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Dave Sim's 6000-page Cerebus series included a huge number of characters. This page lists and describes only the recurring characters, and is ranked in order of first appearance.

Major recurring characters

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Cerebus

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Cerebus is a misanthropic anthropomorphic 3-foot-tall (0.91 m) bipedal gray aardvark.[1] He refers to himself by name, in the third person, with occasional exceptions in the early issues. Sim has described Cerebus's voice as sounding like George C. Scott's.[citation needed] Although Cerebus considers himself male, and is treated as such, he is a hermaphrodite, possessing both sexes' genitalia and reproductive systems. Theoretically he is capable of impregnating himself; however, a childhood injury to his uterus makes this impossible.

Cerebus is an amoral character.[2] He is often foul-mouthed and uncouth, has a vicious temper, and loves getting drunk. In the Guys story arc, Cerebus is described as having "a self-absorption that borders on the pathological."[citation needed] In Church and State, Cerebus, after becoming Pope, uses brutal methods to teach twisted morality lessons.[citation needed] However, he is brave, crafty, and can show genuine affection to those he considers equals or those he has feelings for. He is a skilled tactician and strategist, is very proficient at hand to hand combat, and has a knack for improvisation and manipulation. He received training in magic as a child, but is depicted as being able to recognize magic and deal with it rather than use it.

For most of the series' run, Cerebus possesses an innate "magnifier" ability. This ability, which he shows little (if any) conscious awareness of, is a tendency for events occurring around him to become unusually focused and ordered, with intensified actions and consequences and sometimes with paranormal effects, then fall out of place in his absence. This ability also affects the people around him to varying degrees, amplifying their personality traits and abilities, and also amplifies any magic that is present.

A running gag in the early storylines was that when Cerebus' fur got wet it gave off a horrible stench, which even he could barely tolerate.[3]

Cerebus is often considered to be one of the greatest comic book characters. Wizard magazine rated him as the 63rd greatest comic book character [4] while Empire magazine rated him as the 38th greatest comic book character describing himas a character born of bizarre brilliance. [5] IGN also placed Cerebus as the 91st greatest comic book hero of all time stating that a few names hold as much sway in the independent comics scene as Cerebus and that Cerebus' mark on the industry will be everlasting. [6]

Red Sophia

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Parody of Red Sonja from Conan the Barbarian, daughter of Henrot and Mrs. Henrot-Gutch. She vows that any man who bests her in battle would her—Cerebus is the first to do so, but doesn't want the prize.

Later, in Church & State Cerebus is drugged by Weisshaupt and married to Sophia, in a plan to get Cerebus to become Prime Minister again, under Weisshaupt's control. The marriage is tumultuous, with Sophia's mother moving in with them making things worse. Eventually, she storms out of the relationship. Cerebus, as Pope, dissolves their marriage in order to marry himself to Astoria briefly as he rapes her.

Henrot

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A powerful wizard who is the father of Red Sophia. He spends some time as part of Cerebus' inner circle during High Society, and appears to Cerebus as a floating head when Cerebus disappears into the Big Round Glowing White Strange Thing in Church & State.

"Henrot" is an anagram of "Thorne", from Frank Thorne, the artist who popularized Red Sonja. Henrot is also drawn to look like Thorne.[7]

Elrod

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AKA Elrod the Albino; Elrod of Melvinbone. Essentially Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone with the voice and personality of Senator Claghorn (or Foghorn Leghorn), Elrod is an almost purely comic character whose main purpose is to frustrate and enrage Cerebus. In Women it is revealed that he was created by Cerebus' proximity to a magic gem, and after learning this he vanishes from existence. However, Joanne tells Cerebus she and her husband used to live next door to Elrod, who was married at the time to Red Sophia.[8]

Bran Mak Mufin

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Originally a barbarian warlord whose people worshiped an idol who looked remarkably like Cerebus (and which the aardvark destroyed). He later turns up quite unexpectedly, in civilized clothing, to act as an adviser to Cerebus in two separate occasions, first in Cerebus' campaign and first reign as Prime Minister of Iest and then arriving after Cerebus is Pope to observe the miracles and give Cerebus advice, though he seems to have a hidden agenda. During the Iest campaign Cerebus states that he trusts Mac Mufin's military advice more than anyone else's. When Thrunk deposes Cerebus, Mac Mufin commits suicide by stabbing himself in the chest with a sword. Mac Mufin is a parody of Robert E. Howard's celtic barbarian Bran Mak Morn. In his first appearance in issue 5 his name was spelled Bran Mak Mufin, but in subsequent appearances he goes by Bran Mac Mufin.[9]

