Line #208 Characters/TheQueensThief


1	For more information, see [[Literature/TheQueensThief here]].
2
3	'''Due to the sheer number of spoilers present in this series, spoilers are unmarked except for those from the latest book, ''Return of the Thief''. If you haven't read the full series, we strongly suggest that you do so before proceeding. You will be spoiled. You've been warned.'''
4
5	----
6	[[foldercontrol]]
7
8	[[folder:Eddis]]
9	! '''Eugenides'''
10
11	* ActuallyPrettyFunny:
12	** When Costis makes his "which is more unlikely, your deaths or an heir?" comment, Eugenides finds it ''hilarious.'' Of course, there's an extra layer of amusement for him because at that point, everyone in the palace incorrectly thinks he has never once visited his wife's bedroom.
13	** He also laughs quite a bit when he looks at his empty wineglass and Attolia says "take mine." She killed her first husband by poisoning her own wine.
14	* AintTooProudToBeg: The only one who can invoke this from him is Attolia, in her very scary TheHighQueen persona.
15	* AirVentPassageway: The escape by this method didn't work as well as it should have, thanks to interference from a certain someone. See CosmicPlaything.
16	%% * BadassBack
17	* BadassBoast: "I can steal anything," followed by "I can do anything I want!" with a helping of PunctuatedForEmphasis.
18	* BadassBookworm: He's very knowledgeable about the old myths but also keeps up with the current plays and other scholastic affairs.
19	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He wanted to marry his love. He married her, along with all the responsibilities and obligations that came with the position.
20	* BreakTheCutie: Broken horribly and tragically in the second book. He comes back, but it's still noted afterwards that his health isn't what it was.
21	* BroughtDownToNormal: Subverted. Initially he and everyone else thinks that a one-handed thief is no thief at all, but as the magus says, he can still do something.
22	* BunnyEarsLawyer: He pisses off everyone. ''Everyone''. The family member who's the fondest of him says that being constantly angry with him is the correct reaction. But he is the best thief.
23	* TheChessmaster: Particularly in ''King of Attolia''. He promises Attolia that he can bring down Erondites' house in six months and it only takes him 98 days.
24	* ComesGreatResponsibility: As he tells Phresine, he has to keep his distaste for killing people a secret because he'll have to do it whether he wants to or not, since it comes with being King.
25	* ConsummateLiar: In the words of Eddis: "He always lies to me. He lies to himself. If Eugenides talked in his sleep, he'd lie then too."
26	* CosmicPlaything: The gods had a hand in some of his great, as well as his [[ColdBloodedTorture not so great]] achievements.
27	* CrazyPrepared: To get into the magus' expedition, he first creates false records of a common thief named Gen, breaks into the archives of Sounis and plants them there, changes his manner to plausibly be a common street thief, and ''then'' begins boasting in the wineshops. He also has an Attolian accent that the Attolians (who continually mock his foreignness) don't even ''realize'' it until he's fatigued and slips back into Eddisian pronunciation--and even then Costis attributes it purely to sleepiness until Eugenides puts the accent back.
28	* DanceOfRomance: With Attolia in ''The King of Attolia''.
29	* {{Determinator}}: As Ornon points out in the third book, Gen will whine, he'll complain, he'll wriggle and procrastinate, but in spite of all that he will ''never quit''.
30	* DidntThinkThisThrough: He goes through a great deal of pain and trial to get himself into a position that he can ask the Queen of Attolia to marry him. Eventually, she consents. And he panics, because marrying her means that he will be ''King'' of Attolia. He knew that perfectly well going on, but he didn't let himself actually ''think'' about it.
31	* TheDogBitesBack: In ''Queen of Attolia''. He is in love with Attolia, granted, but the way he humiliates her after she cuts off his hand is definitely karmic.
32	* TheDreaded:
33	** Sounis (Sophos' uncle) is paranoid that Gen will sneak into his room and kill him in his sleep. Attolia hides it better but had similar concerns. Justified as Gen proved he was perfectly capable.
34	** When he truly loses his temper everyone around him starts calculating minimum safe distance.
35	** [[spoiler:Revealed to be this to ''everyone'' in ''Return Of The Thief''. Eddis' council were so worried that they voted to have him ''killed'' pre-series, and their allies in the Greater Penisula betray them because Eugenides was possibly as big a threat to them as the Mede.]]
36	%%* EarnYourHappyEnding
37	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: After his episode of BreakTheCutie, his long hair is cut short and it stays that way for the rest of the series.
38	* FirstPersonSmartass: In the first book only. After that he's just a smartass.
39	* GallowsHumor: Thieves traditionally fall to their deaths, as he's happy to tell Costis while he is drunk-hopping on crenelations.
40	* GentlemanThief: Although he appears to be a common street thief in the first book, he's quite insistent that he's from a respectable family. From Eddis' ''royal'' family in point of fact.
41	* GuileHero: Eugenides lays plans that begin months in advance and can involve anything from allowing himself to rot in prison for months to letting an entire court believe that he's an ineffectual popinjay ''just'' to lure the son of the crown's greatest threat into making a fatal mistake. Whenever you think you know what Gen is up to you, you don't... and if you've guessed right, you still don't have the ''half'' of it.
42	* HairyHammerspace: Part of his first plot: hiding [[MineralMacguffin something]] [[ImmortalityInducer essential]] in his long hair.
43	* HandicappedBadass: Losing his hand in the second book is traumatizing, and he's never quite as robust as he was before; nevertheless he's still an incredibly talented thief and spy, and once he recovers and acclimates to using his prosthetics, the loss of his hand barely slows him.
44	* HappilyMarried: After a lot of trial and suffering, he and Irene--that is, the Queen of Attolia.
45	* HeroicBSOD: He is legitimately traumatized and knocked completely out of the action after Attolia cuts his hand off. Eugenides, so sharp-eyed and well-prepared, does not notice for ''months'' that his own nation has gone to war because he's been that flattened.
46	* HeroicRROD:
47	** He survives being run through by a sword near the end of ''The Thief'' thanks to Hamiathes' Gift, but it costs him. The wound makes him feel like his chest is full of boiling cement in the immediate aftermath, and as soon as he removes the Gift from his person, his body collapses with a fever and a struggle to mend that leaves him AsleepForDays.
48	** The Eddisians subject him to "the trial" in ''Return of the Thief'', which amounts to single combat with every last fighting man in the court until he drops. It finally ends with him facing off against his father and ''refusing to yield'' even though he's been beaten to a pulp by then. [[spoiler:The gods heal his injuries overnight. The realization makes him throw up.]]
49	* HesBack: Makes a spectacular and ground-breaking return after his episode of {{Angst}} in the second book by stealing the magus of Sounis. Much to the magus' chagrin.
50	* HookHand: From the second book onwards. Although initially he wavers between the hook or a wooden false hand (which is less useful but also less conspicuous), by the third book he wears a hook most of the time. It doubles as a weapon.
51	* HyperAwareness: Eugenides is always aware of what everyone in his immediate vicinity is doing at any given point. He often pretends to be half-asleep to throw them off.
52	* ImpossibleThief: He goes from a lowly thief in the prisons of Sounis at the beginning of the series to the sovereign of ''all three countries'' by the fourth book of the series; Eddis, Sounis and Attolia. Though to be fair, he was in prison by his own choice and only pretending to be "lowly".
