!!Magiere:

* ActionGirl: A highly capable warrior even before her dhampir powers started manifesting.
* AntiAntiChrist: [[spoiler: Ubad arranged her creation so she could be il'Samar's champion. To put it mildly, she doesn't want the job]].
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Naturally, given her status as a Vampire Hybrid.
* BerserkButton: Don't bring up superstition in her presence- she was on the receiving end of too much of it. Also, her dhampir nature makes the presence of a vampire a major BerserkButton.
* BrokenBird: Her childhood as the village freak was hardly fun, and it's left definite psychological scars on her.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Magiere's looks are greatly enhanced by her Supernatural nature, on the other hand, that same otherworldly beauty (coupled with extremely pale skin) can be ''very'' off putting to most people.
* DarkIsNotEvil: She's creepy and broody even if you ''don't'' know she's half-vampire, but she's at least ''trying'' to be a good person.
* {{Dhampyr}}: Her dad was a vampire, her mom was human. The title of the first book says it all.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Magiere can be harsh and abrasive, but she'll usually at least try to do the right thing after finding out vampires actually exist and are a real threat.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Her skin is unnaturally pale no matter how much time she spends in the sun, and her hair is mostly jet black with red streaks that show up under certain lighting. It's a hold-over from her vampire heritage and is generally very eerie.
%%* SoBeautifulItsACurse
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Magiere's attitude is usually cool and businesslike. Anger is the most common emotion she ''does'' show. But she also has a softer side, though very few have seen it.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Her dhampir nature.
* VampireHunter: What she pretends to be, and later becomes for real.

!!Leesil

* {{Deuteragonist}}: The second core protagonist, after Magiere.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Half-elven, to be specific.
* LovableRogue: How he portrays himself, though he's rather more complicated beneath the surface.
* ParentalAbandonment: His DisappearedDad was killed by Lord Darmouth. His MissingMom survived, but was taken captive by her own people.
* ProfessionalKiller: He used to be an assassin, and still has the tools.
* TroubledButCute: A good-looking charmer, but certainly carries at least as much baggage as Magiere.

!!Chap

* AngryGuardDog: Don't threaten Magiere or Leesil in front of him. It won't be pretty.
* CanineCompanion: For Leesil and Magiere.
* DogsAreDumb: Thoroughly averted. Chap is one of the smartest characters in the series.
* [[GodInHumanForm Fay In Canine Form]]: He's an ancient immortal spirit, but chose to be born as a majay-hi (elf hound) in order to travel with Leesil and Magiere and guide them towards doing the right thing.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He pretends to be an ordinary dog- at first. Later in the series, he stops making much effort to conceal his intelligence around people in the know.
* TheVoiceless: Chap understands Elvish and bits of some other languages, but his dog's vocal chords keep him from actually speaking.

!!Wynn Hygeorht

* TheHeart: The youngest, most idealistic, and least confrontational of the three leads. She even calls herself Magiere's conscience.
* LightEmUp: In the second arc, Wynn's primary weapon against the undead is a magic staff that generates sunlight.
* MomentKiller: Her interrupting Magiere and Leesil in romantic moments is something of a RunningGag.
* PowerIncontinence: Her mantic sight, the ability to see magical energy, is ''very'' hard to control.
* TheQuietOne: At first. She starts talking more later on.
* TheSmartGuy: As a sage, she's easily the most book-learned major character in the series.
* SquishyWizard: Well, she's self-admittedly not much of a mage, but she ''can'' do magic, and she ''is'' very fragile in direct combat.

!!Welstiel Masing

* AffablyEvil: So long as you're not in his way, he's not an unpleasant guy.
* AntiMagic: His "ring of nothing", which shields him from all magical enquiry [[spoiler: preventing people from discovering that he's a vampire]]
* AntiVillain: Subverted. He looks like this at first, until it becomes apparent the depths he's willing to sink to in order to achieve his goals.
* EvilMentor: Shows up early on to give Magiere advice and guidance. He's actually manipulating [[spoiler: his little sister]] for his own ends.
* EvilSorcerer: Specializing in artifice
* IAmYourFather: Almost. [[spoiler: He's actually Magiere's half-brother]]
* MagicKnight: Not as much as Chane, but still there.
* MysteriousProtector: Subverted. He's only helping Magiere to advance his own agenda
* OlderThanTheyLook: Variation. His grey hair makes him look middle-aged. Physically, he's somewhat younger than that [[spoiler: but because he's a vampire, he's actually quite a bit older than he looks]].
* TreacherousAdvisor: It's kind of his schtick, but especially to Magiere.