Jaka

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Born Jaka Tavers; later Jaka Nash. The love of Cerebus' life. A dancer by profession, she is the niece of Lord Julius and (ex-)wife of Rick Nash.[10]

The Roach

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AKA Artemis. Mainly used to parody other comic-book characters, especially superheros. Sim used the Roach to satirize popular mainstream comic characters or industry publishing trends, beginning with Batman. His other guises have included Captain Cockroach (Captain America), Moonroach (Moon Knight), Wolveroach (Wolverine), the Secret Sacred Wars Roach (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars series and Frank Miller's Batman from The Dark Knight Returns), normalroach (Valentino's normalman), Punisherroach (The Punisher), Swoon (Sandman), and Sergeant Preston of the Royal Mounted Iestan police (the main character of the radio series Challenge of the Yukon). Cerebus usually refers to him as the "Cootie" or "Bug".[11]

Roach incarnations include:

The Roach
Parody of Marshall Rogers' 1970s version of Batman.[11]
Captain Cockroach
Captain America parody
Moon Roach
Moon Knight parody
Sergeant Preston of the Royal Mounted Iestan police
the main character of the radio series Challenge of the Yukon
Wolveroach
Wolverine parody
Secret Sacred Wars Roach
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars series and Frank Miller's Batman from The Dark Knight Returns
normalroach
Parody of Jim Valentino's normalman, whose comic-book had been published by Sim's Aardvark-Vanaheim and later by Sim's ex-wife Deni Loubert's Renegade Press. He appears in the prologue issue to Melmoth, exclaiming profanely to himself for the duration of the issue about the Cirinists who have taken over Iest and are patrolling the streets.
Punisherroach
Punisher parody
Swoon
Parody of Neil Gaiman's Sandman

As a parody of the superhero genre, the Roach served as the inspiration for Ben Edlund's The Tick.[12][13]

Lord Julius

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Based on Groucho Marx (whose real name was Julius H. Marx), Julius Tavers, leader of the city-state of Palnu, rose through the ranks from the position of Kitchen Staff Supervisor, a rank he conspicuously bestowed upon Cerebus when he arrived in Palnu after saving Lord Julius' son, Lord Silverspoon.

His niece is Jaka, whom he was given charge of after the death of her parents, and his third ex-wife is Astoria.

Grandlord of the city-state of Palnu, who exercises control by making the bureaucracy incredibly dense and incomprehensible. Julius is crafty and intelligent, but often plays the fool to confuse and baffle opponents. His character design and behavior is based on Groucho Marx, including snappy insults, a constant cigar, the chicken walk, and a painted-on mustache.[14]

Suenteus Po

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There are at least three characters named Suenteus Po in Cerebus,[15] one of which is Estarcion's third aardvark, who has lived several lifetimes and has shaped the history of the continent. It is also a very common name and several people named "Suenteus Po" appear in the story in various roles — one as an enigmatic illusionist and another as a historian who narrates a sizable portion of Cerebus' first reign as Prime Minister of Iest (though it is very strongly implied that both these Pos are the aardvark). It is mentioned in High Society that some of the followers of the original Suenteus Po named their children after him. The name may be a playful mis-spelling of the name of Roman historian Suetonius.

Weisshaupt

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Introduced in Cerebus, he is a ruthless political opponent of Cerebus throughout the Church & State storyline. His manipulations of both Cerebus and the Roach lead to his pawns eventually growing more powerful than he ever hoped to be. Weisshaupt is named after the historical Adam Weishaupt but drawn to look like George Washington (a connection well known to Illuminati conspiracy theorists).[16]

Charles X. Claremont

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Sim's tongue-in-cheek take on Chris Claremont's work on X-Men;[17] a combination of Claremont and Professor X. He first appears diguised as Madame duFort, the headmistress of Madame duFort's School for Gifted Debutantes, where Cerebus finds shelter after suffering a leg wound. He is crushed by his Apocalypse Beasts, Sump-Thing and Woman-Thing, which, it is revealed later, transforms him into a "near-deity".[18] He tries to control the Roach from the inside, but is sometimes forced out of through the head through the Roach's will.[19]

McGrew Brothers

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Dirty Drew and Dirty Fleagle McGrew.

Cirin

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Leader of the Cirinists, a matriarchal fascist sect which conquers Iest at the conclusion of the Church and State storyline. She is large, strong, ill-tempered and has telepathic abilities with which she can communicate with her followers, but also with Cerebus. She has one son, Gerrik, who is human.