53	* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: How the first book came into being, apparently. Sophos does something similar to create ''A Conspiracy of Kings.''
54	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He enjoys provoking the hell out of people, is rude and sarcastic, and generally infuriates everyone he meets, but he's still a good friend who's trying to help the peninsular countries the best he can.
55	* JumpedAtTheCall: When it comes to spying in Attolia. It loses him a hand.
56	* KidHero: He's somewhere ambiguously on the cusp of adolescence in The Thief. The events that unfold after [[TraumaCongaLine his capture by Attolia]] and the responsibilities he later assumes pretty firmly thrust him into adulthood even though he's still in his teens; by the end of the series he's treated as a formidable king with a fearsome reputation despite being no older than his early to mid 20's. [[note]]The original short story "Thief!!" places him at 10 years old; the first book takes place around 5 years later and the rest of the series unfolds over the next 8 years after that.[[/note]]
57	* LeapOfFaith: He believes he'll only ever die of a fall if his god himself drops him. And once your god betrays you, you really don't have any hope left anyway.
58	* LetsGetDangerous: Spends most of his time being a pain in the ass, but when you put his back to the wall watch ''out''. The magus, Attolia, and the Mede found this out in different ways.
59	* LoveAtFirstSight: Towards the Queen of Attolia. He says that this kind of love doesn't last, mind, but he spies on her enough that it just gets stronger.
60	* TheMasochismTango: With Attolia. First he fell in love with her from afar. He spent a lot of time [[StalkerWithACrush sneaking around and watching her]]. Then she cut off his hand, causing him to go into [[HeroicBSOD a deep depression]]. Eventually he recovers, only to kidnap her and propose marriage.
61	* MeaningfulName: Eugenides is also the name of the god of thieves, and as he's the Queen's Thief, it's his name as well as his title.
62	* MistakenForRomance: A number of people are ready to believe that he and his cousin Eddis are romantically involved. They emphatically aren't (and she says that she'd probably strangle him if they did marry) but in the second book feed the rumor mill to misdirect Attolia and Sounis.
63	* NoHeroToHisValet: As much as his childhood friend and cousin Eddis respects him, she still says explicitly that she would sooner strangle him than marry him. She also tells the woman he's in love with how much of a liar he is. Irene, Costis, and Kamet all reflect on how infuriating he is in spite of how much they love him.
64	* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: This is how he conducts his affairs. He routinely lies and breaks his promises to take it easy if he thinks he can get away with it.
65	* ObfuscatingStupidity: In the first book. Funny thing is, ''he's the narrator,'' using the first-person perspective. Somehow he manages to [[UnreliableNarrator fool the reader]] without leaving out anything that would be noticed. This also comes into play in the third book (although this time the reader is in on it), wherein the court in Attolia are lead to think he's an ineffectual UpperClassTwit.
66	** Even after his reputation becomes so fiersome that this act no longer fools anyone he still keeps it up, placing him firmly in BunnyEarsLawyer territory.
67	* PalsWithJesus: Eugenides is noted for not only talking to his gods, but for having them ''talk back''. Of course, they tell him things like "STOP WHINING" and "GO TO SLEEP", which he finds to be rather anticlimatic.
68	* PintsizedPowerhouse: He's noted to be small (shorter than Attolia, for example) but he's a very effective fighter.
69	* QuitYourWhining: When he spends a little too long lamenting his lost hand and the resulting war and visits the temple, the ''gods themselves'' tell him to get over it.
70	* ReluctantRuler: He married his wife because he loved her, not because he wanted her throne.]]
71	* ReluctantWarrior: He hates killing and refused to follow his father into the army, which caused a lot of strife between them. But the final refusal came ''after'' years of learning how to fight.
72	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Eugenides is part of Eddis' royal family. His first action in the series is to enact a plan that involves disguise, trickery, and artifact robbery. This doesn't change much when he becomes king of Attolia; he continues to conduct espionage personally whenever his health will allow.
73	* SecretStabWound: After being wounded in ''King of Attolia'', he makes ''such'' a whining, hammy ruckus about how much pain he's in all the way across the palace that everyone is just exasperated or amused. Only when they reach his room do they realize that his wound is much larger and deeper than they thought because he'd carefully bunched his clothes to conceal how much he's bleeding. Costis realizes that his childish complaining was a far more effective smokescreen than stoically gritting his teeth would have been. (A point further made when Eugenides ''is'' convinced to stoically grit his teeth, and only then does Irene faint.)
74	* SherlockScan: Particularly prominent in the first book (which is from his point of view), where he notices all sorts of small details about the magus and his party.
75	* SirSwearsALot: Although, thanks to the NarrativeProfanityFilter, not much of it ends up on the actual page outside of the occasional [[OhMyGods gods damn]]. Costis' narration in ''King of Attolia'' mentions that he's usually very creative.
76	* TheSnarkKnight: This is a main reason why everyone wants to hit him. He snarks at himself just as much.
77	* TheSoCalledCoward: He doesn't like fighting, which makes people tend to assume that he's a coward who isn't good at it. [[UnderestimatingBadassery They are very wrong]]. He doesn't like it because he doesn't like killing, but he can do so with devastating efficiency.
78	* ScarsAreForever: In escaping from the Attolians in ''The Thief'', a flying stone chip leaves a feather-shaped cut on his cheek. The magus sympathetically hopes it'll heal cleanly, but Eugenides recognizes it as a mark of approval from his patron god (albeit a bloody one). He also has scars from Sounis' shackles.
79	* StalkerWithACrush: To Attolia. He fell in love with her while spying on her for Eddis and soon began spying on her in the times when she had the mask off.
80	* StreetUrchin: He poses as a baseborn thief in ''The Thief'' with bad manners, bad hygeine (although Sounis' prison did the work there) and no respect for his "betters." He still corrects Ambiades and Sophos when they assume his mother was unwed.
81	* TantrumThrowing: When he loses his temper he has a tendency to pitch whatever objects are nearby as hard as he can.
82	* TricksterMentor: Towards Sophos, and towards some degree towards Costis. He makes liberal use of the BatmanGambit and ReversePsychology, setting them up to do things by pissing them off.
83	* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: His full list of titles, as of the end of the series: [[AC:Attolis Eugenides Eugenideides, By the will of the Great Goddess, annux over Hephestia's Peninsula, king of Attolia, king over Sounis, and Eddis, king from the Macheddic Mountains to the sea, king from the Melenzetti Pass to the River Lusimina, and by my oath to my god, now and for my life, Thief of Eddis.]]
84	* TurnOutLikeHisFather: At first, he despised fighting and killing like his father did, but it soon became a necessary skill for him to keep his position and his life. He also turned out like his mother and grandfather, who were both thieves, and his ''other'' grandfather, who was Eddis.
85	* UnreliableNarrator: In ''The Thief'', like you wouldn’t believe. See also ObfuscatingStupidity, above.
86	* TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive: A heroic example. In the first couple of books, he routinely visits Sounis and Attolia's private apartments and shifts things around (or leaves gifts) to show that he's been there. In the final book his threats against [[spoiler:the Braeling king include several of the king's personal effects, making it graphically clear that he has already "visited" at some point]].
