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5%% Spoiler tags are not permitted in character descriptions. If something cannot be said without spoiler-tagging it, it doesn't go in the intro paragraph.
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7%%
8%%
9
10Characters for the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''. Beware of copious spoilers!
11----
12[[foldercontrol]]
13
14[[index]]
15* [[Characters/VorkosiganSagaPoliticalPowers Planets and Political Powers]] [[labelnote:click to expand]]Barrayar, Komarr, Sergyar, Beta Colony, Cetaganda, Jackson's Whole, Athos, Quaddiespace, Earth[[/labelnote]]
16
17* [[Characters/VorkosiganSagaVorkosiganHouse Vorkosigan House members and retainers]] [[labelnote:click to expand]] Miles, Cordelia, Aral, Piotr, Mark, Bothari, Pym, Jankowski, Roic, Ma Kosti, Zap the Cat [[/labelnote]]
18
19* [[Characters/VorkosiganSagaBarrayarans Other Barrayarans]]
20
21* [[Characters/VorkosiganSagaDendarii The Dendarii Mercenaries]] [[labelnote:click to expand]]Elli Quinn, Elena, Baz, Bel Thorne, Taura, Ky Tung, Arde Mayhew[[/labelnote]]
22[[/index]]
23
24!! Komarrans
25
26[[folder:Duv Galeni]]
27!!Duv Galeni aka David Galen
28
29Son of Komarran terrorist, Ser Galen, Duv joined the Barrayaran army after getting his [=PhD=] in Barrayaran history. An ambitious and conscientious officer, he hopes to rise in the ranks to better help his native Komarr.
30----
31* TheAtoner: For the mistakes of his father.
32%%* BadAssBookworm
33%%* BadAssBureaucrat
34* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Miles initially thinks he's a deliberately obstructive superior plotting against him, but that turns out to not be the case and he and Miles end up (somewhat uneasy) friends.
35* BewareTheQuietOnes: Duv is highly educated, well-read, level-headed, does everything by the book...and after a ''really bad'' week, took down a couple of Cetagandan ghem commandos ''with his bare hands'', quite possibly by repeatedly smashing their heads into a nearby car.
36* ChildSoldier: His father had him infiltrating and setting bombs as a young teenager.
37* DeadpanSnarker: As one of Miles' former commanding officers, it comes naturally.
38* DidNotGetTheGirl: Subverted; he loses Laisa Toscane [[spoiler:to the Emperor, but by the end of the same book he's pretty solid with Delia Koudelka]].
39* {{Foil}}: To Miles.
40** Duv is quiet, rule-bound, and driven to work his butt off to be both good at his job and completely incorruptible -- because if he's not, he'll be ejected from his job and things will instantly become much harder for the Komarrans who try to follow him. Miles is an attention-getting maverick who (while he tries desperately not to rely on it) has a fair amount of privilege, and acts the way he does for personal reasons. ''Good'' reasons. Usually.
41** Both followed similar career paths. [[spoiler:The Army, then [=ImpSec=]. But Miles got kicked out for lying while he was being groomed to run [=ImpSec=]. Duv ends up the first Komarran head of Komarran Affairs.]]
42** Both men live in the shadow of their fathers. See Ser's folder below.
43** Duv is also a foil to ''Mark'', who's his father's other ''son''. Between army and [=ImpSec=] training, both Miles and Galeni are quite physically capable when needed. Both are good leaders. Mark is trained specifically as an ''assassin'', much like Galeni was trained as a terrorist, and is ''not'' a very good leader. But he is a good ''businessman''.
44* GentlemanAndAScholar: He actually has a [=PhD=], but nobody calls him "doctor" in [=ImpSec=].
45* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Happens in universe when, [[spoiler: furious over losing Laisa to Gregor]], calls Miles in a drunken rage. His cultured accent slips down to "street Komaran".
46* UnwantedAssistance: Toward Miles [[spoiler: after said Miles, having accidentally sabotaged his chances with Laisa Toscane by introducing her to Gregor, offers to assist Duv in his courtship of Delia Koudelka.]]
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder: Ser Galen]]
50!!Ser Galen
51
52Seriously disturbed and extraordinarily cruel Komarran terrorist. Not a good father; his son Duv was voluntarily estranged from him.
53----
54* AbusiveParents: To Mark, despite Mark's being a clone. He didn't leave his biological son Duv Galeni many happy memories either, if their interactions are anything to go by.
55* FaceDeathWithDignity: Not Galen, whose death is anything but dignified, but his sister. She merely stared her executioner in the eye as she was murdered. Aral remembered, which is why he supported Duv's ascension.
56* {{Foil}}
57** Casts a shadow over his son's life, just like Aral. But Ser Galen actually ''was'' a terrorist, while the massacre that got Aral called "TheButcher" wasn't even Aral's fault. That massacre -- which killed Galen's sister -- happens to be a major reason Galen hates Aral.
58*** Aral tries to be a good father, and Miles wants to be a soldier to make Aral proud. Galen taught Duv how to be a terrorist from childhood, and Duv joined the military of their conquerors to atone for his dad. Galen also created Mark, Miles' almost literal EvilTwin, as an anti-Aral assassination weapon. And abused him. Including sexually.
59* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: After he abuses and tortures Mark to train him into the perfect TykeBomb, Mark turns on him and shoots him dead.]]
60* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: While his hatred of Barrayar in general and Aral Vorkosigan in particular is understandable, if somewhat misguided, his pursuit of his aims is totally despicable.
