Grigori Wallak is a fan-character made by PonderousPlatypus (AKA Greatwall), and is written into the fan-story, The Tale of Grody Greg.
Background[]
The son Marcus and Rhetta Wallak, and the recent brother of Emma Wallak. Not that you would know it! Greg, as he is often called, developed quite differently from either of his parents. The young man's quiet and thoughtful nature is at odds with his father's warm, boisterous nature and his mother's pushy socialite ways. Originally the family lived outside of Locksmouth, and only transferred in when Marcus got a job on the local school board, dragging his wife and young son along with him. While Grigori often feels as if his parents do not quite understand him he is still very close to them, and their home life remains healthy and happy.
When Grigori first came to Locksmouth he was undergoing an aversion to understickers, a product used almost universally in the day to day life of young and old alike. It is not unheard of for some children to resist making the transition to them, but attempting to fight them until you are enrolled in school is somewhat uncommon. This would not have been a problem if not for an unfortunate playground accident that saw the otter pantless as school, revealing his lack of what was taught as basic hygene to all of his classmates. This resulted not only in his relatively reserved nature, but also the nickname of 'Grody Greg'. It left him feeling labeled as the 'gross' kid far longer than any of the other kids cared, and left him feeling uncertain of himself and unable to easily make friendships until well into his teen years. Greg joined into a pack with two other similarly awkward children, Claire Gotlen and Joseph McColgan, who still remain his close friends to this day.
Shortly before the Locskmouth Incident Grigori was beginning to find peace in his identity and shake off some of his previous self-esteem issues. He'd begun working at Good Vibrations, a cafe built around the idea of giving its patrons unconditional positive regard, a place he used to frequent a lot as a customer. What he would probably consider most important, however, was his friendship with Amanda Lee. Having met her in Skyships of Conquest, he found a kindred spirit who understood some of the woes of being a little weird and a little large compared to most of their fellow students. As a result of feeling a little less isolated and unusual the otter began to start to emerge from his shell, even considering trying out for the Tackle Toss team after the coach had urged him to do so several times in the past.
And then the Incident occurred
During the Incident, Greg, his pack, and several other members of the community holed up underneath the Good Vibrations cafe while the otter put on a mismatched 'safety' suit to look for other confused survivors. During this time he located and saved several people, including Emma, who he would later ask his parents to adopt. He was also forced to contend with many of the unusual invading creatures, including a firghtening physical confrontation with a Bugape (called a 'Bearsect' by Grigori.) Though a tragedy, The Incident served as a powerful motivation for Grigori, prompting the young man to go and do many of the things he had been contemplating before it happened.
Greg is now quite happily playing Tackle Toss and trying to encourage his pack to spread there own wings a little bit, while trying to help his new sister adjust and dealing with the sheer terror of being a teenager in a relationship.
Abilities[]
Grigori is very big. Though it is not the most glamorous ability, the otter's size does offer several advantages. While Post-Splice humanity leaves most heavy lifting to machines there is a certain finesse that can only be found in a pair of capable hands. Currently it mainly makes him a hell of a Tackle Toss player, until he needs to knock out another 'Bearsect'.
Trivia[]
- Since his introduction via fan-fiction, Grigori has appeared in-canon in Partners Vol. 2 and Harbington Heroes.