Paku is a great friend—loyal, easy to be around, and the kind of person who prefers to stay in the background while others shine. He lost his mother when he was very young, and it was his grandmother, Tachita, who taught him to write her letters so he could keep talking to her. He’s been doing it almost every day since he was five. In those letters, he tells her everything: how kids sometimes mess with him at school because of his mark, how he works at the food truck with Tachita, and how he spends a lot of time daydreaming—often about the same girl, a redhead with freckles, someone he somehow invented without knowing why. He always asks his mother the same thing: that if she’s out there somehow, she brings that girl into his life. When Tachita disappears, Paku doesn’t wait or look for explanations—he goes after her, and that decision pulls him out of everything he knows and into something much bigger than he ever imagined. 

He is a Winner Rat.

Carla Rema is the red-haired, freckled girl Paku has dreamed about his entire life. When he finally meets her in real life, he can’t breathe: he knows he has found the love of his life.

Carla feels the same pull, but she quickly understands the risk surrounding Paku. She doesn’t want to suffer for someone who lives so close to death, so she chooses to stay by his side as a friend—even as his guardian—willing to give everything for him, but without crossing that line.

When they are separated, the distance makes one thing clear: Paku is the man of her life. Fear no longer matters, and Carla decides to fight for her true love and not let him go.

She is a Winner Rat.

Tachita is a wise 82-year-old woman who has taken care of Paku since his parents died. She is the only one who knows the origin of the unexplained pains that have followed him his entire life, and on the very day of the incident, she is ready to reveal the truth to him. However, when Paku transforms into a giant, there is no time left. Tachita must hide him, not only from the media and the press, but from a sinister group that will do everything possible to capture him and take him to the most feared prison of all. The problem is that this group captures Tachita first… and they have no idea who they are dealing with.

She is a Winner Rat.

Chandro is definitely Paku’s best friend—and his number one fan. Even though he’s younger, he’s willing to do anything for him and help in any way he can, thanks to his unique gift: Chandro has the ability to see the best in every situation and, as he puts it, he can bend reality to his will. Even when things go wrong—like when they’re captured and taken in a dirty truck to a feared prison—Chandro still finds a reason to smile: there’s nothing better than being right next to the savior himself, Paku Mancha.

He is a Winner Rat.

The first time Paku saw Billy was on the Dalix cargo ship, which was originally headed to Singapore. Paku thought he was the coolest guy he had ever seen in his life: he had an enviable afro, muscular arms, striking green eyes, and the kind of attitude only the best older brother could have. “Spotty” was what Billy called Paku the first time they met, and from that moment on, he never called him anything else. Over time, Billy became one of Paku’s closest friends; he even became his guardian when they had to fight the Zabirs on the roof of a moving train, packed with people.

He is a Winner Rat.

Marbara lives on the Island, and when she met Paku, she found him attractive right away. Without anyone knowing, they slipped away to the clandestine party held at the landfill. It was there that Marbara asked Paku for a kiss. “Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked him. He would have liked to say yes.

She is a Winner Rat.