61%%* {{Revenge}}: His motivation.
62* WindmillCrusader: His sister died in the Solstice Massacre, an event widely attributed to Aral Vorkosigan's orders, and Ser Galen desperately wants to avenge both his personal loss and the Barrayaran occupation of Komarr. Shame about his methods, and his grip on reality, [[spoiler: and the fact that his idea of "training" includes sexually assaulting Mark with a shock stick for the unforgivable crime of trying to sneak out for a date with a girl...]]
63[[/folder]]
64
65[[folder: Laisa Toscane]]
66!!Laisa Vorbarra[=/=]Laisa Toscane
67
68Gregor's eventual wife. First introduced in ''Memory''. Their wedding forms the backdrop of the novel ''A Civil Campaign''.
69----
70* {{Ambadassador}}: Well sort of. When first met she is a lobbyist for Komarran shipping interests and impresses Gregor with her intelligence and political savvy.
71* BigBeautifulWoman: Is described as having "a figure that made Miles, for one, just want to sort of fall over on top of her and burrow in for the winter..." This proves to be a source of chagrin for Lady Alys, who had tried unsuccessfully for years to catch Emperor Gregor's eye with an endless parade of tall, slender Vor women, only to have him fall in love with a short, plump Komarran entirely of his own accord.
72* HappilyMarried: To Gregor.
73* NonIdleRich: She is the daughter and primary heiress of the powerful Toscane shipping dynasty, but she holds a doctorate in economics and is a shrewd negotiator in her own right.
74* NotWithThemForTheMoney: As a scion of "''those'' Toscanes" the money really wasn't an issue but, despite the political advantages, she didn't marry Gregor to become Empress, she married to become Gregor's wife. As it happens, she ''also'' makes one heck of an Empress.
75* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: She has a romantic streak and was enamored by some of the "fairy tale" aspects of Barrayaran history.
76[[/folder]]
77
78!! Jacksonians
79
80[[folder: Baron Ryoval]]
81!!Baron Ryoval
82
83Head of the Jacksonian House Ryoval, aficionado of producing horribly genetically modified slaves to satisfy the perverted desires of his wealthy customers; practically makes his fellow Jacksonian barons look human.
84----
85%%* BodyHorror: His House's stock in trade.
86* CirclingMonologue: He'll indulge in this from time to time to taunt his victims, and it's what ultimately kills him. His mistake was leaving Mark lucid enough to understand him.
87* ColdBloodedTorture: The man was famous for it, both as a service he offers and as a hobby he enjoyed.
88* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler: Mark made very sure that Ryoval wouldn't be transplanted into a new body, by going out of his way to destroy the brain after killing him.]]
89* EvilIsPetty: Ryoval, having already prolonged his life via brain transfer into a clone body, waits as his younger brother Baron Fell (whom he did his best to kill when they were younger) plans to do the same...and then, just when Fell's clone is fully matured and ready to be 'harvested', Ryoval has the boy assassinated, leaving Fell trapped in an aging body and frantic for some other method to save himself.
90* GrandTheftMe: Despite going well on a century, Ryoval looks like a young man...because, in the words of Mark, he's wearing the corpse of a clone.
91* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Torturing Mark until he got Dissociative Identity Disorder amused Ryoval...and ultimately let [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Killer]] off the leash.]]
92* MindRape: His favourite kind, after having gotten bored with the more traditional sort.
93* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: While he got pretty close to killing his entire family, he didn't quite succeed, and the survivors are his enemies, particularly his brother Baron Fell.
94* TortureTechnician: Has a whole stable full of them, and indulges from time to time for his own amusement.
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder: The Durona Group]]
98!!The Durona Group
99
100A medical clinic and biological research and development firm run by a group of nearly 40 clones. Formerly serfs to Jackson Whole's Baron Fell. Later set up at Escobar.
101----
102* BerserkButton: If you sabotage a medical procedure performed by Doctor Raven Durona, putting the patient's life beyond any skills he has, he will be ''very, very pissed''. Medicine is always chancy, but he does not appreciate being set up to fail.
103* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Lily, Jr is convinced by Baroness Bharaputra that it is "her duty" to have her brain scooped out and thrown away while the Baroness' is put in charge of her body. Miles cures her of that delusion.
104* ClonesArePeopleToo: They refer to each other as siblings rather than clones, despite being raised on the distinctly clone-non-friendly world of Jackson's Whole. One of the reasons they wind up helping our heroes is to get the hell ''off'' Jackson's Whole, so they can have their own individual lives apart from each other.
105* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: They have a minor, disquieting habit of discussing/witnessing ethically dubious or morally bankrupt medical practices with more enthusiasm than one would like.
106* DefectorFromDecadence: Lily, from House Ryoval. Inverted with her first daughter, who became Baronne Bharaputra. The two women hate each other, and the latter deliberately names the clone who is intended to be her future body 'Lily' as a means of thumbing her nose at her progenitor.
107* EvenEvilHasStandards: While they're practically saints compared to the rest of Jackson's Whole, the Durona Group are still rather amoral (''especially'' for medical practitioners) and Miles privately muses that despite Lily's certain ethical quirks, she wouldn't hesitate to dispose of anyone who posed a threat or whom she had no use for. Regardless, Lily categorically refuses to have anything to do with clone brain transfers, and (almost) all of her children follow suit. It's even written into their contract with House Fell.
