The Story Keepers - Recurring Characters

Recurring Characters

• Emperor Nero is the Caesar in Rome during the series. He launches the campaign to wipe Christianity out of the empire. Nero is portrayed in the series as a short, skinny man who likes playing the lyre and singing, but has no skill for either. He is gullible, not recognizing his own favorite baker in disguise. The Storykeepers series promotes the theory that it was Nero who started the fire in Rome on July 18, 64 AD. In the series, this is not the only fire Nero sanctions. In "Ready, Aim, Fire," he allows his centurion Nihilus to launch fire bombs into the merchant district, wanting to clear space to build a pantheon. Unlike the rest of the characters who have typical American accents Nero speaks with a British accent. Nero has Sinus problems.

• Nihilus is a centurion of the Praetorian guard, and he is known for his ruthlessness. He has a few centurions under him, but he sees them as distractions and rivals rather than as students. Nihilus once designed and built a catapult that he used to launch balls of flaming debris at portions of the city in an attempt to flush out Christians hiding in the tunnels beneath the city. He hates losing, and when his plans are thwarted, he takes it personally. After the sabotage of the catapult, he begins to suspect Tacticus as a Christian. He vows to capture Tacticus and see him killed. He attempts several times to get to Tacticus through Ben and his family, but each time his plans are thwarted. His irrational behavior and repeated failures anger Nero, who relieves him of duty and threatens his life. Nihilus returns the threat and takes off in pursuit of Ben and Tacticus. He trails them to the desert around Shem Hadar and kidnaps them, planning to turn them over to bounty hunters as an act of revenge. When Helena and the others come to the rescue, Nihilus and Tacticus find themselves battling it out on the edge of a cliff. Nihilus eventually falls to his death after refusing to accept help from Tacticus.

• Tacticus is a favorite centurion of Nero, and a rival of Nihilus. He is curious about Christians, refusing to believe that they could possibly set fire to the city as Nero claims. The first Christian he meets in person is Zak, whom he arrests for carrying a contraband scroll, and for utilizing the aqueducts for travel purposes. He interviews Zak in prison, encouraging him to play along with Nero in order to avoid death. Zak's steadfastness amazes Tacticus, and he eventually helps Zak escape the palace. Later, while pursuing a missionary through the catacombs, Tacticus is injured in a Cave in and abandoned by Nihilus. He is helped by Justin and Anna. Moved by the kids' selflessness and surprised that they did the right thing and saved his life, Tacticus becomes an ally of Ben's, and eventually a Christian. He is discovered by Nero when he refuses to participate in corporate worship of Nero on the emperor's birthday. He is stripped of his rank and imprisoned, but later rescued by Ben and the gang. He develops a romantic relationship with Miriam, one of the palace servants. God rewards Tacticus' faith when he finally marries Miriam and adopts Anna after he escapes from Rome. He sends Miriam and Anna ahead to Shem Hadar via Port Sa'id, a Roman outpost, while he travels with Ben across the desert. He and Ben are captured there by Nihilus, and after more than a day, they are rescued by Ben's family. Tacticus duels with Nihilus, ending with both of them hanging off a cliff. Ben and Zak help Tacticus up, but when Tacticus reaches out to help Nihilus, Nihilus refuses, instead choosing to fall to his death. Tacticus and the others finish their journey to Shem Hadar, where Tacticus is relieved to be reunited with his own family.

• Stoutacus is the guard in charge of the Circus Maximus. He's a fat, lazy glutton who prefers to spend his time sitting in his office, eating. He is a favorite customer of Ben's, who finds it all too easy to manipulate him with food. Stoutacus occasionally accompanies Tacticus out on patrol, and it was he who inadvertently discovered a scroll Zak was smuggling when he bit into the bread that disguised the scroll. Stoutacus only appears with lines in the first three episodes, and has a brief cameo (no lines) in the fourth episode.

