The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade

Quint Baker is Jack’s best friend, and prior to the Monster Apocalypse, was his only friend. Quint is the brains of the group and spends most of his time in his makeshift laboratory conducting science experiments or designing new monster-fighting gear. Unlike Jack, who acts impulsively, Quint is cautious and pragmatic. He likes to plan and consider all the possible outcomes before acting. This means he is often less enthused when it comes to throwing himself into situations that are dangerous. However, this goes out the window as soon as his curiosity is piqued, such as when he is willing to head out to investigate the Shrieking in the middle of the night, desperate to understand what is going on.

Quint wants to document and understand things. It is his idea to start compiling a bestiary at the start of the novel. Like June and Dirk, Quint begins to tire of Jack’s attempts to keep him safe and prevent him from doing anything dangerous. He experiences major growth throughout the story. In the beginning, he is often scared whenever faced with a new monster—or even the prospect of danger. By the end, he is leading an army of monsters into battle against Thrull.

In the first novel, June Del Toro starts as Jack’s love interest. Jack has a crush on her and is determined to rescue her during the first novel in the series. However, it quickly becomes clear that she has no interest in being saved. Thus far, she hasn’t demonstrated any intentions of reciprocating Jack’s romantic interest. She balances out the group in that she has interests beyond video games and junk food. In this novel, her individuality is highlighted in how much she misses music and her willingness to initiate a dangerous mission to recover some speakers from her neighbor’s house.

June is the most well-rounded character in the main group. She doesn’t have a single defining trait like any of the boys. Instead, she is fully capable and proficient in all areas, which is evident in her ability to survive without the others for a long period of time. Unlike the boys, she also manages to keep her head in all situations. When they are captured by Thrull, Jack and Dirk both have panic attacks, Jack because he believes he has failed everyone, and Dirk because he is claustrophobic. However, June stays calm and devises a plan to get them rescued.

Prior to the Monster Apocalypse, Dirk Savage was a school bully, as his name suggests, and frequently made Quint his victim. However, he became friends with Jack and Quint during the first novel after Jack invited him to join their group. He has since become the muscle of the group, and the others often rely on his feats of strength for survival. Superficially, he is the embodiment of traditional masculinity: He is big, strong, and reticent. However, the novel subverts this stereotype through Dirk’s interest in gardening, and as it is revealed later in the novel, sewing.

Thrull is the primary antagonist of the novel, though he is not initially introduced in this way. Thrull ostensibly helps Jack and his friends survive an attack by the Wormungulous and he introduces them to a host of friendly monsters that have moved into Joe’s Pizza. However, the first novel in The Last Kids on Earth series establishes the conceit that evil has a recognizable stench. Thus, the strong smell of cologne that Thrull emits is a sign of his duplicity.

Thrull is as manipulative and cunning as he is strong. He finds a way to complete his mission despite his injuries by playing off Jack’s hubris and his eagerness for quests and adventure. As a servant of Rezzoch, Thrull is loyal to no one else and is willing to sacrifice other monsters to achieve his singular goal of bringing his master into this dimension. He is under the impression that if he does so, he will be granted a seat beside Rezzoch and they will rule together, but there is significant evidence to suggest this would not be the case.