Characters / Aru Shah and the End of Time

Main Characters

In General

The Potatoes

• Amazon Brigade: All the Pandavas are amazing at fighting to some degree, and they're all girls this time around.
• Band of Brothers: They are the Pandava brothers reincarnated and grow to appreciate each other through their various quests.
• Friendless Background: All of them, to some degree.
• Gender Flip: All five of the Pandavas have been reincarnated as girls this time around.
• Kid Hero: Which worries the Council of Guardians, because the Sleeper was supposed to be freed much later.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: All the groups of Pandavas start as this — first Aru and Mini, then Aru and Mini and Brynne (and Aiden, although he's Pandava adjacent), then Aru and Mini and Brynne and Nikita and Sheela (and Rudy). Most of them have variously traumatic backstories and issues, and they don't get along with each other well at first.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: There is certainly an element of this with some of the characters, especially Brynne and Rudy.
• The Team: They're officially the team of all the main characters in the novel, excluding Nikita and Sheela.
• True Companions: All of them eventually become this to one another.
• Unusually Uninteresting Name: They're named the Potatoes, for crying out loud.

Specific Characters

Arundhati "Aru" Shah

She's not a liar. She's just got a big imagination.

The reincarnation of the Pandava Arjuna, Aru is the main character of the quintet. She's the catalyst of the entire plot, since she's the one who lights the diya and frees the Sleeper under the urging of her schoolmates.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: Her mom is constantly away and other students at her school are giving her a hard time for being poorer than them.
• Covers Always Lie: She's shown with a long braid, but in-story mentions having a bob cut. In the later books, we learn her hair is long. (Tree of Wishes)
• Disappeared Dad: She never really cared about him, she already got her mother. Then she learns he's a demon hell-bent on destroying the world.
• Does Not Like Spam: Aru mentions that she doesn’t like lemon starbursts or anything pumpkin spice flavored.
• Guile Hero: She's not very strong, but she's got wits on her side. Accepting this is a key part of her character development, as she starts out hating herself for being a liar, but eventually realizes that it can be a valuable tool if used right.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Her mother's fate as a panchakanya led her to conceive Aru with the demonic Sleeper.
• Improbable Weapon User: In the first book, her main weapon is basically a ping pong ball. One that hits with surprising force, always returns to her pocket and emits divine light, but still. Upon awakening as Vajra, it's revealed to be a living lightning bolt and a powerful (if indecisive) Morph Weapon.
• Kid Hero: She's twelve in End of Time, turning thirteen in Song of Death.
• Like Father, Like Son: The Sleeper accuses her of being just as much of a treacherous liar as her mother.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Regarding her fate of being a Pandava.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: In the Kingdom of Death, she learns her birth father is the Sleeper himself.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: A big part of her reason for lying is her feelings of isolation and desire for companionship. A vision of her Pandava sisters turning against her almost breaks her.
• Meaningful Name: It comes up in the third book that it was the Sleeper who chose her name. Her name also means sun, ironic considering that in another life, Karna was her enemy.
• Morph Weapon: Vajra, once awakened, can take on several forms based on its own whims and Aru’s mental commands. Favorites include a sword, rope, net, javelin, a bracelet or ping pong ball when inactive, and its natural form as a bolt of lightning.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Basically her Arc Words for End of Time. Since she unwittingly caused the Apocalypse, yeah...
  Aru, Aru, Aru. What have you done?
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The whole series is kickstarted when she disobeys her mom and lights the diya, freeing the Sleeper, only to impress her classmates.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Since nobody can pronounce her full name without mangling it, she goes by "Aru".
• Pajama-Clad Hero: A Spider-Man one which ends up rather battered for the first novel.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: She loves watching movies and is aghast when Mini doesn't get a reference to The Matrix. She constantly makes references to movies and, in her internal monologue, often likens events on their quests to events in movies she's watched.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The latter half of this duo with her and Aiden.
• Shock and Awe: By virtue of her signature weapon being a lightning bolt.
• Street Smart: Aru is very good at MacGyvering her way out of situations, and she's very perceptive, often knowing the exact right thing to say when she tries.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: Much to her confusion, in book two she finds herself breathing underwater and talking to fish despite her powers coming from the Lord of the Heavens. Turns out those gifts come from Uloopi, Queen of the Nagas and one of her past self’s many wives.

Yamini "Mini" Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez

You could DIE!

