Snakes Tolliver

Name: Samuel "Snakes" Tolliver

Age: 28

Nationality: American

Special Skills: Gambling, explosives

Likes: Duke Devlin, gambling, getting money, staying alive

Best Friend: Duke, David, Serenity, Beau Maverick, Ray Norman, Coley Rodman, Lafe Morgan, Artemus Gordon, Jim West

Image Songs: Human by The Killers

My Past is Not Today by Rebecca Shoichet

Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi

Show of Origin: The Wild Wild West, episode The Night of the Poisonous Posey

Backstory: Snakes is a time-traveling former criminal kingpin from the Old West days who settled in Los Angeles to start over with his life after quite literally gaining a second chance at living. He was killed in the 1870s and revived by a mad scientist three years later, after spending those years being tortured by a fellow wandering spirit. The experiment to revive him and several others tore a hole in the space-time continuum, allowing for time-travel back and forth between the eras.

When Duke suffered a nervous breakdown following David's death, he escaped to Los Angeles for a time and met Snakes. Instead of coming to accept David's death more, Duke became bent on saving him when he realized Snakes was a time-traveler. Although reluctant to get involved, Snakes finally agreed to help when Duke promised payment. Over the course of their misadventures to find a way to save David, they became close and Snakes grew very protective of the desperately hurting boy. Even after finally restoring David and their partnership officially ending, Snakes remained a loyal friend. Duke still contacts him and Snakes is there for him as much as he can be.

Personality: Snakes was a cynical, self-serving coward when Duke first met him. Snakes would be the first to say he still embodies those traits, but he has gradually allowed a very selfless, protective side of him to come out: his true self from before he allowed his heart to be darkened by the cruelty heaped upon him through his life. He will risk his life for those in need. He's gruff, and as a gambler, smooth. He still suffers PTSD from the traumatic experiences he has gone through, especially having been tortured for three years while dead.

Reason for including him: I actually don't remember why I decided having Snakes and Duke meet would be a good idea. Maybe because Snakes was a time-traveler in my verse. It was probably a random writing experiment that I fell in love with when it worked. Snakes seems to pop up in many stories for different fandoms, always making a large impact on the characters around him when he does. He's only onscreen for ten minutes or less in his original episode, but boy, have I gotten mileage out of developing him.