If KateStory has a main character, Kelly's it. She began as a nondescript girl looking for an adventure, and wacky hijinks ensued. Her experience as a hypnotized QVC saleswoman landed her a job at the spam factory, and quick and repeated promotions have placed her at the top: an executive with an underground concrete bunker. She's also developed a penchant for giant warmechs.
First Appearance: I
All Appearances: I, II, III, IV, V, VII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Billy joined Kelly in Part II, and they have been close friends ever since. They may or may not be having wild sex on the side. Billy is good-natured but generally clueless.
First Appearance: II
All Appearances: II, III, IV, V, VII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
The latest addition to the team, Janey was an ordinary college student until she discovered she was some kind of mystical half-demon with strange powers or something. She's recently enrolled in a graduate program at Miskatonic University; she's kept her heritage secret for reasons of personal pride.
First Appearance: XIII
All Appearances: XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
The originator of KateStory. Best known for popping in to post a few chapters near the start of a story and then sitting back and watching, she's gotten a real job and bowed out of the past few installments. I've scrubbed her last name from the old bits at her request.
First Appearance: VII
All Appearances: VII, IX, X, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI
Grammar nazi and KateStory archivist, which as it turns out is a much more difficult job than it sounds. King of Watches With Those Little Blue Lights. Person writing this.
First Appearance: VII
All Appearances: VII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Chaotic, random jokester, The Man Who Can't Get a Single Damn Accent Right. Whenever KateStory gets too serious or too silly, he's there to make sure the universe explodes.
First Appearance: I
All Appearances: I, VII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Referenced but Not Seen: V
Unbalanced and socially maladjusted from an upbringing in redneck Prescott Arizona, Stiv went from drunken college student to twisted and evil math professor. He hasn't been involved in the KateStory for the past few years, but it still reels from the madness he inflicted on it over the years.
First Appearance: IX
All Appearances: IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV
The newest regular addition to Team Self-Insertion, a sailor on board the USS Kidnapped by Ninjas.
Stef's avatar; Kate as in KateStory. A holdover from Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction we wrote when we were 11. Young woman with magical chaos powers, most notably a green flame that radiates around her right hand.
First Appearance: II
All Appearances: II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Referenced but Not Seen: I, IX
Thad's avatar. As in the games, he is alternately portrayed as a whiny pacifist and an unbalanced pyromaniac only too eager to "retire" everything that moves. Often referred to as simply "X".
First Appearance: II
All Appearances: II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Brent's avatar; another holdover from the Sonic '9X days. Similar to Sonic but smaller and purple. He's actually blue but suffused with a glowing red aura which grants him extra strength. In a pinch he can focus the aura telekinetically, but if he overexerts himself it disappates for hours at a time. He's also Kate's little brother. Don't ask.
Hedgehog X can also turn into Zero from Mega Man X. It's another fanfic thing. Don't worry about it.
First Appearance: I
All Appearances: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Sometimes an alternate form of Hedgehog X and sometimes a separate entity.
First Appearance: II
All Appearances: II, VII, VIII, X, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI
Referenced but Not Seen: III, IV, V, IX, XI
Kazz's avatar. A young detective who was displaced into a demon realm and returned as a blue-furred monster.
First Appearance: XIII
All Appearances: XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Adam's avatar (though, as the hero of a cult classic video game, he actually appeared in the story well before Adam ever joined in). Tir McDohl, the leader of the Toran Liberation Army from the original Suikoden.
Thad's other avatar. (Brent and I both went through a hell of a lot of avatars back in the old Prodigy days.) Frog, AKA Glenn, from Chrono Trigger, a cursed knight who speaks in ridiculously inaccurate faux-Shakespearean English. In the KateStory, his sword, the Masamune, is powered by an electroluminescent wristwatch.
First Appearance: VI
All Appearances: VI, VII, X, XI, XVII
Referenced but Not Seen: IX
The most constantly abused and tortured figure in KateStory. He has many forms -- he began as a disembodied voice but then became a person (I usually picture him as fat, sweaty, and balding) and has assumed demonic form on more than one occasion.
First Appearance: III
All Appearances: III, VIII, IX, X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV
Referenced but Not Seen: IV, V, XII, XVI, XVII
In only slightly better shape than LOGIC. Introduced as a tall, skinny, and shaky man with a high-pitched nasal voice, he's since been gender-morphed into a sexy lady.
First Appearance: X
All Appearances: X, XIII, XIV, XV
Referenced but Not Seen: XVII
Social outcast -- sort of like a nerd only not bright enough -- with perpetual flames coming from his hair, resulting from an accident trying to create a Star Trek transporter.
First Appearance: IX
All Appearances: IX, X, XI, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Twisted and evil roboticist and Pascal teacher at Prescott High.
First Appearance: IX
All Appearances: IX, X, XI, XII, XVI
Referenced but Not Seen: XIV
Boring rent-a-hero who occasionally shows up at the end of a story to realize he's missed all the fun.
First Appearance: II
All Appearances: II, III, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV
Referenced but Not Seen: IV, IX, XVI, XVII
Maniac with a chain and a limited vocabulary.
First Appearance: VII
All Appearances: VII, IX, X, XI, XIV, XV
Referenced but Not Seen: XVII
Idiot in a green bird costume with a limited vocabulary.
Master of disguise.
First Appearance: IX
All Appearances: IX, X, XII, XIV, XV, XVII
Always accompanied by sexy go-go dancers, who he will occasionally make out with. Originally depicted as Dr. Goldfoot, now depicted as his own rotting corpse.
First Appearance: XI
All Appearances: XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV
A shithead.
First Appearance: XI
All Appearances: XI, XII, XIV, XV
Referenced but Not Seen: XVII
Gok Tinnik's enigmatic uncle, a time-traveler and sometime Illuminatus with ties to the demon world. Just how much he knows about this crazy universe is uncertain, but everyone agrees it falls somewhere in the "more than he lets on" range.
First Appearance: XIV
All Appearances: XIV, XV, XVI, XVII
Referenced but Not Seen: XVII