Critical Role's New Character Has Fans Feeling Deja Vu

By Christian Hoffer

Critical Role's newest character is a callback to one of the show's most hilarious one-shots. Critical Role's newest campaign is in full swing, although its roster of player characters is a bit different then before. Notably, several cast members have chosen to reprise characters from past games, adding a level of continuity and familiarity to a brand new story. This trend continues in the most recent episode, or at least it will have longtime fans feeling like they've met the show's newest character before.

[Spoilers for Critical Role's Campaign 3 follows.]

The latest episode of Critical Role serves as the debut for Travis Willingham's new character. Willingham brought back Bertrand Bell during the first few episodes of the series before that character was murdered and Willingham made a (temporary) departure from the game. Bell was one of Willingham's characters from a one-shot episode, and his new character bears some deliberate similarities to another one of Willingham's older characters. 

In the new episode, Willingham debuts his new character Chetney Pock O'Pea, a gnome rogue. Chetney is a "new" character to Critical Role, but fans might recognize the character as being distinctively similar to Chutney Chocolatecane, a christmas elf rogue also played by Willingham. Chutney (the Christmas elf) was part of a band of elves charged with rescuing Santa Claus. However, Chutney attempted to kill Santa Claus when the opportunity presented himself, looking for revenge for years of poor treatment by the mythical toymaker and deliveryman. 

After the episode aired, Critical Role Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer took to Twitter to clarify that Chutney and Chetney were not the same character. However, Willingham enjoyed playing as Chutney so much, he decided to bring the character back for a proper run in a campaign. 

You can check out the official artwork for Chetney, as drawn by artist Hannah Friedrichs, below. You'll note that Chetney retains several traits as his spiritual predecessor. Chetney is a carpenter with facial scars and even wears a knit cap in what appears to be a wintery nod to the past.

Chetney officially joined the group of adventurers in the latest episode of Critical Role. We'll likely see his motivations (and perhaps a hatred of jolly bearded men?) in new episodes, which air every Thursday on Critical Role's Twitch channel.

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