Version 2 Mentors

The Amber Eagles

'The Champion'
"It takes a winner to make a winner."

Name: Emi "Xylenz" Soshimoto
Age: 22
Gender: Female

Appearance: Emi is a slight girl, just barely reaching five feet tall and weighing 119 pounds. She wears her hair short, spiked upwards, and coloured a vibrant red. She has dark brown eyes, and her features are angular and sharp. She wears no makeup, finding it a waste of time, effort, and money. Her dress usually consists of sweaters that are a size too big, tattered jeans, and flip flops, but she usually dons whatever uniform her sponsors and teammates are wearing.

Biography: Born into wealth due to her parents owning and operating a successful advertising firm, Emi had a lot of freedom to choose from in her spare time. Though she grew up fascinated with competitive strategy games (Such as Warhammer 40k, Twilight Imperium, and Infinity) she made the switch to online real time strategy games when she was fourteen, just in time for the launch of SOTF Champions.

As one of the game’s earliest players, Emi witnessed the game grow fast in popularity to coincide with the show, and was one of the first thousand players to reach the esteemed Diamond ranking - the highest in the game. From there, she became popular under the username Xylenz - most notably for her sarcastic comments and creative verbal jabs at opponents on her livestream channels. When SOTF Champions hosted their first ever world team championship tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, Xylenz played on the team to take second place, and also earned the honor of being named the tournament MVP. Since then, she’s played on several different teams over five years of being a professional Champions player, one of a very small percentage that can earn their entire living by playing the game. She’s also maintained her popularity through livestreams, an active twitter account, and the occasional Vlog. Due to her high profile, she's widely considered to be an ambassador of competitive gaming, and has recently signed on to be the spokesperson for Razer gaming equipment, including a "Xylenz" line of mice, keyboards, and headsets.

As a part of a cross-promotional campaign this season, Emi has been chosen as a mentor in the hopes of bringing more attention to the SOTF Champions scene, coupled with her fiery personality and presence in front of a camera.

The Bronze Bears

'The Coach'
"These kids have potential; I just need to bring it out of them."

Name: Eli Palmer
Age: 47
Gender: Male

Appearance: Eli has clearly been on the sidelines of football games for a long time and its starting to show. He has a little bit of a gut and his short kept brown hair is starting to gain some grey. Despite this his blue eyes still seem bright and full of energy. He stands at 6’0” and holds a strong posture with his shoulders and head held high, he sets this off with a genuinely friendly smile. He is very calm and understanding when he speaks looking to guide rather than directly lead.

Biography: Eli had always been aware of SOTF-TV and like many other people he would watch it when it was on because good quality entertainment was still entertainment, no matter how he felt when a clearly talented athlete was eliminated from the show. Having coached for major football teams for a decade and a half Eli is a well-known, successful and respected coach in the football world. Eventually though failure to produce the results that an owner wanted led to him resigning from his latest position as head coach.

That was when the call came in asking if he’d be interested in taking part in the latest season of SOTF-TV. Eli was hesitant at first but after realising that he wasn’t going to get another coaching offer for a while and after speaking to his wife about it he decided to accept. Eli is still unsure with what he has decided to do but he puts on a smile whenever he's on camera or speaking although it is obvious that he is uncomfortable as he sometimes stumbles over his words or his smile falters. Looking back at his old enjoyment of the show Eli may even be coming to regret his decision despite the amount of money he’s making and despite his wife’s wishes.

The Cobalt Jellyfish

'The Bowler
"It's a hard "C", of course. Just like the Romans said it."

Name: Caesar Knight
Age: 23
Gender: Male

Appearance: Caesar stands around 5'11" with a fairly lanky but not unathletic build. His face is long, with a pointed nose and thick eyebrows, and he sports a short, well-trimmed beard in an attempt to make up for his rather weak chin. He keeps his hair slicked back into a long, black ponytail, topped off by a signature fedora with an ace of hearts stuck through the band. His dress sense is somewhat eclectic, and he often wears his bowling pants and jerseys no matter the occasion. He typically sports a fingerless glove on one hand and a leather brace on the other, which he states he wears for "purposes."

