Striker (comic) - Characters

Characters

Nick Jarvis is the main character of the strip.

Li Ming Wong is the owner of the club after buying it from Eric Openshaw. In 2006, Li Ming Wong was kidnapped and taken to a hideout. The kidnappers requested £2 million from Li's father, who was accompanied by Li's brother on his way to the transaction. Li escaped and ran outside to hear a gunshot. She saw her dying father on the floor, soon discovered her vengeful brother Chen was behind the kidnap. Chen was going to kill her, when he fell to his death down a mine shaft.

Eric Openshaw is the club's chief executive. He made his fortune from a pork factory, where he started as a carcass-griller. He was forced to sell the factory to raise money for the club's second stadium in 1997. Eric has a strong northern accent. He often seems like a buffoon. Openshaw is tight with his money, and argues with Jarvis over his unwillingness to pay for players. Since becoming chief executive, Openshaw has done everything possible to ensure Warbury are promoted to the Premiership to gain the £10 million promised by Li Ming. He questioned his son Todd's paternity; after discovering his true parentage, he divorced his wife Vanessa and met a woman his own age, Doris.

Vanessa Openshaw is Eric's wife. She has cheated on him with Nick and most of the team, making little secret of the fact that she married Eric for his money. As a result of a liaison with Nick she conceived a son, Todd. She told Eric that he was the father, although the baby shared neither Vanessa's nor his hair colour and their sex life was almost nil. Eventually, Eric discovered the truth. In 2006 she began dating a player, Fabian de Guisson.

Celia Montgomery is a relationship counsellor who counselled Fabian de Guisson and Vanessa Openshaw in February and March 2007. After mediating between Fabian and Vanessa, Celia asked to see each of them separately. During her first session with Fabian he came on to her, prompting her to scream for help and accuse Fabian of sexually harassing her. In a Warbury bookshop, Fabian was signing copies of his autobiography when he saw Montgomery and asked her if she would press charges against him. As she tried to escape him her dress caught on the shop door and was ripped off, leaving her in her underwear in the street. The case was dismissed when Fabian's lawyer lied that he had acted as he had because of a mental condition, and Fabian spent time in a mental hospital. Montgomery reappeared at the Gasworks Road stadium in September 2007 as the club's sports psychologist.

Dave Boreham is Nick's assistant. He had an undistinguished playing career, the highlight of which was nearly winning promotion to Division Two with Newport County in 1983. Dave has managed the team on a few occasions, including in 2002–2003 when Nick quit and again when Nick was jailed for Gary Lewis' apparent murder in 2005. Dave has a beautiful daughter named Alex, who worked as a lap dancer.

Rufus Lebonque is the side's first-choice goalkeeper. Nick spotted him in Haiti after his holiday in Barbados went awry, and signed him after a court order forced the club to sign more non-white players. As a result of this, Teflon Davis was transfer-listed and went on a drinking binge that resulted in his death. Rufus' performance was poor until he started wearing Voodoo face paint. The team once had their summer break in Haiti at a hotel owned by Rufus’ uncle, an Elvis impersonator. He has a Jamaican accent, and believes that it may be because his relatives come from there.

Tim Cavendish and Ryan Evans are the side's two reserve players.

Scrapper Griswell plays defence. He had anger-management problems, and was a target for opposing players (despite his great stature). He has had two stints in prison: one when he was falsely accused of rape, and another when he broke into the office of the club's owners in 2002 to find out what their plans for the club were. He has recently married Bertha, a stewardess at the club and a bog snorkelling champion. Their wedding ended in disaster when a flood forced their guests to swim to safety.

Mehmet Hassan is a Turkish fullback, signed in summer 2006.

Phil Austin is a homosexual defender. His partner is named Lance.

Gerald de Courcey is another defender, and formerly captain of the club. He has a degree in ancient Greek philosophy, but took up football after finding out that his degree was not helpful in finding a job. He is an intellectual snob, and will sometimes make intelligent-sounding arguments on subjects which have no truth behind them. He was once spotted reading The Joy of Sub-particle Physics in bed.

Kurt Panzer (a.k.a. Klaus Gerber) plays midfield, and is the club's no-nonsense captain. He is nicknamed "The Tank" and has an interest in military history. His favourite phrase is "Zat is very silly".

Groucho Mendoza is an Argentinian defender, known for his greasy mullet and unpleasant odour. His girlfriend, Eva Gerron, was forced into performing sex acts on Boris Anokov as an act of blackmail.

Joe Rock is a utility player, who generally prefers midfield. He was originally one of the main characters in The Premier and left the club after its new owner, a Mafia boss, had him assaulted for questioning the running of the club. Joe was Nick's first signing after Li Ming took over.

Danny Brooks is a midfielder, signed from Manchester United in summer 2006. In late 2006 he accompanied Vanessa Openshaw, who was dating Fabian de Guisson at the time, to the cinema. Vanessa discovered Fabian there with another woman; he then accused her of cheating with Brooks.

Callum Angelo is one of the team's main forwards. He had a troubled life due to his poor background (his mother, Donna, works as a dominatrix in order to make ends meet, despite Callum's sizable income), but is one of the team's best players. Callum and Scrapper were sent to prison for breaking into the office of the club's owners in late 2002 to find evidence of suspicious goings-on. He was briefly set to transfer to Newcastle in 2004, but was stabbed by Chuck Rivers' former drug dealers and the transfer was called off while he recovered. Callum and Ewan Merenghi fought in August 2007, when Ewan gave Callum a bloody nose for taunting him about his marriage to Cindy.

Fabian de Guisson is the side's other main forward. He joined from Paris St. Germain for £500,000 during Warbury's first Premiership season. He regards himself as too good for the club, and constantly talks of moving to a bigger team. He has a son, Romeo, from a one-night stand. He considered giving Romeo up for adoption, but changed his mind upon discovering that Romeo was a good footballer. In March 2007, Fabian's sexual-assault case brought by Celia Montgomery was dismissed when Fabian's lawyer lied about his mental condition. Fabian spent time in a mental hospital, where he argued with the patients and had sex with a doctor he thought was his; his real doctor diagnosed him with a severe case of narcissism.

Ewan Merenghi is the side's first-choice forward. He was signed from Cowdenbeath, Scotland (also known as the Blue Brazil) and Nick signed him on the recommendation of a former teammate from Thamesford. He has dropped out of favour in the side, with new player Mikael Torvern preferred in front. On the team's trip to Los Angeles in summer 2007 Ewan got drunk and married Cindy, an American girl his teammates called a gold-digger. Cindy then revealed to Ewan that she had substantial money of her own, clearing up his doubts about her. Cindy was planning to divorce Ewan for half his money. Before she could do this she was murdered by her American ex-boyfriend, Kyle Banner.

Mikael Torvern is a striker, signed in 2006. He soon began to score plenty of goals and firmly established his spot in the team, replacing Ewan Merenghi.