Question time: who's your favorite Dark Science character and why?

As far as non-main-charaters go, I find myself voicing Melchior out loud most often, he's got the right kind of "awesome-cool" and I'm really intrigued to learn more about his motives and the Department of Opposition. It feels like he is at least a quadruple agent and it will be interesting to see what his own agenda looks like once Kim has shaken things up some more.

Robert Kosten

Young Kim Ross in the "Onald Creely, the Professional Ghost Story" single. How do you not fall in love with the nerdy outcast who wants to grow up to be a robopsychologist?

Animadversion

Melchior. 1) Though his mind may be an unpalatable web of lies and deception, he is honest--with himself and others--about who he is. 2) At the end of the day, he is just trying to do his job--to fulfill his obligation to Oppose. I deeply respect him for both of these reasons. ps melky if it turns out you have an agenda for nasty things that is motivated by something other than a duty to Oppose imma be so pissed

(I'm ignoring Kim since she's bigger than Dark Science and also the question doesn't make any sense if you include the main focus of the story). Mathias. Because he's blatantly stolen - but you have to have watched Metropolis to know that. Because once you get that hint, a whole lot of the inspirations for Nephilopolis come into focus, and it's a lot easier to 'get' the artwork. And because he's a character that needed to be reused, redrawn and developed, almost a century later. And that's pretty cool. Also, because the dangerous, amoral in-betweeners tend to be dramatically more interesting than the pures.

Ned Gilmore

I love Kimiko and Melchior, but I'm going to have to go with Alisa Caspar. She is an author and a keen observer, so she holds an interesting place as a character in a narrative. There is so much to her story that we haven't heard, and her insider's perspective on the creation and now degradation of Nephilopolis is fascinating.

Jennifer

Kim, for all the reasons Jon Hogue already said. Picking just one is hard though.

Melchior. The "I do not help <...> I oppose" line is the most awesome after "but they need you!" from Hob#22 and the most badass, i don't know, ever!

Alexey Andreychook

Melchior. There's something refreshing about him. About the way he opposes everything, not out of some need to rebel as a teenager might do, but because it is his nature. He's a side all by himself, with an agenda all of his own. He doesn't really seem to answer to anyone, or serve some dark evil purpose; he simply opposes. There's the bit where Kim first meets him, where he trips up the bloke carrying stuff, and then hurls an old lady off the stairs they're on. He doesn't seem to do it out of malice or pettiness, he does it just because it's what he does.

PRodger

Ivonne. The only person yet that I found has a meaningful perception of the world around her and yet is capable of adapting to it. All the others have trouble struggling with the obscure rules and such or have placed themselves outside of them (with more or less success).

Ben Fuchs

Not only is she tough & resilient & smart - she's defeated her last two enemies by engaging them in conversation they find irresistible! I just so admire that.

Spike McLarty

Kim, because Kim. We've been with her the longest and it's really all about her. 2nd, Melchior. He's like a dark science James Bond.

Belphegor. I just find his bombastic mode of expression utterly hilarious.

Rameau's Nephew

Balthazar Bogan! Because academia, and specifically archaeology. Okay, well, actually philology in my case, but I'm trying to avoid being reclassified...

Julie Levy

Yvonne. So normal she's the odd one out.

Mystisk

Alisa Caspar. Kim is a given, for the reasons people have already said, so I'm thinking in terms of supporting characters. I'm interested in Caspar and her idea of masks, and curious if there's a reason her books make her sound like Ayn Rand. What the heck is her game??

Kim. as a fellow robotic engineer who also has to deal with the real world, I Feel her problems.

Yvonne. I love seeing characters that are extremely entrenched in a highly regulated society, giving us the sight of what it is to live here. Bonus points when said society's rules are particularly eccentric/absurd. But to focus on Yvonne herself, her potential in the story, given what she has already done, seems the most interesting to me: will she defend Nephilopolis? Will she reject it? How will it go down? That is very compelling. ... Who am I kidding. My favorite character is of course the person who wrote "Looks like a butt" at the Institute for the Disrespect of the Arts.

Arthur Besson

Kimiko for me as well. I'll fully admit that it might be a main character problem as Jon, but I also love her intellect, her insatiable thirst for knowledge, her bravery, and her shy bumbling in social situations.

Mikael Vikström

Kim. Probably because she's the most fleshed out (HA). The other actors are simply revolving around her story.

Melchior, for the same reason as Mr. Callahan. He does not oppose because he enjoys it or simply because he can. He opposes for it is his duty and, as he himself states, his nature to oppose. In any other tale, Melchior would have been a villain or an antagonist. Here, he is on his own side, aiding the heroes because by doing so, he opposes everyone else.

Hallowed

Kaito. Even if we only see him in flashbacks, news feeds and speeches projected onto the side of apartment buildings, the sense of devotion to purpose is undeniable. He appears to be a man inseparable from his goals- they mutually define each other. I admire his conviction and implied desire to uncover the hidden workings of reality.

