Maya Joelle, a fellow blogging author, presented an interesting idea that I think she borrowed from another writer, and I decided I wanted to participate. Basically, as far as I can gather, I’m supposed to answer ten questions she presented in order to introduce and explain my MC (Main Character). For a further explanation, visit her post.

Well, as I said, I’d like to participate in this ordeal. However, my “MC”, Tobias Hrothgar (being the person I write about most), can’t technically be called “my character” as he is a real person who I merely study and write about. Hopefully, this will be of little or no consequence, and I will advance with the usage of this character in the following exposition.

On with the questions!

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1. Introduce your MC. What’s their name? Age? Appearance? (Sharing collages/inspiration photos encouraged!)

The fellow calls himself Tobias Hrothgar, though I’m not entirely sure that’s his actual name. He’s probably about 30 by now. 31, I think. The man dresses to be as inconspicuous as possible, and the effort makes him stand out. He looks rather plain physically: 5’10” with a good build; strong, but not bulky. He has straight, chocolate brown hair and a narrow face. However, his eyes stand out the most. Granted, they’re just hazel, with a few flecks of gold, but you get the feeling he can see more than you can discern, and that he can find wonder in a brick wall that you can just pass over without a thought.

As for his attire, that’s where Tobias goes wrong. He wears a long black trench coat, and a black fedora with a bright red feather situated neatly on the left side. I’m under the impression he’s rather fond of the hat. On the occasion that he takes off his coat, Tobias can be seen wearing a white, wrinkled, button-down shirt, with long sleeves that have worn cuffs. His jeans are dark blue—nearly black—and in strangely good condition, considering what he does for a living. However, his ugly brown dress shoes throw it off a bit, like the combination of orange, green, and pink might throw a person off. The shoes have been worn for years, likely, and it shows.

2. Explain how your MC fits into the plot of your book (as best you can without spoiling it all…).

Well, he’s the one telling his own story, so I guess you could say that the main character fits into the plot as the MC… I think I see what you mean, actually. Tobias, I believe, went through a very difficult process trying to stop several rather unpleasant people from rising too high in power. He had to go through quite a lot of trouble, but he says that it was worth it, in part because of all the worlds he discovered and the mysteries he came to unearth.

3. What’s the first thing your MC says in the story? The last? A random quote from the middle that you like?

Lemme see. I need to pull up his biography, or what he’s shared of it.

His first utterance recorded in the Recollection:

“Might I ask, how do you know my name?”

His last words are actually even better than his first. You’ll want to read this carefully:

“Hello?”

As for something he says in the middle of the story, that’s more difficult. He often said some rather plain things. Ah, I found one that seemed a bit amusing, though it requires a bit more of the text:

“Oh, that’s right,” I said aloud. “I’m going to die.” 

Tobias laughed gleefully as we both spiraled down, down, down to the warm, welcoming earth.

That line may add a bit of confusion to the matter, but confusion is something you’ll grow to expect when we’re considering Tobias Hrothgar.

4. Which other character would die for your MC?

Karl Bickerstaff would probably die for Tobias, which he nearly succeeded at on numerous occasions. However, I think Alfred Bob, or maybe even Sames Muris, would be most likely to die for Tobias. I doubt that’s even possible, though.

5. Would your MC die for them?

Yes, I think he would. The whole lot seem to have a mutual understanding and bond, each one watching out for the others. Everyone would especially be willing to die for Torfis Teffleman. He has a strange and lovable personality that no one else quite understands, but I guess it takes a genius to fail to understand the simple things of life.

6. Have any major details about your MC changed since you first created them?

Ah, that doesn’t work when I wasn’t the one who created Tobias, and I doubt the One who was responsible did a lot of revision to the original design. After all, he’s not known to make a lot of mistakes.

7. What characters (from books/movies not by you) remind you of your MC? Why?

Lemony Snicket reminds me of Tobias Hrothgar more than anyone else. In fact, I’m almost sure the two have met before. They are both rather mysterious fellows living in a strange world wearing cool hats. The main difference between the two is that Tobias shows a little more hope.

8. Share your MC’s favorites!
[ color, food, type of clothing, place, type of music, season, smell, etc. ]

Hmm, Tobias has been a bit unclear on this matter. I believe he said that his a favorite color is “whatever yours isn’t” and that his favourite food is “more popular than you would expect”. I can tell you that he loves root beer, he’s very fond of Brahms, and and he loves the smell of the wind off the sea on an autumn evening (he made this clear in a number of his writings, though I’m not sure he realizes it).

9. If your MC wasn’t involved in your story, what would they be doing? (Basically: what’s their dream life? Where do they want to live, what do they want to do?)

Without all the confusion and chaos, Hrothgar would be doing much the same as he already is; wandering from world to world, discovering things unthought-of, uncovering forgotten matters of history, and writing all his adventures down when he can. It’s honestly his dream life, being a rather curious and adventurous man.

10. Share a fun extra (another collage, a playlist, a scene from the story, a drawing, etc.).

Here’s a short and rather intriguing excerpt from Tobias’s biography, The Ingenious Inception: https://tobiashrothgar.com/excerpt/
There’s also a photograph I’ve found that seems to illustrate the scene in this excerpt better than anything else I’ve seen. Honestly, it’s almost disturbing how spot on it is:

Finally, here is a playlist I put together, each song reminding me of Tobias, one of his friends, or the Paracosmos as a whole (“Paracosmos” being Tobias’s name for the whole conglomeration of worlds, realities, and timelines).

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With that, I make my leave. It was fun answering these questions, and I’ll enjoy reading what other participants share.

Ever Onward,

Jacob Unger