87	* WithFriendsLikeThese: Anyone he has any sort of affection for--romantic, friendship, respect--can expect to have their lives upended and pulled inside-out by his machinations.
88	* YouWontLikeMeWhenImAngry: He tells Yorn Fordad that [[spoiler:if he ends the battle alive but dethroned, then the rulers of all the Greater Powers will die choking on their own blood and that the king of the Braels will be the last to go]].
89
90	! '''Eddis [[spoiler:Helen]]'''
91
92	* AltarDiplomacy: Much of her problems come from whether or not she's going to marry Sounis. Sounis and the magus plot to force her hand in the first book, but even in the second and fourth she admits she may ''have'' to in order to strengthen the coast against Mede invasion, even though he's an unpleasant man. When Sophos becomes Sounis the question becomes less odious, but still not easy.
93	* BadassArmy: She has one. She also leads it. As Attolia puts it at one point, Eddisians have little to do in winter but get better at making war.
94	* BoyishShortHair: As part of her practical, unfeminine appearance. Her short, curly hair partially obscures her crown.
95	* TheChessmaster: Works with Eugenides to manipulate and spy on the Peninsula in order to keep herself and her country strong and independent. One Attolian soldier in the third book remarks that she has to be every bit as cunning and ruthless as Attolia to achieve that.
96	* DeathGlare: Despite being the kindest of the three rulers, Eddis is still not a woman to cross. When Teleus mistakes her for a wayward private and grabs her arm, she gives him a look that could ''boil lead'' and he shakes his hand out as though he's been burned.
97	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: The second book reveals that the gods have been sending her dreams of an eruption of the Sacred Mountain that will kill everyone if she doesn't empty the country to the lowlands. It's not going to happen for another century, but given the event she has to start fixing it ''now''.
98	* IronicName: She's explicitly ''not'' beautiful, being short and burly with a broken nose. Her name is Helen.
99	* MeaningfulName: Of the ironic variety. It's made quite clear that her beauty is all on the inside.
100	* MistakenForRomance: A number of people in the second book are under the impression that she and Eugenides are KissingCousins, or want to be. They decide to play up the rumors in order to throw the Attolian and Sounisian spies off of what they're actually planning.
101	* ModestRoyalty: She prefers soldiers' clothing and only wears finery when she's forced to look opulent for publicity purposes.
102	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Eddis is a very active monarch and probably the most pleasant in personality, though she admits her circumstances are much more fortunate than the rulers of Attolia and Sounis.
103	* SheIsTheKing: The female variant is actually "Eddia", but she deliberately took Eddis.
104	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Attolia's Girly Girl.
105	* UnexpectedSuccessor: She had two older brothers, but they died suddenly of illness and left her the sole heir.
106	* UniversallyBelovedLeader: Her people would do anything she asked of them purely out of love for her and with no fear--even the barons (barons being the social class who cause almost all the problems in Sounis and Attolia). On the flip side, this means that any time Eddis has to do something unpopular, they find a scapegoat to be mad at instead of her.
107	* WhatsUpKingDude: Members of her court and her personal attendants are much less formal with her than those around Attolia and Sounis. Their loyalty is also considerably stronger, and their familiarity is part of the general character of Eddisians.
108
109	! '''The Minister of War'''
110
111	* ActuallyIAmHim: When the minister makes a dismissive comment and the magus defends Eugenides as a son any father would be proud of, all of the Eddisans in the room are highly amused.
112	* BadassArmy: He leads one.
113	* DeathGlare: During the peace and marriage negotiations with Attolia, he keeps her fixed with a "basilisk stare."
114	* FourStarBadass: The leader of the Eddisian army is a highly skilled foot soldier and an expert swordsman himself.
115	* ModestRoyalty: He is part of the royal family and head of the armed forces, but he wears an ordinary uniform with no rank insignia on it. This means he's not recognized for who he is by Nahuseresh.
116	* NoNameGiven: Throughout the series, he is only named as Minister of War or Eugenides' father. ''Return of the Thief'' reveals that it is [[spoiler:Hector]].
117	* PapaWolf: Downplayed example, since he is also TheStoic, and given his position and the political elements of the series, he cannot actually strike out at the woman who cut off his son's hand. He does make it as clear to her as he can that he is very angry with her for it.
118	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: He is every bit as capable of fighting as the soldiers under his command.
119	* ShootTheDog: When he and Eugenides are taken prisoner, he uses his bonds to strangle his son until Attolia stops it--not because he hates Eugenides, but because it would be better for Eddis and because he's afraid Eugenides will suffer even more than he did the first time.
120	* TheStoic: According to Eddis, he, like his son, will not admit when he is in pain.
121	* UptightLovesWild: Evidently, given that he married Eugenides' thiefly mother.
122
123	! '''Ambassador Ornon'''
124
125	* {{Ambadassador}}: We learn at the end of ''King of Attolia'' that Eugenides routinely practices swordplay with Ornon and that Ornon never hesitates to strike if he gets past Eugenides' guard.
126	* GoneHorriblyRight: Thinks this in ''King of Attolia''. Ornon had always wanted to see Eugenides brought low, but seeing him swallow every insult and humiliation hurled at him by the Attolians soon makes him seriously worried. (It's all in accordance with one of Eugenides' plans.)
127	* NoodleIncident: How he lost his sheep, and much of his wealth with them. Gen was certainly responsible, given that Ornon told him to stop baa-ing like a lamb whenever Ornon walks into a room. (Gen barks like a sheepdog instead.)
128	* ShootTheDog: When Eugenides is caught by Attolia, Ornon deliberately does everything he can to inflame Attolia into an execution on the spot so that she won't torture Gen for information--and nearly succeeds, but for Nahuseresh giving her the idea of the traditional punishment for thieves. Gen considers this to have been just what Ornon ''should'' have done, because he would have been "safely dead."
129	* SitcomArchNemesis: He is always mentioned to severely dislike Eugenides, but the specific reasons are left mostly unstated and never does anything substantial--he just takes any opportunity he can to annoy him. It's also possible that the extent of Ornon's antipathy is somewhat played up for the benefit of others.
130	* WorthyOpponent: Describes his relationship with Eugenides as "a great deal of hard-won respect for each other."
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Attolia]]
134	! '''Attolia Irene'''
135
136	* AfraidOfBlood: Not notably. But she does faint when she sees her husband's blood and realizes how severe his injury is.
137	* ArrangedMarriage: In her backstory. She started as a minor princess who didn't need to be rushed into marriage, but when her brother the heir dies in a mysterious riding accident, her father makes a hasty match with a conniving baron's son in exchange for a peaceful end to his reign. (Her father is poisoned shortly after the marriage, and she considers that he did get what he bargained for.)
138	* BadassArmy: She has one that's absolutely devoted to her, in the form of the Queen's guard. The rest of her new-model army is highly effective as well since they're fighting for a regular paycheck rather than engaging in generational petty rivalries like her baronial officers do.
139	* BigBrotherIsWatching : This quote from the third book sums it up.
140	--> '''Attolia''': "I have trusted you, and no, that does not mean that I have not had you watched and that I do not have spies that watch my spies, and spies even that watch those."
