Hong Kong Cavaliers:
Dr. Buckaroo Banzai
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BB, HKC
Born in London to brillant Japanese physicist Masado Banzai & Sandra Willoughby, daughter of an eccentric Scottish born Texas mathematician Edward Mckay Willoughby. They raised their son in the wilds of Arizona & Colorado, naming him for his father's love of the American West.
At 4yrs old, Buckaroo witnesses his parents death in an explosion when their jet car, equiped with an early version of the Oscillation Overthruster, was sabatoged by minions of evil Hanoi Xan. Masado's friend & colleague, Prof. Toichi Hikita, raised Buckaroo as his own. Under the brillant tutelage of the Professor, the whole world was his classroom.
With an extraordinary education & endless curiosity, Buckaroo was never satisfied with only one course of study. He devoted himself to a wide range of studies from particle science to test driver, from martial arts to neurosurgery, botany to language to music to mastering is six-gun. He was never satisfied unless he was testing the excepted laws of know sciences & finding new ones to play with. Pushing sciences of all types, life in general, & luck ultimately to & beyond their limits was a way of life for Buckaroo Banzai.
He found kindred spirits in best friend, Rawhide, & wife-to-be, Peggy Simpson. With their encouragment & support, he founded the Banzai Institute where "Progress over Protocol" was the slogan, & anything & everything was a course of study. Among the talented scientist that came to the Institute from around the world were the extraordinary men & women who came to be known as the Hong Kong Cavaliers: an adventure seeking, hard-rock bar band that also serves as Buckaroo's personal guard.
Though never described as a big man, Buckaroo has always been a man others looked up to. A slim man with an obvious, yet hidden, strength; neat, shiny black hair; a slight Asian pinch to his piercing blue eyes... He's often described by swooning women & some men as beautiful. Despite his genius, Buckaroo is a simple man, modest, decent, with a complete lack of arrogance. Kindness is as much a part of him as a limb.
EQUIPMENT:
Colt Peacemaker, .45 Colt caliber, 6 round, 4 3/4" barrel, brass frame
Katana
Bow Tie
Dr. Peggy Simpson Banzai
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BB, HKC
Little is known about Peggy Simpson and Buckaroo Banzai’s early relationship. They met at college when Peggy was in her early 20s; Buckaroo proposed marriage on the bank of the Thames River while at Merton College, Oxford. Peggy once revealed to Knuckles that she knew he was the one when “I got completely plastered at a college party. Buckaroo took me home, held my hair back as I spent half the night with my head in the toilet, and then put me to bed. and spent the next several years teasing me about it." She shrugged. "The true proof that you've got a man on the hook: he holds back your hair while your busy being sick." ~~Sweet Dream Kisses, By Tabby
If Buckaroo is the brains of his Institute, Rawhide the strength, then Peggy is the heart. She is sister to all the Cavaliers, and, when needed, everyone’s little mother. She adopted the very young Miss. Johnson when the child had found her way to the Banzai Institute.
Peggy was murdered by Xan at her New York wedding to Buckaroo only moments after taking her vows. After the ceremony, Peggy returned to her changing room where she was found 30 minutes later. The apparent murder weapon being a small container cyanide gas hidden inside an arrangement of yellow roses.
She was subsequently buried in the Banzai family plot in Texas.
As it is with Cavaliers, the story is never so simple for Peggy Simpson Banzai.
After rumors and frantic confessions indicate Peggy was still alive, Buckaroo had his wife exhumed only to find the casket empty.
After several missions, some resulting in BB fatalities, including that of young Mrs. Johnson’s husband, Peggy was returned to the Cavaliers. As to what happened to her while she was away, she either doesn’t remember or doesn’t talk about.
Not much is said as to what degrees Peggy holds. There is indications that she had some understanding of theoretical quantum mechanics. Some stories tell of her participating, even leading medical procedures/research. Later stories tell of her interest in behavior sciences and education. Probably safe to say, considering the company she kept, Peggy preferred a wide range of studies.
Though petit, always guarded by one Cavalier or another, Peggy is just as capable of defending herself as any of the others. Martial arts, kick boxing, and even swordsmanship were all practiced.
EQUIPMENT:
Ruger’s LCP Pocket pistol, .380 ACP ammo, 6-shot clip, Very small.
Pink switch blade, kept in boot.
Katana, custom made with pink hilt and blade, gift from her husband
Rawhide
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BB, HKC
Real name unknown, of Western United States origin, straight as an arrow, owns no more than he can carry on his horse. Has known Buckaroo longer than any of the others. Believed to have a piece of bottom land in Wyoming, possible dependents, several brothers, one of whom may once have operated on the other side of the law, holds several advanced degrees in psychology, anthropology and entomology that belie his easygoing Zen-like manner. Interests: the human mind, the piano, all life-forms and cultures. Own once-stated belief: "the study of crime is the study of mankind in its truest form."
Had a long time relationship with Tommy Boy, but they parted ways. Though he still moons over her, she has moved on, forcing him to do likewise. Sweet on Big Norse for a time, but, again, his refusal to commit eventually broke them up.