Mini is the first of her soul sisters that Aru meets, being the reincarnation of the Pandava Yudhistira.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: Her whole class apparently dislike her.
• Barrier Warrior: Her danda stick’s force field powers tend to be her first resort in combat.
• Bollywood Nerd: Probably the straightest example among the cast. She is very nerdy, awkward, and a fountain of knowledge, especially about terrible diseases.
• Brainy Brunette: She's very cerebral and ambitions to become a doctor. Also, her former incarnation Yudhistira was famous for his wisdom.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Her parents believed her brother was a Pandava instead of her, because he was there every time she displayed supernatural abilities.
• Expy: For a young Nico di Angelo, being the adorable offspring of a death deity.
• Heroic BSoD: Her reaction when the Dharma Raja acknowledges her as his daughter. Aru manages to comfort her.
• I Call It "Vera": Her divine weapon is nicknamed Dee Dee, short for the Death Danda.
• Magic Mirror: Her gift from the claiming is a compact mirror that can reveal and conjure illusions. Later on awakens as the Death Danda, a full-on Magic Staff capable of force bubbles and energy blasts.
• Magic Staff: Her divine weapon takes the form of a magical danda stick.
• Master of Illusion: See Magic Mirror above. It retains these abilities in danda form.
• Nerd Glasses: Mini sports a pair of glasses, and she's by the the most Book Smart of the Potatoes, and a competitor for the most awkward.
• Nervous Wreck: Downplayed, but she's definitely anxious about many things. She even has a list about the worst deaths she can imagine.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She denounced a classmate about to cut The Littlest Cancer Patient's growing hair, and was branded a tattletale for her efforts.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Introduces herself as just Mini.
• Squishy Wizard: The least inclined towards physical combat out of the main cast, but her divine tools give her access to some tricky and powerful magic.
• The Smart Gal: As the reincarnation of Yudhistira.
• Terrified of Germs: So much that she refuses to shake hands and would rather bump elbows.
• Token Minority: Her mother is Indian and her father Filipino.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Gal: She's obviously dismayed when she and Aru travel into the Underworld - which is her father's kingdom - and learn the Dharma Raja won't come to meet her. She's also this for her birth parents, to the point where she doesn't feel comfortable being around them due to the fact she thinks she'll let them down.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She suffers from vertigo.

Brynne Tvarika Lakshmi Balamuralikrishna Rao

Brynne is the second of her sisters that Aru meets, being the reincarnation of the Pandava Bhima.

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• Action Girl: Out of all of the Pandava sisters, although they all have gotten combat training, she is the one with the most experience in fighting and the most strength.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Brynne has spent most of her life being distrusted or bullied for being part Assura.
• Big Eater: She loves food, and can eat large amounts of it. She gets hungry very easily, even after eating a gigantic breakfast, and barely ever loses eating contests.
• The Big Guy: As the reincarnation of Bhima, she naturally takes this role.
• Blow You Away: Her weapon has this ability, thanks to her soul father being the god of wind.
• Carry a Big Stick: Her divine weapon takes the form of a club.
• Fantastic Racism: Brynne is frequently subject to this and is not trusted easily due to her Assura heritage.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: Inverted. Brynne is not very feminine, but she is an excellent cook.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Brynne often tries to project the image of herself being tough, cool, and a hero. This is shown to be a response to her mother ignoring her, as a way to make her mother notice her and love her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Brynne is abrasive and argumentative, and she and Aru do not start off on the best foot, causing them to argue all the time. But her heart is in the right place, and much of her abrasiveness is mostly wariness about being judged for her Assura heritage. She also grows to love and enthusiastically support Aru and Mini in their quest in the second novel, even declaring them family. Although this does not stop her from teasing Aru and Mini from time to time.
• Last Episode, New Character: Her introduction is very much a Sequel Hook.
• Like Brother and Sister: She has this relationship with Aiden. They are childhood best friends ever since Aiden stood up for her in kindergarten, and she does even say that he's basically like her brother. After finding out that Aiden is the reincarnation of Queen Drupathi, the Pandava brothers' wife, she declares disgustedly that, even if Aiden was her wife in a previous life she would never want to marry him, as he isn't her type.
• Nephewism: She never met her dad and her mother abandoned her, so she ended up being raised by her two uncles.
• Overly Long Name: Brynne's full name is Brynne Tvarika Lakshmi Balamuralikrishna Rao. When Aru looks surprised at the length of her name, Brynne explains it away as due to her being Telugu.
• Raised by Dudes: Brynne's mother, Anila, left when she was young, leaving her to be raised by her uncles Gunky and Funky. Brynne is also a very athletic, loud, and blunt girl who enjoys eating and wrestling.
• Stout Strength: She is described as having thick, long limbs, and, when a Naga guard reassures another Naga guard that there's nothing wrong with being fat, Brynne raises a fist in solidarity. She's also by far the strongest of the Pandavas.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Brynne is violent, athletic, and abrasive with a huge adoration for pointy things and an even bigger appetite. She is definitively the toughest fighter of the Pandavas. However, she also loves cooking.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: She first appears as a wolf before transforming herself into a girl then a bird. She has this ability due to being part Asura.

