Amulet / Characters

The Amulet series has many, many minor and major characters across several volumes. Warning! Spoilers may follow for some character sections.

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Main Cast

Emily Hayes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ch_emily.gif

"I may not be as clever as Max, or as skilled as Ronin, but don't ask me if I'm ready. Because no matter what happens, I'll have to be."

The protagonist, a young girl who was traumatized by the death of her father in a horrific car accident two years prior to the story. Since then, Emily is a serious, determined, and sometimes headstrong girl who ends up inheriting her great-grandfather Silas' Stone, an object of immense power which she uses to protect her family as they go through the world of Alledia. Over time, as she and her family move through this alternate world, she realizes she has inherited much more than that.

A Child Shall Lead Them: Like Navin, she's pushed into a very high leadership position as a result of her prophecy, becoming a member of the Guardian Council (of which there are only three members instead of the usual 5 including her.)
Assassination Attempt: by Gabilan, courtesy of the Elf King. She promptly disposes of him by throwing him off the island.
Blessed with Suck: inheriting a powerful Amulet from your great-grandfather you've never met? Cool. Inheriting his supposed duty to take his place in a war against an overwhelming powerful enemy with your family in danger and the amulet having the threat of losing control? Not so much.
The Chosen One: Played with. Clearly the Stone picked her for a reason, and there was apparently a prophecy about her, but Emily made the initial choice to accept the Stone's power in the first place.
Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments. It's part of her personality.
Trellis: You don't trust me.
Emily: I get the impression that the feeling is mutual.
Trellis: Fair enough.
The Determinator: She's not the strongest or the smartest of the Stonekeepers in Alledia, but she can at least attest to never giving up or giving in to the Stone's temptations. Even when she does give in and transform into a monster, there's an implication she's still fighting internally.
Disappeared Dad: He died in a car accident in the prologue and his death was her Cynicism Catalyst.
Fatal Flaw: Ever since his death, Emily nurses a desire to see her father again. Reminders of his death cause her emotional pain as a result and she becomes reckless at opportunities to see him again. It's this flaw that the Stone exploits in order to take control from her.
Fiery Red Head: She's got a red motif and red hair to match her temper.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She liked to believe she was the responsible one back when Navin was a sillier kid, but she's actually the Foolish to the Responsible Navin. As evidenced by Book 1 and even the recent Books, she has proven to be more unreasonably reckless compared to Navin, who is more sensible and prone to caution.
Good Is Not Nice: She's the protagonist, and is the presumed savior of Alledia, but she is cold and tact with anyone she interacts with, even to her friends and allies. She is also incredibly ruthless towards her enemies.
Heroic Lineage: Played with; Silas is viewed by many as a hero and a remarkable Stonekeeper who was the only member of the Council to have Alledia's best interests at heart. Later installments subvert this by showing that Silas was also foolish, selfish, and even power-hungry as a Stonekeeper, despite whatever good intentions he may have had.
Hero Protagonist: Main character and the hero.
Improbable Age: She was given a seat on the Stonekeeper council, effectively putting her in charge of an entire army, with just two other council members to help her. (Consider that Ronin, a previous stonekeeper her age, declined the position because it was too much responsibility for someone so young.) Regardless of there being a supposed prophecy about her, putting a child in charge of an army is rather... Very questionable.
Ineffectual Loner: ironically, in a series whose aesop is to never do things alone — she ends up most of the time being like this.
Informed Attribute: She's been described as a natural-born leader and strong, but while her strength with her stone is regularly demonstrated, she's demonstrated no real leading ability in contrast to Vigo and Trellis, who do most of the leading.
It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Accepting the Amulet has dragged her into more trouble than she could ever have wished for.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: when Emily starts to disregard Trellis's warning in the Nexus memory and shows unsound judgement, it's clear that something is terribly wrong. Sure enough, at the end of Book 7, the Voice managed to transform her into a Phoenix to commit Alledian genocide.
Person of Mass Destruction: As of Book 7, when she was forcibly turned into a Firebird tasked with razing Alledia.
The Phoenix: Her colossal beast form transforms into this.
Primary-Color Champion: Although the colors are a bit muddied in most lightings, Emily's hair is bright red while she wears a blue vest.
Psychic Dreams for Everyone: she's the only one in the series who experiences this, with no explanation whatsoever, to talk to the Voice ever since book 3 and on.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Max's blue visually and, although downplayed, in their personalities. Max is cunning while she's headstrong. She's also the red to Trellis' blue, with Trellis also being more serious and level-headed with cooler colors to match.
Wise Beyond Their Years: As a result of seeing her father die before her eyes, she grew up fast, even more so once in Alledia. She isn't technically wise, but she is serious.
The Stoic: She's quite serious for her age and often isn't very warm to anyone that isn't family. She's not very emotive either.
Trapped in Another World: She claims she's unable to leave Alledia for the time being, even if the rest of her family were to return to Earth. But she was lying. She wanted to stay to find an opportunity to either change her past or find a way to be with her father again.
Unwitting Pawn: She fears being one of the Stone, and is proven right in the sixth volume, when the voice refers to her as an "investment." She becomes an actual puppet of the stone, briefly, at the end of the seventh volume and through a large part of the eighth.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: She somewhat gives one to Trellis in Book 5 once he admits that he thinks isn't a good stonekeeper. She shoots this down pretty fast and tells him that he needs what he always lacked: self-confidence.
You Can't Go Home Again: once Emily accepted the stone's powers, it prevents her from ever coming back to Earth, unlike her family, who are free to come and go. Subverted in the sense that Emily lied to everyone all along about this fact as revealed by the Voice in The Cloud Searchers, in order to stay in Alledia and get more power in order to bring her father back from the dead.
You Leave Him Alone!: nearly said word for word when Trellis gets captured by the Elven guards in The Cloud Searchers.

Navin Hayes

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Emily's little brother, a young boy who enjoys playing video games and tries to be light and easygoing to make his sister laugh. At the start of the story he is much more cautious and afraid of everything happening around them in Alledia than Emily, and is naturally less trusting of every potential ally they come across. As the series goes on, he matures into a capable support to his sister and a force to be reckoned with behind a mech.

A Child Shall Lead Them: He ends up becoming a commander of his own army; downplayed when he joins the army in Cielis, which has a great deal of child recruits, but his army in the resistance still sees him as their commander.
Annoying Younger Sibling: He starts out as this, with Emily more annoyed by his antics even when they're intentionally done to cheer her up.
Character Development: Initially seeming like just The Load whom Emily needs to look after, Navin matures over the course of the series into a serious, responsible child who has resourcefulness and great skill as a pilot.
Disappeared Dad: He is Emily’s younger brother and her full brother at that, so yeah, same as his sister.
Hollywood Atheist: Someone uses "miracle" in a figure of speech. Navin says that he doesn't really believe in that kind of stuff, but otherwise believes that they're capable of doing it.
I Know Mortal Kombat: He pilots an actual plane in the first volume with video games being his only experience thus far. Justified in that case because the controls were literally styled to look like video game controllers. From then on the mechs in the series are also given extremely simple controls that other children his age are also able to handle.
Informed Attribute: Like Emily, Navin is expected to be a leader, and a lot of people refer to him as commander, but he's mostly been shown serving in deference to others like Aly.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: He is actually the Responsible to Emily's Foolishness. He is more emotionally stable and sensible compared to Emily's emotional instability and recklessness.
Nice Guy: Compared to most of his companions, who are usually serious, stoic or a Sour Supporter, he's one of the kindest and most personable.

Trellis

^{Click here for his appearance in Supernova (spoilers)}

"I would pay any price to undo the mistakes of my ancestors."

The son of the elf king who wants to overthrow his father's rule for his own reasons, who quickly develops into a second protagonist. Although at first antagonistic towards Emily and remaining under the Elf King's thumb even as he intends to kill him, he becomes a troubled ally of the young Stonekeeper and her friends by the third book. He also has many issues of his own to sort out about his past and the history of his people; as the series progresses, he becomes calmer, more responsible, and more morally upright, becoming the just leader that the elf kingdom desperately needs.

