Full name: Grady Warren
Age: 42
Birth date: September 14, 1976
Gender & pronouns: cismale, he/him/his
Affiliation: Northside Rascals
Occupation: Fire Chief & Northside Rascals President
Faceclaim: Jon Bernthal
B i o g r a p h y »
Born the third child and second son of Marshall and Bonnie Warren, Grady was the only child who had been unplanned – the result of a botched vasectomy. He came nearly a year to the date after his older brother, Simeon, had been born. The two boys, dubbed Irish twins, were thick as thieves growing up, but it was Grady who became responsible for Simeon. Grady was the more levelheaded of the two boys, quick on his feet but cool as a cat when things got tight. Where Simeon went, Grady was never far behind. It was always Grady that people tended to like more. With a mop of curly black hair and the ability to charm even the grumpiest of folks, he rarely rubbed people the wrong way. He made good choices; like his older sister, Maxine, Grady had plans to get out of Muddy Waters and make something for himself. He almost did just that, too.
When they were teenagers, Simeon got involved with the Rascals. Having grown up in Muddy Waters, everybody knew somebody involved with the gang and everybody crossed paths with them. Grady minded his business and kept his nose clean, but Simeon – Simeon did as he was wont to and started integrating himself. Rather than abandon his brother, Grady followed after him, determined to keep his older brother as safe as he could until graduation. After graduation, he was heading to Chicago for the fire academy. From there, he wasn’t sure what he’d do, but he wanted to do something beyond Muddy Waters’ boundaries. He’d said it for years and he reminded himself of it every morning, almost like if he said it enough times, it would become true. But everyone who knew the brothers was skeptical of the idea. If Simeon was around, Grady would be, too.
Until that day came, however, Grady proved plenty useful to the Rascals. Even with the agreement to look the other way between the police and the gang, it was Grady’s work at keeping Simeon’s involvement with the Rascals on the down low that kept several other members out of trouble. He could think up genuine, airtight alibies at the turn of a dime. He squashed more internal fights before they got ugly than other more senior members did, especially when they involved Simeon. A beef with Simeon was a beef with Grady who, even-tempered as he was, had no problem slinging fists rather than words. But when graduation for the youngest Warren rolled around, he stuck to his guns. He packed up and moved to the city, just like he’d said he would and enrolled in the fire academy. He had kept tabs on his big brother back home, making sure things were good. Making sure the Rascal he’d cut a deal with to keep Simeon’s nose clean was holding up his end of the bargain. Everything was fine, he was told. Still, he called once a week at first. Then it delved into once a month. When he was able to, he drove down. After a few years, he brought a girl. There was quick talk of settling down. Then a house was bought, a wedding followed, and he had a job lined up at the fire department within the span of a few months.
While Grady’s return to Muddy Waters was heavily regarded as inevitable, he didn’t return to the fold of the Rascals. Not right away. He wasn’t a teenager anymore; he didn’t have time to babysit his big brother. But… he passed information onto the gang when he could. The police and fire departments went hand-in-hand with each other, passed stories and talk back and forth. That, as far as Grady was concerned, was the length of his involvement. Things were calm enough. The Rascals had their scuffles; Grady worked his way through the ranks in the fire department. He made fire chief in June 2017, the youngest ever in the area, due to his hard work and the respect and knowledge he had gathered over the years. When the Syndicate started moving in a few months later, the increasing tension kept Grady busy. It brought that ‘brother’s keeper’ mentality back to the forefront while simultaneously shoving his marriage into the backseat. Simeon constantly waved his concerns off, saying it’d all blow over in a few months like everything always did.
Simeon’s death came in the form of the General Pub’s bombing and that pushed Grady fully into the fold of the Rascals. It wasn’t that Grady gave a damn about local law enforcements inability to take control of the town; it wasn’t that the lawlessness had touched his family. It was the combination of both factors working together to take away the one person he had always put first. He didn’t care if anyone else was effected; he cared only about getting justice for his brother. This sort of single-mindedness resulted in his wife filing for divorce, citing spousal neglect, and leaving him, but it helped earn Grady enough votes to be elected President of the Northside Rascals.
P e r s o n a l i t y »
Grady is exactly the kind of guy the Rascals needed at the helm. He’s also exactly the kind of guy no one ever wanted to lead them. The years spent minding his older brother coupled with the ones spent remaining calm and collected staring in the face of literal death have him well-prepared for his new role as president. He’s able to take life’s punches and adjust. That particular brand of stability coupled with his rough sort of charm is what drew his wife to him back in his twenties. Having spent nearly twenty years married to the same person, Grady isn’t interested in getting into a new relationship, but he misses that familiarity – of having someone care about you and give a shit. Of having someone to belong to, especially after losing his brother, too. If he didn’t have the Rascals, he’d probably be a lost, shiftless drunk rather than the buzzed fire chief dropping into Sabine’s two or three times a week. Beyond that, Grady is a take no shit kind of guy. Wasting his time is the quickest way to get onto his shitlist. It’s not hard to get onto and there’s only way to get off of it. All somebody has to do is find themselves on the receiving end of the sledgehammer Grady keeps in his truck.
Played by Bethany
