TJ Richards

TJ Richards is a 7th grader at Grandshire Christian Schools who is one of the three children chosen by God to be a Crusader. He was given the power of exorcism and is able to banish demons by laying his hands on them. He's the leader of the group and is very assertive with his faith. He sometimes struggles with his arrogance, but always learns his lesson in the end.

## Appearance

TJ is a slim boy with light skin and brown hair. When he's in his usual clothes, he wears a red tee shirt with jeans and gray sneakers. When he's being a Crusader, he wears a white toga with gold trim, white pants, and gold sandals.

## Personality

TJ is an a natural leader and brimming with confidence. He gets his confidence from his faith, as demonstrated by his catchphrase: "God is always on my side!" He is always trying to do what's best for his community, but sometimes his self-righteousness can get the best of him. He often butts heads with sinners, but Shelley is always able to get them to be friends again.

## Summary

In the first episode, TJ is granted the power of exorcism by God in order to defend the town of Grandshire from a growing demonic threat. He proceeds to use this power to rid the town's DJ of a demon that was possessing him to play corrupting music.

TJ encounters his Auntie Christine for the first time in Uh Oh, it's Auntie Christine and has immediate suspicions that she is a demon. When his exorcism powers don't prove effective on her, he tries to get over his worries about her and accept her into his family. He becomes increasingly annoyed with her rudeness and disregard for Christian values. Auntie Christine offers football tickets to TJ as an attempt to win him over, but he realizes that going to the game would cause him to miss church. He then has a talk with his parents about how Auntie Christine was harming their family, and his parents agree that they need to evict her. This establishes the grudge that Auntie Christine holds on TJ.

In The Devil's Plants, TJ demonstrates his passion for following the law with his horrified reaction to finding his classmates smoking marijuana. He is dissuaded by Shelley after she discovers that they were victim to peer pressure. Eventually TJ successfully exorcises the demon that is selling drugs to students.

TJ is initially distrustful towards Donny in the episode Grandshire's New Stranger. This escalates to the point where he loses his temper and causes Donny to rush out of the school and be persuaded by the Devil. After Donny sees the light, him and TJ reconcile.

The episode Apostles and Apostates demonstrates TJ's leadership ability after he makes a call to action against the criminal gang called the Apostates. He is initially overpowered by the Apostates, but finds power in numbers as he forms a counter group, the Apostles. He eventually exorcises the leader of the Apostates when he's distracted, and causes the gang to disband.

TJ faces his own personal demon when a little man appears on his shoulder one day in the episode I Promise. The demon taunts him about his affections for Shelley. The demon never manages to break his will, and TJ wins the day by declaring his feelings for Shelley while asking her to be abstinent with him.

Again, TJ encounters Auntie Christine when she becomes his class's new substitute teacher. This time around, TJ realizes that she can't just be exorcised, but she's so naturally evil that she needs to be removed from the teaching position. After Auntie Christine encourages the kids to destroy the classroom and behave like monkeys, the Crusaders inform the Principal and Auntie Christine quits in embarrassment.

In the episode Lost the Path, the Crusaders are tasked with eradicating the witch coven that has cropped up in town. TJ helps to remove a demon that Glen voluntarily bound to himself; however, it is revealed that Glen never realized that what he was doing was demonic. Glen leads them to the coven leader, Mama Shazaam, and TJ exorcises her at the conclusion of their confrontation.

In Modesty is the Best Policy, TJ confronts Valencia Von Holle with the rest of the Crusaders, and distracts her long enough to allow Shelley to win over the crowd of her customers.

After discovering the army of stone beasts that the Devil is gathering in The Army of the Devil, TJ asks his dad for help. His dad ends up contacting his friends from the army, and a group of soldiers arrives to help combat the forces of the Devil.

TJ confronts his Auntie Christine for the final time in the episode Divine Intervention. Auntie Christine has begun to protest the Christian establishment in the town of Grandshire, and she particularly targets TJ. After realizing that trying to use her own tactics against her will not work, TJ uses his leadership abilities again to gather a crowd to support Christian values, and eventually Auntie Christine's audience gets tired of her abrasiveness and abandons her.

In the final episode, The Big Showdown, the Crusaders work together to remove the Devil's influence over Christmas. Their efforts culminate in praying together to summon a vision of Jesus Christ to everyone, who then tells the crowd of townspeople to not forget the true meaning of Christmas. The town is no longer mind controlled by the Devil, and TJ lays his hands on him, turning the Devil into a puff of smoke that seeps into the ground. At the end, God tells the Crusaders to expect the Devil to return.

## Relationships

### Shelley McConnell

Shelly is TJ's romantic interest and best friend. They officially became a couple in the episode I Promise.

### Auntie Christine

Auntie Christine is TJ's rival. TJ hadn't met Auntie Christine until she appeared in Uh Oh, It's Auntie Christine, and they immediately began to butt heads, with Auntie Christine's brash attitude conflicting with TJ's morality.