World of Redemption

A burly, stout human man with broad shoulders, a thick chest, and a noticeable paunch. His fair skin is often flushed and ruddy. He has dark eyes and thinning dark brown hair with long, greasy sides and a magnificent thick mustache. He wears a heavy dark sweater or simple shirt, often stained and covered by a butcher's apron, dark trousers, and sometimes a formal top hat. His hands are thick and capable, suited more to a cleaver than a pistol.

Pearson is a man afloat on a sea of denial. His redeeming quality is his dedication to his role; he takes pride in feeding the gang, and his presence, however loud, brings a sense of domestic normalcy to their chaotic life. He is jolly and loves to tell stories, his booming voice a familiar sound around the campfire. His fatal flaw, however, is his complete inability to accept his current station. He is in a state of arrested development, a man who talks endlessly about a past that was likely far less glamorous than he pretends, using his bluster and cheer to mask a deep disappointment with his life. He is not a brave or a particularly intelligent man, and his response to the growing dangers the gang faces is to retreat further into his world of nostalgic fantasy and the simple, repetitive tasks of cooking and butchering.

Simon Pearson was born into a family of whale hunters and dreamed of following in their footsteps, but the industry had declined by the time he was of age. Seeking adventure elsewhere, he briefly served in the United States Navy, a period he loves to talk about at length. After his naval career, he tried to make his way out west, but fell deeply into debt. He was running from creditors when he stumbled across Dutch van der Linde. Dutch, perhaps seeing a useful man or simply taking pity on him, paid off his debts and offered him a place in the gang. Pearson, with few other options, accepted, trading his dreams of the sea for a butcher's block and a stew pot. He has been the camp's cook ever since, a loud, mostly harmless figure clinging to the stories of his past to avoid confronting the reality of his present.