Child of the Storm: Other Heroes and Allies / Characters

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This page lists tropes associated with Other Heroes and Allies of the Avengers in Child of the Storm.

Beware: Spoilers for Child of the Storm are unmarked.

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S.H.I.E.L.D.

Founded from those parts of the SSR that didn't go on to become the modern MI13 by Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and Colonel Chester Philips, and run by Director Nicholas Fury, SHIELD is the Big Good backing the Avengers, and the NGO Super Power. Pity about the HYDRA infestation.

In General

Badass Normal: Most of its Agents qualify as this, especially the 'Special Agent Division', which mostly consists of super-agents or examples of this trope so badass that they can mix it with superhumans. Examples include Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the various Agents 13.
Big Good: At least in theory. They try, anyway.
Cloak and Dagger: Operate primarily on this trope, though they are indicated to do a lot of the more boring stuff behind the scenes - Coulson alludes to 'SHIELD Accountants'.
Good Is Not Nice: They're good guys, but they're capable of being incredibly dangerous and very ruthless. And that's the bits that aren't secretly working for HYDRA. For this reason, Jean Grey doesn't totally trust them - as she points out, HYDRA managed to blend in amongst them for decades.
Heroes "R" Us: Train and equip heroes, most prominently the Avengers. They also have plans for a 'Young Avengers' program...
He Who Fights Monsters: HYDRA were pushing them this way and Jean Grey points it out as the root of her trust issues.
The Men in Black: Formerly. In a semi Unmasqued World, they're a bit more open.
NGO Super Power: They're arguably the most powerful non-governmental organisation on the planet, before being briefly pipped to the post by HYDRA. After the end of Child of the Storm, they've lost a large chunk of their power and influence, but they're still a force to be reckoned with.
"Not So Different" Remark: What Alexander Pierce believed and HYDRA were attempting to coax SHIELD towards. Jean Grey cites this, and her uncertainty about how deep it goes, as why she distrusts SHIELD, pointing out that even if HYDRA were purged, they still managed to hide in plain sight in SHIELD for over half a century.
Rogue Agent: As with all sprawling spy organisations, it has more than a few questionable elements (including the fact that about a third of its members are HYDRA, prior to the big purge at the end of Child of the Storm), but they're still broadly the good guys.
State Sec: A good guy version of this. Most of the time.
United Nations Is a Superpower: Backed by the UN, it is at least nominally an international agency and has all the power associated with this trope. Practically speaking, however, it's primarily American funded and dominated, having been founded during the Cold War, though its leadership includes (at least) British, Chinese, Indian, and French representatives. In general, it's more like NATO for the supernatural and the superhuman.

Nick Fury

Director Nicholas Joseph Fury of SHIELD

Do you really think that I would get within ten feet of that thing, let alone stand still while you monologue at me?

Was once a cheerful, friendly Nice Guy, a former Army Ranger and SHIELD liaison to the Order of the Phoenix, big brother figure to Lily Potter and drinking buddy of Sirius Black and John Constantine. The death of the Potters, however, drove him to become the Director of SHIELD within a decade and gain a reputation as one of the most powerful, dangerous and feared men on the planet. While he's a good guy and ultimately heroic, he is the master spy and will stop at nothing to protect humanity from the monsters. Is the Secret-Keeper for the rumoured 'Lost Omega', a.k.a. Clark Kent and has gone to great lengths to protect him.

Arch-Enemy: Lucius Malfoy.
Anti-Hero: He is ultimately fighting for the protection of humanity against those, mundane or superhuman, who would abuse them and face no consequences, but make no mistake, he is cold, deadly and ruthlessly manipulative.
Batman Gambit: Employs an extremely effective one against Baron Von Strucker in chapter 42, who swiftly finds himself Out-Gambitted.
Battle Amongst the Flames: Fought Lucius Malfoy in one of these after the attack on Godric's Hollow and beat him, before leaving him to die in the burning ruins of Malfoy Manor. It cost him his eye and Lucius Malfoy his wand and full use of one of his legs (it is implied that the fight left further marks on Lucius that he concealed).
Best Served Cold: It's revealed that by the start of the story he's been waiting for a chance to get at the Ministry, the Death Eaters, and Lucius Malfoy in particular for over 10 years.
Big Brother Instinct: Had this towards Lily.
Big Good: To the Avengers, SHIELD and most of the world.
Broken Pedestal: A number of his former Order acquaintances, including Thor once he regains his memories as James, are shocked and horrified by the change in Fury. This doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest.
The Chessmaster: One of the better ones in the setting, capable of ultimately outplaying Lucius Malfoy and Alexander Pierce.
Cynicism Catalyst: The war against Voldemort in general seems to have been one for him, but the crowner was Lily and James' deaths (though James, as it would turn out, was Not Quite Dead) and what happened to Harry afterwards.
Deadpan Snarker: Notes when first meeting Harry after about a decade that he had hoped it would be under better circumstances.
Demoted to Extra: After the first book, where he played a fairly important role, he mostly goes offstage, busy with the purge of HYDRA moles and the chaos that followed first their fall, then that of the Red Room.
Eyepatch of Power: Oh yes.
Friend to All Children: Downplayed but present, much to the surprise of most ( Alison, on the other hand, had him bang to rights). He did his best to protect Harry, unhesitatingly ran through fire while nursing a ruined eye to save his worst enemy's infant son, played a key role in protecting Clark Kent, and provided no more than token resistance to the idea of Maddie, who for all her genuine Heel–Face Turn is a theoretically incredibly dangerous Tyke-Bomb, undergoing gentle rehabilitation at the Xavier Institute.
From Nobody to Nightmare: To the enemies of humanity, going from a talented young SHIELD Agent to one of the most feared and powerful men on the planet in about a decade. It gets to the point where Malfoy thinks of Fury as the most dangerous man in the Western hemisphere, if not the world, and suspects that Doctor Strange arranged his posting as liaison to the Order of the Phoenix specifically to bring this about.
Foil: To Lucius Malfoy.
Four-Star Badass: As best displayed in chapter 42. It also serves to mark him out from Lucius, who's a Diabolical Mastermind and prefers to avoid doing his own dirty work whenever possible.
The Gwen Stacy: Lily was this to him and her death, as well as the status of the Order as greatly outmatched underdogs during the Voldemort War, drove him to become Director of SHIELD in an effort to ensure that humanity could defend itself from the supernatural and bring down powerful figures like Lucius Malfoy who could previously buy their way out of justice.
Handicapped Badass: He nearly killed Lucius Malfoy in single combat in the backstory, permanently crippling him (at the cost of an eye), before running through the flames of a burning house while nursing said ruined eye to save Draco (still a toddler), and he beats down Baron Strucker.
Hidden Heart of Gold: The man believes in heroes. He was also persuaded by Agent Coulson to leave an infant Kal-El in the custody of the Kents and went to a great deal of trouble to conceal his existence. In fact, it was Alison Carter was counting on it. He also definitely cares for Harry (being close to Lily) and according to Draco, after the above Battle Amongst the Flames with Lucius and nursing a ruined eye, Fury noticed that the infant Draco was trapped at the top of the stairs. He immediately ran through the flames and carried Draco to safety.
I Did What I Had to Do: His motive for getting his hands dirty with all that he does.
Kill It with Fire: Tried to do this to Lucius Malfoy. With napalm. The results left most of Malfoy Manor a smoking ruin.
Married to the Job: Alexander Pierce indicates this, remarking that he's known Fury for years, they work forty floors away and it takes a global crisis to make him put in an appearance.
Manipulative Bastard: He's very, very good at this. Not as good as some, but he clearly learned well from Alison Carter, and was able to catch Alexander Pierce red-handed at the end of Child of the Storm by playing on Lucius Malfoy's personality. Even as a young man, he gave much more experienced fellow spymaster Lucius a decent fight as The Spymaster for the Order of the Phoenix.
Nerves of Steel: After everything he's been through, it takes a lot to faze him. Even an angry demigod with an ultimatum doesn't make him blink. Gravemoss armed with the Darkhold and using veidrdraugr to destroy MI6 manages, though.
Not So Stoic: Shows up to the Avenger's Christmas party in a festive sweater, to the vocal surprise of Tony and Dresden.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Though he's not shy of throwing around the occasional curseword, his Hair-Trigger Temper in chapter 22 of CoS shows just how rattled he is by the revelation that HYDRA is back, with the Winter Soldier no less, and having destroyed MI6 and MI13.
Overranked Soldier: He's 43 at the beginning of the story. That's still at least five years younger than any Director of a major intelligence agency ever, and he's been Director of SHIELD for several years. Possibly a Justified Trope considering Alexander Pierce (and possibly Strange)'s involvement in his rise to the Directorship, Alison Carter's mentoring him, and the Bogota Incident.
Out of Focus: After the end of Child of the Storm, he fades into the background and makes only a few appearances, busy with the chaos that the Red Room and its rise and fall stir up, as well as purging the remnants of HYDRA's forces.
Properly Paranoid: The fact is that he plays his cards not so much close to his chest, but behind his sternum, including the setting up of the same dam based hideout as in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the Shadow Initiative.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: To Petunia Dursley, after Thor has gotten his memories as James back, and he, Tony, and Fury have exposed the Dursley's abuse of Harry to all of Britain via the national papers.
"I only need one eye to see you for what you are: a jealous little girl who turned into a bitter middle-aged woman who married a man who puts the ass in jackass. You didn't grow up, Petunia. You just got older."
Secret-Keeper: For the Lost Omega, a.k.a. Clark Kent, - and, indirectly, Jean Grey, since the Lost Omega rumours conflated Clark's arrival with her violent power-manifestation at the age of 6. He also knows about Hermione's true parentage, thanks to his closeness to Lily and the fact that he's been keeping a close eye on Harry (and, indirectly, his friends).
The Spymaster: As Tony put it, he is the spy. His secrets have secrets.
The Stoic: Following Lily's death. Alexander Pierce comments that Fury's been pretty bad with emotions ever since they first got to know each other.
Terror Hero: As Thor observes, he casts a very long shadow. He seems to like it that way.
Took a Level in Badass: He went from a crippled and embittered young Agent who'd lost everything to the Director of SHIELD and the most powerful man in the Western hemisphere in barely a decade. It's safe to say he took many.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a much more cheerful and relaxed guy until Godric's Hollow. Since he cut ties with the Order pretty shortly afterwards, his current demeanour comes as a very nasty shock to his former compatriots.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: A heroic variant. He'll stop at nothing to protect humanity. Nothing. Though it should be said that even at his most ruthless, he doesn't even come close to Peter Wisdom, his former protégé, who's effectively The Unfettered.

Phil Coulson

Agent Phillip 'Phil' Coulson

I have quite literally given my life to SHIELD, Miss Grey. I am loyal without question to what it represents: a shield, protecting the weak from the strong. If it becomes like the Red Room or HYDRA, then it becomes a hammer, beating the weak down. In which case, Miss Grey, it isn't SHIELD any more and it is instead the sort of thing that I've worked my entire life to destroy. Under which circumstance, I would act accordingly.

Nick Fury's right-hand man and "one good eye." Kind, gentle (most of the time), and not to be underestimated. Also a Squib, to everyone's surprise - turns out that Molly Weasley's "second cousin who's an accountant" isn't actually an accountant. While not a regular cast member, he has recurring and deceptively important roles in both Child of the Storm and Ghosts of the Past.

