The first character I had in mind was Vi, a potential Slayer from season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though her screen time was limited, Felicia Day gave the character such a lovable quality, that she was a natural for her own spin-off. My take on Vi was that she would be a skilled fighter, but a little naive in worldly matters.

Next, came the character of Lon. I thought it would be interesting to have a young, inexperienced Watcher. Someone who was full of academic knowledge but lacked any practical "real-world" experience. As an added Buffy tie-in, I decided to make the character the son of former Council head Quentin Travers. The character was originally to be played by British singer/actor Will Young, but as the character's storyline was fleshed out, the part was recast several times until I finally decided on Matthew Macfadyen.

The character of Frank changed a lot from my original concept. In the beginning, Frank was to be a demon who ran the diner that the team used as their headquarters. But as the Initiative aspect was brought in, the character morphed into that of a career military man. Being a long-time Bruce Campbell fan, I never saw the character as being played by anyone else.

Supernatural series need a "Regular Joe" to bounce things off of. Just an ordinary person who doesn't have any super powers or special training. Someone that can learn all about the paranormal along with the audience. This is were Tyler came from.  Initially, he was just going to be a student at the local college who Vi befriended, but as Frank's storyline changed, I decided to make them uncle and nephew, bringing in a family dynamic.

From the start, I wanted to have a witch character. My initial choice to fill the role was Amy, again of Buffy. Her character went bad in seasons six and seven. In my storyline, she would have gone through "magic-detox" and was now learning to use her powers for good. As I began to build the story, I learned that Amy was going to play a major role in the first arc of the Buffy Season Eight Comic, so I decided to drop her. But this left a void in my character roster and inadvertently led to the addition of an other character.

While looking back at Amy's history, I came across the character of Michael Czajak, a quiet, Goth kid who dabbled in magic with Amy and Willow. Since Amy was no longer in the picture, I turned my attention to Michael as the magical component of the show. He only appeared in one episode of Buffy which left his fate wide open for me to create. I chose to change the character and take it in a totally different direction.  No longer a wimpy, nerdy Goth kid, he would now be out-going, attractive, and blonde. Since people can change dramatically in the years after they leave high school, I didn't think this was too far-fetched an idea. And for extra diversity, he would also be gay. The character of Mike was recast several times before settling on Ryan Hansen.

The final addition to the cast of characters was Tamsin. Eliminating Amy meant that Vi would be the only female of the group. Being a fan of strong female roles, I decided to add someone with whom Vi could form a sisterly bond. Eventually, the character became Lon's sister, adding yet another dynamic to the story.

Another big change for the series was the title. When I finally hammered out most of the details, the show was called The Rift. This title signified not only the dimensional tears featured in the story, but also the emotional and personal ones which take place between the characters. As I started to poke around the boards at Monster Zero, I found that there was already another series call "The Rift" in the works. so the search for a new title was on.

Over the next few months, the story became more clear in my mind and my desire to put it all down grew stronger. And so Hell's Gate was born. I hope you enjoy experiencing it as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

Robb House Creator/Executive Producer/ Head Writer of Hell's Gate