108* IntimateHealing: Rowan Durona practices this with Miles...who happens to be her patient at the time, even if he was the first to register his interest.
109* ThemeNaming: All of the women are named after flowers, all of the men are named after birds.
110* TranquilFury: Raven Durona, during ''Cryoburn'', has a moment when he removes his surgical gloves and mask, face frozen into blankness, and breathes out sharply. Miles notes that other doctors would probably have thrown the equipment across the room and started swearing, but Raven still gets the sentiment across.
111* TrulySingleParent: Lily Durona.
112* YoungFaceOldEyes: Lily, the matriarch, who is over 100 years old but looks forty years younger, but being a part of House Ryoval has hardened her forever. Miles even notes "100 year old eyes look at you differently."
113[[/folder]]
114
115[[folder: House Cordonah]]
116!!The ghem Estif Arqua Family (House Cordonah)
117
118House Cordonah is run by a Jacksonian pirate and a ghem/haut Cetagandan woman. They have eleven children, six of whom were extensively genetically modified by the Baronne. Using her own gene pool, the Baronne created "Jewel" kids followed by "normal" kids in alternating sequence. The Jewels are just as much siblings as the other kids, but aren't known as such publicly.
119----
120* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: the ghem Estif ladies are white, Shiv is black, the even kids are black (described as "cinnamon" rather than using the StarbucksSkinScale), and the Jewels have skin shades resembling their namesake gemstones (ruby, emerald, pearl, topaz, lapis lazuli, and onyx) .
121* AmoralAttorney and HelloAttorney: Pidge.
122* BadassNormal: Udine regards Shiv as her equal in intellect and ambition.
123%%* BadassFamily
124%%* BattleCouple: Shiv and Udine.
125* BestServedCold:
126** Moira and the brooch at the end. It's worth it to her to blow up a very, very expensive item just to punish the haut for throwing her out.
127** Udine promises that their revenge on the usurping Prestene family "will be ''famous''."
128%%* TheClan
129* CoolOldLady: Moira, who is 130 years old but still breaking into a hidden bunker and one hundred percent capable of {{Neck Lift}}ing people she takes a dislike to.
130* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: In fact it ''is'' business. The Jewels use their dance as an opportunity to spy on guests.
131* DudeWheresMyReward: Amazingly, Pidge has the nerve to demand a 10% finder's fee of the treasure, because it wouldn't have been found without them. Even more amazingly, they do end up with 5% of it, which is their ten percent less expenses.[[note]]Pidge also knows when not to push it. Once Gregor acknowledges the precedent, she nods and clams right up.[[/note]]
132** Not only that, they do this while being personally tried by TheEmperor for among other things, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking destroying ImpSec headquarters, risking the pollution of Vorbarr Sultana by the use of untested biological agents, risking the lives of unwitting Barrayaran subjects and being just plain obnoxious]]. Whatever you can say about them it is an awesome moment of RefugeInAudacity.
133*** Not to mention, the reason they knew where it was is that grandma had been married to a Ghem lord during the Occupation and had helped sort out the plunder. In other words they were claiming a finder's fee for a treasure whose location they knew because one of them had helped steal it!
134*** However, they do have leverage, as the Cetagandans have a toehold in the house that usurped them, the Prestenes, and having House Cordonah in Barrayar's pocket is extremely important for Gregor, since Baron Fell is aging.
135*** In addition, the entire Deal was set up by Alys, Udine and Moira, while the entire scheme was orchestrated by Illyan. You can bet all four influenced Gregor and it was a complete setup, all relying on Shiv to say "yes" to Gregor's offer.
136* EvilCannotComprehendGood: They all seem surprised that at least some powerful Barrayarans actually manage to do their jobs without bribery and actually value their given word. Or that Ivan married Tej for no other reason than to get her out of trouble. In Ivan's case they can't quite understand that he isn't playing for the Imperial throne when he is close enough in ancestry to make a play for it. That is kind of "evil cannot comprehend sloth."
137** In general they are so obsessed with scheming that they can't comprehend anyone who isn't. Justified, as Simon Illyan went in with them on their scheme, behind Gregor's back!
138%%* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes
139* EveryoneIsRelated: The general public think the Jewels are the Baronne's specially created dance troupe. In reality, they're as much family as the "normal" kids.
140%%* FakingTheDead
141%%* FamilyBusiness
142%%* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether
143* {{Foil}}: Shiv and Udine are to Aral and Cordelia. Ivan even warns Simon that whatever he's thinking of, not factoring in Udine would be akin to not factoring in Cordelia; Simon takes the advice seriously, having seen what kind of damage Cordelia was capable of when underestimated.
144* GracefulLoser: Shiv's reaction to losing his bet with Simon, potentially getting them imprisoned on capital crimes, is to merely shake his hand and say, "Well played."
145%%* HostageSituation
146* {{Hypocrite}}: Tej and the rest of her family refer to commoners as [[FantasticSlurs grubbers]]. However, in Jacksonian society titles are meaningless without wealth to back them up, and their house has currently been ousted, leaving them virtually broke and technically no longer nobles.
147* InstantExpert: Udine is the daughter of a haut lady and a ghem general. The kids are all half-Cetagandan, and canon precedence is that carefully cultivated Ceta genes can grant people the kind of dexterity, intellect, and learning speed that makes this trope possible.
148* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Half of the kids (the Jewels) are visibly genetically modified, the other half were more normalized. They call themselves the "odd sibs" and "even sibs."
149* MeltingPotNomenclature: Shiv got ahold of an old Earth baby name book and gave a lot of his children 3--5 names at a time, themed based on Earth locations.
150%%* TheMole: [[spoiler: Erik.]]
151* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Shiv" is a common term for an improvised stiletto.
152* NobleFugitive: In fact this is {{Lampshaded}} when the book comments that Tej's marriage to Ivan works perfectly in Barrayar because every [[BlueBlood blue blooded]] Vor will be enchanted by a tale of rescuing a [[MirrorCharacter lost princess from a fallen dynasty.]]
153* NobodyHereButUsStatues: The Jewels are performers, and one of their acts are to be "living statues" -- and are excellent spies when doing so.
154* ObliviouslyEvil: Can be chalked up to haut sense of entitlement, but Moira ghem Estif manages to render even Lady Alys and Simon Illyan speechless with her matter-of-fact recounting of her late husband's personal tragedy of losing his son during the Cetagandan occupation of Barrayar when the young man went to Vorkosigan Vashnoi to be with (and possibly rescue) his Barrayaran lover just as the Cetagandans nuked the entire city. That she tells this tale at a ''dinner party'' hosted for her family by Lady Alys, and her nonchalant reaction to the observation that the site no longer ''glows'' leaves the Barrayarans too shocked to even be angry. Especially when she asks that the next time Ivan flies over the site (because she calmly notes that they presumably cannot land in the radioactive wasteland) that he give a nod to her deceased stepson and his boyfriend. Yet in her detached way she was sufficiently moved to remember and tell the story and request Ivan give a salute to her stepson and his lover. She also mentions she conceived Udine specifically to make up to General Ghem-Estif for the loss of his (presumably) only child. Nonetheless, she seems to exhibit no concern over everyone else who was killed in the city, weighing the entire tragedy only in terms of how it [[ItsAllAboutMe personally affected her and her husband]].
155* ObnoxiousInLaws: To Ivan. Well, when you roll into town, and take over your wife's life to the point where she doesn't even talk to her husband any more...Oh yeah, and they're trying to steal a ton of Cetagandan treasure from under the [=ImpSec=] offices.
156%%* OnlyOneName: It appears that this is probably the case with the Jewels.
157%%* OverlyLongName: The even-sib kids. Not surprisingly, they all go by nicknames.
158* PirateBooty: the hidden treasures in the Cetagandan bunker hidden under the [=ImpSec=] building. With strong undertones of NaziGold, at least from the Barrayaran perspective -- most of the physical treasures there were stolen during the Cetagandan Occupation. Most of what's there that isn't just financially valuable is also fantastically historically valuable and often lost family heirlooms.
159%%* RichesToRags: The motivation behind their plot on Barrayar.%%Is?
160* RoaringRampageOfRescue and RoaringRampageOfRevenge: presumably what the Arquas got up to by the time of the epilogue of ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance.''
161* SpacePeople: As their House was originally based on a space station, albeit one relatively near a habitable planet, they have some of this mentality. At one point Tej has to remind herself that a fireplace is decorative rather than an environmental hazard.
162* TheStateless: Lady Moira ghem Estif renounced her Cetagandan citizenship when she and her husband expatriated to Komarr in the wake of the disastrous invasion of Barrayar. Her husband took Komarran citizenship, and she had residency as his spouse. Since then, she has lived with House Cordonah on [[WretchedHive Jackson's Whole]], and as a resident alien on Earth, but specifically calls out her status as someone who's been stateless for over a century.
163%%* ThemeNaming: The Jewels.
164* TinyGuyHugeGirl: While nowhere near as stunted as Miles, Shiv is on the short side of average height while Udine is OneHeadTaller and ''much'' stronger than her willowy frame would indicate thanks to her Haut bloodlines.
165* UglyGuyHotWife: Space pirate Shiv and half-haut half-ghem Udine. In fairness, Shiv isn't really ''ugly'' by any means, but he's not exactly described as a looker. Udine, meanwhile, is half unbelievably beautiful and half ''mind-shatteringly'' beautiful.
166* WhiteSheep: Tej and Amiri. Tej has no interest in her family's scheming and is perfectly happy with a comfortable life as Lady Vorpatril. Amiri has just as little interest and wishes to be a doctor on Escobar. Not surprisingly Amiri is Tej's [[BigBrotherWorship favorite sibling]], though she's actually closest to Rish who has been her KnightTemplarBigBrother since birth.
167* WomanScorned: Tej notes that ''Udine'' is far more frightening than Shiv. While Shiv might give you fair warning, Udine won't even ask. Shiv also taught former ''haut'' lady Moira to give her entire former caste the middle finger.
168-->'''Udine:''' When I get my hands on those Prestenes, the retribution will be ''famous''.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder: Tej]]
172!!Akuti Tejaswini Jyoti ghem Estif Arqua Vorpatril (Tej)
173
174A Baronette from House Cordonah on Jackson's Whole and the second youngest of a very large family. Enters into a citizenship marriage with Ivan in order to avoid arrest and capture. Turns out to actually like being Lady Vorpatril, despite getting the "fall in love" and "get married" parts out of order.
175----
176* AgentsDating: With Ivan, though there are some [[ConflictingLoyalty mix-ups]] because of the in-law troubles.
177* BigBrotherWorship: Toward Amiri who is offstage for much of the book but is her favorite sibling. Also toward Rish to some degree.
178* BlessedWithSuck: Tej's highly tuned Cetagandan senses come with downsides. She has a low tolerance for sonic or visual dissonance and is subject to horrendous wormhole jump sickness. She also has this attitude to her large breasts, frustrated they made her too "top-heavy" to be a serious dancer like her Jewel half-siblings.
179* BondingOverMissingParents: Tej thinks this applies to her and Ivan. It doesn't.
180* BuxomBeautyStandard: There's a MyEyesAreUpHere moment when Ivan takes a little ''too'' long reading her nametag -- before sighing ''everyone'' has that issue. Interestingly, Tej was the only one of her siblings not to be gene-modded -- just two chromosomes from each of her parents and gene-cleaned for genetic disorders. So, her endowment is entirely natural and unplanned.
181* CitizenshipMarriage: With Ivan, in order to get diplomatic immunity on Komarr
182* ConflictingLoyalty: Between her and Ivan Xav who is conflicted between her and Barrayar.
183* DaddysGirl: Tej, very much so. According to her, she was her mother's "gift" to her father -- she was unmodified, just a natural crossing.
184* DCupDistress: Tej dislikes being extremely well-endowed, and not just because of the unwanted attention. She wants to be a professional dancer like her half-siblings, but she moans to Ivan she's too "top-heavy" to be one.
185* DoesNotKnowHerOwnStrength: When she demands she see her family who are in security detention, she lifts the officer by his jacket off his own feet, not realizing she has until she's already done it. It's apparently InTheBlood, when Udine does the same exact thing to the BigBad, though ''she'' knows how strong she is.
186* EatingTheEyeCandy: Even if it wasn't LoveAtFirstSight, Tej takes a ''lot'' of time fantasizing about Ivan sexually even before he gets her in a CitizenshipMarriage.
187* GivenNameReveal: And it's a mouthful.
188* HappilyMarried: Surprisingly, given their elopement.
189* InSeriesNickname: "Tej" turns out to be short for her OverlyLongName.
190* InsistentTerminology: always refers to her husband as "Ivan Xav" in every conversation and even inside her own head once she finds out that he's the only "Ivan Xav" among the many "Ivan Vorpatril"s in the Barrayaran peerage. Ivan Xav is ''her'' Ivan. Similarly, in her internal monologues, she always refers to Emperor Gregor as "The Gregor". Miles is similarly "The Coz".
191* InterruptedSuicide: Ivan's proposal stops her and Rish from throwing themselves off a building to avoid arrest and capture.
192* InstantExpert: The whole ghem Estif Arqua brood are half-Cetagandan, and there's canon precedent for the carefully toggled Cetagandan genes conveying InstantExpert status in a number of areas (see: René Vorbretten and music). Despite being the "control child", Tej is no exception:
193** Having never really driven before landing on Barrayar, Tej is signed up for driving lessons by Ivan. Within a few hours she gets her learner's permit, has one moment of hitting a pillar on her first day, and then manages to get her license to drive in a ''week.'' In ''Vorbarr Sultana traffic.''
194** Picks up Barrayaran languages (all ''four'' of them) with stunning speed, to the point where she can identify a Barrayaran Russian speaker and converse with him fluently. She says to Ivan that languages are fun. Studying economics is much more like work.
195* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Being on the run, Tej has been more or less uninterested in sex. After her first erotic dream of Ivan, she muses in her head, "Hello, loins! I haven't heard from you in a long time."
196* MafiaPrincess: Of the {{Yakuza}} princess subtype. Played with. Her family doesn't understand her lack of enthusiasm for the freebooting Jacksonian lifestyle.
197* MeaningfulName: "Princess Radiant Light." Ivan thinks her father must have thought the world of her.
198* MusclesAreMeaningless: She is about as normal as anyone with a Haut grandparent can get, but she can still lift grown men off their feet without actually meaning to.
199%%* NaiveNewcomer
200* {{Omniglot}}: She can learn new languages in weeks. She picks up all four of Barrayar's languages in less than a month. Not only that, but she's able to detect, discern and mimic ''accents'' as well. She tells Ivan learning language is ''easy'' -- economics is ''hard''.
201* OvershadowedByAwesome: Much of the reason she gave up on dancing is that she was too tall, stocky, and top-heavy to measure up to the standards of the Jewels. She is also uninterested in economics, law and politics like Pidge and Star. It's strongly hinted that her true talent is in diplomacy, as she's the perfect ambassador's wife, which is a job unto itself (and being an extreme {{Omniglot}} makes her perfect for the role.)
202* OverlyLongName: A background character tries to read it off, hesitates, and then settles for "Lady Vorpatril." When she challenges Ivan to repeat her full name, he does it flawlessly, impressing her.
203* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Her marriage purchases an alliance with Barrayar through sheer good luck, and she never knew Ivan was the Emperor's cousin. When her dad hears about it, it seems to hurt his pride that such a useful Deal was not gotten through his scheming. Though of course she only wanted Ivan Xav, none of her earlier suitors brought as much of a political package as a bride-price. Udine comments that they didn't match because their "antibodies didn't mesh well"; Tej just thinks they were ''boring''.
204* ReassignedToAntarctica: Subverted. When we last see her and Ivan, Ivan is Military Attache on an obscure planet where he was sent until the incident was forgotten and has moved the consulate to a tropical island so she and Ivan could spend a two-year working vacation. Kind of "Reassigned to Riviera."