• Snivelus is Nero's personal guard, and is every bit a sycophant. He suffers silently through Nero's poor lyre playing and even worse singing, and in spite of his loyalty, he often finds himself the one being throttled when Nero flies into a rage. He serves as Nero's announcer, leading the crowd in their half-hearted applause at the end of Nero's performances. Snivelus is a coward, trying to stay out of the way as much as possible whenever a sword is brandished.

• Miriam is a personal servant to Empress Poppaea Sabina, and a friend of Anna's. She is Ben's "in" at the palace. She has a crush on Tacticus, which Anna teases her about frequently. When Tacticus is discovered as a Christian, Miriam and Anna organize a plan to help Tacticus escape. Consequentially she ends up joining Tacticus as a fugitive. She, Tacticus, and her parents are later smuggled out of Rome and board a boat for Shem Hadar. She marries Tacticus en route, and extends an offer to Anna to adopt her, which is something Anna confessed to Miriam that she fantasized about back in Rome. Miriam only appears in the last five episodes of the series.

• Milo is an old travel guide employed by Ben to take him and his family to Ostia for a meeting, and later met Ben and the gang in the desert between Port Sa'id and Shem Hadar. As a young man, Milo was the guide that helped Joseph, Mary and Jesus escape to Egypt. He is said to know every road, foot path and goat trail in the empire. He is full of stories, and will spend hours sharing them with his companions, whether they want to listen or not. He frequently talks to his horse Regis, who seems fully capable of understanding the old man's chatter and usually responds with a snort, whinny, bobbing of his head, or stomping of his hoof. Milo trusts Regis' senses, and can tell when the horse is warning him of an impending attack. Zak is skeptical of the pair, and even after he learns to trust Milo, he still doesn't appreciate Milo's incessant talking.

• Regis is Milo's wagon horse and constant companion. At first, Zak doesn't like Regis any more than he does Milo. Eventually Zak warms up to Regis, especially after the horse frees himself from Nihilus' custody and makes his way back to Zak and the gang.

• Antonius the miller Antonius first appears in Trapped!, but is not named. It is implied in this episode that he is a tailor, as he offers Nero a ball of string for his birthday (Antonius then adds a golden amulet to his gift after Nero threatens to throw him out). In Betrayed Antonius is identified as the local miller, from whom Ben buys his grain and flour. Antonius has two muscular servants named Tracus and Bracus, whom he claims were raised by wolves (a nod to the story of Romulus and Remus). He is well aware of Ben's position as a church leader, and uses this knowledge to exploit Ben, often charging him more for his deliveries, claiming, "Delivery to Christians is high risk." In response to a threat on his life (made by Capella), Antonius tells the Romans everything he knows about Ben, which results in Nihilus' raid on the bakery. When Nihilus threatens to kill Helena and the boys by burning them alive inside the bakery, Zak angrily confronts Antonius. Antonius realizes what his cowardice has done and offers to help Ben tunnel into the bakery and rescue Helena and the kids. Zak compares Antonius to Judas Iscariot, but unlike Judas, Antonius repents and asks God's forgiveness.

• Capella is a Centurion who only appears in episodes 10-12 (the entirety of The Easter Storykeepers). He is apparently Tacticus' replacement, and seems to be Nihilus' right-hand man. Like Ben and several one-time characters, Capella has had the opportunity to meet Jesus face to face. He was present at Christ's crucifixion on April 3, 33 AD. Capella succeeds in locating Ben's church in the catacombs and captures Ben, along with Justin and Marcus. Ben takes advantage of his captivity by telling Capella the story surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and His resurrection. Before Ben can finish his story, however, Helena attempts to rescue him with the help of Cyrus' parents. Ben surrenders himself to Capella in order to finish his story, since Capella seems genuinely interested in what Ben has to say. This act confuses Capella, and he wonders why Ben would be willing to give his life just to tell a story. When Nero orders Ben's crucifixion, Capella frees Ben and his friends and gives them an opportunity to escape while he battles an enraged Nihilus. Capella is mortally wounded in the fight, and dies from his injuries in Ben's arms, but not before he encourages Ben to continue telling the stories of Jesus. For his sacrifice, Capella is buried in the family tomb of Senator Patronius, a friend of Ben's.