Amnesiac Hero: he's one of the main characters, and it's been revealed that most of his memories were wiped, rendering him incapable of recalling many things from his life. Intended so by the aliens as to keep him from spilling about the truth about them and their manipulation of Gulfen and Windsor for Alledia's genocide, all the while keeping him alive while mind-controlled because he's still useful that it was worth the risk of keeping him alive. That is, until Emily managed to unexpectedly free him from such control.
Antagonistic Offspring: He's going against his own father, the Elf king, and was even against him in his first appearance. This is because the Elf King, as he is now, is not Trellis' father anymore.
Anti-Hero: He fits the archetype to an absurd point: father issues, childhood trauma, uses extreme or unethical methods to reach his goals, doesn't work well with the other members of the cast, and is not generally nice. But he is ultimately on Emily's side from volume three on, and he's always been against the Elf King.
All the Other Reindeer: in the first books, wherever he's sided, it's obvious that he's like oil in water. No one likes him nor treats him all that well. It's particularly noteworthy of the Elves' abusive treatment of him, considering his rank.
Artistic Age: He's confirmed to be 14 when he meets Emily and 16 by the latest volume, but he looks like he's in his twenties, if not early thirties. It's somewhat fixed at the most recent books though, especially at Book 7 where most character designs have now taken a more simplistic style.
Badass Bookworm: A bookworm won't be your initial impression, but Trellis loves books and is clearly capable in combat.
Barrier Warrior: In contrast to Emily, Trellis typically uses his stone to make barriers, in combat or otherwise. His barriers are shown as being insanely powerful, withstanding powerful impacts with ease and even withstanding the pressure of being deep underwater, all with Trellis barely breaking a sweat.
Big "NO!": He shouts a big "NO!" when the Voice taunted that he was still an Unwitting Pawn of the shadows.
Blue Is Heroic: Ever since he abandoned his armor, he's been wearing a dominantly blue clothing and is one of the main forces of good in the story.
Born Unlucky: let's just see his past shall we? His mother dies while they're both starving and freezing, friendless background, abusive father, forced to fight in a war even if underaged, is hated by everyone and wants to be seen dead including by his own people, and his home planet is divided due to the war and is threatening its destruction, by his people or the shadows otherwise. Lucky enough to get out of these situations alive, but not so much that he gets to avoid it. Oh, it really feels like the world is out to get him.
Brainwashed and Crazy: It's revealed much later that he was possessed by a Dark Scout, Sybrian, in the first book. This is why he made such an uncharacteristically cruel first impression when trying to get Emily's help.
Butt-Monkey: He's got the highest count of hits (approximately at least 10), some of which injure him. Some of which are even used for humor.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: why Trellis was kept alive despite the humongous threat he poses to Voice's plans by exposing it. Sure enough, it accosts the Voice big time.
Cassandra Truth: Trellis warned Emily that the memory was a trap, and although she believed him, she ultimately ignored him in favour of doing what she wants.
- Another instance is that he warns the city of Ippo to remain vigilant as the surrender may be a trap, but they all ignore it to celebrate with the exception of Vigo and possibly Riva.
Classical Anti-Hero: Slowly progresses in the series from Anti-Hero into this. Strip away his hostile facade, you'll get an insecure, socially-awkward, very sad teen.
Character Development: Started off as a hostile, uptight, aloof, rude, arrogant, well-intentioned but morally questionable individual to a brave, selfless, empathetic, helpful, and morally upright guy (if still serious.) It's played as him recovering his old personality as he slowly regains his memories.
Chekhov's Skill: he's a bit better than Emily when it comes to protecting, she even acknowledges it. Apparently, he's skilled and innovative enough to pull off an absurdly strong barrier in book 5 that deforms the surface of Alledia from its impact alone, all the while keeping the people inside completely unharmed.
Child Soldiers: Word of God places him at 14 by the start of the series, but the Elf King was already sending him on missions, presumably for years before the main story.
The Chosen One: in a surprising twist in Escape From Lucien, Trellis became the result of one by Father Charles, detailing a revolutionary young leader will step up and change the course of the war.
Father Charles: The sky will begin to fall, and a son will rise again. Get to know the son well.
Costume Evolution: although some characters do change their wardrobe on the course of the series, Trellis serves as a particularly noteworthy example since it signifies his character development. He starts off on the bad side wearing black armor, in the middle wearing blue simple clothing, to white once he accepts his role as king.
Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Either that or the trope below. It's one of the factors that makes him look significantly older than he is, because he's only 16. However, as he slowly recovers, they disappear over time.
Cunning Linguist: implied to be one in Firelight, he has enough knowledge of his own world's languages to recognize that the ones on the reliefs are not native to Alledia.
The Cynic: Due to his harsh childhood and experiences with corruption, he's very cynical of authority (like in Cielis) and slow to trust when things go in the heroes' favor.
Dark and Troubled Past: His memories were erased, and although Book 5 shows that he seems to have had a peaceful childhood on an island with his brother and uncle, after they moved into the palace things get much much worse for them. This is explored in depth in Book 7, when he finally gets to see his stolen memories. Book 8 even adds on to it by showing how his mother died.
Dark Is Not Evil: He was initially a dark-coded figure in black jagged armor, but even then he was trying to save Alledia from his father.
Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much unavoidable, considering his personality.
Defrosting Ice King: Book 3 has him rather hostile and cold towards his allies but by the time it's around Book 5 or 6 it's clear he has gotten used to their antics and cares for them.
Determinator: alongside Emily, he doesn't allow adversaries stand in the way in what he believes is the right thing to do, even having a Dark and Troubled Past does little obstruction to him.
Deuteragonist: The books go into his point of view often, to a point where him sorting out his own issues is placed with just as much importance as Emily's troubles. By Book 8 it's clear that his growth is essential to bringing peace to Alledia and to the kingdom of elves especially.
Do Not Call Me Sir: A variation; Book 6 and on, he doesn't like being referred to as "Prince Trellis" but just his name. In fact, he didn't really mind if anyone called him without his title in the previous books. The only people who usually do are the elves.
Didn't Think This Through: As admirable as it is that Trellis shuts the Elf King up by crushing up the communicator and blatantly showing his betrayal, he also sabotaged several moments of precious time for a head start to escape him.
Even Evil Has Standards: Back in Book 2 when he's still (at least on the surface) working with his father. He tries to prevent Luger from destroying a hospital and is clearly uncomfortable with the notion of killing Emily (although this could be attributed to the fact he will lose his one chance at defeating the Elf King). He is however, unlike Luger, unwilling to drag innocent people into danger, if him questioning about the safety of the patients that'll be in the line of fire of Luger's raid indicates anything.
The Evil Prince: Subverted. He antagonizes Emily in the first book, but it's quickly revealed that he's opposing the greater evil that is his father.
Exhausted Eyebags: A part of his iconic look. But it seems like he's getting enough sleep lately so this faded by around Book 6 or 7.
The Exile: Invokes this himself as of Book 3. Branded as a fugitive and ally of the Resistance, he hasn't returned to Gulfen for approximately two years.
Expressive Ears: A surprising subversion, along with any other elves in the series. His ears remain unmoving regardless of his emotions.
Face of a Thug: Trellis's appearance in the first five books is... Not pleasant, to say the least, with black armor, perpetual frown, and wrinkles on his face. It's really hard not to assume he's a villain but he is actually quite decent, in comparison to most Elves. This trope ultimately gets dropped in the recent books.
Fake Muscles: not muscles per se, but his armor is so thick and bulky it deceives the terms of his actual size, which outside of it, is surprisingly thin and lanky.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Emily. The series somehow manage to develop from them from initial antagonism to trusted bond between the two over the course of their harrowing adventure.
Forced into Evil: He was initially forced to go along with his father's will by being possessed by a Dark Scout.
Friendless Background: Based on how his people treat him, and that the only figures present in his childhood are his family, safe to say his list of friends was nonexistent back then.
Good All Along: Not only does he defect from his father and join Emily's side, but his erased memories showed that he was always against the war and the king from the start. He was promptly brainwashed for this.
Good Is Not Soft: The most outspoken example. He's on their side and is surprisingly selfless and forgiving, but has a sour attitude and a jaded mentality. He gets softer later on.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's got a scar over his eye, so of course he's a troubled but ultimately good character.
Green-Eyed Monster: it's not a fatal flaw, but he does show shades of this and even he admits it. He confesses in The Cloud Searchers that this was the reason why he sought Emily to be his ally, because he thought the Elf King seeks to replace him with her as his successor — until he eventually found out this wasn't the case.
- There's also the implication that he hates Max, not only because he's perpetuating Gulfen's unethical war, but also for stealing his right to the throne.
Harmful to Minors: Trellis woke up to his mother's corpse, for goodness sake.
He Knows Too Much: considering he holds sensitive information that could compromise the Voice's plans, the most logical thing to do is to kill him in order to silence him. However, Stonekeepers are scarce, and it was for this reason he was considered useful enough to live. But not without wiping all of his memories, have him subjected to a mind-raping parasite that controls him completely, and have his subjects and own brother turned against him. Above all odds, this plan still failed.
Heroic Self-Deprecation : He doesn't have a high opinion of himself as a Stonekeeper, as book 5 shows. In book 7 this gets even worse when he fails to stop Emily from losing control.
Hidden Depths: He's introduced as a scary and aloof young man with a scarred face and a permanent frown wearing black, jagged armor. After he joins the team his bookworm side is revealed, along with the fact that he's insecure, socially awkward, and actually fairly nice.
Honor Before Reason: It certainly is admirable he decides to take care of Luger after he's weakened, but having to take care of the fragile old man slows him down and ends up in both of them being captured by the next book. Him getting disgusted enough to crush his father's stone and thus announce his treachery (instead of playing along for that conversation) also costs him what could have been a good head-start on keeping out of the Elf King's clutches.
Humble Hero: He's pretty uncomfortable with the praise he starts receiving as a "hero" to Alledia because he feels like he doesn't deserve it, and is more focused on doing his job rather than wasting time wallowing in compliments.
Inadequate Inheritor: Trellis initially thought this was the reason why the Elf King sought Emily. And Book 2 shows how highly his father thinks of him (which is 6 feet below dirt). The truth is far more sinister than that, though.
I Should Have Been Better: He has one such moment at the end of Book 7, feeling extremely guilty for not being able to save Emily when her stone took her over, especially since she had already saved him and Luger when they were in trouble and he wasn't able to pay her back for it.
I Work Alone: Said by him word for word towards the Elf King when Luger was ordered to accompany him on his mission to capture, and then kill, Emily. Subverted, it's because he needs Emily's help and Luger would get in the way of that. When it comes to his actual allies, he's at first reluctant to trust them to be involved but eventually grows out of this mentality.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may act like a prick most of time, but he has saved and helped Emily and her friends multiple times in the series, as well as demonstrating how selfless and forgiving he is by helping Luger, who had been treating him like crap, after the latter is weakened by his transformation. Nearly at the cost of his own survival.
