Characters
- Jeremy Lachlan MacConnor
- A gifted physicist who has trouble talking to girls. Scottish. Owner of Castle MacConnor. Wears a French Foreign Legion Kepi. Raised by his Uncle Angus and Aunt Lotte.
- Nilson Maria Theresa "Nils" Kerr
- Jeremy's constant companion, who teases him mercilessly, and also sometimes endangers his life.
- Kate Provoczki
- Nils' level-headed cousin. Short black hair, built like a rake, became a journalist because she likes collecting gossip on people. Chain smokes.
- André Provoczki
- Kate's brother. Fond of his sister. Homosexual.
- Angus James
- Jeremy's uncle, also a scientist. He and Jeremy were kindred spirits. The character is visually based on Donald Sutherland's portrayal of Wilhelm Reich from the Cloudbusting video by Kate Bush.
- Lotte MacConnor
- Jeremy's aunt and grand matriarch of the family. Speaks in an accent so thick that it is at times difficult to read (which as some will tell you is how they talk in the Highlands). At times she seems to be no more than your typical senile old relative, yet she seems to retain a better grip on reality that most give her credit, even though it borders on the sinister at times. Cooper says that her bizarre dialogue is an attempt at a phonetic transcription of the Highland Scots accent.
- Dougal MacWikkening
- Jeremy's homicidal and immortal cousin. The character of Dougal, particularly his immortality, is influenced by the 1986 action/fantasy film Highlander. (His name, is a pun on Duncan, the protagonist of the Highlander television series and also the term "Quickening" which refers to the moment an Immortal slays another Immortal and gains his powers.)
- Ziegfreid
- Owner of the Platinum Grit Café, once described by Jeremy as "...more German than anyone has a right to be." Expert in coffee, weapons and relocating large buildings.
- Raoul
- A sentient, talking cabinet with a strong Jamaican accent. Never actually seen to be mobile in any way, but appears in numerous locations without explanation of how he got there, and was once heard (but not seen) talking on a telephone. Reportedly served in the merchant marine.
- Terrence Morley
- Agent and possible executor of the MacConnor Family Estate. Bitterly dislikes Angus and Jeremy. For a time operated the family's private sanitorium under the supervision of Lottie.
- Doctor John Cottington
- MacConnor Family Physician. Due to his position, he is very knowledgeable of the more mystical part of the family history. Despite a detached and pompous manner, he takes his role as a doctor very seriously and readily comes to the aid of Jeremy.
Read more about this topic: Platinum Grit
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“The major men
That is different. They are characters beyond
Reality, composed thereof. They are
The fictive man created out of men.
They are men but artificial men.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life which does not include at least two hypochondriacs, one sadist, and one old man who spills food down the front of his vest.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light.... They are too pure to have a market value; they contain no muck. How much more beautiful than our lives, how much more transparent than our characters are they! We never learned meanness of them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)