History Characters / AmericanGods

!!'''Shadow Moon/ [[spoiler: [[Myth/NorseMythology Baldur]]]]'''

* TheHero: The book's main protagonist [[spoiler:and the one who topples the plans of the BigBad]]. He's also a Hero in another sense, being [[spoiler: the half-mortal son of a god]].

* UncannyValley: On her return from the dead. She only gets more uncanny as time goes on - her resurrection wasn't exactly complete. She also has a strangely flat voice and an inability to filter.

* OnlyKnownbyTheirNickname: While "Technical Boy" became the name of this entity in both the fandom and the television adaptation, in the novel it seems to be more a title or a description than a true name. He describes himself as "a technical boy", Media refers to him as "the technical boy" without capitals, and most of the time Shadow and the narration only call him "the fat kid".

* AmbiguouslyHuman: While they are definitively humans (they have a normal life outside of their job, human needs and families, don't believe their superiors are gods), there is something strange about them. Their impossible names, the fact Shadow identifies Mr. Wood and Mr. Stone as identical somewhere at a "molecular" level, the fact their "bones" (symbol for their life/souls) are guarded in the Backstage by a giant mechanical spider... Given said spider is described as a "search engine", it is possible that the Spooks were specifically selected and chosen among regular humans to "fit the mold" of the Spookshow/Agency.

* PoisonousFriend: Very big on protecting Shadow and quite violent about it.

* CharacterRerailment: Post-Eddas, Odin has been mostly portrayed as a GrandpaGod. Here, he has the more chaotic and selfish personality of older mythology.

[[/folder]]

!!'''Mr. Nancy'''/Anansi

* TheSacredDarkness: Polunochnaya has aspects of this. Her sisters represent morning and evening, and her aspect is the night. Unlike Czernobog, who is a more stereotypical dark god, Polunochnaya represents unfearful elements of darkness and night, such as the moon.

%%* TheHecateSisters

* NiceHat: A lime-green fedora.

* CanonForeigner: Zorya Polunochnaya isn't actually from Slavic myth and was invented by Gaiman based on vague references to a third Zorya sister in some myths. Normally myths have Utrennyaya, the morning sister and Vechernyaya, the evening sister. [note]]Some slavic myths also have have Ponocnaya or Polunochnaya , the midnight sister,(Ponoc means midnight, the place where the night changes from closer to evening to closer to morning of the next day) who is the youngest of the three sisters. Hero in stories where he meets the sisters can speak with Utrenyaya and Vechernyaya for hours (because evening and morning last for hours) but must wait for a special moment to speak to Polunochnaya and can only speak to her for a couple of minutes to get the information he needs to continue his quest before Utrenyaya takes her place.[[/note]] In those myths, Vechernaya skillfully lies and Utrenyaya doesn't have the complete information the hero needs, either leading to variation of KnightsAndKnaves riddle or for need to wait for third sister. Neil Gaiman really did his research.

* CanonForeigner: Zorya Polunochnaya isn't actually from Slavic myth and was invented by Gaiman based on vague references to a third Zorya sister in some myths. Normally myths have Utrennyaya, the morning sister and Vechernyaya, the evening sister. Some slavic myths also have have Ponocnaya or Polunochnaya , the midnight sister,(Ponoc means midnight, the place where the night changes from closer to evening to closer to morning of the next day) who is the youngest of the three sisters. Hero in stories where he meets the sisters can speak with Utrenyaya and Vechernyaya for hours (because evening and morning last for hours) but must wait for a special moment to speak to Polunochnaya and can only speak to her for a couple of minutes to get the information he needs to continue his quest before Utrenyaya takes her place. In those myths, Vechernaya skillfully lies and Utrenyaya doesn't have the information hero needs. Neil Gaiman really did his research.

* CanonForeigner: Zorya Polunochnaya isn't actually from Slavic myth and was invented by Gaiman based on vague references to a third Zorya sister in some myths.

