Oscar Wao

Grew Up… overweight and nerdy. Oscar's not exactly a looker, and his lack of physical attractiveness isn't enhanced by his skills at Dungeon and Dragons.

Living… in America, but unable to escape his Dominican roots. Oscar's family immigrated to New Jersey from a Dominican Republic ruled by dictator Trujillo, but their familial fukú – "a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World" – has followed them over. Bad luck trails the Waos, and it certainly doesn't seem to make an exception for Oscar.

Profession… reluctant student. It isn't that Oscar is bad at school, more that being overweight and nerdy makes it "the equivalent of a medieval spectacle, like being put in a mob of deranged half-wits."

Interests… all things science fiction and fantasy. From Akira to Doctor Who, Oscar is not just any kind of nerd, but the kind who "[c]ould write in Elvish, could speak Chakobsa, could differentiate between a Slan, a Dorsai, and a Lensman in acute detail, [and] knew more about the Marvel Universe than Stan Lee."

Relationship Status… sadly single. Ever since childhood, Oscar's been a hopeless romantic, dating two girls at once at the tender age of seven. Elementary school, however, seems to be when his romantic luck ended. Now in high school, he's lucky if a girl looks twice at him without grimacing.

Challenge… finding love and escaping his family fukú. For every fukú, there is a counterweight zafa, which can – however temporarily – protect against the worse effects of the curse. Unlike his mother or sister, Oscar hasn't been hit by the full extent of the family fukú yet, but it's only a matter a time before the curse hits him too.

Personality… nerdy, socially awkward, and romantic to the bone. To his friends and family, Oscar is an enigma: a Dominican boy who can't get a girl, a ghetto kid who speaks like a white, upper-middle-class nerd. His outcast status doesn't exactly make Oscar happy, but it's not like he can do much about it: Oscar's not Superman or Spiderman, and he can't exactly switch personalities as easy as changing into a new set of clothes.