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This page details the characters active in the Prologue to the comic, at the initial outbreak of the Rash Illness. Most of them are confirmed to be direct ancestors of the main cast, as seen with the publication of the characters' Family trees(link to SSSS). They often have similar appearances or personality traits to their descendants.

Listed in order of appearance:

Norway[]

Ingrid Pedersen[]

Ingrid

A resident of Dalsnes, Norway, described as a "low effort hippie". She is enthusiastic about the idea of the road being closed permanently and a return to boats for travelling. She has the idea for Gunnar to pick up Aksel's grandmother, and she relays the news about the closure of Iceland's borders to the others.

Main character Trond Andersen is the child of Ingrid and Gøran (below).

Aksel Eide[]

Aksel eide

A superstitious young man from Dalsnes. He tends to worry a lot about his grandmother who lives in the city, despite the fact that she appears to be managing quite well on her own. He is successful in his entreaties to get her to come and stay with him, and she helps him defend their home against the trolls later.

Aksel and Sigrun (below) are the parents of Sigurd Eide, who is the (paternal side) grandfather of main character Sigrun Eide.

Sigrun Larsen[]

Sigrun

Another resident of Dalsnes. She is described as "kind of an ass", being highly critical of Aksel's worries while pointing out additional things that could go wrong to him. She is enthusiastic about the idea of power being cut to the village, forcing them to live like in the past.

Sigrun Eide's grandfather Sigurd is the son of Aksel Eide (above) and Sigrun.

Gøran Andersen[]

Goran
(accentless: Goran Andersen)

The fourth member of the group of friends from Dalsnes. He thinks his beard is awesome. He mentions the continuing poor weather and the spread of the Rash Illness to the group while skimming the paper to find the crossword. He later realizes that Dalsnes' isolation and the poor weather serve as an effective quarantine for the village.

He and Ingrid Pedersen (above) are the parents of main character Trond.

Gunnar[]

Gunnar

A fisherman from Dalsnes. Since the road is closed, he has been using his boat to run errands for the villagers to the nearby city of Bergen. Although reluctant about transporting passengers, Aksel talks him into bringing his grandmother back.

Gunnar had no relatives that we know of.

Berit Eide[]

Berit

Aksel's grandmother, named in a picture during the first time skip. Despite Aksel's worries, she is shown to be quite self-sufficient, but Aksel manages to talk her into staying with him for the duration of the pandemic.

Denmark[]

Michael Madsen[]

Michael

A Danish businessman who seems to love his cat, Magnus, more than his job. He appears to be rather demanding and angry, but is really just frustrated with the delay in the ferry that caused him to miss an important meeting and lose his job. After being stranded on Bornholm, he likely stays at his sister's farm.

Michael and Signe Sørensen (below) later have a son, christened "Magnus" after the cat(!), who becomes the (paternal side) grandfather of main character Mikkel.

Signe Sørensen[]

Signe
(accentless: Signe Sorensen)

A waitress on the Bornholmer ferry who is known for being sarcastic with her customers. She's been fired from a lot of jobs and would like to keep this one. She initially does not care for Michael Madsen's overbearing behavior on the ship, but ends up comforting him after he gets fired from his job.

She is last seen with Michael at his sister's house, and the family trees lists them as being ancestors of main character Mikkel Madsen through their son Magnus.

Mr. Pedersen[]

Mr Pedersen

A guest on a debate show. He is talking against the Denmark border closures, referring to restricting travel as a violation of human rights. He heavily downplays the pandemic and points out the lack of deaths caused by the illness. He is characterized by his opponent as being an overly-optimistic, pot-smoking hippie who once tried to eat someone's dog while high.

Stine[]

Stine

The other guest on the debate show. She is vocally in favour of the closures, and frequently talks over her opponent. She believes strongly that the illness is on its way to becoming a devastating pandemic, and that the government is covering up the extent of the outbreak to prevent panic. She is viewed by many as a crazy conspiracy theorist, and had previously encouraged avoidance of fruits and vegetables due to fear of spider eggs in them.

Finland[]

Esko[]

A radio news anchor heard briefly talking with another, unnamed anchor. He gives the listeners advice on how to avoid catching the illness, and reveals that he is likely to skip work and stay home the next day to protect himself. He, along with his unnamed partner, also made an appearance in Minna's earlier comic, A Redtail's Dream. His presence in both stories is confirmed to be merely a reference, and does not imply the two stories take place in a shared continuity.

Kaino

Kaino Hotakainen[]

A woman living in Mikkeli, Finland. She is currently unemployed, which doesn't stop her from commenting on her sisters' boss. She joins her brother and his family on the boat with the expectation that they are going on vacation.

Kaino is the only "on screen" Finnish prologue character who doesn't seem to have had children.

Aino

Aino Hotakainen[]

Kaino's older sister, she works in a restaurant run by a woman named Helmi. Like her sister, she originally only expects that their getaway on the boat will be a mini-vacation for her and her husband.

At the time of the outbreak, she is expecting a child with her husband Saku (below). That child turned out to be Ensi, the famous and mysterious "made one mistake" grandmother of Tuuri, Onni, and Lalli.

