Character Profile: Grandpa Styx

Birth Name: Genaro Mariscal Marrufo
Born: 2 March, 1931
Height: 1.62 meters
Weight: 55 kilos
Super Powers: Wisdom, super ability to entertain youngsters, charisma, ineffable luck.

Biography:
Grandpa Styx was born the sixth of 13 children, but only ever met about half of his siblings. Many would not survive into their teens and the rest had haphazard connections with each other.

In school, he was so poor that his classmates and teachers sometimes bought him food because they knew that without it, he might not eat that day. Grandpa Styx tells stories of being unable to study due to his blinding hunger.

Later on, Grandpa Styx met his future bride, Yolanda Landin. For a time they were both teachers, a profession that would follow the family for years. They married in the 1950s and had four sons.

Each son later married and had two children (a total of eight: four boys and four girls. The symmetry was not lost on Grandpa Styx who insisted on his ineffable luck all throughout his life. And the more time you spent with him, the more you believed it).

Pixel Q. Styx is the youngest son of the youngest son.

Yolanda died on Halloween 1989, when Pixel Q. was 4 and Grandpa Styx was 58. Grandpa Styx was left alone to keep the large house for many years afterwards. For several years in the ’90s, Pixel Q. and his family would visit Grandpa Styx every Sunday.

Most weeks they were the only visitors he received.

Those memories are crucial to Pixel’s psyche. It is from his grandfather that “El Señor Bandido” (Mr. Bandit) character comes from, whom Pixel blames for all actions not directly witnessed to be done by him. Pixel clearly remembers playing in the nearby park or in Grandpa’s old brown station wagon. Whenever his family would leave, Pixel would stare out the back window and see Grandpa Styx waving to them until they were well away. In Pixel’s eyes, Grandpa stayed there forever, waiting until the next time when he would see them again.

Grandpa Styx won the lottery a few years ago, but had a stroke soon after and retired to live with his other son in central Mexico.

In the Series:
Grandpa Styx was a staple of holiday merriment in Carver’s BT: The Series. Even when they’d visit Pixel’s mother’s family, Grandpa Styx would come along. In fact, Pixel hadn’t seen his other grandfather since he was a young boy. And, as Pixel had no surviving grandmothers, Grandpa Styx was the totality of his grandparently experience.

In a recent season, Grandpa Styx suffered from a brain tumor. Having said “I love you and if I never see you again, you’ve made me proud” to Pixel in the prior season, many fans assumed the writers were going to kill off Grandpa Styx. Their decision to not and have his tumor removed was a contentious one, especially as the operation was not a stunning success.

For the following season, every time Pixel saw his grandfather, he saw an old man who was a fraction of what he once was and could hardly remember Pixel. This saddened Pixel greatly as Grandpa Styx had been crucial to his developing while growing up. This previous season, Grandpa Styx remembered Pixel from after his operation, but not before. Now, upon Pixel’s return with short hair from Carver’s BT: Australia, Grandpa Styx was given an illness which sent him to the hospital. When Pixel went to visit later, his grandfather did not recognize him. Some fans argue that the lack of recognition was because of Pixel’s new hairstyle, but explanations aside, Pixel was affected deeply.

Grandpa Styx now speaks of himself as dying soon. Fans wonder if this time the gilded lily shall be paid in full or whether the writers will take another tromp of emotional trauma on Pixel’s psyche.

There’s been a thought running through my head all week now. It doesn’t let me sleep, it doesn’t let me wake up, it doesn’t let me enjoy life.

I’m happy, but it’s an intellectual happiness. There’s something amiss. Will go into more detail when I can.

But now… a link for the cat lover in all of us.

~~~

I passed! Whoo!! For those of you who can’t understand my elation: it’s because I was borderline pass all semester.. through some combination of slacking off, different expectations, complete disregard for grades, and general malfunction, I was afraid of not getting credit for my study abroad.. But I passed. It’s true. I’ll prove it:

Year Unit Title Mark Grade Credits
2005 PHIL233 History of Ethics 72 CR 4
2005 PHIL254 Freedom and Alienation 68 CR 4
2005 PHIL359 Kant 63 P 4

~~~

My brother, his wife, and her mum are coming to stay with us until the 27th. They arrive tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Last Year: Sue and Ms. Young
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