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Zach Arbelt
ZachProfile
My life is a constant battle between being ignored and copious unnecessary pandering.
Info
First Appearance Housepets Christmas Edition
Tag Z-insignia
Gender Male
Species/Breed Rabbit
Owner(s) Jerry Arbelt
Relationship Jessica (girlfriend)
Friends & Family Marvin, King
Affiliation Grape, Peanut, Max, Custom Ink, Falstaff and Truck
Not-so-much
Friends
Tiger, Woodland Critters (unintended prophet), Keene,
The Wolf Cubs, Falstaff and Truck
Location Dimension Prime, Babylon Gardens

Zachary Arbelt, simply known as Zach, is a recurring character in Housepets!. He was adopted into the Arbelt family in his first appearance in Housepets Christmas. He's known by the woodland critters as the Opener of Ways.

Original Site Biography[]

Adopted on Christmas, Zach is the newest member of the Arbelt household. He was rather hyped up after being in the pet store since he was a kit, but now he’s not sure he likes being a pet, especially with the inattention he’s given. Most recently, after running away from home and subsequently rescued, the woodland animals have started calling him Opener of Ways, which, despite giving him the attention he wanted, he does not appreciate much anymore.

Physical Appearance[]

Zach is a rabbit; he is smaller than the cats and dogs, and is about the same size as other woodland animals. While his fur is currently light gray, earlier in the comic it was more of a lavender shade. He has lime green eyes.

Personality[]

Zach is normally very shy and timid; often worrying about this and that, but more-so by the fact he isn't noticed by anybody. He constantly shifts between feeling like he's invisible and receiving unwanted attention.

When he was adopted Zach felt overwhelmed and shunned by his two pet siblings, and desired to be noticed. However, after running away from home he accidentally became a prophet known as the "Opener of Ways," granting him the attention he desired from the woodland animals. He has since regretted the decision, and is bothered by the fact he is falsely idolized, as well as had holy prophecy named after him, despite not doing anything himself. He usually lets out his feelings in a diary, which to his annoyance the woodland critters copy to use as holy literacy.

Zach usually plays the straight man in a crazy world, and thinks everyone except him is nuts; becoming easily annoyed by other people's antics. He often finds himself in situations beyond his control and has chalked it up to "bad luck." Overall, all Zach desires is for people to see him for who he is, which he does when he gets a girlfriend in Jessica.

General Information[]

AllHailTheOpenerofWays

Zach is hailed as the "Opener of Ways."

Zach was adopted by Jerry Arbelt on Christmas and lives with Tiger and Marvin. He immediately earned Tiger's ire when Tiger accused him of trying to replace him.

Although Marvin attempted to make Zach feel welcome; after a whole year of dealing with Tiger's shenanigans, Zach began to feel invisible, insignificant and worthless. When a feral raccoon attempts to break into the house looking for trash, Zach pleads with them to show him what life is like as a feral and he runs away from home. Upon meeting the other feral animals, the raccoon shows Zach the ancient temple, claiming that nobody has been able to open it. Zach touches the door and it opens: the animals immediately hail him as the "Opener of Ways."

Following a hunch based on a previous dream, Grape and Peanut manage to find Zach inside the temple, as the animals have trapped him inside until he "ushers in a new era." Despite Tarot trying to telepathically warn Peanut, Zach activates the mana pool within the temple, inadvertently releasing Pete the Gryphon, which sets up the events for the Cosmic Game to occur in Babylon Gardens.

On Halloween, Max makes a bet with Marvin to stay overnight in an abandoned manor and Marvin picks Zach to help him. Once inside, the Bigglesworths dress as ghosts and scare Zach, causing him to faint.

One summer on June 20th, Zach awakens late after working on his novel, stepping outside only to be hit in the face with a water balloon. He soon ends up getting dragged into a water balloon war between the cats and the dogs. Zach originally sides with the cats, but is captured by the dogs and is "tortured" before the leader of the dogs side: Rockstar Hawk (who changed his name from Space Laser) makes Zach a triple agent for them. Zach teams up with Grape (who was the double agent), who explains that she and Peanut were looking into the true culprit that started the war. After following the clues left by Peanut, they discover the identity of the mastermind: Keene Milton. Keene explains he started the war as a way to test out his new water guns, but the war is stopped when a thunderstorm rolls in. Keene causes an "explooshion" of water, which Zach, Grape and Peanut walk away from. Zach ends up getting a cold, and writes in his diary for the woodland animals to stop copying his diary for their holy literacy.

Zach soon begins having dreams of Pete. One day Keene wishes to host an expedition into the temple, recruiting Zach to join the party due to his connections to the temple, along with Karishad, Daryl and Sabrina. Zach is given the role of the cleric, and despite the last time he was in the temple it was only a single room, when the party enters this time they find it with a much more elaborate dungeon layout. Zach at one point is nearly eaten by a grue and faints in terror, but he is saved by Karishad; he also obtains a "cast light" spell on his foot. When the party finds Pete inside the hidden treasure room, Keene confronts him over his failure to keep his promise to his father Henry Milton . Zach realizes the connection to his dreams.  

