Minor Fictional Characters in A Different Flesh

This article lists the various minor fictional characters who appear in A Different Flesh. These characters are identified by name, but play at best a peripheral role in the series. Most were simply mentioned once, or had a very brief, unimportant speaking role that did not impact the plot, and never appeared again.

Frame story

Ernest Simpson

(POV)

Ernest Simpson was the historian who wrote The Story of the Federated Commonwealths.

"Vilest Beast"

Cecil Cooper

Cecil Cooper (b. April 1610) was the first human born in Jamestown. Claire Cooper was his mother. Cecil's father Allan Cooper was killed in a scuffle with sims, three months after Cecil's birth.

Claire Cooper

Claire Cooper (b. c. 1584) was the wife of Jamestown colonist Allan Cooper, and mother of Cecil Cooper, the first baby born in the colony. In July 1610, Claire and her husband came to the aid of Anne Wingfield, who had been attacked by sims in a home invasion. A few days later, Claire's husband was killed in a scuffle with the sims.

"And So To Bed"

Sir William Henry

Sir William Henry was a member of the Rota Club. During a dinner at the Turk's Head on May 10, 1661, he noticed Samuel Pepys (pronounced peeps) eying an attractive serving girl. Sir William Henry exclaimed "See how Samuel peeps!", much to Pepys' chagrin.

Literary comment

This person may be an obscure historical figure from the Pepys diary.

Kate

Kate (b. c. 1645) was a young human serving girl at the Turk's Head in London in 1661. On 10 May, Samuel Pepys ogled her as she served his fellows of the Rota Club. Sir William Henry noticed, and made a pun, exclaiming: "See how Samuel peeps!"

Sim-seller

A sim-seller sold two sims to Samuel Pepys at the London docks on May 4, 1661. Pepys at first found the man (whom he described at "ferret-faced") as loutish and animalistic as the sims themselves, but quickly had to admit that that was only hyperbole. When the man pointed out that the newly arrived Gloucester had replenished his stock, Pepys felt joy at pointing out that the man could not jack up the price unreasonably. Nevertheless, Pepys was unable to get the price down lower than £11.6s.4d. As the man delivered the sims to Pepys, the latter noted his proficiency in sim sign language.

At the sim-seller's advice, Pepys took his two new chattels to view the cautionary sights on Shooter's Hill.

"Around the Salt Lick

Lord Emerson

Lord Emerson was the Royal Governor of Virginia. In 1691, Emerson chose Thomas Kenton to go on an expedition to the untamed western lands, passing over several younger and stronger but less experienced candidates. "Oh, aye, a youngster might travel faster and see a bit more," Emerson told Kenton, "but you're more likely to return and tell us of it."

"The Iron Elephant"

Patrick Bailey

Patrick Bailey (died 1782) was part of the crew of Richard Trevithick's Iron Elephant steam-engine. He participated in the race between the engine and Prem Chand's hairy elephant train.

Bailey was killed when the Iron Elephant derailed and fell into a trap dug by wild sims. The sims carried his body off, presumably to eat it.

Caesar

Caesar was one of the two hairy elephants that pulled the train driven by Prem Chand. Prem Chand rode Caesar in the race against Richard Trevithick's Iron Elephant, and then used Caesar to rescue Trevithick from wild sims.

Dubois

Dubois was the straw boss of tame sims at George Stephenson's railroad station. Prem Chand regarded him as more capable than his boss.

Hannibal

Hannibal was a hairy elephant in Prem Chand's train. Paul Tilak rode Hannibal.

One-eye Jim

One-eye Jim (d. 1782) was part of the crew of Richard Trevithick's Iron Elephant steam-engine. He participated in the race between the engine and Prem Chand's hairy elephant train.

One-eye Jim was killed when the Iron Elephant derailed and fell into a trap dug by wild sims. The sims carried his body off, presumably to eat it.

Unnamed Mayor of Springfield

The Mayor of Springfield presided over the opening ceremony of the race between the Iron Elephant and Prem Chand's train, firing a ceremonial pistol into the air. Chand knew that it would have taken all hairy elephants and steam engines combined, to keep the Mayor away from the event.

"Though the Heavens Fall"

Adams

Adams, along with Westerbrook, was running for Censor of the Federated Commonwealths of America in 1804.

Literary comment

This wiki previously identified this character as the historical figure John Adams, but has since decided that there is no evidence to prove nor disprove this hypothesis.

Jason Bros

Jason Bros ran a business in Portsmouth in 1804, catching runaway slaves. The sign on his cabin read "Jason Bros: Runaway sims and n----rs catched," with a picture of a sim treed by hounds with improbably sharp teeth and red mouths. Jeremiah, a runaway black man, saw this sign and was frightened by it.

Literary comment

Due to the deliberately bad spelling, the correct reading of the sign may be the plural "Jason Brothers" rather than an individual named Jason Bros.

Jasper Carruthers

Jasper Carruthers was a client for whom Alfred Douglas was drawing up a will. Douglas had fallen behind on the work.

Margaret Douglas

Margaret Douglas (died 1802) was the wife of Alfred Douglas. She died of swamp fever. After her death, the dwellings of her husband, a horrible housekeeper, remained messes until he hired Jeremiah Gillen to be his assistant.

Jane Gillen

Jane Gillen (b. c. 1771) was the wife of Virginia plantation owner Charles Gillen. She was prone to being snappy with the house-slave, Jeremiah.