Biography: The son of a CMA-winning Country singer and his publicist, Caesar's life has revolved around his hereditary fame since he was a small child. When he showed neither the talent nor the inclination to follow in his father's footsteps, he seemed destined for a life on the C-list, coasting along on his family name and cropping up as a footnote at industry events or as the star of short-lived reality shows trying to compete against SOTF. He entered adulthood with no real accomplishments beyond dressing the set in photos of his famous parents, though he gained some occasional attention by chatting up paparazzi over a variety of random topics, most notably discussing falconry while stressing that "chicks dig raptors."

Not long after that statement finished its rounds in the tabloids, Caesar surprised everyone by demonstrating real talent; at the age of 20, he took the pro bowling scene by storm, and was named rookie of the year by the Professional Bowling Association. While he followed up his outstanding first season by placing in each PBA tour since, the high point in his career so far has been bowling two consecutive perfect games and praising the game as "A sport as all-American as cutting each other up on live TV," which earned him instant recognition from SOTF fans - and staff.

Caesar carries no real goals or agendas into his role as mentor for Season 66. A good time is all he's after - though spending some time around the esteemed announcer is a definite bonus.

The Cyan Stingrays

'The Academic
"The introduction of teams, coupled with the decision to draw from two school of widely varying socio-economic statuses, created a very unique atmosphere in Season Sixty-five. For the first time, the students were forced into association with groups—societies, if you will—without any real input of their own, which undeniably shaped their experiences and their chances for survival."

Name: Cecelia Warren
Age: 36
Gender: Female

Appearance: Cecelia is a short woman, barely reaching five feet in height, though she will often wear modest heels when appearing in public to give herself a bit of a boost. She's thin, and dresses to accentuate this, favoring tailored suits with vertical patterns. She keeps her shoulder-length black hair worn in a bun, and wears a pair of oval-framed glasses at all times, though her nearsightedness is fairly mild.

Biography: In 2007, as an undergraduate sociology student approaching the end of her college career, Cecelia Warren was required to complete a thesis project as a component of graduating with honors. The topic she chose, and the one which carried her through subsequent MA and PhD theses, was SOTF-TV and society. At the time she began, there was very little in the academic world about the show, which had begun only a year prior, and as such Ceclia's well-written thesis attracted a good deal of attention, eventually being published in a journal of decent prominence.

Since then, she's written about SOTF-TV with great fervor, concentrating initially on its implications about modern and future culture and then, when that well began to run dry, on the ways in which the island was a society of its own, how the children sent to it were shaped by it and society, and how that was reflected in their interactions with each other.

Cecelia is a good writer and lecturer, and while some of her output is highly refined academia, the bulk of it falls more into the category of popular science. She writes books very accessible to the average layman, sometimes glossing over intricacies in favor of excitement. While this has earned her a fair deal of criticism from many of her colleagues, it has also won her widespread public support and five separate entries into the New York Times bestseller list. She has attended almost every opening ceremony in the last ten years of the show, and is on good terms with the producers; her work never comes across as critical of the show, and she claims to approach the subject as any good scientist would: with a level of professional detachment.

This is, of course, blatantly untrue. Cecelia is a massive fan of SOTF-TV, and has been since its inception. Her bias is fairly clear in her works, but is in line with her intended audience anyways, and she does not fabricate facts, putting her ahead of many others in the field. Opponents of SOTF-TV criticize her relentlessly, with Susan Crawford infamously comparing her to Hitler's eugenics experts, but it has had very little effect on Ceclia's popularity or persona.

After Season 65, Cecelia published an extensive article on the implications of the changes in game structure and her theories on how they affected the outcome. When Season 66 came around, the producers offered her a chance to get a more direct look at the proceedings, and to participate herself, which Cecelia gladly accepted.

The Ebony Whales

'The Socialite
"You have to work your way around things."

Name: Karisma Chandra
Age: 24
Gender: Female

Appearance: Karisma is a small woman, standing at 5 feet tall flat and a healthily maintained weight of 100 pounds. Her skin tone reflects her Indian ancestry, being that it's fairly tanned. Her hair is dark and long, being curled or straightened out depending on the occasion and how she feels. Her face is small and heart shaped, having a button nose and tiny lips that emphasize her eyes. Her ears also stand out in a less appealing way, but she usually has them hidden by her hair anyway. Karisma is always up to date on the latest fashions and it shows, adorning whatever is the current trend even to keep up appearances.

Biography: Karisma was born into money, having a father who is a famous director in the Bollywood circles and a mother who works as a host for a well-known morning news show. She had always wanted to be an actress growing up and tried being a movie star at an early age, but never had much talent for the art and mostly got bit parts for what movies she was selected for. She moved to America once her father decided to partner up with an old American friend to work together on a series of action blockbusters. Still trying to get into her own spotlight, Karisma made friendly with some of the more recognizable stars, hoping that they could get her in a good start with her own career in the films. While that plan didn't work, Karisma did gain a reputation of "famous for being famous" for who her family and friends were and has only remained known because of them. Still, Karisma has made a note to not go about tarnishing her rep by staying out of legal troubles and doing charity work, and does give off a presence of a genuinely kind person. When she was asked to be a mentor for SOTF-TV, Karisma saw it as a chance to get some real money she actually had to work for and direct "stars" like her father did, and prove that she could do something for herself, by herself.

The Golden Hyenas

'The Smartass'
"Fuck this game"

Name: Mason Ross
Age: 16
Gender: Male

Appearance: Mason is atypically tall for his age 6'3, and is just thick enough to not be spindly. The height of him at this age is one of the things the marketing department for SOTF had a field day with; he'd been asked more than one question about his height when he was making the talk show rounds. Mason has long arms and legs, a fact that's gotten him some grief from other kids when growing up (spider-monkey being chief among the insults thrown his way). The SOTF team was happy he won; being a blonde, athletic Caucasian means he was well-marketable to a key demographic.

Biography: Before his season of SOTF-TV, Mason was someone who made frequent use of humor and lackadaisical attitude to cover the pain afforded him by an overbearing father determined to make him a doctor. While now Mason has the star power and leverage to do what he wants with his life, he finds himself hindered by still coping with what transpired at the resort barely months ago. While his season was well-received, Mason has come to an understanding that most of his run was being in the right place at the right time, under the right circumstances. Outside of SOTF his life hadn't changed much. Mason went back home, went to school, and performed his media obligations as required while trying to deal with what had happened. When the show approached him to be a mentor for the next season, he reluctantly agreed, wondering if he might be able to do some good and help a team come out of everything better than he did.

The Honey Badgers

'The Intern
"Of course I know what I'm doing, I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

Name: Xavier Powers
Age: 23
Gender: Male

Appearance: Xavier stands rather tall at 6'1", but is a wiry figure only weighing in at 163 pounds, looking slightly larger because of this and his proper posture. He's of African-American descent, and has dark skin because of it. His hair is cropped short into a buzzcut, bleached a platinum blonde color. His face is rather hawk-like, a narrow hooked nose accompanied by a long face and sharp cheekbones. His eyes are dark brown in color and are accessorized by fake art-house glasses with the lenses missing. Xavier can usually be seen wearing dress clothing such as suits and tie and the like.

Biography: Xavier is a recent college graduate with a bachelor's degree in Film and Television from UCLA. For a long while, Xavier's main spotlight in entertainment media had been involved with the internet, gaining a small but loyal fanbase after creating a youtube channel that at first featured him doing zany antics or following the fads of more popular videos. As his number of subscribers went up, so did his expansion of social media outputs. Vines, twitter, instagram, anything that was hot and could get him exposure, he jumped in on. Soon he began doing more videos as well, now doing Q&A's, talks of movies, and even more antics.

However, what had really caught people's eye was one of his latest segments: his job. Xavier has been interning at a SOTF-TV production thanks to some strings pulled by an uncle of his, and is occasionally allowed to record some videos for his show, and a lot of people were fascinated by this. With his spike in popularity, he likes to pretend he's kind of a hot-shot in the "biz" because of some family connections, but has yet to show any noticeable talent of actually making it there beyond his web series. That is till he was offered a chance of becoming a mentor for SOTF-TV, reasons involving that he'd do it for free as part of his internship and would give even more exposure to SOTF-TV. As far as Xavier is concerned, this is his big chance to show the world what he's got.

The Ivory Sharks

'The Entrepreneur
"Whatever your role, whatever your dreams, whatever your station in life, there is one constant and one constant only: you look the part, and then you become it."

Name: Dennis Rourke
Age: 28
Gender: Male

Appearance: Dennis has the cool, composed demeanor of a Fortune 500 CEO. Though he stands only around 5'5", his solid build and intense charisma make up for half a foot at least. His face is reminiscent of a bulldog's, with round, wide-set eyes, full cheeks, and a close-shaven head. His complexion is dark, and a gold earring typically adorns one ear. He dresses sharply; the designer suits he wears are never ostentatious, but there's not a crowd in the world he could get lost in.