141	* BrokenBird: She was pawned off on an asshole husband, and after she took control of her country, she had no choice except to be totally ruthless to maintain her power thanks to the misogyny on ''top'' of the fact that her barons are untrustworthy power-grubbers.
142	* BrutalHonesty: When she suggests Sounis Sophos that he needs to root out his enemy and destroy him without mercy (as she has), Sophos, Eddis, and Eugenides all look uncomfortable. Attolia points out that Sophos has far more in common with herself than anyone else--Eddis inherited her throne with the full support of her court and Eugenides stepped onto one that Attolia had stabilized for him.
143	* TheChessmaster: She's playing Nahuseresh far better than he thinks he's playing her and manages to subvert his plans in plain sight of him.
144	* DanceOfRomance: With Eugenides]], in "The King of Attolia".
145	* DeadpanSnarker: Most people are too scared of her to perceive her sense of humor, but it's very dry and often verges into BlackComedy.
146	* DeathGlare: Her gaze can cut down her courtiers like a scythe. At one point, Costis feels like he might ''die'' if she looked him in the eye because her anger was so potent.
147	* DefrostingIceQueen: A major plot point in "The Queen of Attolia" is how much of her emotion she's locked away for the good of her country. In "The King of Attolia", her husband tells her mentor that a heartless queen would end up hurting the country in the end.
148	* DidYouThinkICantFeel: Done on her behalf. In ''The King of Attolia'', said king tells Relius that he ''must'' accept the pardon, even if he believes it would be smarter for Irene not to forgive him, because she might be the Queen, but she's also a person, and it hurts her when she has to be ruthless towards people she cares for.
149	* DoubleMeaning: Many of her conversations with Nahuseresh seem to be her agreeing with him. Remarks like "If you are with me, I want [Teleus] near" after Nahuseresh has tried to make her doubt Teleus' loyalty, for instance.
150	* EarnYourHappyEnding
151	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When she has Gen's hand cut off. She spends a lot of time in the first and second books [[DefrostingIceQueen mellowing out]].
152	* TheExtremistWasRight: Even Eddis has to admit that Attolia's ruthlessness was necessary both to survive the DecadentCourt and to set her country in a good direction.
153	* FascinatingEyebrow: She has a habit of reacting to things by raising one eyebrow. Eugenides picks it up from her.
154	* GallowsHumor: When Eugenides is outraged at a courtier, she defuses it by offering him her goblet--which was how she killed her first husband. He finds this absolutely hilarious.
155	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Played with. Really, she's ruthless because it's the only way to survive as a female ruler in a sexist government. The Attolian lower class seems to love her, at least the ones we've seen.
156	* {{Guile Hero}}ine: It started when she was sent to live with her future husband's family, where they spoke openly of their plot to take the throne. She stayed quiet and demure and secretly collected poisonous leaves, then sold most of her jewelry to buy the palace guard over to her side.
157	* HappilyMarried: To Eugenides, in spite of the hand amputation. He's one of the few who sees her as a person.
158	* HeelRealization: She realizes she's hit a new low after she cuts off a boy's hand.
159	* HiddenDepths: As Eugenides says, she ''does'' have a heart. She's just had to wall it away because of her position.
160	* TheHighQueen: Attolia is beautiful, serene, ''terrifying'', and inspires both great loyalty and great fear in her close allies. She ruefully describes herself as a magnificent war chariot, scything down friend and foe alike.
161	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Attolia's cruelties were all to keep her country stable and in the hands of someone who wanted the country to prosper.
162	* IronicName: Her given name is Irene, which means peace.
163	* KickTheDog: Most of her cruelties were committed in the name of stabilizing her rule and her country. Cutting off Eugenides' hand was an act of pure spite.
164	* LooksLikeJesus: She typically dresses in a red velvet peoplos with a jeweled hairband that replicates the most well-known depictions of Hephestia. This is to cement the idea that the Queen of Attolia rules in her own right and needs no co-ruler, just as Hephestia is the sole ruler of the old gods.
165	* TheMasochismTango: Mentioned above, with Eugenides. When you cut your love interest's hand off, you know you have this trope.
166	* ObfuscatingStupidity: She pretends to be receptive to Nahuseresh's flirtation and complies (or appears compliant) with many of his suggestions, deliberately feigning the expressions and body language of a young and lovesick attendant of hers. (The narration dances around just as much as she does, noting that she's pleased to have imitated the "looking up through her eyelashes" pose without exactly saying why she's pleased.) Nahuseresh responds by providing military and monetary support, but all on an unofficial basis, so she's not actually entangled in a treaty with the Mede.
167	* ObliviousToLove: Everyone from here to Sounis knew that Dite was madly in love with her... except for her. She thinks it's a ''joke'' when she finds out.
168	* PalsWithJesus: Indirectly, as she is married to the chosen one of the gods, Eugenides.
169	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Summed up best in the conversation she has with Eugenides in the boat when he makes his proposal, with her assuming that Attolia would become a tributary state of Eddis to be run roughshod by the barons, taxed into oblivion, with the peasants left to starve while the king was well-fed.
170	--> '''Eugenides:''' Would you care, if the queen was also well-fed?\
171	'''Attolia:''' ''Yes.''
172	%%* SherlockScan
173	* TantrumThrowing: When she allows herself to lose her temper behind closed doors, she and her husband throw household items and furniture.
174	* TheStrategist: She is exceptionally good at planning ahead and well-matched to not only Eddis' and Sounis' considerable skill in this area, but also the Mede.
175	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Mostly ice; even when she's angry, it's cold. However, she does still have human emotions, which she's able to show around her husband Eugenides.
176	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly Girl to Eddis' Tomboy.
177	* ToughLeaderFacade: The way she seized the throne became legendary in her country and outside of it--poisoning her own husband and having a guard summarily execute the baron who subsequently demanded her hand (and throne). Later, she recalls how terrified she was when she did that, having no guarantee that the guards she bribed would support her.
178	* TranquilFury: When she gets mad, she is ''deathly'' calm. It's very rare that she ever shouts or pitches things.
179	* UnexpectedSuccessor: Her brother was king, but her future husband's family had him killed so they could seize the throne through her. And then she poisoned him.
180
181	!'''Teleus'''
182
183	* DeadpanSnarker: Despite being accused of having no sense of humor, he does have a very dry one. Such as his "you are revealed at last" joke to Eugenides while they're in the sauna.
184	* FisticuffProvokingComment: He gets a reluctant and hungover Eugenides to a sparring match near the end of ''King of Attolia'' by making one of these.
185	--> '''Eugenides:''' I could have your head off, Teleus.\
186	'''Teleus:''' Of course, your Majesty. [{{Beat}}] With a ''word.''
187	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Relius is his closest friend. This doesn't stop Teleus from carrying out his duty and arresting him when Relius fails. [[spoiler: By the time of ''Return of the Thief'', they're lovers, and although they aren't monogamous Teleus is Relius's most important partner.]]
188	* HonorBeforeReason: He initially refuses to plead for his own life after the assassination attempt in the garden, feeling that it's his just punishment for his failures.
189	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Eugenides takes great glee in reminding Teleus of how he, Eugenides, kidnapped Attolia from under Teleus' nose.
190	* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: Though reluctantly, he pleads for his life and the lives of the squad who failed to secure the King's safety from would-be assassins.
