Henry

art by Sarah DeBuck

**Henry** (aka Henry The Alchemist) is one of the four major characters of the cabaret cast featured in *The Ballad of Lost Hollow*. He is voiced by Rhys Owen.

## Biography

### Early Years

Henry grew up in a cult that believed angels would come one day to carry off the pure, and taught total repression of sexual desires in order to maintain their purity.

Henry left that cult and the AIs recruited him to be one of the characters in their cabaret. He was given the role of Henry The Alchemist, deputy and right hand man of Hank, the Sheriff.

### Cabaret Persona Backstory

In Miss Helen's Weird West Cabaret Henry has a solo which depicts his backstory. (Henry the Alchemist (Song)) Henry was a shy boy and had great issues talking to cute guys. He focused on alchemy and was researching potions in order to help the mankind progress.

His romantic anxiety stopped when he met Evan. The two started a relationship. They were happy together until a monster attacked his town and doom was nigh. Henry developed a potion to turn himself into a beast that could defeat the attacker and save the town. But it did not work.

Evan tried comforting Henry and, seeing how everyone would soon die, offered to be intimate one last time. When Henry got aroused a transformation was triggered and he turned into Hurl, who defeated the attacker but then spent weeks indulging in alcohol and casual hook-ups.

This became commonplace for Henry as whenever he would get aroused, he could not stop the transformation and would become Hurl, "a sodomite, who makes everything alright". Henry hated Hurl and made potions to prevent himself from getting aroused. His relationship took a toll on it, as well. When the town was under the attack the next time the folks did everything they could to make Henry horny so that Hurl would save them.

Evan could not stand Hurl, who would mock him and make him cry, so he left Henry "one long night". After a two-week bender Henry woke up in Lost Hollow and vowed never to get aroused.

### Ballad of Lost Hollow

Henry had practiced for weeks for his solo and was very excited to perform his big number. But after singing his song, Henry could tell that something about the performance bothered Han-Mi. He pressed her to explain, and she pointed out that his story was of a gay man whose sexual urges turn him into a beast, and that he would be normal if his desires were erased. Acknowledging the problematic aspect of the performance, Henry says he will talk to the writer before realizing that he does not know who the writer is.

   As the cabaret cast start to question the show and their reality, they resolve to stop the show. The performance is terminated, and the cast escapes to Raven's Carnival. In Uncle Raven's Super Happy Fun Time Carnival, Raven is primarily interested in Helen, and he throws Henry, Han, and Hank into the Hall of Mirrors in order to get a chance to talk to Helen alone, trapping them in their own sadness. Han repeats the method she used to break the cabaret to break the them out of the Hall of Mirrors. After Han threatens Raven and Hank reveals himself to be an AI and commits suicide, they find their way out of Lost Hollow on back to New Albion.

Back in New Albion, Helen finds herself in the corridors with Mary in The Grand Cyberpunk Gala of Gabriella Gadfly. Henry and Han are trapped in Helen's head, and cannot get out while Helen is still alive. Mary reveals that the Cabaret existed to help grow a town inside the collective unconscious, one where the AIs could move their consciousnesses to keep from becoming their genocidal future selves, thus preventing the destruction of New Albion. Mary describes a previous attempt at creating a world in the collective unconscious. This one was based on mega-popular novels written by the late Nathan Brindesi. Helen played the titular Gabriella Gadfly, while Henry was made to play her sidekick, Mascot 04K. Han-Mi played the villain again, a character named Jade.

Helen cannot handle the stress of the situation any longer and commits suicide, which frees Henry and Han from her mind. Under the threat of being mindwiped yet again, Henry and Han attempt to flee from the AIs. When it looks like they will not make it, Henry tells Han that it was nice being free together for a moment. Han insists that Henry turn into Hurl, amidst Henry's protests that the backstory was a fake memory. Han believes in that narrative with all her heart and soul, and Henry transforms into Hurl and kills all of the other AI before being knocked out by Mary.

A new show is set up, Miss Mary's Last Stand With The Band Cabaret. Henry is now playing the part of the sheriff, and still retains the ability to turn into Hurl.

## Personality

Henry has a history of self-doubt which has nothing to do with gayness and everything to do with growing up in a sex-negative cult who hates arousal of any sort. He is more reserved and prone to avoiding sexual stimuli than his counterpart Hurl.

Hurl, on the other hand, is loud, destructive, and seductive. Far less refined, Hurl embodies essentially all the traits that Henry represses; most prominent among them are his sexual urges, but even these take a backseat (when he transforms) to his belligerence, only taking time to screw *after* he's dealt with the imminent threat to whatever municipality he surfaces in.

## Relationships

Henry had a boyfriend named Evan who helped Henry overcome his shyness. Henry loved Evan, but when Hurl appeared he would belittle Evan when he was in control of the body. Consequently, Evan left Henry, breaking his heart.

Henry is also the maternal first cousin of Xander Cale, protagonist of The Broken Cyborg. Henry's other cousin is Xander's twin sister, Macayla.

## Trivia

* When Paul Shapera was confirming LGBT identities, he noted that Hurl "might be the gayest"
* Mascot 04K is featured on the Gabriella Gadfly shirt, hoodie, and poster in the official merch shop, featuring art by EcstaticNek