Dume
Species: California Beach Otter (lutris boardwalkius)
The hero of the strip. Dume was found as a baby in an isolated cove by a commune of peace-loving hippie sandpipers. They tried to raise him to be a sandpiper, but realizing that it was not meant to be, they encouraged Dume to set out on his own on a quest to find his destiny. He might've gone on to great things, had he not discovered the surfer subculture of Southpaw. Dume became obsessed with designing the perfect surfboard, and is now majoring in engineering at Southpaw University so that he can someday build it. He plays hard, he sleeps in, and all of his reality checks bounce. He loves ska and punk music, is a nacho conoisseur, makes up his own extreme sports (like mudboarding and highwayball), and can make the word 'dude' mean just about anything in the right context. Dume is kind of an idiot savant; he's really smart, but he's just too stupid to realize it.
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Rand
Species: Chain-Smoking Raccoon (procyon packadaysia)
Dume's unwitting roomie. Randall J. Cleaver comes from the Great Lakes, where his entire family is in the medical profession -- they're either doctors, nurses, or in med school. Rand was attempting to shakily follow in his family footsteps when his favorite teacher decided to take a new job out west -- at Southpaw U. Certain he wouldn't be able to make it without his teacher's mentoring, Rand reluctantly decided to follow his teacher out west. Forced by limited housing arrangements to room with Dume, Rand's constantly neurotic these days -- he's horrified by West Coast culture (Dume in particular) and tries to focus only on his schoolwork. Rand smokes a pack a day and dresses conservatively -- the biggest concession he's made is to roll up his sleeves. Rand sees himself as the last bastion of sanity in Southpaw.
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Sylmar
Species: Slacker Red Fox (vulpes chillaxium)
Dume's previous roomie before Rand moved in. Sylmar O'Dell makes slacking off into an art form -- he's always finding new, innovative ways to procrastinate. He was part of the dot.com bubble, and crashed when it burst. Unable to make rent, Sy's been living with the folks until he can find another decent job. Right now, he's working at a record store. He's often found randomly crashing at Dume's place. Dume considers Sy his best friend; they've spent many a weekend going to concerts, surfing or skating together, et cetera. Sy's one of those guys who doesn't know what in the world he wants to do in life, but it's OK -- he's having a fun enough time just drifting for now, and to him every day is an adventure.
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Winnetka
Species: Valley Red Fox (vulpes galleria)
Sylmar's younger sister, and definitely the more responsible sibling. Winnie (who will sock you if you make any references to A. A. Milne) works at the local mall, goes to Southpaw University -- as an undeclared major, so far -- and tries to keep her brother out of trouble when she can. Winnetka shares her brother's cynical streak, but unlike Sylmar, Winnie tries not to slack off. She's also the subject of a certain raccoon's secret, unrequited affections; whether she isn't aware of this (or is aware and doesn't care) has yet to be seen...
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Twitchy
Species: Coffee Squirrel (sciurus venti)
Twitchy Barista is the hapless employee of a major coffee corporation, currently condemned to staffing the coffee stand at the local supermarket where Dume and Rand shop. In fact, Twitchy seems to be the only employee of this particular stand, and no one's ever actually seen him leave. A number of rumors surround this spastic little squirrel, such as the rumor that he sleeps in the market's veggie section at night (or alternately, doesn't sleep at all), that he never blinks, and if he ever tried to stand completely still, he'd simply explode. Twitchy is a master at mixing the Ultimate Latte, the most feared and deadly of all coffee drinks. He probably has a real name, but even he doesn't seem to remember it...
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