191	* PrincessCarry: He carries Relius in his arms after Eugenides orders him released from prison.
192	* RageBreakingPoint: Hearing "am I king?" from Eugenides makes him snap and provokes him to reply that it is ''not'' Eugenides' orders or authority that Teleus follows.
193	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The head of the Queen's Guard is the best fighter in it.
194	* UnderestimatingBadassery: He is also fooled by Eugenides' pose as a vain, weak man who isn't fit to be king.
195	* UndyingLoyalty: Attolia is His Queen, to his last breath if she hangs him upside-down from the castle walls.
196
197	!'''Relius'''
198
199	* BigBrotherIsWatching: Sensible Attolians assume that anything that happens in the palace is soon known by Relius, and he's the one who taught Attolia to have spies who spy on the spies spying on her spies.
200	* BreakTheHaughty: When Costis sees him in the queen's prison, he only recognizes him by the now-ruined cloak Relius wore. Relius openly admits to Eugenides that he, too, begged not to be hurt anymore.
201	* BrokenAce: After he is imprisoned and tortured for his failures. Though he remains the Queen's confidant, it's noted that he's not up to being her full-time spymaster again.
202	* TheDandy: He wears expensive and well-tailored clothing in the Continental style and ''always'' dons a short cape from his shoulders, even in summertime.
203	* {{Fingore}}: Suffers this at the hands of Attolia's torturer after he unwittingly betrays her. Both of his hands were broken and it's noted in ''Thick as Thieves'' that he's missing a few fingers.
204	* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Teleus. [[spoiler: In ''Return of the Thief'' they're lovers; although Relius has many other partners, Teleus appears to be his primary (not that they'd use that word to describe it), as the others are all short-term and Teleus is the only one he allows really close.]]
205	* InterruptedSuicide: He attempts to take poison when he realizes that his lover was a Mede spy, causing the collapse of Attolia's intelligence network in the Empire. The guards stop him and drag him before her.
206	* TheMentor: He taught Attolia everything she knows about how to survive as a sovereign Queen... including that she must trust no one, even him. She reminds him of that lesson when he pleads for clemency during his arrest.
207	* RagsToRiches: Started as an underservant who was dragged out for spying on the new Queen until he offered to teach her how to navigate the cutthroat world of Attolian politics.
208	* ReallyGetsAround: The final book shows that Relius has and has had many lovers besides the one who betrayed him.
209	* TheSpymaster: His official position is "Secretary of the Archives," but he spies on everything and everyone inside Attolia and as much as he can outside of it.
210	* UndyingLoyalty: To Attolia. Even after she imprisons and tortures him. Later he becomes just as loyal to Eugenides.
211	* UnderestimatingBadassery: Releus doesn't realize just how dangerous Eugenides is in the second book, and he doesn't realize just how deeply committed Eugenides is either in the third. Releus, a man ready to die for Attolia, can't stop thinking about Eugenides referring to himself as being ''safely dead'' had Ornon succeeded in provoking Attolia to execute him.
212
213	!'''Costis Ormentiedes'''
214
215	* BerserkButton: The honor of the Queen's guard, his own honor, honor in general.
216	* TheChewToy: Most of the third book is about him getting punished, ostracized, provoked, humiliated, being called out in the middle of the night because the king has gone ''nuts''...
217	* DidISayThatOutLoud: At one point, the king makes a comment that Costis might one day become Captain of the Guard to his heir, if the king and queen both happen to be assassinated, however unlikely that may be. Costis's response is to ask which is unlikely--the assassination or the heir? It's only after the words leave his mouth that he realizes what a huge mistake he made in saying them...
218	* DontCallMeSir: He tells Kamet several times to stop calling him "Master" when they're not pretending in front of others, until he finally says it in such a way that Kamet is too afraid to slip up again. As far as Costis is concerned, Kamet stopped being a slave from the moment Costis met him.
219	* FieldPromotion: The king promotes Costis to lieutenant so he can have him as a personal guard, long before Costis would have been considered ready by himself or Teleus.
220	* HonorBeforeReason: Seems to be a theme with members of the Guard, but even ''they'' think Costis takes it too far. He retains this despite becoming a bit of a GuileHero in ''Thick as Thieves'', when he reveals that he would have let Kamet leave at anytime if he'd known that Nahuseresh was dead[[note]]which would have been bad because the false information was planted by Eugenides to make Kamet leave, but he also knew Kamet would be too scared to reveal it[[/note]] and would have taken all the blame for it to save Kamet, had Kamet not interrupted loudly.
221	* ItGetsEasier: When Kamet asks how he can make himself kill people, Costis says that it's not hard once you think of it as part of the job, but that there's also a reason [[INeedAFreakingDrink soldiers get drunk after every battle]].
222	* KnightInShiningArmor: He sees himself as one to Attolia, mentally referring to her as "my Queen" rather than the more proper "Your Majesty".
223	* LoveEpiphany: Not so much love as ''loyalty'', but not long after Costis says he'd happily see the king choke to death accidentally, he finds himself making a wild charge through hunting dogs and high-ranking officials to save Eugenides' life. He finds himself re-evaluating that statement in light of his own actions.
224	* OhCrap: When he realizes that the dogs were released to occupy the Guard and leave the king alone in the garden.
225	* RageBreakingPoint: Very early in ''King of Attolia'', when he punches said king in the face for mocking the Guard's inability to protect their queen in the previous book. Turns out this was all part of the plan for Eugenides--by changing Costis' mind he hoped to change Teleus'.
226	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After the punch, Eugenides gets him drunk and persuades Costis to express himself. Costis obliges and says that Eugenides is a poor excuse for a king, sits on the throne like a printer's apprentice, and several other things.
227	* SirSwearsALot: In multiple languages, in fact, as Kamet notes in ''Thick as Thieves''.
228	* TooDumbToFool: Downplayed. Costis isn't stupid and he's both capable and quickwitted enough to get through Medea, but Eugenides sent him to fetch Kamet because he knew Kamet would be able to escape a more cunning man.
229	* TookALevelInBadass: In ''Thick as Thieves'' he's become quite adept at manipulating people.
230	* TranquilFury: In ''Thick as Thieves,'' he silently snaps the neck of several slavers while escaping from them, and the look in his eyes terrifies Kamet. After this episode, Costis admits he wasn't doing the work of a soldier.
231	* UndyingLoyalty: To Attolia at first, then eventually Eugenides as well. It causes him no amount of conflicting emotions, partly because he doesn't realize that Eugenides and Attolia actually do love each other for another hundred pages or so, and is worried he might be forced to choose between them.
232
233	!'''Aristogiton'''
234
235	* FriendshipMoment: Early in ''King of Attolia'', Costis wonders if Aris will deliberately find ways not to show up in the mess at the same time as Costis so he doesn't have to avoid him or sit with a man in disgrace, and Costis wouldn't blame him. Instead, Aris arrives and loudly drops his plate on the table right across from Costis, refusing to abandon him.
236	* HonorBeforeReason: Surprisingly averted, unlike other guardsmen. Aris is pragmatic, is happy to be promoted even though he knows it's for someone else's sake, and points out all the political implications of Costis' trials and tribulations.
