Ki
Vital Statistics
First Appearance: The Beginning (November 18, 1998)
Full Name: Ki Oshiro Wellington
Known Aliases: Kyoko
Status: Alive
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 4' 11" (149.86 cm)
Weight: 110 lb (49.90 kg)
Hair: Black
Distinguishing Characteristics: Often has loose bangs over her face
Marital Status: Married to Nick Wellington
Character Description
Ki is one of GPF Software's programmers and its chief DBA. She is an attractive Asian woman who's top priority is comfort. She dresses by pulling the first thing out of her closet that she reaches for, and since everything is simple and comfortable, there's no problem. Her second priority is her only true joy: programming.
While Ki can occasionally come across as gruff, sarcastic, and irreverent, she's actually got a squishy, caramel center. Deep down, she's sweet, loving, and a bit of a romantic, but her efforts to make her appear to be "one of the guys" sometimes hides this beautiful side of her. It also plays to her appearance; she used to put little effort into trying to appear sexy (although she tends to need little effort to do so), since that would make her appear separate from the gang. This seems to have changed somewhat, now that she has a husband to impress. She used to smoke, but eventually kicked the habit when she found something (or someone) better to be addicted to.
Ki has a mostly stable (albeit occasionally rocky) dating relationship with her friend, coworker, and now husband, Nick. However, we do know that Trudy took great pains to prevent this relationship from forming, to the point of sabotage. Ki and Trudy have developed a long-lasting grudge match, with the affections of Nick usually planted firmly in the middle. Nick's stubborn refusal to accept Trudy as the "resident evil" of the company had placed a strain on their relationship, until Trudy's twisted plots were finally revealed to him. Now that Trudy is out of the picture, they have overcome the last of their rough edges and settled in for a nice, healthy relationship. In fact, the pair eventually became engaged and recently tied the knot.
During Surreptitious Machinations, Ki proved to be a pivotal player in reassembling the GPF Software crew after Trudy scattered them with her diabolical plots. With the aid of her future son Todd, she reunited the gang to combat the sinister C.R.U.D.E. and free Nick from Trudy's influence. When Todd vanished when his time line ceased to exist, this left an uncertain impression on Ki, a mixture of pride and remorse at the sacrifice of the son she never knew she had. Although she has since learned that he still exists outside of time and space, how his new "existence" will affect her down the road has yet to be seen.
To Thine Own Self... focused primarily on the events surround Nick and Ki's wedding, as well as the unexpected excursions that occur between the rehearsals and the actual event. Like all members of the cast, Ki eventually came face-to-face with the specter of her darker, inner self, which in his case took the guise of the Duchess Ki Oshiro, consort of Emperor Nicholas the Puissant. With the aid of her friends and the U.G.A., she managed to cross into the Emperor's alternate universe to find and rescue Nick. Ki and her friends eventually returned to their home universe relatively unscathed, if a little unsettled by the experience of meeting their alternate selves.
One interesting facet of Ki's history is her mixed parentage. Ki's father hails from Tokyo, Japan, while her mother was born and raised in Hong Kong, China. Both moved to the United States to attend college, and eventually fell in love and remained permanently in the States. Ki was born and raised here, but occasionally takes interest in exploring her diverse heritage. Nick's introduction to the Oshiros was certainly mixed, but the family eventually accepted Nick's proposal to wed their daughter.
Ki has one sibling, her younger brother Yoshi.
Selected Milestones
- Fooker first introduces Nick and Ki
- Ki masquerades as "Pookel" to chat with Nick online
- Dexter the Trekkie Contractor makes moves on Ki
- Ki gets all decked out for the Black Tie Gala
- Trudy torments Ki for a week
- Fooker learns about Ki's affections for Nick
- Ki saves the day at Nerdvana
- Ki gets Fooker to do some "friendly espionage"
- The moment you've all been waiting for... The Date!
- A look at Nick and Ki on the dating scene
- Ki's biggest mistake(?): The "Pookel" Test
- Ki quits smoking
- A look back and Ki's and Fooker's college days
- Surreptitious Machinations:
- Ki dabbles in fantasy writing
- "Short people got nobody to love..."
- Nick finally meets Ki's parents
- Pre-marital perturbation
- An intimate look back at that "jerk from college {she) almost married"
- A honeymoon to remember
Relationships
- Nick Wellington, Ki's husband
- The Oshiros, Ki's parents
- Yoshi Oshiro, Ki's younger brother
- The Wellingtons, Ki's parents-in-law
- Todd, Ki's son from an alternate future time line
Group Affiliations
- GPF Software: Employee, Chief Database Administrator, Programmer
Miscellaneous Notes
I've found Ki to be one of my personal favorites, especially since I think her main inspiration comes from my wife. The two have diverged significantly over the years (I don't think my wife has traveled through time recently), but in her heart, Ki is very much my little sweetie.
One last note, since it always seems to come up... Just how do you pronounce Ki's name? There seems to be two main agreed upon pronunciations out there, one with a long "E" sound as in "key," the other with a long "I" as in "kite." Officially, it is pronounced with the long "E" as in "key." This is how she pronounces it, as does her family.
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(Ungeek this Geek Code courtesy of the Geek Decoder)