Axel the Axolotl is a very happy relaxed individual. He doesn’t care where he is or what he’s doing as long as he’s doing it with friends. He is also very peaceful. Axel would never use his axe to harm another living creature, even in self defence (though he may use it to block an attack against an innocent person, or to disarm someone). Axle and his friends must always find a non-violent way to resolve the issue at hand.

Because Axel is non speaking he serves as a mirror for people to learn things about themselves. People say things to him and interpret his silence however they need to to grow as human beings.

While Axel doesn’t use his axe for fighting he will use it for any other thing. Chopping wood, saving people from a burning building, even tilling soil. Axel finds a way to turn his axe into a multi-tool useful in any situation.

The axe must be on Axel’s person at all times. If he puts it down even for a second he will turn back into a tiny axolotl. This creates some interesting tension in different social situations. Like when he meets a member of the royal family and axes aren’t permitted inside the palace grounds. So the trio of friends need to find creative solutions to keep the axe in Axel’s possession at all times.

One of Axel’s best attributes is that he shows people anyone can be a knight. Anyone can live by a code of honour to do no harm, to uplift the downtrodden, and to treat everybody with respect. It’s because Axel embodies these attributes that everyone assumes he IS a knight even though the king has never knighted him (official knighthood will come eventually, later in the series). And so, because Axel embodies Knighthood he inspires others to do the same.

Axel wishes no ill will on anyone, including the people who want to hurt him, and he would sooner lay down his axe and lose his powers than raise it in anger or vengeance.

Because Axel is basically a brand new person (having previously only lived in a lake in Mexico and then in a jar) every experience he has is brand new. Eating at a banquet? Brand new. Sleeping in a hammock? Brand new. Because of this we may find Axel touching, tasting, or staring at things at inappropriate times.

Because the Axe is enchanted it opens the door to a lot of different possibilities. It can glow in the dark if they need a torch, it can give its wielder increased strength, and even shoot magical energy out of it.

Tammy is small in stature but has a big personality. She is somewhat androgynous and is often mistaken for a boy but adamantly insists she identifies as a girl. She is often heard saying “Look, I may talk like a boy, look like a boy, even smell like a boy, but I feel like a girl and no one can tell me how to feel!”

Music is obviously very important to Tammy and she has big dreams of being a world famous bard. She often uses her music to motivate people, help them to feel better, or teach life lessons.

Tammy is the main moral compass of the group. Not that Artie or Axel are immoral, but Tammy has an innate sense of right and wrong and inspires others to choose what is right. Especially since Axel is a mirror and Artie is bad at reading social cues, Tammy keeps the trio on the right path.

Tammy’s weakness is that she is somewhat insecure about her abilities. She knows she’s a pretty good musician, but she wants to be the best, so anytime someone shows any kind of musical proficiency that might surpass her own (with a few exceptions for musical mentors/idols etc.) she can get jealous and bitter.

Tammy’s parents are very non-artistic and so they don’t understand Tammy’s need to be musical or pursue a career in the arts. They are the medieval version of the American Gothic painting. If there’s a middle ages equivalent to amish people, it’s them. Tammy feels like she has to prove herself to her parents, but that is largely based in her insecurity. While her parents don’t understand her, they just want her to be happy and they are happy she has found something that brings her joy. But they never smile so it’s hard for her to tell.

She is absolutely obsessed with a group of boy bards the Backroad Bards and becomes fully speechless if she runs into them.

Tammy being a bard is a great excuse to include a musical interlude in any and all episodes, which can be original works or parodies of modern songs.

Artie is a brilliant inventor and mad scientist. He is always tinkering on some gadget that either saves the day, or creates the dramatic tension that needs to be resolved in the episode. He seems to have future knowledge of sorts and is always inventing things that shouldn’t exist for hundreds of years, while still keeping in a medieval/steam punk aesthetic.

Artie is not explicitly autistic but has many autistic traits. He gets hyper fixated on his projects and inventions and has trouble concentrating on anything else. He also info dumps on people giving them a great deal more information than they had expected or asked for. He also has a lot of trouble reading social cues and relies on Tammy to hint at what he’s supposed to do in a given situation.

Artie is kind, but analytical, so he can come off as cold. He sees things in black and white and is the type of person to find the best solution to a given problem and get frustrated when people don’t immediately follow it.

Artie’s parents are actually very wealthy nobility who want their son to come rule their fiefdom but he’s much more interested in science and inventions so he ran away from home. He doesn’t talk about his parents ever as he doesn’t want people to treat him differently. This could create conflict as the series goes on when he runs into people who recognize him, or even if his parents send people to retrieve him and bring him back home.

Artie’s super power is he can always think of an invention to build to get his friends out of a jam, he just doesn’t always have the time to build it and so often has to improvise.

If Artie has a weakness it’s that he gets so fixated on his special interests and doesn’t understand what is expected of him socially so he can get frustrated when he is pulled away from it and doesn’t understand why he needs to do something else. This can cause him to shut down emotionally.

Murlock is the most immediate villain in the series. He is not so much a “bad guy” as he is a desperate character. He is a chronically unlucky wizard who can’t catch a break. He doesn’t *actually* care whether this axolotl is roaming free, except that he promised the king an elixir of eternal youth, for which his axolotl was an ingredient, and he’s worried if he can’t deliver he will be thrown in the dungeon. So he’s hunting Axel more out of a survival instinct than any innate evilness.

Murlock is the Wizard who put the whole story into motion. He was traveling to the castle for an audience with the king when he hit a bump and a jar containing Axle the Axolotl fell out the back of his wagon and tipped into the lake. After having a disastrous meeting with the king he is now hunting Axle to get him back in the jar so he can use him in the king’s potion.

Murlock has a familiar named Dave the Raven. Dave can only say “*Caw* Why?” and serves to further antagonize Murlock when he is talking to himself.

Murlock is very short in stature but actually has considerable magic abilities. His beard can also act as an extra appendage when he needs an extra hand. Like holding his magical tome of spells while he uses both hands to cast. Murlock has somewhat of a “Gil from the Simpsons” vibe as he is constantly down on his luck and can’t believe whatever tragedy is about to befall him is actually happening.

Murlock’s saving grace (and often the saving grace for the heroes) is that he isn’t actually evil, so when it comes down to him needing to do the right thing, you can count on him to have mercy and restraint and choose to hunt Axel another day.

*Caw!* Why?

Newt is not a Newt, he is a Salamander. One of his biggest frustrations is that he has a confusing name. He is the possessor and wielder of the other enchanted axe (they are a pair) which also imbues him with human size and strength.

Newt is driven by revenge. He has one eye because his other was taken by a witch to use in her witches brew (eye of newt, even though he’s not a newt, which makes him even angrier). He wants to become a powerful Warlord so he can exact his revenge on humanity for disfiguring him. He has made great strides towards this goal, but he knows if he had both axes his goal would be in reach.

Newt sets a number of traps and schemes for the trio, and sends his own Lieutenants out to accomplish his tasks. All this always backfires on him, but he is cunning and resilient so he will live to try again.

Unlike Murlock, Newt has been so consumed by anger and a thirst for revenge that he is essentially evil and has no interest in doing good. But perhaps with any luck our heroes will find humanity and goodness within him yet.