237	* NewMeat: He's an experienced soldier, but he ''isn't'' experienced enough to be leading the king's squad of personal guards. He believes he was promoted as a political favor to a different (but incompetent) soldier in his squad, "Legarus the Awesomely Beautiful," but is happy to celebrate the promotion anyhow.
238	* OddCouple: A pragmatic okloi, best friends with Costis, an honor-bound patronoi.
239	* UnwittingPawn: He delivers a message to the dog keepers, not knowing that it's instructions from a prankster to let loose the hunting dogs in the king's path. He's later promoted to a squad leader specifically so that he'll be he NewMeat unable to stop an assassination attempt on the King.
240
241	!'''Baron Erondites'''
242	* TheDreaded: He can control pretty much all of Attolia's barons because he has some kind of leverage on them--blackmail, trade routes, sheer inimidatory force. Sejanus notes that none of his own family could ever stand up to him except Dite.
243	* TheManBehindTheMan: Most of the plots against Attolia and Eugenides from the second book on have his hand somewhere in it. [[spoiler:The final book has him outrank Nahuseresh among the Medes as the chief conspirator against the Penisula's rulers.]]
244	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:He is struck by a ''lightning bolt'' in the final book after Eugenides--who may or may not be inhabited by the divine Eugenides at the time--calls his name.]]
245	* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:He had a son who carried the same genetic condition that disables Pheris, and who like Pheris was clever enough for Erondites to feel threatened by him, so Erondites murdered him.]]
246	* OutGambitted: He thinks he's TheChessmaster who is cunningly manipulating the weak-willed king in order to become the power behind the throne. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that the son he's using as an instrument hates Eugenides more than he wants to aid his father's plans--and that he's out of Eugenides' and Attolia's league anyway.
247
248	!!'''Erondites the Younger (Dite)'''
249
250	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He is madly, desperately in love with Attolia (one reason his father tolerates him was the off-chance that Dite might woo her). Unfortunately for him, she has absolutely no idea.
251	* BawdySong: He wrote one called "The King's Wedding Night". It proves to be an EarWorm around court and becomes a plot point later.
252	* DisinheritedChild: He is only barely not this. The only reason that his father hasn't thrown him off entirely is because it would leave him with only one child who could succeed him, which is too risky.
253	* SilkHidingSteel: A rare male version. The music-loving, foppish Dite is the ''only'' child of Erondites who ever openly defied his father and got away with it.
254	* TheUnfavorite: His father hates him and only won't disinherit him because he'd only have Sejanus left.
255	* {{Unishment}}: In order to take Erondites' heirs, Eugenides banishes Dite for the song... and sends him off with a guaranteed job as music master in the arts-loving court of Ferria with a full purse of silver. Dite ''thanks'' him.
256
257	!'''Sejanus'''
258
259	* AintTooProudToBeg: When Eugenides threatens to pin the assassination on Dite, Sejanus falls to his knees to plead for his broher's life.
260	* BigBrotherInstinct: Though he's the younger brother, he's favored by their father and treated as the would-be heir, so he tries to look out for Dite. He hates Eugenides and tries to have him killed for marrying the woman Dite is madly in love with, and confessed to a crime he didn't commit to save Dite.
261	* EvilIsPetty: He delights in making Eugenides' day hell in a dozen small ways, like getting him lost in the palace or fetching the wrong sash, right alongside the bigger things like trying to terrify him with the hunting dogs and assissting the Mede assassins.
262	* GracefulLoser: When Eugenides tears down his entire house in the space of fifteen minutes and leaves him just his and Dites' life, Sejanus accepts it stoically and calls him by the archaic title 'Basileus' as he's arrested.
263	* TheHyena: Whether the joke ends up on him or someone else, Sejanus always laughs.
264	* JerkAss: The only reason he's popular is that people like him mocking the people they dislike, and they also don't want to end up as a target.
265	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
266	** He actually loves his brother, he just pretends not to so their father doesn't separate them.
267	** He's also kind to his nephew Pheris, and very much loved the brother who shared Pheris' disability.
268	* ManipulativeBastard: He tells one attendant who's loyal to the queen that any humiliation of Eugenides is a blow for Attolia, and tells one whose family opposes her that embarassing Eugenides weakens Attolia.
269	* MuggingTheMonster: Like many of the Attolians, he underestimates Eugenides as a pawn of the queen of Eddis, and falls for his ObfuscatingStupidity.
270	* OhCrap: When Eugenides calls him onto the carpet, Sejanus remains haughty and complacent right up until Eugenides reaveals that he intends to pin all the crimes on ''Dite''. The thought that he's brought death to his brother knocks Sejanus flat.
271	* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:Unlike most of his family, he treats young Pheris Erondites kindly and tries to spirit him away from the battlefield.]]
272	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: He dies while chasing the Medes out, after he puts himself at risk to return and warn Eugenides that the Medes were planning to use the Naupent pass to make for the rear and capture Attolia and Eddis.]]
273	* SmugSnake: He thinks himself very clever, smiling even as he's accused of treason. Unfortunately for him, his inability to disguise his hatred of the king means that he totally failed to enact the "make myself indispensable" part of the Baron's plan to manipulate the throne.
274	* SpannerInTheWorks: For his own father. His father wanted him to turn Eugenides into a PuppetKing. Sejanus wanted to punish him for marrying Attolia and breaking Dite's heart in the process. Since humiliating the king through the attendants served both ends, Sejanus was able to conceal his own intentions up to the point where he assisted the assassins sent by Sounis and Nahuseresh.
275
276	!'''Pheris'''
277	* AffectionHatingKid: Disapproves when he accidentally shows up for tutoring just as [[spoiler: Relius and Teleus]] are "saying their farewells" (ie, making out).
278	* AmbiguousDisorder: He suffers from an unnamed, inherited disease that causes a malformed skeleton, potential mental disability, and short stature. He’s extremely mathematically intelligent and eventually learns to write, but he cannot speak and uses sign language to communicate.
279	* AncestralName: He is named after his grandfather, the current Baron Erondites. Not as a gesture of respect, but because his mother really wanted to stick it to his dad. [[spoiler:Pheris also shares the name with the baron's ''first'' firstborn, a boy who shared his presentation of the family's genetic disease.]]
280	* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler:He’s the attendant Kamet tutors at the end of ''Thick As Thieves.'']]
281	* GoodWithNumbers: He's fascinated by all things geometry. Whenever he gets a free moment he'll use whatever small objects he has to hand (pebbles, almonds, sometimes his own spit) to construct elaborate patterns. He's particularly fond of the "bee spiral" (the Fibonacci sequence in a world [[OrphanedEtymology in which there is no Fibonacci]]).
282	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Reveals the route of a supply caravan to Juridus, who passes the information on to Erondites for an ambush. This results in the deaths of the men who were on it and almost destroys Eugenides' trust in him.
283	* NostalgicNarrator: He is writing his account decades after the fact, occasionally indicated by mentioning palace decrations that have long since been replaced, or hinting at the fate of characters before he reaches those events.
284	* ObfuscatingStupidity: He pretends to be mentally disabled so that he won't attract unwelcome attention, a habit he was taught by his nurse [[spoiler:after she taught the ''first'' Pheris to show his cleverness and the baron killed him for it]]. Pheris maintains this in Attolia's palace until he's forced to reveal that he ''can'' communicate with sign language, which horrifies many people who had spoken much too freely around him.
