RICHARD FAUNIN

Real Name: Richard Fox

Class: Human

Occupation: Prophet

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Gus Faunin (Sweet Tooth, son), unnamed wife (deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Nebraska, formerly Anchor Bay, Alaska, Earth-Sweet Tooth

First Appearance: Sweet Tooth #1 (November, 2009)

Powers: Richard was a skilled outdoorsman. He believed God spoke to him, and had prophetic visions.

History: (Sweet Tooth #10 (fb), 22 (fb), 1) - A disaster ravaged the U.S., turning it into a wasteland and causing children to be born with animal features. A sickness plagued the country, with most non-hybrid children getting sick and dying. Richard Faunin took the newborn Gus, who was born with deer antlers to a wilderness sanctuary. He told Gus he sickness took Gus’ mother soon after he was born, and his Richard kept his sanity by talking to God. Richard started writing his own bible, believing that God spoke directly to him. He believed mankind’s sin had brought plague on the world, a punishment from God, but God created Gus as the first of a new race that would be pure in the eyes of God. Faunin ended his Bible with his own Book of Revelations, which consisted mostly of drawings of animal totems on page after page and Tekkeitserktock, an apocalyptic figure that he lived in dread of. Tekkeitserktock was a grizzled older man with white hair and scars on his face. He taught Gus how to survive in the woods, and warned Gus never to leave, telling him there was nothing besides hellfire beyond the trees. Richard was worried about hunters who captured and sold animal hybrid children, and warned Gus that he would always have to be on his toes, and he’d have to hide if he ever saw another living being. The sickness began affecting Richard’s health and he began wasting away. His sleepless nights were spend talking to God. Gus began finding candy bars around the reserve, and his father warned him that it was probably a hunter’s trick. He admitted that he didn’t have much longer to live, and soon Gus would have to take care of himself. After a long winter Richard died, and Gus buried him next to his mother.

(Sweet Tooth #15) - Sweet Tooth was held for a time at the Preserve. Run by Captain Abbot and his head researcher Dr. Singh, they were dissecting hybrid children to learn the origins of the sickness, seeking a possible cure. Singh realized Sweet Tooth was born before the sickness, and became convinced that it wasn’t the sickness that had resulted in hybrids being born, it was the birth of hybrids that caused the sickness. After learning the location of Sweet Tooth’s farmhouse Abbot and Singh traveled there. Singh found Richard Faunin’s bible, and he thought it sounded like lunatic ravings, but noted a passage where Richard saying he couldn’t hide the secrets God gave him like he’d buried his own past and identity. Singh advised they dig the graves in the back of the farmhouse. One grave contained Faunin’s remains, and the other was empty except for a metal box containing Faunin’s government ID. His real name was Richard Fox, and he served as a member of a science division at the military’s Anchor Bay, Alaska facility. Abbot burned the farmhouse to the ground, and on the trip back to the Preserve Singh read more of Faunin’s bible. Faunin predicted they’d burn the farmhouse, and referred to Sweet Tooth’s former protector Jepperd as a dark shepherd who’d rise to protect Sweet Tooth. Singh didn’t understand all the references, but Faunin again made an accurate prediction, Jepperd and his friends Becky and Lucy had formed an uneasy alliance with Glebhelm and his Animal Armies cultists to destroy the Preserve. Faunin said these events would be the beginning of the end, and a new prophet would be needed to replace him and guide Sweet Tooth so he could save humanity. Singh found himself starting to believe in Faunin’s powers of prophecy, and said “Amen” after a passage about the imperative of keeping Sweet Tooth safe at all costs.