History Characters / TheDresdenFilesTheChurch

* LaserBlade: ''Fidelacchius'' reforged itself into an [[JustForPun honest-to-God]] holy lightsaber for him on the strength of his belief in ''Star Wars''.

* GoodIsNotSoft: Played with. While he's the gentlest, sweetest adult character in the entire series, it's noted by Harry that if he's going up against monsters, he won't hold back--Mavra (who lost twenty of her grandchildren to him), Siriovax, and the bodies of a couple hundred hobs in ''Small Favor'' can all attest to that.

* BadassBaritone: Has a deep, rolling one, most noticeable when calling out his Latin battle cries.

Characters from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', the Church.

* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesHarryDresden Harry Dresden]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesHarrysHousehold Harry's Household]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheWhiteCouncil The White Council]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheVampires The Vampire Courts]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheDenarians The Denarians]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheFae The Fae]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheFomor The Fomor]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheKemmlerites The Kemmlerites]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesTheOutsiders The Outsiders]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesChicagoMafia Chicago Mafia]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesChicagoPDAndFBI Chicago Police and FBI]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesOtherPowerfulPeopleAndEntities Other Powerful Entities]]
* [[Characters/TheDresdenFilesOrdinaryPeopleAndBadassNormals Ordinary People and Badass Normals]]

* GoodIsNotSoft: Played with. While he's the gentlest, sweetest adult character in the entire series, it's noted by Harry that if he's going up against monsters, he won't hold back--Mavra (who lost twenty of her grandchildren to him), Siriovax, and the bodies of a couple hundred hobs in ''Small Favor'' can attest to that.
* GoodIsOldFashioned: Played straight and subverted. Michael gets on to Harry about sleeping with a woman without marrying her, though in the same book Harry thinks he might have a point (and in context, it seems less like he's scandalized and more like a ShipperOnDeck who believes his friend should spend more time with loved ones). See his KnightInShiningArmor quote for the subversion.

** In ''Skin Game,'' he flat-out calls Harry ridiculously arrogant, doing so in a good-natured way to get through Harry's martyr complex.

* OpenMindedParent: When Harry brings Molly home in ''Proven Guilty'', the first thing Michael does on seeing his daughter, now covered in tattoos and piercing, is hug her. While he then expresses concern for Molly, and is rather stunned by her new look, he never condemns her.

* NamesTheSame: InUniverse, with the ArchangelMichael. Lampshaded in both ''Death Masks'' and ''Small Favor'' when Sanya mentions he met with Michael and corrected himself saying he meant the ''Archangel''.

* ActionSurvivor: Butters started as a normal, but highly principled man. He is nothing special but then some zombies attack and it kick starts his journey to being a badass normal in a world of the supernatural.

* WeaponOfChoice: The massive two-handed broadsword ''Amoracchius'', which is '''Excalibur'''.

* WeaponOfChoice: ''Fidelacchius'', the Sword of Faith, a katana that is supposed to be Kusanagi.

* WeaponOfChoice: ''Esperacchius'', once known as Durendal, reforged into a cavalry saber. Also a Kalashnikov.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: He takes his promise of secrecy seriously. Even Michael's [[PapaWolf anger]] doesn't make him falter. But Harry reminding him that Alicia's life is at stake by asking if the church takes "Bring On To [God} The Children" literally makes Forthill falter.

* DetectEvil: Knights gain an awareness to the darker supernatural aspects of the world and, perhaps because God favors the Truth, can see through some disguises and camouflages supernatural monsters give off. Sanya demonstrates this in ''Small Favor'' by pegging Thomas as a White Court vampire seconds after seeing him. However, Harry also notes that it's possible it's just a matter of the the personality of the men chosen to be Knights is to seek truth in that which is hidden.

* CrossoverCosmology: As befitting ''The Dresden Files'' being set in a world where AllMythsAreTrue, the three Swords of the Cross have also held the the names of other famous swords in other cultures: ''Amoracchius'' was Excalibur (of Myth/ArthurianLegend), ''Esperacchius'' was Durendal (from ''Literature/TheSongOfRoland''), and ''Fidelacchius'' was Kusanagi (of Myth/JapaneseMythology). What makes the latter-most all the more noteworthy is how it's a sword with a nail from the True Cross worked into it... while also being a blade given to the royal family of Japan by the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu - though as the Shroud of Turin demonstrates when it appears in ''Literature/DeathMasks'' and the original appears in ''Literature/SkinGame'', it is possible to have two versions of the same mythical artifact, so it could just be a case of having the same name.

Originally just a Chicago medical examiner, polka enthusiast and geek extraordinaire. He was assigned to autopsy the corpses found after a fire, but since said fire was in fact the result of a wizardly [[KillItWithFire temper tantrum]], he got a vampire corpse, called it "humanlike, but definitely nonhuman" and consequently got stuck in a mental institution for observation for three months. This gave him a cheery disrespect for authority that helps him get along quite well with Harry. After discovering that magic exists, he begins studying it in detail and working out ways he can use it to help people. His courage, valor, and faith in goodness and justice allows him to ultimately take up the new Sword of Faith... which just so happens to be a lightsaber.

* CrossoverCosmology: As befitting ''The Dresden Files'' being set in a world where AllMythsAreTrue, the three Swords of the Cross have also held the the names of other famous swords in other cultures: ''Amoracchius'' was Excalibur (of Myth/KingArthur), ''Esperacchius'' was Durendal (from ''Literature/TheSongOfRoland''), and ''Fidelacchius'' was Kusanagi (of Myth/JapaneseMythology). What makes the latter-most all the more noteworthy is how it's a sword with a nail from the True Cross worked into it... while also being a blade given to the royal family of Japan by the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu - though as the Shroud of Turin demonstrates when it appears in ''Literature/DeathMasks'' and the original appears in ''Literature/SkinGame'', it is possible to have two versions of the same mythical artifact, so it could just be a case of having the same name.

