The Look: Instantly recognizable by his crazy red mohawk.Personality: A disaffected, teenage punk poet and writer who is constantly questioning where he belongs.The Backstory: Set in 1993, Scotty has reluctantly moved away from home to a place called "The City of Champions" in the Canadian Midwest for his final year of high school.The Conflict: He immediately stands out and finds himself on the wrong side of both the oppressive Principal Abraham and the school's aggressive drug dealer, Sammy, typical phrase, "You don't find punk, it finds you."

The Look: Known for his rugged punk aesthetic, frequently sporting a leather jacket and a beanie or messy hair.Role: He is the grounded, loyal anchor of the "Skid Ranch" collective.Personality: Unlike the more hot-headed Craig or the reflective Scotty, Billy is protective, street-smart, and deeply committed to his friends.The Backstory: Like the other Skids, Billy carries a history of parental neglect and trauma, which fuels his rejection of traditional authority and his desire to build a chosen family with the other outcasts. Motto, "No Skid gets left behind, in the pit or in a bind."

The Look: Characterized by a sharp, intense punk look, often featuring glasses.Personality: An angry, rebellious teenager who hates injustice and hypocrisy above all else. He is incredibly determined, intense, and prone to taking matters into his own hands.The Backstory: Craig is dealing with severe grief and trauma. His father passed away, and his mother subsequently entered a string of unstable relationships.The Secret: His anger boils over when he discovers his mother is secretly sleeping with Principal Abraham—the sleazy, self-righteous authority figure who runs their high school.Personal Struggles: To cope with the pain and chaos at home, Craig battles an addiction to pills. Typical phrase, "All power is corrupt, man."

Key Facts About DaveThe Contrast: The song's opening lyrics immediately establish their core difference: "Ryan and Dave are rabble rousin', teenage cousins / Difference is Dave has an off switch, and Ryan doesn't."His Life: Twenty years after their wild teenage days, Dave lives a stable, "rank-and-file" lifestyle. He is married to a woman named Jamie and they have children together.The Ultimatum: When a homeless, broke, and heavily addicted Ryan calls Dave begging for cash, Dave refuses to enable him. Instead, Dave offers a life-saving deal: he will fund Ryan's recovery, but only if he agrees to go straight into detox.The Real Story: According to the band, "Ryan & Dave" is actually a true story. In real life, the song is based on two cousins named Kyle and Dave. The band changed Kyle's name to Ryan in the track to protect his privacy.

Ryan is a wild-child wolf who struggles with a severe drug addiction. The narrative follows his cousin, a responsible pug named Dave, who steps in to send Ryan to detox to save his life.The Universe: While Ryan stars in his own standalone video, his character lives in the broader "Crooked City Universe" built by the band.The Connection to (S) KiDS: The band went on to create a full-length, animated punk-rock musical film called (S) KiDS. While the main plot of (S) KiDS focuses on human punk teenagers (like Scotty, Craig, and Billy) fighting their corrupt principal, it is fully tied into the same animated punk culture and universe as Ryan's story.

The Character: He is an anthropomorphic, fast-talking horse often compared by fans to BoJack Horseman.The Lore: Alfred stars in multiple music videos, including "Berlin," where he plays a military deserter who falls in love. His backstory expands in the track "101," which features his 101-year-old father, Manfred.The Universe: Alongside Jamesyboy and Lubo, Alfred is one of the anchors of the band's connected narrative world, serving as a focal character in their animated indie TV pilot, Crooked City

In the lore of the indie rock band Rare Americans, Lubo is a hidden character—depicted as a small animated owl with paint pens.The Challenge: The band famously hid Lubo the Owl in their animated music video for the song "Hullabaloo".The Reward: In May 2020, they hosted a viral giveaway challenge where 916 fans successfully spotted him to win custom merch.Lubo the owl shares his name with Lubo Ivan, the band's real-life founding lead guitarist who parted ways with the group in late 2022. Lubo Ivan also inspired the human character named "Lubo," a tragic boxer featured in their popular "Gas Mask" animated music video.