First introduced in The Sandman, Edwin Payne was a student at St. Hilarion’s boarding school for boys in 1916 when a group of bullies offered up his soul to hell. He was dragged away by a demon and spent more than 70 years being tormented before escaping and meeting Charles Rowland. “I was surprised to learn how little inclusion there is of Edwin’s parents, and that absence is something I took and ran with when it came to figuring out my own backstory,” Rexstrew tells Tudum. “It really makes his death all the more tragic in my eyes.”

Edwin is very studious and a “fountain of knowledge,” says Rexstrew, as he’s extremely well-read and can even read ancient languages such as Aramaic. He maintains an extensive library of occult tomes he uses for research and to cast spells that allow him to gather information and fight dangerous enemies, like the binding spell in Season 1. Along with Charles, he is able to travel by mirror, pass through things, and don disguises. But if Rexstrew could pick anyone else in the series’ special skill? He’d want to turn into a cat like the Cat King. Rexstrew can also empathize with Edwin’s stubbornness. “As a Taurus, that’s a character trait I very much relate to.” 

Since Edwin is very closed off, except for when he’s with his best friend, Charles, costume designer Kelli Dunsmore reflected his buttoned-up mentality through his bespoke suit, complete with bowtie and collar. “As soon as he put [the suit] on, he did this little twirl, and we just shed a tear and were like, ‘Oh, my God. This is it,’ ” says Dunsmore. 

Edwin’s outfit, along with Charles’ period garb, were designed to help them stand out more in modern day Port Townsend. “I knew Edwin would, because no one dresses like that now,” says Dunsmore.

This is the first major role for Rexstrew (he/him).

Charles Rowland died in 1989 after being attacked by bullies at St. Hilarion’s. Charles became friends with Edwin Payne’s ghost, choosing to stay with him rather than following Death to the afterlife. Friendly and enthusiastic, Charles tries to be exceedingly charming —which Revri can relate to — but also prefers to confront problems head-on, armed with a magical cricket bat that he carries in a backpack, which contains an infinite amount of things. “How them things are made? I can’t tell you,” jokes Revri. “I’d be pulling 100-dollar bills out of it constantly.” Some items that are really in that bag of tricks include: lexicographical lenses, a jar of bees, a sword, summoning stones, a lockpick kit, a mirror, and a silver bell for announcing guests.

If you noticed the pins and patches on Charles’ coat and found yourself asking what that “rude boy” one is all about, they’re all part of Charles’ “full ska rude boy” look. Dunsmore chose it for him since the genre and the street subculture of “rude boys” from Jamaica were sweeping London at the time Charles died. Revri personally has Jamaican heritage in him too, so the aesthetic felt right on the mark. Dunsmore wanted everything about him to feel “a little bit cool and underground,” from his Union Jack and The Who bull’s-eye patches to his checkerboard pins. His little cross earring and chain on the outside of his shirt are also meant to be homages to the ’80s.

Dunsmore also made a decision early on that Charles and Edwin wouldn’t change their outfits, but would layer on top of their main looks. Charles’ hero color is very much red, in honor of his comic book counterpart’s red sweater. 

While Revri may play a ghost trying to help other ghosts move on in the show, he might have had an encounter with one in real life when he was younger. “The bread bin came flying down the corridor,” he says. “Never been able to explain it to this day… ” Rexstrew reckons he was “just hungry and manifesting toast.”

English actor Revri (he/him) played a Mind Fairy at the magical boarding school Alfea in Fate: The Winx Saga. He was also one of the main characters in the British musical series The Lodge.

Loosely based on a character introduced in the Dead Boy Detectives comics, Crystal Palace is a psychic medium who Edwin and Charles save from demonic possession. Left missing many of her memories, she decides to join the Dead Boy Detective agency and use her powers to save lives while trying to figure out who she really is. “There are more powers that she hasn’t uncovered yet as she learns more about herself,” says Nelson. 

Armed with the abilities to see ghosts and spirits, communicate with them, and make people do things against their will, Nelson would choose to have Crystal’s power to erase people’s memories. “Sometimes what traumatizes me is all the cringey, embarrassing things I’ve done in my life, and to know that other people also remember those things, makes me feel ill,” she says. “So I’d love to be able to just erase that for everyone. Thank you.”

Nelson sees Crystal as quite blunt and sarcastic or as Kitamura puts it, “she’ll cut a b*tch!” But Nelson thinks that hard exterior is a cover for her vulnerable and sensitive sides. In the show, Crystal’s hero color is purple, which you’ll notice in her velvet coat and long silk letterman jacket, which Dunsmore thought of as a psychic cloak with hand-embroidered patches, including the wilting rose of England.

