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Name: Rex

Meaning: King.

Place of Birth: Louisiana

Age: Eight.

Breed: Purebred bloodhound..

Appearance: Image belongs to Draco. I hope to make my own image of him at some point.

Parents: Unknown.

Siblings: Unknown.

Mate: Terry.

Pups: Toby , Bobby, Reggie (sons), Maya, Abbey, and Terra (daughters).  Pete, although not biologically related and not officially adopted, has taken to calling him "Pop" as a way of saying "You're not my real dad, but you're close enough."

Other Relatives: Laterally related to Copper and Taya (i.e. his pup married their pup). Also his master, Chief Scotty of Nome's police. Grandpups by Toby and Luna.

Friends/Associates: Orde, Ewan, Comet (all Kelev's), Exile (mine, and not the one from Road Rovers), and various other police dogs.

Connection to Balto: Father of Toby, who is Balto's grandson-in-law. Also a personal friend of Balto and his family, particularly his son Copper, to whom he is now, as mentioned, laterally related.

Personality: Very dedicated to his work as a police dog and a tracker.  Although he despises cold weather and seldom goes outside in Nome's frigid climate even in the summer, he's not one to shy away when needed. He's willing to go out of his way to help anyone in need, although he much prefers to stay inside and ponder cases from a "desk" perspective, tracking crimewaves on a map of the town with scent markers in hopes of anticipating criminals' next moves. Although the chief does not fully realize Rex's intelligence or understand what he does realize, he prizes his instincts and sharp sense of smell, and would sooner do without his right hand than his right-hand dog.

For years, Rex was all business al the time, to the extent that he had no friends at all outside of the police dogs in town.  Even among them it seemed he would sooner face a loaded shotgun than a social situation of any kind. The one friend he routinely spoke to was Captain Orde, the former chief of Nome's canine police and his own former rival. However, that changed when he met a beatuiful husky named Terry.  With considerable badgering from his friends and some interest carefully hidden even from himself, he broke through his shell of professionalism and developed a friendship which grew into love.  Since that time he has developed a wry sense of humor and a deep affection for those close to him, especially Terry and the family they raised.

Talents: Tracking, detective work, finding patterns. He also proved to be quite the fighter once, able to take on three concentrated fes at once or to hold his own with some help in a crazed mob. However, there is no discernable source for this skill except sheer necessity.

Likes: Time with his family, solving crimes, staying inside by the fire, any tracking job that is over quickly.

Dislkes: Crime, going outside, Nome and every kind of weather it gets, boredom.

As my Character: Rex came to be at about the same time as Toby. Although he has a sort of counterpart in the father of the dragon from whom Toby developed, this time the apple fell pretty far from the tree. Whereas his predecessor is perhaps mst distinctive as a storyteller, there was little need for that in the Toby series.  Instead, his past and personality largely came from his being a bloodhound in Nome, which was in turn a development of my efforts to put Toby at a disadvantage in Nome's climate. So in a sense, Rex got more from Toby than Toby did from Rex.

Rex will be less involved in the Toby series now that Toby and Luna have more or less separated from their old families to raise their own.  But he will still play a part, and Kelev and I have now co-authored a prequel to "Toby: The Beginning" to elaborate how Rex came to Nome and became a part of the canine police. Details are sketchy, but it may include a rivalry between him and Orde as he, the new dog in town, "threatens" to take Orde's place as the leader of the dog cops.

Dragon Counterpart: Rex's dragon equivalent has no real connection to law enforcement, nor is he a tracker by profession (though he is a skilled hunter).  He is, however, a masterful storyteller.

Quote: "Your mother understands that I have a duty to Nome and all its residents, human and canine.  As a dog, I want to give you a chance for her sake. But as an officer, I can’t.”