Here is a spoiler-free list of all the named characters appearing in Part 1 of The Red and the Rest. Besides their role in the story, I’ve featured a couple tidbits not featured in the text.

• Bailey Greenburg: Right-wing pundit with his own talk show. Is fairly run-of-the-mill with the exception of his controversial views on the role of non-human humanoids in society. Secretly doesn’t believe most of what he says on the air.

• Carla Markus Okabe: Mel’s slacker niece. Flips burgers and watches cartoons all day. Wears a weird hat. She sees Mel as a father figure, since her dad died before she was born.

• Charles Engelbert: Retired as an assassin, but works as the leader of the Ste. Nero chapter of the Redshirts. Specializes in gathering information and spying, but also good with a sniper rifle. Knits in his spare time.

• The Demon: Made out of dark magic and forced into a humiliating body, this mass of evil is capable of switching the places of any two objects, including willing or unaware living beings. Loves to torture and cause suffering. Its creators all died gruesome deaths.

• Devin Grothers: The “Pink Angry Brother”, middle child of the infamous Grothers brothers. Short, stocky and out-of shape, his only real offense being a cannon naturally formed into his stomach that fires when Devin gets sufficiently angry. Due to this, he has never been able to ride a plane, which is fine because he’s scared of heights and flying.

• Hammerstein N. Rogers: About seven feet tall and pretty intimidating besides. He boasts that he has never lost a fight and has two grown-up daughters who probably don’t call him enough.

• Joshua Kristoff: Special Ops in the Redshirts, specializing in break-ins and intimidation, but claims to actually be a pacifist. Has a mysterious ability associated with his feet that enables him to make mud. Not fond of figs.

• Kevin Grothers: The “Yellow Smiling Brother”, youngest of the infamous Grothers brothers. Is fully flexible in all body parts, to the extent that he can move his limbs and body like a snake. Has had ADHD since he was a child, and constantly twitches and twists as a tic.

• Lisa Genkai: Warden of the Ste. Nero Minimum Security Correctional Facility. Short and commanding. Has had a lot of awkward phases through the years, including but not limited to: hippie protestor in the sixties, pink-haired dancer in the seventies, that weird lady who wore too much leather in the eighties and oddly opinionated but childless school board member in the nineties.

• Manolios: Vice president of the Ste. Nero chapter of the Redshirts. Pickpocket and kidnapper specializing in disarming and detaining enemies. Works in the office most of the time. Has a secret crush on his boss and a drinking problem.

• Melchizedek Okabe: Heir to the Okabe name, dedicates to things too easily and thus is unsatisfied with his life as a prison guard. Spent his childhood getting his butt kicked by his older sister.

• Sloan Lӧwe: Over twenty confirmed kills. Works with R&D to test Redshirts battle suits, but usually just sits behind whatever desk is nearest her next job. When she was a kid she had the high score on Dig-Dug and she still loves playing arcade-type video games.

• Smith Cavendish Geier: A gadgeteer nerd conspiracy theorist. At the end of his rope, he decides to join the Redshirts. Loves video games, especially RPGs. Despite his best efforts, he’s still a virgin.

• Pritha Prithvi: Guardian of Sainte Decius’ Cathedral. A human centaur, with two sternums and four arms, and wielder of four swords. Several hundred years old. No hobbies. Very patient.

• Rabadash and Rodrigo: Two of the prisoners at Ste. Nero. Rodrigo got busted for drugs and Rabadash used to run a small gang. Rodrigo is gluten-intolerant and made friends with Rabadash by trading him bread for extra pudding cups. Rabadash only regrets one of his tattoos, but it’s his most visible.