Nicole "Nikki/Nik" Castillo

Thirty-eight years old, Nikki is a bisexual lawyer who lives and mostly works in the Northside but branches out to Greendale occasionally. However, as a born and bred Southsider and a retired Serpent, she takes pride in doing pro-bono work for the community she grew up in. Unlike Alice Cooper, Nikki never forgot about or tried to hide her roots. Owen, her high school sweetheart turned husband, never approved but he was rarely in the country so his opinion on the matter was moot. Aside from the constant separation, fighting over her work for the Southside as well as her eagerness to take in her orphaned Serpent cousin/godson, Frankie Valdez, without consulting Owen, the growing wedge between them finally became a chasm. After the mostly amicable divorce, Nikki began a tenuous affair with the Snake Charmer, Penny Peabody, who she'd tangled with at the courthouse on occasion and built a friendly repertoire. The whirlwind romance made her happier than she'd been in a very long time, until her lover began to viciously target Jughead Jones. Nikki quickly broke things off and took it upon herself to look after her best friend FP's boy, which brought far more trouble to her doorstep than she'd initially anticipated. With an ex-husband berating her every decision, two teenagers constantly butting heads under her roof, Riverdale at war with the Serpents and a serial killer on the loose, Nikki found herself at a crossroads: she could either help maintain the peace in Riverdale, or be the serpent lurking beneath it.

"Calm down. Let's start with the basics and we'll go from there. Who told you to go to Penny in the first place?"

"Tallboy."

"Of course. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Tallboy is very good at playing the loyal soldier but, the truth is, he's always been jealous of your father. I've had my suspicions for some time now that he's been after FP's crown. Seems he finally made a play for it."

"And I've been helping him make a mess of things."

"Not intentionally. You couldn't have known. You haven't—"

"Been here? That's exactly the problem! I've been avoiding the Serpents my whole life. If I'd been here, I would've seen what Tallboy was doing! Instead, I've been..."

"Jughead, I know everyone has probably told you that you can't live with one foot in the North and one in the South. That you can't be half a Serpent, and I know you probably believe that. But I promise you, you can. I am living proof of that, baby boy. Now, dust yourself off, fix your beanie and grab your jacket. We're going out. There are some snakes that need beheading."

"I thought you couldn't get involved in Serpent business."

"Not directly, no. But I'm willing to make an exception this time. It's personal. And strictly between us. Deal?"

"Deal. Um, you didn't mean "beheading" literally...did you?"

"I haven't decided."

Owen O'Dell

Forty year old Owen is a Lieutenant in the US Marine Corp and makes no apologies for it. He spent most of his childhood determined to keep the peace in Riverdale, between the North and South – if for no other reason than to be with his girlfriend, Nikki Castillo, without issue – so trying to keep the peace of a global scale was the natural course of action. Not long after graduating, the two married and Owen enlisted. While on his second tour overseas, he found out Nikki was pregnant and began working hard to prove himself and rank up. Every bit of his pay went home to his wife, helping put her through law school while she practically raised their daughter single-handedly. Owen didn't even get to meet Camilla until she was almost a year old, a fact he deeply regrets but sacrifices had to be made in order to provide. 

The constant separation had a lasting and damaging effect on his marriage, however, and the two ultimately decided to divorce. To make the transition as easy as possibly for their daughter, they agreed Nikki would have full custody of her as he would still be required to go overseas at any moment. That didn't stop him from giving his daughter a key to his new apartment so she could sleep over there whenever she wanted. Nothing would change, he just wouldn't be living with them anymore. If only the problems seeping into his home were so easily fixed. Life had always been far from perfect for the dysfunctional nuclear family, but things were soon to get much, much worse.

"Come on, Dad! Why can't I just live at your place?"

"Because you're underaged and you can't live alone, sweetie. You know that."

"Then you shouldn't have given me a key."

"I didn't give it to you so you could run away from your mother every night! This has to stop, now."

"Its not fair! Mom is a nightmare. You know she's still helping the Serpents, rights?"

"I know and, while I have never approved, there are some good people there. People who looked after your mother and you while I was gone."

"I think I'd remember seeing snakes hanging around, Daddy. Besides Frankie."

"Okay, one, lose the attitude and be nicer to your cousin. Secondly, you wouldn't remember because you were just a baby. I might not like or even trust the Serpents, mi hija, but they're good to you because of your mother. They look after their own. I can at least respect that."

"But I'm not one of them! I'm a Northsider, born and raised!"

"With Southside in half your blood. Whether you like it or not, a part of you will always be Southside. Just like your mother."

"I am nothing like her!"

"You are more like her than you realize."

