Urban Underbrush Characters

The Grass Roots House Residents:

Dynamite and Detonator (The Jack Rabbit Brothers)

Dynamite and Detonator, the Jack Rabbit Brothers, have left their desert home for the big city to help expand their family’s demolition business. They moved into the Grass Roots House for the ambience and the company.

Helpful and playful, Dynamite (in blue) and Detonator (in red) love taking part in any of the plans, schemes, or capers that occur around the boarding house. They don’t always stir up trouble, but often act as a catalyst for other people’s problems. Watch out, tricky rabbits are a part of cartoon and literary tradition. Dynamite and Detonator are no exception.

Cassidy Kentridge

Cassidy lives in the boarding house and works in a thrift shop.

She’s surprisingly logical, so her friends look to her for advice, even though she is too laid-back to take on any offical leadership roles. Often times, she feels caught between her responsibilities and her desire to be irresponsible. Generally, she’s an “A-type” personallity who longs to be a “B-type.” In spite of this, Cassidy is sincere and comfortable with herself, even when self-expression makes her look strange, which happens most of the time.

Vincent Nathaniel

Vincent is a timid computer programmer who has been asked (drafted) to act as the building’s property manager so the landlord won’t need to deal with his tenants. Vincent dislikes confrontations and has difficulty keeping things in line.

Vincent is also very compassionate. He often struggles to overcome his anxieties in order to help his friends.

Clive Gregor

Clive is an unemployed con artist who only lives in the boarding house because his uncle owns the building. He is cynical and sarcastic, but usually too disinterested in everything to cause any real trouble.

Clive may also be intelligent or talented, but he is too lazy to find out.

Clayton Francisco

Clayton is a serious ecologist and environmentalist who runs an animal shelter from his own apartment in the attic. He is a college-educated botinist who takes care of the building’s tree and roof garden.

Clayton will do anything to protect plants and animals, even when it means defying things like friends’ advice, common sense, and neighborhood zoning laws.

Scatter the Green Iguana

A green iguana and the only permanent resident of Clayton’s animal shelter, Scatter is friendly, playful, and more than a little flaky.

Scatter was raised by a family of chameleons and considers herself an expert in camouflage and espionage.

Slasher the Doberman Pinscher

Slasher is an arrogant dog who can be a bit of a bully. Or, at least that’s what he wants you to think. Slasher likes to keep up his big, bad attack dog reputation, but underneath, he’s a decent guy. He is also very protective of the house and its residents, even though he would never tell them so.

Slasher is Blair’s pet and best friend. However, Slasher is more considerate than Blair and he sometimes acts as his master’s conscience.

Blair Burton

A hot-shot consultant and a bit of a poser, Blair is too cool to get caught up in the wacky adventures that take place around the boarding house. He looks down on the other, more eccentric tenants, but fails to realize that his constant efforts to show off make him just as strange as the rest of the crew.

Blair is the owner of Slasher the dog, the only other resident whom Blair respects. Blair is also Clive’s cousin and neither of them respect each other in the slightest.

Maxwell McGrath

Nice guy Maxwell is the building’s maintenance man. In addition to making general repairs, Max also needs to figure out ways to patch up damage caused by roots, mold, and the extra weight from the roof garden. The fact that the building is still standing at all is thanks to Maxwell’s ingenuity.

Max loves his job because he loves to take things apart and put them back together. He also loves video games and bad science fiction. He is laid-back, thoughtful, and boyish.

Leslie McGrath

Leslie, Maxwell’s twin sister, is a girly geek with a bubbly personality. Leslie can be very compassionate and always tries to assume the best of people. This attitude wins her a lot of friends, but also invites people to take advantage of her kindness.

She works as multimedia designer and builds presentations for companies. Her hobbies include fantasy novels, manga, toy collecting and other geeky hobbies.

Leslie is currently dating Vincent. She is one of the few people who can appreciate his quirks.

Caius the Cat

Is it bad luck when a black cat double crosses your path? Caius seems charming on the surface, but his bad habits of lying, cheating and stealing always catch up with him. As sneaky as he is, Caius has some standards. If you’re his friend, he’ll never betray you unless the payoff is really, really good.

Like most stray cats, Caius comes and goes as he pleases, Whenever he’s at the Grass Roots House, he crashes with Clive, his friend and occasional partner in crime.

Friends and Neighbors

Claude

Claude Caitiff

Claude is Blair and Clive’s uncle and the legal owner of the Grass Roots House. A typical “absent landlord” Claude has arranged for his tenants to run the house themselves so that he doesn’t need to deal with them (except to collect their rent checks).

With all the charm of a used car salesman, Claude will say anything to make a sale. Despite all his scheming, he’s still just a small business man who owns a few buildings around town.

Foreman

The Foreman

The foreman of popular construction company often works with March Hare Demolition Contracting. He frequently communicates with Dynamite and Detonator via phone and internet. He has no idea that they are rabbits.

Paper Boy

The Paper Boy

This kid delivers the daily paper to the Grass Roots House and has learned a few of its secrets. He also makes deliveries for March Hare Demolition Contracting and he has learned not to think too much about hauling explosives with his bicycle.

He is torn between fear and intrigue over his strange neighbors.

Lena

Lena DeSantos

Pretty, smart, driven, arrogant, and more than a little crazy, Lena and Blair used to date – until he dumped her. Blair got tried of spending time with a cynic who talks over his head. Come to think of it, that might make Lena a good match for Clive…

Brutus

Brutus the Brutal

At first glance, Brutus looks like a weapon-toting, muscle-bound, emotionless, bullying thug…and he pretty much is. He barely speaks, but you can usually tell what he’s thinking and its usually something threatening. Brutus lives in the building next door. The Grass Roots residents sometimes run into him, but never intentionally.

hermit

Ginkgo

This man has rejected civilization and lives somewhere in the woods outside of town. Not much is know about him, except that he’s a former hippie and was a resident of the Grass Roots House many years ago. He may know some things about the house, but he rambles a bit and it’s tough to get any straight information out of him.

chelsea

Chelsea Kentridge

Chelsea is Cassidy’s older sister. She holds many of the same values as Cassidy, but she’s a little more stern and has no qualms about taking charge when she needs to.

Chelsea works as a middle school teacher, so if she hadn’t learned to balance her beliefs with practical needs, she probably would have lost her mind.

Lettie

Collette “Lettie” Kentridge

Lettie is Cassidy’s younger sister. She is sweet, shy and a bit naive.

Lettie loves poetry and literature. She works in a bookstore in another part of town.

Azalea

Aunt Azalea

Cassidy’s Aunt Leah, (she prefers to be called Azalea) was the previous owner of The Grass Roots House. In the late 60’s / early 70’s Azalea and her hippie friends planted the Grass Roots roof garden and gave the place its groovy paint job. Although they have not lived in the house for many years, their presence is still felt.

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