Hunter: The Parenting

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"It's all the same,
Only the names have changed"

– Bon Jovi

“The world is a Vampire...”

Hunter: The Parenting is an animated series in the World of Darkness setting, following the exploits of a family of hunters during and after the exploration of mysterious tunnels around Binham and Norfolk. Created by Bruva Alfabusa and his team after the unfortunate hiatus of an earlier series, it reunites the original voice actors and features a cast that, as of writing, appear to be exact reincarnations of earlier characters.

Characters

The Group

• Big-D: The group’s leader and a father of dubious competence, offering vital information only after it is needed. Claims that he and his family once killed a Methuselah, and he fully believes that he can 1v1 Caine himself. Despite this, he's been knocked out twice by much weaker vampires, so take that with a grain of salt. Consistently high on a variety of mind-altering drugs as a defense against getting bitten (or so he’d like you to believe). Unlike his previous incarnation, his ability to express emotions with his face and the tone of his voice makes him appear truly unhinged. Despite all this, he can still be quite charismatic and persuasive, and has moments of lucidity and a tight bond with his family. Big D has many children besides Marckus and Door; his favorite child is a horse named Horse. Big-D is extremely knowledgeable on the supernatural in general, and the Masquerade in particular, but is smart enough to know that divulging too much information too carelessly could result in the family getting a blood hunt on their heads; yet at the same time, his secrecy resulted in Marckus allowing the vampires to diablerize each other and break out of containment. Sound familiar?

Some evidence points to him being a Life-fluent Mage - in addition to the aforementioned Horse, he is potentially extremely old (he claims to have killed Harry Houdini), he has been able to interrogate a Tremere successfully, believes that Louis Pasteur is "a fascist for the New World Order," openly dislikes someone simply for contradicting him, finds a folk tale of a witch getting revenge amusing (but obviously fake), claims to have immunity to the Delirium due to being "built different", and has an impressive knowledge of Mages in general. It would also be in line with prior incarnations of the character.

Another theory put forward is that Big-D is an independent Ghoul, using his profession as a hunter to acquire Vampire vitae and maintain his eternal youth.

Another, equally valid theory is him being a Changeling, explaining his rapid alternating between madness and sensible advice, a vampire getting high off his blood (Fae blood is said to be raptourous to drink for some) and emphasizing the power true names can hold. (In-fact, a Hunter's life and grooming offspring to become such can lead him directly to the whimsy needed for staving off Banality.)

Big-D has denied all of these theories when interrogating Kevin, but answered in the affirmative when Kevin asked God to forgive him, so.... still potentially a "God-like being" in this universe as well. In the third audio-book Kevin called him a Demon with D capitalized, and there was no denial. (Though he could very easily be bluffing like he did with Chapman.) Another hint to his possible age and origin is when he used Minas, an archaic Hebrew unit of measurement. He’s also fond of the Game of Ur, which was popular across the Middle East until Late Antiquity. (VA: SpeakerD)

• Marckus: The nerd of the group who uses a stake jacket as his weapon -- or anything that isn't a gun. His daddy issues, penchant for experimenting with stuff he shouldn't, propensity to cause trouble, and overall red color scheme should make it clear who he's supposed to be. When he’s not using his stake-jacket, is typically armed with a blowtorch. Marckus' interests include torturing Dr. Kleiner in GMod, and has an obsession with wargaming figurines. May have Mage potential, as a child of Big D. Marckus may be the nerd of the group but he still tends to rush into situations without thinking them through, such as letting vampires diablerize each other or jumping out of a second story window. (VA: Zegram)

• Door: The strong, literal-minded man of the group who is obsessed with woodwork and uses a double-barreled shotgun as his preferred weapon. Needless to say, don’t mess with his son. His overall square appearance and personality, obsession with building, and familiar mustache are clear indicators of his prior version; however, this series portrays a more openly sadistic/overzealous character, as shown by his lack of reaction at forcing the vampires to drink each other and his contempt towards Marckus and Kitten feeling squeamish about it.