[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Samantha in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samantha_black_crow_comic_0.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

!''The "Old Gods" and Their Allies''

[[folder:Mr. Wednesday]]
!!'''Mr. Wednesday'''/[[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_mr_wednesday.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Mr. Wednesday in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mr_wednesday.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: While Odin from Myth/NorseMythology did many questionable things that only his OmniscientMoralityLicense could protect him from, it was all to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, protecting his fellow gods (and by extension the mortals at Midgard) from certain destruction. Here he is ''encouraging'' the war to end all wars between gods -- Old and New -- [[spoiler:in a TakingYouWithMe moment of nihilism brought on by his FallFromGrace and plain-old {{Greed}}.]]
** [[spoiler:In Mythology, the murder of his son Baldr was TheLastStraw for him when it came to Loki's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. Here, he sets up his son Shadow to be sacrificed to make his long con ''with'' Loki work.]]
* AffablyEvil: He might be a grumpy old con-man and the book's ultimate BigBad, but he is capable of being quite charming (charm ''is'' one of his powers, after all), and he's kinder to Shadow than he is to most people [[spoiler: (given that Shadow is his son, this isn't surprising)]]. Oddly enough, Shadow misses him a little after the end of the book, and in ''Monarch of the Glen'' ends up befriending someone very similar to Wednesday (though he knows the personality type by now, so he doesn't exactly trust him).
* ArrowCatch: His recitation of his charms says that he can catch arrows and put out fires with a look, although his diminishing powers may prevent that.
* BigBad: In a sense, as the conflict is driven entirely by him, and he's a self-admitted ConMan and all-around {{Jerkass}}. Most of the Old Gods are more or less content with dying in obscurity, until he riles them back up knowing full well many will die in the war he is starting to regain their former glory. In his view, it is a worthy risk. [[spoiler: Then it turns out the whole war is a scam to get himself more power and he doesn't care about the other Old Gods at all.]]
* TheCasanova: He charms the pants off of nearly every young woman he meets. Quite literally, as one of his 18 charms seduces women.
* TheCharmer: It's one of his particular charms. Quite literally, in fact.
* CharacterRerailment: Post-Eddas, Odin has been mostly portrayed as a GrandpaGod. Here, he has the more chaotic and selfish personality of older mythology.
* ConsummateLiar: He calls himself the best liar Shadow will ever meet. He is right.
* TheChessmaster: Effortlessly plays [[spoiler: both sides of the war against the other]].
* ConMan: How he goes about these days. He's done every con in the book.
* DirtyOldMan: He's described as sleeping with girls who look barely legal.
* EvilMentor: He's Shadow's mentor, and he's technically the BigBad.
* EyepatchOfPower: Averted, as he uses a glass eye instead, although his more traditional form in Valhalla has an eyepatch. [[spoiler: Iceland's Odin wears an eyepatch, reflecting that Iceland hasn't drifted far from the culture of the Old Norse.]]
* GrumpyOldMan: he's often grumpy or pretending to be cheerful and reveals himself to be deeply bitter about the fact that as a god who went out of style in a land that's bad for gods, he essentially has to live off scraps.
* IHaveManyNames: The King of the Aes, the God of the Gallows.
---> 'I have as many names as there are winds and as many titles are there are ways for men to die.'
* IconicOutfit: Averted, as Mr Wednesday avoids Odin's traditional wide-brimmed hat, cloak and eyepatch. [[spoiler: Iceland's Odin embraces them though, due to Iceland's greater continuity with the past myths.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Likes to use one of his runes to seduce girls, then use another one to make them [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever incapable of ever getting over him]], just for shits and giggles.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He's a cranky old condescending lech and as trustworthy as a chocolate hammer, but he's right that the Old Gods need to do something because they're all dying slowly in America. [[spoiler:This is true, but Wednesday's actually only out to help ''himself'' survive by provoking the gods to slaughter each other, because the deaths of such powerful beings in his name will sustain him. Well, himself and his partner Loki.]]
* LouisCypher: Wednesday is named after Odin's old name, Wodan.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: To Shadow.]]
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:All his pretense of returning the Old Gods to their former glory is a con to empower himself.]]
* PetTheDog: Not often, but he does occasionally get more sympathetic moments, such as when he seems to sincerely regret that he can't truly bring Laura back to life and [[spoiler: that she had to die in the first place.]] He also tells Shadow, [[spoiler: his son, that he's proud of him.]]
* RunningBothSides: Some accuse him of this, pointing out it is unlike Wednesday to go into such a clearly-stacked-against-him conflict. [[spoiler: Then Mr. World confirms it.]]
* SelfProclaimedLiar: He admits he's a ConsummateLiar, and most distrust him for it. [[spoiler:Evidently not ''enough'', though.]]
* TheSocialExpert: It goes along with his ConMan tendencies.
* TechnicallyASmile: Shadow notes early on that his smile has a sinister motive just behind it, more bearing teeth than an actual display of emotion.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: His death is the motivation all the other Old Gods need to band together against the new. He doesn't mind because, once the battle is dedicated to him, he stands to get more power than he ever had before.]]
* TricksterGod: Gaiman emphasizes Odin's cunning, a strong feature in his traditional tales, more than other adaptions. Wednesday makes ends meet as a con man.
* WarGod: Less pronounced in this depiction, but a war god all the same. [[spoiler: It's also a vital part of the plot, as Wednesday tries to empower himself with the gods' war.]]