Camilla "Cricket" O'Dell

Sixteen year old Camilla is the daughter of retired Southside Serpent turned lawyer Nikki Castillo and Northside Marine Owen O'Dell. Affectionately called Cricket by her family and closest friends, she happily ignores her roots to the Southside, preferring to thrive in her home in the North and working at the Bijou. She used to think her parents were soulmates until they divorced her Freshman year causing the strained relationship with her mother to quickly sour as her father moved out, leaving her behind. While not popular, her small circle of friends – softball buddy Nancy Woods and the brilliant Trula Twyst – are acceptable enough to spare her the wrath of Cheryl, so she counts her blessings. Of course her mother's escalating association with her Serpent friends amidst the Black Hood serial murders, as well as having her Serpent second cousin, Frankie Valdez, move into her home and transfer to her school, certainly changed Cricket's once peaceful life. But that was just the beginning of problems for the softball star as her semi-charmed kind of life was thrown a massive curveball.

"Let's get one thing straight: we might be unfortunate enough to be blood related but that doesn't make us family and we sure as hell aren't friends."

"And here I was thinking we were gonna go back to the good old days of camping in the living room, having sing alongs and s'mores."

"Spare me the unwanted trip down nostalgia lane, pendejo."

"Wow. Is this seriously why you called me here? This was great and all, really, but I have better things to do so, adios."

"Wait! I hate the Serpents. I hate the Wyrm, I hate your motorcycles, I hate that giant moron Sweet Pea, and that truant Topaz–"

"What, you don't hate Fangs?"

"He's actually the only decent one among your pit. He keeps his nose out of other people's business and his mouth shut when he's told."

"Aww, prima, do you have a crush?"

"Shut up! I hate the Southside, Frankie. I hate everything about it. But...whether I like it or not, Southside is in my blood and what the Lodges are doing to it, what they plan to do, is deplorable."

"Something we can agree on. So what do you suggest?"

"A truce. I'm willing to side with the Southside students to bring down the Lodges, and my two best girls are also willing to help–"

"Because Nancy is actually a good person and Trula is obsessed with Jughead."

"Will you let me finish?! They'll help. Whatever you and the Serpents plan, count us in."

"Even if it means you might get arrested? Tends to happen when you're a Serpent, prima, whether the charges are on the up-and-up or not."

"I said we're in, we're in. Besides, what's the point of having a lawyer for a mother if she can't get you out of jail from time to time?"

Francisco "Frankie" Valdez

Sixteen year old Frankie is a Serpent whose world spins off its axis when his father suddenly dies in a car crash. With his mother having been MIA since he was a toddler, he's taken in by his cousin and godmother, Nikki Castillo. His entire life is then uprooted when he's forced to move to the Northside to live with her and her daughter. Nikki tries to make the transition as easy as possible for him, but it isn't easy. While she assures him that he doesn't have to give up the Serpents, her daughter, Cricket O'Dell, and the school make it abundantly clear that its in his best interests to do just that. 

Besides dealing with his once friendly turned vitriolic second cousin treating him like a pariah both at home and school, the lone Serpent finds himself an easy target amidst the mounting tensions in Northside, with Reggie Mantle and Alice Cooper leading the witch hunt against him. Frankie can't help but wonder how much worse things would be if he were out, so he keeps that secret in order to spare himself the misery. His only respite is Riverdale High's music room, where he forms a tentative friendship with Archie Andrews, the pair finding a common ground and bonding over their love of music. However, it seemed that changing schools and dealing with insecure bullies was just the start, and least, of his problems with a serial killer taking out "sinners".

"Ya know, being the only Serpent at Riverdale High sucked but I was starting to get comfortably numb to it. The threats were down to twice a week, I wasn't getting jumped anymore – hell, I've been getting Cs! It was almost normal. And then one of those idiots decided to tag the school seal in broad daylight and now its worse than ever."

"Dude, you know it wasn't us. It was probably that stupid Bulldog, Reggie."

"I don't care who did it, Toni! Us or them, it doesn't matter because we're always gonna get the blame! And the guys know that and, instead of just letting it go, they blow up!"

"You really expect Sweet Pea to keep a level head? Come on, don't be naive. Besides, what are we supposed to do? We're just supposed to accept it? Take that bullshit like we've been doing for years? That shit's not gonna fly anymore, Frankie."

"I'm not saying that! I'm just saying it'd be easier if we could find another way to work this shit out instead of always going for a brawl! I'm sick of sticking my neck out and going home bloody because the guys can't control their temper!"

"You had a good thing here till we transferred, didn't you?"

"Doesn't matter. Those days are dead."

"So what, you gonna retire and leave us now? Be a Northie?"

"You know me better than that, Toni. I'm a Serpent till the day I die. I'd just like that day to be at least fifty years from now instead of worrying that I'm gonna get jumped and shot or stabbed every fifty fucking minutes. And I don't think that's asking a lot."