History Sandbox / CharactersAPracticalGuideToEvil

* AmbiguousDisorder: Even before he became the Squire (and then the Black Knight), his analytical, abstract and asocial approach to Evil differed widely from the norm. He's actually worried he'll go too far over the edge with it in time, as Black Knights have a habit of going too far into the deep end of madness.

* DropTheHammer: When she's not in wolf-mode.

* InvisibleToNormals: She can only influence the actions of Named or entities at or above that [[SuperWeight power]] level.

* HeroesPreferRedheads: [[spoiler:Cuddly redheaded mages to be precise.]]

The epilogue of Book 2 reveals that The Wandering Bard is actually some kind of body-hopping immortal entity that has lived since long before elves arrived on Calernia. The precise nature of this entity is still mysterious but it seems to always exist as a storytelling-based Name and although it switches bodies and identities it retains all of its memories. It's also apparently scary enough to bully the Forever King. Her Aspects are '''[[FunctionalGenreSavvy Narrate]]''', '''[[OffScreenTeleportation Wander]]''', and '''[[ForWantOfANail Guide]]'''.

* EvilIsSexy: Much to Catherine's annoyance, she almost always appears this way. In part due to the Wastelander's [[SuperBreedingProgram habit of selectively breeding with]] talented mages, people with beautiful appearances, and the occasional [[{{Squick}} magical monster]].

* AnythingThatMoves / TheHedonist: Indrani will hit on just about anyone. When quizzed she points out that Named tend to get more of everything, power and danger, which means she's likely not destined for old age and should enjoy life while she can.

* RatedMForManly: Stated by Pickler to be the goblin equivalent of this trope. Sneaky, underhanded, and clever and always showing it off.

* BladeOnAStick: His thing is two of them -- he doesn't DualWield, though (thankfully -- that would be so funny for Archer if he did). At least he has the sense to have a back-up for ranged options without disarming himself.

* BladeOnAStick: Her weapon of choice is a spear.

* HasTwoDaddies: One of whom is an [[SuccubiAndIncubi Incubus]], the other is a scary-as-hell Warlock. They're both doting [[PapaWolf Papa Wolves]] he dearly loves.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Sort of an inversion since the image she projects is one of an insanely sexy and whimsically violent temptress when she's actually a fairly conservative, calculating and pragmatic policy geek. Essentially she's Hilary Clinton pretending to be Catherine the Great while looking like Nefertiti wished she looked.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: An inversion, much like her nemesis Malicia in that she's a ruthless and determined political operator playing the role of TheHighQueen.

* FiveManBand: Catherine's personal Band of Five, with each member filling out one of the trope's classic roles.
** TheLeader: Catherine, obviously, is the main protagonist who unites them together and leads them in their campaigns. While they all have their own individual goals, it's Catherine's vision that binds them together.
** TheLancer: Hakram is Catherine's oldest ally, responsible for handling all of the bureaucracies she hates dealing with when she comes into greater positions of power. He's easily her most important relationship and the one she expects to stay by her side no matter what, [[spoiler:which makes it all the more heartbreaking when they come to odds over her unintentional condescending treatment. They eventually reconcile and reunite for the siege of Keter, but as allies rather than commander and subordinate.]]
** TheSmartGuy: Masego, as the son of the Warlock, is their expert in all things related to magic, playing an important role in researching (often blasphemous) ways to combat their various eldritch enemies.
** TheBigGuy: Indrani is the most physically strong member of the Woe, a brute who serves as the Black Queen's main hatchet woman. While by no means stupid, her main tasks usually involve killing whoever she sees as a threat or whomever Catherine points her at.
** TheChick: Vivienne is the group's moral compass, given control of the magical contingencies over Catherine in the event she gets corrupted by the power of Winter. She's often compared to Catherine's conscience--initially browbeaten and ignored, but eventually able to get the others to listen to her and prevent Callow from falling too far into darkness.
** TheSixthRanger: [[spoiler:Akua becomes this once Catherine enslaves her shade, even being taken along with the group as they negotiate an alliance with the Dead King. Although never considered an official part of the group (notably sitting out their climactic fight with the Woe's {{Evil Counterpart}}s, the Dead King's five remaining Scourges), she still forms close bonds with most of them, fighting by their side for almost every other major battle they're together for.]]

* TheChick: The most idealistic and least villainous of the Woe.

* TheChick: Oh yeah. Killian is gentle, sensitive, supportive, and seemingly almost everyone's friend, notwithstanding her ability to set people on fire. In the first book, she could arguably share TheEvilGenius role with Pickler, but in book two this role is taken by The Apprentice.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Zig-zagged. When she is first granted command of Rat Company it is in recognition of her achievement in taking command of the company and leading it to victory against truly ridiculous odds. In order to earn the command of the Legion, Catherine then has to come out victorious in a five-way melee commanding her own company, however she subverts this trope when she wins by cutting a deal with her most competent competitor rather than carrying the fight through to the bitter end. Once the Fifteenth Legion enters the field this becomes inverted: Although she's technically in charge, her physical power as The Squire forces her to focus on front line combat, and she delegates most tactical planning to Juniper, while still clearly being in command.

* TheOathBreaker: [[spoiler:Regretfully breaks his oath of loyalty to Cat in order to take up [[ElectiveMonarchy leadership]] of the orc clans and the ancient Name of [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Warlord]].]]

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Beneath his arrogance and {{Innocent Bigot}}ry, the Mirror Knight is very aware that his leadership position is purely the result of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Christophe acknowledges that he lacks the ability to bring out the best in those under his command like [[TheParagon Hanno]] can.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: When you gain another Drow's life force/magical energy/knowledge by killing them and harvesting the "Night" from their corpse, and your society is based around AsskickingEqualsAuthority, the concept of loyalty or swearing oaths seems rather odd.

* FantasticRankSystem: The Drow under the leadership of Sve Noc and ideal of AsskickingEqualsAuthority roughly follow this. As such, in a given Sigil (~tribe), the ranks from least to most Night are: