Character · from book 1
Bea
Beatrice, Carl's ex-girlfriend, Donut's owner and handler, in the Bahamas, with her ex-boyfriend along, when the world ends. Never on the page in person; present in Carl's resentment and in every one of Donut's sentences that begins 'Miss Beatrice.'
Race and class, since book 1: Human
First appears: Book 1
Series arc
As of book 2. Never present, always invoked: Carl's ex and Donut's owner, whom book 1 uses to measure the two protagonists against each other and book 2 closes — a fan-box photograph Carl can look at, a mother's advice about seeming dumb that Carl fears for Donut, and Donut's 'I know she's dead.'
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Whether Bea is alive | B1 ch. 4 | resolved · B2 ch. 24 — 'I'm not as dumb as I pretend to be. I know she's dead.' |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 1
Never present, always invoked. Book 1 uses her to measure the two protagonists against each other: Donut loves her more than Carl and says so (B1 ch. 34); Carl learns from the cat everything he missed about the end of the relationship (B1 ch. 10, B1 ch. 20) and does not tell Donut that Bea was giving her up (B1 ch. 34). Whether Bea is alive is a question the book raises and refuses.
Through book 2
Book 2 closes her. The fan-box photograph on Brad the Chad's lap is the test and Carl passes it (B2 ch. 17); Bea's mother's advice about seeming dumb is what Carl fears for Donut (B2 ch. 12); and Donut says what both of them know (B2 ch. 24). Chappy's question on air — would Donut leave Carl for her — is the only version of the future in which she matters (B2 ch. 19).
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl | 21/48 | 1, 3–6, 8–10, 12–13, 15, 19–20, 24, 30, 32, 34, 36, 41, 43, 45 · the book's own page |
| 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario | 11/26 | 5–6, 8–9, 12–15, 17, 19, 23 · the book's own page |
By book
Bea in book 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl
Beatrice is in the Bahamas with someone else when the buildings fall (ch. 1); her father is a lawyer out of Yakima, which is why catnapping Donut would never have worked (ch. 8). Every fact Carl learns about the end of his relationship comes from the cat: the other guy who came over on Carl's gym days (ch. 10), the three at once, counting Angel's owner, a woman (ch. 20), the leggings pyramid scheme (ch. 32), the Gossip Girl rewatches (ch. 36), the 'Daddy tax' (ch. 45). Donut still loves her more than Carl and says so (ch. 34); Carl does not say back that Bea was giving her up. He taught himself to brush the cat because Bea showed him (ch. 41).
Bea in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario
A fan box gives Donut a framed photo from Bea's Instagram, the one of Bea on Brad_the_Chad69's lap that ended the relationship, and Carl finds the weight is gone (ch. 17). Her mother's Thanksgiving advice — seem dumber than you are — is what Carl fears Donut inherited (ch. 12); 'It doesn't take much to make him happy' is what Bea said about him (ch. 12). Chappy, an elf in a top hat, asks Donut on air whether she would leave Carl for Bea (ch. 19); under the glass case Donut says she knows Bea is dead (ch. 24).