* PopCulturedBadass: Downplayed (he fails to recognize Harry's ''Monty Python'' reference in ''Skin Game''), but he does use a Mjolnir bottle opener in the same book, implying that he's familiar at least with the MCU.

* MusclesAreMeaningful: Michael is seriously rippled. In ''Grave Peril'', he is described carrying an injured Harry with the effort of carrying his children, who were pre-teens then.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: He takes his promise of secrecy seriously. Even Michael's [[PapaWolf anger]] doesn't make him falter. But Harry reminding him that Alicia's life is a stake by asking if the church takes "Bring On To [God} The Children" literally makes Forthill falter.

* LetsGetDangerous: He saved Harry's life by attacking Cassius. And later, subdued a gunman with an improvised taser. Later on in ''Literature/GhostStory'' he ''cripples'' Aristides by knowing ''exactly'' which bones to break. And he becomes a bonafide Knight of the Cross in ''Skin Game'', turning this trope UpToEleven.

* PhysicalGod: [[invoked]] When "on the clock," some of the Knights can operate on this level, as Michael Carpenter was able to slay Siriothrax the Dragon (and as a friendly reminder, according to WordOfGod [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons with a capital "D"]] in ''The Dresden Files'' are entities with such power that they are tasked by [[TheMaker the White God]] to ''start Ice Ages or reshape continents'').

[[folder: Michael Carpenter]]

[[folder: Shiro Yoshimo]]

[[folder: Sanya Ivanovich]]

[[folder: Waldo Butters]]

[[folder: Other Knights]]

[[folder: Father Anthony Forthill]]

[[folder: Father Vincent]]

[[folder: Father Paolo]]

[[folder: Uriel (aka "Jake", aka "Mr. Sunshine")]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Downplayed; He's not described as being exactly ''hideous'' in the books, but is portrayed as more of a straightforward HollywoodNerd in the comics.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Despite working directly for God and wielding a literal holy sword given to him by the Archangel Michael, Sanya is an agnostic, though he's willing to. He believes there's power, just not that it's ''God''. Or he may be having a sustained hallucination from a coma or something, or maybe he was given ''Esperacchius'' by aliens masquerading as angels. He actually throws all of these out as possible explanations. Still, God or no God, the job needs to be done. Harry once called him "O Knight of Maybe".

* BewareTheNiceOnes: As much of a genuinely NiceGuy that he is, he can be ''terrifying'' on the battlefield. He also has one of the most chilling moments out of the entire series - Namely, when he warmly tells Harry that he'll be there for him if the latter decides to set aside his magic after being infected with Lasciel's Shadow, he then calmly puts his fingers on the blade of Amoracchius and quietly tells Harry that he will ''also'' [[ImpliedDeathThreat "be there for him"]] if Harry falls to Lasciel's temptations and [[FaceHeelTurn joins the Denarians]]. Harry is appropriately terrified.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: In Uriel's eyes, this is the case. While Michael lacks the physical condition to fight things like Dragons, demons, and Denarians, his moral goodness, helping anyone who comes across his path, showing mercy to those who hurt him, and just being a good person helps change so many lives. His examplar status in showing what people can be when they act in a truly good manner can help people find the better way for themselves.

** With Murphy's, Nicodemus', and Butter's actions in ''Skin Game'', when the physical shell of ''Fidelacchius'' is completely shattered, the Angel within the Nail still seeks to do its Duty. When the hilt lands in Butters' grasp and the angel looks upon him, seeing him not just worthy of being a Knight but his knowledge of ''Star Wars'' allows the Angel to move the Sword to more a spiritual weapon. It will no longer do harm against a mortal flesh, but do direct harm to the spiritual evils and physical items.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: As much of a genuinely NiceGuy that he is, he can be ''terrifying'' on the battlefield. He also has one of the most chilling moments out of the entire series - Namely, when he warmly tells Harry that he'll be there for him if the latter decides to set aside their magic after being infected with Lasciel's Shadow, he then calmly puts his fingers on the blade of Amoracchius and quietly tells Harry that he will ''also'' [[ImpliedDeathThreat "be there for him"]] if Harry falls to Lasciel's temptations and [[FaceHeelTurn joins the Denarians]]. Harry is appropriately terrified.

** In ''Proven Guilty'', Harry steps up to first raid Arctis Tor to get Molly, Michael's eldest child, back from the Fetches (though [[MamaBear Charity]] is heavily involved), then puts his life on the line to ensure she gets clemency from the White Council - in the process, leaving him under the same suspended death sentence that she is. At the end of the same book, Michael reveals the sheer level of trust he has in Harry - he's known all along about how Harry has Lasciel in his head, having seen him pick it up to protect Michael's son, and believes that Harry has at least taken up the coin (justified, since no one on record has resisted a Denarian's shadow for more than a few weeks), and he ''still'' trusted him to look after his family. He also offers to be there, if Harry ever wants to give up his magic to get rid of Lasciel's shadow.

* BlaseBoast: Upon seeing Ferrovax crush Harry to the ground with sheer willpower, Michael calmly notes that if Siriovax had known that trick, it "might" have been enough to stop him.

* AFormYouAreConmfortableWith: Even when visible only to spirits and the like, they still go in a form of a policeman in dress uniform. Harry tries to look past it during his stint as a ghost, and Amitiel stops him, even then, to keep him from hurting himself.

* NoticeThis: In-Universe example. Because of Butter's RPG history, it seems Heaven will be giving him signs like this. On a jog with Michael, he notices a homeless man with a yellow exclamation point over the man. Michael explains to him this is a job.

%%* UnfazedEveryman