[[folder:Mr. Nancy]]
!!'''Mr. Nancy'''/Anansi
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_mr_nancy.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Mr. Nancy in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mr_nancy_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AnimalMotif: Spiders, [[InspirationNod since that's how his mythological origin is portrayed]].
* CoolOldGuy: Unlike veteran conman Wednesday and bitter loner Czernobog, Nancy's just fine with passing the days doing his own thing.
* DirtyOldMan: He talks about his love of "women with big high titties" in his first appearance.
* DisappearedDad: {{Inverted}}, he has two sons and an ex-wife that we don't learn about in ''American Gods''. (One of his sons get an offhand mention when he meets Shadow and again towards the end, when Shadow stays at his Florida home). His sons get [[Literature/AnansiBoys their own book]], though.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Anansi is what modern culture might understand to be a god of mischief, and this shows up in that, outside of survival, his chief concern is women or having a laugh, particularly at someone else's expense. While this is hardly a positive trait, he's still fundamentally a good individual.
* LouisCypher: The god Anansi calls himself Mr. Nancy amongst humans.
* NiceHat: A lime-green fedora.
* TricksterGod: Less pronounced than Wednesday, since he's [[OutOfFocus less visible throughout the story]], but this is Anansi in a nutshell.

[[folder:Mr. Ibis]]
!!'''Mr. Ibis'''/[[Myth/EgyptianMythology Thoth]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_mr_ibis.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Mr. Ibis in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mr_ibis_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* DontFearTheReaper: Like all Ancient Egyptian gods connected to death, he's a nice guy.
* LouisCypher: He uses the name because the god, Thoth had the head of an Ibis bird.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Quite clearly loves words, something that goes with his mythical connections as a scribe, and telling the stories of people - though how true they are is in doubt, with Mr. Ibis suggesting that he does it for the love of the story.
* TheSmartGuy: The most intellectual of the gods.

[[folder:Mr. Jacquel]]
!!'''Mr Jacquel'''/[[Myth/EgyptianMythology Anubis]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_mr_jacquel.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Mr. Jacquel in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic_jaquel_01.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AutopsySnackTime: Will eat parts of bodies as he's preparing them. Shadow notes that it seems oddly respectful.
* DontFearTheReaper: Like Mr. Ibis, he's not such a bad guy.
* ImAHumanitarian: While conducting autopsies, he has a habit of eating some of the corpse's heart. Respectfully. A shout out of sorts to the mythology of Anubis, who would weigh the deceased's heart against a feather to judge where they would spend the afterlife.
* LouisCypher: He's called Mr. Jacquel because Anubis is an anthropomorphic jackal in Egyptian mythology.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Into a jackal, naturally.

[[folder:Bast]]
!!'''[[Myth/EgyptianMythology Bast]]'''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_bast.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Bast in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bast_comic_3.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AnimalEyeSpy: She sees through the eyes of cats, and uses it to keep tabs on Shadow.
* CatGirl: The original, practically.
* IntimateHealing: She provides some for Shadow in a dream. It heals him of his cuts and bruises, but leaves him with some fresh claw marks on his back.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: As befitting a cat goddess.
* SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands: Keeps an eye on Shadow through the eyes of all cats.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Into a cat, of course, and spends most of her time in that form.

