The author created the specific characters to play specific roles in Maniac’s life. The Beales family played an important role in Maniac’s strange life by providing him with a family unit. This showed alot of love. Another character that played an important role in Maniac’s life is Mars Bar and he did this by befriending him even though they were COMPLETELY different. He didn't let their differences stop them from being friends. A character that played an important role in Maniac’s life is Grayson and he did this by providing Maniac with a fatherly figure. This affected Maniac in any ways because Grayson filled the void in Maniac's heart from missing his parents.