Spice Maidens

The Spice Maidens are the five daughters of Zorabel, the Pirate Queen of Scourge Bay. Although Zorabel is human, the Spice Maidens are all different species, and are thus presumably adopted. Their names are Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Coriander, Pepper and Tarragon. Cinnamon is a bear and Pepper is a chimp - the species of the other Maidens are unclear.

Production background
The Spice Maidens were created by Nigel Dobbyn, who provided the art on the story in which they appeared, although the rest of the strip was created by Nigel Kitching. Dobbyn originally wanted Tarragon's name to be Vanilla, which suited her character better, but editor Deborah Tate insisted that vanilla wasn't a spice so it was changed. (In fact, vanilla is a spice, but tarragon is not - it's a herb.) Nigel Dobbyn has also claimed that, if a sequel had been produced, it would have opened with Tarragon's funeral and Vanilla would have been introduced as a replacement.

The Spice Maidens are a reference to the Spice Girls, a famous English pop girl group from the 1990s. The individual Spice Maidens also seem loosely modelled on the stage personas of the Spice Girls, as follows:
 * Cinnamon - Scary Spice (Melanie Brown)
 * Nutmeg - Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell)
 * Coriander - Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham)
 * Pepper - Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm)
 * Tarragon - Baby Spice (Emma Bunton)