Basil Preston Hagen is the title character of Stranger in a Strange School and its sequel Stranger and Stranger. He is a new student at A. Nigma High. One thing that is wrong with him is that he seems to always be in a trance. Basil has a square appearance with the top of his head being flat.
Prior to Stranger in a Strange School[]
Basil has had a fear of birds for most of his life. It is believed by Tina Kwee that this fear is a result from being attacked by birds, the result of alleged attack being a small scar behind his right ear. Basil came from a school not too different from A. Nigma. His father died some months prior to him coming to A. Nigma and he has a strained relationship with his mother who works for a travelling theatre company and thus is only home once a month.
Stranger in a Strange School[]
Personality[]
For the most part, Basil has an inconsistent personality. At first seemingly uninterested in anything, he is actually shy and temperamental, setting himself out as a loner.
Relationships[]
Basil's relationships are strained. There is also a belief that Basil doesn't like anyone, although he does like some people.
Lee[]
Basil is on friendly with terms with Lee. He knows full well that Lee is innocent, claiming that he knows because he has been on "both sides of the tracks." The two have an extremely strained relationship, while being on friendly terms Lee has time when he feels fairly antagonistic towards Basil such as when Basil pushed Tina in Murder's direction with the statement "Sacrifices must be made!" That feeling soon passed when Murder flew right past Tina, causing Lee to realize in horror that Murder was going after Basil. Lee later saved Basil from Murder.
Tina[]
Basil is on friendly terms with Tina. At first attempting to ignore her completely, he ended becoming Tina's friend.When Murder showed up, Tina worried about Basil's safety.
Chaz[]
Basil and Chaz once had a brief encounter in the halls during lunch. They both seem to have a low opinion about each other with Chaz having called Basil "Frankenstein" and Basil replying with punching Chaz in the gut. Basil doesn't like Chaz but it is pointed out by some that Basil doesn't like anyone. The two eventually have a better relationship due to Basil having at one point served as Chaz's cameraman.Basil however views it as more of doing Chaz a favour and as such says that he'll decide when Chaz has to repay the favour.
Barrage[]
While Basil is intimidated by Barrage he did briefly argue against what Lee and Tina said about him, however Basil also considers Barrage to be a jerk. Barrage has forced Basil into being his spy among the student body, threatening him with expulsion if Basil doesn't cooperate.
Cam[]
Basil once stated that he didn't like Cam. He considers Cam to be a jerk and when selling candles asks for $10.00 from Cam instead of the usual $5.00.
Holger[]
Basil doesn't like Holger, claiming that Holger's dancing gives him nightmares. However, Basil has recently shown some respect towards Holger, giving him the nickname "Heimdall" with Holger giving Basil the nickname "Balder."
Biffy[]
Basil has a lack of interaction with Biffy but it seems that they have had some. Basil doesn't like Biffy who in turn does not like Basil.
Brandy[]
Basil and Brandy have had an interesting relationship. At first purely antagonistic, Brandy has shown kindness, being clearly worried, when Basil showed up at school with a leg injury. Basil planned to use this by making up a story about him having fought and won against three other students to explain how he got the leg injury, when in fact he had actually fallen down some stairs. This friendly moment was cut short when Basil gave a rather insane argument about why he wouldn't make pink candles.
Cassius Hagen[]
It is implied that Basil was closer to his father than he was to his mother. Basil does miss his father even if he doesn't like his father's books.
Sondra Hagen[]
Basil and Sondra have had a strained relationship. Besides barely showing any interest in her son, it is implied that Sondra is connected to the Prank Conspiracy and even offered up Basil to have the prank song be tested on.
Roman[]
Roman is Basil's best friend. The two have known each other since the first grade and are still friends since Basil's move.
Murder[]
Murder is a large turkey vulture that belongs to the principal from Basil's old school: Bela Legendre. Being a bird, Murder attacks Basil any chance he gets, causing Basil to consider Murder to be his archenemy.
Audrey Connery[]
Audrey Connery is Basil's ex-girlfriend. Basil spends most of the story trying to remember her name and appearance but does remember her when she shows up at A. Nigma. According to Basil they both shared a cruel sense of humour but Basil has since lost that sense of humour. It would seem that there was no real love between the two considering how Basil had made a wet mop comment about Audrey.
Clarence[]
The Vice Principal of Xanadu, Clarence once threatened to throw Basil off the roof and make it look like an accident. Clarence once again threatened Basil during a chance meeting at A. Nigma, while delivering Murder to Barrage, this time to knock all of his teeth out with a prison guard baton.
Brad Von Chilstein[]
Basil had known Brad before coming to A. Nigma. When they were five, Brad had pushed Basil into a lake in a joke, nearly causing Basil to drown.Basil had a vendetta for a fews years but he renounced it when Brad nearly drowned, considering it to be karma. Basil later ends up begging Brad for protection from the students that Murder had attacked but ended up being roped into a revenge plan against Lee and Tina. Brad is rather cruel towards Basil, at one point stepping on Basil's hand as a warning of what would happen without his protection. Brad doesn't even remember why he hates Basil and just say that is feels natural. Strangely, these two have known to go bowling together. In a twist however them discussing going bowling it just these two attempting to make small talk.
Margarita Tejada[]
Margarita seems to have known Basil since childhood.Basil doesn't seem to remember her but he does seem to be friendly with her. With a crush on her, Basil suffers from the same problems as Lee does when it comes to love.
Peter Russell[]
Peter Russell is Basil's cousin. With a real mean streak in him, Peter is antagonistic towards Basil. The reason is Peter hates Basil because his middle name is "Preston" the name of their grandfather and believes that Basil was their grandfather's favourite. He is right of course, Preston Hagen had seen in the cruelty in Peter and thus would never spend anytime with him, only with Basil. Peter might have a right to be angry but that doesn't mean he should be antagonistic to Basil. His most cruel act so far is him saying that Basil's friends are only pretending to be his friends so they can stare at his disfigurement, while Basil's friends are in earshot.