Rick Rintel (Über-Proto Gerosha)

Richard Rintel is a major protagonist in the Meshalutian Trilogy novella 90 Has No Secant, part of The Gerosha Chronicles in Dozerfleet Comics. He is the husband of Eva Rintel and the father of Tom and Mandy Rintel.

Character bio
Rick began as a strong, slim man. At the age of 20, he began attending college to pursue his major in building construction and architecture. While there, he met the then 18-year-old Eva Flanning, and they sparked a romance that quickly turned to wedding plans.

They married within four years. An old legend existed that Rick’s family was cursed, that the old hag Meshaluta would appear in their dreams to warn them of an upcoming disaster that they had little chance of escaping. Rick didn’t quite know the origin of this legend, nor did he think much of it. He therefore told Eva nothing about it.

Rick and Eva were still fiery about their love, and conceived their first child, Amanda, about a year after they had wed. Eight years later, they had their second child, Tom. For years, Tom and Mandy would grow close, and would look out for each other and their dad. Rick’s health began fading significantly after Tom’s birth.

Eva would often be so busy away from home, traveling the country and dealing with stocks, that the kids were seldom able to spend much time with her. They cherished the times they were with her. Rick’s health continued to fade, until he had to quit his construction job, unable to pull his own weight. He soon needed a wheelchair, and his lungs grew weak.

At the time Hurricane Nekoda struck, he needed oxygen tanks to assist his breathing. Apart from his growing interest in meteorology, he was otherwise unable to contribute much to his family. They feared he would die the day he received his air tanks, being only 40 years old. He actually lived through the wrath of Nekoda, and dies two years afterward from lung failure. During the storm's run, he was 40 years old. He was 5'10" and weighed 262 pounds.

Personality
Rick tends to be passive about much of his life. He rarely gets angry, preferring to seek out logical solutions to issues in his life. As his health fades, he becomes weaker and more fearful. He has always had an interest in electronics, sound waves, and radio transmission. This explains why he has both a transceiver and an oscilloscope in the house.

Trivia

 * Rick was always intended to be portrayed as someone smart, yet relatively weak. This was to increase the children's sense of dread at what they had to face, given that the family member most expected of taking care of them was instead in need of their protection.


 * His appearance was modeled after Jason Alexander.
 * Later, his general appearance would be used as a template to inspire that of Seth Lambrelli.