Rhea Varnado (TV Series)

This article is about the What Remains character. For other pages with the same name, see: Rhea

Rhea Varnado, otherwise known as Barbie Doll, is a main character and a former antagonist, as well as a survivor of the outbreak in GWR's What Remains. She is the leader of the Dollfaces and a lieutenant in the Inner-Cities Liberation Front.

Rhea served as a secondary antagonist for the beginning of Season 2, and an anti-hero for the back-half going into Season 3.

Pre-Apocalypse[]

Los Angeles, California[]

Prior to the outbreak, Rhea lived in Los Angeles, California where she worked as an exotic dancer and professional wrestler.

Post-Apocalypse[]

Monroe County, New York[]

Rhea, otherwise known as Barbie Doll, had a colorful past prior to her claim in the Dollfaces. She survived alongside her younger brother and a small group of close friends from her community, until her group was eventually eradicated. She ended up traveling across the United States of America to Monroe County, New York where she discovered Pittsford, a burgeoning community.

She remained in Pittsford for many years as an indentured servant of Armando Rusk, a former criminal king-pin. Armando was a respected proprietor of The Dollhouse which is a brothel and night-club operating in the Liberty District, a large district which encompasses much of Pittsford. After a civil war, Rhea was able to depose the former leader and seize control of the empire he built. He was left paralyzed from the neck down and was spared as an example of her power to the other gangs in the district. Rhea collaborated with a much larger organized crime syndicate to gain legitimacy, and was ultimately respected due to her ruthless nature. Alongside a close associate, Robbie B. Badd, whom she staged her rebellion with, Rhea reorganized the organization and became a favored icon within the district with a wide berth of resources.

After decades of abuse at the hands of The Coalition, Rhea and the Dollfaces are one of many organizations to come out in support of the Inner-Cities Liberation Front, a network of terrorist cells waging guerilla warfare against the established government. She is regarded as a lieutenant, and has served as a key recruiter for the organization during their rapid growth and rise to power with The Dollhouse serving as a mutual ground for each of the groups to host meets, as well as conduct business without fear of interference from the government. Her organization is responsible for carrying out countless acts of terror across the city.

When Senior Ranger Max Rutherford and her unit carried out a raid on The Dollhouse, Rhea was tipped off by several contacts in The Coalition's government that someone within her organization had spoken against her and given critical information to The Coalition. She was able to avoid arrest by fleeing shortly before the raid began, and arrived at Fort Harris, the headquarters of Unit 2-15, where she sought refuge while she wormed out who was responsible for the betrayal. After forming a close relationship with the Max over the months the pair lived together, Rhea revealed her suspicion that her former business partner, Robbie B. Badd, was behind the betrayal and requested Max's aid in assassinating him to reclaim control of her empire, which had quickly spiraled out of control under his rule.

After the death of Robbie B. Badd, Rhea was able to return to the Liberty District and regain control of her organization. She later formed a romantic relationship with Max after her return from Nunavut, Canada.