285	* PhraseCatcher: His full name is Pheris Mostrus Erondites, and unkind members of his family often change this to "Monstrous". Numerous people in Attolia's palace refer to him as "Little Monster" either cruelly or indifferently.
286	* TheUnreveal: Whatever it was he did to Emtis. All Pheris explains is that it left Emtis alive but unable to hurt Pheris ever again.
287	[[/folder]]
288
289	[[folder:Sounis]]
290	!'''Sounis'''
291
292	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: It's noted that although he desires Eddis mostly for the country's strategic value, he also seems to really want Eddis the queen to bestow one of her radiant smiles on him.
293	* JerkAss: Sounis is a ruthless, unpleasant man who quite happily mistreats Gen. Gen is later able to use his penchant for temper against him.
294	* KilledOffscreen: He dies of a fever in the fourth book during a civil war.
295	* ManipulativeBastard: His method of governance is to pit the barons against each other, raise taxes, declare war to unite the country and refill people's coffers with plunder, rinse and repeat.
296	* NoNameGiven: Unlike the other monarchs, his given name is never revealed. Even Sophos, his father, and the magus reference him only as "my/your uncle who is Sounis."
297	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Although he's the most unpleasant ruler on the Peninsula, Sounis is a legitimate warrior.
298	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He's a rather nasty version of this but he is a very active king who is quite capable of terrorizing thieves and holding his own on the battlefield.
299	* SlasherSmile: His smiles are always unpleasant and threatening.
300
301	!'''The Magus'''
302
303	* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: In the first book they stop at an abandoned farm and he's asked how he knows the owners won't protest. The magus explains that most of the family there died of plague, and the son who remained decided to seek his fortune in the big city. Gen knows right away the magus is talking of himself, but Sophos doesn't until he asks.
304	* BadassBookworm: When he first left home, he tried being a scholar, became a soldier because the pay was better, and then went back to being a scholar before Sounis made him magus. He's probably the most scholarly character in the books, but he's a skilled fighter and an incredibly capable royal servant.
305	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In ''Queen of Attolia'', he tries to return Eugenides' spirits by saying there are still things he can do. Eugenides takes him at his word and steals the ''magus'' by framing him for the destruction of Sounis' navy.
306	--> "I meant convince your queen to surrender, ''not burn our navy in its own harbor!''"
307	* TheChessmaster: He's the architect of the plan to steal Hamiathes' Gift, which would force Eddis to marry Sounis. He's also mentioned later as having fought spy-to-spy with Relius.
308	* CoolTeacher: To Sophos and Ambiades.
309	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The magus is so dedicated to his job that his identity is synonymous with it to every person he speaks to. This holds true even while he technically ''isn't'' the magus due to being Eddis' "prisoner."
310	** Until ''Moira's Pen'' where it's finally revealed that his name is [[spoiler:Tykus]].
311	* GuileHero: In the first book he devises a plan to conquer Eddis without warfare by compelling the queen to marry Sounis through her country's sacred artifact.
312	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He feels rather badly for his general disdain and mistreatment of Gen after Gen nearly dies trying to hold off a bunch of Attolian soldiers--and in particular because the magus had scoffed to the others that Gen was obviously about to run away shortly before the boy was impaled on a sword.
313	* TheNeedsOfTheMany: He justifies his attempts to force a union between Eddis and Sounis by saying that the Peninsula has to be united if they have a hope of surviving the inevitable Mede invasion. Gen points out that people who say this kind of thing are only ever willing to throw away someone ''else's'' country for such lofty goals.
314	* NoNameGiven: He is known solely as "the magus" from the start to the end of the series, his real name never revealed.
315	* OutGambitted: By Eugenides, who knew that this plan was in the works and planted himself in the magus' party as their thief.
316	* TheProfessor: When he's not plotting, he's studying botany and applying historical analysis to legends and myths. During lulls on the the ride through Sounis and Attolia he instructs his two apprentices on taxonomy.
317	%%* QuipToBlack
318	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: He was a soldier before becoming magus.
319	* StealingTheCredit: He tells Gen that if their expedition is a success that he, the magus, will be known as "the King's Thief." To Gen, the person who would be doing the ''actual'' stealing, this is rather galling.
320
321	!'''Pol'''
322
323	* PapaWolf: He warns Gen off telling the magus about getting tied up in case reprisals fall on Sophos.
324	* NotInThisForYourRevolution: He and the magus like and respect each other, but Pol isn't invested in the success or failure of the quest; he's just there to keep Sophos safe. Consequently, he keeps it to himself when he realizes Gen is probably the Thief of Eddis, since Gen has no hostile intentions towards Sophos.
325	* TakingYouWithMe: When the group is apprehended by Attolian soliders on top of a cliff and Gen is apprently killed at the bottom of it, Pol shoves Ambiades off the edge and then takes two Attolian soldiers and himself down in an effort to buy the magus and Sophos a chance to escape. (Sadly, it doesn't work.)
326	* WorthyOpponent: Eugenides comes to like and respect Pol as the journey proceeds.
327
328	! '''Sophos'''
329
330	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: After he uses two well-placed bullets as his ''second'' argument, the council of barons unanimously confirms him as king.
331	* BadLiar: Everything he feels shows on his face, but he and Eugenides figure out how to turn this to their advantage.
332	* BewareTheNiceOnes: He tries to win over the barons with an idealistic speech about how they need to ally with Eddis and Attolia to prevent a Mede conquest. It doesn't work. So he shoots the chief conspirator against him very dead and asks for a new vote. They confirm him as King unanimously.
333	* BreakTheCutie: During ''A Conspiracy of Kings'', when he is kidnapped, [[MadeASlave becomes a slave]], and is generally thrust neck-deep into the cutthroat politics of his world, where everyone is trying to manipulate him.
334	* TheBusCameBack: He doesn't appear at all in the middle two books, but he's the protagonist of the fourth.
335	* EarnYourHappyEnding: ''A Conspiracy of Kings'' starts with him being humiliated, beaten, and dragged into slavery as part of a plot by his uncle's enemies and ends with him being unquestioned king of Sounis.
336	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: He thinks of himself as a spineless weakling unworthy to succeed his uncle. At one point he says that his gift is knowing that he is an ass. (In fairness, so few people do.)
337	* MadeASlave: He's hidden by his kidnappers this way in ''Conspiracy of Kings'', along with some beating to make his face unrecognizable. He actually likes it ''better'' than being the heir.
338	* ObfuscatingStupidity: In ''A Conspiracy of Kings''. Everyone thinks he's an idiot and his emotions show on his face. So he lets everyone think he's a gormless, naive dolt while he plans to show them all that he is 1. smart and 2. definitely ruthless enough to succeed his uncle.
339	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He's put on the dangerous trip to steal Hamiathes' Gift in ''The Thief''. He racks up more considerable achievements in the fourth book, starting when he saves his father from assassination and escapes enslavement at the same time.
340	* SlasherSmile: A scar he got from the identity-concealing beating of his capture turns his normal smile into this. Once he sees it, he realizes it's an asset--it makes him look like his uncle.
341	* TookALevelInBadass: During ''A Conspiracy of Kings''. Not only does he start using his brains for practical and political ends, his time digging and building walls makes him much tougher physically.