Author of a number of works, including "The New Matriarchy" and "Dualism as Fallacy"

Serna

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The name of one of three aardvarks in Estarcion (along with Cerebus and Suentius Po), she usurped power from the real (human) Cirin, whose views were less militaristic, and exchanged their names—the aardvark becoming "Cirin" and the human becoming "Serna" before being imprisoned for life.

The Regency Elf

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A childlike, playful spirit who inhabits Cerebus' rooms at the Regency Hotel in High Society; at first, only Cerebus can see her. She helps Cerebus with some of his political scheming, though, as innocent as she seems, it's all just a game to her. It is discovered later that the Regency Elf who appears to Cerebus is a fake created by Cerebus' subconscious. The Regency Elf is inspired in part by Elfquest and its creator Wendy Pini.[20] Visually, the Regency Elf is inspired by Debby Harry.[21]

Astoria

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A beautiful, "Machiavellian but idealistic political manipulator",[22] Lord Julius' ex-wife, and the main driving force behind Cerebus' campaign to become Prime Minister in High Society. She is the founder of the Kevillists, a feminist sect which opposes Cirin, and is the author of Kevillist Origins. The Kevillists mirror the Cirinists' philosophy, but would prefer power in the hands of daughters instead of mothers. As women were not allowed to participate directly in politics, she takes to working behind the scenes, becoming rich manipulating Cerebus.

While she ids the Kevilists' founder, it is unclear whether she actually a Kevillist. She explained to Cerebus:

"I believe in state-owned prostitution, pharmaceutically-assisted miscarriages, ownership of men, guaranteed minimum incomes for women over the age of fifteen and the inalienable right to self-determination within those parameters"

At the age of 17, she was married to Lord Julius, and later, secretly, to Cirin's son, Gerrik.[23] She was married briefly against her will to, and raped by, Cerebus when he was Pope. Later she claimed to have wanted to see if Cerebus could get her pregnant.

During Church & State, she was told to "Go away" by Cerebus, which caused her literally to disappear, and reappeared in the apartment of the Lion of Serrea, the head of the Western Church. Claiming to have acted as if in a dream, she killed the Lion with a knife she found, thus becoming head of the Western Church herself. It is put upon Cerebus to have her executed, which would unite the Eastern and Western Church.

She is named for actress Mary Astor,[24] and may be inspired in some ways by Sim's ex-wife Deni Loubert, though Sim himself denies this in issue 298.

Duke Leonardi

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Caricature of Chico Marx, head of Serrea.[25]

Bear

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Cerebus' best friend from his mercenary days and main drinking buddy.[26] In Guys there are hints Cerebus is suppressing an attraction to him.

Mick and Keef

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Prince Mick and Prince Keef of the T'capmin Kingdom are caricatures of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and mostly provide comic relief. When Cerebus first meets them in Church & State, they are running away from a marriage being forced upon them by their father. They are attempting to make their fortune selling a concoction of half whiskey, half codeine. Under influence of the drink, Cerebus tells Prince Mick he will give him all the gold in the city.

In Melmoth they tell Cerebus they are returning to the T'capmin Kingdom, having agreed to the marriages in return for Prince Keef's bail.[27]

Rick Nash

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First introduced as Jaka's husband in Jaka's Story, Rick is a friendly, gentle ne'er-do-well, whom Sim described in the introduction to the "phonebook" of Jaka's Story as "the nearest I will ever come to the portrayal of a good and thoroughly decent human being; completely without guile or malice." After his marriage to Jaka is dissolved, he becomes mildly insane. He eventually goes on to become the prophet of a religion centered on Cerebus.

Oscar

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Vain and arrogant writer and caricature of Oscar Wilde, one of the central characters of Jaka's Story. He writes "Reads", which are illustrated light reading popular in Estarcion.[28] His death is largely the focus of Melmoth.

Mrs Thatcher

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Caricature of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher; a stern matriarch with distinctive rhythmic speech patterns. She first apprears in Jaka's Story, trying to persuade Jaka to sign a confession of wrongdoing for her illegal exotic dancing. Later, in Mothers & Daughters, she vies for power against a caricature of Canadian Member of Parliament Sheila Copps, while Cirin is distracted, preparing for an Ascension.