The Lancer: To Emily's hero. He serves as the blue half of Red Oni, Blue Oni, and as a foil to boot. Even though Emily often gets her way, they treat and respect one another more as equals and their way of fighting balances each other out. And out of all the characters, Trellis is the one she is often paired with in action scenes.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: He admits to having few memories of himself as a child, and claims that they were memories he couldn't have forgotten naturally. This is because his father wiped his memories, because Trellis had learned the truth about the Voices controlling the Stonekeepers.
Made a Slave: He was forcibly possessed by a shadow by his own father, to keep him from relearning the information that may compromise his own plans, even if his memories wiped. Shadows are known that when they possess someone, they take over the nervous system and overpowers their will, using the bodies to either wreak havoc or do their Master's bidding. Oh, and before Emily came along, there was no cure. Safe to say this guy spent several years as his father's possessed attack dog.
Missing Mom: His mother isn't brought up at all until the eighth volume, with his father being the only figure present in his childhood. Turns out, she was already dead. She died in a cramped house holding her son as they're both starving and freezing. Unlike Trellis, she didn't make it.
Modest Royalty: Ever since his armor got damaged, he's been wearing the typical Alledian garb; comprising of a simple baby blue turtleneck, cerulean vest, brown pants and boots. This holds even true in flashbacks. His clothing is often simple and practical, even when he moved into Valcor. Even his current outfit, a dark blue sweater with white robes, is simple.
More Teeth than the Osmond Family: all Elves are shown to have sharp and numerous teeth, but Trellis is the most memorable example, because this is the first thing he does onscreen to drive home how unnerving he is, opening his mouth to physically-implausible degrees before biting down the unfortunate slug that he caught. This simply never happens again.
Nephewism: Courtesy of Virgil, his uncle. He was raised by him during childhood before moving to Valcor, as shown in the Void one time.
Non-Standard Character Design: elf-wise, In-Universe at least. Most of the Elves are shown to be big soldiers that are literal powerhouses, and there are some that are shorter and lankier but bald. And they all look exactly the same. He remains distinctly unique because of his scar as well.
No Social Skills: Downplayed, but it's clear that his social skills outside battle and dangerous situations are seriously lacking. If his interaction with the people of Ippo says anything, he's doing his best but it's clear he's uncomfortable.
No-Respect Guy: Early in the series he's given no respect by his own people (courtesy of the Elf King allowing soldiers to hurt him whenever he acts up on his own behalf) and was hated by non-elves for being the Elf King's son. This changes over time.
Not So Stoic: he may be a Perpetual Frowner, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have any other emotions other than teenager angst or anger. It's clear when it comes to certain traumatic experiences in his life he is affected and deeply upset.
Not So Above It All: The scene where he plays Othello with his brother and comically devastated when he loses. He also indulges a couple of fans even though he is uncomfortable with the attention. And then, he can't control his glee when Emily returned from the Void.
Odd Friendship: Book 8 shows a pig soldier of all people get to be casual around Trellis, even using his name without any title, when typically only people who are close to him do.
Oh, Crap!: at least once per book it seems:
- When Emily suddenly overpowers and destroys Sybrian, then attacking him.
- Luger unexpectedly transforms into a giant and slams his fist where he is standing. But he dodges — barely.
- Gabilan manages to throw him out the beacon temple and nearly falls to his death if he hadn't manage to grab a branch.
- His iconic reaction when he was falling.
- Emily has turned to a Firebird despite his efforts and the Voice is not so subtly predicting his death — to being burned by Emily.
Pet the Dog:
- He may be willing to kidnap and coerce, but putting helpless and innocent people such as patients in a hospital is a line he won't cross, if his protest against Luger says anything.
- Manages to protect Emily while she is under Luger's mercy (which is execution), giving Leon enough time to save her, out of a sense of morality.
- Forgives and without a second thought, helps Luger even with his past transgressions, and is even seen helping him up instead of escaping after being temporarily tortured when the soldiers capture them.
- He act as if he's ungrateful, but if anything, he doesn't hesitate to protect Karen from a wyvern, and is quick to offer help when Cogsley needed it.
- When Luger gets in to their conversation, Trellis tells him to get inside before he gets sick.
- He once again, offers to protect Emily's mother and provide assistance fighting Gabilan.
Progressively Prettier: Could be Kazu's Art Evolution, but Trellis gradually changes from unpleasant-looking (and even frightening in the first book) to looking quite cute. He loses wrinkles, his hair gets shorter and fuller, his eerie glowing eyes become toned down, and now he actually looks more like his teenaged age.
Lonely Rich Kid: As Prince of Gulfen, he does fit this trope. The people who care for him are pretty much zero at the start of the series. By around Book 5, he finally has a list. A short list, but it's a list nonetheless.
Perpetual Frowner: Rarely, if ever, smiles, even when the rest of the group is happy or celebrating something. This holds true even when he was a child, according to his Void flashback.
Rags to Royalty: A surprisingly invoked trope. It's not explained how or why he and his mother were living frugally back when he was younger, nor why he was eventually living humbly with his uncle, but he's now about to ascend the throne, now that the Elf King is gone.
Rebel Prince: He defects from his kingdom in Book 3. It's even lampshaded by one of the soldiers who catches him.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: To Emily. It's downplayed, since both of them have a temper, but when they're partnered together it's obvious that he is more reason-driven than Emily, who acts on her emotions, and that he is calmer and more intelligent. This is demonstrated to dramatic effect in book 7, where he's much more rational in the Void than Emily, even in the wake of his own traumatic memories, and he can see that them being in her memories is a trap from a mile away. In contrast, Emily is driven over the edge almost instantly when seeing the death of her father play out.
Refusal of the Call: initially resists at the responsibility of continuing his people's legacy, which Leon criticizes upon. A trip to his past memories later changed his mind.
Royal Blood: As son of the elf king, he's royalty and is essentially the heir to the throne. But his people hold no respect for him, and he isn't prince in anything but in name. It was revoked ever since he defected, however.
Royal Brat: had shades of this in Book 2, arrogant, hostile, and jealous of Emily. He gets better though.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: It seems like he is the only member of the Royal family who is actively trying to help Gulfen, compared to Luger, who has taken the sidelines, and his own father, who sits on his throne waging a bloody war from afar.
Significant Wardrobe Shift: the most symbolical one in the series, detailing his character development. He starts out as a villain in dark, jagged armor, then mellowed out in blue Alledian commoner clothing, and when he finally accepts his role, wears a white robe, to represent as Gulfen's future King.
Sins of Our Fathers: Invoked, by the Cielan warden, who expresses his pleasure on executing his own revenge on Trellis due to his people's horrendous actions and as well as being the son of the elf king.
Smarter Than You Look: His harsh brooding appearance in comparison to the other wiser or cunning stonekeepers makes him seem like he'll just be an angsty prince archetype, but he's surprisingly clever compared to a lot of the main cast. He's the first one to call out that Cielis is compromised through observation alone and one of the ones to figure out there was an even bigger scheme behind the war than anyone else knew even after his memories are wiped. Also, in Book 7 where the Elf King caught him and his uncle discovering the truth, Virgil implies he would've figured it all out on his own even without his help.
Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Trellis is usually hostile, cold and aloof to everyone but Book 5 and 7 makes it clear he doesn't have a high opinion of himself, especially due to his mistreatment by his people and family. Invoked even further in Book 8, where he's confronted by the memory of his mother's death; he's not even bitter, or vengeful, just sorrowful and wistful for even a remembrance of his mother that doesn't bring emotional pain.
The Smart Guy: He may not look like it at first but he does fit the trope: tall, lean, physically weaker than most elves, clearly clever and is able to whip out plan in matter of seconds in pressuring situations that works. Oh, he's also the one who figured out the truth about the shadows. Smart guy indeed.
Starter Villain: The very first villain of the series and the first one Emily defeats.
The Stoic: Like his fellow Guardian members, he's very serious and constantly frowning, with only a few brief exceptions.
Stone Wall: after developing a new skill in Book 5, having weaker offense than what Emily, Vigo or Max, but his defensive skills surpasses all of them through the roof. Powerful impacts or immense pressure under the ocean is nothing against his barrier.
Strong Family Resemblance: to his father, it seems. Book 2 shows the Elf King teenaged self, and he looks no different to Trellis bar the scar.
They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: his main reason why he absolutely refuses to explain why he defected from the Elf King in Book 3. It took a deal of mutual trust from Emily to get him to spill, only to turn out it wasn't even that personal of a reason but rather a sense of patriotic duty of keeping Gulfen safe from his tyrannic rule.
Took a Level in Badass: It was pretty hard to take Trellis seriously in battle after Emily kicked his butt in Book 1 along with several other villains down the line. But ever since he learned how to defend properly, he pretty much became a force to be reckoned with alongside his fellow Stonekeepers.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Trellis has Perpetual Frowner in his page for a reason. But if you'd compare his depressed self to the later books, it really shows how much his situation, both internally and externally, improved. He even smiles.
Took a Level in Kindness: although he does have good qualities from time to time, his first few appearances show him as generally unpleasant. But look at his rude attitude from the early books, to his calmer and more awkward appearance in the current book. He's levels nicer.
Trauma Conga Line: We don't get the extent of it until much later books, but it starts in his childhood and continues through the present. Not only did he have an abusive childhood under his father (as his only memory of going to his father's chamber is of when he's in trouble) but the only person who cared about him, his Uncle Virgil, shows him how an alien species is taking over their planet, and said alien species then has his uncle killed and brainwashes him by infecting him with a Dark Scout. All this after his mother freezes to death and he wakes up to her corpse, as they were staying in a derelict house on a tundra without heat or food. Fast forward to the present, he's The Unfavorite lackey of his father's who still abuses him. Eventually he becomes an exile to Gulfen in order to oppose his father, and his own subjects treat him like a traitor because of it.
Turn the Other Cheek: He's been repeatedly abused by his own countrymen, but Trellis in later books is steadfast on improving things for the people of Gulfen and he sees them as fellow victims more than anything. There's also how he forgives Luger very quickly for beating him half to death, taking care of him after he's become a weak old man.
The Un Favourite: The Elf king has made this very, very clear. While he's wiped both his and Luger's memories of their childhoods, Luger has remained his right-hand man while Trellis is more his lackey.
Unlikely Hero: His defection from the King doesn't seem hold much water considering the methods he used such as kidnapping and coercion in the first book. But ultimately, he ended up one of the most heroic characters in the series.
Unwitting Pawn: He was this formerly until Emily accidentally freed him from a Dark Scout's control. Now Trellis fears he is this again to the Voice, something revealed to be true as of Book 7, although now he's definitely going counter to his plans.
Weak, but Skilled: His amulet's destructive power is nowhere near as great as Emily's nor Vigo's. It was so weak that Max was able to easily block it. He is however, very good at defense, which requires calm, calculated, and focused thinking.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: At first, once his motives in Book 3 are revealed. He was willing to kidnap Emily's mother and coerce her into working with him, but it was to stop his tyrannical father. Being possessed by a Dark Scout made him fail to realize that his intentions were warped to the extreme in order to suit Ikol's goals.
Wise Beyond Their Years: He's only fourteen in the first book, but he's far more serious and grim compared to his elven peers, and whenever he shares his opinion (particularly in regards to the corruption in Cielis) he's usually right. This is brought even deeper in his Void flashbacks, he's quite mature and smart even for his young age.
The Wise Prince: His Character Development led to him becoming this.