Her brown trench coat represents an explosion of everything going on in her mind. Dunsmore decided the scribbled words and drawings are a result of Crystal writing all over it to express her inner turmoil. There are even lyrics on there from the song she’s listening to on the tube when she meets the Dead Boys.

English actor Nelson (she/her) appeared in the British soap opera Hollyoaks and played a submarine captain who helped the Baudelaire orphans in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Niko Sasaki left Japan to go to high school in Port Townsend, Washington, after her father died, but she dropped out while afflicted by supernatural parasites. Her brush with death allows her to see ghosts, and she helps the Dead Boy Detectives using investigation and reading comprehension skills she learned from watching Scooby-Doo and reading lots of manga. 

Since Niko isn’t a character in the comics, Kitamura invented her character’s origin story with Yockey and the creative team. “That was really fun because it’s a blank slate, right? It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure,” she says. At times, Kitamura feels like she puts her foot in her mouth the way Niko does. But Kitamura particularly values Niko’s sensitivity. “She loves love and she’s always so aware of what people are feeling. Her empathy and her kindness is what makes her so special,” she says. 

Before the Dead Boys remove the Sprites from Niko, everything is jumbled and mixed up in her head. So once they’re gone and her hair goes white, Dunsmore wanted to keep her feeling very clean in monochromatic outfits for the rest of the season. She extensively collaborated with the hair and makeup team on Niko’s looks, giving them little pieces of her costume to use. “They always asked me about her nails, like, what color is she wearing? That was so fun,” says Dunsmore. 

Every color Niko wears is inspired by what’s happening in that episode, from the green post-Sprite exodus to blue when she’s feeling sad. Niko only wears a white look, with nods to her Japanese heritage, in the finale as a reset. The charms on her Obi belt represent the colors she’s worn all season. 

This is the first major role for Japanese actor Kitamura (she/her).

The owner of the Tongue & Tail butcher shop, Jenny Green serves as the landlord for both Crystal and Niko. She’s fairly patient about their antics but would like them to stay out of her professional and personal business. 

Since Crystal came to Port Townsend with only the clothes she could fit in her duffel bag, you’ll notice that shewears Tongue & Tail graphic tees borrowed from Jenny all season. Dunsmore came up with the idea that Jenny had extra shirts she tried to sell at one point in her shop.

Cuoco (she/her) voices Batgirl on the animated series Harley Quinn and competed on Season 5 of The Voice.

The witch Esther Finch made a deal with Lilith for eternal life but has chilling methods to keep from looking her age. She’s out for vengeance against the Dead Boy Detectives after they deprive her and her giant pet snake of a victim. In the script, Esther was written to have a “Stevie Nicks vibe,” and Dunsmore elaborated on that to include a little Debbie Harry and Blondie. “It dawned on me, she’s the pretty lady that all the little girls wish was their mom when they see her on the street. That’s why they’re so drawn to her,” says Dunsmore. “She’s shiny and she’s gold.” 

It’s not only Esther who wears clothes with a gilt, old-gold color — Cat King and Night Nurse also do as a nod to their villainy. (Esther and Cat King also have similar fur coats.) Amidst her beauty, Dunsmore wanted Esther to be a little rough around the edges. She wears a cuff around her hand that’s adorned with a snake and a ring with teeth all around it to represent the teeth she’s collecting from all the little girls. Her eye necklace is meant to be her witch pendant.

Lyon (she/her) had a starring role in Claws as a manicurist involved in organized crime and played a bartender in the neo-Western Justified.

Edwin and Charles are pursued by the Night Nurse, who works for Death’s bureaucracy finding lost children’s souls and ensuring they go to their proper afterlives. While she’s overworked, she takes her job and the rules she enforces very seriously. The character first appeared in Doom Patrol, which served as the live-action debut of the Dead Boy Detectives.

Night Nurse is someone who’s in control all the time and likes things to be in their proper place. The same thing goes for her clothes, so when the threads start to pull loose, so do her outfits. Dunsmore looked to Vivienne Westwood for inspiration, since everything in Night Nurse’s world is a bit exaggerated. (By the way, Niko’s orange monochromatic look is a nod to her scenes with Night Nurse and  Night Nurse’s red hair.)

Scottish actor Connell (she/her) played a powerful witch in Supernatural and its spin-off The Winchesters. She previously played Night Nurse on Doom Patrol, though all the members of the Dead Boy Detective Agency are new to this series.

First appearing in the Dead Boy Detectives comics, Tragic Mick runs a magic shop that stocks all sorts of useful items. He was once a mighty walrus but has been transformed into a man and longs to return to the sea. 