Biography: Dennis' life has been the true American dream, clawing his way to the top out of unremarkable circumstances. He started his career early, hawking candies in the halls of his school, before moving on to clandestine employment mopping floors and working tables off the books. As soon as he was old enough to sign a contract he began climbing the corporate ladder, making his way up through dedication and general savvy. Today he stands as the CEO of Survivor Apparel, a quickly-growing urban and outdoor brand for "Apparel as tough as the human spirit." His interest in SotF-TV is a practical one; he hopes that mentorship will provide the best bang for his buck as far as advertising goes, as well as connecting with his target demographic, and, if all goes well, earn him a new spokesman.

The Jade Rhinos

'The Survivor
"Can’t lean on anyone out there - you gotta take what’s yours."

Name: Taylor Hodgkins
Age: 51
Gender: Male

Appearance: Taylor Hodgkins cuts an imposing figure at six foot two and over two hundred and twenty pounds. His head is shaved bald, drawing attention to his thick black eyebrows that sit above light blue eyes, marred by a scar that runs from mid-eyebrow to the top of his head and runs jagged and light against his tanned skin. His face is leathery with sun and exposure to harsh temperatures, and he walks with a very slight limp from a bad right knee. Taylor’s voice is gravelly and deep, and his enunciation on most words is sub par at best.

Biography: Taylor was born to Richard and Dallas Hodgkins, two retired soldiers with the United States Infantry, and was raised with the firm belief that defense of his country was the most important thing in his life. Wanting to make them proud, Taylor enlisted to the Air Force right out of high school and set his sights high. Passing the Pararescue Indoctrination Course with flying colours at 19 years old, Taylor began the long and hard road to joining the Pararescue unit of the Air Force, graduating within the top 1% of his class. For fifteen long years, Taylor jumped into all kinds of situations with the intent of stabilization and rescue in both combat and humanitarian situations. This led to him earning a multitude of recognitions from the upper brass of the Air Force for both bravery and efficiency, reaching the rank of Major when he was 31 years old.

However, following an operation that ended with him nearly blinded by shrapnel and with a broken right knee, Taylor was honorably discharged at 36, with a permanent facial scar and a very impressive track record. Without the service, however, Taylor lacked what he had dedicated nearly his entire life towards achieving, and was aimless and lost without it. For four years, he tried and abandoned various hobbies, existing solely off of the pension from his active duty.

On his 40th birthday, Taylor discovered the prepper - a group of individuals who believed that the world was going to end and were stockpiling food, weapons, and ammunition, as well as building defenses should their neighbours turn on them. At first, Taylor found it an intriguing and fun way to prepare for natural disasters - he joined a prepper forum, swapped tips about firearms and medical treatment from his experiences, and got a rush from learning and knowing more than most about the subject of surviving in a hostile environment. As the years went on, Taylor became more and more invested in the idea, and soon became a relatively well known authority in the prepping and survivalism community.

When he was 49, he was asked to come aboard a local liberal radio show to discuss the applicability of survivalism for what was supposed to be a ten minute segment but wound up running for over forty five minutes, due to the passionate language both the DJ and Taylor used, the interview spiralling into surprisingly clever insults from the retired lieutenant that called out and cut apart what he perceived to be laziness of people who didn’t want to prepare. The full recorded segment was released on the radio show’s website, and quickly went viral - Taylor’s signature growling voice, lack of enunciation, and arguments in favour of survivalism being both mocked and sympathized with. Taylor’s five minutes of fame culminated in a late night talk show appearance, and seemed to fizzle out completely a year after his first radio appearance.

Or so the public thought, as Taylor has recently accepted a quite lucrative contract, with a particularly well known television program.

The Rainbow Parrots

'The Owner
"Hey man, I got a finger on the pulse of the TV culture, you feel me? Either you're with the times or left in the dust. Besides, I figure; I run this joint, I'm in the know, know what I'm saying?"