Door is extremely practical and well prepared to fight vampires, claiming that his experience as a 'miner' came in handy. And no, not that mining you're thinking of. We mean the explosive kind, given the US Army EOD suit he wears in Ep. 3. Door claims to hail from America, along with his son; as a result, he is extremely patriotic and unable to understand the 'British' language (an aversion shared by his father, but for more practical reasons). (VA: SuperAnchors)

• Kitten: Wielding what is essentially a pole with a flintlock pistol and a stake attached to the end of it, Kitten is the group’s ‘expert’ on the supernatural. Though Big D appears to know more about the workings of this world, Kitten is more knowledgeable about local legends and tales. Critically, he is willing to share what knowledge he has with others, including Big D himself, in a timely and concise manner. Despite being cautious and somewhat reasonable, he is also in a relationship with Marckus. Kitten is also something of a positive role model for Boy, a rarity in the family. Usually seen wearing an 'eared' hoodie and ski goggles, his name should be a dead giveaway as to his previous role. Besides the cat ears on his hoodie, Kitten himself appears to have some actual catlike traits, such as climbing out of a pitfall trap with ease and hissing like a cat, suggesting that perhaps he's an unwitting Bastet kinfolk. (VA: ThunderPsyker)

• Boy: Door’s son and the youngest of the group. Only here because Big-D wants to make a man out of him. Extremely afraid of the unknown, which is understandable considering the nature of the unknowns presented to him. Another character who shares the same name as counterpart. Boy is on an all-meat diet (with butter, coffee and eggmilk mixed in) and as a result has become "extremely powerful" and cured of "puberty disease" (suggesting that boy might be supernatural himself - garou perhaps?). Also a surprisingly skilled marksman.(VA: Nostalgia)

The (Dubious) Allies

• The Great And Mighty Kevin: Real name Kevin Wettsworth, a 9th generation Tremere Vampire Wizard. Kevin was formerly an accountant in his mortal life (apparently his job was so shitty that he looks ancient despite being only 27 years old) before he was embraced and enslaved to the Regent of the Camarilla in Norfolk. Kevin was renamed to Herbertus and became the Regent's accountant -- until he started complaining about a lack of fair pay, pointing out that simply mind-slaving human underlings into giving up their money doesn't work when the tax-men start investigating. He was promptly abandoned by both his sire and the Regent. Kevin successfully escaped with the help of the Sabbat, though he maintains strong ties with his mortal life, including owning an apartment and cat named Mr. Smerples that he sneaks out to keep tabs on. Big-D realized that Kevin didn’t enjoy life with the Sabbat either, and offered to let him go in exchange for dirt on the Regent. Moreover, the fact that Kevin’s middle name is Malcom, is a wizard, and is a former foe seems to be an indicator that he will be the equivalent of a certain right-hand man of another Middle-Eastern Magi. He hates any kind of slavery and views bloodbonds as such, so much so that he needed to be threatened by Chapman with forcing his own murder on him before he relented and re-ghouled the detective. (VA: Earndil).

• Detective Sergeant Guy Chapman: A policeman who was in charge of interrogating Big D after the events of episode 3. It is eventually revealed that he is a ghoul to Kevin's old master, and one who hasn't had a good drink in quite some time. He allies with Big D and Kevin, on the condition that he is ghouled to Kevin. (VA: StellarElite)

The Villains

• Pyotr: Real name Peter Piotrowski, a 12th generation Nosferatu Sludge Lad. Formerly an underwater (and disgustingly handsome) welder before his superior embraced him during a Sabbat underwater mission. Card-carrying Sabbat and main antagonist of Arc 1 after diablerizing both Apeboy and Shitbeard. Talks a big game and knows how to terrify his opponents, but is ultimately a coward, opportunist, and manipulator who lets others do the dirty work. Easily smarter and more manipulative than the other vampires - though not above being outsmarted by well-trained hunters. Is animated to be utterly horrifying, as befits a Sludge Lad. Killed by sunlight after being lured into a minefield. (VA: DrWhite)
• Apeboy: Real name Dave McGlow, an 11th generation Gangrel Humanimal Type Vampire. All we get for his backstory is that he was a shovelhead. The "LARPer" of the four; wears a fedora and neckbeard, and constantly talks like your typical high school fedora-wearing edgelord. (VA: Glowtide)
• Shitbeard: Real name Richard Porter, a 10th generation Brujah Bikerbro Blank, and a member of Hell's Fuckers. Angstiest of the quartet, expressing he misses human pleasures such as cream crackers. Has enough of an education to discuss Kant with Apeboy and his ghost mentions going to college during the Patreon plug at the end of Episode 2. He was embraced during a "Bikers for Blood" donation drive that resulted in mass disappearances. (VA: Earndil)
• Regent of Great Yarmouth: Mentioned offscreen, but is likely to become important given Kevin's backstory and the info he gave during interrogation. Grandsire of Kevin, and according to him is your typical, out-of-touch yet terrifyingly powerful Vampire prince. Big-D seems to already know her quite well; perhaps she may based on Emp’s female doppelgänger from TTS. She may be the dark figure that appears in the end credits; maybe even the hooded figure seen at the end of Episode 1. According to Kevin's account, she's obsessed with Boudica and the Iron Age Iceni (an obsession which involves going on extensive tangents on how the former didn't shave her privates for some reason).
• Prince of Norfolk: The Big Bad Evil guy, we know even less about her than the regent.