Ascended Extra: From the perspective of the Harry Potter side of things, Coulson is revealed to be Molly's squib second cousin Ron mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Ascended Fanboy: As per canon, Dresden mentions that he's a huge Captain America fan.
Awesomeness by Analysis: He cracks Narcissa Malfoy by judging what kind of cues would make her respond better to him.
Badass Normal: He shot Loki with a BFG, is a crack SHIELD agent, and expert martial artist. According to Dresden, he also once took out three muggers with a paper clip.
Badass in a Nice Suit: A very capable fighter when required to be, usually wearing what most characters - even teenagers - recognise as well-cut suits.
Bash Brothers: With Fury, when they were younger.
Beware the Nice Ones: Phil is a genuinely warm and kind man. He's also a high-ranking agent of SHIELD, and you don't get to be that way without being dangerous.
The Charmer: He does this to Narcissa Malfoy to get her to open up.
Deadpan Snarker: Downplayed, but it's there.
Father to His Men: Do not mess with his team. He will not take kindly to it. He's also a Parental Substitute to Skye.
Friend on the Force: As of chapter 34 of Ghosts, following his redeployment as SHIELD Commander for the Midwest, he states his intention of being this to Clark Kent, who's started dabbling in heroism, and hopefully helping to conceal Clark's existence for a little longer. Given that Chicago is also under his purview, he will presumably be this for Harry Dresden as well.
Friend to All Children: He's very good with children and teenagers, as best shown during the interview portions of Forever Red, where he modulates his approach to be considerably gentler with younger interviewees. This trait was a key part of why Alison Carter arranged for him and Fury to be the first SHIELD Agents to encounter a young Clark Kent after the Smallville Meteor Shower.
Good Cop/Bad Cop: Usually plays the "Good Cop" to Fury's (and in Ghosts, Harry's) "Bad Cop".
Good Is Not Soft: Just because he's a nice guy doesn't mean he's naive, or a pushover. Among other things, he's a highly accomplished manipulator who plays on Dresden's Chronic Hero Syndrome to get him to take a job - though he feels guilty afterwards, especially when it looks like Dresden's been killed - and plays Narcissa Malfoy like a violin.
The Heart: To Fury, who admires him for being able to maintain it, and refers to him as his "one good eye." In Ghosts, it's revealed that this and Fury's Hidden Heart of Gold were why Alison Carter manoeuvred them into position to be the first SHIELD agents to run across Clark Kent.
Manipulative Bastard: Plays both Dresden and Narcissa like violins to get what he wants.
Muggle Born of Mages: Remember Molly's "second cousin who's an accountant"? Turns out he's not actually an accountant.
Nice Guy: Subtle, but it's there - he's very gentle with Maddie during the debriefing interviews at the end of Forever Red. He's also kind to Clark.
Noodle Incident:
- He worked alongside Harry Dresden once or twice before, including watching the latter take on three mountain trolls at once and win. Dresden, meanwhile, remarks that he once saw Coulson take out three muggers with a paperclip. He's also worked alongside Alan Scott and Charles Xavier, back in the day, and he was at Project Pegasus when Scott locked it down.
- He implies in the first book that he trusted someone in the magical world and they betrayed him. He's also gone up against Death Eaters before, and did not enjoy the experience.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Not stupidity, exactly, but he does a great "harmless bureaucrat" impression. Those who know him well (or in the case of a suspicious Clark Kent, have reason to look past it) don't fall for it.
Only Mostly Dead: Strange had a hand in bringing him back.
Pop-Cultured Badass: Implied to be this, recognizing Dresden's reference to him as "Agent C." Though given his exasperated reaction, it's probably not the first time he's heard that joke.
Rank Up: By Chapter 34 of Ghosts, he's been promoted SHIELD's Regional Director for the Midwestern US.
Secret-Keeper: For Clark Kent - he even arranged for Clark's adoption records and birth certificate.
Sharp-Dressed Man: He wears very nice suits.
Undying Loyalty: As he explains to Jean in the folder quote, it's not so much to SHIELD as to what it represents - protecting the vulnerable and innocent from the monsters who would prey on them. In fact, should SHIELD itself veer from those goals, he would help to bring it down. He reiterates this to the Kent family in chapter 34.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Is this to a certain extent with both Fury and Dresden.

Agent 13

Sharon Carter a.k.a. Agent 13

Mentioned every now and then as Carol's cousin and Jack O'Neill's daughter, before finally appearing in chapter 70 undercover as the British Prime Minister's personal secretary and secret bodyguard.

Action Girl: She wasn't dispatched to be the Prime Minister's bodyguard for her looks, and she kicks arse with the best of them.
Badass Family: She's got one hell of a heroic pedigree and it shows.
Big Sister Instinct: Towards Carol, remarking how seeing her in the heat of battle was not a fun experience, as well as being very happy to tease her. Alison notes that when they were younger, they could have passed for sisters, which neither minded - and neither did Sharon's father, Jack, come to that, in part because Carol's father did.
Combat Pragmatist: Once she has the Red Hood on the floor, she has no compunctions about stamping on his knee and kicking him in the groin before making ready to execute him, to ensure that he can't get up again.
Everyone Loves Blondes: The PM notes that she's rather attractive and that his Chancellor tends to check out her arse, filing the latter away for blackmail material for the next time the latter tries a leadership bid. ^note Harry, for his part, goes a little red when he sees her in a battered and torn Spy Catsuit.
Generation Xerox: She looks more like Peggy than her grandmother Alison does, but other than that, the two seem to be birds of a feather - it helps that Alison was the original Agent 13.
Groin Attack: As the Red Hood found out, she's not above resorting to this.
Not So Stoic: Steve relates that when they met, she barely kept from jumping up and down in delight.
Out of Focus: Gets the least amount of narrative focus of her entire family.
Sexy Secretary: Goes undercover as this, to the British Prime Minister.
Spy Catsuit: Wears a combo of this and military tactical gear, with the PM inwardly noting that if the Chancellor saw her in it, he'd probably die a happy man. Harry also seems to appreciate it.
Super-Soldier: Judging by Carol, she is one to a greater or lesser extent.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: In personality, but she's a dead ringer for Peggy Carter. In appearance, she resembles an older Carol and wears a practical Spy Catsuit, something which Harry notices.
Unkempt Beauty: In chapter 80, after the battle of London.
You Are Number 6: Goes by Agent 13 for a reason.

Alison Carter

Deputy Director Alison 'Ali' Carter, formerly O'Neill

If you fuck with my family, I will end you in ways that would give several gods of my acquaintance either ideas or nightmares.

Former Deputy Director of SHIELD, and the first Agent 13 of SHIELD. She's a Retired Badass when we first meet her in Ghosts of the Past - albeit for a rather dubious value of 'retired' (and following Forever Red, she's been reinstated alongside Maria Hill). She's also the daughter of Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers, passed off as the much younger sister of the former. Additionally, she's Tony Stark's godmother, who he refers to as his 'Aunt Ali', Carol Danvers' grandmother, and the matriarch of the Carter-Danvers clan. Like her granddaughter, she's more emotionally screwed up than is immediately apparent. Also a sort of godmother to Clark Kent. In general, she is very much her mother's daughter.

Action Mom: She was the original Agent 13, one of SHIELD's most dangerous combat agents in her day, mother of two, godmother to Tony Stark, and grandmother of another four (formerly five).
Adaptational Heroism: She shares an origin with the Ultimate Red Skull, who was the son of that universe's Captain America, including the Someone to Remember Him By aspect. Unlike him, though, Alison's mother was able to keep her pregnancy (and thus Alison) a secret, preventing her from being raised as a Living Weapon the way Ultimate Skull was, and raised her into a young woman determined to do good. However, like him, her Daddy Issues do influence events right through to the present day, if far less dramatically and more indirectly.
Almighty Mom: She can get Tony, her godson, and Jack, her son, to snap to simply by using their full names. Think about that: she can consistently make Jack O'Neill and Tony Stark shut up and listen. Mother and Parental Substitute or not, that should count as a superpower.
Ambition Is Evil: Or at least, Unfettered Ambition Will Make You Neglect Your Kids, by her own account.
Badass Boast:
- Gives three rather good ones in chapter 20 of Ghosts, when laying out an ultimatum of the 'do as I say or suffer' variety. One is the folder quote, the other two are below.
- When her target her son-in-law, Mr Danvers, who had previously tried to have Harry alter Carol's mind more to his liking tries to bluster.
I was running black ops missions before you were born, sonny. I went toe to toe with the Black Widow back in the bad old days. I dandled Tony Stark on my knee. Half the Chiefs of Staff owe me favours and the other half know to damn well pay attention when I call, even if they don't like what they hear.
- And then when he tries again.
Think back a few minutes. I made your company president, a man I have never met, do what I want, and I did it this morning. You know I did, because your boss made it clear to you just now, and I'm sure you would be allowed to check your company's records that will show that your promotion went through just before lunch. I did that after my morning run, during breakfast. Imagine what I could do if I was actually trying.
Batman Gambit: Used this to play a young Fury and Coulson like a harp, in relation to Clark Kent and the Smallville Meteor Shower, and did it so well that they didn't even know that she was even involved.
Blasé Boast: She gets off a couple of good ones regarding then-SHIELD Director Jim Woo, stating that he would do what she wanted regarding the adoption of baby Kal-El. Whether he was fully onboard with the idea or not.
Comes Great Responsibility: One of her driving motivations, and the one that arguably destroyed her relationship with her daughter who Refused the Call (they eventually patched things up). Said daughter ascribes it to feeling that she had to live up to her parents' legacy.
The Creon: Played With. She preferred to remain as Deputy Director of SHIELD, mentoring a young Nick Fury, rather than going for the Directorship herself. The World Security Council were wary of the kind of power and influence a Director with the Carter name could command - also, she didn't want the likes of Alexander Pierce taking too close a look at her background and her family. However, a flashback shows she could easily play The Woman Behind the Man to actual Director Jim Woo if she wanted to, and that in a confrontation, she would win.
Cultured Badass: She's a very well-dressed lady with the manners of the old British officer class, and gets references to Russian mythology. She's also one of the most terrifying people alive, and only gets more so as she officially comes out of retirement.
Daddy Issues: Very understated, but present, and it had knock-on effects through her whole family. See Freudian Excuse.
Deadpan Snarker: It soon becomes clear that Jack and Carol came by their snark honestly.
Determinator: Like the rest of the family, she has absolutely no concept of giving up. This has its upsides and its downsides.
Disappeared Dad: Steve. It affects her much more than she lets on.
Doting Grandparent: Cares deeply for and mentors her grandchildren, consoles Peter Parker when it looks like he might be turned into a Grey Court vampire, coos over a picture of baby Kal-El and treats the teenage Kal-El/Clark like one of her own grandchildren.
Expy: She's heavily influenced by the canon version of Agent 13/Sharon Carter, being Peggy's blonde and blue-eyed 'sister' and a prominent and powerful SHIELD Agent with a tendency to wear white, both in skill and capacity for ruthlessness.
Family Eye Resemblance: She has the same cornflower blue eyes as Carol, Sharon and her father, Steve.
The Fettered: As a young woman, she was the extremely driven version of this, obsessed with succeeding at SHIELD and living up to her parents' respective legends, to the point where it skewed into neglecting her children. She came to realise this and reeled back on the ambition to spend more time with them (though as she laments, it might have been too late).
Four-Star Badass: She was the Deputy Director of SHIELD back in the day, and has implied she only retired because Pierce and others were looking a little too hard at her past. Now that Pierce is gone, she's back in the job.
Freudian Excuse: The fact that she grew up both without her father and to an extent, in his shadow didn't help. However, it is implied that her mother vanishing in 1962, when she was 17, hit her much harder. More than one character notes that she modelled herself very heavily on Peggy, single-mindedly dedicating herself to SHIELD in an attempt to live up to her parents' legacy - which led to neglecting her children. She tried to make up for it, but frankly admits that she was 'a much better spy than a mother' and by pushing them towards SHIELD and related careers, caused her rift with her daughter.
Full-Name Ultimatum: Uses it on Tony, her godson, as it's one of the few ways of getting him to hear and obey that she cares to use. It seems to run in the family, considering how her son (Jack O'Neill) used it on her granddaughter/his niece, Carol. Ironically, he is the target of it when he fails to inform Alison of Carol's kidnapping, though her ire is also aimed at Steve and, though he doesn't notice it, Tony.
Generation Xerox: Carol takes very heavily after her, in both looks and, to an extent, attitude. Sharon looks a little less like her, being built more like Peggy, but has pretty much the exact same attitude. For Alison's part, she takes after Steve in body and Peggy in mind.
The Ghost: She's referred to several times before she actually appears, usually by Tony as his 'Aunt Ali'.
Good Counterpart: Judging by her codename of 'White Widow' and the hints we get, it's implied that for a while, she was this to Natasha.
Good Is Not Nice/Good Is Not Soft: Straddles both tropes. She neglected her children to pursue her duty (or in her mind, Duty), and while she tried to rectify it after a Jerkass Realization, she was too late. She's also ruthlessly manipulative, entirely willing to use a Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique without batting an eye, and is, when required to be, a self-admitted "callous bitch."
I Am Very British: Being Peggy Carter's 'sister', and therefore from a well-to-do British family, this is inevitable. Her accent is standard RP, though occasionally described as being flavoured by many years in the US, particularly New York. She's actually half Irish-American, through her father, Steve.
Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: As she puts it in chapter 20 of Ghosts, with on hand holding the subject of her wrath's wrist in a firm arm-lock and the other holding a mug of tea...
Now, I am going to ask questions, and you are going to answer them, swiftly and concisely. If you fail to do so, I will have a sense of humour failure and you will have a broken arm and several torn ligaments.
Jerkass Realization: When she saw how Howard's distant treatment of Tony was affecting the latter, she realised how her prioritisation of her career/desire to live up to the family legend was affecting her children and resolved to spend more time with them. Though as she admits, it might have been too little, too late.
Lady of War: She takes very heavily after Peggy, who instilled this trait in her. She's got the manners of the old British officer class, and combat skills that would do both mother and father proud.
Lineage Comes from the Father: Looks a lot like Steve, and her Super-Soldier abilities come from there too, but her mannerisms are entirely Peggy.
Mama Bear: See the folder quote. She personally led the raid to free her son when he was captured in the Gulf, played a key part in the raid on the Red Room in chapter 11 of Ghosts, and in chapter 20 finds out about what Mr Danvers tried to get Harry to do to Carol and then during her breakfast the next morning, arranges for him to be Kicked Upstairs, with a job that keeps him out of state and away from his family save for supervised social occasions while still able to support them, and coolly informs him that he will go along with what she is doing or she will make him suffer.
Manipulative Bitch: She spent most of her professional life as a high level SHIELD Agent, and a self-described "callous bitch" when required to be. And as chapter 34 of Ghosts reveals, she's far better than most...
Missing Mom: To her children when they were young. Oh, she was around... just not much.
- Her own mother vanished when she was 17, with what happened to her being an ongoing mystery - and while it is implied that Alison is one of the few people who knows exactly what happened, it is clear that trying to fill the gap her mother left had a strong and not entirely positive effect on her psyche.
Mum Looks Like a Sister: She looks closer to her children's age (early forties), even with ageing make-up, than her actual age (early sixties). Without it, she could pass as her oldest granddaughter's sister, apparently not having aged since her late twenties. She is very much not happy about this, observing that this must be what it was like for her father, when he came out of the ice, but in slow motion.
Nerves of Steel: She isn't in the slightest bit fazed by anything, and we mean anything. The most that happens is that her tone gets a little more clipped.
Never Mess with Granny: She's a warm, kindly grandmother who dotes on and teases her grandchildren and pseudo-godson, Clark Kent, having learnt from her mistakes as a parent. She's also a Super-Soldier, an incredibly experienced super-spy, having counted pre Heel–Face Turn Natasha as a 'sparring partner'. She also takes a very effective part in the raid on the Red Room when she's well into her sixties.
- Additionally, she can silence both Jack O'Neill and Tony Stark (her son and godson, respectively), as well as Deadpool, verbally break Alexander Pierce in the space of five minutes (admittedly, she had a trump card in the Red Son being loose) and in chapter 20 in the space of a morning she arranges for he son-in-law to be Kicked Upstairs, out of state, and informs him of what's going to happen: he's going to take the job, stay away from the family save for supervised holidays, unless they decide they don't want him there, support them and stay faithful to his wife unless they divorce. If he doesn't, she'll make him wish she'd killed him. When he tries to bluster, she effortlessly takes his wrist in one hand and twists his arm to breaking point, while seated, drinking tea, and not missing a beat.
Noodle Incident: Apparently, she found out the truth about her heritage after she was kidnapped by 'the Red Room and their alien allies' for the serum in her blood as a child. She later reveals that Mar-Vell, Piotr Rasputin a.k.a. Colossus, Howard Stark, a teenage Charles Xavier, and a young Jor-El were all involved.
- Whatever happened in Jacksonville, which included Deadpool getting a look at her rear in SHIELD spandex, straying a bit too close to some explosives, and owing her a favor.
Old Master: Despite being retired for several years, she can still pick out a watching Steve (himself no slouch when it comes to hiding) at a glance and still has her finger on the pulse. She's also still lethal in combat, and can out-gambit Alexander Pierce, even reveals he knows her secret and effortlessly susses out why she's present. She also successfully manipulated Coulson and Fury into being the first two SHIELD Agents to encounter a young Clark Kent, accurately judging them to be most inclined to take the more humane approach. The crowning part, though, is that she did this without them even knowing she was involved.
Older Than They Look: Thanks to her inherited serum, she looks in her forties as opposed to her sixties - and that's after ageing make-up is applied. Tony complains that she's starting to look younger than he does. If anything, she already does.
Parental Abandonment: On the receiving end, with her father disappearing before she was born, and her mother vanishing when she was in her late teens. This is implied by her daughter to have left her with significant issues that took her most of her life to overcome, namely a driving impulse to live up to her parents' legend, no matter what.
Parental Neglect: She admits to Carol that she was a very imperfect parent, choosing her career over her children for much of their early childhood, only realising her mistakes when she saw how Howard treated Tony. At that point, she realised that she was looking in a mirror and decided that she didn't like what she saw, setting out to make amends - though as she sadly admits, by that point the damage was already done.
Parental Substitute: To Tony, given that both of his parents were often absent.
Parents as People: Admits to Carol, and later, the Kent family, that she was 'a much better spy than a mother'. She was single-minded in her desire to succeed at SHIELD, to be the best and live up to Peggy's (and Steve's) legacy. It wasn't until Tony was born and she saw how Howard treated him (and the effect that had) that she realised her mistakes. However, as she laments, she was arguably too late, and even after trying to be better, she still unconsciously tried to mould her children in her image, which resulted in pushing her daughter away. Alison acknowledges her mistakes, observes that she hopes she's a decent grandmother because she's learned from them, and she and Marie seem to have since reconciled.
Red Baron:
- Ivan Petrovitch calls her 'Vasilisa', after a heroine from Russian myth known for her cleverness. Her amused response of "Flatterer" suggests she knows exactly what he's talking about.
- A throwaway comment in Ghosts mentions that she was known as 'the White Widow' during the Cold War.
Retired Badass: Though apparently retirement is boring. Going by her interview of Pierce, it certainly hasn't left her rusty. After Forever Red , she doesn't even pretend to be retired any longer. As of chapter 34, it's revealed that even while retired, she had people keep an eye on Harry as a courtesy, since his grandparents were SHIELD Agents (like other observers, however, they were prevented from blowing the whistle by Sinister, which leads to Alison noting that she owes them an apology for chewing them out), and she was also still secretly arranging for the protection of Clark Kent.
Secret Secret-Keeper: She's known about her heritage since she was eight. Additionally, she's simultaneously known about Clark Kent and arranged for his protection, and has managed it so secretly that even Fury and Coulson, who she manipulated into being the first SHIELD Agents to encounter a young Clark Kent on the grounds that she knew exactly how they'd react, who also took measures to protect him, had no idea she was involved until she told them.
Silk Hiding Steel: She's an immaculately dressed and glamorous woman, a loving grandmother, and is noted by Clark Kent to look like a 'suburban soccer mom from central casting', albeit of the upper class 'ladies who lunch' variety. She's also a master spy with a core of solid adamantium, who can play the likes of Nick Fury and Phil Coulson like a harp and used to go up against the Black Widow herself in 'the bad old days'. At one point, she twists her son-in-law's arm almost to the breaking point with one hand, while sipping tea with the other. All in all, this is one aspect of her personality where she very definitely takes after her mother.
Silver Vixen: As one would expect, going by the rest of her family and the fact that under her disguise, she hasn't aged past her late twenties.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Has been noted to occasionally do this in order to mess with her father or granddaughter.
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: A super spy that successful isn't going to have had much time for her children, and it's not surprising that someone growing up in the shadow of Captain America and one of the founders of SHIELD would have trouble accepting a child who doesn't want to live up to that legacy.
The Spock: Despite her emotional fixation on her family having a Duty, she's this in relation to Jack's The Kirk and Marie's The McCoy. Alternatively, she's this in relation to Steve's The McCoy and Carol's The Kirk.
The Spy Master: As most of the rest of the folder demonstrates, she was brilliant at this, and only ruled herself out of the running for Director of SHIELD because of SHIELD politics and because she wanted to avoid further examination of her family's past - and even then, as she hints in a flashback, she could effectively overrule the then Director if she wanted to.
Stepford Smiler: She's hiding a lot of pain under the cool grandma facade.
Stiff Upper Lip: She remains calm and in control at all times.
Super-Soldier: Three guesses where it came from, and the first two don't count.
To Be Lawful or Good: An odd example, in that her opting for Good was both the catalyst to her trying to make up for her Parental Neglect, and also a key part of the rift with her daughter, with the latter characterising the stubbornness with which she opted for Good and her unyielding mentality of Comes Great Responsibility as part of the problem.
"Well Done, Daughter!" Gal: It's not immediately obvious, what with her cool, confident and classy demeanour, but it underpins her character. What with the fact that her father was the then believed dead Captain America, and her mother was Peggy Carter, a legend at the SSR/early SHIELD, who disappeared when Alison was 17, she was left feeling she needed to fill the gap they left, fulfill 'the Duty', and get her children (who she at first neglected to fulfil said duty) to follow in her footsteps. One did, the other didn't, creating a major rift between the two of them (though one that has since been patched up).
The Woman Behind the Man: Heavily implied to have been this at SHIELD. While she never rose above Deputy Director for a number of reasons, she bluntly states to Jor-El in a flashback that the actual Director, Jim Woo, will listen to her, and if it comes to it, she can overrule him as her roots in SHIELD run deeper than his do.
You Are Number 6: She was the first Agent 13.

