz will eventually receive a chance to fully change and prove it too. Whether or not he takes the chance to better, not only his own life, but also a complete stranger's, is up to him.
Bill Provid
Bill Provid is a demon from a different dimension; he's super secretive, and is as egotistic and as cocky as one can possibly be, but as strong and as powerful as he is, he has one weakness - but obviously that's a secret for now. He's charismatic at first, but once you strike a deal with him, consider your life over - he's extremely crafty with words and can find loopholes in almost any statement you can make. Bill takes what anyone asks of him very literally, so just be very specific when you wish to strike a deal with him. When he's malnourished he can be the equivalent of a curious toddler who throws temper tantrums over the tiniest of things; when he's nourished and has been fed his questionable diet, he's calm, manipulative, intelligent, and has complete control of himself - however if you wrong him in any way he'll turn into your worst nightmare, basically. Bill may be the single most evil creature ever, but he has his good qualities too, (unfortunately for me): he's very protective and generous to the few he cares for, and values diversity and difference. He's committed countless atrocities in his existence but somehow most Voiders forgave him without him really ever "redeeming" himself. Fritz and Alex are basically his family and while Bill would usually kill crummy humans such as them two, he cares for them more than anything, and also acts like a second father to Alex, even though he may not be the best influence for her... or anyone, for that matter.
Zac Copperige
Zac is a poor cacti president who just needs some happiness. He's a genuine and nice guy who does everything to protect the Void and it's citizens; he loves them all and makes sure everyone is treated equally. After a huge tragedy happening in his life, he's become less mentally well: he rarely feels genuinely happy anymore - and even if he does ever feel somewhat happy, he just chalks it up to him faking that emotion. And how he copes with his negative emotions isn't exactly healthy either, as instead of allowing himself to be mad or sad: he just takes everything on the chin and is a doormat, no matter how much of a right he has to be mad. This causes him to bottle up and repress all his bad feelings until he just explodes all at once - which is a scary sight to see, as all Voiders only ever see him "happy". All the things that the Void does in attempts to try and help Earth and the beings on it, rarely look like progress compared to the damage done. And that all weighs quite heavily on him, (and his short stature doesn't quite help) - since even though he doesn't do the damage with his own two hands, it's all linked to him since he controls it all. Zac is Fritz's best friend and is like an uncle to Jean and Alex; he doesn't think of himself very HIGH-ly when it comes to his ego. Zac is like that mom who keeps telling others that the horrid things that her child does are "just a phase", when it comes to Earth: he keeps telling everyone that Earth will get better,.. but he can't even guarantee that for himself.
Jean Guinns
Jean is a sin-namon roll. He's highly feminine beyond belief. Like, seriously, the child has never worn a man's item of clothing in his life. Ever since he was a toddler, he's just been captivated by all clothing lacey, frilly, preferably pink, and cute - one could say he's really fond of fashion. Although don't let his cute exterior fool you: he's not a boy you want to get on the wrong side of; having the tendency to kill things since a school trip to the woods when he was eight, Jean is a psychotic, messed up kid - manipulative too, but he wouldn't notice that. if you seen that face, you'd probably trust him too. Jean is naturally charismatic and kind - pretty much the opposite of how you'd think a serial killer would act... in fact, he's really just the opposite of Fritz. He's always happy on the outside, but on the inside he feels nothing. unless his schizoaffective disorder decides to mess with him. Jean has been an animal-killer since he was eight: and slowly worked his way up from killing birds to killing humans. Born with rosacea subtype 1, he has a permanently reddish nose. Jean has many friends, despite being an oddball - who obviously gets mistaken for a girl 99% of the time. But, if he falls in love with you: be careful, as he wouldn't mind hurting you if it meant getting affection in return and especially if you toyed with his feelings.
Nathaniel
Surprisingly enough: despite being one of Bill's "students", Fren is a lot nicer than Bill himself: he's simply a master alchemist who uses his talents for his own amusements. Fren is more of a hitman than what Bill would be - he actually keeps his promises, although he can twist words and lie in plain sight by taking what people say very literally, just not to the extent that his teacher would. A lot of people hire his services: as he's one of the only Voiders that can evade the law without ever being suspected of any crimes by the authorities. He has quite the cult following: as many Voiders work for him as gang members that offer Fren's services to others without Fren having to be there himself; this comes in handy when Fren is working one of his various actual jobs: ranging from the co-manager of his husband - Deckard's - Cha-Ching! Casino, to an illegal plastic surgery business, to an entire theme park. Despite appearing calm-and-collected, and the master of any situation he finds himself in, when he first arrived to the Void, he was akin to a curious toddler: fascinated and full of questions about anything he saw. All he was equipped with was the knowledge that Bill had taught him - which left Fren feeling quite out of his element in the Void. Thankfully, after stumbling into a certain casino upon recommendation from one of his neighbours: he ran into Mr Deckard himself, and soon was handed a job.