Was killed by the Red Lectroid attack on the Banzai Institute in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. But, quick thinking and cooperation from the Lectroids, Rawhide was revised.
Tall, big, rugged, a student of life in general, he could easily fall into the big brother roll for any man of the Cavaliers.
And somehow he pulled off the cowboy look where others failed.
Equipment:
Never get a good look at this. Obviously a blued revolver.
Appears to have a lanyard ring, which would make it a military issue weapon.
Perhaps an early Colt New Service?
Reno Nevada
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BB, HKC
Reno Nevada, Banzai's own personal P.R. man. A literary genius, he is a master chronicler of the life and times of the Banzai Institute and it’s famous (due to no small part of Reno himself) Hong Kong Cavaliers. His artistic talent though is not just limited to the written word. Reno Nevada is a true charmer with a vocabulary arsenal and legal education (thanks to his mother who is said to have served as Attorney General and groomed her son to follow), that would put the most successful and underhanded law makers to shame. And when there is no place for words, written or otherwise, a paint brush suits Reno just find. A magnificent painter with limitless imagination, his works are coveted around the world from the Queen of England herself to the little, one room school house in backwoods Louisiana.
So successful has his artistic ventures been, the man has amassed a rather large fortune independent from any earnings from the Banzai Institute. Enough so that he has built his own castle like mansion, surrounded by spacious ranch. After a mysterious illness (later determined to be a unique nero-toxin, though there is no clue as to where it had come from; some speculate that Xan or Uilc Duchas had poisoned him in a strike against Banzai) that left Reno nearly paralytic for months, he turned his attention more towards family and home. In a near-retirement, he retreated to his ranch where he eventually married Pecos, his long time dear friend and lover, and they began working on children.
His Latin black hair was striking against his sparkling, bright red shirt. He had an easy going smile that hinted that he could be a friend to just about anyone. But there was a hardness to his eyes, almost hidden, that warned that he could also be a deadly enemy to just about anyone who did him or his friends harm. His gentle artwork and his fast .45 automatic Colt mirrored the contrast of his own personality: gentle and vicious.
Equipment:
Pistol:
.45 automatic, John Brownings Colt M1911, .45 ACP round (830 fps with government hardball), 7 round magazine
Rifle:
British Sterling L2 series submachine gun, 9mm parabellum, 30 round magazine, Full auto
Throwing knives
Saxaphone
Perfect Tommy
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BB, HKC
Reno Nevada once explained “The Banzai Institute is packed full of some very smart men. But, if truth be told, very few of them are actual, certified geniuses and prodigies. Though we seldom talk about it for fear of his great ego…” He paused to wink at Knuckles. “Perfect Tommy was a child prodigy and is a certified genius.” -- Music, by The Chronicler
Vain, pleasure-loving, heartless, sordid, callous and sentimental, he can be brave to excess or cringingly cowardly. An enigma. A chameleon. Changes his mind as fast as he changes his hair color.
A product of broken dreams. Told Buckaroo upon his induction to the Hong Kong Cavaliers, "I'm Perfect Tommy. Find Me." Nicknamed by Buckaroo "Knight of the Lesser Boulevards."
Perfect Tommy reveals little about his childhood, though his reactions to some situations seem to indicate that it was unhappy and abusive. He ran away from home at an early age, moving from one place to another across the globe.
Accepted to a special program at MIT where he could have coordinated material testing in cryogenic propellants to determine compatibility of various chemical gasses and fluids associated with rocket propulsion and laser systems, but a woman and a scandal forced him to leave Cambridge for a time.
Went to Egypt and there taught himself the rhythm guitar; was involved in an opium bust for which he received a prison term; escaped and (posing as a Belgian) joined the Foreign Legion. Served in Africa and survived, a better man for it.
Is rumored to have had an addiction to drugs which prompted Dr. Banzai to send him to the Institute’s Alaska holdings, Raven Lodge, to recooperate. Rawhide is on his go-phone‘s speed dial, the first call he makes when things get tough.
Though there is a rumor that in perfect Tommy’s early days he shared a relationship with Rawhide.
There is some argument about a relationship between Perfect Tommy and Knuckles. Neither admits to there being one, yet they are never too far apart from one another. Perfect Tommy once joked “I saw her, got shot in the head, been dazed ever since.”
Has postulated the existence of a new layer of atmosphere between the troposphere and the stratosphere, calling it the flatusphere, an accumulation of methane gas derived from the world's constant farting and politicians' bullshit.
It was his design for the Jet Car's suspension that convinced Buckaroo that the promise of the OSCILLATION OVERTHRUSTER might at last be realized.
Equipment:
Pistol:
Heckler and Koch P7M8 Pistol, 9mm blowback operated, often referred to as a "squeeze cocker" for the unique safety mechanism, 8 round magazine.
Shotgun:
Remington 870 Mark 6.,12 gauge, pump action, 20 inch barrel, 5 round tube magazine
Guitar:
Gretsch Hollow body electric.