[[folder:Czernobog]]
!!'''[[Myth/SlavicMythology Czernobog]]'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_mr_czernobog.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Czernobog in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic_czernobog_b.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AngstySurvivingTwin: Czernobog is very sad and somber over the apparent "death" of his twin "brother" Bielebog. [[spoiler: In the end of the book, Shadow observes Czernobog is happy for the first time in the entire book when he reveals Bielebog is his alternate persona, and is soon returning.]]
* AxCrazy: Looking forward to beaning Shadow with [[DropTheHammer a sledgehammer.]] [[spoiler:And he does, but [[DarkIsNotEvil ultimately changes his mind about actually hurting him.]]]]
* CainAndAbel: He's known as the "evil" brother; his brother, Bielebog, is the "good" one.
* DarkIsNotEvil: A god of darkness, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy.
* DropTheHammer: His weapon of choice in mythology, and he used to have a day job slaughtering cattle with a sledgehammer.
* TheEeyore: Not as demonstrative as many examples, but he's a very gloomy guy.
* ExactWords: [[spoiler:He does indeed hit Shadow with the hammer at the end. But he does it very, very lightly.]]
* GodOfEvil: How he's seen by those who remember him. He's resentful of the fact that all it took was being dark-haired when his twin was blond, but he also reminisces fondly about all the bloodshed he and his followers used to get up to in the old days.
* IAmTheTrope: When Shadow asks if he's worried about cancer from all the smoking, Czernobog replies "I ''am'' cancer. I'm not afraid of ''myself.''"
* JekyllAndHyde: [[spoiler:He and Bielebog are the same person.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's rough around the edges, but means well.
* RetiredMonster: Czernobog occasionally references his heyday as a god. Those references tend to paint quite a dark picture, as he talks of things like massive human sacrifices and butchering enemies during armistice.
* {{Seers}}: It's unclear whether he foresees Mr Town's death, or if he curses him to die that way. Whatever he did, it turns out exactly the way he says it would.
* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: He's against going to Kansas to pick up Wednesday's body "under truce" because (apart from a truce being the site of Wednesday's murder in the first place) Czernobog always used to use truces to kill his own enemies.
* VegetarianVampire: Gets his powers from sacrificial murders, but after his followers dried up, he worked at a slaughterhouse rather than becoming a SerialKiller.

[[folder:Bilquis]]
!!Bilquis/[[Literature/BooksOfKings Queen Sheba]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_bilquis.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Bilquis in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bilquis_comic_4.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AssholeVictim: She's brutally murdered by Technical Boy, but the reader is unlikely to have much sympathy considering she murdered a man in cold blood in her very first scene, and was looking for a fresh victim when she was killed.
* CountryMatters: Her power is described as "cunt-magic".
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Technical Boy runs her over with his limo over and over until she is literally a smear on the street.
* DisposableSexWorker: The first of the Old Gods to be killed off is the one that's working as a prostitute. And her death at Technical Boy's hands parallels that of a pimp killing off his hooker after he lured her to him by posing as a client.
* DyingCurse: She uses the last of her strength to lay a curse on Technical Boy when he kills her. [[TakeOurWordForIt We never get the specifics, but it's apparently pretty awful.]] In the Hotel at the Center of America, he can be seen suffering from it.
* LiteralManeater: She sustains herself by swallowing her worshippers, although the method she does is very... [[VaginaDentata unorthodox]].
* RichesToRags: The former Queen of Sheba that was worshiped as a LoveGoddess reduced to a {{Streetwalker}} that has to prey on men to sustain herself.
* SexGoddess: The man she had sex with seemed to be in a state of euphoria through the whole scene, and doesn't even seem to mind she's [[OutWithABang actually killing him]].
* VaginaDentata: PlayedWith, Bilquis's vagina doesn't seem to have actual teeth, but she ''can'' devour worshippers via her vagina.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: She's one of the first victims of the war between the Old and New Gods, being murdered by Technical Boy in her second scene.

