Maria (Agatha) -- You are Maria Antonia Fantasia Philomel, legendary partner of the Heterodyne Boys! With your firey red hair and freedom-loving ways, you help people in need everywhere.
Well, no. But you really like the name "Maria" -- it's so much more exotic than Mary, isn't it? "Mary Thurmstein" doesn't have any ring to it at all: it's the name of an ordinary girl with mousey hair and annoying bratty brothers and sisters. So for now, you're going by "Maria".
Mary Thurmstein was born in the nearby town of Feuerholt, where she has ordinary parents and three really annoying siblings, two kid brothers and one kid sister. She is seventeen years old, and is probably destined to marry some stupid baker's son or something like that. She's a really good storyteller, even if the kids don't appreciate the way that she enhances the stories to make them more interesting.
You are the protagonist of the short story [Fan Fiction]. Yes, this sounds like your character is horribly ordinary and minor. Trust me -- you aren't.
Artie (Artie) -- You are Artie, a superintelligent gerbil created by the Mad Scientist Helen Narbon. You are a basically nice creature, always trying to keep Helen and her associates from doing anything too evil.
Due to one of Helen's other experiments (subsequent to creating you), you are a sort of "were-human": whenever you hiccup, you shape-shift into the form of a handsome tall black human. You have gradually figured out that you are gay when in human form, with a fondness for slim bronzed Latin men.
Unfortunately, due to a typical Helen experiment, you are in the middle of a semi-accidental trans-dimensional adventure. You are traveling with an alternate-dimensional cognate of Helen from a sort of Victorian reality, and the two of you have landed in yet another reality, where Helen's cognate is apparently some woman you haven't met yet, named Agatha.
As the above implies, you are from a different comic strip, [Narbonic]. It's a fun story, and I recommend skimming through it before game, but the necessary background will be in your character sheet. A good overview of the people from Narbonic can be found on the [Cast Page], but they are not, by and large, going to be in this game.
Agatha Heterodyne, aka The Baroness (Baroness) -- You are Baroness Agatha Heterodyne, Empress of all (well, most) of Europa. Your self-imposed role is to enforce the peace, so that no one else has to suffer the sorts of tragedies that you did, losing Father, Gil and everyone else you cared about to the monsters that inhabit your world.
Right now, you aren't quite sure where you are, though. This is clearly Europa, and yet nothing is quite right. There is a strange and refreshing freedom in the idea of not being responsible for everyone around you, but you see signs of chaos that must be put right.
In case it isn't obvious, you are not the Agatha from the comic strip Girl Genius. Rather, you are from an alternate history where Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach saved you at an early age from the forces that would have used you, and he raised you as his daughter and heir. Your life was a good one until a few years ago, when the forces of the Other caught up with your family, bringing about the death of both Father and the love of your life, Gil. You have taken up Klaus' mantle, and now rule more effectively than he ever did, commanding both the love and fear of your subjects in equal measure.
Dr. Tarsus Beetle (Beetle) -- You are Dr. Tarsus Beetle, proper ruler of Beetleburg, one of Europa's greatest Clankmasters. You are rather on the run at the moment, as Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach (the talented but arrogant pup who rules most of Europa these days) is rather unhappy with you. You convinced him about four months ago that you had been killed in a bomb blast, so you are currently masquerading (thanks to a convenient shape-shifting device) as your sometime assistant Dr. Hugo Glassvitch.
Dimo (Dimo) -- You iz de Jaegerkin call't Dmitri, but everyvun knows you as Dimo. You're de von who is irresistable to de vimmen-folk, especially de strong vuns who iz vorth pursuink.
Dingbot Prime (Dingbot Prime) -- Mistress:Door(Open)
Blade:Whoosh-Slice!-Thwack!
Arm:Grab! You:Duck!+Grab!+Swing!+unscrew+Falling!+Caught!+Snuggle(Mistress-shoulder)
Heat-Blast:Zing! Mistress:Shift+Bang! Heat-Blast:Boom! Mistress:Door(Open+Creeeeeak!)
Mistress:Arm You:Runrunrunrun-machine+fiddle+twist-knob
Mirror:Hummmmmmmmmmmmmm
Mirror:Twizzizzizzizzizzit You:inside-out+dizzy+strange+oooooo+!!!
Mistress:Poof! Other-Mistress:Poof! Other-other-Mistress:Poof!
Hundred-eyes:Growrl! Mistress+Other+OtherOther:Aaaaaaa! You:Aaaaaa!