You can see traces of his inner walrus in the tusk he wears around his neck and the barnacles slowly starting to grow on the shoulder of his jean jacket, because, as Dunsmore says, he’s been “sitting there for so long” in his shop.

Beach (he/him) played one of the lead detectives in DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and appears in Saw X. His previous comic book adaptation experience includes roles in Aquaman and Swamp Thing.

Cats in the world of Dead Boy Detectives can talk and are protected by Cat King, a seductive shape-shifter with nine lives. Dunsmore always wanted Cat King to have a concurrent femininity and masculinity about him. “It doesn’t matter what gender, everyone’s in love with the Cat King,” she says. The main image on her mood board was Marc Jacobs walking down the street in New York in a long sleeve shirt and a kilt. “Steve [Yockey] loved that image too, and I was like, ‘Let’s go!’ And when Lukas came in, we were like, ‘Okay, mic drop.’ He was perfect,” says Dunsmore.

Mischievous as ever, Cat King has (cat) eyes everywhere and is aware of Edwin’s affection for Charles. So he wears Charles’ socks the first time he meets Edwin. Then, when he gets Edwin alone, Cat King wears low-slung pants that reveal his underwear. They are red (Charles’ signature color) and say “Loverboy” on the waistband. This is one feline who enjoys playing with his prey.

Gage (he/him) played an employee of the titular resort in the first season of The White Lotus and had a starring role in the fourth season of the thriller You.

Esther turns her crow familiar Monty into a handsome boy and tasks him with keeping tabs on the Dead Boy Detectives. He has a passion for astronomy that he uses to get close to Edwin. 

But there’s remaining clues of Monty’s crow alter ego. Pay close attention to his leather jacket and you just might spot an inlaid crow feather or two.

Colley (he/him) has appeared in Broadway productions of Newsies and Les Misérables, the film Senior Year, and the animated series Peter Rabbit.

Crystal’s ex-boyfriend is a demon with the ability to possess people and make them do terrible things. He took some of Crystal’s memories after being exorcised by the Dead Boy Detectives, and keeps haunting her in the hope that she’ll let him back into her head. Since David is a demon, he finds a London boy that looks cool enough for Crystal to find attractive. That meant Dunsmore dressing him in a shearling jacket you’d find in “all the Guy Ritchie movies,” black pants and creeper shoes. The costumer’s mood board for “David the D” featured Radiohead and Amy Winehouse and her husband Blake, who often wore hats similar to the one you see David wearing in the show. 

David’s connection with Crystal seeps into her wardrobe, too. Since David wears a flower shirt, Dunsmore’s team hand-painted flowers onto Crystal’s black boots. And Niko is wearing a dark sweater with flowers on it when we first meet her, as an homage to Crystal. The costume department also drew the same rune pattern the Dead Boys use to exorcise David in Episode 1 onto Crystal’s trench coat and on the tab of her wool bomber jacket. “So she’s always got some sort of protection,” says Dunmore.

Iacono (he/him) has had recurring roles in The Summer I Turned Pretty and The Flight Attendant, and also appeared in the series Grand Army.  

Litty is one of the two-inch sized, attention-seeking Dandelion Sprites that inhabit Niko, feeding on the affection of others. Yockey credits Dunsmore with the idea to design Litty and her fellow Sprite Kingham’s (Max Jenkins) costumes to reflect the person they’re occupying. That’s why their outfits “look like a cross between forest chic and Niko’s school uniform,” he says. 

The first day Reilly met Jenkins in-person, she had just gotten off a flight and hadn’t slept in two days. “It was so magical, I thought I was losing my mind,” she says.

Dunsmore also wanted them to have mixed patterns in their wardrobe, taking inspiration from Thom Browne and Vivienne Westwood. “They’re just little pests,” says Dunsmore. “It’s why I gave them cockroaches.” You can see the bug brooches holding Litty’s cardigan together and on Kingham’s tie.

Reilly is widely known across social media for her viral videos, especially as a girl who is “going to be okay.” Her on-screen work includes roles in Hacks, Loot, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and In the Know.

Niko’s other “toxic friend” Kingham considers his and Litty’s new enchanted jar home “a hate crime.”

As the Sprites are from the garden, Dunsmore selected greens and yellows for their main color scheme, dying and aging their clothes to look antique. She was also mindful about making the Sprites’ hats look like the tops of Dandelions. She and her team found ostrich feathers and had the hats custom-made, modeled off of an image of Audrey Hepburn wearing a similar hat. Dunsmore used garden twill for parts of both of their outfits: Litty’s skirt and Kingham’s waistcoat.

Jenkins is also known for his work in The Mysteries of Laura, Special, Dead to Me, and High Maintenance.