Nathan Peppers

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## Overview

Nathan Peppers is the main and most prominent character in the novel, serving as the "center character" as well as the narrator who tells each chapter from a first-person omniscient perspective. As the self-proclaimed leader of the other characters, he's the one who takes charge and often deals with the various problems everyone encounters. Most of the later Seasons' chapters start with him either beginning his day or sitting at the kitchen table before all the chaos happens and sweeps him off his feet into a new daily adventure.

## Personality

In the earlier Seasons, Nathan is bold and adventurous, wanting to head out on adventures to discover new lands and places. He has all the traits of a protagonist which naturally makes him a strong leader. Unfortunately, due to the colorful cast of characters he always finds himself with, he often has trouble getting anyone to listen to him. While he can usually steer everyone down the right path, sometimes their antics force everyone to take a bit of a detour. It's also worth noting that he was obsessed with pie for a long time, mainly towards the end of Season 1 and the majority of Season 2.

In later Seasons, he serves more as a voice of reason and the main combatant towards the chaos that pops up chapter after chapter. All he really wants to do is live a simple life and enjoy the little things, but he's usually interrupted by the other characters and their loud, disruptive antics. This is especially true for Zack, who often targets and/or harasses him in a variety of ways. Despite everything, Nathan is very cunning and is more than capable of thwarting the schemes of others when he decides to put the effort in. After Sarah was introduced though, he found himself riding on her schemes instead of coming up with his own. He has very little tolerance for the less-than-intelligent antics of others and can often be portrayed as a bit of a buzzkill, walking into a room and putting a stop to the wild fun the other characters might be having. He's also one of the few characters that know the inner machinations of women, opting to back off when Sarah or Amber are having a bad day out of fear they might attack him. Sadly, he often ends up on the receiving end of verbal abuse anyway.

After Alex was introduced and became his best friend, he started acting a lot more wild and impulsive, almost as if having someone to hang out with was all he really needed to let go of all the worries and concerns he often struggled with. This may initially come off as being out of character for him, but in truth it's just him going back to the way he was in the beginning.

## Physical Description

Nathan has short, spiky brown hair that is often drawn as short hair with sticks in the official artwork. He wears black, rectangular glasses and has green eyes. His outfit consists of an orange t-shirt with yellow hems, blue shorts, and black shoes. For his redesign, he instead has short brown hair and usually wears an orange jacket or hoodie with a yellow undershirt and jeans. His favorite color is orange and most of what he owns is of the same color.

## History

### *Conception*

Nathan is my self-insert because when I was a young child I wanted to star in my own stories, comics, and drawings. He started off as simply being me, but over time as I aged and matured, he became his own character. Nowadays, I consider him separate to myself. He was the main character for every single story I wrote and has been on countless adventures with countless friends over the years.

### *Origins*

Originally the leader of a crime-fighting team, Nathan first led a group known as the "Natha Team" (for lack of a better name because I was like eight at the time) consisting of Sarah, Zack, and various animal companions who all joined forces to stop a villain known as Mr. Kill. After several adventures spanning multiple two-page stories, the series ended when Mr. Kill used dark forces to brainwash his team and turn them evil, forcing them to disband. When I was in fifth grade, I started writing again and came up with a new cast of characters to fight various villains and monsters. This group was known as the "Elite Team" and consisted of characters like Mike, the real-life best friend at the time, Supe, the guy who wasn't the brightest, Penelope, the lover of baby shows like Barney, Venom the snake, Mr. Peeps the chicken, and assorted others. Together, they fought against a villain known as Mr. Destro who would send a variety of monsters to terrorize the town, forcing the Elite Team to swoop in and save the day. This story series went on for quite a while before a remake of *The Rivals,* otherwise known as the story that ended the Natha series, led to the same thing happening again; his team being turned against him. *The Story* began right after this and, after picking up a few new friends like Amber and FlamDawg, Nathan quickly set off to put a stop to the villainy once more.

