Dorothy Keener is one of the main characters in Dumbing of Age. One of the last major additions to the Walkyverse family, she was first introduced in Joyce and Walky!
Walkyverse[]
| Dorothy Keener | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Appearance: | Joyce and Walky! 15 December 2005 (Subscriber-only strip) |
| YOB: | October 23, 1980 |
| Height: | 5'3" |
| Weight: | 125 lbs |
Dorothy Keener was one of Walky's high school classmates (and an occasional victim of Billie's bullying streak), but he didn't pay her much mind until he overhead Dorothy talking about Animaniacs... at which point he developed a full-blown obsession with her.
In an effort to get closer to the object of his affections, Walky took the most obvious path: getting accepted into the school's Honors Society by actually applying his intelligence. However, when Walky admitted to Dorothy that he'd only raised his grades as an excuse to talk to her, she let him down gently, telling him that he should be studying for his own sake, not hers.
In the main Walkyverse, Walky was discouraged, never really talked to her again, and went on to become Professor Doc's lab boy at SEMME.
| Spoiler warning! Plot and/or ending details follow. |
But in another continuity, he answered her challenge, went through med school, and the two got married. Their domestic bliss had serious consequences, however - without Walky around, Sal wound up killing Beef and betraying SEMME to resurrect her parents, a chain of events that left that universe's version of the Head Alien with the ability to traverse realities.
Back in the prime Walkyverse, Dorothy got a degree in political science, failed to get elected to high office, and settled for running a money-losing bookstore. Things went from bad to worse when her foster parents died in an accident; she was eventually able to track down her biological father in Colorado, only to find him dying of a terminal illness.
In the midst of all this, she ran into Walky at a mall food court. Seeing her old admirer doing so well for himself left her with conflicted feelings; taking advantage of her vulnerability, Head Alien II swooped in, claiming to be a time traveler trying to save Walky from an inevitable death at the hands of the mentally unstable Joyce Brown. After being shown images of a reality in which she and Walky were happily married, Dorothy became HA2's reluctant accomplice and allowed him to modify her with Abductee powers.
At the same time, HA2 primed the unwitting Dorothy to act as a conduit for his spirit should he ever be killed. However, his plan backfired when the original Head Alien found Dorothy and settled inside her head.
On the day of Walky's wedding, Dorothy attempted to abduct and then seduce him. When that failed, she turned violent, urged on by the Head Alien. She might have succeeded, but at that moment Joyce arrived with a Jetpack in tow, and helped her husband-to-be escape. Head Alien responded by seizing full control of Dorothy, and crashed Joyce and Walky's wedding with Monkey Master and an army of Future Kids. The attack failed, and an incapacitated Dorothy was selectively mind-wiped by Bobby Walkerton to drive out the recent memories of Head Alien.
With no other family left, Dorothy had volunteered to join Bobby Walkerton in his version of earth to fight the Martians that would return in twenty years time. Since the Head Alien's mind was bound to resurface due to the nature of mind-wipe, Bobby Walkerton resolved to keep an eye on her on the insistence of his parents.
Dumbing of Age[]
| Dorothy Keener | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Appearance: | Dumbing of Age 15 September 2010 |
| Hometown: | Mishawaka, Indiana |
| Major: | Political Science (current), Law (former) |
| Roommate: | Sierra |
| Likes: | Progress, learning, introspection, Saturday morning cartoons |
Dorothy has one goal on her mind: achieve greatness. She may just be at some stupid midwestern state college, but if she focuses on her studies and gets the right scholarships and makes the right connections, she’ll be out of here and into Yale before too long. No distractions, Dorothy! No distractions!
She plans to be the first female and atheist President of the United States. To be frank, she’d feel perfectly complacent about being the second or third, but she doesn’t rate the chances of that actually happening. Nope, it’ll probably have to be her.
| Spoiler warning! Plot and/or ending details follow. |
History[]
Dorothy grew up with Danny Wilcox and Joe Rosenthal, and was Danny's first serious girlfriend. Despite her attempts to dissuade him, Danny wound up following Dorothy to IU, hoping to keep their relationship going. Instead, Dorothy dumped him on move-in day, partially in hopes that the shock would encourage him to be a little less co-dependent.
Shortly thereafter, Dorothy's laser-like focus on success was somewhat thrown by the arrival of David Walkerton, a seemingly goofy underachiever who shared Dorothy's love of the Dexter & Monkey Master cartoon. She was initially somewhat bemused by "Walky"'s all-consuming crush on her, but gradually succumbed to his charms. (Discovering he was a straight-A student didn't hurt either, admittedly.) She also befriended Joyce Brown, a good-natured but extremely sheltered home-schooled Christian who quickly adopted her as her new best friend.
During this time, Dorothy joined the staff of the Indiana Daily Student, the campus newspaper. Her first major scoop was an interview with Roz DeSanto, who'd gained IU-wide notoriety after releasing a sex tape featuring herself and Joe online. She was later assigned the job of tracking down Amazi-Girl, the campus vigilante, after Billie botched the job.
Despite a few close encounters, Dorothy didn't make much headway until she accidentally discovered that Amazi-Girl was actually Amber O'Malley, her next-door neighbor. After some deliberation, Dorothy decided against revealing Amber's identity. In return, a grateful Amber granted Dorothy an exclusive interview with her alter ego.
Trivia[]
- Like many US Presidents, Dorothy is left-handed, although David Willis admits this is just a happy coincidence.
- Among fans, the Dorothy/Walky 'ship has become known as "Dorky".
- Best she can tell, Dorothy is a "Zero" on the Kinsey Scale.
- She has imbibed alcohol on at least two occasions.
- At least in the Dumbiverse, Dorothy's middle name seems to be 'Margot'.
Gallery[]
