Dale is an anime and video game enthusiast. He started off as a well-liked regular at Coffee of Doom, but was later hired as an employee, breaking the coffee shop's female-only streak[1] as Dora's first male barista. In his earlier appearances, he had an on-going rivalry with Marigold in World of Warcraft. Their adversarial relationship has changed, however.
Biography[]
Background[]
Dale's home town is unknown. It is presumed that he is from the Pioneer Valley area of Massachusetts. He is the son of a single mother, whom he helps to support.[2] He is ethnically African-American.[3]
Employment[]
- See also: Pizza place owner
Dale delivers pizza, buses tables, and walks dogs.[4][5] At first, he said he had three jobs, but most recently, he has been seen working the counter at a convenience store and washing dishes.[6] He also appears to work at an all natural health store.
Later, Dale quit his job at the pizza place and started working at Coffee of Doom.[7] However, after May was hired by Marigold as her manager, he quit being a barista in order to do "web stuff" for Marigold's streaming career.[8]
Relationships[]
Marigold[]
Dale's interactions with Marigold originally started off as a friendly rivalry chock-full of anime tropes[4] that were meant to reflect their mutual interest in anime and video games, but instead came across as somewhat disquieting in tone [9] and ended up escalating into a gross misunderstanding between the two. Fortunately, Dale has no hang-ups about reaching out and apologizing when he know he's done wrong.[10]
For all his easy-going nature, however, Dale admits that he doesn't seem to have much luck when it comes to having a normal conversation with girls he is crushing on and reverts to grade school tactics to get their attention.[11][12] Barring any such pretenses, he becomes rather shy and nervous in their presence.[13] (Of course, dealing with a socially awkward Marigold likely doesn't make this task any easier).[14]
Dale complimented Marigold for the first time during their anime-date.[15] Their first kiss happened on the next day, when Marigold came to Coffee of Doom.[16]
The Virtual Assistant[]
A hologram appeared via Dale's AR glasses in a maid costume, chosen for her by an algorithm – likely due to Dales love of anime – as part of a beta testing program for a new virtual companion service. He was the first (after fourteen previous attempts) to accept her presence and End User License Agreement (EULA).[17]
Dale agreed to put up with the service for a period of 48 hours and in exchange for an evaluation of the program he would receive $1500.[18] The AI didn't have a name, so Dale picked "May".[19]
Once Dale accepted the EULA, May became surly and quite caustic. When her griping and terrible advice became too annoying, Dale switched off his AR Glasses,[20] but later had a change of heart and switched them back on. She became more cooperative.[21]
Dale was invited to Marigold's apartment by Momo, but Marigold was angry with him,and May actually gave him good advice on how to patch things up with her.[22] After the 48-hour trial period, the AI told him she liked the name May and would keep it.
The Return of May[]
Some time later, May showed up at Dale's apartment in a robot body;[23] she'd been released from Robot Jail and needed a place to stay.[24] Initially, Marigold didn't want May to stay at his apartment, but May convinced her that she was no threat to the relationship and Marigold relented.[25]
Personality[]
Despite his stereotypically nerdy interests, Dale gives the impression of being a friendly and easy-going guy [26] and is well-liked by the other characters.[27] Faye describes him as being "suspiciously chill. Everything's either 'cool' or 'all right' with him."[28] The more aggressive characters seem to mistake his nice attitude for wimpyness,[29][18] but while Dale's boundaries and tolerance for rudeness are more lax than most,[30][31] he is capable of standing up for himself when pushed too far.[19][32]
He appears to have a good sense of humor, though perhaps he sometimes has a hard time gauging his audience.[33][34]
Hobbies[]
Dale plays World of Warcraft. His main is a human mage on Tichondrius[26] and he recently started a night elf rogue on Warsong.[4] He previously played Dungeon Crawl, having done a 15-rune ascension with a Merfolk Crusader, though it is clear he no longer plays.[35]
He is also an avid anime fan and owns quite a bit of anime-related memorabilia. He has posters of Gally/Alita (Battle Angel) and Haruhi Suzumiya in his room.[36][37] he owns the entire collection of the fictional manga, Magical Love Gentleman which he keeps locked up and out of sight. He frequently wears anime-related t-shirts, most notably "Shut Up, Shinji" and "EVA-01," both of which reference Shinji Ikari, the protagonist in the anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion." Interestingly, the title of Number 1693: I-Ikari-San?! further emphasizes a referential link between Shinji Ikari and Dale, which may or may not be intentional on part of the creator.
Sex and drugs and rock&roll[]
Sexuality[]
Dale has thus far only shown attractions to females and is in a relationship with Marigold, who also became his first sexual partner.[38][39]
Drugs[]
Dale drinks caffeine.
Music preferences[]
Dale's musical preferences are currently unknown, though he wears a T-shirt bearing the name "Creston Electric",[27] which produces vintage-style custom solid body and chambered electric guitars and basses. He has been seen wearing a T-shirt for nerdcore hip hop musician MC Frontalot, in keeping with his generally geeky preferences.[40]
Gallery[]
References
- ↑ Number 657: Humor, Quashed
- ↑ Number 2496: A Budding Romance
- ↑ https://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/11940736839/qa-dump-14
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Number 1680: Cue The Kill Bill Music
- ↑ Number 2357: Onomatoployment
- ↑ Number 2498: He Needs A Hair Net
- ↑ Number 2530: Roamin' Candles
- ↑ 4628: The Last To Know
- ↑ Number 1771: Lousy In Real Life
- ↑ Number 2414: Detente
- ↑ Number 2507: Gynophobia
- ↑ Number 2512: Or Maybe A Jumpsuit
- ↑ Number 2559: Cutekward
- ↑ Number 2487: Behind The Curtain
- ↑ Number 2562: Just Make Out Already
- ↑ Number 2589: You Are Very Special
- ↑ Number 2491: Anime Hell—Number 2493: Resizability
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Number 2494: In It For The Money
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Number 2495: Nom De Guerre
- ↑ Number 2499: Shutdown
- ↑ Number 2500: Qualified Contrition—Number 2504: All Tsun, No Dere
- ↑ Number 2511: Reckless Endangerment
- ↑ Number 2710: Her Again
- ↑ Number 2712: Yup, Her Again
- ↑ Number 2714: Stomp Stomp Slam—Number 2717: Oooweeooo
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Number 1668: FOR THE HORDE
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Number 1640: Everybody Likes Dale
- ↑ Number 2551: And Some Body Armor
- ↑ Number 2529: High-Level Talks
- ↑ Number 2504: All Tsun, No Dere
- ↑ Number 2548: Never Good Enough
- ↑ Number 2499: Shutdown
- ↑ Number 2543: A Slow Start
- ↑ Number 2556: Spaceman Spiff
- ↑ Number 1895: Don't Even MENTION Sigmund
- ↑ Number 1693: I-Ikari-San?!
- ↑ Number 2495: Nom De Guerre
- ↑ Number 2567: Sometimes You Just Know
- ↑ Number 2638: I Like Them Better Cold Anyway—Number 2642: Culinary Apitiude
- ↑ Number 2574: I Guess He Walked There Himself