[[folder:The Zoryas]]
!!'''The Zoryas''' (Zorya Utrennyaya, Zorya Vechernyaya and Zorya Polunochnaya)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_zorya_utrennyaya.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Zorya Utrennyaya]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Zorya Utrennyaya in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zorya_utrennyaya_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_zorya_vechernyaya.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Zorya Vechernyaya]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Zorya Vechernyaya in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zorya_vechernyaya_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_zorya_polunochnaya.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Zorya Polunochnaya]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Zorya Polunochnaya in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zorya_polunochnaya_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* BadLiar: Although they can all see the future, Zorya Vechernyaya is the only one who can actually earn money as a FortuneTeller. The other two are too bad at lying (most people want ''good'' fortunes, after all).
* CanonForeigner: Zorya Polunochnaya isn't actually from Slavic myth and was invented by Gaiman based on vague references to a third Zorya sister in some myths.
* CoolOldLady: All three - though it's unclear how old Polunochnaya is, since her skin is apparently unlined.
* HeavySleeper: Polunochnaya is only awake around midnight.
%%* TheHecateSisters
* TheMentor: Polunochnaya to Shadow.
* {{Seers}}: All three of them have the power of foresight.
* TheSacredDarkness: Polunochnaya has aspects of this. Her sisters represent morning and evening, and her aspect is the night. Unlike Czernobog, who is a more stereotypical dark god, Polunochnaya represents unfearful elements of darkness and night, such as the moon.

[[folder:Mad Sweeney]]
!!'''Mad Sweeney'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_mad_sweeney.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Sweeney in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mad_sweeney_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* BloodKnight: So he says. [[spoiler:While probably true, it was also a setup.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Ultimately drinks himself to death.]]
* DrunkenMaster: Is quite a good fighter even while blackout drunk.
* FightingIrish: He's Irish and a BloodKnight.
* {{Leprechaun}}: Though you wouldn't know it looking at him because he's tall, doesn't speak with an accent, and doesn't drink Guinness.

[[folder:Easter]]
!!'''Easter'''/Eostre
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_eostre_of_the_dawn.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Easter in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/easter_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* BigBeautifulWoman: As befits a FertilityGoddess.
* BreakTheCutie: Wednesday twists her arm into service by going into a diatribe about what people do and do not believe about her holiday. She very nearly cries.
* ChekhovsGunman: Her holiday celebrates mornings, life and rebirth. [[spoiler:She plays a vital part in Shadow's resurrection.]]
* FertileFeet: Appears to have the ability to make things grow with her touch. She's a fertility goddess, after all.
* KissOfLife: To Shadow, resurrecting him after [[spoiler: his vigil on the World Tree for Wednesday's death]].
%%* MsFanservice: As befitting a fertility goddess.
* NiceGirl: Is kind to Shadow and to Horus alike, with her thoughts regarding the latter being mostly that he needs to be wrapped up and taken somewhere warm to babble his way back to sanity.
* StepfordSmiler: Is flirty, cheerful and apparently happy. However, Wednesday quickly penetrates her façade and as the BreakTheCutie entry shows, she nearly breaks down in tears.

[[folder:Horus]]
!!'''[[Myth/EgyptianMythology Horus]]'''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horus_comic.jpg]]

* ChekhovsGunman: Thoth and Anubis mention him in Cairo. [[spoiler:He pops back up in Kansas to convince Easter to save Shadow.]]
* CloudCuckooLander: [[StealthPun He's a Bird Brain.]]
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Averted. He's a hawk but he has none of the gravitas.
* NonSequitur: "I can stare at the sun without blinking". This is after [[spoiler: he's reminded [[NakedPeopleAreFunny he's naked]]]].
* RaceLift: In the novel, he is described as brown-skinned and dark-haired. In the graphic novel adaptation, he has pale white skin and light brown hair.
* TheOphelia: A male version, but both Thoth and Anubis say he's lost his mind.
* PowerOfTheSun: Has this, though he forgot how to use it for a very long time.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: From a hawk to a naked man with a hawk's head.

