- A scientist who created a chemical that makes other people do his wishes. He makes a man against homosexuality receive anal sex. Freelance writer Shirley K. Murray wrote in The Courier-Journal that he initially shows a "mild and innocuous manner". Stan and Ollie - They are brothers, ages 8 and 6, in Tring, Hertfordshire, England, who like to eat chocolate. Woodrell describes them as "cute". The brothers die in an explosion at the end of the second chapter. The novel later reveals they are artificial exploding children. Arnie - A former boxer who regularly has sex with his girlfriend, Connie, and in New York City they regularly victimize men attracted to Connie. Woodrell describes him as a "brittle-handed ex-pug" and her as a "healthily endowed tease". They take in Standish believing they will victimize him. Arnie has hatred of homosexuals, but Standish uses the chemical to make him have sex with another man, while Standish has sex with Connie. Scott "Scout" - A high school student from Neptune, New Jersey who is in a relationship with his girlfriend Audrey and is soon to attend university. He travels to Harlem to play basketball games, and is described by Woodrell as "a whitebread hoop hopeful". He plays in the game, as he hoped, but he and his girlfriend later commit suicide after they drink Arky's drink, which the latter ostensibly gave him as a toast to his future. They are victims of Arky's suicide chemical. Thomas Babington "Babe" Levy - He is Scylla's brother and a Columbia University associate professor of history. For much of the book he is oblivious to the events occurring. Daniel Woodrell of The Washington Post states that he is present to give Scylla/Doc "a humanizing concern." Multiple reviewers stated that Babe's role in the storyline was not significant and/or minor. Dobyns wrote that Babe is in the novel "only to be emotionally destroyed" and that he does not have a use in the plot, nor does he propel the plot forward. Woodrell also stated that Babe was "unnecessary" to the plot, and Kirkus Reviews described his role as "minor". Lochte stated that Babe's "role here, though essential, is definitely a secondary one." Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote in The New York Times that Babe and his wife "do figure vaguely" into the storyline "but they're so far from being essential that one has to suspect that Mr. Goldman