342	* UnfitForGreatness: Initially. He's keenly aware of how disappointing he is to his father and uncle because he'd rather be a soft, shy scholar than shape himself into a ruthless and cunning fighter like Sounis. In the fourth book, he's hit hard with the realization that this has done a huge disservice to his family and his country because a weak heir is a target for enemies, which endangers Sophos' family. Sophos spends the next hundred-odd pages painfully hauling himself into the greatness needed to stabilize Sounis' throne.
343
344	!'''Ambiades'''
345
346	* BrokenPedestal: Sophos stops admiring him in the aftermath of tying Gen up and almost causing him irreprable harm.
347	* {{Jerkass}}: Is a serious jerk to Sophos, who hero-worships him, not to mention anyone who he perceives as being from a lower class (most noticeably Gen).
348	* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Every so often he shows some affection for Sophos and some conflicted feelings about what he's doing, but when the Attolians capture them, Ambiades leans into smug satisfaction and says "good riddance" when Gen is run through on an Attolian sword. Gen sums him up later as a traitor who occasionally felt bad about being one.
349	* ImpoverishedPatrician: His family was disgraced a generation ago and then his father gambled away what remained of the family's money.
350	* TheMole: He was secretly working for Attolia as they offered to pay him and his family quite handsomely.
351	[[/folder]]
352
353	[[folder:Medea]]
354	!'''Nahuseresh'''
355
356	* ArchEnemy: To Eugenides. It's mutual. For Gen, it's the loss of his hand; for Nahuseresh, it's the loss of the kingdom he feels should be rightfully his.
357	* AssInAmbassador: Like all the Mede ambassadors that follow, Nahuseresh is smug, imperious, and there only to bring about a Mede conquest of the peninsula.
358	* BigDamnHeroes: He acts on an anonymous tip to rescue Attolia from the Eddisians, not realizing the tip was from one of the goddesses. (It doesn't take, all he's really doing is giving Attolia the freedom to ''choose'' Gen as her husband rather than being forced into it.)
359	* TheChessmaster: Or at least, he would like to ''believe'' that he is. Since he's up against Gen and Irene, he keeps getting his ass kicked.
360	* DiplomaticImpunity: He can get away with a lot because a wise ruler knows that insulting a Mede ambassador too flagrantly will give them a pretext for invasion.
361	* HateSink: He first appears in ''The Queen of Attolia'', the book where Attolia is revealed to be much more human than originally expected but not until ''after'' she cuts off the beloved main character's hand, so he mainly seems to exist so that the readers have someone to hate more than her. It works, as he's easily the most hated character in the entire series and as a smug, rude, sexist, KarmaHoudini who stirred up more trouble than just about any other single character, he deserves every bit of it. He's canonically this InUniverse as well, as Gen makes it clear that he blames and hates Nahuseresh for the loss of his hand, not Attolia.
362	* HenpeckedHusband: After the events in the second book he had to hide out his disgrace on his home estate, where his wife was ''spectacularly'' unimpressed with his attempt to marry Attolia. Can't blame her, really.
363	* KickTheDog: He's the one who convinces Attolia to cut off Gen's hand.
364	* LaserGuidedKarma: Gen finally gets him back by stealing Kamet, his enslaved secretary, three books after Nahuseresh contrived Gen's amputation and humiliation. Losing his own "right hand," who knew enough about the inner workings of the Empire to have the PraetorianGuard sent after him, destroyed Nahuseresh's chances of ever leaving his disgrace.
365	* PlayingBothSides: He's happy to pit Attolia against Sounis in an effort to weaken both.
366	* StupidEvil: Even knowing that Attolia is considered a ruthless tyrant by her enemies and simply ruthless by her allies, he persists in thinking of her as a naive little woman.
367	* UnderestimatingBadassery: He assumes that he has Attolia wrapped around his little finger. Boy, was he surprised.
368	* UnwittingPawn: In the final book. [[spoiler:The Mede general eventually reveals that Nahuseresh is only there so that his presence will anger Eugenides into making mistakes.]]
369
370	!'''Kamet'''
371
372	* AscendedExtra: He's Nahuseresh's personal secretary, only appearing in ''Queen of Attolia'' and his own opinions are only seen in a brief mention that he has some sympathy and admiration for the queen's impossible position. The fifth book, ''Thick as Thieves,'' is told entirely from his point of view.
373	* BlindWithoutEm: He’s very nearsighted, but does not wear glasses (either because they haven’t yet been invented or because they wouldn’t be given to a slave). This makes it hard for him to recognize Eugenides when he meets him in ''Thick as Thieves.”
374	* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: As part of his HappinessInSlavery attitude. He doesn't ''like'' being beaten, but he has no concept of the idea that it might be wrong for Nahuseresh to do that to him, and even engages in a little bit of victim-blaming towards himself. For instance, he thinks that he shouldn't have presumed to serve celebratory drinks before being sure Nahuseresh had gotten a promotion, rather than blaming Nahuseresh for venting his frustration on a helpless target.
375	* CultureClash:
376	** Frequently with Costis--as a slave he would never presume to sit before a free man, and as an Attolian Costis waits for his guest to sit first.
377	** He addresses Eugenides with the Peninsular word meaning "Great King" hoping merely to flatter him into sparing Costis. He doesn't realize that the word, ''Annux'', carries an almost mythic sense of gravity.
378	* FantasticRacism: He shares the Mede contempt for Attolians, and believes wholeheartedly that most of the nobility can't even read. Narrating after the fact, he expresses embarrassment over this.
379	* FireForgedFriends: Eventually with Costis as they journey across the Mede empire, facing many perils and saving each other's lives. Though he doesn't realize it, even after he thinks Costis is ''dead'', until a stranger--who is strongly implied to be Ennikar--suggests that he's as wrong as that as he is about whether Costis is truly dead.
380	* FriendshipMoment: Near the end of the book. Though believing the friendship shattered by his own actions, when he sees what kind of ruler Eugenides is, Kamet yells out before Costis can try to lie for Kamet's sake and begs Eugenides not to punish him for not realizing Kamet's deception. Fortunately, the whole situation was a set-up by Eugenides himself.
381	* HappinessInSlavery: When Costis offers him freedom in Attolia, Kamet has to stop himself from laughing because he is the right hand to a member of the imperial family, which includes authority over all the other slaves and even some free men, and he'd be likely to have a great deal of influence as the personal secretary for the emperor's brother.
382	* OhCrap: To be honest, the entirety of ''Thick as Thieves'' is Kamet having one heart attack after another. But he has an especially climactic one when he finally sees Eugenides and realizes this is not a vain, petty lordling, but a genuine ruler, and therefore not likely to forgive Costis' "failure."
383	* PalsWithJesus: He kind of cottons on to the fact that Immakuk and Ennikar gave him a little help on his journey.
384	* SpottingTheThread: At first, it looks like Eugenides' gamble has failed, because Kamet knows of no plans for a naval invasion, until Kamet remembers how strange it was that his master's modest request to rule a minor coastal province was refused. A refusal that would only make sense if the Medes had other plans for it, such as a secret naval base.
385	* UnderestimatingBadassery: He initially thinks that Costis is a stupid guardsman from a nation of illiterates, and that Gen is a spoiled, weak fool.
386	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / TheQueensThief