Supporting Characters

Karen Hayes

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"My home is wherever you and Navin are. I appreciate your concern, but remember I'm still your mother."

Emily's mother. After the death of her husband David, Karen is unable to afford their home and moves her family into an old family house which happens to have a gateway into a parallel universe. Being kidnapped by an arachnopod in the first book, she's then poisoned for the majority of the second. After being cured, she takes up a more significant role alongside other members of the Charnon house for the rest of the series.

Damsel in Distress: Unfortunately, she's often kidnapped, captured, or used as a bargaining chip by whoever happens to want to negotiate with Emily at the time.
Parental Neglect: On the one hand Karen loves her kids and provides emotional support when needed, but she also allowed her own young children to join a war, and does very little in the face of her kids being in fatal danger aside from slight protests that it sounds like a bad idea. There's also the fact that Emily seemed to have suppressed her grief about her father's death and was unable to move on out of guilt for her mother's grief, meaning she couldn't go to her mother with it.
Put on a Bus: She was inside an arachnopod for much of Volume 1 and was in a coma in Volume 2.
The Lost Lenore: David is this for her.
The Mourning After: She stays single, even years after her husband’s death.
Wrong Genre Savvy: She advises Emily and Navin not to get in the way of the Council's bureaucracy, saying that they probably know what they're doing. She of course has a trust in authority figures that doesn't fly in a city with a dark secret like Ceilis.
- She also tells Navin not to worry about Cogsley and Miskit being kidnapped because she thinks it's the same kind of situation as when he loses his toys.
- At the start of the third volume, she cautions Emily about trusting Leon because of the Animal Stereotype of foxs being tricksters, unaware that Leon is a clear aversion.

Miskit

A little bunny robot that was built by his previous master, Silas Charnon. He's assigned by his master to be Emily's primary guardian and guide through the land of Alledia, and is prominently featured through the first book. He often travels alongside Cogsley.

Big Ol' Unibrow: Usually just there for comedic purposes, but he's got it furrowed down quite a bit in later volumes, as he's a bit suspicious and temperamental.
Conspicuous Trench Coat: In the first volume he's dressed in a trench coat, scarf and hat to conceal his rabbit form and overall comes off as pretty suspicious.
Demoted to Extra: He features less and less prominently later in the series, and his role as guide and mentor is overtaken by Leon in the second volume.
The Load: Before being Put on a Bus. He isn't a fighter (usually knocked unconscious in every battle), is a terrible judge of character (such as brushing off Leon at every opportunity at first), never uses any of Silas' knowledge given to him (and even has gaps such as not knowing he was searching for Cielis), and frequently makes careless mistakes like bringing the wrong darts when saving Karen from the arachnopod. His only real skill as a pilot is quickly overtaken by Navin early on.
Put on a Bus: He and Cogsley are kidnapped by a Wyvern in Volume 3 and come back later on in the series.
Totem Pole Trench: Odd example. When going outside the Charnon House in Volume 1, he rides atop a small mech and wears a trench coat to cover it all.

Cogsley

Another robot built by Silas Charnon that accompanies Navin and Emily through their journey. Although crochety and untrusting of the kids' abilities at first, Cogsley is nevertheless a very useful bot who provides a lot of advice and aid, particularly to Navin in piloting the Charnon house mech.

Imprinting: He ends up having a baby Wyvern imprinting on him after they're dropped into its nest by the mother. He names it Dagno.
Defrosting Ice King: He's still a grouch, but he does gradually become good friends with Navin after seeing what he can do.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Miskit outlines it best. He's a pain in the butt, but he's one of the most honest and hardworking robots on the ship, and eventually warms up to the Hayes children.
Put on a Bus: He and Miskit are kidnapped by a Wyvern in Volume 3 and come back later on in the series.
Only Sane Man: With all Cielis worker robots, who are either overly cheerful or outright stupid. He has to repeatedly tell one of them not to drink the fuel for the mechs.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: He's the only robot to insist he doesn't have feelings, specifically when Vigo insinuates that he worries about Emily because he was a father once and she's like a daughter to him.
Cogsley: I'm a computer, so I have no idea what you're talking about.