Sally Gillen

Sally Gillen (b. 1793) was the daughter of Virginia planter Charles Gillen.

Joe

Joe (died June 1804) was a sim on the Virginia plantation of Charles Gillen. His duties included lumberjacking. He died of lockjaw after he stepped on a thorn. Gillen mourned the loss of a 100-denaire body.

Pickens

Pickens was a plantation owner and neighbor of Charles Gillen's. In 1804, Gillen loaned his slave Jeremiah to Pickens when his cook got sick. A few months later, diphtheria ravaged the sim populations of both Pickens and Gillen. Pickens himself was ill.

Rafe

Rafe (died September 1804) was a sim on the plantation of Charles Gillen. In June 1804, he took over the lumberjacking duties of Joe, who died of lockjaw. Then in September, like many of his fellow sims, Tom was struck down by diphtheria.

Tom

Tom was a sim on the plantation of Charles Gillen. When weeding the wheat fields in 1804, he pulled out a wheat plant along with the weeds. Overseer Harry Stowe rebuked Tom for this, but Tom defiantly did it again. Stowe was somewhat lenient with Tom, simply because sims were not as consciously intelligent as men.

Westerbrook

Westerbrook, along with Adams, was a candidate for Censor of the Federated Commonwealths of America in 1804.

"Trapping Run"

James Cartwright

James Cartwright was a merchant who helped nurse Henry Quick back to health, after Quick returned from the wilderness in 1815. Cartwright tried to convince Quick to tell him where Quick had stashed the load of furs he'd gathered on his last trip. Quick refused to tell him, because to do so would lead humans to the home of the sim band that saved Quick's life. Cartwright suggested that Quick give up the trapping business, and make advocating for sims' rights his new mission in life. Quick replied that this was a good idea, saying "Sims aren't animals, after all."

Sim-hunter

A hunter sitting at the next table to Henry Quick and James Cartwright in a bar, raised his voice in agreement when Quick proclaimed "Sims aren't animals, after all." The hunter said that sims were much better sport for hunting than common beasts, and then proudly displayed a necklace made of sim ears. Quick very nearly strangled the man to death before four men pulled him off.

"Freedom"

Abel

Abel was the first sim to orbit the Earth in a space capsule. Six months after his success proved it was feasible, a human made the same trip.

Bryan

Bryan was a Censor of the Federated Commonwealths of America in 1988. He called for an investigation into how the local constabulary handled the pro-sims' rights riots that took place in Philadelphia in 1988, and was vetoed by his fellow Censor Jennings, which marked perhaps the greatest split between the two censors during their term.

Literary comment

The names of the two censors are an allusion to American lawyer and politician William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925).

Butler

Butler was a reporter with the Terminus Constitution. He called Dr. Peter Howard shortly after members of the sim justice movement freed Matt.

Coleman

Coleman was a security officer at the Terminus Disease Research Center. He acted as a contact between the DRC and the local police.

Dee

Dee was a member of the sims justice movement. She was a locksmith, a trade that came in handy when she helped free Matt from the Terminus Disease Research Center in 1988.

Doris

Doris was Dr. Peter Howard's receptionist.

Edward

Edward was a technician at the Disease Research Center. He and a guard named Lloyd were drugged by Ken Dixon and Melody Porter when they freed Matt from the DRC.

Emily

Emily and her husband Isaac were members of the sim justice movement. They gave Ken Dixon, Melody Porter and Matt a place to stay for the night when the group was on the run.

Isaac

Isaac and his wife Emily were members of the sim justice movement. They gave Ken Dixon, Melody Porter and Matt a place to stay for the night when the group was on the run.

Jane

Jane was a female sim at the Terminus Disease Research Center. Like Matt, with whom she often mated, Jane had been infected with HIV.

Jennings

Jennings was a Censor of the Federated Commonwealths of America in 1988. He vetoed his colleague Censor Bryan's call for an investigation into the pro-sims' rights riots that took place in Philadelphia, perhaps the greatest split between these two censors during their term. Nonetheless, he sent his aide Joseph Tanaka to the Terminus Disease Research Center to make sure that the sims being used in AIDS research were being treated humanely.

Literary comment

The names of the two censors are an allusion to American lawyer and politician William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925).

Lloyd

(POV)

Lloyd was a guard at the Disease Research Center. He and a technician named Edward were both drugged by Ken Dixon and Melody Porter the night they freed Matt.

Lucy

Lucy was a sim belonging to Saul and Rhoda, members of the sim justice movement. Saul and Rhoda gave Ken Dixon, Melody Porter and Matt a place to stay for the night when the group was on the run. Lucy's presence caused a conflict as the HIV-infected Matt wanted to mate with her.

Reynolds

Mistress Reynolds was one of the reporters who attended Dr. Peter Howard's press conference announcing the development of HIVI.

Rhoda

Rhoda and her husband Saul were members of the sim justice movement, living in Springfield, FCA. They gave Ken Dixon, Melody Porter and Matt a place to stay for the night when the group was on the run. They had a sim named Lucy, which caused a conflict as the HIV-infected Matt wanted to mate with her.

Saul

Saul and his wife Rhoda were members of the sim justice movement, living in Springfield, FCA. They gave Ken Dixon, Melody Porter and Matt a place to stay for the night when the group was on the run. They had a sim named Lucy, which caused a conflict as the HIV-infected Matt wanted to mate with her.

Stephen

Stephen was a student in Terminus. He was a member of the sim justice movement, and helped Ken Dixon and Melody Porter free Matt.