[[folder:The man in the charcoal suit]]
!! The man in the charcoal suit / Forgotten God
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_the_forgettable_god.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the Forgotten God in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/comic_forget_b.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Shadow forgets everything about him - including his name - immediately after learning them.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: An impression of wealth is all Shadow can remember of him. He wears a suit and drinks expensive whiskey with Wednesday. He also appears to be a god of wealth or similar, able to sense the exchanges of money going on around him.
* TheNondescript: His only description is that he's dark-haired, clean-shaven, and his face is forgettable in every sense of the word.
* TheUnreveal: We never actually find out who he is.

[[folder:Hinzelmann]]
!!'''Hinzelmann'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_hinzelmann.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Hinzelmann in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ag_comic_hinzelmann_3.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AffablyEvil: He's friendly to everyone, tells jokes all the time, and goes out of his way to help Shadow on multiple occasions, even saving Shadow's life when it would have been in his best interests not to. But at the same time, [[spoiler: he literally murders children for a living, in order to sustain his powers as a god and to keep the town of Lakeside prosperous.]]
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler: He's the villain of the Lakeside subplot]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: When he explains his actions, he notes that [[spoiler:he only took good kids who he liked (with a couple exceptions over a few centuries he's been doing it). Which makes sense for the old religions: you are supposed to offer what you think is the best animal in the flock as the sacrifice to the gods. And in this case it is the god himself doing the choosing. He also rescues Shadow from drowning and hypothermia, even though he'd have been better off just letting him die - though as Shadow deduces, he's so old and tired that he wants to be caught and he arranges his own death.]]
* CoolOldGuy: How everyone in Lakeside views him, including Shadow.
* HiddenInPlainSight: He makes no attempt to cover up his unusual longevity and is using his real name, banking on his own obscurity. He also [[spoiler:hides his victims in the trunks of cars that are not only sitting in the middle of the town's lake, in full view of anyone driving by, but that the town raises money by betting on when they'll fall through the ice]].
* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler:He agreed to protect Shadow from various prying eyes, but he uses his powers to drag people into town who could expose Shadow and force him to leave.]]
* MinnesotaNice: What he appears to be. [[spoiler: Turns out he's not actually from America at all, and he's only nice in the AffablyEvil sense]].
* NiceGuy: Subverted when he turns out to [[spoiler:be a SerialKiller]].
* OurKoboldsAreDifferent: He's a kobold who was "born" when an ancient Germanic tribe [[spoiler:ritually sacrificed a young child]] to create a minor god. In the present day, he appears as a kindly old man who brings good fortune to his town but [[spoiler:secretly sacrifices a town child to himself every year to maintain his power]].
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: He was created from a child sacrifice many centuries ago, and he sustains his powers in the modern-day by sacrificing children to himself once a year.]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler: He's actually a god (and a kobold) from centuries ago.]]
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler: He's been sacrificing a child to himself every year. Though the reason he's doing this is because he's an old god and he needs the sacrifices in order to sustain himself and keep Lakeside prosperous, he still counts as this trope since he's methodically killing one type of person.]]
* SuicideByCop: When finally confronted with his crimes (something he'd arranged), he provokes the police chief into shooting him.

[[folder:Samantha Black Crow]]
!! Samantha Black Crow
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_sam.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Samantha in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samantha_black_crow_comic_0.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Bitterly accuses herself of this when she gets into a car with Shadow after dinner, because at that point she's been visited by the spooks who accused him of murder.
* AgentMulder: Delivers an amazing and lengthy monologue to Shadow about all the things she believes in to get him to open up to her.
* BadassNormal: Faces Mr. Town and Mr. Road, and not only does she refuse to tell them anything about Shadow, she makes fun of their names. She also hitchhikes with Shadow, who's kind of scary before you get to know him.
* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: She doesn't dress like it, but she's proud of her Native American heritage.
* FriendlyAddressPrivileges: She informs Mr. Town and Mr. Road that her friends call her Sam, and then rebukes them sharply when they do so because they aren't her friends.
* HalfBreedDiscrimination: She's estranged from her Cherokee dad, who calls her a "half-breed", but she's proud of her heritage.
%%* GenkiGirl
* GirlNextDoor: Well, technically, the girl next door's little sister.
* GranolaGirl: She delivers a beautiful speech of all the (sometimes contradictory) things she believes in, which could well be a summary of the beliefs of many of these characters. In a subversion, this is a universe where all this [[AllMythsAreTrue might well be true, at the same time.]]
* LittleMissSnarker: Well evidenced in her interaction with Mr. Town and Mr. Road. Calling [[{{Jerkass}} Audrey]] a cunt is just icing.
* TakeThatKiss: She plants what she terms a "fuck off" kiss on Shadow in a bar, although it was to tell everyone else there to fuck off, not him.
* {{Tomboy}}: She's very independent and adventurous, she goes by "Sam", and Shadow, upon first seeing her through the car window while half-asleep, had to ask if she was a boy or a girl.

