FlamDawg Disco

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Overview

FlamDawg Disco is a prominent main character in the novel. He is an anthropomorphic orange dog with oft forgotten fire abilities that generally serves as a comic relief or bit character, unintentionally getting involved in all sorts of different schemes and predicaments over the Seasons. Most notably, he's the character that Zack attacks most; always finding himself on the receiving end of an explosion or Zinvention trap. After debuting in a short story prior to the beginning of Story Beats, he joined the other characters on their adventures and is one of few characters to stick around for the entire novel. He's such an important part of the novel that there are only a handful of chapters where he doesn't make an appearance.

Personality

FlamDawg is best described as the type of character who tries to act cool, but ends up coming off as quite goofy. Not because he fails at being cool, but because he's just a silly little guy deep down. He is friendly, energetic, and all-too eager to get in on various adventures or schemes so as to be included as part of the group. As far as scheming goes, however, he often doesn't understand what it means to really get back at someone, leading to some less-than-satisfying plans when he takes charge. While mild-mannered for the most part, he has been known to pop off on occasion; yelling at those who have annoyed him far beyond his usual tolerance. Not the brightest bulb in the basket, but has his moments where he really shines. No matter what, he always does his best to prove himself worthy of someone's respect and admiration. Unfortunately, his actions can often get him into trouble with hostile women who seek to unload their anger on the nearest man. His tendency to go with the flow really helps him bypass the chaos of the novel, though it also often leads him right into the sticky hands of Zack and his various schemes. He possesses natural charisma which makes him a natural when it comes to hosting TV shows, something he does very frequently throughout the Seasons.

Overall, I've always found FlamDawg's personality hard to pinpoint despite the fact that he's been in the novel since the very beginning.

Physical Description

FlamDawg is an anthropomorphic dog with orange fur and a white underbelly. He has yellow eyes and a bit of white on the tip of his tail. He doesn't normally wear clothes but can sometimes be seen wearing various outfits and costumes. In some artwork drawn by others, he is shown to have have flame-like "hair", but I have not decided if I should keep this or not. In the novel, his nose is drawn as an upside-down triangle when viewed from the front, something that is not shown when drawn from the side.

While I am not 100% on any sort of redesign for him, he has been drawn by others wearing street-like clothes such as a backwards cap and a baggy black t-shirt.

History

Origins

FlamDawg is unique in that, unlike most characters, he is not based off of anyone. The only animal I could really ever draw was a dog, and when I felt it time for some new characters, I designed a fire-themed dog along with an elemental dog and a space-themed dog to debut in The New Rivals. At the time of his debut, I wasn't really familiar with drawing animals on two legs, so he's seen on four for quite some time. He also was always engulfed in a flame, but this was ditched when he later started walking on two legs. A similar fate met the other two dogs as well. I decided to dub these creatures "Dawgs" and went off to design hundreds more. They were just a fun little thing to doodle, with the likes of an Ice Dawg or Grass Dawg, but FlamDawg was the only one that ever truly meant anything in the novel. He became an irreplaceable part of the team (as proven in Season 5's Project: Dawg Replacement) and stuck around until the very end, long after all of the other dogs had been cut and done away with. His official species is known as a "Dawg" which is simply what talking dogs are referred to as in the novel's universe. Each Dawg has a special elemental typing or unique trait with FlamDawg's being that he can control fire. While he was originally drawn to be constantly surrounded by flames, he's now just implied to be able to create fires at will and is generally immune to things like ice or cold and hates water.

In the novel

Season 1

Early in Season 1, we learn that FlamDawg has a cop alter ego known as "Little Bang". When this was first mentioned, he suddenly donned a blue police uniform and started writing tickets for any and all littering, even if it wasn't anyone's fault. This became a recurring thing and he would always reappear whenever someone littered or otherwise mildly broke the law. This quickly turned into its own separate thing and I made Little Bangs become the police of Story Beats, showing up to deal with any and all lawbreakers. More info can be found on the page for the Little Bangs, but for now it's worth noting that FlamDawg was the original that spurred on the concept. However, this wasn't the only costume he donned during the year. He was shown to have a variety of alter-egos much like Sarah did in Season 4 onwards. He first dressed up as Little Bang, then later donned some street clothes and called himself "Govert", describing himself as a "normal dude you can talk to". When everyone set off on the big road trip halfway through the Season, he donned a mechanic outfit and called himself "Itchi Bunni" while working to fix the car. Itchi also attempted to fix Zack in a fantasy scenario, but deemed he was "broken way beyond repair". There is also a design for Swift, a speedy firefighter, but this alter-ego never appeared in any Season. After Season 1, the only alter-ego to make an appearance was Little Bang, but by then it kind of became its own separate thing.

Season 3

In Season 3's Girls' Day Out, it was revealed that FlamDawg has an arch nemesis: a cat that has ice powers. Appropriately named IceKat, he's the polar opposite to FlamDawg and so the two often beef with each other. In this chapter, he was seen making fun of FlamDawg's jiggly thighs and the fact that he apparently does not know what a verb is. Sadly, this arch nemesis was never seen again as the almighty Author dragged him into the Void once the bit ended. Even so, it's implied that the two were enemies long before then.

Credentials

Out of all the characters in Story Beats, FlamDawg seems to be the most ambitious, skilled, and well-traveled. Not only is he a police officer, he is also a licensed show host capable of hosting all sorts of different live tutorials such as tech support and window repair. He also has quite the affinity for cooking thanks to his natural fire element. In A Season 3 Valentine's Day, he baked the lavish brunch that everyone enjoyed and it's also been shown that he has several cooking trophies in his room. I dabbled with the idea of a chapter entitled Chef's Kitchen that has him compete in a cooking competition, but this never came to be. In addition, he has been shown attending various college classes at both Alabaster Academy, the most renowned school in the country, and Stitch Mix Academy, a famous tailoring school. The latter shows that he has skill when it comes to tailoring, proven when he made some jeans for Sarah in Season 3. On the side, he has been seen working as a DJ at Club Twist, hinting at some sort of musical talent, and also partaking in making glass sculptures with his fire abilities, something that he seems to be quite good at. In Nail Tales, it was also mentioned that he works a shift at the local cheesecake warehouse.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

• Possesses fire elemental powers from his mother, a fire dragon, which grant him heat abilities and a general immunity to cold
• Is skilled in various different trades such as cooking, sewing, sculpting and even making music

Weaknesses

• Is rather self-conscious and does not take criticism well
• His fire alignment makes him weak to water, which he despises
• Has a tendency to freak out when strange things happen