I would like to apologize to everyone who has been concerned about the state of Gyro’s physical health in my “The Many Adventures of Duckburg’s Heroes!” series. I am still amazed that so many people have latched on to a single line of foreshadowing and have expressed their worries about Gyro and what wringer I’m going to put him through. I’m here to reassure you that all will be well. Eventually.
But, to make up for worrying so many of my lovely readers, I am going to give you all a preview of several new characters that will soon be introduced: Gyro’s two sisters, and his niece and nephew!
So here’s some facts about the Gearloose Family!
Gyro and his sisters were known throughout their childhood as the Gearloose Three. It’s what the media dubbed them when they made the news for setting a world record because they all have the same very high IQ, and they claimed the title as their own.
Birth order is Maria, Gyro, and Natasha. Four years separate Gyro from each of his sisters. They were incredibly close while growing up, and still are… when they’re not keeping secrets from each other.
Each of the Gearloose Three has a cutesy little nickname that only the other two can use and live to tell the tale. (With one exception, see below.)
Maria’s name is pronounced the same way as “Mariah”.
Maria’s specialty is math and her hobby is baking. Natasha’s specialty is chemistry, but her passion is art.
While the Gearloose Three didn’t go on adventures outside of Duckburg with Scrooge, Donald, and Della, they most definitely were usually found with the Duck twins when shenanigans happened in Duckburg. Natasha was usually the one to run headfirst into danger, Gyro was usually behind her (more often than not while being dragged by Della), while Maria and Donald took up the rear yelling “Get back here, dummy!” at their siblings.
Natasha often jokes that she and Gyro were Maria’s practice kids, but she’s not exactly wrong. Maria was more Gyro and Natasha’s mother than their actual mother. Four year old Maria basically took one look at baby Gyro and said “This is mine now”, and then four years later she saw baby Natasha and said “This is also mine now”. She’s incredibly nurturing, and was the one her siblings went to for comfort if they were sad, hurt, or scared.
Maria is the other Doctor Gearloose of the family (Yes, she kept her maiden name; it’s the name on her degrees, and she worked hard for those). She’s a highly respected math professor.
Natasha… well. If she had showed up for her dissertation defense, she would also be a Doctor. But she didn’t show up for her dissertation defense, so…
Maria has two kids: Clara and Newton. Clara is an OC, while Newton is OC-ish. Basis for him in canon Duckverse stories, but the only things I’m keeping about him are that he’s Gyro’s nephew, his name, and a love for science.
You know how DT87 Gyro has red hair? Maria and Clara are the red-heads of the family.
Newton is Deaf. He has hearing aids but prefers to use ASL and lip-reading. He’s a cinnamon roll too pure for this world, but has a lot of Gearloose sassy moments. Particularly, he has looked someone in the eye while turning off his hearing aids, a silent “What you have to say isn’t worth wasting the batteries in my hearing aids.” The sign names Newton created for his uncle and aunt relate to his mother’s nicknames for her siblings. Plans to be an inventor like Gyro.
Clara loves ballet and books. Math and science… not so much.
Clara’s going through an angsty teenage phase. Not quite sure what she wants to do with her life and where her strengths lie and where she fits into her strange family. Some bullying that she is most definitely not telling her mom about isn’t helping.
When they were little kids, Gyro was basically Maria’s shadow. Then, when they grew up, Clara became Gyro’s shadow. When she was little and Gyro was fixing or inventing something while visiting, she was his “Little Helper”.
Gyro has another nickname for Clara, which is different than the one Maria, Natasha, and Newton use for her.
Clara and Newton don’t play favorites with their mom’s siblings… but if they did, Clara would pick Gyro and Newton would pick Natasha.
And Gyro and Natasha also wouldn’t pick favorites… but Gyro has a special bond with Clara, and Natasha is very close with Newton.
Maria’s an old soul, and very sensitive and sweet. But, unfortunately, she is afflicted with Resting Gearloose Face and shy, so she often comes across as cold.
Maria’s husband… isn’t much to write about or dwell too much on. Kind of an entitled jerk. And not her first nor her last choice of who to marry.
Natasha is the family wild child, and the most sociable of the Gearloose Three. She’s a little like Launchpad, with a friend or an ex she’s on friendly terms with in pretty much every corner of the globe. She’s also bi.
Natasha travels the country in a van and does odd jobs, to include: waitressing; making replicas of famous paintings; selling her own art; working as a performer at renaissance fairs, comic cons, and parties; and more. She did take some time off from traveling to live with Maria, her husband, and the kids when Newton was a baby to help out her sister.
Yes, her van is basically the Mystery Machine but purple.
Natasha: “Have you tried lavender? What do you mean it didn’t work? It’s freaking lavender! Clearly you’re doing it–. Oh, never mind, I see what the problem is, you need something stronger, here’s some sage.”
Natasha hasn’t been back to Duckburg for ten years, because of a secret she has kept from her siblings for even longer.