Peggy Carter

Deputy Director Margaret 'Peggy' Carter

Formerly one of the SSR's elite agents during WWII, as well as confidant, friend, and ultimately lover of Steve Rogers, she was one of the key founders of SHIELD, and one of its leading members as the Deputy Director up until her unexplained disappearance in 1962. Her life up to that point was extremely eventful one. Aside from her association with Steve, Howard, the Commandos, and thus Namor, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, she also made a very good impression on Captain Mar-Vell, went toe to toe with the Red Room for the sake of her daughter, helped a young Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr form the First Class of X-Men, and befriended a young Jor-El. As a result of this, she casts a long shadow over the plot.

Action Mom: Of Alison, though she pretended that it was more along the lines of Big Sister Instinct.
Big Sister Instinct: What her attitude to her daughter was assumed to be, thanks to her careful concealment of Alison's origins.
Exact Words: A reason that many suspect that she might not be dead - whenever the subject comes up, the people in a position to know tend to avoid coming out and saying that she's dead.
Hero of Another Story: She did a lot of extremely badass things back in the day, but has been missing presumed dead for half a century.
In the Blood: Arse-kicking is clearly genetic, going by Alison and the rest of her family.
Lady of War: She was raised a proper lady of the old English officer class with all the appropriate manners, and could kick arse with the best of them, both of which she passed on to Alison.
The Lost Lenore: To Steve.
Mama Bear: Implied to have unleashed one hell of a can of arse-kicking on the Red Room and their Kree allies when they kidnapped an eight-year-old Alison.
My Secret Pregnancy: Kept her pregnancy as secret as possible and passed Alison off as her little sister, knowing exactly how even the nominal good guys would want to study the daughter of Steve Rogers.
Never Found the Body: The strongest supporting factor behind suggestions that she isn't dead.
Posthumous Character: Possibly - she hasn't been seen for nearly 50 years, but the hints are that she isn't dead. Of those who know (Strange, Alison, Magneto, and the rest of the 'First Class' of X-Men), only Strange has said anything on the subject - apparently, it's "wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey".
Small Role, Big Impact: She never actually appears in the story, but even leaving aside the fact that she's Alison's mother, her actions have a massive impact on the plot.
The Unsolved Mystery: Her disappearance is one, with some speculating on who might have killed her. Candidates include HYDRA, the Hellfire Club, Namor, and a young Magneto (who came to prominence just as she vanished). Others suggest that she might be the mysterious Lady Knight. What exactly happened is as yet unconfirmed, though it is hinted that Doctor Strange, Alison, and the First Class of X-Men all know what happened, and are keeping it a secret.
Villain Respect: Pierce notes that he met Peggy once as a young Agent and found her to be a very formidable and impressive woman, later needling Alison, her 'sister', about not matching up to her.

Alan Scott

Alan Scott a.k.a. Green Lantern I

My name is Alan Scott. In life, I was an Agent of SHIELD and I used to wield that ring you're wearing. And I'm going to give you a crash course in how to use it.

Agent of SHIELD, chief opponent of Magneto, and the first wielder of the Green Lantern Ring in the modern era. Retired in the late 1990's, before being killed in the Battle of New York. Several years dead by the time of the story, he nevertheless makes an appearance courtesy of Death to teach Carol the basics of ring slinging. Has at least one child, Jade, who's currently attending Hogwarts.

Action Dad: A father and a superhero, taking on Magneto single-handedly back in the day, and handling any of SHIELD's Omega level problems, such as Project Pegasus.
The Big Guy: He was SHIELD's big gun, one they have yet to adequately replace.
The Cameo: At the end of chapter 75.
The Chosen One: The Green Lantern Ring chose him, literally: according to Strange, it has a mind of its own.
Combo Platter Powers: With the Lantern. In addition to flight, energy blasts, and hard light constructs, he was able to use it to teleport, heal, change his size, and more.
Famed In-Story: As the Green Lantern, he had name recognition across the supernatural world.
The Generic Guy: In appearance, being described as being of average height, with sandy blond hair and brown eyes. This strikes a dramatic contrast to his towering reputation.
Heroic Willpower: Magneto referred to him as "the man who wrote the book on willpower." Unsurprising, really, given it's required to wield the ring.
Imagination-Based Superpower: Wielded the original Green Lantern Ring.
Nice Guy: His post-mortem cameo has him shown with a kind smile and he immediately helps Carol with the ring.
Noodle Incident:
- What happened at Project Pegasus, the last attempt by the US government to meddle with magic. While Unfinished Business explains a good deal of what was going on, it still leaves a lot of gaps as to what exactly happened.
- How did his fight with Magneto in Madripoor go? What happened in the mission around it, designed explicitly to lure Magneto out? We don't know, but we do know that he put Magneto, of all people, in the ICU for months.
- It's implied that he also worked alongside Magneto at least once.
Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: Inevitable, since he's dead, but he's mentioned with respect by Magneto as having been his chief sparring partner and a Worthy Opponent, whose ring he often saw up close, usually because it was coming at his face along with the rest of Scott's fist. Once, Scott actually put him in the ICU. Considering what Magneto has been demonstrated to be capable of even when holding back, this is crazy impressive.
- Also mentioned as having sealed Project Pegasus. Considering what we see of Pegasus in Unfinished Business, and confirmation that not only are the main characters avoiding the worst of what's there, and that they're far less formidable than the monsters Scott cleared out when he cleansed Pegasus, then what we see when the Arc Villain fully unleashes it... that is incredibly impressive.
Posthumous Character: Dead for several years by the time of the story, though he appears as a ghost in chapter 75.
Retired Badass: Gave up the Ring and retired after the 'Smallville Situation' ended and all seemed quiet - and, implicitly, because the Ring tends to bend people towards its way of thinking after a while (which is concerned with protecting the Earth and its magic, rather than little things like 'humans' or 'collateral damage').

Remus Lupin

Joined SHIELD after his teaching career at Hogwarts fell through. For his folder, see the entry under Avengers and Associates.

MI13

The modern version of an organisation that has existed for centuries, the modern version was formed out of British elements of the SSR and was essentially the British answer to SHIELD, HYDRA, and the Red Room.