!!Chane Andraso

* AbusiveParents: He was brutally abused by his father, which fueled his bitter misanthropy.
* BloodKnight: Chane ''loves'' to fight and kill, and isn't picky about who. [[spoiler: In the second arc he's started blunting this trait, for Wynn's sake]].
* TheDragon: At first to his sire, Toret, and after his death to Welstiel
* HeelRealization: Admits that he's a monster at the end of the first arc. As noted in RetiredMonster above, though, it doesn't make him any less evil in a meaningful sense, just less blatant and feral about it.
* KarmaHoudini: So far, he's had remarkably little punishment to fit his crimes- but on the other hand, the series is far from over...
* LivingLieDetector: One of his vampiric powers, which first begins manifesting in ''Child of a Dead God''.
* MagicKnight: A talented conjurer as well as a skilled, superhumanly strong warrior.
* MoralityPet: Wynn is the only thing he cares about enough to try and control his feral vampire nature.
* PsychoForHire: In the first arc, he works as muscle and savagery for both Toret and Welstiel. [[spoiler: In subsequent arcs, he's at least trying to improve his behavior]].
* RetiredMonster: In the second arc, owing to trying to make a good impression on Wynn. He's not actually any less evil, though, just less blatant about it. [[spoiler: At the end of the arc he has an epiphany, and appears to have genuinely graduated to TheAtoner]].
* ScarsAreForever: Though vampires can normally heal any wound, the scars on Chane's back and neck will last forever.
* TheSociopath: Borderline case. His relationship with Wynn shows he's capable of at least some empathy- he just normally doesn't bother, since he doesn't think most people are worth it.
* TokenEvilTeammate: In the second arc.
* VaderBreath: He survived a beheading thanks to Welstiel's magic, but it permanently damaged his voice.

!!Ubad

* BlackCloak: His preferred outfit.
* DisabilitySuperpower: Because of his blindness, he uses dominated ghosts to see for him.
* EyelessFace: He wears a leather mask over his eyes, and is apparently blind. The host of spirits that swarm about him act as his eyes.
* EvilOldFolks: Obviously an ancient man, though it's unclear exactly how old he really is.
* EvilSorcerer: Probably the most powerful magic-user in the series so far, and totally evil.
* {{Necromancer}}: Manipulating death is his specialty. [[spoiler: After all, he was the one who made Magiere's birth possible]].
* SquishyWizard: For all his power, he's still a frail old blind man, and when [[spoiler: his magical sight is disrupted Magiere ends him quickly]].

!!Lord Darmouth

* TheCaligula: He's viciously paranoid and moderately unstable, which makes him a right terror to anyone in his domain.
* TheDreaded: Even in the south, his reputation precedes him. In the north, people are justly terrified of him.
* EvilOverlord: The most powerful and ruthless warlord of the Warlands.

!!Most Aged Father

* AnimalsHateHim: Majay-hi avoid him, unnerved by the way he has unnaturally extended his lifespan
* TheChessmaster: People have been dancing on his strings for centuries.
* EvilOldFolks: A withered old man even beyond an elf's normal lifespan, thanks to the magic keeping him alive, and a paranoid KnightTemplar on top of that.
* FreudianExcuse: His being present at the creation of the first undead ''might'' explain his paranoid attitude.
* TheManBehindTheCurtain: Despite his fearsome reputation, he's a withered old elf who's barely moved in centuries.
* MeaningfulName: It's pretty self-explanatory.
* MeaningfulRename: His original name was Sorkhafare. He abandoned it when he became the leader of the an'Croan elves.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He is genuinely trying to save the world. If he has to sacrifice everyone but his loyal followers to do it? He'll pay that price.
%%* VillainWithGoodPublicity: At least among the Elves.

!!Sau'ilahk

%% What fate? * AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: His apparent final fate; il'Samar ends up letting him go when it needs him again.]]
* BlackCloak: He pretty much ''is'' a black cloak inhabited by an ancient spirit.
* DealWithTheDevil: He bargained with il'Samar for eternal life and youth. He got one, but not the other.
* EnemyToAllLivingThings: Even more so than most undead.
* EvilSorcerer: Another extremely powerful, evil sorcerer in il'Samar's service.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: For most of ''In Shade and Shadow'', nobody knows what he's really after.
* IntangibleMan: Thanks to being a wraith, he can pass through solid objects solely by willing himself to do so.
* ReligionOfEvil: In life, he was the high priest of one.
* TouchOfDeath: Vampires need to drink blood in order to replenish their energies; Sau'ilahk just needs to touch someone to leech out their lifeforce and add it to his own.

!!il'Samar

* BigBad: The ultimate evil that the other villains are either working for or in response to.
* TheChessmaster: It's got big plans, but exactly what it's working towards remains unknown.
* EldritchAbomination: or possibly GodOfEvil- it's unclear at this point. It's very powerful and very malicious, whatever it is.
* IHaveManyNames: il'Samar, the Night Voice, the Ancient Enemy, the Nightfaller, Beloved, and presumably many more. It's called "The Enemy of Many Names" for a reason.
* TheManBehindTheMan: It was manipulating Ubad, Welstiel, ''and'' Sau'ilahk.
* OmnicidalManiac: Implied; it talks about the end of existence in such a way that it's clearly anticipating it, and there are, after all, only so many goals for which "create an undead army that will consume everything in its path, then devour itself when it can't get anything else" is an effective strategy, after all.
* ScaledUp: Usually appears as an immense serpent. It's unclear if that is its true form or not.
* SealedEvilInACan: The precise nature of its imprisonment is unclear, but it ''is'' imprisoned somehow, and wants out.

----