Aiden Acharya

Aiden is the love interest of Aru, and the reincarnation of the Pandava's wife, Draupadi.

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• Beautiful Singing Voice: Though he doesn't like to use it, since it often has the unfortunate side effect of mind control.
• Blessed with Suck: As the descendant of an apsara, Aiden has the supernatural ability to force people to do what he asks them to do. However, he refrains from using this, since it can be too easily exploited for evil, and it worries him.
• Clashing Cousins: Aiden and his cousin, Rudy, have elements of this. Although they can be quite sweet together on occasion, more often their relationship falls into a pattern of Rudy being purposefully annoying/flirty and Aiden making caustic remarks or rolling his eyes.
• Closet Geek: Aiden is known mainly for his good looks and quiet nature, but he's very, very invested in photography and infodumps about his camera Shadowfax at multiple points — he's also a bit of one for Lord of the Rings, seeing as he literally named his camera Shadowfax, and remembered the word for friend in Elvish when Aru was trying to recall it.
• Companion Cube: Aiden carries his camera and camera bag around everywhere.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Wifey. Or Ammamma (grandma in Telugu), because he acts like a grandma.
• Dual Wielding: He mainly fights with two enchanted scimitars, though he lost one, which was replaced by a gold scimitar from a soldier in the Nariatta army.
• Insistent Terminology: Aiden makes sure to remind everybody in his nearby vicinity that he is most definitely not a Pandava. This is flipped back on him with the revelation he's the reincarnation of the Pandavas' wife, Draupadi, although he still insists on being referred to as Pandava-adjacent if he must be called that at all.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The former half of this duo with him and Aru.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Aiden fits this description to a T. He's taller than all the other Potatoes par Brynne, who is unnaturally tall for her age, has black hair and lashes, and is extremely handsome due to being descended from a former apsara.
• The Stoic: Aiden tends to come off as this, with him being more introverted.
• The One Guy: Before Rudy is introduced as a major character in book 3, Aiden takes this role in the team. Even with Rudy, there's still far more female Potatoes than male. He Lampshades this.
  Aiden: (muttered) I need to get more guy friends.
• What Beautiful Eyes!!: A frequently remarked upon feature of his by Aru, Aiden has dark brown eyes with flashes of deep sky-blue in them when you look closely.

Nikita Jagan

• Break the Cutie: The twins go through a major one in their traumatic backstory.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Nikita slowly warms up to Aru in particular throughout Tree of Wishes.
• Green Thumb: Nikita's powers are essentially the ability to create and manipulate plants, especially vines and flowers
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Nikita acts older than her age and puts forward a front of confidence and arrogance. It turns out she was forced to by circumstance, as her parents were deported when she was seven and she's had to look out for Sheela ever since.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Nikita and Sheela are very different in terms of personality. Nikita is more protective, guarded, cynical, and fashion-forward, while Sheela is dreamy, upbeat, and finds it difficult to process her emotions regarding her parents.
• Talking in Your Dreams: How Nikita and Sheela communicate with the Potatoes on their quest to find the real Kalpavriksha in the grove of Aranyani — since they're underage, they can't physically accompany the Potatoes, but they share their minds via dream.
• Twin Switch: Nikita and Sheela pull this off near the end of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes.

Sheela Jagan

• Break the Cutie: The twins go through a major one in their traumatic backstory.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Nikita and Sheela are very different in terms of personality. Nikita is more protective, guarded, cynical, and fashion-forward, while Sheela is dreamy, upbeat, and finds it difficult to process her emotions regarding her parents.
• Seers: This is Sheela's power.
• Stepford Smiler: Sheela comes off as one, with her being very cheerful and curious, but having gone through deep trauma which she's clearly not done processing as shown by the scene where her nightmares warp the Dream Land.
• Talking in Your Dreams: How Nikita and Sheela communicate with the Potatoes on their quest to find the real Kalpavriksha in the grove of Aranyani — since they're underage, they can't physically accompany the Potatoes, but they share their minds via dream.
• Twin Switch: Nikita and Sheela pull this off near the end of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes.