Luger

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"The hunt has already begun."

The Elf King's right-hand man, who is partnered with Trellis to hunt down Emily in the second volume. He ends up being defeated and, after losing his stone, is reduced to a helpless old man who follows Trellis around and helps out with the rest of the cast.

Big Brother Bully: To Prince Trellis, whom he treats horribly before his stone gets broken, although he doesn't know that he's his older brother at the time. It's shown that he was a little nicer when they were younger, but he still appeared strict and unfriendly even then.
Blood Knight:
- Clearly had been holding back and seemingly "playing" with Emily and co. in the first scenes of Book 2, as he gets serious when the Elf King threatens him.
- Another example is the climax at Demon's Head, he wanted to have a spiritual battle with Emily first before killing her.
Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Being an Elf, this is a must. Thankfully over time it fades.
Cruel to Be Kind: His justification for beating Trellis half to death in Volume 2 before his Heel–Face Turn; he's removing him from the hunting party so he won't have a chance to fail. He becomes more conventionally kind later after his stone is destroyed.
Exhausted Eye Bags: At first. But thanks to Kazu's Art Evolution he drops this.
Heel–Face Turn: After Emily defeats him and his stone is destroyed, his personality becomes drastically kinder and he joins the main crew.
Knight of Cerebus: out of the first three books' villains, he's probably the one with the most terrifying impact on both audience and characters. Trellis is scary-looking but is ultimately easily defeated.
Large and in Charge: Luger easily dwarfs Trellis in comparison, and he is the right hand man of the King.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: He has very few of his memories, and he learns that it's because his father, the Elf King, wiped them.
The Nose Knows: he sees ONE fluff of orange fur on the ground, picks it up, and immediately identifies the scent as that of a fox's — Leon. May be a case of Bizarre Alien Biology.
Old Soldier: He sure is. It's clear that the Elf King favors him based on his abilities and plethora of experience.
One-Winged Angel: In Volume 2 he used his stone to turn into a giant to defeat Trellis and Emily, although this leads to his defeat.
Parental Substitute: After his Heel–Face Turn he shapes up to be one for Trellis in the face of the Elf King disowning him; he's even mistaken for Trellis' father by Karen.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the ruthless right-hand man of the King, not because he's actually his son but because he is the most competent soldier in the Elf Army (bar Max, who was added later), even overshadowing Trellis.
Sinister Schnoz: has quite the big hooked nose, and is one of the more ruthless villains.
Took a Level in Kindness: There's almost no trace of his sadistic personality left after he's freed of his stone (except for, perhaps, taking joy in beating Trellis at board games.)
Villainous Breakdown: A willing one. It's what leads to his transformation as a Colossal Beast.
Villainous Cheekbones: The most iconic one in the series. He even had them when he was younger.
Warrior Prince: He's actually Trellis's older brother. And based on how much the King favours him, it's clear he is often on the field and has high battle prowess.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Straight up disappeared after Book 6 without explanation. Although Book 8 mentions him, it doesn't address his whereabouts.

Leon Redbeard

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"You won't know the meaning of success without knowing how it feels to fail."

A fox-man that Emily encounters in Volume 2 who continually offers his services as a bounty hunter. Later it turns out that he was sent to prepare Emily for her responsibilities as one of the only people who can save Alledia, wishing her to continue her great-grandfather's work as a Stonekeeper to remove the Elf King from power. He since then takes up a role as her mentor and guide.

Action Guy: one of the few characters who notably has fights, most poignant in the book where he's first introduced, The Stonekeeper's Curse.
The Mentor: Even more so than Miskit, as he teaches Emily to control her powers and teaches her everything that Silas was working on in Alledia politics.
Mr. Exposition: He provides a large amount of the information on Alledia, its politics, and its Stonekeepers.
Funny Animal: He completely resembles a fox except for the standing-on-two-legs and wearing clothes part.
Perpetual Frowner: Is almost never seen not scowling. Even on the rare occasions when he's smiling or happy about something his brow is still furrowed in a serious expression
Scarf of Asskicking: sports one, and is one of the few combative characters.
Smart People Wear Glasses: He is shown wearing reading glasses in book 3.
You Killed My Father: Discussed, after he tells Emily how the Elf King killed his father, but ultimately averted as he denies this being his motivation to stop him.

Vigo Light

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"This is what I get for listening to the toys of a madman."

An old Stonekeeper whom Miskit and Cogsley meet after being kidnapped by a Wyvern. He was a previous member of the council who knew Silas Charnon before his death. A grizzled old man, he ends up being an ally to Emily from the fourth book onward.

Badass in Distress: In the sixth volume, Max has Chronos threaten him so that Emily will listen to his request.
Evil Former Friend: Fifty years ago, Max Griffin was this to him, Vigo once being the only human in Cielis who didn't pick on him for being an elf-sympathizer. Later he joined up with the Elf King.
Fantastic Racism: it's subtle, but Vigo treats Trellis more harshly than how he treats Emily. It changes over time.
Outliving One's Offspring: His son died at a young age after going into the void to try and see his mother again.
Retired Badass: At least until Miskit and Cogsley convince him to go help Emily.

David Hayes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/david15.jpg

"You need to look after Emily. Let go."

Emily's and Navin’s father, who died in the prologue to the story proper after a tragic car accident. His death traumatized his young daughter and lead to her stoic personality in the present.

Cynicism Catalyst: The trauma of seeing his death is what caused Emily to be as serious and humorless as she is in the present day.
Disappeared Dad: Because he's dead, of course, killed in a car accident.
The Lost Lenore: He’s this for his still-living wife Karen.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: This is initially one of Emily's motivations: she is told by Silas that the Stone can turn back time, and she immediately thinks of her father.
Face Death with Dignity: When their wrecked car is teetering on the edge of a cliff, with only a weak tree to hold it up, David wastes no time getting his wife and daughter out of the wreck. As he realizes he's trapped inside, he calmly tells his wife to leave him so she can live on to raise their children and perishes when the car tips over.

Silas Charnon

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"And all you have to do is listen to the stone."

Emily's great-grandfather, known as an eccentric puzzlemaker who one day retreated into his study and was never seen again following the death of his wife. It's later learned he was living in Alledia, and that he'd been preparing for one of his descendants to come back and right his wrongs. He was a previous keeper of the Stone and had been largely involved in the conflict between the elves and humans in Alledia before becoming an invalid.

Benevolent Boss: He was beloved by the robots of the Charnon house and they were all very sad to see him go.
Dies Wide Open: His eyes are open as he dies with several panels showing the life going out of them, and have to be closed later.
Eye Lights Out: His cybernetic eye goes out after he says his farewells to Emily.
Gadgeteer Genius: Many of his "puzzles" take the form of toys or machines, and in Alledia he designed all the robots and even the giant mech that makes up his house.
Hidden Depths: He's been hailed as a hero by many characters, but it's clear that a shadier, more selfish side of him exists, which involved risking hundreds of young stonekeepers' lives due to his ignorance about the Void and carelessness with it (more specifically, telling them that they can use the Void to go back in time and fix things about their past.) It cost Vigo his son, David. Given how he tried to encourage Emily to do the same thing in his first appearance, he doesn't seem to have learned from that either. Although the penultimate book suggests that the Void actually can be used for time travel, it's unclear if he was actually right or just Right for the Wrong Reasons.
- The fact that he was power-hungry all along and was being manipulated by the Voice the entire time has been long hinted since the start of the series. He encourages Emily to listen to the Voice — which later characters tell her is a bad idea — and to use the stone to rule all of Alledia in his stead (where Leon assumed Silas gave her the stone so she could take part in the rebellion.)
I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: He survives his illness/old age just long enough to tell Emily to take the Stone in his place. A downplayed example because she'd already found it in his study.
Posthumous Character: He dies pretty quick after his introduction, and then his impact to the story is through those who knew him or knew of his work as a council member.
Secret Legacy: He made one to pass on his responsibilities as Stonekeeper on to his great granddaughter.

Morrie

A nervous robot that was made by Silas Charnon who helps look after the Charnon house. After the main cast leave the house behind in the wilderness at the start of Volume 3 he and the other robots get much less screentime.

The Bus Came Back: At the end of Volume 6, they're drawn towards Lucien by the distress signal activated previously in the book, and are shown having arrived at the resistance's current base of operations in the eighth volume.
Nervous Wreck: He's always fretting about something. When the house receives Lucien's distress signal he suggests they just ignore it in case it's something bad.
Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Despite being a robot, he's shown with this almost all the time.
Put on a Bus: When the house is left behind and hidden so the rest of the group can travel lighter.