Joanne

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Introduced in a possible future for Cerebus and Jaka by "Dave" in Minds, Joanne is a bored housewife who has an affair with Cerebus, prompting Jaka's suicide. After Cerebus returns to Estarcion, Joanne reappears and becomes Cerebus's lover, only to be spurned by Cerebus. She later seduces Rick as a way to taunt Cerebus. Joanne is in many ways an opposite of Jaka, and Cerebus bases much of his post-Guys views on how to deal with women on his experience with her. After Sheshep's mother leaves Cerebus, he labels her "New Joanne."

Caricatures

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Cerebus is noted for its quite large cast of caricatures of characters from other comics and movies, and real-life people (living and dead). Some are pastiches of more than one character or person (such as Charles X. Claremont, mixing parts of The X-Men's Professor X with X-Men writer Chris Claremont). While most of the caricatures do not last long in the story, some of them grow to become major characters, such as Lord Julius.

Following is a list of non-major caricatures from the story:

Groups

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Cirinists

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Matriarchical group which believes in citizenship only for mothers. The sect honours mothers primarily, also giving high honours to daughters as potential mothers, and children. Infertile women are granted very low status in society, and birth control and abortion are strictly forbidden. Men are tolerated; violence in pubs, where women aren't permitted, is also tolerated, but domestic violence is dealt with by swift execution.

Founded by Cirin, whose power was usurped by Serna, who also took over Cirin's name. "Cirin" and two of her followers charge "Serna" with "undermining the five cornerstones through excessive appropriation of resources for communal safety" and have her imprisoned for life.

The original Cirin devoped the Five Cornerstones of Cirinism:

  • Communal Safety
  • The sharing of resources
  • Hard labour from sunrise to sunset
  • Quarterly Festivals (lasting three days) of excess and debauchery
  • Asceticism in all areas of existence

To which the aardvark "Cirin" later added a 6th Cornerstone:

  • Ten percent of rations for communal safety

The Cirinists first came to power in Lower Felda after the Sepran army left following a 100-year occupation and killed all males between the ages of 5 and 40. Fearing for the futures of their children, they began a political movement of "quilting circles" that eventually spread and, after the human Cirin's power was usurped by the aardvark Serna, became more and more militaristic.

Cirinists are telepathic to one another, and causing harm to one of them causes the others to swarm on the attacker.[29]

Kevillists

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Matriarchical group which differs from the Cirinists in that it believes power should be given to daughters, not mothers.

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Sim. "Cerebus #0 Note From The President". Cerebus Number Zero. "Cerebus, like Howard the Duck, is a funny animal in the world of humans."
  2. ^ Sim. "Note From The President". Cerebus Number Zero. "Note From The President". "Cerebus is not a hero, a villain, an anti-hero, or an everyman. He is capable of being each of those and he is most often none of those. He's Cerebus."
  3. ^ Wet Fur Gag at CerebusWiki
  4. ^ "Wizard's top 200 characters. External link consists of a forum site summing up the top 200 characters of Wizard Magazine since the real site that contains the list is broken". Wizard magazine. Retrieved May 07, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ "Cerebus is number 38". Empire magazine. Retrieved May 09, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ "Usagi Yojimbo is number 92". IGN. Retrieved May 09, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ Henrot at CerebusWiki
  8. ^ Elrod at CerebusWiki
  9. ^ Bran Mac Mufin at CerebusWiki
  10. ^ Jaka at CerebusWiki
  11. ^ a b The Roach at CerebusWiki
  12. ^ "The Tick vs. Season One". The Digital Fix. September 18, 2006.
  13. ^ Gertler, Nat (November 8, 2001). "The Tick".
  14. ^ Lord Julius at CerebusWiki
  15. ^ Suenteus Po at CerebusWiki
  16. ^ Weisshaupt at CerebusWiki
  17. ^ Swords of Cerebus Volume 6. Introduction to issues 23–25
  18. ^ Cerebus #54, page
  19. ^ Charles X. Claremont at CerebusWiki
  20. ^ The Elf CerebusWiki entry, featuring comments from Sim
  21. ^ Notes on the auction for page 96 of High Society
  22. ^ Fiore, page 37
  23. ^ Sir Gerrik at CerebusWiki]
  24. ^ Sim, Dave. Cerebus #165, November 1992. Aardvark-Vanaheim. ISSN 0712-7774"Astoria's name came from Mary Astor."
  25. ^ Duke Leonardi at Cerebus Wiki
  26. ^ Bear at CerebusWiki entry, featuring comments from Sim
  27. ^ Micks entry at CerebusWiki
  28. ^ Oscar at CerebusWiki
  29. ^ Cirinistat CerebusWiki

Sources

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Further reading

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