205%%* SternChase
206* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Inverted. Staying with her just about ruins Ivan Vorpatril's chances at becoming Emperor of Barrayar... [[GoodBadBugs and that is a bonus for him]]. [[invoked]]
207* WhiteSheep: She's the least genetically modified child of the entire family (at dad's request), "the control child" and the least understood by her family because she isn't obsessed with power and control. When her family needs her to help rob a vault, her primary job is [[TheDriver driving the car.]]
208[[/folder]]
209
210[[folder: Rish]]
211!!Lapis Lazuli (Rish)
212
213The next to the youngest Jewel in the Baronne's troupe of dancers and spies. A genetically engineered daughter of the Baronne, she has skin designed to look like her namesake, along with wicked dance skills, pointy ears, super strength and super senses.
214----
215* BetaCouple: With Byerly. She admires that he's as covertly sneaky as she is.
216* BlessedWithSuck: Rish's senses are even more highly tuned than Tej's. She can't even drive a groundcar without experiencing sensory overload.
217* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue Skinned Space Babe]] shot through with metallic gold, as well.
218* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: And frequently camouflage for investigating a situation.
219* DaddysGirl: Inverted. Rish is mama's girl through and through, deeply grateful to her mother for giving her a striking appearance and enhanced senses and abilities.
220* DaytimeDramaQueen: While in hiding on Komarr she became addicted to several daytime holo-dramas. She's delighted to find out that a few crewmembers on a military ship are also fans, and they end up having sessions of watching tapes as they arrive.
221* DeadpanSnarker: a match for Byerly in this regard
222* DefrostingIceQueen: She's warm around her family, but Ivan finds her chilly and intimidating. Byerly probably has a hand in mellowing her out a bit.
223-->'''Ivan''': You're my sister-in-law? That... explains a lot, actually.\
224''(Cue Byerly ROTFLMAO.)''
225* GrandDame: Downplayed, but she loves being seen among high society -- even among notoriously xenophobic Barrayarans -- and looks down on "houseless grubbers." (She's exotic enough that Barrayarans think of her more as a displaced alien princess than a mutant.)
226* IAmWhatIAm: She's proud to be blue and has no interest in hiding that from the norms, and screw you if you find her freaky.
227* InSeriesNickname: "Lapis Lazuli" is her stage name, "Rish" is her family nickname. If she has a formal name it's never revealed.[[note]]It's likely Lapis Lazuli ''is'' her given name, just like the other Jewels, but she views it as a stage name because it's what she was bred for, not who she ''is''.[[/note]]
228%%* InterruptedSuicide
229* KnightTemplarBigBrother: In fact the Barrayarans at first think she is a genetically engineered slave-bodyguard. She ''is'' genetically engineered, but her loyalty is perfectly normal sibling loyalty. (She ''was'' to be a "jeeves", but Udine stopped the loyalty treatments because she couldn't stand the idea of her Jewels dying if she died.) Her parents tasked her with keeping an eye on her baby sister--which probably makes her more dangerous than any artificial loyalty programming ever could--and it's implied that she's been doing so for Tej's entire life.
230* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Her and the Jewels' jobs would often be as "living statues". Of course, people would forget they could hear and see everything going on in a party, and that made them perfect spies, too.
231* OnlyOneName: possibly, but she doesn't seem to have the mouthful that Tej has.
232* StageName: She claims Lapis Lazuli is her stage name, "Rish" is a family nickname like Tej, Pidge, and Star. The only other Jewel we meet (Onyx) also has a family nickname, "Jet". If any of the jewels have any other names it's not mentioned.[[note]]It's implied Lapis Lazuli actually is her name, thanks to the ThemeNaming of her and her siblings, but she considers that her alternate identity as a spy.[[/note]]
233* SarcasticDevotee: Originally designed to be a loyal retainer ("jeeves"), but her mother discontinued loyalty treatments on the Jewels after a while. She's loyal on her own recognizance (and good old-fashioned filial piety). She loves her mom, dad, and baby sister in that order.
234* ShoutOut: She looks a lot like a short [[{{Film/Avatar}} Na'vi]].
235%%* SternChase
236%%* SuperSenses
237* SuperStrength: Considerably shorter and slighter than Tej... and ''much'' stronger.
238* YaoiFangirl: Aside from dating a bisexual man, when Tej brings up the idea of Ivan and By sleeping together, Rish expresses an intense desire to watch.
239[[/folder]]
240
241!! Others
242
243[[folder: Cavilo]]
244!! Cavilo
245
246Mercenary in command of Randall's Rangers, Cavilo is probably the series' smartest antagonist, Miles' match in brainpower with absolutely zero morals.
247----
248* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: One of her defining traits. [[spoiler:Though to be fair, Stanis Metzov really had it coming.]]
249* GambitPileup: Unfortunately (for her) it backfires.
250* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: "Stanis, darling..." she says, just before murdering the man who raped her.]]
251* MirrorCharacter: Of Miles, a fact that a number of his friends and allies are quick to hang a lampshade or five on. The only real difference is that Miles does what he does for other people, whereas Cavilo is really only out for herself.
252-->'''Gregor''': You're both twisty. And, ah, short.
253* OpportunisticBastard[=/=]FatalFlaw: Cavilo is the leader of a mercenary company who has no qualms about betraying her employer if she gets a better offer from someone else. After capturing her at the end of the book Miles gives her a ReasonYouSuckSpeech about it.