Name: Shannon Gant
Age: 24
Gender: Female

Appearance: 5'6", or as Gant would put it 'Five and three toes man!' and a little chubby, or as Gant would put it 'Cuddle-sized!', the owner of the Lānaʻi Resort does not cut a precisely imposing figure. Her brown, shoulder length hair is a mess of braids and beads that seems to threaten to develop into dreadlocks any time now, whilst her similarly-hued eyes are alive and alert in the fashion only demonstrated by the worryingly hyperactive. If prepared to look beyond the perpetual dark rings under her eyes and overall unkempt appearance, Gant is actually quite an attractive young woman, some would say certainly TV ready.

Her style of dress stretches the definition of casual - worn and faded jeans, battered shoes, and sometimes forgetting to change her top for two or three days at a time.

Biography:Born into money, cash, and then some more money, Shannon Gant has never had to work hard in her life. She is the granddaughter of Trevor Gant, a successful businessman and most relevantly, the original founder of the Lānaʻi Resort. Her father, Oscar Gant, continued on with the family tradition of prosperity by turning the Resort into a well-oiled moneymaking machine that he only occasionally needed to check in on whilst running his other ventures. Shannon knew from a very early age how rich her family was, and in all fairness to her was spoiled absolutely rotten. Even so, this led to her becoming chronically lazy - if everything she wanted was just handed to her, why bother stretching for it?

This attitude was not precisely helped when, upon the untimely death of her father at the age of sixty (on a yacht surrounded by partygoers, alcohol, drugs, and women of negotiable affections), Shannon was left the bulk of the family fortune and businesses in the will, with a more modest split going to her two younger siblings. The smaller ventures interested Shannon less than the Lānaʻi, however, and she quickly set up shop there and proceeded to make the well-trained staff's lives an enormous headache. Between the parties, the 'genius' suggestions for ideas and insistence on sitting on every single executive meeting possible... Shannon was hardly a dream boss.

In one case, however, Shannon's suggestion seems to have struck gold. A pitch to have the resort host a season of SOTF-TV on the closed season appeared a plan with few drawbacks, much to the astonishment of the resort managers, and one phone call later, the Lānaʻi was in consideration for Season 66. The deal, however, came with just one significant string attached...

The Rose Foxes

'The Veteran
"I watched this game grow up. I watched its culture, and I watched people call me a loser, a weakling, a coward. I say that nobody understands what winning cost me."

Name: Brandon Parker
Age: 32
Gender: Male

Appearance: Parker is a burly and thickset man, standing at just a hair under 6ft tall, but packing 230lbs onto his frame. Quite broad and barrel-chested, his weight has definitely begun to slide more towards fat than muscle. His hair is short and dark - formerly jet black, but already beginning to grey, a pattern shared in his well-trimmed beard, which is also salted. Parker wears glasses, which combine with his early greying to give his appearance a somewhat dignified cast, though given the lines of stress worn heavily into his face, they also make him look older than he actually is.

Biography: The man who should need no introduction has much more to him than the average joe would assume. It's easy to think of contestants only within the context of their own seasons, easy to lose sight of the fact that the winners, for the most part, move on with their lives after SOTF-TV. Plenty, of course, take whatever endorsements and deals that they can get; film interviews, sign sponsorship agreements, put their names out as hot properties. Sooner or later, however, the hype must fade, and just as many take only sparing advantage of the wages of fame. One such man was Brandon Parker. After the media storm surrounding the conclusion to the first season of SOTF-TV, the responses to the rave reviews and the obligatory appearances he made in front of camera... Parker more or less disappear from the public eye. His game was dissected, taken apart and put back together again over and over again - he was resented for being 'boring', derided for his tactics and for being the 'white knight' of the season, winning by fluke.

Parker remained quiet on the matter. A few sparing appearances at conventions or to sign autographs, one or two interviews, a showing at SOTF's tenth anniversary commemorative show, but no more. Outwardly, at least, Parker seemed to be doing decently, though he never took centre stage, never wanted the spotlight on him. Behind the scenes, however, the truth was far more turbulent. His victory had left him traumatised, and when the response from the viewership was not sympathy... but to call him a coward, boring, Parker rapidly grew cynical, jaded and bitter. His reward for losing his friends was to be the butt of jokes? Over time the frustration - and depression grew, until he could handle it no more. Approaching the executives of SOTF-TV, Parker decided that the only way he was going to get any catharsis was to go back to where it all began.

And appear on the show again.

The Scarlet Panthers

'The Sellout'
"I should write an album about this."

