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Name/Nickname: Wayne Rhoades
Gender: Male
Birthdate/"Permanent" Story Age/Astrological Sign: NA; late forties/fifties; Aries
Birthplace/Current Location: Minot, North Dakota
Height: 6'6"
Weight/Body Type: Slightly above average; stocky/muscular
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Medium brown; short
Race/Ethnic Background: Caucasian; NA
Relationship Status: Married (Nora Rhoades, wife); also casually involved (Russell Whittaker, boyfriend (nonexclusive)); various non-romantic sexual relationships, usually one time only (NOTE--Nora is aware and tacitly accepting of her husband's infidelity as long as he doesn't have affairs with other women, plus a few other rules)
Orientation: Biromantic bisexual, prefers (submissive) men
Siblings: NA
Profession: Sheriff, Ward County (ND) Sheriff's Department
Distinguishing Characteristics: Physically intimidating; his reputation for seeking out casual sexual encounters with men is relatively well known but not much talked about
General Appearance: Wears Sheriff's Department uniform while on the job; tall and imposing, almost always humorless and ill tempered
First Appeared In: Four P(?)
Character Summary: Next to nothing is currently known about Sheriff Rhoades's life history before he was involved in law enforcement, so it can be assumed that his childhood through early adult years were relatively uneventful. It is known that he realized his preference for men as a teenager; while he's never directly addressed this, most people who know him are aware of it, and it's occasionally joked about, safely behind his back, of course. Despite this preference, he married a woman, Nora, and while the two do love each other, their marriage has been an odd and complicated one. They have two children, Sean and Krystall.
For a time Rhoades was a part-time instructor at the police academy, where Max Kristeva was one of his trainees. Rhoades attempted to initiate a sexual encounter, which Kristeva neither encouraged nor discouraged at first, though he soon excused himself when he was suddenly afflicted with a nosebleed and the two never spoke of the incident again. When Kristeva later came to work for the Ward County Sheriff's Department, Rhoades, dismayed, tried to convince him to transfer to a different station; Kristeva replied that what had happened in the past would have no effect on him performing his duties there, so Rhoades reluctantly allowed him to stay. Kristeva's insistence that Rhoades's past interest in him meant nothing did sting him somewhat, though, since he still had strong feelings for his deputy, and would often fantasize about him while with other men and occasionally with his wife. (For this reason, Nora is fully aware of her husband's feelings for Kristeva, though when she privately asked Kristeva himself about it, he reassured her that Rhoades had never tried anything beyond his first, failed approach.)
Rhoades seems to go through moodswings where he's sullen, temperamental, and more interested in men, or calmer, more affectionate, and more interested in Nora; he's never shown interest in any other women. Nora quickly caught on to her husband's frequent visits with men, which always took place when he was in his sullen mood; the occasions when the two of them had relations when he was in such a mood were often unpleasant for both of them, with Rhoades being borderline violent and displeased, and Nora afraid and unhappy. After he was too rough during one such encounter and remorsefully took her to the hospital (Nora told the doctor they "just got carried away"), they established a set of "rules" governing what sort of behavior was and wasn't acceptable in their marriage; Nora agreed to overlook her husband's affairs with men, as long as he stayed safe, didn't get romantically involved with any of them, always came back to her when he was done, and never got involved with other women. Rhoades agreed that when he wanted to get rough, he would seek a willing male partner instead of taking it out on her. The rules were slightly modified with changes in personal circumstances, though both agreed to discuss such changes before they were made. Although others usually didn't understand how such an arrangement could work (Kristeva's wife, Natalie, seemed especially perplexed when she learned of the Rhoadeses' agreement), this greatly relieved tension in the marriage, and even drew Rhoades and Nora closer together.
