Vine Pewter was born in 1900 to a vaudeville actress and a ? She Met Stanley and Nash at Mardi Gras. The trio then made their way across the country as gypsies and fortune tellers. The Dutchess joined the gang when they found her working as a can-can dancer in an establishment of ill repute and Harvey came along for the ride acting as her manager. The Dutchess claims that Ralph is her brother but the jury is still out on that...hmmmm.

Ralph is a working stiff who tries his best but misfortune seems to befall him at every turn. If backed into a corner, he can be quite resourceful, but he’s far more used to reacting. He is typically quite hungry. When he is not pursuing food, he’s chasing the ladies, and vice versa. Ralph joined the MUTES in a grand, yet rather inadvertent fashion. A small town theater, where Ralph was a janitor, was hosting the MUTES. On the first night of their performance, he fell from the catwalks onto the set (he had been chasing a cat who had stolen the fish he had cooked for himself in the alley). Dazed but unhurt, the stunt got such huge laughs that Vine hired him on the spot. A Duchess-and-Vine-hand-shaped print seems to be a semi-permanent feature of the side of his face.

Polly "Pantaloons" Poindexter is the animal lover of the group. She spent the majority of her childhood bringing home any stray cat or dead opossum she could find; interestingly enough, this is also where her love of amateur taxidermy was born. Polly did not have many human friends as a child. The M.U.T.E.S. stumbled upon Polly by accident late one evening when the car they were traveling in nearly ran her over while she was trying to scrape the remains of a raccoon off the road. Unwilling to share her latest find, Polly attempted to fight the group of intruders. The M.U.T.E.S., impressed by Polly's conviction, invited her to join them in their travels, under one condition- that she leave her animals at home.

Polly may or may not have heeded the demands of the rest of the group, but what they don't know won't hurt them.

Oskar T.B. Wendall was once a well-beloved film tycoon until a string of mistakes during prohibition ruined his good name and took away his fortunes. Left with only his benny and a bindlestiff he struck out on the ole’ Apple Butter Route, barely a step ahead of the law. One night while jake-legged on cheap moonshine he stumbled into an elaborate hobo jungle. There he was given a new set of rags, fed, and told of a mysterious place known as the Big Rock Candy Mountain, where a bum can live for many a day and he don’t need any money. The next day he awoke to find that the hobo jungle had disappeared and he had been afflicted with a wicked bout of the crotch crickets. Oskar decided to strike out for the mountain anyways. Along the way, after being cured in a tent-side revival and feeling light in his step, he tried to pickpocket Vine. This ended in a pounding by Nash Vandeburgh. Vine’s ever watchful eye noticed Oskar’s drunken ability to withstand pain, and figured he’d be perfect for the group. Oskar agreed to help as he continued along on his journey, but he still hasn’t found so much as a single hot dog tree or lake of gin.

Lionel R. Guy When Harvey Hooverville found out he had an older brother who ran away from home at the tender age of 1, he was understandably shocked. But it was true; when young Howard Hooverville saw that bulge in his mommy's belly, he knew then and there that he refused to play second fiddle to some new little bastard. So he packed up his things and triked out of town; he had his name legally changed, and opened up his own medical practice: "Lionel R. Guy, Amateur Gynecologist". You'd think it would be hard to become a doctor before the age of 6, but with the handwriting of a kindergartner's scribble, he was already halfway there. He built up quite the clientele list, including one lovely little lass of a patient who became the first love of his young life, whom he affectionately referred to as "P.P.". He was the happiest little boy in the world, until one day when she grabbed ahold of a squirrel on the street she tried to save from an oncoming car; unfortunately, the squirrel's teeth got stuck in the muffler, and as she would not loosen her grip on the poor beast's tail, she was dragged down the road and out of Lionel's life. He never found out what happened to her after that day. After that, he went on a drug-induced binge, killed a guy, and wound up in maximum security prison. There, he became a motivational speaker for the other inmates, and played an integral part in the prison's "Scared Straight" program. Then, one day, his cell door opened; he had somehow received a full pardon. He walked out to the hall to see who he had to thank; after everything Howard had done, there stood his long-lost brother, Harvey, who had called in a favor from his old boss, Former President Taft. Sundered with emotion, he participated in a tearful embrace with his sibling, and agreed to use his mighty powers of speech to serve the nation silently as The M.U.T.E.S.'s newest recruit. Unfortunately, the family reunion was short-lived, and Lionel's first show alongside his brother turned out to be his last, as Harvey was drafted into the Great War. Harvey has not been heard from since. Lionel continues to perform in his brother's memory... both on the stage and screen, and with the ladies.

"The Dutchess" This mysterious woman is royalty from Russia. She fled her country during political turmoil to pursue a life on the stage all the while concealing her true identity. Shortly after arriving in America, she stumbled upon the MUTES in a grubby little bar where she was a night club singer. After a spectacular win of thumb war by tag team, she was allowed to join the troupe and has enjoyed traveling with them ever since.