Hair: Blondish-brown
Eyes: Blue
Age: Early thirties
Alignment: Good
Occupation: Sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department
Known Allies: Lieutenant Tragg
Lieutenant Anderson
Lieutenant Drumm
Deputy D.A. Sampson
Warner Griffith (father)
Known Enemies: Jason Gifford/Randall Madsen (imposter and murderer)
What he desires most: To do the best he can to stop crime and criminals
Appears in: The Case of the Persecuted Prosecutor (FF; supporting)
The Case of the Memento Mori Murderer (FF; supporting)
The Case of the Malevolent Mugging (FF; supporting)
Mentioned in: Most other stories
Sergeant Nichols was created as a buffer while I tried to figure out Brice's personality. It didn't take me long to realize that what I'd already seen of Brice's personality was pretty much all that they ever showed. Hence, Nichols faded into the background to make way for Brice, but continued to be mentioned in most stories, even if only mostly in a cameo capacity.
When Brice was unavailable for a scene in The Malevolent Mugging because he was elsewhere, and I needed someone for Steve to use as a sounding board, I brought Nichols in again and have been using him in an extended role. To make him different in personality from Brice, I made Nichols more talkative and curious, striking up a conversation with Steve over how and why they joined the detective division. During the questioning of people, however, he falls mostly silent like Brice, observing while letting his superior do the majority of the talking.
His backstory is revealed in The Malevolent Mugging. His real name is Jason Griffith and he is Warner Griffith's missing son. He started using his middle name and his mother's maiden name, the latter of which he legally changed his last name to, because he was so ashamed of himself in college and wanted to start over fresh. Now he feels sorrowful from hiding from his father and Mr. Sampson for all these years and wants to make up for lost time.