History Characters / TheLightbringerSeries

Dazen and Gavins Father, Kips Grandfather. The Red on the Spectrum and Promachos, and a MagnificentBastard [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk an all around terrible guy through and through]]. Andross serves as a major antagonist in the series for Kip, Karris and Gavin, despite being on the same side as them ''the entire time''.

* EmergencyAuthority: Andross petitions to be made promachos in ''The Broken Eye'' and spends the rest of the series in the position.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Shaves his head in mourning for the Blackguards lost at Garrison, although he has the rest of the traits at all times.

* CombatPragmatist: Like most Drafters. His immense drafting ability makes it unnecessary much of the time as he can simply throw far more luxin around than anyone else, but he gives Liv's class a lecture that goes into loving detail about how to use superviolet and yellow luxin in invisible tripwires and flash bombs, and he shows no hesitation when it comes to cheap shots, tricks and generally killing enemies however possible. Early on he has no compunctions using superviolet luxin to jam Gunner's rifle at a distance.

* TheHero: Certainly sees it as his duty as Prism. It's pretty heavily implied that he's quite good at it as well. Of course [[spoiler:it falls apart a bit in the middle of the series, only to come back together at the very end]],

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He appears to be an abrasive, heartless old bastard. Dig a little deeper, and you'll find he's a ''power-mad'', abrasive, heartless old bastard. At one point he apologizes and notes that it's been over ''20 years'' since he apologized last. That being said the final book seems to imply that [[spoiler:a large part of this is that he believed he literally had to push his way into a position of enough power to save the world. He seems to intend to use his new position post final battle for good, repairing the Satrapies and setting them up for future success to the best of his abilities.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Andross is ''technically'' on the side of good, but you couldn't really be blamed for forgetting that based on how he acts, particularly in the first few books where he is Kip's primary antagonist. He's spent most of his life bribing, murdering, or manipulating his way to more and more power, and is directly responsible for several deaths and a great deal of suffering for all the main characters. However at the end of the book he's [[spoiler:turned into the Prism and named the Lightbringer, despite the fact that by his own admission he did very little to earn the latter title. He does lose all of his family but Kip and Dazen due to his ambitions, including Felia dying during the series, but nothing bad actually happens to Andross personally in the series.]]
* MagnificentBastard: The title that probably applies best to Andross.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Andross breaks basically any rule he feels is necessary, both openly or secretly, depending on what he feels serves his purposes better.
* TheSocialExpert: Basically everyone who knows Andross thinks he's an asshole, but he's still extremely good at manipulating people into doing what he wants. He does have a tendency towards doing it through overwhelming brute force, basically forcing the other party to do what he wants by making it their only option.

* TheAce: Before the False Prism's War, Gavin was this to everyone, including

* AbusiveParents: Andross is awful to literally everyone not named Felia Guile. Both of his older sons grow to hate him for relatively good reasons, his Grandson Kip hates him as well, and his youngest son Sevastian doesn't only because he died so young. Taken up to eleven when ''The Burning White'' reveals that [[spoiler:he's personally responsible for having Gavin kill Sevastian]].

* KarmaHoudini: Andross is ''technically'' on the side of good, but you couldn't really be blamed for forgetting that based on how he acts, particularly in the first few books where he is Kip's primary antagonist. He's spent most of his life bribing, murdering, or manipulating his way to more and more power, and is directly responsible for several deaths and a great deal of suffering for all the main characters. However at the end of the book he's [[spoiler:turned into the Prism and named the Lightbringer, despite the fact that by his own admission he did very little to earn the latter title. He does lose all of his family but Kip and Dazen due to his ambitions, including Felia dying during the series, but it nothing else bad actually happens to Andross personally in the series.]]

