Birth Name

Rachel Rebecca Roth

Born

December 25, 1976

Abilities

Rachel is pyrogenetic, able to create fire. However, since she never had any real training, she never mastered this ability and seldom uses it.

Affiliations

None.

Biography

Rachel enjoyed several years of fame in the hit 80s TV show, Li’l Devilgirl. Beginning at age eight, Rachel played the title character for five seasons, until the show’s cancellation in 1989. As has been the case for so many child stars, Rachel saw little of the income she made. Her parents spent the money on themselves… vacations, a big house, new cars, a boat, etc. Not long after the show’s cancellation, her parents died in a plane crash.

Rachel lived with relatives for the next few years, finishing high school and making money from doing modeling work. At 18, she moved from L.A. to San Francisco, soon finding a job at the Red Devil Lounge, where she tended bar and was the establishment’s “mascot” of sorts for several years.

In 2007, after a brief relationship with Dynamistress and some bad experiences involving a former boyfriend (Oscar Helman, a.k.a. Hellion), she moved back to Los Angeles, where she was soon tapped for a film version of her old TV show. The film was released in 2010 to generally positive reviews.

Personality

Rachel is generally a positive, but snarky woman, but she lives in fear of her ex-boyfriend.

Excerpt from Reckoning

The Red Devil is a small place on the corner of Clay and Post. The interior is very dark, lots of black paint and red trim. Strands of red lights adorn the walls and balcony and throughout the wrought ironwork around and above the mirror behind the bar. A devil gargoyle looks down from the top of the mirror. A tiny stage sits in the corner, waiting to host bands and stand-up comedians.

My first night, I met another bartender. I took one look at her and almost laughed. She was several inches shorter than I, with deep red skin, jet black hair, a stereotypical barbed tail, and a pair of cute little horns protruding from her forehead.

“Rachel,” she said simply, thrusting out her hand. “And yes, it’s all real. Including the tail and horns and no, you can’t touch them.” There was a hint of bitterness in her voice, despite the half-smile.

I shook her hand. “And those?” I nodded to her chest.

She blinked, then laughed. “They’re real, too. And no, you can’t touch them, either.”

“Wait a minute,” I said. And the look on her face told me she knew exactly what I was about to say, and was tired of hearing it. I said it, anyway. “You were that kid on TV.”

She nodded wearily. “Yeah. That’s me.”

Li’l Devilgirl was a minor hit show when I was a teen. It was about the misadventures of a little girl who looked… well… like Rachel. She was an adorable, slightly precocious, but sweet child who simultaneously fascinated and freaked out the populace of her small Midwestern town. The “bad guy” of the show was a fairly clueless minister, who also happened to be her uncle. It ran for about five years.

“Why did the show end?” I asked.

Rachel grabbed her boobs. “Puberty.” She chuckled. “We taped them down as much as possible, but there wasn’t much to be done about the growth spurt. I was like Shirley Temple, a has-been at thirteen.” She spread her hands. “Whaddayagonnado?”

“So now you’re a bartender.”

“Well, sort of,” she said. “I’m mainly here for show, y’know? They pay me pretty well to work here and not elsewhere. I’m their token Red Devil, after all.”

“But you do tend bar, right?” I was hoping I wouldn’t have to carry the bulk of the burden for the week as a sub.

“Oh, sure. Memorizing drink recipes is easy compared to memorizing lines. And I went to flair school, too.” She grabbed three bottles and began juggling them without a drop escaping the speed pourers. “I’m fun until someone asks me to ‘make them something original.’ I don’t actually drink, and have no clue about mixology, so I have a list of really obscure recipes in my head to make for those people.”

Over the course of the busy week, Rachel and I got to know one another. And the more we did, the more I liked her. Eventually, I asked the question that had been on my mind since meeting her. And the answer was yes, she did have some meta-abilities. She was pyrogenetic. “Starting fires, though,” she said, “is of limited usefulness when you can’t actually control the fire once you start it. Too much collateral damage. The meta-insurance companies won’t even cover me.”

It was a great week. Lots of fun, nice customers, a couple kickin’ bands. And I have to admit, I really enjoyed watching Rachel’s flair displays. Okay… I really enjoyed looking at Rachel.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Devilgirl was co-created by Erica Stratten.