alina

Nathaniel Adams:

12 years old, lives by himself

Depending on the work, his parents are either wholly absent or only his mother is present - his parents are depicted as neglectful in my later works and his mother is depicted as abusive in earlier works (this, I will admit, was reflective of my youthful amateurish writing). This plays on the fact that in the whole second game, there is no mention or recognition of Nathaniel's parents being present or caring for him and it can therefore be presumed that Hovernyan is his only real support system. I often play on this as reason for him being very independent and determined to be a hero, because while it is canonically due to wanting to defend friends, I also like to factor in that he may feel as if he is all he has to rely on.

He can be quite snappy and rude, which leans close to canon, but I like to show him as being quite mellow or childishly playful around Hovernyan in comparison to others due to their closer bond

Kenny Forester:

12 years old, lives with family and moved to Kemamoto-mura at age 12

Can see youkai if he is a companion to Nathaniel and not the grandfather role - I wanted to play on the fact that he is Katie's grandfather and if you play as her he is gifted with that bond with youkai, and the fact that both Guts F and Guts K exist in later games such as Youkai Watch 3 rather than just Guts K being the 'correct' grandparent. Therefore, whether he has the watch or not, I wanted to write him with a unique bond with youkai either way; otherwise, what is the point of such a cute medallium entry? ("He was a boy that loved Yo-kai so much that he became one himself. That love still spreads through hundreds of Yo-kai friends.")

Friendly, playful, polite and enthusiastic to befriend Nathaniel, though... I try to write this in a way which makes him feel just as mysterious and confusing as it does friendly and endearing. In every work of mine, I try to give him this somewhat unsettling and confusing air - like, why CAN he see youkai, why is it that in every universe par the canon one he is drawn to the one boy destined to create the youkai watch, what is his whole deal? I want it to feel as if his existence is an unanswered question sometimes, but Nathaniel is too happy to just have a friend that he doesn't pry. I guess this plays into the fact that he's, in itself, an alternative universe watcher and he doesn't exist in what is classified as the 'correct' universe with Nate as the protagonist? Therefore he's not really meant to exist in Nathaniel's universe anyway, but despite that, he perseveres.

He and Kelly are the two characters which veer most into OC territory as I wanted them to feel different from Nathaniel/Lucy, but I do try to lean into canon elements of his personality as well, like the way he bickers with Nathaniel and a passion for moxie/guts and stuff like that

Lucy Adams:

12 years old, Nathaniel's neighbour and childhood best friend

She remains fairly close to canon in all my works - a sweet, friendly girl that sticks close to Nathaniel and teases him just as much as she cheers him on, also with a weirdly unexplained bond with youkai (because loving a watcher does that to you!)

However, in quite a few of my works, I try to play around with her character since she and Kelly don't have all that much in canon to work with in the first place - I like to show her matching Nathaniel's adventurous spirit and fierce moral code of defending people, for example. I want to explore her more, so perhaps I'll update this in future with more little tidbits about her character?

Kelly Forester:

12 years old, Lucy's classmate who has lived in Kemamoto-mura her whole life

I headcanon her as a trans girl with a fierce defensiveness over Lucy and a playful one-sided rivalry with Nathaniel which usually just leads to banter and teasing. Her transness is, in part, a headcanon which stemmed from my own untapped gender issues as a teenager, so it's one of those which has just always stuck because while I'm transmasc, having a character to weave the beauty of transness in youth into is very meaningful to me :-)

In my works she and Kenny... don't really interact that much? This was a completely unintentional thing, and while it definitely brings up questions of continuity in the grand scheme of things (like how tf does Katie exist), we ignore that. I'll probably play around with their bond more in my works! She and Kenny are the ones that feel most OC-like but I try to draw on canon alongside headcanons LOL

Hovernyan:

Nathaniel's best friend and youkai companion through thick and thin

One of my favourite things to do with Hovernyan is place that silly, bantering and ridiculous side of him shown in the movie and sometimes in the games next to a wistful, deep, brooding wanderer with a lot under the surface (which is brought to the light because of how a wandering spirit stayed stagnant for his human friend). He and Nathaniel have a bond which is rich in potential, namely in the forms of angst, and I like to play on the fact that they both adore each other and bring out the best in each other when they play around but also that underlying awareness especially on Hovernyan's side that their time is limited and Hovernyan just wants to care for Nathaniel and keep him safe while also not messing with fate too much.