* TheSocialExpert: Basically everyone who knows Andross thinks he's an asshole, but he's still extremely good at manipulating people into doing what he wants.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Although he's not the only example, Andross is a pretty obvious one. He's inclined to see everyone as pawns to be used an manipulated and his only concern when other people die is that he may be loosing a valuable tool.
* TheChessmaster: Even the people who hate him (which is everyone who isn't afraid of him instead) are forced to admit that Andross is incredibly brilliant. This is more or less how he acts, particularly in the early part of the series where he's confined to his apartments.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He appears to be an abrasive, heartless old bastard. Dig a little deeper, and you'll find he's a ''power-mad'', abrasive, heartless old bastard. At one point he apologizes and notes that it's been over ''20 years'' since he apologized last. That being said the final book seems to imply that [[spoiler:a large part of this is that he believed he literally had push anyone and everyone out of the way to save the world. He seems to intend to use his new position post final battle for good, repairing the Satrapies and setting them up for future success to the best of his abilities.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Andross is ''technically'' on the side of good, but you couldn't really be blamed for forgetting that based on how he acts, particularly in the first few books where he is Kip's primary antagonist. He's spent most of his life bribing, murdering, or manipulating his way to more and more power. All he really seems to care about is how someone can best serve him. However [[spoiler:at the end of the book he's turned into the Prism and named the Lightbringer, despite the fact that by his own admission he did very little to earn the latter title. Although 2 of his three sons die in the backstory and Felia dies during the series, almost nothing else bad actually happens to Andross personally in the series.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Andross is ''technically'' on the side of good, but you couldn't really be blamed for forgetting that based on how he acts. He's spent most of his life bribing, murdering, or manipulating his way to more and more power. All he really seems to care about is how someone can best serve him. However [[spoiler:at the end of the book he's turned into the Prism and named the Lightbringer, despite the fact that by his own admission he did very little to earn the latter title. Other than Felia's death, almost nothing bad actually happens to Andross personally in the entire series.]]

* TheChosenOne: Kips friends (and sometimes he himself) all genuinely believe he is the Lightbringer, although it's unclear if they're right for most of the series. In the end [[spoiler: Andross is officially considered the Lightbringer. Andross himself points out that Dazen and Kip did a larger part of the work, and Andross doesn't feel he really deserve the title, but who, if anyone, is actually the Lightbringer is left intentionally unclear.]]

* RapeAsBackstory: Maybe. There are a number of different stories told at a number of different times. Part of the problem is that of the main two candiates [[spoiler:Gavin and Andross, one is dead and the other isn't exactly forthcoming.]] The end conclusion seems to be that [[spoiler:Gavin is Kips father, based on what Andross says. It's unclear if it was consensual or not, or even how reliable this information is. Based on what we know about Gavin, it genuinely could go either way.]]

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His birth-name, Harrdun, is said a few times. However he is almost only referred to as Commander Ironfist.

** However the middle few books focus more on the Order of the Broken eye and the Old Man of the desert as Color Prince is more of a distant threat.
** Then in ''The Blinding White'' [[spoiler:he is more or less ignored over, as the focus shifts to Zyuum and the Order as threats closer to home and dealing with the Immortals. While his invasion is the climax of the book, he barely appears personally, dying unceremoniously over the course of a page or two]].

* GreyAndGrayMorality: While the Color Prince is obviously the bad guy throughout, even those fighting him frequently acknowledge that he isn't totally wrong. The Chomeria is corrupt and deeply flawed, they just believe it can be fixed and, even in it's current state, is far better then the alternative.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: To some extent. He tells his followers in general that he's liberating the Seven Satrapies from the tyranny of a corrupt Chromeria, but privately admits he's motivated by power as well, although how much of each is tough to say. It's explicitly and repeatedly pointed out that while his alternative is certainly worse, he isn't wrong about the Chromeria's corruption.

* CombatPragmatist: Like most Drafters. It's not always pronounced, as his immense drafting ability makes it unnecessary much of the time, he gives Liv's class a lecture that goes into loving detail about how to use superviolet and yellow luxin in invisible tripwires and flash bombs, and he shows no hesitation when it comes to killing enemies however possible.
** Early on he has no compunctions using superviolet luxin to jam Gunner's rifle at a distance.
* DualWielding: His custom-made Illyrican pistols. Justified in that Pistols (and guns in general) are still unreliable in the Flintlock Fantasy world. If you get the chance, firing both pistols makes it more likely that at least one goes off.
* FrontLineGeneral: His title during the False Prism's War, Promachos, is actually a Greek term that means "He who leads from the front." He lives up to it. Later on the Blackguard even [[spoiler: give him the Blackguard name "Promachos" as a sign of respect. Particularly notable when so many blackguard names are at least somewhat mocking, his is said with nothing but respect.]]