Name: Claudia Ghoul
Age: 28
Gender: Female

Appearance: Claudia has a carefully cultivated look made to catch the eye. Her features purposefully enhanced with make-up to give a deathly shade of white, with dark shadow under her cheekbones and dark rings around her eyes to enhance the image. Hair that is dyed black and white eyed contact lenses complete the look and make Claudia one of the most unique sights in music.

This image is further accented by the clothes Claudia chooses to wear. Tight clothing that has been purposefully made to give a ripped look along with high-heeled leather boots help make her seem taller and lankier than she already is an impressive feat considering she already stands at 6'2". Her skinny frame is also carefully maintained so as to add to her overall look with being kept at around 148lbs.

Biography: Claudia Ghoul (originally Stewart) is almost the definition of what music fans call a sell-out. Starting out small in local venues around her hometown of Philadelphia her band was just another rock band among the many others on the local circuit. There was nothing unique about them and they were fairly average as far as their songs went. Knowing that something needed to be done to make them stand out Claudia came up with a plan to rebrand herself and the band as something more eye-catching and unique so as to stand out. A change in lyrical style and themes later, with a change to the stage name 'Claudia Ghoul' and the band were a stand-out among smaller indie bands. They even attracted a dedicated following and released an independent EP that sold out almost instantly.

That was when the major record companies took notice and an offer was made to the band. Claudia was quick to accept and started to become much more active in her appearances in order to promote herself and the band, but mainly herself. Including legally changing her surname to Ghoul when it became clear they were taking off. After the first album was a smash hit (on the back of a payola to play the lead single every half hour on certain stations). Claudia became one of the hottest things in music. This led to her gaining a large ego which drove all the other members of the band away. Undeterred and with the studios backing she auditioned all new members of the band and took the time to position herself as the figurehead, thus making what was a band a solo act.

Again doing the interview and appearances on many mainstream shows and magazines Claudia was approached by the producers of SOTF-TV to take a position as one of the mentors on the latest season. Claudia a lifelong and outspoken fan of the show (she sometimes appeared on stage in a Kenny jersey and mentioned some of the big name killers in her songs.) immediately accepted. She got to appear on her favourite TV of all time and advertise herself and her new album. There was no way she was going to say no.

The Silver Scorpions

'The Shrink
"Precedent indicates that participants will experience poor decision making. My advantage is understanding and then countermanding said decisions."

Name: Toby Schrieber
Age: 59
Gender: Male Appearance: Toby stands at 5'9", and weighs precisely 151 lbs. His hair is a salt and pepper mix of grey and white, combed off of his receding hairline and slicked back with ruthless efficiency. His face is marked with dignified wrinkles, including lines that frame constantly downturned lips and crow's feet around dark brown, nearly black eyes. On his nose are golden, circular glasses that magnify his pupils somewhat. He has a penchant for suits in spotted grey or brown, and his clothing is always meticulously ironed and polished.

Biography: Dr. Toby Schrieber has been a professional psychologist and sociologist for nearing thirty five years, specializing in cases of post traumatic stress disorder. For the majority of his career, he’s tended to and focused on soldiers who had seen heavy combat, writing many prize winning papers and theses on the subject of PTSD and how it affects family and public life. For the past six years, Dr. Schrieber has been asked about and hounded for his clinical evaluations and professional opinions on the psychosis of contestants of SotF, which he has mostly refused and refuted at every turn.

Following the incident with George King, however, producers of SotF have brought him onto the staff as a risk assessment for winners of SotF, where he evaluates and determines what stressors and triggers will render each winner potentially useless in the press tour following the game. Surprised by his openness and delighted by his lack of social tact, the SotF higher ups tossed him in as a mentor for the newest season, expecting amusing results. Toby is clinical and cold when speaking to other people, often treating them more as subjects to be scrutinised rather than human individuals. He has no children of his own, no family outside of a distant sister, and considers his tenure as an SotF mentor an unecessary stressor but an intriguing psychologocial and sociological experiment that his scientific background can't help but partake in.

The Tan Bats

'The Pundit
"If God didn't want kids to kill kids, he wouldn't give His chosen agents high powered assault rifles to provide to 'em, and He wouldn't give 'em trigger fingers. The way I see it, we're all just agents in His divine plan, which we can be sure is fully thought out and the best for everyone, praise be and amen."