254--> '''Miles''': You should have stuck to your original contract. Or your second plan. Or your third. You should, in fact, have stuck to ''something''. Anything. Your total self-interest did not make you strong, it made you a rag in the wind, anybody's to pick up.
255* PreMortemOneLiner: "Stanis, darling. 'Spread your legs for me, bitch, or I'll blow your brains out.'"
256%%* StarterVillain
257* TheVamp: And she's terribly effective at it, [[spoiler: though not enough fool Gregor.]]
258* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Miles notes that had she simply ferried Gregor straight back to Barrayar, she could have named her reward.
259* XanatosGambit: She provides the page quote.
260--> '''Cavilo''': The key of strategy, little Vor, is not to choose ''a'' path to victory, but to choose so that ''all'' paths lead to '''a''' victory.
261[[/folder]]
262
263[[folder: Ethan Urquhart]]
264!!Doctor Ethan Urquhart
265
266* FishOutOfWater: When he first gets to Kline Station. Ethan's from an all-male PlanetOfHats that has no contact with women at all. However, he adapts fairly quickly, and having known Elli, he gains a ton more respect for Athos' founder: Dr. Cynthia Jane Baruch, a woman.
267* NiceGuy: First to his irresponsible nitwit of a foster brother/boyfriend Janos, then [[spoiler: to troubled Cetagandan gene-spliced super-agent Terrence Cee, with much more success in the latter case than the former.]]
268* NonActionGuy: At first.
269* OddFriendship: Between super-responsible, straitlaced StraightGay NonActionGuy Ethan and snarky badass ActionGirl Elli Quinn. One's a gay, strictly religious downsider, the other a [[SoBeautifulItsACurse stunningly beautiful]] spacer mercenary: together [[WunzaPlot they take on agents of the Cetagandan Empire!]]
270* StraightGay: Although technically since there are no women on his planet, and indeed most Athosians have never even ''seen'' a woman, they may have no concept of effeminacy upon which to base CampGay behavior. In addition, while most Athosians undergo a "madness" when seeing women for the first time, Ethan has no reaction.
271* TookALevelInBadass: With a little help from Elli Quinn.
272[[/folder]]
273
274[[folder: Terrence Cee]]
275!!Terrence Cee
276
277* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:What he was trying to do with Janine, and what eventually ended up happening in spite of her death.]]
278* DefusingTheTykeBomb: The Cetagandans engineered him to be the perfect superagent, but with a little basic human kindness Doctor Urquhart almost manages to reduce him to tears.
279* PinealWeirdness: The source of his abilities.
280* {{Telepathy}}: An unusual case: his is chemically generated. [[spoiler:It is also receptive only. He can read minds, but not send thoughts]].
281[[/folder]]
282
283[[folder: Ghem Colonel Benin]]
284!! Ghem Colonel Benin
285
286Cetagandan Security agent in ''Cetaganda'' who ferrets out a GovernmentConspiracy in the Cetagandan court with Miles' help. Later meets Miles again in ''A Civil Campaign.''
287----
288* AlwaysGetsHisMan: It doesn't matter to him that the victim was just a Ba servant. What matters was that someone was murdered.[[note]]Ba, however, are Imperial servants who are the direct property of the Star Creche ''and'' share genes with the Emperor himself. They're the only personnel who are allowed universal access due to their mental conditioning. So, the murder of one is tantamount to high treason.[[/note]]
289* {{Ambadassador}}: In ''A Civil Campaign'' we meet him as a Ghem-general and ambassador to Barrayar with the ultimate Cetagandan reward; [[BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage a haut wife]]. He hints to Miles that Cetaganda knows who Admiral Naismath is.
290* [[strike: Colonel Badass]] [[ColonelBadass General Badass]]: Thanks to Miles and Pel.
291* EnemyMine: He is an agent of Barrayar's traditional rival in interstellar politics. And if Miles ever did a deep-cover job on Cetaganda, presumably he would be a WorthyOpponent. But when we see him, he is an ally of Miles.
292* FallGuy: Benin was intended to be one by ''ghem''-General Naru if he didn't falsify his investigation. Miles warned him that he better get the Emperor's protection to prevent anyone from impeding his case.
293* HeroOfAnotherStory: He's always on the opposite side of a mystery Miles is trying to solve, and one gets the impression that Benin has the tougher job.
294* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
295** Often painted as Miles' opposite number among the Cetagandans, and apparently equally open-minded. In ''Diplomatic Immunity'', it's Benin that Miles contacts to avert a potential Cetagandan-Barrayaran conflict.
296** In ''Cetaganda'', Miles advises him to get the support of Emperor Giaja to prevent any of his possibly suborned superiors from getting lethally nervous about his competence ("If you're going to cover your ass, do it right" thinks Miles). While Benin is initially dubious about going straight to the Emperor, Miles reminds him that it's not some casual familiarity Benin is seeking -- it's business, and with the murder of an Imperial servant, it's ''specifically'' Giaja's business. Benin follows Miles' advice, and it makes him far more efficient in arresting a high-ranking governor and ''his own superior officer'' who set him up to fail his investigation.
297%%* SecretPolice
298* TribalFacePaint: Painted in Imperial rather than clan fashion to show where his loyalties were.