* BecomingTheMask: Sometimes subverted, sometimes not. Dazen obviously spends some time working this out in the early books. He [[spoiler:leans into being Gavin very hard into this trope, as he can't afford a break at any time]] in ''The Burning White'' [[spoiler:he finally accepts that he is actually Dazen, although he arguably he hasn't really been acting like Gavin in anything other than name the whole time.]]

The nature of the series means that this page has unmarked spoilers. While most spoilers are marked where possible, a number of reveals from events before ''The Burning White'' are heavily spoiled below simply by the listing of Tropes below.

* DarkMessiah: Leader of color wights and a revolution that intends to end the Seven Satrapies.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: Undeniably, between horrific burns and replacing large parts of his body with Luxin.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: To some extent. He tells his followers in general that he's liberating the Seven Satrapies from the tyranny of a corrupt Chromeria, but privately admits he's motivated by power as well, although how much of each is tough to say. It's explicitly and repeatedly pointed out that while his alternative is certainly worse, he does have a point about the Chromeria's corruption.

* The Big Bad Shuffle: He starts the first book as TheDragon to King Garadul, but after the Kings death, he spends the majority of the series as the Big Bad himself.

* Dark Messiah: Leader of color wights and a revolution that intends to end the Seven Satrapies.

Not Quite Dead: The Color Prince is [[spoiler:Karris's brother Koios]], whom everyone believes died during False Prism's War.
WellIntentionedExtremist: To some extent. He tells his followers in general that he's liberating the Seven Satrapies from the tyranny of a corrupt Chromeria, but privately admits he's motivated by power as well. It's explicitly and repeatedly pointed out that while his alternative is certainly worse, he does have a point about the Chromeria's corruption.

** Then in ''The Blinding White'' [[spoiler:he is more or less ignored over, as the focus shifts to Zyuum as a threat closer to home and dealing with the Immortals. While his invasion is the climax of the book, he barely appears personally, dying unceremoniously over the course of a page or two]].

* ActionGirl: Applies to any Archer in the Guard.
* CombatPragmatist: Kip's story arc in The Blinding Knife goes into depth on this. While official rules are strongly enforced, the guard values trickery and deception as much as brute force. Ironfist sums the approach up with, "Blackguards don't cheat; they win!"
* LoopholeAbuse: This is actively encouraged by the Blackguards during testing as clever Blackguards recruits who can come up with ways to avoid danger and keep themselves alive (while completing the mission) is a high priority.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Guards often get nicknames based on a trait or accomplishment early in their career, often somewhat mocking. While their real names aren't a secret, many are only known only by their Blackguard name.

* TheBigGuy: Very big, even by Blackguard standards. Particularly when he's with Gavin who's acting as TheLeader.
* ScaryBlackMan: Ironfist is one of the largest and most personally dangerous people in the series.

RapeAsBackstory: Maybe. There are a number of different stories told at a number of different times. Part of the problem is that of the main two candiates [[spoiler:Gavin and Andross, one is dead and the other isn't exactly forthcoming.]] The end conclusion seems to be that [[spoiler:Gavin is Kips father, based on what Andross says. It's unclear if it was consensual or not, or even how reliable this information is. Based on what we know about Gavin, it genuinely could go either way.]]

The nature of the series means that this page has unmarked spoilers. In particular ''The Black Prism'' and ''The Blinding Knife'' are heavily spoiled below.

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* TraumaCongaLine: Suffers a lengthy one throughout the series.

