Mavis Wartella-Depew

"I know what’s going on. I have a sixth sense about these things."

Mavis Wartella-Depew is an 8th grade student at Whistling Pines Junior High.

Mavis is a bit of an oddball student. She carries around things like talismans, and usually shows up in the midst of awkward situations. She's known to be "a little strange." On Rockett's first day, Mavis approaches Rockett, and immediately takes a liking to her, and later gives her a special good-luck charm called an elf rune. Throughout the series, Mavis is constantly trying to help Rockett out in any way, at any time. Mavis is also known to be a bit of a cupid, usually teasing or coaxing Ruben Rosales about Rockett, or vice versa (being the die-hard "shipper").

Mavis is zany, uncoordinated, and shown to be very bad at making music. Her birthday is on October 31st, Halloween. Her maternal ancestry is Romani. Mavis has light brown hair that falls in tight frizzy waves. She has freckles on her cheeks, black eyes, and wears big square-shaped purple glasses. She is the shortest person in her class. Mavis predominantly dresses in long, bulky shirts and sweaters paired with either baggy pants or skirts worn with tights. Mavis was voiced by Audrey Chung, Dionne Quan and Claire Plumb.

In the games Rockett's Secret Invitation and Rockett's First Dance the player can access Mavis' truth glasses in the Hidden Hallway. These let the player hear the unspoken thoughts of the Whistling Pines students who happen to be onscreen when the glasses icon is available.

Background
Mavis is one of two children and the only daughter born to Seymour Depew and Uta Wartella. Seymour is an astrophysicist. Uta is Romani, living a nomadic lifestyle away from the family, and Mavis describes her as a “beautiful gypsy.” She has an older brother, Jerome, who is very nice to her and Mavis is appreciative. Jerome is at least two years older than Mavis.

Mavis believes in karmic principles, luck charms and talismans, and practices divination. She feels psychic inclinations which she calls her “sixth sense” and often correctly predicts bad scenarios. Whether her knowledge is supernatural is unconfirmed; Stephanie Hollis once said that she saw Mavis lurking close by during a private conversation which convinced Stephanie that Mavis is not psychic - just an eavesdropper.

Personality
Mavis is assertive and loud. When she feels she has something important to say, nothing will stop her from speaking her mind. She often pushes her agenda so fervently that her peers have to resort to being rude or mean to get Mavis to listen or stop. She is tactless when it comes to social conventions (i.e. talking about someone’s crush loudly in front of others, crashing a party and eating the food while she waits to speak with one of the guests, or telling someone their efforts are doomed to fail). If Mavis cares what others think about her, she doesn’t show it. She tries to be kind in her own way but her actions are rarely appreciated by others. Mavis has a low nasal voice most of the time, but when she makes her sixth sense predictions she affects a sonorous tremor to sound more mysterious.

Interests & Skills
Mavis is predominantly focused on divination and developing her skills as a psychic. Her locker contains at various times a crystal ball, tarot cards, a bag of rune stones, a rune dictionary, and a turban. She meets weekly in a group of amateur psychics led by Lucretia Bea Nutcake and gives consultations in library alcove 7, Mondays after school.

She is scared of thunderstorms. Her bedroom is painted dark blue.

Relationships
Mavis considers herself good friends with Rockett Movado. She goes out of her way to help Rockett and give advice in almost every game. While Rockett usually tries to protect her reputation by not associating with Mavis, she does own up to acting like a jerk and the two of them always reconcile.

Popular girl Nicole Whittaker bullies Mavis constantly, so it’s easy to see why Mavis calls her “Noxious Nicole” and makes an effort to avoid her. Even if Mavis foresees disaster for Nicole, she won’t go out of her way to warn Nic like she would for anyone else.

Mavis hates Arnold Zietbaum, and the feeling is mutual. Despite both of them being labeled as nerds, they hold very different views on interpreting the world around them (chemistry and aliens vs luck and psychic energy). They are openly hostile to one another by default; and even when forced to work together, they snipe at each other constantly.

The other person Mavis can’t stand is Wolf Dubois. The two rarely interact at school and Wolf has never been mean to her. However, Mavis gets the “heebie-jeebies” from Wolf since he wears a fang on his necklace and has “raisin cookie eyes.” In Are We There Yet? she and Wolf become anonymous cyber pals, and Mavis feels like whoever she’s chatting with is the first person who has ever truly understood her. Rockett finds proof that Mavis’ cyber pal is Wolf and tells Mavis. She is skeptical at first and then disgusted by her online friend’s true identity. Her prejudices about his looks completely cancel out her declaration of finding a kindred spirit, and Mavis does not approach Wolf for friendship.

Academics
Mavis has Mrs. Tinydahl as her homeroom teacher. Her fall report card has her as an A/B average student with wood shop being her best subject and physical education as her worst subject with a D grade.

In Who’s Running This Show?, Mavis participates in the school talent show by being in charge of costumes and props. Her psychic intuition leads her to finding the perfect thrift shop deals.