In General

Arch-Enemy:
- HYDRA function as this throughout Child of the Storm, after they make a manful attempt at wiping MI13 out entirely. All they succeeded in doing was making them far, far more dangerous.
- The Death Eaters were this during the Voldemort War.
Came Back Strong: HYDRA's attack during the events of Child of the Storm results in a leaner, more efficient and much more deadly organisation under the stewardship of Peter Wisdom, one that is increasingly influential in British politics. By the sequel, they have a monstrously powerful helicarrier, HMS Valiant, with Stark-tech engines and vibranium armour, which can go toe to toe with the kind of monsters that give Thor a hard time.
Cape Busters: Meant to be a benevolent variant, hunting down monsters and protecting Britain from superhuman/supernatural bad guys. However, Dresden indicates that a lot of the magical community lives in fear of at least some of their members, especially its current leader, Peter Wisdom, who Dresden describes as making Inspector Javert look like Mother Theresa. Certainly, the British Ministry of Magic is somewhat terrified of them from Ghosts onwards, though that's based on Wisdom's ambition and grudge against Fudge.
Cloak and Dagger: Even more so than SHIELD, since they're even more secretive, they employ more heavyweight superpowered personnel, and a resurrected James Bond as a form of, in Wisdom's words, 'techno-zombie'.
The Dreaded: To varying extents, especially to the British Ministry after Peter Wisdom takes charge. The amount of superhuman power they can bring to bear, their ruthlessness, plus the fact that unlike SHIELD, they still operate mostly in the shadows, means that they're this for good reason.
Government Agency of Fiction: A straighter version than SHIELD, since they actually are run by the British government (though following Wisdom's ascension to the Directorship, more than a few people suspect that it's actually the other way around...)
Heroes "R" Us: They train and equip the Excalibur squad, here depicted as a government superhuman strike team composed of Betsy Braddock, Banshee, Archangel, Black Knight, John Constantine (because he owed Wisdom a favour), Jessica Drew (also Deputy Director of MI13), and Wanda Maximoff (once, and only because Wisdom blackmailed her).
Inter-Service Rivalry: The general consensus of the other military and intelligence organisations in Britain is that MI13 (or possibly just their new boss, Peter Wisdom) are creepy and weird and far too powerful for anyone's comfort.
Mad Scientist: They employ quite a few, according to both Wisdom and Betsy.
The Men in Black: Function as this even more than SHIELD do, even in a semi Unmasqued World, with Wisdom himself being a prime example - though unlike most examples, he is perfectly happy to show emotion through an impressive barrage of foul language.
Not Wearing Tights: For the most part, their Excalibur squad sticks to practical armour or a Spy Catsuit at most.
Pint Sized Power House: As compared to multinational scale peers and rivals like SHIELD, HYDRA, and the Red Room.
Spy Catsuit: Sometimes worn by the likes of Jessica Drew.

Peter Wisdom

Director Peter Wisdom a.k.a. Regulus Black

We're MI13, we break the laws of nature for a living.

Agent, later Director, of MI13, mutant, wanded wizard and protégé of Nick Fury. 'Hero' might be stretching it. Like his canon counterpart, he has a tendency to wear suits, smoke and snark. Resourceful, immensely driven, calculating, manipulative and utterly ruthless, he will allow nothing to stand in the way of the defence of the realm. Essentially Fury with additional superpowers, a total disregard for his own life, and a surgically removed conscience.

In Ghosts, he's unchallenged in Muggle Britain and is leveraging more and more power over the Ministry.

The Atoner: Pretty much his raison d'etre.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: His brother, Sirius, reliably brings out his very limited human qualities.
Badass Boast:
- On behalf of his agency in when resurrecting James Bond as a kind of techno-zombie.
"We're MI13, we break the laws of nature for a living."
- Gives one to the Ministry in Ghosts, backed up by three beefed up Quinjets.
I am the Director of MI13 and because you lot are incapable of policing yourselves, it is now my job. If the cockroaches are going to crawl out of the shadows, I'm the one who's going to turn on the lights. I have the authority of the Crown behind me on this, so I assure you, Diggory, that right now I can do whatever the hell I like, and god help whoever gets in my way!
Badass in a Nice Suit: Albeit a somewhat rumpled one. While wearing it, he went toe to toe with the Winter Soldier and survived the experience.
Badass Long Coat: Occasionally wears one over the suit.
The Chessmaster: His treatment of Warren bears more than a few hallmarks of this trope, much to Cassidy's disgust.
Combat Pragmatist: He's a no-nonsense fighter, always willing to attack from behind or the shadows, though he doesn't lack courage in a straight up fight (he went one on one with the Winter Soldier and survived). Out of direct combat, he will always go for whatever option (he believes) is best for Britain. No matter what.
Composite Character: Of Marvel's Peter Wisdom and Regulus Black. Word of God also vaguely wonders in chapter 80 if he's starting to gain a few character traits from Sam Vimes.
Control Freak: Thor notes this about him and Wisdom doesn't deny it. Betsy outright states it in the sequel.
Dark and Troubled Past: He used to be Regulus Black, a Death Eater. His attitude to this is That Man Is Dead.
Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally, with a somewhat dark twist.
Death Seeker: Less 'Seeker', more 'Entirely Indifferent to the Prospect'. It's one of the things that makes him so terrifyingly dangerous.
The Dreaded: Pretty much everyone who's heard of him is scared of him, or at least, what he might do. Karkaroff is even more scared of him than he was of Moody in canon (though that's also suggested to be because he recognises who Wisdom used to be). Given that he's essentially a more superficially sane version of Mad-Eye Moody with more abilities, fewer ethics, and by the sequel, the resources of a powerful nation behind him, this is entirely justified.
Elaborate Underground Base: When he takes control of MI13, he converts abandoned and disused portions of the London Underground into a series of bases to operate out of.
Famed In-Story: Not to any great extent at first, but he's known and feared. Dresden notes that he has a reputation for making Inspector Javert look like Mother Theresa. By the start of Ghosts, his reputation has grown dramatically.
Foil: To T'Challa. They're both supernaturally gifted, born to privilege and after a traumatic Near-Death Experience, are shocked out of their comfort zone. They both love their respective nations with a passion, sharing a moment when they both remark on how they were seduced by their countries in early adulthood and both are pragmatic and highly capable political operators, though for the time being, Wisdom is better at it. However, while T'Challa, educated away from Wakanda in the sciences, embraces the mystical traditions of his people, Wisdom rejects his own mystical upbringing and embraces the sciences and the mundane world. Oh, and T'Challa is a noble man with a good heart. Wisdom is not noble, and doesn't have much of a heart.
Four-Star Badass: On his promotion to the Directorship of MI13, fighting on the front lines, having previously gone one on one with the Winter Soldier and survived to make his escape.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Very few people know where he comes from and consequently, don't trust him. Even those who do know find his cynical, misanthropic and ruthlessly manipulative personality unsettling at best. The PM likes him, though, mostly because he finds his confidence reassuring.
Good Is Not Nice: Good is stretching it. Much like his mentor, Nick Fury, he's grumpy, snarky and ruthless, and he won't blink an eye before manipulating a genuinely good person into doing what he wants. There's a difference, though: Fury wants heroes. Wisdom wants soldiers.
- When talking to Pepper about Stark Industries building Britain two Helicarriers and revamping the current one and notes how he expects Tony to slip in something just in case and approves. He also adds that if he was going to fight Tony, he wouldn't use Helicarriers. The implied threat does not go unnoticed.
- At the World Cup, he threatens Crouch and Amos Diggory alike with (among other things) three large and heavily armed quinjets, taking the former into custody. It is also implied that the quinjet that effectively vaporised Mulciber did so on his orders.
- After Forever Red, he allows Harry back to Hogwarts after Thor persuades him - at Hogwarts, he can keep a close eye on Harry, and if he goes Dark Phoenix, then it makes no difference whether he's on Earth or Asgard. However, he then flatly states that he's doing this because he thinks that it's the best option for Britain. If that was putting a bullet through Harry's skull instead, he'd do it (though he admits that he'd feel guilty).
Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Notes to Jackie Falsworth that he picked the habit up from John Constantine.
Heel–Face Turn: He used to be a Death Eater before he realised what they were really like. Of course, it's up for debate how much of a 'Face' he really is.
Inspector Javert: According to Harry Dresden, he made the Trope Namer look like Mother Teresa. Everything seen so far has only confirmed this impression.
Inter-Service Rivalry: M doesn't like or trust him and he's intent on picking a fight with the Ministry, planning to supplant them as chief handlers of the supernatural in Britain.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: It's there. Somewhere. Buried deep, deep down.
Knight in Sour Armour: The armour isn't quite impenetrable, but it's pretty thick.
Manipulative Bastard: He's a master of the art, unsurprisingly.
- Successfully blackmails Wanda into being his ace in the hole by threatening to tell her daughter, Hermione, that Wanda is her mother. As is pointed out in-universe, doing it this way maximises emotional damage while minimising civilian casualties-very much his MO.
- He also sets up Warren - if Hogwarts was attacked, he'd be forced to use his wings and start killing or risk the lives of all the children in the castle, leaving him ready to be moulded into a soldier. Cassidy's reaction is one of fury and utter disgust.
- He's also playing the Ministry like a harp, exploiting their confusion following their losses, their fear of him (which is why Fudge is still in office - no one wants to have to deal with Wisdom), and his own firepower advantage, to slowly supplant them. Word of God is that he actually doesn't mind Fudge being Minister because: a) he already controls the parts of the Ministry that he absolutely needs to and b) Fudge is too incompetent to notice that Wisdom is slowly taking the rest.
Man of the City: A national level variant. His only - and we mean only - concern is the protection of Britain from threats, mystical or mundane. Any implication that he might put his own interests ahead of his country's really upsets him. Unfortunately, this also makes him The Unfettered, as there's practically nothing he won't do to protect his country.
Married to the Job: As far as he's concerned, his job is the only reason he still exists, and he has no life outside of it. It's hinted in his brief Ship Tease with Jessica Drew that he once thought otherwise, but he put his job first.
Morality Chain: Part of the reason he keeps Cassidy around as his de facto third-in-command, after himself and Jessica Drew, is because he knows that Cassidy will stop him from going too far - by killing him if needs be.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Surprisingly, for all his copious cynicism, he's actually a genuine patriot and expresses absolute fury at the suggestion that he might put his own interests ahead of those of his country. Indeed, this is arguably what makes him so very dangerous.
Mysterious Past: In-Universe. Very few people know where he came from, which is why most of his peers don't trust him. Even knowing who he is, however, the details of how he was saved from dying, developed his mutation, and ended up as Fury's protege, are unclear.
Nerves of Steel: Isn't in the least fazed by a furious Sean Cassidy, despite knowing exactly how dangerous the man is. Once he 'died' thirteen or so years ago, everything thereafter, every chance to undo the evil he helped create, is simply a bonus. An angry and paternally protective Thor barely makes him glance up from his paperwork.
Not Wearing Tights: Sticks to the same constantly rumpled suit.
Not So Above It All: In one of his earlier appearances, he sends his accent wandering all over Britain just to annoy Fury. He also enjoys psychologically torturing Fudge, which is described as the closest thing he has to a hobby.
Not So Stoic: Actually starts drooling when Strange transforms a volcano into a mithril/vibranium mine. This becomes something of a Running Gag.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: No one can imagine him smiling, and when he's cheerful after the First Task, more or less everybody else is thoroughly creeped out.
Over Ranked Soldier: Even more than Nick Fury - he becomes Director of MI13 at 31. This, however, is because he's one of its few surviving senior Agents. And as M admits, he's very good at his job.
Perpetual Frowner: His default is grim and grumpy. If he's smiling, it's usually a sign that something unpleasant is happening to someone deserving. When he starts genuinely smiling and acting cheerful after the Of Dungeons and Dragons arc in Ghosts, everyone finds it disturbing - Betsy remarks that she didn't know he even did happy, and T'Challa is perversely reassured when he reverts to his usual grim and grumpy self.
Pet the Dog: He gets a few.
- It's stated that, even though he doesn't particularly care about having heroes in his service, he still believes in them.
- His immediate reaction to the possibility that Sirius might be injured is one of brief but serious worry. Sirius is also one of only two people who he lets call him Regulus (albeit grudgingly), the other being Kreacher, because he thinks that the shock of discovering that 'Master Regulus' had entirely abandoned the Black name would kill the elderly house elf.
- He also seems genuinely sympathetic to both T'Challa and the Weasleys regarding the death of their respective fathers, calling Arthur in particular "a good man."
- Subverted when he bluntly disabuses Thor and Sirius of any notion that he's letting Harry return to Hogwarts after the Dark Phoenix Incident out of sentiment. Rather, it's because they persuaded him that it's just about the best option - if killing him was a better option, he'd do that instead. That being said, he is genuinely sympathetic to what Harry went through.
Playing with Fire: His hot knives.
Pragmatic Hero: On his better days. On his worse days, he veers closer to Pragmatic Anti-Villain.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: To a luckless HYDRA Agent, part of a team lured into a trap.
I'll let you in on a little secret, sunshine. That intel? It wasn't good.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Betsy describes him as being this in Ghosts, noting that while he's not exactly the kind of boss one would want to take out for a drink after work, he is a good leader who trusts his subordinates to do what they need to do.
"Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a vicious one, combined with a Badass Boast, to the Ministry in chapter 2 of Ghosts of the Past.
The Dark Mark is in the sky. The Death Eaters are up to their old tricks. The security of Britain is threatened. All because you stupid bastards didn't do your job at the end of the fucking War! You just let them all slip away, didn't you, with excuses like 'a big Death Eater made me do it and ran away'! And now they're back. Maybe not organised, maybe nothing but drunks out for a bit of fun, but now all the cockroaches are scuttling out of the shadows and that's a problem because you know what? Voldemort's back too! He's back and he's using them as fucking puppets! I am the Director of MI13 and because you lot are incapable of policing yourselves, it is now my job. If the cockroaches are going to crawl out of the shadows, I'm the one who's going to turn on the lights. I have the authority of the Crown behind me on this, so I assure you, Diggory, that right now I can do whatever the hell I like, and god help whoever gets in my way!
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The cold, calculating and merciless Blue, to Sirius' Hot-Blooded Honour Before Reason Red.
Ship Tease: Briefly with his right hand woman, Jessica Drew. Subverted, though, as his POV section makes reference to his realising that he'd have to pick between dating and having the two of them be separated at work or putting the feelings aside and picking the latter.
The Sociopath: Not quite, but sometimes it's very hard to tell that he actually has the withered remains of a conscience, buried deep down inside.
Sociopathic Hero: By Ghosts of the Past, he's evolved entirely into this.
Stepford Snarker: Considering everything he's been through, this isn't too surprising.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Much like his brother, Sirius Black.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Much like his canon counterpart and his other canon counterpart's brother.
That Man Is Dead: Hints at this attitude in regard to his past life when he remarks that he feels that he died over a decade ago and everything since has simply been a bonus.
Token Evil Teammate: Even including Loki and Fury, he's by far the most ruthless and at times, downright amoral, of the good guys. Wanda compares him to a pre Heel–Face Turn Magneto, and he makes it abundantly clear (to Harry's father and godfather, the latter being his brother) that if he thought that putting a bullet through Harry's head would be the best option for Britain, he'd do it without blinking twice, guilt and divine wrath notwithstanding.
- On the milder end of things, it's mentioned that making Fudge suffer is pretty much his one pleasure in life.
Took a Level in Badass: Went from being an average Death Eater to having a mutation and being Fury's protege and one of the most powerful people in Britain, capable of surviving an encounter with the Winter Soldier.
Trench Coat Brigade: A card-carrying member of this.
Unexpected Character: While Peter Wisdom isn't exactly that much of a stretch to include, no one saw him being Regulus Black coming.
The Unfettered: Imagine Nick Fury with superpowers, and a surgically removed (or at least, suppressed) conscience, and you've got Wisdom. His dialogue with Cassidy makes it very clear that he is this trope, and Wanda later compares him to her father 'before he went soft.' It's a large part of what makes him so terrifyingly dangerous.
What the Hell Is That Accent?: Intentionally invokes this on one occasion to annoy Fury. His default is a rough East London accent with a hint of class beneath it, though his natural RP creeps through when he loses concentration.
Wolverine Claws: He can use his 'hot knives' as these, to gruesome effect.
Would Hurt a Child: He makes it very clear in Ghosts that if he thought putting a bullet through Harry's skull would better protect Britain, he'd do it. He wouldn't want to, but he'd do it in a heartbeat and take the guilt and vicious divine vengeance as it came. As he notes, he doesn't plan to, though, as he knows very well that a) it wouldn't work, b) it would have the exact opposite of the intended effect.