Okay, enough of that. Suffice it to say, you are Dingbot Prime, a six-inch-tall Clank constructed by Agatha Heterodyne, and you don't think quite like meat-based lifeforms do. The above is an example of how you perceived things two days ago.
Yes, there is a huge amount of information in the above. You are not allowed to talk with anyone else about it. You do not speak in conventional English, so be prepared for some interesting communication challenges during the game.
Note that you are six inches tall, so "costuming" is a pretty subjective idea. Previous runs have done things like hand puppets or marionettes. Feel free to do whatever works for you that seems like you can pull it off in-game.
Bangladesh Dupree (DuPree) -- You are Bangladesh DuPree, Pirate Queen of the Indian Ocean. You are a devoted follower of the goddess Kali. This means that your deity likes seeing you kill things. You are happy to have a god who you see so eye-to-eye with.
For a number of years now, you have been Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach's chief assassin, among other things. This sometimes distracts you from more important matters, but does tend to be a lot of good, healthy, violent fun.
Embi (Embi) -- You are Embi, a native of central Africa, accidentally semi-immortal due to a childhood vow. In your century-plus of wandering the world you have seen and done much, even winding up a (wildly misrepresented) figure of popular legend. Nowadays you are enjoying a bit of quiet semi-anonymity as a juggler with Master Payne's Circus -- ostensibly a fairly normal life, but nothing is ever simple when traveling through the woods of Europa.
You are a pygmy. In practical terms, this means that most of the people of Europa are strangely tall, but such is the way with outlanders.
Embi appears in Girl Genius volume 4.
Dr. Helen Narbon, Gentlewoman Adventurer (Helen) -- You are Helen Narbon, Gentlewoman Adventurer, a proper Evil Lady Mad Scientist of Her Majesty Victoria's court. You have traveled extensively through the world and indeed, even the heavens in search of interesting experiments. But your current wanderings are among the strangest to date -- you have found yourself (in the company of a lively and most intelligent gerbil named Artie) in a parallel reality. It is quite exciting, especially given all of the opportunities you have found for improving the world through Mad Science.
Helen is not from Girl Genius; instead, she is the protagonist of the comic strip [Narbonic], the other story about a cute blonde mad scientist with a little creation who rides around on her shoulder and a psychotic mother who likes to conquer things. She happens to be a dead ringer for Agatha -- this will be highly relevant, so don't tell people who you are playing. You are specifically playing the Victorian version of Helen, as seen in the Narbonic Sunday Strips, starting [here].
Jenka (Jenka) -- You are Jenka, She Who Valks Alone. And perhaps t'is is your time, to see if the new Heterodyne is vorthy, ent mebbe effen to find a vay Home.
Note that the history and background of the Jaegers in-game is rather different from the way it's fallen out in the comic over the past year or two, so don't be surprised at the details.
Krosp, Emperor of All Cats (Krosp) -- You are Krosp I, Emperor of All Cats. Sometimes it frustrates you to have a natural title that is so utterly useless. But no matter: you have been gradually developing a retinue, particularly in the form of the girl Agatha Heterodyne, and indirectly through her an increasingly-motley court.
You are, of course, a normal-sized cat. Use your own judgement in how you approach the costuming, but you are quite fond of proper military coats.
Countess Marie (Marie) --
Maxim (Maxim) --
Moloch von Zinzer (Moloch) --
Ognian "Oggie" (Oggie) --
Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer (Othar) --
Master (Marcus) Payne (Payne) --
Sarah, aka The Perfect Construct (Sarah) --
Dr. Silas Merlot (Silas) --
Sleipneir O'Hara (Sleipnir) --
Theopholous Dumedd (Theo) --
Von Pinn (Von Pinn) -- A Construct built by Lucrezia Mongfish (Agatha's mother), who she hates to the core of her being. A hybrid of Jaeger, Geisterdamen and Human. Impossibly strong and fast, with a vicious temper kept in check only by a fierce sense of self-control. Has been the governess for all of the nobles kept in the Castle, raising many of them from childhood, and loves them dearly, but regards fear as an essential part of proper discipline.
Ardsley Wooster (Wooster) --
Zami Yahya Ahmad ibn Suliman al-Sinhaji, aka "Z" (Z) --
Zeetha (Zeetha) --
Her Highness, Zulenna Luzhakna, Princess of Holfung-Borzoi (Zulenna) --