Nicholas Waters

Unnamed Mother

Oscar Waters (Grandfather)

Alice Lidell (Grandmother)

Nicholas Waters is one of the Protagonists of Season 3, and Left of the Dial.

## Personality

Nicholas is academic, driven, and a bit obsessive. He is methodical, curious, and although awkward and a little shy with new people, is very articulate and not afraid to make himself understood. He is very organised, compiling a timestamped book of his father's tape rituals, keeping a powerbank in his bag, always careful with ritual steps and definitions, liking to read them out and have people confirm them with him. He describes himself as being a bit calculating, and often withholds information to avoid uncomfortable topics. He is not particularly comfortable talking about sexual matters. Nicholas tends to be quite serious and business-like around people he doesn't know, though relaxes and develops a sense of humour around people he's comfortable with. He's noted to only really care about people who already matter to him. He dislikes being called "Nick", though lets close friends, like Chris and Static Man, get away with it. He becomes snide and bitter when upset.

At the beginning of Season 3 he is the less confident of the two siblings, a bit squeamish and reluctant to get himself into any perceived danger. He initially expresses a desire to finish the ritual and return to his normal life, though changes his mind sometime before the end.

In Left of the Dial he has become a great deal more confident in himself and his abilities, as well as less squeamish and a bit more ruthless.

## Physical Appearance

Nicholas is noted to be handsome but scrawny, and has been compared to his father, his grandfather, and the lead singer of Grizzly Bear in appearance. He is 27 in Season 3, and 29 or 30 in Left of the Dial. Physically, he is less strong than Chris.

For the first four episodes of Season 3 he has a moustache, though shaves it off as part of a minor ritual, and looks younger without it, Chris joking he "looks about ten". It is not stated whether he grows it back between then and Left of the Dial.

After a failed ritual, he sustains a severe leg injury and uses a cane for the rest of Season 3. As his cane is soundscaped in on his left, it is probable that his right leg sustained the injury. The leg seems to have healed enough by Left of the Dial for him to walk a fair distance, and to dance (poorly), though due to the severity of the injury it is unclear if this is standard, or if he still uses a cane on and off.

## History

### Before Season 3

Born in 1990, Nicholas lived with his mother and father until age 5, when his father left. At some point, around age 4 or 5, while living in Houston, his mother took him swimming, though he hated the smell of the pool. He moved around a lot as a child, and describes himself as have been "bookish" and not having a lot of friends. As a result he never got into a lot of popular children's media. He never attended Church or Synagogue as a child.

Later in life, he went to college and studied history, in particular the French Revolution, doing his thesis on "Myths and Myth-making of the French Revolution". Prior to Season 3 he was working as a teaching assistant. He has had a number of boyfriends, though believes none of them found him to be particularly romantic.

At some point before season 3, his mother died, and although knowing she was dying, couldn't bring himself to fly out to see her. It's unclear how many times he and Chris had talked before their father's funeral, though afterward inspect his house and discover the existence of magic together.

### Before Left of the Dial

After the events of season 3, Nicholas returns to The Waters House, and continues his studies into the "esoteric arts". Within a few months, Static Man has begun working for him, and Nicholas leaves a recorder on constantly so his friend can exist continuously. Static Man does a lot of grunt work, but Nicholas, being very private, does not always keep him in the loop of his activities. They seem to get take-out a lot. During this time, as well as his research into getting Static Man a new body, he performs other rituals to gain power and protect himself, including one involving kissing a dying god.

## Skills and Abilities

* **Sorcerer:** While very inexperienced in season 3, by Left of the Dial, Nicholas has become a powerful and talented enough sorcerer to develop his own rituals.

## Relationships

### Christine Anderson

Nicholas and Christine spent little to no time together growing up, and start the series off still slightly awkward. Over the course of the season, they grow quite close. Chris is one of the few people Nicholas can trust and relax around, and even lets her get away with calling him Nick by the time they part.

### Static Man

Though polite, Nicholas is initially a bit nervous around Static Man, though manages to hide it well. After the salt circle ritual, and visiting Payphone, they get to know each other a bit better and Nicholas relaxes a lot, the two apparently a lot closer.

At some point between Season 3 and Left of the Dial, Static Man starts spending a great deal of time at the Waters' house, Nicholas leaving a recorder on so Static Man can stick around for long stretches of time.

### Michael Waters

Michael stayed with Nicholas and Nicholas' mother, until when Nicholas was 5. He had little involvement in his son's life after that, though did look him up on the internet at some point (and heard his voice in a lecture). Michael left his house and tapes to Nicholas, assumedly as part of his plan to take over his son's body by eating his heart, in order to gain some limited form of immortality. Said plan backfires, and Nicholas ends up killing him instead. Nicholas has virtually no respect for his father and does not outwardly seem to regret killing him.

### Morgan

Morgan is initially very unimpressed with Nicholas, and his attempts to convince her of his powerful sorcerer abilities are frequently shrugged off. While Nicholas and Static Man stay with her, she lightens up around him, even discussing her past work and projects with him.

## Appearances

### Season 3

* 23 - Anoint his forehead with rabbit's blood
* 24 - Sleep on a pillow of swanfeathers
* 25 - Sacrifice three bunnies on the stump of an oak tree to stop moderate to severe throat irritation
* 26 - And a knife both of you have used to cut meat
* 27 - Mix the crushed lead with three drops of your own blood
* 28 - Exist in the place you are currently occupying
* 29 - A secret that will make the other think less of you
* 30 - Lay a tarp upon the ground
* 31 - Whatever is in the pond...kill it
* 32 - Are we going to have a problem here?

### Left of the Dial

* 33 - The Passenger
* 34 - Trucker's Atlas
* 35 - When The Open Road Is Closing In

## Trivia

* One of his favourite bands is The Magnetic Fields, apparently having a thorough knowledge of the discography
* He likes kashi bars (granola/mixed nut bars), and fried chicken, though has standards, seems fond of a local place called Charles'.
* He's not seen a lot of action movies.
* TV he enjoys includes Over the Garden Wall, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though he's not a big fan of Adventure Time or Star Trek: The Next Generation (which he considers "a little preachy")
* Books he likes include A Little Life and Never Let Me Go
* Nicholas is right-handed
* He is not a virgin
* He's not had much experience with drugs, and has "barely tried pot"
* Nicholas hasn't got much of a social network, and didn't go to a lot of parties in college either.
* Has a whole rant about why Harry Potter isn't good (he's right)
* He has kissed a dying god.
* Nicholas and Chris are both loosely based off writer Marc Sollinger in personality
* As with all characters, Marc imagines him looking like his voice actor