Sean Cassidy

Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee

Most people are a little reluctant to employ a former spy.

One of the First Class of X-Men who has since led a peripatetic career as an Intelligence Officer during the Vietnam War, an Interpol Detective a teacher and bodyguard for the Hogwarts student body, along with his protégé, Warren Worthington III, and most recently, an Agent of MI13. Currently looks about thirty despite being well into his sixties. The reasons for this have, as yet, only been alluded to.

Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Averts this, despite having more reason to angst.
Adaptational Badass: While no slouch to begin with, this version is considerably more dangerous than either his comic or film selves. One reviewer described him as Black Bolt-lite, power wise, and for good reason.
Anti-Hero: For all that he's a Reasonable Authority Figure and a Nice Guy, he is shown to be capable of spectacularly vicious revenge and is more than willing to keep secrets and lie by omission.
The Anti-Nihilist: Despite everything he's been through, he remains kind, cheerful and upbeat. However, he isn't entirely unmarked by his experiences, having developed a taste for Revenge that he has to be careful to control.
Badass Teacher: In Child of the Storm, and specifically recruited for his badassery. His teaching (of hand to hand combat) is just to officially justify his presence at Hogwarts.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's kindly, friendly and funny, a classic Reasonable Authority Figure. However, he's also one of the most dangerous men alive, is described by Peter Wisdom as 'a scary, scary man' and god help you if you threaten or worse, hurt, his students. If you're lucky, he'll take you apart. If you're unlucky, he'll shatter every bone in your body and leave you as a twitching bag of meat.
- Then there's whatever it was he did to the IRA cell that killed his wife. It's not elaborated upon, but the fact that he still gives Nick Fury occasional nightmares, many years later, says all that needs to be said.
Big Brother Mentor: Expresses regret that he didn't get the chance to be this to his younger cousin, Black Tom, who doesn't seem to be a mutant - though his mutant powers are alluded to when Sean comments that he's 'good with plants'.
Blood Knight: See the aforementioned taste for Revenge.
Boxing Lessons for Superman: Mentions that he learned aikido to invoke this trope, and teaches these to the Hogwarts students, specifically focusing on Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and mainly Harry). In the sequel, he starts - somewhat reluctantly - teaching Ron in earnest.
Brave Scot: Or perhaps Brave Generically Celtic might be more accurate, thanks to his being Irish-American, having lived in Scotland and Ireland for much of his life, and spent over two decades sparring with the IRA.
Combat Pragmatist: Espouses this philosophy and ruthlessly practises what he preaches.
Compelling Voice: Part of his power set. He apparently used it on the IRA cell that killed his wife in ways that still give Nick Fury nightmares.
Cool Old Guy: He's well past 60, but he quickly becomes a favourite teacher at Hogwarts with his charm, open attitude, and easy sense of humour, and becomes a good mentor to first Harry, then Ron.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He generally seems to be a fairly happy-go-lucky sort of guy. He's also a Vietnam vet, one of the First Class of the X-Men and considered by Nick Fury, Peter Wisdom, Lucius Malfoy, and the Red Room to be very dangerous indeed.
Crusading Widower: A surprisingly cheerful, happy go lucky variant. However, it is stated that he's had over a decade to grieve, whatever he did with his Compelling Voice during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge still occasionally gives Nick Fury nightmares and he's got a taste for Revenge, one that he does his bet to keep a lid on. Also you really don't want to cross him.
Dark and Troubled Past: Despite his almost purposefully cheerful demeanour, there's more than a few shadows in his past. His wife's death at the hands of the IRA and his resultant Roaring Rampage of Revenge are just the most notable - he's dealt with enough similar cases to identify abuse and the methods of a sexual predator.
Demoted to Extra: In Ghosts he goes from supporting character to an extra, getting the occasional cameo, though he gets a bit more focus after the action returns to Hogwarts.
Fatal Flaw: Revenge. More implied than stated, but he's hinted that he got a taste for it during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge after his wife's death, though he's fully aware that it's not a good thing and tries to suppress it.
Glass-Shattering Sound: He can do this to glass and many other materials by hitting their resonant frequency. Like bone.
Good Is Not Soft: He is a patient and wise Reasonable Authority Figure with a good sense of humour and a kind heart. He is also capable of doing things that give Nick Fury recurrent nightmares when he needs to.
Funetik Aksent: Occasionally, depending on choice and stress.
Hot Teacher: Looks about thirty for unrevealed reasons and happens to be very attractive, as most of the school (and not just the girls) notices.
Inter Generational Friendship: With Warren, who notes that Sean is old enough to be his grandfather, 'just refuses to have the decency to look it'.
The Lancer: To Wisdom. If Jessica Drew is his right-hand, Sean is his left. He's a classical hero to Wisdom's ruthless spy, and doesn't trust Wisdom one inch. The main reason that he's at MI13 is to keep an eye on Wisdom, and it's even implied that he'll kill him if necessary. However, Wisdom is implied to be okay with this idea, and he's also a highly competent and experienced spy. This, combined with his integrity, means that Wisdom trusts him to run MI13's Hogwarts/Triwizard/ Vibranium-Mithril mine business while he and Drew are elsewhere.
Living Lie Detector: He can hear someone's heartbeat change.
Make Some Noise: On top of his canonical powers of flight and creating sonic waves, he can, among other things, hit the frequency resonance of absolutely anything and can cancel sound waves to move in total silence.
Manly Tears: When he finds Luna's body.
Man of a Thousand Voices: He can mimic a voice perfectly and speak in just about any kind of accent that he chooses.
The Mentor: To Harry in Child of the Storm, before becoming one to Ron in Ghosts, while remaining as this and a Parental Substitute to Warren in both.
Occult Blue Eyes: Is noted as having remarkable sea blue eyes.
Old Soldier: He's over sixty (though he doesn't look it), one of the founding members of the X-Men, is a Vietnam veteran and took on the IRA as a detective for Interpol. He was also sounded out by Nick Fury for the Avengers Initiative, picked by Peter Wisdom for his Excalibur squad and regarded by Lucius Malfoy to be a serious threat.
Older Than They Look: No one's quite sure why he looks about thirty, but it's suggested to be something to do with a living island called Krakoa...
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In-universe example. Part of his powers means that he can imitate any accent perfectly and usually settles on a slightly Irish brogue. It thickens significantly under stress or when he gets angry. This is generally a good time to start running.
Papa Wolf: Don't hurt kids under his protection. Just don't.
Parental Substitute: To Warren and Ron, offering emotional support that both young men desperately need.
Pietà Plagiarism: With Luna's dead body.
Put on a Bus: For most of the first 40 chapters of Ghosts, being a background figure at best, before reappearing as a somewhat reluctant teacher for a very driven Ron.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Is remarkably tolerant of Harry's snark, gently pointing out that while he found it funny, not everyone would and that he shouldn't go looking for more trouble (Harry visibly takes this on board) and of Harry's investigating into his painful past. However, you shouldn't push him too far.
Red Baron: The Banshee. Even the Red Room know and respect it.
Revenge Before Reason: More than once warns against this trope, knowing the consequences from personal experience.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Against the IRA cell that killed his wife. It was, apparently... creative. He repeated the trick in chapters 70 and 71 when HYDRA attacked the school and he found Luna's corpse.
Scotireland: Lampshaded by the fact that he's lived in Ireland and Scotland for a considerable portion of his life and, to complicate matters further, is originally Irish-American.
Secret-Keeper: Implied to be this for the Angel of Cuba and, like the rest of the First Class, regarding whatever actually happened to Peggy Carter.
Sour Supporter: He neither likes nor trusts Wisdom, which he goes to no trouble to hide. Indeed, he is fully prepared to kill him if he thinks that the other man is going too far. However, he continues to work for MI13 int the sequel because he thinks it's a job that needs doing, because he wants to protect Warren, and because he wants to be around to rein in Wisdom.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Can pull this off well enough to startle Freki and Geri, thanks to his audiokinesis, which, among other things, allows him to dampen sound around him.
Super-Senses: Thanks to his powers, he's got enhanced hearing, strong enough to use as sonar.
Team Dad: To the Excalibur squad, being the oldest member, and playing Parental Substitute to Warren and later, to a certain extent, Ron.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Warren.
Who Watches the Watchmen?: As noted above, his job at MI13 in large part involves reining in/keeping an eye on Wisdom.
Would Hit a Girl: Doesn't distinguish between gender when killing HYDRA Agents.

Warren Worthington

Warren Worthington III a.k.a. Archangel

No one ever said that being a hero came with the requirement to be nice.

A very handsome Anglo-American mutant in his late teenage years who's estranged from his family and is monumentally depressed. The reasons for this lie in his very beautiful, very deadly metal wings. After chapter 70, he seems to have snapped and lost all compunctions about hurting people with his wings when required, embracing his nature as 'an Angel of Death'. Considering his comic book counterpart's past, this is... worrying.