Bottle

A quiet, sturdy robot built by Silas Charnon, one of the robots performing maintenance in the Charnon house. He typically follows Cogsley around and says very little, but is later left behind with the rest of the robots in the Charnon house when the group has to hide it in the wilderness.

The Bus Came Back: At the end of Volume 6, They're drawn towards Lucien by the distress signal activated previously in the book.
The Quiet One: He's described as a robot of few words and doesn't speak much, if at all, in the books.
Put on a Bus: When the house is left behind and hidden so the rest of the group can travel lighter.

Logi

The doorkeeper assigned to keep watch at the entrance of the Elf King's palace, as well as a longstanding servant of the royal elf family of Gulfen. Before his work for the Elf King, he served Trellis' uncle Virgil.

Art Evolution: His appearance changed between volumes from a mousy little bald elf to an elf that almost looks covered in fur.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Logi warns Vigo to run just before unleashing the phoenix on the resistance, purely because Vigo was always nice to him.
Beneath Suspicion: Specifically talks to Max about how little he's noticed because he's a nobody.
Punch-Clock Villain: Zig-zagged; earlier volumes show that he's really not that evil at all, but only serves his masters because that's his duty. Trellis, however, insists he is fiercely loyal to the royal family and doesn't trust him because of it (although this loyalty seems to extend to him caring about Trellis as well.)
Tears of Joy: He starts crying when he sees the new Guardian Council (such as it is) standing together in the sixth volume—even if it's on their way to speak with Max.

Dr. Weston

A rodent doctor that lives in Kanalis. He makes his first appearance in the second volume in his clinic, where he advises Emily where to find an antidote to her mother's poison. He also is acquainted with Balan, a member of The Resistance in Kanalis. He later travels to Lucien with the Resistance.

The Bus Came Back: In Volume 6, Emily and Navin reunite with him when they find out he and the Resistance have been living in Lucien since their escape.
Fantastic Racism: Tells Riva that he doesn't trust Trellis because he's an elf, failing to recognize that Trellis has helped them many times, and that Riva is an elf herself. She points this out.
Intelligent Gerbil: He's some kind of rodent, and ironically also treats people for developing this condition as per the Kanalis curse.
Put on a Bus: He and the rest of the Resistance fled Kanalis and went out of the story's focus for several volumes.
Smart People Wear Glasses: He's a doctor, so naturally he has those tiny lenses on his face.

Balan

An ox-man from Kanalis associated with the Resistance stationed there, as well as a friend of Dr. Weston. He becomes friends with Navin when the boy becomes the commander of the Resistance.

The Bus Came Back: In Volume 6, Navin reunites with him when he finds out he and the Resistance have been living in Lucien since their escape.
Intergenerational Friendship: He has one with Navin, emphasized with their reunion in volume six.
La Résistance: He's one of the members and runs the safehouse.
Funny Animal: He's a blue ox.
Put on a Bus: He and the rest of the Resistance fled Kanalis and went out of the story's focus for several volumes.

Enzo

A cat man living in Nautilus who's the captain of the Luna Moth and Rico's older brother. He's one of the few that has ever seen the fabled flying city of Cielis, although no one believes him, and so Emily and co. seek his help reaching the city for themselves.

Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Selina, an old flame of his whose introduction is punching him for some reason.
Cassandra Truth: No one believes him about Cielis, at least not until he finds it with the rest of the cast.
Cat Folk: He and his brother are both cats.
Doesn't Trust Those Guys: his attitude towards Luger and Trellis, when they joined the crew in The Cloud Searchers.
Fantastic Racism: He himself seems to have been a victim of it, despite how widespread the cursed people of Kanalis seem to be.
Fat and Skinny: The fat to Rico's skinny.
Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He's always seen with a pipe, but he's only smoked with it once onscreen.
Hypocrite: despite painting himself as the victim on supposed discrimination from normal looking humans, Enzo is not above at being discriminating towards elves, especially Trellis, who has already saved his life at least thrice.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rough around the edges and comes off as pretty patronizing to the kids at first, but gradually comes to respect their skills and will bravely defend his friends.

Rico

A cat man who works alongside his brother on an airship called the Luna Moth. He believes his brother's claim to have seen the city of Cielis and tags along with him and the rest of the cast when they go on their journey to it.

Cat Folk: He and his brother are both cats.
Fat and Skinny: He's the skinny to Enzo's fat.
The Load: Doesn't do anything useful in any of his appearances, except to state the obvious. The one time he's tasked with something, namely running to the others for help, he runs straight into a cabinet and knocks himself out. One wonders why he came along at all, except that he is the brother of the ship's captain.

Alyson Hunter

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The young daughter of Captain of the Cielis Guard who lives in the city, and one of the few willing to stand up to the iron grip of the Council. While Emily deals with the Council on the inside, she ends up aiding her friends in the city proper. She returns in the fifth volume and strikes up a friendship with Navin as the two train to be pilots for the war.

Affectionate Nickname: Most people call her Aly.
Girlish Pigtails: She sports them in "Escape from Lucien" onwards.
Improbable Age: She's pretty young to be piloting Humongous Mecha. That applies to most of her peers, too.
Nepotism: When she and Navin both screw up in training, she's let off because she's the captain's daughter. She hates this, of course.
Satellite Character: Most of her characterization revolves around her interactions with Navin, other than that, not much else.

Ronin

A Stonekeeper that, like Emily, was selected to become a member of the Guardian Council and sent to survive the tests that would determine her worthiness. She and Pierce help Max and Emily to survive and find their way out.

Action Girl: A point is made of how strong a Stonekeeper is and she keeps her head even better than Emily does.
Dead All Along: Ronin was a pupil of Vigo's (and according to him, his best student) who died a long time ago. Max used her image to maintain the illusion of a "test" for Emily.
Refusal of the Call: Vigo tells Emily that Ronin was the youngest Stonekeeper to be offered the chance to join the Guardian Council, but decided against it because the responsibility was too much for someone her age.
Taken for Granite: Subverted. Emily at first thinks this is what happened to her and Pierce, but the truth was that they weren't ever flesh to begin with. Max simply dropped the illusion that they were alive.

Pierce

A Stonekeeper that, like Emily, was selected to become a member of the Guardian Council and sent to survive the tests that would determine his worthiness. He and Ronin help Max and Emily to survive and find their way out, although he's not especially happy about helping Max.

Dead All Along: Pierce died a long time ago. Max used his image to maintain the illusion of a "test" for Emily.
Last-Name Basis: He constantly refers to Max by his last name, probably as a result of his contempt for him.
Taken for Granite: Subverted. Emily at first thinks this is what happened to him and Ronin, but the truth was that they weren't ever flesh to begin with. Max simply dropped the illusion that they were alive.

Layra Janus

Max's childhood friend, an elf that lived in Cielis, as revealed in a flashback in Prince of the Elves. Due to the war between elves and humans, she and her family were subject to racism and eventually killed when Max tried to help them escape the city.

Cynicism Catalyst: Max's friendship with her and her death lead heavily to him joining the Elf King to massacre the humans of Windsor.
Girlish Pigtails: Part of her character design.
The Lost Lenore: For Max.
Nice Girl: She's a sweet young girl whose only crime was being an elf. She also doesn't condone the slaughter of innocents for the crimes of their ancestors.
Posthumous Character: She's only shown in a flashback and as a memory of Max's, chastising him in the Void.

Riva

The elf mayor of Lucien, who makes her first appearance in "Escape from Lucien". She's a competent and caring mayor who is able to hold her own very well against the Dark Scouts, using her chemical bombs. She aids Navin and his unit in escaping from the overrun city.

Big Damn Heroes: She saved Navin, Alyson and Trisha from the Dark Scouts in the nick of time.
Braids of Action: She sports a couple of these.
Hero of Another Story: A minor example, but off-screen she and her family saved thousands of lives by letting the people of Lucien refuge in their illegal underground city her father built to escape the racism above after the city was overrun by shadows.
Honor Before Reason: She has this problem overall, to a point where she almost let the Dark Scouts in because she didn't want to trap Navin and Alyson outside. Her bringing Navin's unit to the safe haven under Lucien also allowed the Dark Scouts to follow them inside.
Reasonable Authority Figure: She's this to Lucien, as its mayor.

Virgil

The brother to the Elf King who is his exact opposite in every way, and who was predictably executed long before the start of the story. He is a wise and kind individual who provides (through flashbacks) the exposition of the truth about Alledia and its current war. He served as a mentor figure towards Trellis in his past.