299[[/folder]]
300
301[[folder: Nicol]]
302!!Nicol
303
304Gifted Quaddie musician rescued from indentured servitude on Jackson's Whole by Miles and Bel. Has a second pair of arms instead of legs, which is a disability in gravity but gives her a huge advantage in free fall.
305----
306* DistressedDamsel: The closest thing to a traditional one in the whole series, and that doesn't stop her participating in the fight to escape.
307%%* RescueRomance: With Bel.
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder: Leo Graf]]
311!!Leo Graf
312
313Engineer who arranges the escape of the quaddies in ''Falling Free'' two hundred years before Miles and has Graf Station named after him.
314----
315%%* AuthorAvatar: Stated by [[WordOfGod the author]] in fact.
316* BerserkButton: Shoddy work. He preaches almost like a reverend on how bad jury-rigged components or lazy construction can lead to disaster, ''especially'' in structures in space. The quaddies adopt this viewpoint as a cultural foundation.
317%%* DefectorFromDecadence
318* FounderOfTheKingdom: And the Quaddies will never forget him. Their main station is named after him, and Leo is by far the most popular name among male Quaddies.
319%%* GoingNative
320* InterspeciesRomance: Quaddies are still human, so it's more like "Transhuman Romance", as he and Silver hook up by the end of ''Falling Free''.
321* MessianicArchetype: Though it's more Moses than the Messiah. Graf even {{Lampshades}} his status by promising to bring the Quaddies to "the Promised Land".
322* OurFounder: Leo has the main space station named after him, Graf Station. (Madame Minchinko gets her own opera hall/theater.)
323* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: He is outraged that the quaddies are to be sterilized because they're no longer cost-effective with the invention of ArtificialGravity. It leads to him stealing an entire station full of quaddies.
324* SociallyAwkwardHero: And the Quaddies remember him as such in their opera ''The Crossing'', in the most affectionate way.
325* SpacePirate: He technically qualifies for this, from hijacking a spaceship. He does not have any of the usual characteristics.
326* TheUnfettered: A downplayed example, as he very much didn't abandon morality, but he committed himself to rescuing the quaddies, no matter the cost.
327[[/folder]]
328
329[[folder: Enrique Borgos]]
330!!Enrique Borgos
331
332Mark's Escobaran business partner and creator of the butter bug -- a creature that ingests organic matter of just about any variety and regurgitates it as bland nutritious goo that can be processed and flavoured in an enormous number of ways (nicknamed bug ''butter'', not bug ''vomit'', whatever Miles tells you), as well as excreting very high-quality fertilizer. He is brilliant and... fixated.
333----
334* AbsentMindedProfessor: So very. Selling more than 100% of his projects to venture capitalists is probably the best example.
335* BunnyEarsLawyer: Obsessed with his butter bugs, thinks customizing his bugs (which look like a giant cross between a cockroach and a termite) with his host's livery is a way to get on his good side, and adapts his dissertation ''into poetry'' because he wanted to impress a pretty lady.
336* CharacterDevelopment: By the time of ''Flowers of Vashnoi'', several years of exposure to the Vorkosigans and their friends - not least Martya Koudelka, who married him - has seen some development of his social skills, although he's still a massive nerd.
337* CloudCuckooLander: Enrique cares deeply for his bugs to the point that he cries when the queens die. It appears completely beyond his powers of comprehension that most people do not feel the same way immediately, or even after he explains how wonderful they are at length.
338* LovableNerd: Well... Martya seems to like him, anyway.
339* ManChild: He doesn't need an assistant, he needs a ''keeper''. Or a mother. He has to be reminded to bathe, eat, sleep, dress, look both ways before crossing the road, that most people are a bit cagey about eating bug puke no matter how sanitary and nutritious it is...
340* StupidCrooks: Before meeting Mark, Enrique had sold several hundred percent of butter bug stock to his investors. Notably, he didn't even seem aware that this might be illegal. Or even impossible. "I was going to pay them back!"
341[[/folder]]
342
343[[folder: Ker Dubauer]]
344!!Ker Dubauer / The Unnamed Ba
345
346A Ba servitor formerly of the Star Crèche who was the primary antagonist of ''Diplomatic Immunity''.
347----
348* CallBack: To ''Cetaganda''. It was another of the late Cetagandan Empress's confidants, and genuinely believed stealing the replicators and creating a splinter group of ''Haut'' was in accordance with her wishes.
349* CruelAndUnusualDeath: It makes ''horrifyingly'' liberal use of stolen Cetagandan bioweapons to slowly and ''painfully'' dissolve its victims into goo.
350* FateWorseThanDeath: When Miles destroys the freezer case of genetic samples, the ba snaps and loses all sanity. When talking to the ''haut'' ladies of the Star Crèche, Miles thinks:
351-->''He had slain men's bodies, and bore the mark, and knew it. He did not think he'd slain a soul, yet left the body breathing, bereft, and accusing.''
352* MistakenForSpies: Miles quickly notices that things don't add up and assumes it's on a secret mission for the Star Crèche. Since it was not actually trained as a covert operative, this leads him to overestimate its capabilities and underestimate its desperation.
353* NoBiologicalSex: An inherent part of being a Ba.
354* NoNameGiven: Its true name was never used, just the alias Ker Dubauer.
355* OppositeSexClone: Although it's more like a Sexless Clone of the current Cetagandan emperor, Fletchir Giaja.
356* TakeAwayTheirName: Its ultimate punishment is to have its name stripped from all of the Star Crèche's records.
357[[/folder]]
358

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