Helmi[]

Aino's boss at the restaurant. She only intends to close the restaurant for a week, and is referred to as a tyrant and a witch woman, but it's mentioned that she's not an idiot and will likely extend the closure if the pandemic continues. Not seen or heard in the comic.

Eino Hotakainen[]

Eino

Kaino and Aino's brother. He is a freelance boat painter and seems to take the news of the spreading illness much more seriously than his sisters. Nevertheless, he tries to keep the seriousness of the situation from his son, Veeti. Eino's family has a cat called Misu-Misu.

Tuuli Hollola[]

Tuuli

Wife of Eino. She appears to have been preparing for a major catastrophe for some time, stockpiling food and survival supplies in their boat. Her character sheet describes her as "possibly a crazy person".

Saku Hotakainen[]

Saku

Husband of Aino, prone to seasickness. He seems to be very melodramatic and usually thinks he is dying of something.

Veeti Hollola[]

Veeti

Veeti is the son on Eino and Tuuli. His parents try to keep the plague a secret from him, but he is aware of it anyway from watching the news. He is urged by his father to go play video games instead of listening in on adult conversations.

Veeti later becomes the father of main character Taru.

Sweden[]

Stig Västerström[]

Stig
(accentless: Stig Vasterstrom)

Stig Västerström is first encountered as he is on his way to a private cabin with his family in Sweden. He picks up a newspaper as his wife stops by a gas station and leaves money behind even though there is no gas station attendant. He is described as a kind and curious man. However, he can lose his temper when others around him become too over-bearing, such as when his parents start rioting in the car.

Ulrika Västerström[]

Ulrika
(accentless: Ulrika Vasterstrom)

Stig's wife, Ulrika, doesn't like to hear about news if it's only going to be bad news. She is first seen driving with Stig and their family to their cabin. She gets very annoyed at Stig's parents when they get raucous in the car and swerves the car.

Ulf Västerström[]

Ulf
(accentless: Ulf Vasterstrom)

Ulf is Stig's father. He uses his pension to gamble on sports, while knowing very little about sports. He and his wife, Elvira start a mutiny in the car, causing Ulrika to dangerously swerve the car.

Elvira Västerström[]

Elvira
(accentless: Elvira Vasterstrom)

Elvira is Stig's mother. She would like to bet on sports like her husband, but never remembers to. She likes doing the crosswords. Bored with the tedious drive, she and her husband, Ulf, annoy Stig and Ulrika by starting a mini-riot.

Mia Västerström[]

Mia,bosse,cat
(accentless: Mia Vasterstrom)

Mia is Stig and Ulrika's daughter. She is stuck in the trunk with their dog (Bosse) and cat (Misse). She is upset when Bosse has an accident in the trunk. Like Veeti Hololla, she is shown playing a handheld video game. 

Mia is the mother of main character Torbjörn and his brother Torolf, who, in turn, is Emil's father. 

Time Skip[]

Madsen family and Signe

During the time skip, a picture of Michael Madsen's sister, who owns a farm on Bornholm, and her family is shown. Their names are given as Kirsten Madsen, Per Olsen, Mette Madsen, Mathilde Madsen, Morten Madsen, Marianne Madsen and Marcus Madsen. Per Olsen notably shares a surname with Admiral Olsen.

As of this writing (October 2016), another picture in this "flying calender scene" claims to show "Familjen Söderström", photographed by "Mia Västerström". The author changed the family name during the planning of the comic, similar to the change of Trond's family name.

Iceland[]

Lieutenant Ólafur[]

Olafur
(accentless: Lieutenant Olafur)

Ólafur is a gunner on the V/S Þór, who is ordered to shoot the boat of refugees.

Kristján[]

Kristjan
(accentless: Kristjan)

Kristján is asked to watch Árni's radar station when he goes to seek a discharge.

Pétur[]

Petur
(accentless: Petur)

Pétur is the man Árni speaks to when he requests to go home, presumably a doctor or officer. The two of them have had this conversation before, but it is shown that the last time, Árni expressed desire to leave during an emotional moment and later changed his mind.

Árni Þór Reynisson[]

Arni
(accentless: Arni Thor Reynisson)

A radar technician, he joined the Icelandic Coast Guard for fun, some time prior to the outbreak of the Illness. However, he is having difficulty coping and often has bad dreams or trouble sleeping. At the end of the prologue, he quits his job and plans to escape to some remote town and forget about the outside world. Has been revealed to be the great-grandfather of Reynir Árnason. So far he is the only character whose birthday has been revealed - it is October 27th.

Jón[]

Jon
(accentless: Jon)

The doctor who watches Árni during his quarantine. His last name is shown, but is written illegibly.

Characters
Main Characters
Tuuri Hotakainen - Lalli Hotakainen - Emil Västerström - Sigrun Eide - Mikkel Madsen - Reynir Árnason - Kitty

Secondary Characters
Taru Hollola - Torbjörn Västerström - Siv Västerström - Trond Andersen - Onni Hotakainen

Others
Prologue Characters

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