Name: Randall Rochester
Age: 41
Gender: Male

Appearance: At 5'11" and 175 pounds, Randall is a slightly above average height man with a build just the right side of stocky. He wears a well-fitted, black suit whenever he appears in public, usually coupled with a vibrant red tie. He has a commanding presence, standing tall and straight and speaking clearly and loudly. Randall's short black hair is beginning to recede, but for the moment still covers the majority of his head. His eyes are dark brown, and he wears a pair of oval-lensed glasses.

Biography: In 2014, while many television programs were drying up for lack of viewer interest, a new show came on the air and managed to catch attention. Rochester's Dossier billed itself as an open-minded political talk show, headlined by Randall Rochester, a pastor's son from the little town of Mud Springs, Arkansas. Despite the show's claims towards being fair and objective, Rochester displayed immense Right-wing bias, frequently falling back on scripture in debate and flat-out lambasting guests who didn't share his extremist beliefs, while encouraging and egging on those who did.

None of this was a surprise to anyone who understood the show's premise.

In reality, Rochester is a comedic disciple of Stephen Colbert, and his show, which airs on Comedy Central, is satire, though this doesn't stop occasional guests from being roped in unaware. In real life, Rochester hails from New York City and grew up in a solidly middle class home, the son of two lawyers. Mud Springs doesn't exist; Rochester learned the accent while in college in Little Rock, and concocted his persona based on the classmates and locals he encountered there. Rochester's show is a big success among people who "get it", especially due to his willingness to engage with popular culture, including SOTF TV, which he, in character, lauds at every possible opportunity in overblown terms.

While his show can easily be read as loosely anti-SOTF, the truth is not so simple. Rochester is actually quite a fan, having to keep up with the show to get material for his act. In fact, a lot of his jokes require specific SOTF knowledge to understand. The producers took note of this, and, after some time feeling him out, decided to bring Rochester on board for Season Sixty-Six as a mentor... in character.

Rochester is ecstatic at the chance to both participate in SOTF and promote his own show, and has readied a lot of new material for the season. He's particularly keen to lampoon the overly-blunt, hyper-message-focused mentors of Season Sixty-Five, something that the producers are also excited to push into the past. Rochester hopes to entertain the masses and make a memorable impact. If his team happens to do well in the process, it's a bonus, but it certainly isn't his primary concern.

The Violet Wolves

Violet Wolves mentor Jared Clayton (art by diseasedbear)

The Winner

"Way I see it, I'm one of the only people who walked out of SOTF alive. Makes me more qualified than most to guide others to surviving too."

Name: Jared Clayton
Age: 22 (participated in SOTF: TV four years ago)
Gender: Male

Appearance: Jared has brown, curly hair that was formerly shoulder length, but recently met with a tragic encounter at the barber's and is now only medium-long. As his past experiences have slowly began to recede, Jared has put on a little weight - he stands at 5'7" and now tips the scales at a healthier 120 lbs, though he's still rather scrawny. Jared still suffers from a somewhat poor complexion and weak chin, and the ragged criss-cross of scarring across his left cheek will probably never truly fade.

Biography: Cocky, brash and above all, supremely confident, Jared Clayton is a man who holds the firm belief that he has everything absolutely under control. It wasn't always the way; in high school, Jared was always the awkward, slightly gawky kid that didn't fit in too well, only had a couple friends, and had no real idea where he was going with his life. That all changed the moment his class was picked for SOTF-TV Season 37. Thrust into the life or death scenario, Jared embraced pragmatism, prioritising his own survival above everything else. This attitude served him well - from allowing him to survive being tortured by a deranged classmate, to ambushing a group with a grenade after they had assumed him fatally injured. Jared racked up eight kills in total, and though he required immediate medical attention, he exhibited few lasting psychological consequences from his ordeal; indeed he seemed to be delighted with his newfound fame.

Jared has since become a prominent 'face' for SOTF-TV, not so much a spokesperson as someone who is always happy to fulfil media commitments and show up when an official event needs a bit of extra flash. He has also shown a lot of willingness to engage with the fan community and to work on other projects; Jared has began to develop a fairly lucrative career in voice acting. However, when Jared truly came to the fore was in SOTF-TV Season 65, when he was drafted to be one of the mentors for the teams of participants. Popular amongst the viewers and critics alike, Jared was very willing to return when asked if he would like to continue on in the same capacity for Season 66.