Some time after Kristeva had been promoted to detective, Rhoades transferred him (and Officer Christine DelBora) to the Minot Police Department, ostensibly to assist with the new MPD task force investigating ritual crimes, though Rhoades also wished for Kristeva to keep an eye and report back on the activities of the Minot police lieutenant, Alan Kincaid, whose behavior during a related investigation (the murder of July Lockett and the attempted murders of Kincaid and Psyche Cooper, and the arrests of Mitchell Barnes and Officer Chad Jenner) had been erratic. The move was also a good excuse to get Kristeva out of the Sheriff's Department. This backfired when Kristeva's own interest in cult-related criminal activities was piqued. Briefly, Kristeva and his partner, Det. Chance Devetko, suspected Sheriff Rhoades--and possibly Minot Police Chief Don Bowen--of being involved in a coverup concerning the cult, when the truth was that they had hidden key details of the initial investigation, led by late Minot policemen Det. Wesley Singer and Sgt. Mark Kincaid, in order to avoid public disbelief/mockery which might taint any resulting criminal trials, as well as to protect certain people involved with the case, including Lt. Kincaid and Kristeva himself. (Rhoades and Bowen were known to often not see eye to eye, which made their cooperation unusual.) Bowen had given Singer's case notes to Rhoades for safekeeping so they couldn't easily be found in the MPD's files; Rhoades returned them when Kristeva reignited the cold case, telling him, "Tell Bowen he can keep it."
By chance, Rhoades came across Russell Whittaker, a young man Kristeva had helped out in the past, in the county building; Russell was receptive when he initiated a sexual encounter. Rhoades had, as usual, intended this to be one time only, but found himself developing feelings for him, even inviting Russell to spend a weekend with him at his family's old, long-unused cabin secluded in the woods. Although he attempted to brush it off at first (often addressing Russell rather brusquely, and even threatening him with violence when Russell overstepped his bounds or otherwise annoyed him, though Russell seemed aware that he never intended to act on it), Rhoades was confused to realize that his feelings toward Russell weren't just sexual, but romantic as well, and the two of them met up more frequently. He was unaware that Nora had learned of their budding relationship very early on, after accidentally witnessing the two together; Rhoades was stunned when she finally told him she knew. By then, his visits to Russell, although still done in secret, were a regular occurrence; Rhoades had even told Russell about his arrangement with his wife, which complicated things even more, with its emphasis on him not getting romantically involved with anyone else. His confusion grew when Nora didn't issue the expected ultimatum that he choose Russell or his family; instead, she explained that his entire demeanor seemed to have subtly changed since the affair started. He no longer seemed to become as sullen and unsatisfied so often, and in fact had become more affectionate and emotionally demonstrative when with her--in short, his illicit relationship with Russell seemed to have improved his relationship with her. She suggested an amendment to their arrangement, with Russell being the sole exception to the no romantic relationships rule, and even said that they should continue to make use of the cabin when needed, since it was otherwise going unused. Rhoades wasn't quite sure what to make of this proposal at first, though Nora seemed sincere, and so the change was made. It was the last such modification to their agreement, as he had no desire to form any similar attachments to anyone else, and the two remained married and active in their own relationship, while Rhoades also continued to see Russell and keep their relationship apart from the rest of his life (an arrangement which Russell was content with, as well).
Rhoades is one of the very few people aware of the circumstances surrounding how Kristeva's first marriage to wife Natalie ended, as he was the only person Natalie disclosed all the details to--that Kristeva had sexually assaulted her while apparently in the middle of some sort of psychological breakdown, after which he remembered nothing. Natalie's vow that if Rhoades or anyone else attempted to press charges, she would say they "just got carried away" struck him, and he was forced to let the matter go, though it may have played a part in Kristeva's transferral to the MPD. Only much later, after Russell explained his own experiences with DID (multiple personalities), did Rhoades start to see the similarities, though he has yet to convince himself of the truth of this and is not one of the people Kristeva has come out to. His professional relationship with Kristeva is complicated, as he still harbors feelings for him, and thus is willing to overlook some of his actions, though on other occasions the two have come into conflict regarding how to investigate certain cases such as the Singer case, or Kristeva's own attempts to keep Rhoades's volatile temper in check.
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