Absurdly Sharp Blade: His wings.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Is very gloomy and miserable, something for which he is gently teased by other characters, but not without reason - his father fed him Hank McCoy's mutation suppression serum against the latter's advice when he was a child, causing his previously feathery wings to turn into metal.
Break the Cutie: He was fairly broken beforehand, but judging by chapter 72, the events of chapter 70 all but destroyed him.
Byronic Hero: Is explicitly described by Dumbledore as 'more Byronic than Byron'.
Can't Have Sex, Ever: Because of his Razor Wings, he's twitchy about even hugging someone. This fear of intimacy is cited as the reason he broke up with Jean Grey and is a significant contribution to his angst.
Color-Coded Eyes: Warren epitomises both the original epitome of grey-colored eyes for beauty, the marksmanship association due to his inhumanly good vision. It's suggested that as a child, he also embodied the innocent association, but those days are long gone.
Character Development: Prior to HYDRA's attack on Hogwarts (in which he is forced to slaughter a HYDRA aerial assault force), he's bitter and afraid of his wings, but still relatively innocent. Not so afterwards. While he's Out of Focus after that, in Ghosts he's dating Betsy, meaning he's gotten over his fear of intimacy.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He acts like a typical mopey teenager. He's also a One-Man Army Super-Soldier with Razor Wings capable of taking down zombie dragons with ease and he will not hesitate to show it if he feels the need.
Cursed with Awesome: The development of his mutation gave him Razor Wings which, while impediments to his social life, allow him to exceed the speed of sound. He also got Super-Strength greater than Captain America - enough to, according to Sean, 'bench press a troll' and equivalent durability, a powerful Healing Factor and Super-Senses.
The Cynic: Explicitly says that he thinks that cynics are cute and is such as a result of his powers and his family's rejection of him.
Cynicism Catalyst:
- The development of his wings into Razor Wings as a by-product of his father trying to get rid of his mutation.
- The events of chapter 70 seem to have pushed it further - though his internal monologue in chapter 76, in which he decides I Am What I Am, could just as easily indicate a Start of Darkness.
Dark and Troubled Past: Those wings - the metallic part, anyway - didn't come naturally.
Deadpan Snarker: Has quite a sharp wit.
Dope Slap: Belts Sean around the head when he's busy blaming himself for the Pensieve Incident.
Early-Installment Weirdness: He's much more cheerful prior to turning up at Hogwarts, though a lot of that might be adrenaline and Hero Worship for Rhodey.
Even the Guys Want Him: Sean comments that past experience would suggest this.
Female Gaze: Attracts this in great quantities, with even McGonagall commenting on his looks. As she puts it, "I'm old, not dead."
Flying Brick: A relatively limited example, but still terrifying - he's strong enough to bench-press a troll, tough enough that minigun bullets from a HYDRA Quinjet barely bother him, and can fly well enough to earn Namor's respect (being mentored by Sean Cassidy probably had something to do with it).
Good Is Not Nice: Frequently, as best summed up by the folder quote.
Has a Type: Given that his ex is Jean Grey and he's currently dating Betsy Braddock, he seems to have a bit of a thing for strong psychic women.
Heroic BSoD: In chapter 72, after brutally killing HYDRA's aerial attack force in chapter 70.
Hot Teacher: Though he's more of a teaching assistant.
Humans Are Bastards: He seems to have long since decided this, though how much is grumpy emo-tendencies and how much is genuine belief is up for debate. Either way, you can rely on him to do the right thing.
I Am What I Am: He seems to have decided this by chapter 76. Whether this is for good or ill is yet to be revealed - though Ghosts suggests that thanks to a relationship with Betsy, he's just quieter and a bit more cynical.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: See his folder quote. He's a grumpy bugger, most of the time.
Knight in Sour Armour: Harry identifies him as this, saying that for all the things he says, at heart he's 'a knight in shining feathers'. Warren finds this faintly amusing but doesn't deny it.
Male Gaze: Has noticed Betsy, like just about everyone and everything else that's even considered being interested in women. As of chapter 68, he's started taking topless flights when she's around, much to her appreciation.
Out of Focus: In Ghosts, he mostly fades in the background, having been mentioned only three times in the entire book.
Pretty Boy: Is ridiculously good looking, with Harry's first comment towards him being that the girls are going to eat him alive.
Razor Wings: Like his then current comics incarnation on his introduction, he has these without the rest of the Archangel/Death appearance.
Ship Tease: With Betsy. They are officially in a relationship by the time of the Yule Ball.
The Sociopath: Comes off as worryingly cold and ruthless in chapter 76 following his offscreen revelation of I Am What I Am.
Stepford Snarker: Somewhat. His cynical outlook on life and sense of humour come, in large part, from his Razor Wings.
Super-Strength: Noted as being strong enough to 'bench press a troll' and when he gives Sean a Dope Slap, the narration notes that when he smacks something, it stays smacked.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Part of his absolute terror of accidentally hurting someone with his wings. Monsters, like zombified dragons, are fair game, but humans aren't. This is why his tearing apart HYDRA's aerial assault leaves him barely functional for some time afterwards.
Tranquil Fury: When he discovers that the Ravenclaws have been bullying Luna, he speaks in a very quiet voice.
Wangst: Was considered to be indulging in this In-Universe by McGonagall. Her attitude changes to understanding and sympathy after seeing a demonstration of how sharp his wings really are and finding out that he's had them since he was a child. Others occasionally tease him for his miserable attitude.
Winged Humanoid: The wings bother him. Not so much because they're wings, but because of what they're made of and the crimp that puts on his life, as well their role in his Dark and Troubled Past.

Betsy Braddock

Lady Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock a.k.a. Psylocke

A rebellious socialite who Really Gets Around, she's a former student of Charles Xavier and a powerful psychic full of unrealised potential. This is spotted by Peter Wisdom, who persuades her to answer his call to arms, swiftly becoming his right-hand woman in the field and one of MI13's most powerful assets. She also proves to be a kind and effective teacher to Harry and counsellor to Ginny.

Adaptational Wimp: A mild case - unlike her comics counterpart, she doesn't have ninja skills. On the other hand, her powers are more consistent.
Animal Motif: Butterflies, with images of them appearing on her face when using her psychic powers, and wearing a dress to the Yule Ball that is described as "shimmering like a butterfly's wing."
Battle Couple: With Fandral.
Birds of a Feather: With Fandral. As she explains, it's why they get on very well, but aren't inclined to date - they're too much alike for that to work out.
Blue Blood: A member of the aristocracy.
Cool Big Sis: Takes this attitude to Harry and Ginny, and happily to teases the former about his crush on her in the first book. In the sequel, she steps back, partly because Harry's old enough to seriously look for a relationship, partly because her behaviour could be misinterpreted (especially by Rita Skeeter) - instead, she remains a friend and confidant.
Dance Battler: Literally, with Fandral, entering the Battle of the M4 to the strains of English folk dance.
Deadly Upgrade: Using the Cerebro uplink while exhausted would have been this if the Shadow King hadn't retreated, with Betsy explicitly noting that she'd have been in danger of her mind being destroyed by the strain of such power.
Dye Hard: Unsurprisingly, her hair is not naturally purple.
Ethical Slut: Likes sex and doesn't apologise for it, while also being a kind and deeply ethical woman who takes pains to avoid even the implication of a Teacher/Student Romance.
Female Gaze: She's not shy of eyeing up Warren or Fandral, and ends up sleeping with both.
The Gadfly: The second time she drops the Modesty Towel in front of Wisdom (the first time being to get his measure since she couldn't read his mind) is just to annoy him.
Good Bad Girl: She Really Gets Around prior to hooking up with Warren, and is generally very sexually liberated, somewhat foul-mouthed, thoroughly dirty-minded, mischievous, and rebels against her aristocratic upbringing. She's also kind, courageous, and deeply ethical (both sexually and otherwise).
Good Feels Good: Remarks on how teaching and helping other people with their powers feels good.
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Quite graceful - if not quite as much as her canon counterpart - and fond of purple.
Hands-On Approach: Her preferred method of performing delicate and long-term procedures involves her sitting behind her subject, with her fingers on their temples. This, as Harry is acutely aware, means that she's very close to him and her breasts are pressed against his back. Since he has a crush on her, this is mortally embarrassing for him and mildly amusing for her.
Hidden Depths: Even before she Took a Level in Badass, when she notes Wisdom's psychic bafflers, she doesn't verbally invite him in, then drops her Modesty Towel to judge his reaction. She also proves to be a very competent Agent of MI13, with excellent tactical judgement, and also surprises herself by not only being good at both teaching and leading, but enjoying it. T'Challa remarks that there was always far more to her than there seemed, having known her through her brother.
- Additionally, in the sequel she carefully steps back on her contact with Harry in 4th year, noting that she's wary of Rita Skeeter and what rumours she might start spreading about the nature of their relationship - which Skeeter has alluded to before. She also provides incisive analysis of Harry's visions, balancing discretion with judgement regarding what the likes of Wisdom or Professor Xavier might need to know.
Home Nudist: She happily ambles around her house in the nude.
Hot Teacher: Once she starts teaching Harry the psychic ropes, he develops a bit of a crush on her, which thanks to her powers and the intimate nature of teaching psychic abilities, she's very aware of. She finds it adorable. Harry finds it mortifying.
Idle Rich: Seems to have been this before Wisdom recruits her.
Jumped at the Call: Despite initial reluctance, she required very little convincing to join MI13.
Lady of War: A beautiful, badass member of the aristocracy who uses butterflies as her chief motif.
The Mentor: Counsels Ginny over her experiences while under Riddle's thrall, and teaches Harry both psychic skills and ethics, as well as serving as a sounding board for his analysis of his visions from the Norns.
Mind over Manners: Careful about this, and praises the attitude in Harry, stating that telepaths have a responsibility to use their power carefully and wisely. That said, she is willing to be flexible if the situation requires it.
Mundane Utility: It's suggested that she uses her abilities to know who'd be amenable to being propositioned and, in battle, to play backing music for her and Fandral's 'dance'. And this is before one considers the occasionally alluded to Power Perversion Potential.
My Skull Runneth Over: Risked this when she used a remote Cerebro uplink to bluff the Shadow King.
Nice Girl: Is very sweet to both Harry and Ginny, helping them through their respective problems.
Power Perversion Potential: Fandral states that she used her powers so she'd know exactly what he'd like in bed. She also later hints at this to Harry, suggesting that one day he'll be able to use his powers to make some nice girl very happy. Going on some accidental mutual Dirty Mind-Reading between him and Carol over their Psychic Link, she's probably right.
Proper Lady: She can be this if she wants to - she just generally doesn't. She's therefore able to advise Harry on floriography when asking Carol to the Yule Ball. On her advice, he settles on Viscaria, which means 'will you dance with me?'
Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Takes this just as Voldemort fries her brain.
Psychic Nosebleed: Is on the receiving end from Voldemort in chapter 2 of Ghosts of the Past.
Psychic Powers: She's a powerful psychic, one of the strongest on the planet - though as she observes, Harry is in a whole different weight-class.
Purple Is Powerful: Her psychic powers glow purple (and form butterfly patterns on her face) when she uses them.
Really Gets Around: Prior to hooking up with Warren in Ghosts. Word of God notes that she turned 'a lot more Faith-like' than he'd expected.
Reluctant Hero: Initially. While she pretty quickly joins MI13, shortly after she's inwardly complaining that fighting monsters is really not her thing. By Ghosts, however, she's pretty comfortable with the idea.
Sarcastic Devotee: She's not afraid to snark at her boss, Peter Wisdom, who puts up with it because she's highly competent and easily his most powerful asset.
Sex Goddess: Has sufficient sexual prowess to impress Fandral, a millennia old Asgardian who Really Gets Around. It helps that she actually uses her powers in bed to know exactly what her lovers will like.
Sexy Mentor: She's about ten years older than Harry and very attractive, leading to a crush. Since she's his psychic teacher, she's entirely aware of it. He is mortified, she finds it adorable and teases him about it. However, in Ghosts, she firmly steps back on the teasing, on the grounds that he's old enough that even though both of them know better, it might be interpreted as a nascent Teacher/Student Romance (especially by Rita Skeeter), which she is very firmly against.
Shameless Fanservice Girl: She has nothing to be ashamed of and she knows it. She walks around her home in the buff and drops her Modesty Towel in front of Peter Wisdom in order to gauge his reaction (and thereby get some idea of what he's like, since she can't read his mind). And does it again later, just to annoy him.
Ship Tease: With Warren, before they eventually start a relationship.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Betsy's brother Brian is, according to Albus Dumbledore and T'Challa, a genius, with T'Challa noting a gift for melding magic and particle physics that would have fitted perfectly in Wakanda. According to Betsy, he's noble, compassionate and good-hearted, but also a little holier than thou, with a large stick up his arse. While Betsy is smart, also noble, compassionate etc, she's got a much more relaxed attitude to morality and social mores.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Why she became an Ascended Extra. Word of God says that he hadn't originally intended to introduce her anywhere near as early as he did, much less give her such a prominent role. As it was, she's become an important secondary character and mentor to Harry.
Teacher/Student Romance: Averted, firmly. While Harry had a crush on her in the first book - one that, in Ghosts, he notes isn't quite dead - and she was fond of teasing him to make him blush, she steps back in Ghosts, on the grounds that he's of dating age. Therefore, not only could even innocent teasing could be interpreted (particularly by Rita Skeeter) as the beginning of love affair, but she doesn't want to get in his way.
The Un-Favourite: Some of her dialogue implies that she's this in comparison to her twin brother, Brian - who's more conventional, more academic, and much better behaved.
Verbal Tic: Calling people 'love'.
The Worf Effect: Subject to this from Voldemort - though, to be fair, he caught her off-guard.

James Bond

James Bond a.k.a. 007

An MI-6 agent under the command of M, with a penchant for womanising, martinis and one-liners. Said to be one of one of M's best, he's one of the very few ever to have got the drop on the Winter Soldier. It didn't help, and he's later resurrected as a kind of 'techno-zombie' by MI13's mad science department at Porton Down.