One winter, a possum from the woods named Jessica becomes fed up with her friends praying to the Opener, and with her friend's son sick with a fever, she sets off to confront Zach personally. Zach finds her passed out in the snow and brings her inside the house. Jessica berates Zach for living so comfortably while her friends are cold, suffering and clinging to the false hope of a miracle, and to her exasperation Zach agrees with her before he sends her off with medical supplies and a scarf.  

Keene summons Zach to the temple, as gargoyles have been escaping it, and as the "Opener of Ways" Keene wants to see how they react to him. Zach heads into the woods, where he meets a skunk named Cory who swindles him out of his collar with the help of a magpie named Trinket. Zach ends up falling asleep, and trying to make his way back through the woods at night, slips and falls into a chasm. Dangling from a branch, he sees Jessica, who tries to pull him back up; accidentally breaking his ankle before the tree branch she is hanging from snaps and sends them both tumbling into a relocation trap. Unable to escape due to the key that could open the cage being in his stolen collar, Zach laments all of the bad luck that's happened to him and how cold and hurt he is, and Jessica tries to comfort him. The two are rescued by Keene, but when a gargoyle arrives, Zach's "cast light" spell on his foot activates and freezes it. Back at the Arbelt residence, Zach and Jessica recover from their wounds and Zach asks Jessica to hang out with him again. The possum kisses the rabbit on the lips before leaving, and Zach admits maybe he is lucky after all, although he wishes he remembered how to turn the cast light spell off his foot.  

On Easter, Jerry signs Zach up to be the "Easter rabbit" for the mall's egg hunt, where he gives out candy to those who trade in eggs. Unbeknownst to him, Falstaff and Truck have also entered the mall disguised as cats in order to participate. The two continually bother Zach but end up finding the golden egg, and tired of them annoying him, Zach gives them a chocolate rabbit as the grand prize. The two believe it is an effigy of him until he finally snaps and offers to buy the two lunch. 

During the state fair, Zach attempts to find a part time job and accepts an opening at the petting zoo. However Tiger, needing $50 for the fair's eating contest, takes Zach's pay from him to use as the entry fee. While working at the petting zoo, Zach meets with Jessica who snuck in for the free food and later talks with King about Bailey's pregnancy (although he slips up by asking who the father was.) Later Tiger comes in second during the contest, but since he had previously blown up Rock Milton's television studio, he is left with only $50, which Jessica and Zach immediately makes him relinquish. Zach uses his paycheck to buy Jessica a smartphone to call him with. 

During Jessica's den refurbishment, Zach visits her in her trailer as she is not allowed to leave while the show is being filmed. After the den is built, Zach stops by, only for the woodland critters staying with her to once again hail him as the Opener of Ways. He occasionally stays at the den, although he is still annoyed by the worship the woodland animals give him. He also later helps free Mungo when he gets stuck in the door by tickling his nose with his cotton tail, causing Mungo to sneeze himself loose.  

Since then Zach has made several ancillary appearances, mostly with Jessica, such as taking her to the mall, going skating or getting caught in another trap. He returns home at one point only to stumble into Tiger's shenanigans once again

Trivia[]

  • Zach was featured, along with the Cubs on the cover of Housepets! Hope They Don't Get Eaten.
  • Zach is the only rabbit so far to be featured in the comic, although a hare was shown in I Could Have Done That.
    • In addition he is the only pet with an owner in Babylon Gardens who isn't a cat or a dog.
  • Zach is the only member of the Arbelt family in a relationship.
    • Zach is one of the two pets who isn't in a relationship with either a cat or a dog, the other being Joey.
  • Zach was introduced as "Zachary", but that name was only used in his first appearance.


Characters
Dogs Peanut | Bino | Fox | King | Tarot | Fido | Joey | Sasha | Tiger | Bailey | Ralph | Kevin | Duchess | Rex | Lester | Dallas | Satau | Mungo | Olive | Ace | Rook
Cats Grape | Max | Sabrina | Marvin | Res | Jasper | The Bigglesworths | Fiddler and Keys | Delusional Steve | Ptah
Others Zach | Spo | Squeak | Karishad | Falstaff and Truck | Itsuki | Jessica | Custom Ink | What Chicken | Bruce and Roosevelt | Marion | Lois
Ferrets Keene Milton | Lana Milton | Duke Milton | Simon Milton | Rock Milton | Pit Milton
Wolves Miles | Lucretia | Darth Vader Sanchez | Rockstar Hawk | North Star | Daryl | Other Daryl | Lucretia's Mother | "Four Finger Discount" Jack | Poncho | Elaine | Natalie | Uncle Deadeye | Rodney | Snow | Rodney's Cubs
Humans Earl Sandwich | Jill Sandwich | Ryan Byron | Bill Lindberg | Jerry Arbelt | Jeff | Jake | Jeeves | Mr. Steward | Joel Robinson | Mr. Hartford
Fictional Spot (Superdog) | Stripe | Jim-Jim | Bat-Bat | Regular Hawk | Criminals | Pridelands Characters
Celestials Pete the Gryphon | Spirit Dragon | Great Kitsune | Cerberus | Bahamut | Denizens of Heaven
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