### *In the Novel*

*The Story* began life with the intention of being just another short story in the Elite Team series. In the very first chapter, Nathan was trying to move on from the fact that his companions were now gone, but found that life just wasn't the same without them. He quickly found a companion in FlamDawg, who had debuted in the previous story, but it was less of a friendship and more of a "make sure he doesn't destroy the place" kind of dynamic. After a few antics at home and a series of bizarre dreams, Nathan leads everyone to Mr. Destro's Lair in order to find out what exactly is going on with the strange things happening. [Will add more when I revisit this section of the novel.]

Nathan is present in some way, shape, or form for every chapter. He's the one who narrates the novel, though it's better to say that his narration self is separate from his character self as it's more like a recap of him telling what happened that day. Often times he tries to start his day or relax but is interrupted by some form of chaos that ruins everything and forces him to deal with it. Lore-wise, he is directly connected to The Author, otherwise known as the almighty being who watches over and controls the universe they reside in. This is why he is able to narrate the novel from a first-person omniscient perspective, though he's not aware of the connection or the immense power he secretly possesses. In fact, while other characters have directly interacted with The Author, he has never once met him.

## List of crimes

Below are all of the crimes that Nathan has committed over the course of the novel. These include crimes, felonies, and things that are outlawed in the novel's universe. Seeing as Nathan is a character from every story before the novel as well, this also includes crimes he may have committed in the distant past.

* **Arson -** Once set fire to the local Pizza Hut during the Elite Team series of short stories.
* **Refusal to adhere to sacred rules -** Violated the rules of JRPG combat in *Stomping Stampede* and was thrown in jail.

## Quotes

> No, no, no.
>
> Nathan Peppers, whenever he catches a character doing something he doesn't approve of.

## Appearances

Nathan appears in almost every single chapter of the novel as he is the character the novel centers around. While he is also the narrator, I'd count that part of him separate from the him that makes a physical appearance because the narrator is always present barring a few times where a different character narrates. Below are all of the chapters that he has ***not*** appeared in.

#### Season 3

* *Creepy Toast: A Zack Short*
* *Pervert Therapy: A Dennis Short*

## Trivia

* In the novel's official artwork, he is drawn with short hair and sticks that represent his spikes. This references the fact that I used to have spiked-up hair as a child and would always draw myself with that same hairstyle. Over time, it just became my signature look.
* He both narrates and stars in the novel, but his narration is seen as internal dialogue from his perspective. He does not realize that he is actually narrating the novel he is a part of.
* He absolutely despises Bob, but the reason is never explained. It's likely just a "hating the friendly neighbor" trope, but it could also be that he somehow knows Bob is really Zack from the future. Possibly without even realizing it.
* He has been shown to have a fear of kumquats, but in *Moon Over Costa Rica*, Dennis discovered a hidden kumquat-worshiping shrine in his closet.
* He mentioned in *Slumber Party: Night of Demise* that he has spent seven years as a career counselor.

## Gallery

A drawing of Nathan.Nathan as he appears in the novel.Nathan's Season 1 character portrait.Nathan reading the newspaper.Nathan sitting on the couch in the living room.Nathan parkouring during Season 3's play.Nathan insulting Sarah.Nathan as he appears in the Princess Sarah Chapters.Nathan as the nurse in FlamDawg's play.Nathan hanging from the rafters of the Glitch Show.Nathan failing at the speed slice event on Sportside Island.Nathan collapsing in the Treestump Bar.Nathan being woken up by Amber's violent screams.Nathan casually eating breakfast at the kitchen table while chunks of the ceiling rain down around him.Nathan pulling some juice out of the fridge.Nathan yelling at Amber because she ate his cookies.Nathan realizing that Sarah left in the middle of his big lecture.Nathan's original design.Nathan at the kitchen table with some pie.Nathan's later redesign.Cover artwork for Nathan's battle theme.