Summary
Full name: Richard Clifford Banks | Age: 17-18 | Birthday: April 6th, 1930
Though, it should be noted he introduces his full name as Richard Cliff Banks. He finds that Clifford is a particularly embarassing middle name to have.
An athletic, outgoing and determined young man. He is very sportsmanlike; when playing sports he tends to play them for fun, and hates being too competitive about it. His main sport, the one everyone knows and rewards him for, is baseball. He's played multiple positions, but he's the best at batting.
When he was younger, he used to get tense and nervous at the idea of playing baseball competitively. In fact, his first game he completely struck out - much to his father's dismay, and his mother's worry - but over time and more particularly discipline, he was able to become motivated to be the best baseball player in Boston. Maybe even Massachusetts - who knew! He continues to play baseball for his school, Winsborough Academy, in the fictional town of Winsborough, Massachusetts.
Undeniably, he cares the most about the people around him, such as his best friend, other friends, and family. When his cousin, Robert Banks, is murdered in Winsborough Academy - the school he attends, how awful! - he decides to stop at nothing to figure out how and why he was killed. Richard brings along his best friend, Twigs (real name Edward) Parker, to figure out the mystery, as well as grabbing his friend Dewey Bonham later as well.
Richard tends to make friendships easily, though he finds that it's hard to make them last as long as he would like. Richard's friendship with Dewey, Nathan and Twigs is the only close friendships he's had that lasted for a while.
His relationship with his family is really "hit or miss." He has a good relationship with his mom and siblings, but the same cannot be said for his relationship with his father. (See more in his backstory.)
Richard is not immune to the internal struggles and teenage angst that most boys his age must confront. Before Winsborough, he was easily able to ignore such struggles and, quite honestly, was not even consciously aware of an issue. He could not fit into what society deemed acceptable, and furthermore could not live up to his father's standards of what is acceptable in his home. He tried, as much as he could, but ultimately this inability is something he had to eventually confront. This confrontation then lead to a great realization of identity.
Overall, Richard is a character that must solve the mystery of who killed his cousin, whilst also confronting who he is as a person, and what relationships in his life matter the most to him.
Backstory
The base for his home-life would be a nice house owned by a nice couple in Boston, Massachusetts. They had lived there through the great roaring twenties, and continued to own that house until the late 1950's.
1930
The year Richard Clifford Banks was born was quite the year. It was the year that started, and would later be defined as, the Great Depression. The good news for Rich was that his family was financially well off, and he would hardly have to struggle during his childhood, in terms of the economy. Of course they were affected, but not to the severity where Richard would fear for his electricity or water supply. Later, Richard regards this as a very fortunate time.
Of course, Richard being a newborn during this year he would not recall anything.
1936-1944
Richard would recall his life at home from the age of six to the age of fourteen with a sort of hazy quality. He doesn't remember much, other than being raised Roman Catholic by his father. He would also learn to play baseball in this time, and inevitably fall in love with the sport. At his young age, especially, he wasn't too keen on playing competitively, but his father pressured him to play. He was nervous.
Rich recalls most things about home more clearly from ages ten to fourteen, though still not as clear as later years. He remembers, as the years progressed, he would have increased tensions with his father. Due to such tensions, he would spend time outside of his home in his front yard. One day, when he was fourteen, he was reading a book under the shade of his front yard tree. A couple and their one daughter moved in across the street from him. He went to talk to her as they moved in, and asked if they needed any help with anything.
1945
During this year, he would come to befriend a girl named Susan Harland. The Harland family was an average family; a loving wife and husband, and their lovely blonde daughter with beautiful blue eyes. They were extremely supportive of her and everything she chose to do. Susan loved music, and aspired to play the flute. She had excitedly shown her flute to Richard, and he was quite impressed.
Richard's father saw the two of them bond, and would make comments about it over dinner or in the car ride to the baseball field. "She's a pretty young girl, Richard," He said, "Don't you like her?" Richard, in these instances, would shrug it off and say, "Oh, of course, but I seem to like her as a friend."
The idea that he could have a crush on her was a little surprising, though. Did he? He certainly liked being around her, and he couldn't deny she was pretty... But he wasn't sure.
Meanwhile, Richard became more closed off from his father. At fifteen, he started to see he didn't necessarily like his father. His father was an unnerving pressure on him, as well as his whole family. He was intelligent, sure, but certainly not emotionally; Richard's father rarely ever connected with his oldest son in that way.
1946
Richard heavily considered his relationship with Susan. He decided, at one point, he liked her in the romantic way, and not the previously considered platonic way. Richard had, too, also decided he would ask her on a date. Susan was very enamored. At his age of sixteen, Richard had his first girlfriend.
They would talk, most of the time. Neither of them really knew what they were supposed to do in a relationship, especially not Richard. He had never liked a girl before. They had their first kiss by a beautiful little pond nearby the Banks residence. It was perfect. Richard had to feel like it was perfect.
While Richard's love life was progressing, his relationship with his family became more of a struggle. He tended to seek help from his mother, which she could only provide so much help, and often defended his younger siblings from his father. His father, in question, was still as verbally and emotionally nasty as ever. When Rich could not live up to his father's expectations in sports, or wouldn't meet a certain academic goal, which tended to be stupidly unobtainable for a sixteen year old, his father would scold him with horrible insults.
This verbally abusive environment was one Richard had been subjected to for his entire childhood, but had become more consciously apparent during this time. He would like to spend his time outside more often, if it didn't end up with him being yelled at or threatened. He hated it.
1947 (pre-story events)
Before what would be his final year at Winsborough Academy, he decides in that spring to end his relationship with Susan. He claims, and genuinely at the time thinks, the stress of his home life and school, as well as sports and other extracurriculars, was too much for him to bear and he feared that his relationship would go south in an eternally damaging way. He liked Susan, but he decided he would rather the two of them continue their relationship as friends, and not boyfriend and girlfriend. Though Susan was displeased at Richard's decision, she, over time, realized it was the better decision after all. They were more comfortable that way.
Richard's life at home with his dad did not improve. He decided, when he turned seventeen, that once he graduated from Winsborough he would move away from his father and never have to deal with him again.
Fun Facts
* Richard's favorite sports to watch are baseball (of course) and basketball. He also likes hockey.
* His favorite hobby is to read books. Twigs gives him some recommendations and he eats up books like there's no tomorrow!
* Speaking of Twigs... Rich and Twigs first became friends because Richard needed help studying for trigonometry (which he is bad at). They became study buddies and the rest was history...
* Richard's least favorite food is mashed potatoes. He absolutely hates the texture.
* He was raised Roman Catholic, but later down the line becomes Agnostic. He never tells his family that, but he just really can't feel comfortable with Catholicism.