Cain and Abel: The Abel to the Elf King's Cain. Although it's unconfirmed if he's the younger one.
Deadpan Snarker: He gives a very good one towards Luger:
Luger: [threatening] You don't know this elf, Virgil. Don't think I won't report you just because you're family.
Virgil: How very noble of you.
Eccentric Mentor: His first appearance make him seem like a well-intentioned but air headed elf that enjoys telling funny stories of his father. He's the guy who taught Trellis and is one of the wisest and smartest characters in the series.
Face Death with Dignity: He isn't afraid of death, and is in fact expecting his death to come when he teaches Trellis the truth about the Shadows, but the fate of Alledia was much too important for self-preservation.
Parental Substitute: To Trellis. Virgil pretty much raised Trellis his whole life until his own execution and thus was able to recognize him when he revisited his past memories even though he now looked drastically different.
Posthumous Character: He was executed a long time ago, so he appears exclusively through Trellis's memories.
Sibling Yin-Yang: The most exaggerated case in the series. He's the brother of the tall, cruel, and evil Elf King, and is himself short, kind, and wise.
Small Role, Big Impact: He's dead by the time the series starts, but if it weren't for him and his guidance, Trellis would never discover that Alledia has been invaded by an alien species and that the Elven government was compromised, and that the war was nothing more but a method for mass Alledian genocide.
The Mentor: He serves as one towards Trellis, much to the Elf King's chagrin. It's because of this that the alien species consider him to be a great threat to their plans even though he isn't powered in any way.

Antagonists

The Elf Army

The loyal, and terrifying army of Gulfen.

Anti-Villain: it's not like they want to be there...
Armies Are Evil: they're not the only army there, technically speaking, but are the most prominent, and most dangerous.
Blind Obedience: some of the Elves are like this, although many are shown to be jaded towards the King.
The Fair Folk: they're composed entirely of Elves, aside from Max Griffin.
Mooks: the entire army. Their only role is either to represent as an ominous, looming threat, or to be specifically have their butts kicked by Emily.
Giant Mook: one type of Elf are huge powerhouses, defined by their red armor.
The Heavy: one of the longest standing villains, falling alongside the Elf King in Book 8.
Mook Depletion: what happened to them eventually. Considering their forces are spread thin throughout Alledia and still haven't conquered most of its territory, this was inevitable and led to their surrender. Lampshaded by a soldier in Supernova.
Just Following Orders: said word for word by a soldier in Firelight who was ordered to arrest Virgil.
My Country, Right or Wrong: if they aren't loyal to the Elf King, they are incredibly nationalistic.
My Master, Right or Wrong: they're incredibly loyal to the Elf King, even willing to abuse a kid like Trellis because they were ordered to. Even then, they too suffered sickness, abuse, and threats of death and aware of it, but remains fighting in his name.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: their armors, full stop. The larger elves are donned with red armors, while the smaller ones are donned with greyish black. Even their Royal Capital, Valcor, is these colors, if their appearance isn't obvious enough that they're the bad guys. Although it's subverted when it comes to the Elf King.
Slave Mooks: they're abundant, loyal to the King... But majority of them are also drafted, and likely didn't want to be in a war in the first place and is just forced to in fear of being executed. Considering what kind of person the King is, this is no object.
Species Loyalty: boy are they. Although Max is genuine in his support of the Elves, the Elf Army hates him because he's a human, and it's implied why they still followed Trellis despite his status as a traitor is because he's an elf like them.

The Elf King

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elf_king.png

"I will destroy anyone and anything that may impede our progress. Think of it as a sacrifice for the greater good."

A mysterious dark power that threatens all life on Alledia, he is the current king of the elves. Once a quiet elf boy from a small village, he went mad with the power of his Stone and began an attack on the other civilizations of Alledia, ruling over the other elves with a corrupt and cruel rule. He's also Trellis' father and antagonizes him as well as Emily.

Abusive Parents: He doesn't treat Trellis or his other son Luger very well at all, including wiping them of their childhood memories and ordering his own soldiers to abuse Trellis while he's in their custody. This is because he isn't their father at all, but the Stone using his body.
Beware the Quiet Ones: He was described as being a quiet boy before he went mad.
Body Horror: The mask of the Erlking on his face is held in place with tiny spikes, meaning he pierces his face in multiple areas each time he puts it on. When Emily rips it off, it's also revealed that the Stone has warped his face so that his eyes are replaced by a fleshy spiral in the shape of the symbol on Emily's Stone.
The Conqueror: desires to rule all over Alledia.
Dead All Along: He wears his mask to hide the fact that he's dead, and his corpse is being controlled by his Stone.
Evil Overlord: of the Elves.
The Faceless: As a result of his mask, which he wears to appear like the Erlking. It disturbingly seems to squish down his face.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Started as a quiet boy from a small Elf Village. He is now the war waging tyrant of Gulfen has countless of lives taken under his belt.
I Control My Minions Through...: Fear. So much fear.
Large and in Charge: is at least one and a half heads taller than Trellis, who is by no means short as he is Vigo's height.
Lean and Mean: He's got a fat neck once he's properly dressed, but a scene of him coming out a bath reveals he's actually really scrawny and gaunt under his clothes. Probably because he's a corpse.
Legacy Character: All the Elf Kings take up the visage of the Erlking, the very first king of the elves.
Light Is Not Good: His white clothing make it appear he's divine, but he is cruel, cold, and ruthless.
Nightmare Face: well, his face sure looks pleasant!
No Name Given: He is never referred to by name, even by his own brother, in fact no one seems to know it.
Offing the Offspring: Once Trellis failed for the final time in book 3, the King made sure to send bounty hunters and every elf soldier on his trail to slaughter him once the opportunity arises. Considering the immense threat Trellis poses to his plans (albeit Trellis himself has not realized it yet), his overkill declaration of his own son's execution is justifiable from a villainous point of view.
Orcus on His Throne: He's presented as the Big Bad but doesn't participate actively in any of the plot, but rather affects it at a distance and only in the past. Most of his appearances show him sitting menacingly on his throne. This gets lampshaded by Emily in the eighth volume when she calls him a scarecrow and a terrible leader.
Our Zombies Are Different: He's technically dead, but doesn't look like a decaying corpse and is startlingly capable of speech. His face on the other hand...
Parental Abandonment: Doesn't hesitate to pull this on book 3 real fast once Trellis shows signs of disobeying him again.
White Mask of Doom: it's blatantly obvious in his first appearance in book 2 is that he is not a benevolent king.

Sybrian

A Dark Scout, a gaslike being that can enter a being's nervous system and possess them, that appears alongside Trellis in the first volume. He's defeated quickly by Emily, but the Dark Scouts become a big problem later on in the series.

Brainwashed and Crazy: Their modus operandi, to enter someone's head and take them over to become violent and cruel. Sybrian had taken over Trellis sometime prior to the story and Trellis initially tried to sic him on Emily for this.
Early-Bird Cameo: Sybrian cameos the Dark Scouts long, long before they show up in the series proper and long before their function is properly explained.
Mind Rape: Once they get inside their host's brain, they essentially overwhelm their will and enslave them.
Weakened by the Light: His weakness is light, as with the other Dark Scouts. Emily kills him with a powerful burst of light from her Stone.

Gabilan

"I have never failed to kill my marks. You have no reason to doubt me."

A bounty hunter employed by the Elf King, although not only does he hate Stonekeepers, he has his own agenda about becoming king of the elves. His specialty is wiping minds and memories using a special gun, and flying on a gigantic bird. Becomes a problem in the Volume 3 and returns in Volume 7.

Ambiguous Situation: As to whether or not he survived the Cortex explosion, as he doesn't show up again either way.
Bounty Hunter: His profession, although he has ambitions.
Disney Villain Death: Subverted in "Cloud Searchers"; it looks like he's about to fall to his death but his flying mount catches him at the last moment.
Freudian Excuse: A Stonekeeper corrupted by their stone destroyed his family's farm when he was much younger, leading to him hating Stonekeepers and plotting to take them down. He's convinced that even "good" Stonekeepers like Emily are at risk of being taken over by their stones.
Heel–Face Turn: A strange and lukewarm example. It's not that his own allegiances changed, but Emily and Trellis realize that they have some of the same goals after all, to stop the Elf King—or rather, the stone controlling him. Although they're still prickly with each other, they're willing to help each other reach that goal.
Loners Are Freaks: He declares that he's always been alone and, when asked why he'd do such terrible things even to his own kind, proclaims he's "the only one of his kind there is".
Mind Rape: A method he's especially fond of using his gun, to wipe people's memories.
Nice to the Waiter: Upon hearing Logi is a slave to the Elf King, he promises that the man will get much better pay under his rule. He also tips a bartender with a gold coin after questioning him and forcibly interrogating one of his customers.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: In Book 7 it's revealed that he wants to stop the Elf King as much as anyone, but his method of doing so amounts to him becoming the Elf King's assassin willing to kill, or at least attack, even innocent people.
The Starscream: He intends to betray the Elf King once he has a chance.