Prince Rudra "Rudy" of Naga-Loka

• Casanova Wannabe: Albeit a younger example of this. Rudy often brags about being attractive to girls, but he reveals he's never actually kissed a girl before as his secret for the chakora birds.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The cute snake boy who winked at Mini in Aru Shah and the End of Time comes back to save their lives, and then join them on a quest.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He has his moments.
• Color Blind Confusion: Being colorblind, this happens to Rudy when they try to access the vault in the Crypt of Secrets, where he can't tell the different between the yellow and green floor tiles, leading to them plummeting to their deaths only to be saved by Brynne.
• Fish out of Water: Due to him being from the naga realm and never having been in the human realm for most of his life.
• Insistent Terminology: Like his cousin, Rudy often insists on not being lumped in with others and being recognized as a prince.
• Oblivious to Hatred: More like annoyance, but despite the other Potatoes, mainly Aiden, often being irritated at him, he never seems to take it to heart. Of course, him being Rudy, he could also just be willfully ignoring it to get under their skin.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Rudy is a prince of Naga-Loka, but doesn't know what a microwave does and thinks a hot dog is made of actual dogs, among other things. Partially excused by him being from another realm, though he's also generally oblivious to the emotions of other characters.
  Rudy: (to Aru): What's the big deal, Shah? I mean, it's kind of sad and all for the Sleeper, but imagine being his daughter. That would— Oh...
• The Face: Since he's a prince, Rudy uses the associated prestige with the title to get the Potatoes where they need to be without them revealing their status as Pandavas in the Tree of Wishes.

Kara

Kara is the adopted daughter of the Sleeper, and as it turns out, the biological daughter of Krithika P. Shah and the reincarnation of Karna. She joins the Potatoes on their quest in Aru Shah and the City of Gold, and eventually is anointed a Potato herself. At the end of Aru Shah and the City of Gold, she joins the Sleeper's side.

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• Affably Evil: While Kara is a fairly nice person and never has any ill intentions towards Aru or the other Potatoes, and only wants for her family to be reunited, she's still working with the Sleeper by the conclusion of Aru Shah and the City of Gold.
• Cute Bookworm: Kara is very sweet and naive, as well as intelligent and well-read, often referencing literary terms or the origins of words. She even carries a book of poetry around with her!
• Face–Heel Turn: At the end of City of Gold, Kara rejoins the Sleeper's side.
• Heel–Face Turn: Before Kara's Face–Heel Turn, she quests alongside the Potatoes and even fights against the Sleeper at the battle of Lanka once she meets Aru, though previously she was perfectly content living with the Sleeper.
• Not Good with Rejection: When Kara finally confesses her budding crush on Aiden and he has to reject her, she doesn't take it well. And that only worsens when the Sleeper reveals that only minutes after Aiden rejected her, he kissed her sister, Aru. This is one of the final pushes Kara needs to join the Sleeper's side once more, feeling like the only person who truly cares about her is her father.
• Only One Name: Kara's never given a last name in text, mainly because she has amnesia and knows very little about her origins. Aru Lampshades this when she makes Kara a Potato.
• When You Coming Home, Dad??: The Sleeper certainly loves Kara, although he has a very emotionally stunted way of showing it, and Kara wholeheartedly loves him as well - it's just that he's always very busy with taking over the world and such, and Kara often didn't see him or talk to him for weeks or even months during the two years she lived with him.

Affiliates

Boo

• Became Their Own Antithesis: In his first life, Shakhuni was hell-bent on ruining the Pandavas and a steadfast ally for Duryodhana.
• Dung Fu: He's a pigeon, his fight options are a mite limited to scratch people or shit on them. It's surprisingly effective as a diversion.
• Forced Transformation: His current pigeon body is explicitly a curse. He was very much human before, and strives to regain this form.
• Heel–Face Turn: His most famous incarnation wasn't the nicest guy. Boo still is grumpy and ill-tempered, but firmly places himself in the Pandavas' side.
• Heroic BSoD: Played for Laughs when he meets the newest Pandavas, who are kids, untrained and (gasp) FEMALE!
• I Have Many Names: He's currently Boo to the Pandavas, the Council of Guardians know him as Subala and the Sleeper calls him Shakhuni.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He constantly berates his (unwitting) pupils and a big part of playing the mentor is to regain his former power and glory, but he genuinely believes into the girls' potential to be great.
• Large Ham: Horrendously dramatic and bombastic in speech. It falls really flat since he's, you know, a pigeon.
• Papa Wolf: If the girls are attacked, he will do his best to help them to fight or flee in spite of his body - which is very much unsuited to this.
• Stern Teacher: He's very demanding towards the girls as he's aware of their huge potential.
• Was Once a Man: And very much wants to be a man again.
• We Used to Be Friends: With the Sleeper, in their first incarnations. The wizard Shakhuni actually egged Duryodhana on when it came about warring against the Pandavas.