* EmergencyAuthority: Andross petitions to be made promachos in ''The Broken Eye'' and spends the rest of the series in the postion.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He appears to be an abrasive, heartless old bastard. Dig a little deeper, and you'll find he's a ''power-mad'', abrasive, heartless old bastard. At one point he apologizes and notes that it's been over 20 years since he apologized last. That being said the final book seems to imply that [[spoiler:a large part of this is that he believed he literally had push anyone and everyone out of the way to save the world. He seems to intend to use his new position post final battle for good, repairing the Satrapies and setting them up for future success to the best of his abilities.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Andross is ''technically'' on the side of good, but you couldn't really be blamed for forgetting that based on how he acts. He's spent most of his life bribing, murdering, or manipulating his way to more and more power. All he really seems to care about his how someone can best serve him. However [[spoiler:at the end of the book he's turned into the Prism and named the Lightbringer, despite the fact that by his own admission he did very little to earn the latter title.]]

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Being as young as he is in charge of as much as he is, Kip struggles with this a great deal. All told, he does a fantastic job, but he's constantly worried about the fact that his decisions are impacting thousands of people.

RapeAsBackstory: Maybe. There are a number of different stories told at a number of different times. The end conclusion seems to be that [[spoiler:Gavin (not Dazen or Andross) is actually Kips father. It's unclear if it was consensual or not. Based on what we know about Gavin, it genuinely could go either way.]]
* StoutStrength: Kip starts of the series fat and clumsy, but after going through Blackguard training and growing up, he's large and remarkably strong. He's still a bit slow by Blackguard standards, but he is still very tough.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Guards often get nicknames based on a trait or action early in their career. While their real names aren't exactly a secret, many are only known only by their Blackguard name.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His birth-name, Harrdun, is said a few times, by he is almost only referred to as Commander Ironfist.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He gives a speech about this to Kip early in The Black Prism, and his (partially accidental) burning down of the White Oak mansion backs it up. Of course [[spoiler: it turns out it wasn't an accident at all. Dazen is incredibly brutal throughout the series, although he does spend a lot of his time saving people whenever he can.]]

The nature of the series means that this page has unmarked spoilers.

* TheAce: As many characters point out, Dazen starts the series on top of the world, literally and figuratively. He is recognized by all as gorgeous, supremely talented, intelligent, and possessed of a luck to rival that of Julius Caesar.

* DualWielding: His custom-made Illyrican pistols. Justified in that Pistols (and guns in general) are still pretty unreliable in the Flintlock Fantasy world. Firing both pistols makes it more likely that at least one goes off.

* TheChosenOne: Kips friends (and eventually he himself) all genuinely believe he is the Lightbringer, although it's unclear if they're right for most of the series. In the end [[spoiler: Andross is officially considered the Lightbringer. Andross himself points out that Dazen and Kip did a larger part of the work, and Andross doesn't feel he really deserve the title, but who, if anyone, is actually the Lightbringer is left intentionally unclear.]]

* TheAce: Guiles are all capable and dangerous in numerous ways. Multiple members of the family are Polychromes and everyone in the family is a capable drafter and very intelligent in their own right.

!!The Blackguard

!!The Spectrum

* BecomingTheMask: Averted.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He gives a speech about this to Kip early in The Black Prism, and his (partially accidental) burning down of the White Oak mansion backs it up.

* CombatPragmatist: Although not pronounced, as his immense drafting ability makes it unnecessary much of the time, he is shown to be this in the lecture he gives Liv's class, going into loving detail about how to use superviolet and yellow luxin in invisible tripwires and flash bombs.
** He also has no compunctions using superviolet luxin to jam Gunner's rifle at a distance.
* DualWielding: His custom-made Illyrican pistols.
* FrontLineGeneral: His title during the False Prism's War, Promachos, is actually a Greek term that means "He who leads from the front." He lives up to it.

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[[folder:Gavin Guile [[spoiler: Dazen Guile]]]]

* TheAce: As many characters point out, Gavin Guile starts the series on top of the world, literally and figuratively. He is recognized by all as gorgeous, supremely talented, intelligent, and possessed of a luck to rival that of Julius Caesar.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He gives a speech about this to Kip early in The Black Prism.

[[folder:Gavin Guile]]

* BecomingTheMask:
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
* BrokenAce:
* CombatPragmatist:

* FrontLineGeneral: Like his old man, Adolin fights from the frontlines.