New Jersey, Dr. Sidney Zwiebel
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BB, HKC
Dr Sidney Zwibel, aka New Jersey. Tall, long limbed, big eyes, dark, handsome (in a geeky sort of way), and shy. The boy was as smart as hell, but always seemed to be passing his genius off on someone else for the glory. Except for the big-ass, ten-gallon hat he sported, a source of much amusement for his fellow Cavaliers. Apparently he had seen way too many silent westerns before joining up with the Cavaliers.
He was a medical colleague of Buckaroo's from Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, asked to join the Hong Kong Cavaliers in Across the Eighth Demension.
Son of hard-working bourgeoisie, he has all the tools but lacks the inner confidence to be a great surgeon. Plays a mean piano but needs to test himself physically to learn what he's really made of.
Has an innocence about him, expects people to be good. But, don’t think him a fool. Jersey hopes for the best, but prepares for the worse.
Has a talent for seeing patterns &/or details others miss, or matching seemingly unimportant details to obscure facts he happened to pick up somewhere along the line.
Equipment:
Colt .380 Automatic Model M pocket pistol, .380 ACP (muzzle velocity 970 fps), blowback operated, 7 round magazine fed
Pecos
![](https://media.angelfire.lycos.com/preview/3048586/1024x1024-1647396.jpg)
BBI, HKC
Little of her parentage is known, though it has been indicated that she was left on her own at an early age. There is rumor that she had been a child of social services, but, when foster homes proved more dangerous, she opted for the street life. Her real name is believed to be Kim or Yee, both of which she used when running with the San Francisco street gang “Love Jones.” She grew up rough and street mean, her way of life dictated by the brutal politics of the gangs.
Despite outside forces pressuring her, Pecos stayed in and excelled at school. In a city school system where troubled street kids are more likely to be thrown away as a waste of time, her quick thinking, mental reflexes, and do or die attitude proved a challenge to any teacher who tried to knock her down. Pecos refused to be just another destined for a short, violent life of drugs, bloody street wars, and prison. She graduated a year early and with honors.
Her success drew the attention of the Banzai Institute, earning her a Buckaroo Banzai Minority Scholarship, which she used to continue her education at the University of Washington. After graduated, again early and with honors, Pecos joined the Hong Kong Cavaliers after the deaths of the Swede and Seminole Kid.
Despite her rough, fight everyone manner, Pecos was welcomed into the Banzai home as if she had always been there, a sister, respected and dear. It was with the Cavaliers that Pecos found a family she was willing to fight for and, in turn, fight for her. Among the Cavaliers she met Reno Nevada who dared her gruffness and quickly became a beloved friend, lover, and, eventually, husband.
Pecos is of Asian decent, likely Korean. Her black hair, often worn in a pony tail, is occasionally streaked with color, red, gold, or such. Athletic build. Quick tempered. Martial arts with a preference to kicks. Though an excellent marksman, Pecos prefers the close combat of hand-to-hand and knife fighting.
EQUIPMENT:
Pistol:
.45 automatic, John Brownings Colt M1911, .45 ACP round (830 fps with government hardball), 7 round magazine
Throwing knives (gift from Reno
pearl handle switch blade kept in her hightops
Big Norse
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BBI, HKC
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Mrs. Johnson
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Pinky Carruthers
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Professor Toichi Hikita
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The world's foremost authority on electromagnetic particle acceleration. Grew up with Buckaroo's father, Dr. Masado Banzai, in Nagasaki, and came with him to America in 1937. Worked with the eccentric Italian physicist, Dr. Emilio Lizardo, on the development of first Oscillation Overthruster, the key to penetrating matter. Later teamed up with Masado at Princeton to work on the same problem.
Was present the night Buckaroo was born and the day Buckaroo's mother and father were killed testing an improved version of the Oscillation Overthruster. Undeterred by the deaths of Masado and Sandra, and the bizarre fate of Lizardo, Hikita continues to work tirelessly toward this scientific breakthrough, spending days on end in his laboratory, not even pausing for meals. At other times, he can be seen driving around the countryside on his motor-bike, with an expression that belies his constant state of mental activity.
Raised Buckaroo after his parents were killed. Engrossed in his own research, he traveled the world, taking the boy with him, sharing every little bit of knowledge he discovered with the child. It was this exposure that propelled Buckaroo through his studies, growing up to be a renaissance man of sciences.
Is romantically pursued by Alaska Anne Ankins for the past 30 years, though, for the most part, he seems geekily unaware of the attention. The two were introduced by Buckaroo’s mother and they had been good friends ever since. When ever his analytical mind had trouble sorting through the hazards of raising the little boy, Buckaroo, Alaska Anne was sure to come to his aid.
Socially awkward, if Hikita is seen at a party, it is more likely he is there to do a chemical anylisis of the spiked punch or research adolesant behavior in their natural habitat, than for the music and dancing. Discovered the compound that enabled the BBIs to detect the Red Lectroids in Across the Eighth Deminsion.
EQUIPMENT:
SPANISH REGINA 7.65MM SMALL FRAME POCKET PISTOL, often forgotten in the bottom of his book bag, though, when remembered, Hikita is an excellent shot with the little gun.
Knuckles, Jessica James
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BBI, HKC
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Tommy Boy
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Alaska Anne Ankins
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