Edward Lincoln

Ed is one of the main characters of **Between Failures**. He works part-time as a Clerk at the slowly-failing Megatainment store in the fictional town of Marbleton, Kansas. The first plot arc covers his first day on the job. He is 21 years old.

## Appearance

### **Physique**

Ed is short, and this is frequently commented on and/or used by other characters. He wears lifts (shoes with extra thick soles) to help compensate. He appears Caucasian, has blue eyes and large, round glasses. His prescription isn't mentioned, but judging by the fact Nina can comfortably wear his glasses when fooling around seems unlikely to be strong.

Ed has a prominent, angular nose and black hair, usually worn long in a ponytail. Judging by the shine sometimes shown, he may further style this with hair products.

We've also seen that he has a slightly hairy chest and well-developed musculature. He also has big hands.

### **Clothing**

At work, Ed almost always wears a uniform Megatainment button-down shirt, seemingly mimicking Thomas' style in this regard (never done up, often with the sleeves rolled up and with a plain t-shirt underneath). He also wears dark blue, possibly denim jeans (albeit these are seldom seen in shot, owing to his height compared with the other characters). He is almost never seen wearing the uniform nametag.

Away from work, Ed frequently wears a variety of clothes, frequently including a long, green-and-grey striped scarf (an accessory his twin sister Jess also wears).

Ed frequently wears long, striped scarves. In combination with his round wire-rimmed glasses, this frequently leads to other characters comparing him to Harry Potter (...much to Nina's apparent approval).

## Background

### **General**

Fairly early on in the comic, we know that Ed is broke (or at least, short of cash). This may partially be owing to Jessie spending it for him... he has had at least two jobs before working at the store, all of which he hated.

### **Family**

Ed's twin-sister Jess is regularly featured in the comic. They are fraternal twins, and as such share several physical characteristics (notably, their hair colour, eyes and facial structure), but not their heights.

As with many twins, it appears that Ed and Jess share a close sibling bond / rivalry. One of the earlier plot arcs (from strip 639 to 672a) provides an amusing insight into their comfort around each other (or not) and shows them roughhousing over Ed's DS - but ends with them eating out together afterwards.

## Job Role

Ed's role in the store is that of a part-time sales associate. His first day begins right at the start of the comic. Aside from a shaky start and a few minor skirmishes, he seemingly enjoys working in store.

## Relationships

### **Romantic / Sexual**

#### Nina

From very early on in the comic, it is apparent that Nina and Ed are mutually attracted to each other. He considers her a sexually-attractive "...*golden-haired, Amazon princess"* and "*statuesque*". However, both characters were slow to act, with Ed citing store rules forbidding dating between employees.

After they went running together, Nina and Ed kissed for the first time as the sun rose.

### **Friendships**

#### Thomas

The comic never explains how Ed became friends with Thomas. Given the five-year age gap, it seems unlikely they know each other from school. However, Thomas obviously likes Ed enough to get him a job at the store, perhaps as Ed shares several characteristics and traits with Thomas (including his intelligence, willpower and occasional anger).

#### Jo

It's probably fair to consider Ed and Jo to be friends. He spends much of his first day challenging her to quote from movies (which she does, of course). She seems to enjoy the challenge, and later invites him over to watch old movies.

### **Other**

#### Carol

Ed's relationship with Carol starts out poorly, with Ed responding badly to her frosty, dismissive and sassy attitude on his first day. He specifically declares that they are "*NOT FRIENDS"* . Matters may have been somewhat reconciled by their subsequent apologises, but they do not seem especially close. It appears he does come to respect Carol, and doesn't fear her.

#### John

We don't often see John and Ed interact in the comic. However, at the end of the first day, they engage in some fairly pointed verbal sparring, without apparent cause. Thomas is seemingly able to calm matters, although John still makes several 'short jokes' after the fact.

Jackie notes in a comment box that Thomas, Ed and John are all meant to have broadly similar relationship dynamics, and that all have a somewhat mean sense of humour

#### Mike

Ed seems reasonably happy to spend time with Mike. Although he is aware of Thomas' thoughts on the store and Megatainment management in general, he is reasonably careful to humour Mike (perhaps understandably, having just got his job).

## Personality

### **Behavior**

Ed admits to having a quick temper. Thomas considers him strong-willed and intelligent, and similar to himself (although Ed seems to have mixed reactions to this). Ed seems willing to help Thomas look after and support the other staff at the store, albeit there might be exceptions.

He seems dedicated and hard-working. At the and of his first day, Carol makes the point of commending him (perhaps in part to make up for their getting off on the wrong foot earlier in the day).

### **Hobbies & Interests**

Ed enjoys some video games, most notably those for handheld devices. He has a Gameboy Micro when the comic starts.

It is apparent that Ed enjoys watching movies, and considers that he has a wide enough knowledge-base to challenge Brooksie (he doesn't, of course). He also has at least some interest in high fantasy, and sometimes watches the 'History Channel'.

We know Ed detests Justin Timberlake.

## Trivia

* Early on in the comic (when the some of the characters 'spoke' in different fonts) Ed appears to use Veranda (or possibly Helvetica). He shares this font with his twin-sister Jessie (for obvious reasons). A very similar font is used for John (perhaps given they seldom appear together).
* Jackie has previously mentioned that some of his characters have 'ear numbers' (as discussed on a podcast with Moonhawk Studios Presents. While the full list (and specifically Jackie's reasons for them) has never been revealed, Ed's appears to be 2 (or possibly, 12).
* Ed's prefered exclamation seems to be "*Crap in a Hat!*"
* When responding to Carol's '10-second clock', Ed attempts to justify that he isn't a moron by reference to tests scores - an approach that results in his immediate failure .
* Many fans consider that Ed looks a bit like Lupin the Third. Jackie has himself acknowledged the Lupin comics to be one his early inspirations.
* Ed considers the use of honorifics 'classy'.

## References

1. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/225-failure
2. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/1056-uplifting
3. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/77-best-friends-forever
4. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/615-attack-of-oppertunity
5. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/310-inappropriate-sunshine
6. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/314-realization
7. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/939-everyone-is-dicks
8. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/297-something-like-hope
9. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/10-lineage-in-question
10. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/42-i-believe-you
11. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/129-denial
12. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/41-timberlake
13. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/71-sneak-attack
14. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/639-underwhere
15. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/she-paid-he-tipped
16. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/297-something-like-hope
17. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/73-nina-grace
18. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/136-interference
19. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/137-it-did-not
20. ↑ https://betweenfailures.com/comics1/1409-about-damn-time
21. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/251-a-leader-of-men
22. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/11-carol-graves
23. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/12-hurry-up-activated
24. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/44-temperament
25. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/46-not-friends
26. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/76-everybody-is-sorry-for-the-most-part
27. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/323-respect
28. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/283-master-holbyta
29. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/288-no-kissinger
30. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/256-typical
31. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/175-good-intentions
32. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/76-everybody-is-sorry-for-the-most-part
33. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/251-a-leader-of-men
34. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/252-greetings-starfighter
35. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/260-mission-complete
36. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/278-never-again
37. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/4-vital-for-survival
38. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/234-watch-it
39. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/283-master-holbyta
40. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/295-old-school-barbarism
41. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/41-timberlake
42. ↑ https://youtu.be/NWCHoJcrblU?t=1h5m23s
43. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/9-the-art-of-war
44. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/71-sneak-attack
45. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/12-hurry-up-activated
46. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin\_the\_Third
47. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?time\_continue=203&v=NWCHoJcrblU
48. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/323-respect