Tumbling Ants: (By the way, I paused the DVD and it seems there are actually *eight* tumbling ants who join the circus at the end of the film. I only made five characters for my fics after seeing ther film in theatres, and I don't intend to alter that. Just fyi, there are eight ants canonically.) Cora Dr. Flora's younger sister and her Chief Medical Assistant (until she left the Island, of course). Cora is a very straightforward, honest person who is always willing to give everyone a second chance to make up for their mistakes. She is the undisputed leader of the Tumbling Troupe for the simple reason that she is very organised. I guess she's a kinda boring character, but every story needs a few of those. However, her medical training makes her *very* handy to have around. Chase Very short, Chase always winds up on the top of pyramids and such. He is very quiet and only expresses his opinion if he feels it is necessary (but he is not as quiet as Ymri, for example). He is addicted to reading and will read anything, be it penned by bugdom or humankind. He hates to be the centre of attention and only performs in front of an audience because Cora has taught him to forget the audience is even there. On the island, he was Mr. Soil's Record Keeper. Clack Without a doubt the most paranoid Ant the Colony has ever seen. :) Clack gets his name from the way his antennae bang together when he is nervous--which is nearly all the time. If there is no immediate danger he will make something up. Despite his whining and moaning, however, he is not truly a coward. Quick Very millitant, very disciplined, very tough to reason with. Quick was born into the wrong Colony: she was obviously meant to be a Soldier Ant of some kind. Everything must be done by the rules or not at all, if she has her say (fortunately, that is not often). When she was with the Colony she was the Queen's Chief Messanger, because she is a very fast runner. Flip Flip is a dreamer--not in a productive way like Flik, but rather in a very wasteful way which irritates the Royal Council. Basically, he reads too many comic books. But his eccentric imagination has a funny way of being useful at the oddest times. The Crew: Ymri (Wolf Spider) Ymri is from Russia and does speak with an accent (I do it *horribly*, btw). He is very pensive and wise and can hold his tongue for days. He has, since Hopper was killed, become Molt's chief rolemodel (which has done the Grasshopper some good, actually). Ymri of course is highly gifted musically, and could be a hugely famous musician if he didn't love being in a travelling circus so much. By the way: The name Ymri...well, I made it up. I have no idea if it's a real name at all or, if it is, if it's even a man's name. ;) Just thought you should be aware of that, should it come up. Blip (Firefly) Blip is cynical but chooses his words carefully. That is to say, when he is rude, he means it. Like most Fireflies he's a bit hotheaded and quick to join in a fight if one happens to start in his vicinity. Also, he doesn't like being in a quiet place if there's a party anywhere nearby. He is a great music-lover and does consider Ymri's talents wasted on the circus. (In the movie, Blip is the one who was selling stale popcorn the first time we see the circus bugs.) He's Molt's best friend. Flash (Firefly) Flash is the King of Speaking Without Thinking, and often says shockingly innappropriate things, with Blip or others only sometimes succeeding in shushing him in time. People who aren't used to him are often very put off by his behaviour and resent him immediately. He is actually a rather caring person though. (In the movie, Flash was the one sleeping on the job.) About the Crew as a whole: Blip and Flash are addicted to games. Board games, card games, roleplaying games--anysort of game they can get ahold of they want to learn and try playing. And if they don't like the rules...they change them. But the more complicated, the better. Whenever P.T. doesn't have them working on something, they go off to find a place to play a game. Ymri plays with them too--not always, but you can bet that whenever he does, he wins. Blip and Flash nearly always wind up arguing over the rules and losing the game pieces/cards anyhow. Once Molt joins the circus he is quickly indicted to play with them, although like Ymri he doesn't always join in. Blip and Flash insult each other constantly, but it's usually Blip telling Flash to shut up (which is often needed). They don't get into slapping fights like Tuck and Roll or anything, though--it's mostly insults and a punch or two. Despite this, the four members of the crew are pretty good friends, and spend a lot of time together. (And in case you are wondering: yes, I did get the inspiration for Blip and Flash playing games all the time from those two guys in The Gods Must Be Crazy. :) A Note on Molt: I have Molt working as a kinda Props Manager. He gets the props (like the cannon) in place and puts them away again, etc. He also maintains the wagon and acts as a general handyman around the Circus. He does practically all the gruntwork except tend to the millipedes--P.T is very protective of "his girls" and is the only one allowed to feed them, etc. (Their names are Meeni and Myni btw.) Molt is, in short, extremely useful and his presence in the circus has given the others a lot more free time. He does irritate the others sometimes with his big mouth and his constant flaking--but he is forgiven everytime he manages to say just the right thing to embarrass P.T. around people the Flea is trying to impress. ;)