Characters in the world of Thom and Tom

Thom

Thom is the straight man of the stories. He’s as human as he can be for a squirrel. If asked whether he likes to blend in or stand out, Thom will avoid the question. He enjoys chai tea, but not Tai Chi; although they sound similar, the latter sounds too much like exercise. And while he’s not lazy, he is perhaps a bit unmotivated at times. But he’s okay with that. In fact, if it doesn’t directly affect him, he’s pretty much okay with whatever.

Tom

Tom is Thom’s roommate. Also, he’s invisible. These two things pretty much define the rest of Tom’s life. Because he’s Thom’s roommate, he feels a sense of responsibility to bring Thom into the world, forcing him into uncomfortable situations. Well, this could also be because he enjoys seeing Thom in uncomfortable situations. And because he’s invisible, Tom has a tendency to overcompensate by being excessively loud. He’d be an attention hog if he could, but it’s an uphill battle getting attention while being invisible, and that’s a battle that he’s ready to fight.

Rufus

Rufus is Thom’s friend and regular Mancala opponent. He enjoys winning and not being blown up. It’s difficult to say which is more difficult at times.

Grumpy Sam

It’s hard enough being a toad in a world of furry woodland creatures, but when your parents doom you to a life of misery by naming you Grumpy Sam, you have reason to complain. And complain he does.

Bill Rutherford

Bill and Thom attended the Oak Tree Preparatory Academy together early in life. While there, Bill earned himself top spot on Thom’s list of people to hate. And even though many years have passed and Bill now lives on the street, Thom has no compassion for him. It begs the question of what Bill did to young Thom, but begging will do no good, either in getting the story or some spare change out of our main character. Harsh, but true.

Slow Roger

Sometimes you get a nickname because of a particular character trait that you possess, and sometimes you get one because it’s just what people call you. For Slow Roger, it’s the latter. He’s so impatient, people are constantly telling him to slow down and take it easy. It could be worse though. He could be called Easy Roger, which has a lot more negative connotations.

Rupert

All we know of Rupert is that he’s a regular at Thom and Tom’s card night. This would suggest that he’s either not that important of a character, some kind of secret agent, or some third thing that is not either of those. Why not just decide for yourself?

Nils

Like Rupert, Nils is a card night attendee. However, unlike Rupert, Nils is no man of mystery. We know quite a bit about him in fact. Or at least, we know that he has a tail, and is unwilling to share that tail when it’s cooked. Truly, he is a well-rounded being.

Mr. Potsibald

Mr. Potsibald is the owner of the Jittery Chipmunk, the local coffee house in town where Thom and Tom enjoy a hot cup of chai. True to the stereotype, if chipmunks can be stereotyped that is, and if a chipmunk stereotype portrays chipmunks as energetic and slightly insane, Mr. Potsibald is energetic and slightly insane. This could be because of his raging caffeine addiction, a condition almost certainly aggravated by the fact that he owns a coffee house.

Hezekiah

Hezekiah is Tom’s imaginary friend. Life certainly can be difficult when you are the imaginary friend of a squirrel’s invisible roommate. In spite of this, Hezekiah seems reasonably well adjusted, or at least as well-adjusted as Tom imagines him to be. Anyway, it would probably be better if you didn’t get attached to Hezekiah, so I won’t give many reasons to love him.

Stumpy

Stumpy runs the “Military Whatnot” store in town. He was definitely in “the war,” although which one, he’ll never tell. True to some universal rule among military paraphernalia store, he enjoys muttering at people from a comfortable distance and has an eye for things that are out of place. Of course, he only has one eye and he thinks everything is out of place, but that is beside the point.

Horace

Horace, or rather, Prince Horace, and Thom went to the Oak Tree Preparatory Academy together. That is, until Prince Horace, or rather Horace as he was then, had to leave for the country of his royal heritage. An interesting animal in his own right who bears a striking resemblance to himself, or anyway, Thom thinks so.

Sir Webster Acorn

Although not a contemporary of Thom and Tom’s, Sir Webster Acorn is important if for no other reason than the fact that he invented the comically oversized wooden hand, predecessor to the comically oversized foam finger. To think, what life would be like without the brave contributions of Sir Acorn!

Jasper

Jasper is a squirrel who is more akin to a weasel, although not literally, as he is still one-hundred-percent squirrel. He’s just kind of a jerk who gets his way. But against Thom and Tom, Jasper only gets his comeuppance… served cold, with a side of getting-poked-with-a-pointy-stick. There’s a dish you don’t want seconds of.

Pumpernickel

True to the roots of his name, Pumpernickel is a flatulent Goblin. Seriously, look up pumpernickel in the dictionary and see if I’m lying. I’ll save you the trouble. I’m not. Anyway, Pumpernickel was adopted by wealthy hedgehogs, and now he’s sitting high on the… hedgehog. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But I’ll spare you the pain of making anymore bad puns, because that’s all I’ll say about Pumpernickel.

Fork

Fork is a kleptomaniac mouse who only takes items too large to actually get away with stealing. This form of self-defeat would normally take its toll on lesser beings, but maybe that’s what makes Fork so special. Or maybe it’s a weird birthmark or something.