Other Characters

• Mysterious hooded figure: Stalker-ish figure with a violin. Tied to the backstory of the campaign, involving a local monastery and the catacombs deep beneath connecting several rural towns since the Middle Ages. Either she’s the fiddler who ventured deep into the catacombs and never returned (and probably turned into a vampire), or the person who took him out and stole his fiddle. Is probably neither a celestial shaman nor an interstellar pirate. (VA: BoneWeary)
• Krakus: Kitten's neighbor and local ditch-digger. A character with a similar name has appeared before. He has a habit of shouting wildly from his ditches and happening upon the corpses that may or may not have been left by the gang. Can be heard wailing periodically from his ditch.
• Karl the Deranged: Yes, literally Karl. Or we think it's Karl, his appearance is uncredited. He serves as some kind of divine form of punishment for Pyotr in Hell. Might be literally Satan himself.
• Horse: A literal horse and Big-D's favorite "son." Of all his sons, Big-D trusts Horse the most as he has not "betrayed" him (and by betrayal we mean not figuring out Big-D's overly cryptic warnings such as 1 vampire + 1 vampire = double-vampire). His actual origin is quite ambiguous, especially since Big-D's own accounts are inconsistent and completely insane. Big-D spoils him with expensive (and stolen) medicine, food, and absinthe. Horse is afflicted with a strange infection that causes him to vomit blood. He can actually talk, but only to Boy, and gives creepy and cryptic messages (unless of course its all in Boy's head, having taken absinthe just moments prior). (VA: Ki McKenzie)

Legends

Hunter: The Parenting features a number of spooky legends authentic to the Norfolk area, as told by Kitten. Some may be just stories, but at least a few have a direct bearing on the campaign.

• The Priory of Binham: An old medieval priory in Binham that was constructed by corrupt monks, who supposedly got up to all kinds of tomfoolery and alchemical experiments. Locals claim to see a mysterious hooded monk inside at night. The priory is also connected to several tunnels that stretch across North Norfolk that extend for miles. A fiddler attempted to explore the tunnels but was never seen again. In the present, these tunnels were inhabited by Vampires preying on joggers at night. The group encountered by the Hunters was a bunch of Sabbat fledglings that took over the territory from Anarchs, so its unlikely that the Vamps they captured know the full extent of the tunnels' mysteries.
• The Floating Torso of Happisburgh: A ghostly apparition of a headless torso that appeared near a well. The ghost disappeared when a pump was installed on the well, and then reappeared when it was destroyed. Big-D's assessment: the well was likely the Ghost's fetter, and the clean water brought it some measure of peace.
• The Witch of East Somerston: A peg-legged witch was buried alive beneath the church. As she was buried, her peg leg emerged from the ground, grew into a tree, and destroyed the church. Big-D's assessment: Probably a fake story, but an accurate description of death-hexes.
• Black Shuck of East Anglia: Black Shuck is a black-furred, red-eyed dog that has been seen since at least the 1500s. He attacked and destroyed two churches in one night, causing mass panic. Modern sightings of Black Shuck are significantly more mundane. Big-D's assessment: Black Shuck is actually "dog propaganda" to hide "dog crimes" - meaning a werewolf (or werewolves), and the modern sightings are possibly a result of the Delirium, with locals connecting werewolf sightings to the Black Shuck legend as a coping mechanism.
• Pirate's Cove Minigolf: mentioned offhand having disgusting blue water. Big-D believes the water to be the result of supernatural creatures. Probably not, but considering the series, it might be true.