Spav

I miss Tiny Carl Jung... I'll go with Kim, she has a extreme prodigal intellect but almost a sociopathic desire to find answers. But even in her distance from the "usual" human in ways, she has very real qualities. She can be happy and sad for regular reasons, but still maintain her mystique of super-human qualities. (Cyborg or not) This delicate balance you made with her is really enjoyable. I've been reading for ages and have enjoyed every minute, keep it up!

Colby Driedger

Kimiko is the best because of reasons. she has a thirst for knowledge and the bravery (recklessness?) to pursue it. cyborgs are awesome. I share the same philosophies towards evolution (singularity or bust). she's also hot. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Chris Young

These all all excellent, guys! I appreciate everyone's explanations best.

Sen

Melchior. Morality be dammed, he is still a man of principal. His brand of violence is not hate, and he isn't some wacko Heath Ledger clone. I admire how his motivations as a member of the Ministry of Opposition are actually guiding him towards knowledge, unlike the rest of the city.

Radnar! Because Radnar!

Melchior. He's the G-man of the story so far - powerful, enigmatic, and strangely principled. Someone who may just end up on the protagonist's side, although not necessarily for good.

Mason Westmoreland

Melchior. I'm always attached to characters that do "bad" things for specific reasons that have nothing (at least visibly) to do with personal satisfaction or morals. Melchior opposes because opposing has to be done.

Sally Mandria

Melichor. He has a very interesting demeanor, starting from his first appearance (i've never approved of throwing old ladies off buildings before).

Morningstar. Most characters are stumbling around in the blindness of their own perceptions. Morningstar has a plan and a goal.

Ross Clatterbuck

Melchior. Principled, even though it may cost him dearly to remain so.

Duane

I'd have to say Balthazar Bogan. He seems like he doesn't want to get involved but is just to curious for his own good. He also is kind of in the grey area with respect to the city, if we say Vonnie is more just going along with the city policy and Melchior is completely opposing it he sits right in the middle. That said I just love Father Abaddon's face it's just perfect for chronic drunk.

Nikolaus Luhrs

Oh mansies. Picking just one is *hard* I'm going to pick Balthazar for bumbling his way into this story in a well-meaning but utterly unhelpful fashion.

Sasha Reid

Kim is my favourite, by far, as she changes and evolves so much with each panel. But overall, I miss Dmitri Tokamak, because he made me look up who Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was, and I learned much.

Melchior, because he excites admiration for his wit, cleverness, and dedication to his principles without actually telling anyone what they are.

Kim, because she does what she wants with little regard for societal norms.

Daniel Lew

Melchior, the unfounded and immediate opposition towards everything makes him one of the most relatable characters I have seen in any work of fiction.

Jeremy

Another vote for Yvonne. She goes a long way toward embodying the madness of the city, but at the same time she has her own (mildly deranged) integrity. Gotta love that in a supporting cast member.

John Daly

Kim, because of how much she has grown over the course of the series, and the fact that no matter how rational and sensible and science-y she may be she always seems to focus on the wrong things.

Dan Nelson

Kim. First, I kinda have a main character problem. I mean; you get to live in their shoes, root for em, and cry with them. Its hard not to get attached. Secondly, Kim is a genius mad scientist who creates awesome technology and has crafted her own cybernetic body parts. I mean... intelligent, strong, and willing to use both. She's just a great character to look up to and to watch grow. And through all that awesome, she's still fighting for her life and getting beat up. Clearly she's just an awesome character. That said, there are so many other cool characters toooooo. Sorry other characters!!!

Jon Hueing

Does Kusanagi count? Because Kusanagi. He's an incredibly interesting character despite channeling his inner Sauron with the whole "presence-by-absence" shtick he's got going on. Plus, the dude started a freakin' floating city. I've done, like, no cities so far.

Anthony

Mathias Melchior. The concept of a Department of Opposition is fascinating and the sort of frank inscrutability Melchior projects is really engaging.

Adam Michel

I'd say Kim, just because she is the most easy to follow and relate to

OmniJerBear

Kim. I feel so unhip for the obvious choice of a protagonist, but she's got the most personality and sympathetic motives and pathos of the cast. Plus the whole thing where she tricked Thomas/Leviathan into activating her hastily assembled electromagnetic coil was pretty great.

Gluttonous (Father) Abaddon. He reminds me of a Shakespearean fool (perhaps Feste from Twelfth Night?)

Ian

Another vote for Melchior. His department is the most interesting to me so far because I want to know when and how he decides what to oppose. (plus, that suit is badass)

FunkyTuba

(plus, that suit is badass)

FunkyTuba

Another vote for Melchior. His department is the most interesting to me so far because I want to now when and how he decides what to oppose.

FunkyTuba

Damnit, that's a sane well trained answer abd i was hoping to come with a solid argument for Vonnie but.... No, you're right. Kim for the reasons Mr Barone states.

jeff fearnow

Yvonne. I just feel like we'd be good friends. And she seems like an odd piece in the puzzle of the city in general. She actually seems to care for people.

VenerableMonster

Melchior. He amuses me.

Well, okay, it's Kim, mostly because I'm fond of all of Dresden Codak that came before Dark Science, and she's basically the one thing that came over from there. That, and because I like that she's changing and growing, and I want to see more of that.

Emanuele Barone