Max Griffin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/max_by_pinkdragon159_d5kb4ph.png

A boy that Emily meets at the conclusion of her search for Cielis. He is one of several candidates, including Emily, to join a special school that will train them to become members of the Guardian Council. It soon turns out that the school isn't all that it seems and the two work together. Later, however, Max himself is revealed to not be all that he seems either.

Abusive Parents: His father was emotionally abusive, pressuring Max to follow in his footsteps, and offered no comfort to him when he was being led to prison.
The Ace: Informed, as he was the best of his class alongside Vigo and is one of the brightest, ruthless, and most powerful Stonekeepers in the series. The only reason he ends up defeated is simply of his own accord.

Cowardly Lion: Max was initially cowering in fear and refuses to engage in a fight with Darren and Chuck to protect Ronin and Pierce without prompting from Emily, but when he's really pushed, he will save his friends, as shown when he blasted away the grouls once Emily is nearly captured by them. Subverted, in the sense he was acting all along to apeal himself to Emily.
Driven to Suicide: When Layra's spirit rejected him because of his atrocious actions, he demands the Voice to renounce his curse that is keeping him alive to be with Layra, and he ages into a pile of bones.
Evil Counterpart: Max is one to Emily. He's visually opposite her with blue hair spiked up next to red hair let down, the two are matched in terms of determination, they both became who they were because of personal tragedies, and they even have the same symbol on their stones. Foreshadowing that they're both agents of the same dark spirit behind the stone.
Fatal Flaw: According to Vigo, it's Revenge Before Reason.
Foil: To Trellis; they've both suffered from troubled pasts as a result of the war, but unlike Trellis, who had someone to guide him on the right way (albeit who was now dead), Max had no one, thus took the darker path.
The Heavy: While the Elf King or rather Ikol, and later revealed to be Ikol's masters are the ones really orchestrating the horrible events of the series, Max is one of the longer standing villains next to him, managing to last three books as an antagonist. He's also the only other person who manages a The Bad Guy Wins.
Manipulative Bastard: He's able to quickly endear himself to Emily and get her to trust him completely in order to get him right to the Mother Stone for his taking, despite the fact that he initially let her suspect him of being an unwitting Mole to the "evil council."
Max: It was almost too easy.
Older Than They Look: He's actually over 50 years old, kept young by the Stone.
Rapid Aging: In the Void, when the Voice of the stone undoes the curse that kept him alive, he rapidly ages into a skeleton and dies.
Redemption Equals Death: Dies giving Emily much needed advice after they work in tandem to confront the Voice in the Void.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calmer, more calculated blue to Emily's red—although the trope is downplayed in their personalities.
Revenge: His motivation is to get revenge on the council and all humans for the death of his best friend, an elf, near the start of the war.
Sadistic Choice: He gives one to Emily when he reveals his true colors: she can kill him and her family will be executed, or she can let him leave and he will spare their lives.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: He says this about Layra in a Void memory of his Academy days.
Villain's Dying Grace: He unjustly killed thousands of innocent people in a bout of revenge and clearly only regrets not dying on the day he was supposed to because Layra rejected him, thus his death is far from redeeming. However, his last moments are to tell Trellis to go to Algos Island (where the stolen memories are kept) and to ask him to forgive his people, as they don't know he's now their king.
Wham Line: As his Pre-Mortem One-Liner.
Max: Forgive them, forgive your people. They didn't know.
Trellis: What didn't they know?
Max: That you are the King.

Chronos

A mountain giant identified as the first Stonekeeper to be given a piece of the stolen Mother Stone as part of Max's alliance with the Elf King, that Max frees from the Ice Prison of Korthan at the start of "Prince of the Elves". He and Max apparently have a history and the giant is completely loyal to the Stonekeeper.

Glowing Eyes of Doom: He sports these, possibly because of his relation to his Stone.
Harmless Freezing: He's encased in ice when Max sees him, and soon breaks out of it with no ill effects. This could be a result of his nature as a mountain giant.
It Has Been an Honor: Says this to Max before going into the Void with him to confront the Voice in "Escape From Lucien".
Our Giants Are Different: He's called a mountain giant, but he resembles more a wolf-man-spider with wings.
One-Hit Kill: How he's killed, squished by a pillar.
Undying Loyalty: To Max, since the boy kept his promise to free him from prison.

The Voice

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture1.png

"Without power you cannot attain what you desire."

The sentient entity within the necklace that Emily found in her great grandfather's old library. It turns out to be a powerful spirit that grants Emily great magical ability as the Stonekeeper, having once granted it to her great grandfather. The voice from the Stone—identified by Emily as a he but otherwise ambiguous—also guides her throughout the series. The mysterious voice appears to have its own ambitions, however, and may not entirely have Emily's best interests at heart.

Cheshire Cat Grin: The spirit form that the voice can take often doesn't have a mouth, but when he smiles it looks like this. Most notable was when he smiled at Emily once she saw it taking over Max.
Chess Motif: When Emily speaks to the voice in the dream world, she sees him setting up a chess board and asks who the player is, which he avoids answering. As things get more plot heavy later, he remarks that the game has started and he's waiting for his opponent to make a move. It's later revealed that he's playing against Emily, although she didn't know it yet. After confronting the Stone over his manipulation of Max, she finally begins to play.
Flaw Exploitation: his modus operandi. Ikol specifically targets stonekeepers who are emotionally susceptible to his whims, such as Max's desire for revenge or Emily's ruthlessness to those who slight her.
Humanoid Abomination: The shape that the voice takes in dreamscapes resembles a black human figure, but has no actual face (save for a smile on occasion) and looks very ghostly and stylized.
The Man Behind the Man: The voice is behind Max's survival and quest for vengeance, similar to how the Elf King's stone is controlling the dead king.
Non-Action Big Bad: As Emily points out, Ikol himself is not a stonekeeper and, judging by their confrontation in Book 8, can't even puppet the dead Elf King to use stone magic. He's only as powerful as the living stonekeepers he can manipulate. He is able to take more action in the void, however.
Only Known by Their Nickname: He's only referred to as The Voice by other characters. The end of the eighth volume finally gives him a name, Ikol.
Trickster Mentor: The voice is not very straightforward at times, and sometimes tries to urge Emily onto a path that would have her leaving her family and friends behind. She's been warned many times that the voice isn't what he seems. This is proven horribly true when it's revealed he is behind the entire conflict on Alledia and is trying to prepare it for the arrival of an alien race that wishes to take over the planet.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The voice constantly offers power to Emily and suggests she leave her friends and family behind. It's indicated that if she gave in to the voice completely, she'd go mad like Luger in Volume 2 which is what happens in Volume 7 and 8, although only briefly.
Villain Has a Point: When Max confronts the Voice in an attempt to break his curse, the Voice responds by calling him out for his vengeful attitude:
Voice: You want to be rid of me, but it is my curse that keeps you alive. Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? The Elf King is not someone you should take lightly. And for that matter, neither am I. I gave you a chance to have your revenge. With this chance, you killed countless soldiers and civilians. Has it brought you the solace you seek? Has it brought you peace?
Max: Most of the young soldiers had no idea what their ancestors were guilty of doing.
Voice: And yet you punished them dearly. You showed no mercy in your actions. Time can heal many wounds, Max. Unless you work to disallow it.
Max: Why would I do that?
Voice: Because there are some memories you refuse to put away.

Characters / Amulet

Main Cast

Emily Hayes

Navin Hayes

Trellis

Supporting Characters

Karen Hayes

Miskit

Cogsley

Luger

Leon Redbeard

Vigo Light

David Hayes

Silas Charnon

Morrie

Bottle

Logi

Dr. Weston

Balan

Enzo

Rico

Alyson Hunter

Ronin

Pierce

Layra Janus

Riva

Virgil

Antagonists

The Elf King

Sybrian

Gabilan

Max Griffin

Chronos

The Voice

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Index

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Characters / Amulet

Edit Locked

Main Cast

Emily Hayes

Navin Hayes

Trellis

Supporting Characters

Karen Hayes

Miskit

Cogsley

Luger

Leon Redbeard

Vigo Light

David Hayes

Silas Charnon

Morrie

Bottle

Logi

Dr. Weston

Balan

Enzo

Rico

Alyson Hunter

Ronin

Pierce

Layra Janus

Riva

Virgil

Antagonists

The Elf King

Sybrian

Gabilan

Max Griffin

Chronos

The Voice

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Index

Next