[[folder:Laura Moon]]
!! Laura
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_phoenix_laura.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Laura in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laura_moon_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* ActionGirlfriend: Rather, Action Wife. For a dead woman, she's pretty capable of doing some damage to a group of trained government agents.
* BackFromTheDead: Not in a nice way, though. After drinking the water of time and a highly unpleasant process of getting rid of all the formaldehyde, maggots, etc, inside her, she's back to her living self, though Loki notes that this is temporary.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Even when she was alive, Laura was not as nice as she seemed. But she really does love Shadow (and is at least somewhat self-aware), which keeps her on the sympathetic side of the trope.
* CameBackWrong: She's not truly alive, she's left disconnected from the real world, and her body keeps decomposing.
* DeadAllAlong: Not that it's a revelation; the twist is that she comes back.
* DeadPersonConversation: Whenever she talks to Shadow, or anyone else.
* HeroicSacrifice: See ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice. She does it for Shadow's sake.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: She [[spoiler: kills Loki]] by stabbing him through her own chest.
* LadyMacbeth: Seems Shadow's involvement in the robbery that got him in prison was her idea.
* TheLostLenore: Shadow misses her throughout the novel, and her resurrection does little to help that.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: DeconstructedCharacterArchetype. Because of that personality, she cheated on Shadow with her best friend's husband while he was in the clink. She also puts on the MPDG act to charm [[spoiler: Mr. Town before gruesomely killing him.]]
* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: She is far more likely to kill you than her husband is.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: This one is self-aware and in control of her actions, but steadily rotting away.
* PoisonousFriend: Very big on protecting Shadow and quite violent about it.
* TookALevelInBadass: According to her, dying did a lot to remove her inhibitions about killing people.
* UncannyValley: On her return from the dead. She only gets more uncanny as time goes on - her resurrection wasn't exactly complete. She also has a strangely flat voice and an inability to filter.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds: [[spoiler: She gets temporarily restored to life, then stabs herself through the chest to help Shadow, and finally Shadow takes back the coin that made her undead at her own request.]]

!''The "New Gods" and Their Allies''

[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Mr. World in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mr_world[[/labelnote]]]]

* FlatCharacter: Played with. Shadow's main defining characteristic is that nothing really seems to get an emotional reaction of any sort, though we slowly learn that [[TheStoic his stoicism]] and [[UnfazedEveryman ability to take everything in stride]], aren't entirely what they seem. The reader gets confirmation in some dialogue from Laura that Shadow was still a stoic and strangely subdued man before the beginning of the story, but though Shadow is in something of a sense of shock at the start of the story when the weirdness starts, which eases him into the stranger moments. In his private moments and at the end of the book, we see Shadow is still getting very stressed and weirded out by the supernatural events and beings around him.

* GivenNameReveal: In ''Monarch of the Glen'', it's confirmed that the name on his birth certificate is [[spoiler: Balder Moon]].

* EyepatchOfPower: Averted, as he uses a glass eye instead, although his more traditional form in Valhalla has an eyepatch. [[spoiler: Iceland's Odin wears an eyepatch though to show his less modern styles.]]