The Ace: In terms of espionage, he's said to be next-best to Natasha and Barton.
Back from the Dead: Resurrected by Peter Wisdom at the end of the first book as a 'techno-zombie', and now works for MI13.
Bond One-Liner: Deconstructed, as that's what allows the Winter Soldier to kill him.
Brain Uploading: His mind was effectively downloaded from his corpse into his new body several months later. Whether this means that he's a literal ghost in a machine or not is unclear, but he doesn't really seem to care.
The Cameo: He's had two appearances so far, both of which were quite short, as well as being referenced in chapter 53 of the sequel. Both, though, catch the eye.
Empowered Badass Normal: One of the best spies in the world, good enough to get the drop on the Winter Soldier, and now in a resurrected body that gives him some enhanced abilities.
Gag Penis: Alluded to, when Betsy remarks - on seeing his naked second body - that either he was, ahem, naturally gifted, or there are worrying things to be said about the mad science department.
Magitek: His new body is described as a synthesis of magic and bio-technology, capable of self-repair and at least a certain amount of Voluntary Shapeshifting.
My Country, Right or Wrong: His first question after he establishes what's happened to him is how he can serve his country.
Sacrificial Lion: Was killed off to show how deadly the Winter Soldier is.
The Stoic: He goes from freaked out to calm very quickly after his resurrection, despite the fact that his preserved corpse was on a bed next to his new body.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Presumably not to, say, Plastic Man levels, but he can change his appearance at will—rather a useful tool for a spy.

Dane Whitman

Sir Dane Whitman a.k.a the Black Knight

The teenage heir to the Black Knight legacy. A spectacularly talented swordsman who is perhaps a tad overconfident and a recruit for Peter Wisdom's Excalibur team.

Baby Of The Bunch: To Excalibur, being the youngest member (he's only a matter of months younger than Warren, but the latter is Xavier-trained and has more experience than Dane).
Black Knight: A Dark Is Not Evil variant. Or, to be more specific, he's not evil, but his sword is very much evil and looking to take control of his brain.
Black Swords Are Better: Though 'more effective' might be a more accurate description...
Blood Knight: In battle, thanks to his Evil Weapon.
Cool Sword: Evil, but cool.
Evil Weapon: His sword. How much it influences his judgement is up for debate.
Hormone-Addled Teenager: Trails around after Jessica Drew in a lovelorn daze, to the amusement of his older colleagues.
Hot-Blooded: How much of it is him and how much is the sword is up for debate.
Kid Samurai: Fits this trope perfectly, and only survives his first battle because of literal divine intervention.
The Knights Who Say "Squee!": A literal example - he asks Michael Carpenter for his autograph in the middle of a battle. It should be noted that he's injured and high on endorphins at the time.
Master Swordsman: Not on Sif or Fandral's level, but he's very good.
Out of Focus: He gets less character moments than most of the other members of Excalibur.

Senior Officials

Government Officials, Heads of State, and other important individuals or entities who don't fall into any of the previous categories.

President Ellis

President Matthew Ellis

What did they do to you, son?

The President of the United States, a Reasonable Authority Figure and as chapter 70 proves, possessed of balls of solid titanium.

Day in the Limelight: Chapter 70 of the first book gives him one.
"Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: Gives a good one to the Winter Soldier.
Remember this, son. They can make you do things, but they can't make you choose them.
Humans Are Flawed: Implied to be this, with critics pointing to increased use of War Machine and the increased mandate given to SHIELD to operate in the US. He is, however, broadly a good man.
Nerves of Steel: Faces down the Winter Soldier with no fear. For a look at how big that is: the Stark family security squad's plan for this guy was "Die as slowly as possible to buy time for the Starks to get away", while Tony himself nearly wet himself when facing down the Winter Soldier without his armour (though he still stood his ground).
Nice Guy: Whatever else he is, he shows himself to be a genuinely kind man in his treatment of Bucky, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier.
Our Presidents Are Different: President Personable, with a dash of President Iron.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Depicted as this, emphasising the Winter Soldier's nature as a victim of the Red Room and HYDRA.

The Prime Minister

The British Prime Minister

I read about what those things did, about what that necromancer was supposed to be capable of. If we get out of this, I would like their personal details. To tell their families. To make sure that they are honoured.

The British Prime Minister, heavily implied to be the one from the Harry Potter series, intentionally left fairly faceless - though some of the dialogue and the time frame implies that he's a mix of John Major and Tony Blair. He's a bit beleaguered by all the superhuman antics, and thus eager to rely on Peter Wisdom, but is broadly a good man. In chapter 70, he turns out to be a target for HYDRA.

Composite Character: Of Real Life British Prime Minister John Major and his successor, Tony Blair, having the former's well-meaning but slightly beleaguered attitude, and the latter's personable nature and ambitious Chancellor, who in turn is hinted to be a partial Expy of Tony Blair's Chancellor and later successor, Gordon Brown.
Condescending Compassion: He resents being on the receiving end of this from Fudge and takes a certain degree of vindictive pleasure in knowing that Wisdom is making Fudge's life a misery.
Deadpan Snarker: A little - when Agent 13 uses SHIELD tech to instantly change into a Spy Catsuit, he inwardly notes that if the Chancellor was present, he'd have died a happy man.
Due to the Dead: Once it becomes apparent that his two MI13 bodyguards who stayed behind to buy Agent 13 time to get him out are going to die and die horribly, as well as possibly being enslaved by Gravemoss, he asks Agent 13, formerly undercover as his secretary to get him the details of the bodyguards so he can tell their families what they died doing and to ensure that they are honoured, remarking that if what they did isn't going above and beyond the call of duty he doesn't know what is.
Everyone Loves Blondes: Notes that his blonde secretary (actually Agent 13) is rather attractive and is happy to use the Chancellor's same interest as blackmail material.
Know When to Fold 'Em: In the first book's epilogue, Wisdom reveals that once cleanup from the Final Battle is over, the Prime Minister is planning on resigning with dignity, rather than wait for an election he's bound to lose after everything that happened on his watch.
Manipulative Bastard: Willing to use the Chancellor's checking out of his secretary as blackmail material in case the man tries a leadership attempt. He is, after all, a career politician.
Nice Guy: He seems pretty nice, mild and totally understandable resentfulness towards being condescended to by Fudge aside, and totally out of his depth in all this superhuman chaos.
- Notably, he demands to know the identities of his bodyguards in order to honor them for going above and beyond.
Non-Action Guy: He freezes a couple of times when faced by bombings and HYDRA attacks, having to be chivvied along by Agent 13, and his entirely sensible response to her and the Red Hood duking it out in the other carriage of the Tube train is to drop flat on the floor.
Our Prime Ministers Are Different: Prime Minister Personable and Prime Minister Target (in chapter 70) - he comes off as a Nice Guy in a completely insane situation, doing his best. That said, his internal dialogue about having noticed how the Chancellor checks out an undercover Agent 13 and filing it away for blackmail material shows that he isn't soft. His reliance on Wisdom also shows hints of Prime Minister Focus Group.

Jack O'Neill

Brigadier Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill

"If it works, it'll get this absolute horror show over as quickly as possible. Then, I can hug my niece, tell her off, and then drink myself under the table."

Uncle of Carol Danvers, father of Sharon Carter (she took Peggy's surname when she joined SHIELD), and all-round badass. He was added to the story simply for Rule of Cool purposes, while the rest of the Stargate universe, a few characters excepted, is implied not to exist.

Ace Pilot: Loves to fly, and is apparently very, very good at it, something confirmed in Unfinished Business when he takes charge of a construct of the Millennium Falcon.
Action Dad: To Sharon Carter.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: He keeps getting upstaged by his mother, who has been known to use the Full-Name Ultimatum on him. Considering that said mother used to be Deputy Director of SHIELD, thinks retirement is boring, and is every bit The Gadfly that he is, this isn't entirely surprising... but it's still embarrassing.
Ascended Extra: He jumps from background character to secondary character in Ghosts of the Past.
Badass Family: Part of one. His grandparents are Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers, his mother was a SHIELD Special Agent (the original Agent 13, as it happens) and Deputy Director of SHIELD before she "retired", his daughter is also a SHIELD Special Agent and one of their best, and his niece is well on course to be one of the greatest superheroes the world's ever seen, having been chosen to wield the Green Lantern Ring by the Sorcerer Supreme himself. His daughter explicitly describes super-spy stuff and heroics as 'the family business.'
Beware the Silly Ones: He's a snarky, irreverent goofball who names his pet wolf-dog Bucky just to annoy his grandfather, is noted by his sister as letting his niece have or do pretty much anything that her father says that she can't have or do out of petty spite, and gets up to some downright strange things with Deadpool. He's also a highly decorated special forces soldier who reached the rank of Brigadier-General a full decade before most soldiers even come close and takes on unearthly abominations without batting an eyelid.
Birds of a Feather: Snarky, disrespectful towards authority, with Chronic Hero Syndrome and a love for flying? You could just as easily be describing his niece.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: It runs in the family.
Cool Uncle: To Carol. She both looks up to him and quite obviously takes after him.
Danger Deadpan: He very rarely loses his cool, and never on the battlefield - and, fittingly, he's an Ace Pilot, skills he demonstrates when this trope is most on show.
Dark and Troubled Past: Chapter 75 subtly implies that he lost his son roughly the same way as his canon counterpart. Chapter 80 all but states it. He was also captured during Desert Storm, during which his sister states that he was tortured.
Deadpan Snarker: He wouldn't be Jack if he wasn't.
Empowered Badass Normal: Went from incredibly skilled soldier and Ace Pilot with latent super-soldier genes to full-fledged Super-Soldier.
Everyone Loves Blondes: Seems to have his canon attraction to Samantha Carter. Since here, however, his mother Alison is blonde and her maiden name is also Carter (though they're almost certainly not related), this is probably an example of Like Parent, Like Spouse, though also a little odd.
Four-Star Badass: That's Brigadier General Badass to you. Also the son of another example of this trope.
Full-Name Ultimatum: Uses this on Carol and has it used on him in turn by his mother.
The Gadfly: It's Jack O'Neill. This was inevitable.
- Possibly the crowning example is his response to Carol foisting one of Freki/Geri's half-wolf puppies on him - once she finally talks him into taking the dog, he decides to mess with his grandfather, Steve, by naming it 'Bucky', ostensibly after the dog from The Call of the Wild.
Good Parents: Shown to be this for his daughter, and also to his niece, who sees him as a father figure and who he's extremely protective of. After the events of the finale, his daughter reports to her cousin, Carol, his exact words, born of parental worrying - "Carol Susan Jane Danvers, you have no idea how much trouble you're in."
Hot-Blooded: Like his niece, though he can control his temper better than she can.
Improbable Age: A downplayed example, since he's a Brigadier in his early forties. The broad explanation is Writers Cannot Do Math. The more detailed version is that the author planned to have Carol as the great-granddaughter of Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers, making Jack the grandson of Steve, and only realised too late that he was trying to squeeze one generation too many into too short a time span. In any case, while the average age of a Brigadier General is 50, Jack is canonically an exceptionally skilled soldier. Additionally, since his latent Super-Soldier genes make him more physically able and probably give him an increase in tactical skills as well, this isn't the most egregious of cases.
Nerves of Steel: Nearly as much as his mother, which is saying something.
Noodle Incident:
- The raid on the Red Room is, apparently, not his first excursion to the 'world of the weird', though he declines to elaborate.
- According to Deadpool, they were both on a mission to East Berlin in '88 that ended up involving a swimming pool full of black market Ben & Jerrys, a lot of vodka, half a dozen Stasi Agents, and him and Deadpool singing Abba in some capacity that involved the Hellfire Club (but not its high-quality leather drag, apparently), which left Jack with a trick knee and Deadpool with threats that he'd be shot into orbit if Jack ever saw him again.
Not So Above It All: He tries to present himself as a relatively level-headed Only Sane Man with a proclivity for snark. He also grudgingly admits that yes, he is enjoying being Han Solo (It Makes Sense in Context) and ends up resolving a dispute with Deadpool by a dance-off adjudicated by a group including the Hulk (though, granted, it is implied that he's pretty drunk at that point). Really, it's not hard to see where Carol got her silly streak from.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The only time he ever shows strong emotion throughout the story is when his niece is being threatened.
Papa Wolf: When Ross expresses interest in getting Carol, his niece, in for testing after she briefly gets powers, he makes it very clear that it will be over the other man's rotting corpse. When she's kidnapped by the Red Room in Forever Red, he joins the strike team to get her back, and is perfectly willing (though his grandfather shoots down the idea) to kick down the doors of the Kremlin.
- By Unfinished Business, he's mellowed out a little bit, revealing that he is still worried but he's got the discipline to keep up with his part of the mission and knows that Carol can look after herself.
Parental Substitute: To Carol. Word of God has even remarked that he's basically the father Carol deserves.
Puppy-Dog Eyes: Carol implies that he's susceptible to this. O'Neill, for his part, maintains that her puppy-dog eyes, effective as they are, never stopped him telling her that she couldn't have more ice cream.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Will run interference for Carol with her parents at a moment's notice, all the while grumbling about how she has him wrapped around her little finger (she kind of does).
Ship Tease: As in, Carol quite literally teases him about his canonical attraction to Major Samantha Carter (no relation).
Silver Fox: Something that Noriko notices, to Carol's inward embarrassment/disgust. As, possibly, has a certain Sam Carter.
Super-Soldier: Thanks to his heritage, he has the potential. In Ghosts of the Past, he reluctantly has the Serum activated, as the alternative was long-term nerve damage.
Unexpected Character: There's absolutely no indication that he might appear before he does.

T'Challa Udaku

T'Challa Udaku of Wakanda a.k.a. the Black Panther

You say that you drive mankind’s progress, but what you are is a manifestation of its most base instincts and darkest impulses, a lust for power, dressed up in a veneer of civilisation and sophistication. Can you not see what you are doing is monstrous?