Deckard
The man probably singlehandedly responsible for most of the debt in the Void, Deckard, (Deck is good too, but call him Mr. Deckard when actually in his presence) is alike Bill and Fren in the sense that its recommended that you steer clear of striking up deals with him: the man’s never unintentionally lost a single game of anything in his existence, which is saying a lot considering that he’s existed for 80 years, and has spent every day of it gambling. Deckard is very prone to get physical quickly, and won't hesitate to grind anyone to a pulp, (those dainty, card-dealing hands are stronger than you may think). Deckard was constructed to own one of the many rising casinos being built in the Void during the Dirty Thirties, (1930s) as some Arrivals wanted to bring some of Earth’s old pastimes - gambling - to space. Deckard’s naturally a pro at his job and loves it more than almost anything, (bar his employees and husband, Fren - the former of which he would never admit to... of course) and his dedication to his profession is worrying to his employees, who would probably assume him to be dead if he didn’t arrive to work at 6am on the dot. Fren loves him immensely and he considers himself his right-hand man - not only in marriage, but in business too. However, he’s constantly worried about Deck’s abysmal sleep schedule, constant smoking, and his booze-binging, but all are improving. Deck’s a downright sleazeball and will appear almost suspiciously friendly, but can turn terrifying with the simplest of triggers: but he’s improving as he realises his employees and family deserve better.... just don’t go near him if you have money handy.
Fren
Surprisingly enough: despite being one of Bill's "students", Fren is a lot nicer than Bill himself: he's simply a master alchemist who uses his talents for his own amusements. Fren is more of a hitman than what Bill would be - he actually keeps his promises, although he can twist words and lie in plain sight by taking what people say very literally, just not to the extent that his teacher would. A lot of people hire his services: as he's one of the only Voiders that can evade the law without ever being suspected of any crimes by the authorities. He has quite the cult following: as many Voiders work for him as gang members that offer Fren's services to others without Fren having to be there himself; this comes in handy when Fren is working one of his various actual jobs: ranging from the co-manager of his husband - Deckard's - Cha-Ching! Casino, to an illegal plastic surgery business, to an entire theme park. Despite appearing calm-and-collected, and the master of any situation he finds himself in, when he first arrived to the Void, he was akin to a curious toddler: fascinated and full of questions about anything he saw. All he was equipped with was the knowledge that Bill had taught him - which left Fren feeling quite out of his element in the Void. Thankfully, after stumbling into a certain casino upon recommendation from one of his neighbours: he ran into Mr Deckard himself, and soon was handed a job.
Chip
Chip, as you can tell, is a nervous wreck - this is due to working at the Cha-Ching! Casino for the better half of a century under the rough management of Mr Deckard. Chip was the first unfortunate soul to be "hired" by Deckard - quotations are used as Chip's spot in the casino at the time was more of a lost bet, rather than him being hired. Deckard came upon Chip in a pub and convinced the poor kid to make a harsh bet. He wins: he gets to do anything for free in Deckard's new casino - he loses: he becomes Deckard's first employee. Naturally, Deckard won. And from that day forward, Chip's been the bartender of the casino. He used to be the stereotypical rebellious, moody teenager, but once under the harsh thumb of Mr Deckard, he was "chipped" away at until he was obedient to Deck's wishes. This also caused the kid's fake facade of confidence to shrivel, but also his determination to be better to grow ten-fold - sure, it was through "friendly" verbal and sometimes physical abuse, but in Deckard's eyes "he needed a kick in he caboose". Despite his boss' harsh treatment of him: Chip would still do anything to get approval from the man he aspires to be, although this also causes him to constantly be anxious about whether he's pleasing him - and thus seeks comfort through... well, "unhealthy" means. One could say Deckard's almost like a father to Chip...
RK-BI 01
RK-BI 01, (AKA: Archae) is the top scientist in the whole Void - also known as the Savant of Science. She's really proud of this title and isn't afraid to rub it in anyone's face. She's snobby, overly-sarcastic, nit-picky, pessimistic, and judgemental - so of course she has many friends. Surprisingly enough, she actually does. Numerous Voiders somehow put up with her, and they should probably get more thanks for it. Archae spends 50% of her time in her laboratory in the Void's Headquarters, 40% of her time in her apartment room, doing science-y stuff, and 10% of her time getting Zac's espresso and paperwork. She honestly both despises and loves her work - as whilst she loves feeling smart and important, having the weight of all of the scientific endeavours in the whole Void on her shoulders can be obviously marginally daunting. Archae is mainly in charge of anything Schitzic Arrival related, and is tasked with making sure all Schitzic Arrivals are tended to immediately, and are preformed on with the utmost skill: she says "utmost" skill mainly because she's the one that does most of the surgeries. The ironic thing is that she's been in existence for a much shorter time than most of the top scientists in the Void Headquarters, yet she's already surpassed them. Her roommate, Akhi, is her best friend - but it'll come as no surprise that Archae would never admit that.