* IconicOutfit: Averted, as Mr Wednesday avoids Odin's traditional wide-brimmed hat, cloak and eyepatch. [[spoiler: Iceland's Odin embraces them though, due to Iceland's greater continuity.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He's a cranky old condescending lech and as trustworthy as a chocolate hammer, but he's right that the Old Gods need to do something because they're all dying slowly in America. [[spoiler:This is true, but Wednesday's actually only out to help ''himself'' survive by provoking the gods to slaughter each other, because the deaths of such powerful beings in his name will sustain him good. Well, himself and his partner Loki.]]

* RunningBothSides: Some accuse him of this, pointing out it is unlike Wednesday to go into such a clearly-stacked-against-him conflict. [[spoiler: Then Mr. World confirms it]]

* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Dying is the motivation all the other Old Gods need to band together against the new. He doesn't mind because, once the battle is dedicated to him, he stands to get more power than he ever had before.]]

* LouisCypher: The god, Anansi calls himself Mr. Nancy amongst humans.

* ImAHumanitarian: While conducting autopsies, he has a habit of eating some of the corpse's heart. Respectfully. A shout out of sorts to the mythology of Anubis who would weigh the deceased's heart against a feather to judge where they would spend the afterlife.

[[caption-width-right:350:Zorya Vechernyay]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see orya Polunochnaya in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zorya_vechernyaya_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see orya Polunochnaya in the graphic novel]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zorya_polunochnaya_comic.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

%%* KissOfLife: To Shadow.

* GranolaGirl

* HiddenDepths: It's subtle but over the course of the novel it becomes clear for all his bravado, Technical Boy doesn't really ''want'' to kill anyone. His murder of [[spoiler: Bilquis]] in fact ends up traumatizing him.

* PeacefulInDeath: Mr. World observes [[spoiler: he smiles in bliss as he collapses dead]]. Though it should be noted, given how the worship of the Internet has only grown in the years after the novel, he's bound to come back.

* HiddenDepths: At first you would only remember her for her superficiality, seduction and fake cheerfulness. But a closer reading of her scenes reveals that she has a dark fascination and enjoyment of violence and misery. She jokes about people committing murders in her names, she admires Shadow for the supposed massacre he committed, she [[spoiler:plays in loop and slow-motion the murder of Mr. Wednesday to all of his friends and allies]]... Already in her first manifestation to Shadow she turned an episode of the Dick Van Dyke show into a depiction of real-life marital abuse, for no good reason than to screw with his mind.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysontheTin/ GenericName: The agency the Spooks work for is called... the Agency.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: While they are definitively humans (they have normal life outside of their job, human needs, are killed pretty easily, don't believe their superiors are gods), there is something strange about them. Their impossible names, the fact Shadow identifies Mr. Wood and Mr. Stone as identical to a "molecular" level, the fact their "bones" (symbol for their life/souls) are guarded in the Backstage by a giant mechanical spider...

* BigBad: In a sense, as the conflict is driven entirely by him, and he's a self admitted con man and all around {{Jerkass}}. Most of the Old Gods are more or less content with dying in obscurity, until he riles them back up knowing full well many will die in the war he is starting to regain their former glory. In his view, it is a worthy risk. [[spoiler: Then it turns out the whole war is a scam to get himself more power and he doesn't care about the other Old Gods at all.]]

* TheSocialExpert: It goes along with his con man tendencies.

* TricksterGod: Gaiman emphasises Odin's cunning, a strong feature in his traditional tales, more than other adaptions. Wednesday makes ends meet as a con man.

!!'''Easter''' /Eostre

* BigBeautifulWoman: As befits a fertility goddess.

* KissOfLife: To Shadow.
* MsFanservice: As befitting a fertility goddess.

!! The man in the charcoal suit

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: He was created from a child sacrifice many centuries ago, and he sustains his powers in the modern day by sacrificing children to himself once a year.]]

* GenkiGirl

* BackFromTheDead: Not in a nice way, though.
** [[spoiler: After drinking the water of time and a highly unpleasant process of getting rid of all the formaldehyde, maggots etc. inside her, she's back to her living self, though Loki notes that this is temporary.]]

* MookLieutenant: Mr. Town seems to be the highest ranking member, answering directly to Mr World.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Eventually.

* MisterXAndMisterY: All of them are called by the title Mr., but Mr. Wood and Mr. Stone also act like a duo.