Dr Krithika P. Shah

• Damsel in Distress: She falls victim to the freeze sickness when the Sleeper escapes, which prompts Aru to go on a quest to save her.
• Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: Aru was flabbergasted to learn Krithika actually dated the dude fated to bring the Apocalypse and still genuinely loves him.
• Expy: You can say she's one for Padmé Amidala, from her Love Martyr tendences to her role as The Hero's mother. Bonus point for Padmé being a Sanskrit name.
• In Love with the Mark: She ultimately grew to care for Suyodhana too much to pick between him and Aru, and is still seeking for a way to free him from his destiny.
• Mandatory Motherhood: As a panchakanya, her duty was to bear and raise one of the next generation of Pandavas.
• Mysterious Middle Initial: Krithika P. Shah.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She imprisoned Suyodhana into the diya, which led him to believe she never truly loved him and helped him to fall into an evil mindset. Which was exactly what she wanted to avert.
• Parents as People: There's no doubting her love for Aru, but she's constantly away and it strains their relationship. There's also the fact she hid the truth about her daughter's conception and destiny...
• Screw Destiny: She wants it really, really bad.
• Struggling Single Mother: She and Aru aren't dirt poor, but they're not wealthy either. It's particularly obvious when she enrolls Aru into a school for well-off families.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: She often leaves for long periods, as she's seeking for a way to free her lover Suyodhana from his fate as the bringer of Apocalypse.

Chitrigupta

• Cool Uncle: Has a vibe of it with Mini, their personalities being very similar and both of them having a link with the Underworld.
• Good Parents: In no less than fourteen worlds!
• Nice Guy: He's absolutely chuffed to learn the newest Pandavas are empowered girls and gives them tools to succeed in their quest.
• The Omniscient: His role is to know everything about everyone to decide of a proper afterlife.

Palace of Illusions

• Animal Motifs: Gives off the impression of a loving dog which still pines after its masters.
• Bewildering Punishment: When the Pandavas permanently left, the Palace wondered if it were at fault but couldn't devine what wrong it did for its owners to abandon it. It takes Aru and Mini explaining they actually just forget their previous lives to break it from this mindset.
• Genius Loci
• Master of Illusion: Well, it's in the name.
• Undying Loyalty: To the Pandavas, since it used to belong to them.
• We All Die Someday: It's surprisingly at peace with the fact that one day, people will forget it and it will cease to exist.

Enemies

The Sleeper

• Archnemesis Dad: To Aru.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: He was looking forwards to raise Aru, but Kritika imprisoned him into the diya so he couldn't be there.
• Dark Is Evil: Often compared to a starry darkness.
• Eldritch Abomination: Very much so, even when he cares about taking a human form.
• Evil Former Friend: He and Boo used to get along in their incarnations as Duryodhana and Shakhuni, but Boo ultimately reformed himself.
• I Have Many Names: Everyone calls him the Sleeper, but his girlfriend refers to him as Suyodhana.
• Mysterious Parent: Aru never knew anything regarding him nor cared until forced by the circumstances.
• Not So Stoic: Noticeably bitter towards his former lover, Aru's mother Krithika. He's visibly angry and upset when confronting an illusion of her.
• Screw Destiny: He used to believe he could avert his fate as a bringer of the Apocalypse. He's quite disabused and resigned to it nowadays.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Aru briefly feels pity after seeing his past and realizing the once-human Sleeper only wanted a happy life with his family, but quickly decides that the only thing which matters is stopping him rampage now.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Once upon a time, he dreamed to defy his fate and have a peaceful life with his lover and their yet-to-be-born child. Eleven years stuck into a lamp really soured his disposition, moreso because his own girlfriend did the deed and their daughter is supposed to destroy him.
• Was Once a Man: In his previous life, he was the Pandavas' bitterest foe, Duryodhana.

Surpankha AKA Meenakshi

• Affably Evil: Meenakshi is this, to Aru's surprise. She's kind to the girls and Aiden and gives them a chance to hear her story, although when they decide to fight her, she quickly turns into Nice Is Not Good, what with her shooting Aiden right off the bat.
• Flanderization: What happens to Meenakshi, with her being painted as a one-note villain in the Ramayana.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: What Aru reasons with in her decision to fight Meenakshi and kill her. She decides that even though Meenakshi had an understandable reason for her anger, turning men all over the world into her slaves is not acceptable.