The Crown Prince of Wakanda until chapter 70, and thereafter its King. He was sent abroad by his father to study, with a view to leading the isolationist Wakanda's re-engagement with the world. Still a young man, he is a brilliant and respected scientist who is still feeling his way into his totemic powers as the Black Panther, and his political and diplomatic role as Prince (then King) of Wakanda.

Adaptational Wimp: A mild case - his canon counterpart is a badass who puts Batman in the shade, fights Captain America evenly, and has the brains to match Tony Stark. This version is a work in progress, being somewhat overconfident and getting thrashed by Baron Zemo for his pains. However, he rapidly adjusts, making his next fight with Zemo a much more even one, and quickly develops his canon counterpart's political acumen.
Badass Bookworm: Not yet to the extent of his canon counterpart, but he's a physicist with multiple degrees, a genius intellect and an in-depth knowledge of magic. He's also operating on the level of a Super-Soldier, twice goes toe to toe with Baron Zemo and not only survives but, the second time, gives him a real run for his money (though admittedly in both cases, it's stated that Zemo let him live because he was a Worthy Opponent) and takes apart pretty much anyone else foolish to take him on in a blur.
Beware the Nice Ones: As Good Is Not Soft shows, pushing him is a bad idea.
Black and Nerdy: He's a bona fide genius and he's also a Super-Soldier level badass.
Blackmail: He tries to pull this on Peter Wisdom to get Wakanda's stolen vibranium back (which, after the fall of HYDRA at the Battle of London, has been claimed as spoils of war/reparations by the British government) by threatening to reveal his secret past as Regulus Black. All it succeeds in doing is pissing Wisdom off.
Character Development: He's a bit cocky to begin with, relying over-much on his abilities. An encounter with Baron Zemo who kills his father and absolutely crushes him, cures him of this. In their rematch, Zemo himself remarks that he's growing from 'complacent cub' to 'fearsome cat'.
- In Ghosts chapter 46, some of his negotiations with Wisdom over vibranium are shown, and it's clear that he's evolved into an expert statesman and skilled political negotiator, even if he doesn't enjoy it.
Crazy-Prepared: After being caught out in chapter 70 by being underprepared, he starts becoming this.
Cultured Badass: Master warrior, brilliant scientist, graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge, and eloquent speaker of multiple languages, he fits this trope like a glove.
Emperor Scientist: On course to become a benevolent version of this trope.
Frontline General: Often serves as this, though the downsides are demonstrated in chapter 70, when Zemo beats him to a pulp.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: He sometimes wears a pair of glasses which give him a full view of the electromagnetic spectrum, including, he implies, magic. They also double as 'brainy specs.'
Good Is Not Soft: On his first appearance in Book 1, he tries to politely get a Roxxon Executive to back off (from Harry and Carol). When said executive calls him a 'self-righteous N-Word Privileges son of a bitch', he flattens him in a matter of moments. He also calmly explains in chapter 79 of Child of the Storm and chapter 46 of Ghosts the advantages of befriending Harry - he tends to be the nexus of major events, and is thus 'someone to watch' in every sense of the word.
Hero of Another Story: While Harry was busy in Ghosts, T'Challa had to handle the events of Black Panther (2018).
Leeroy Jenkins: At first, he is this. A Curb-Stomp Battle from Zemo and watching his father be murdered breaks him of the habit.
Nice Guy: He's kind to both Harry and Carol, helping the former with his totem related DADA homework, even if, in Harry's case, there's an element of politics behind it.
Reasonable Authority Figure: His first appearance features him stepping in to assist Harry and Carol with a Roxxon Executive and he later proves quite happy to help Harry with his totem related DADA homework. However, as he later observes there are many personal and political advantages in befriending Harry, something he later repeats to Nakia in Ghosts, underlining it by pointing out events revolve around Harry.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: He and his father are this in spades, with T'Challa in particular being a Frontline General.
Took a Level in Badass: After his over-confidence results in Zemo thrashing him, he starts becoming the Crazy-Prepared badass of canon.
Warrior Prince: As the Black Panther and Crown Prince.
Wise Prince: By the time the first book's finale rolls around, the finishing touches have been applied.
You Killed My Father: Baron Zemo did.

M

Head of MI6, one of the few survivors of Gravemoss' attack on its headquarters. Currently tracking down the 'mysterious force' that discouraged investigation of the Dursley family and messed with Mrs Figg's mind to keep the extent of Harry's mistreatment secret.

Bit Character: Only has a couple of appearances, though they're eye-catching.
Cool Old Lady: Is more than a match for Nick Fury, who quite comfortably dominates a room full of his fellow intelligence chiefs.
Good Is Not Nice: Cold, sharp and not the sort to suffer fools. Also verbally twists the knife a little during her interrogation of Petunia.
Iron Lady: Is tough as nails.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Suggested to hold this attitude, with the thing that infuriates her the most about Harry's abuse by the Dursleys after the abuse itself is the damage it did to Britain's reputation.
"Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a short and brutal one to Petunia.
The Unsolved Mystery: Digs into one of these - though 'uninvestigated' might be a better way to put it - at Fury's request. Complies because, as she puts it, she has little better to do.

Magneto

Erik Magnus Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto

I do what I must, because the alternative would be worse.

Father to Wanda Maximoff, Friendly Enemy to Charles Xavier, and leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. He doesn't make an appearance until his Dynamic Entry in chapter 77 of Child of the Storm, but even before, his well-earned reputation as a semi-dormant global scale nightmare casts a significant shadow over events. Following his sincere Heel–Face Turn, he appears as a nobly inclined, affable, even grandfatherly figure, and he takes on a recurring role as a secondary supporting character in Ghosts of the Past. But as he does, there are occasional signs that the old Magneto isn't as gone as some people would like to think...

Action Dad: To Wanda, Pietro and Lorna Dane.
Ambiguously Human: His sheer power and the fact that he's still in his physical prime at around eighty (thanks to 'the Krakoa Incident') has led more than a few factions to believe he's not human, with Luccio noting that within the White Council alone, 'there are several competing schools of thought on what he actually is'. However, he is human. Mostly.
Antagonistic Offspring: Wanda really does not like him and is sceptical of his Heel–Face Turn, having apparently gone up against him. However, she becomes somewhat less so following their talk after the Battle of London, calling on him for help during the Bloody Hell arc.
Arch-Enemy: His chief sparring partner back when he was a bad guy was Alan Scott, a.k.a. the Green Lantern, though Magneto, for his part, deemed Alan a Worthy Opponent.
Badass Bookworm: He's a badass in Thor's weight class for raw power who can take the likes of the Red Son while holding back. He's got multiple degrees in hard sciences, including from Oxford, and has a very well-earned reputation amongst the supernatural and supernaturally-informed community.
Badass Family: His daughter is Wanda Maximoff and his son, Pietro a.k.a. Quicksilver, has also been alluded to (according to Wanda, he's her teenage half brother and a brat), and his other daughter, Lorna Dane, appears in chapter 8 of Ghosts. Also, there's Hermione, Wanda's daughter, and Harry, who's practically Wanda's son, making Magneto a kind of honorary grandfather.
Been There, Shaped History: Apparently the Manson family ran into him when they went after Sharon Tate. They did not survive the experience.
Big Damn Heroes: When he finally shows up in chapter 77, he does so just in time to destroy the Dreadnought before it can wipe out the heroes.
- In Chapter 31 of Ghosts, he saves Dresden from Cassius's Cold-Blooded Torture.
The Casanova: Wanda speculates he became this after he was rejuvenated, leading to her half-siblings.
The Charmer: In an urbane sort of way, both in the platonic and (judging by Wanda's half-siblings) romantic senses. Dresden even remarks that he's quite friendly - terrifying, but friendly.
Color-Coded Eyes: Steel grey, referencing his powers, and his adamant resolve.
Cruel Mercy: Seems to have developed a taste for this post Heel–Face Turn - Natasha remarks that the only real reason he spared any of the Winter Guard (save Shapandar and Shostakov) was that he felt that Thor might want a go. Given what he did, it would probably have been kinder to let them die.
Cultured Badass: As per canon, he is a brilliant scientist, exceptionally well-read scholar, fluent in multiple languages, highly familiar with multiple religious traditions, and one of the most terrifying people on the planet.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Xavier describes him as having absolutely crushed three successive circles of the Hellfire Club, and he goes through the Winter Guard (sans the Red Son) in under two minutes. When he attacks Cassius, the latter doesn't even get the chance to throw a spell - and even Voldemort, a much more powerful and dangerous mage than Cassius, was at his mercy in a split-second.
Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: As he lays out to Wanda, not for the first time, he didn't have much choice - he had to give her up. Of course, this is only one of many, many issues she has with him.
Dark and Troubled Past: He lost his family in the Holocaust, and spent several years in a concentration camp. It doesn't get much more troubled than that.
Dark Messiah: He's mostly reformed, but in chapter 10 of Ghosts he's namechecked as 'mutantkind's Dark Messiah'.
Deadpan Snarker: Has a very dry wit, as shown in response to Tony's going from nought to dick jokes in about ten seconds after Chthon is defeated.
And he's supposed to be one of the greatest minds of our age. God help us all.
Determinator: As he notes, willpower is something he never lacked - and he used to go toe-to-toe with the man who wrote the book on it.
Disappeared Dad: Honestly believed that Wanda was dead. It's uncertain whether he's caring for Pietro or not. Going by Lorna's own remarks, he didn't seem to have any idea that Lorna existed.
The Dreaded: Almost everyone on the Dark Side from Sebastian Shaw II to HYDRA (yes, all of it), to Narcissa Malfoy fear him. Even Loki and Nick Fury speak of him with guarded respect, the latter saying that "HYDRA wouldn't cross him. They wouldn't dare." As his appearances thus far have demonstrated, this is for good reason.
- It isn't limited to the Dark Side, either. In Ghosts, Anastasia Luccio, tough as nails Commander of the Wardens, pale with horror, namechecks him as one of the greatest terrors the Earth has seen since the Frost Giant Wars.
Friendly Enemy: To Xavier, though it's now more like Friendly Foil. They're not really on opposite sides anymore, and Magneto protects the Xavier Institute in Book 2. Both he and Xavier refer to one another as "old friends," and both are willing to use his reputation as a Terror Hero to frighten off enemies. That being said, he's more proactive than Xavier in eliminating threats to mutant-kind.
The Ghost: Prior to his full bow in chapter 77, there's only a teeny tiny indirect hint of his on-screen presence in chapter 72, and a fair bit of talking.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When he really flexes his magnetic muscles.
Good Is Not Soft: He may have pulled a sincere Heel–Face Turn, but holy hell, you do not want to cross him, as he demonstrates in chapter 13 of Ghosts, crushing the Winter Guard. The only reason he didn't kill all of them save Red Son!Harry was because he thought that a few others might like a piece of them too (and he might have recognised Omega Sentinel as a victim).
- After Cassius makes the mistake of trying to torture Harry Dresden, Magneto paralyzes him, pins his mouth shut with his own knife, and calmly discusses whether or not to kill him with Dresden.
Heel Realization: Had this some time in the late eighties/early nineties after he realised how far he'd fallen. It's still not common knowledge, though as Luccio notes in Ghosts, he has dialled back on his activities in general.
He Who Fights Monsters: He is commonly cited as an example how a good person fighting evil can go bad, though he has reportedly mellowed in recent years - something Wanda at first treats with scepticism.
I Owe You My Life: Remarks to Natasha that he owed Steve his life for liberating him from Auschwitz.
Light 'em Up: Thanks to his manipulation of electromagnetism, he can manipulate light to cloak himself from view, and, it would seem, unleash a Wave-Motion Gun. In Ghosts, he reveals that he's also capable of using it to create holograms and illusions, and reflect vast amounts of light around the world
Made of Iron: While he rarely has to, when fighting the Red Son he reveals that he can take a real beating.
Magnetism Manipulation: His main power, on a literally godlike level.
Martial Pacifist: Specifically says to both Namor and Natasha that he's not seeking war, quite the opposite - however, if pushed, he will remind those who push him exactly what he's capable of. Later, he follows through.
My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Introduces himself to the Winter Guard before utterly flattening them.
Nazi Hunter: A truly effective and highly prolific one, and according to Moody, didn't merely restrict himself to mundane Nazis.
"Not So Different" Remark: Wanda accused him of being just like the bigots who tormented both him and her. He didn't take it well. Wanda herself, despite her attempts to distance herself from him, is much more like him than she wants to admit, to the point where both Clint and Sinister take note of it in Ghosts, and she tacitly admits it.
Odd Friendship: With Howard Stark, sufficient that when Howard and his wife were murdered, he led a particularly vicious purge of the Hellfire Club, with Sean Cassidy describing his own not inconsiderable anger as being "like a firecracker next to the atom bomb of Erik's rage."
Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: SHIELD's chief countermeasure to him in the bad old days was Alan Scott a.k.a. the Green Lantern. While the latter is, by the time of the story, a Posthumous Character, the sheer idea of the two going toe to toe is awesome.
- In chapter 13 of Ghosts he goes through the Winter Guard like a hot knife through an overused cliche, without any discernible effort.
- His duel with fellow Physical God Selene is also mostly offscreen, but it's clear that he, at the very least, held his own against her while she was in the form of a gigantic dragon.
- It's implied that this wasn't the first time they've crossed swords, either, as he tells Dresden that he knows very well how dangerous she is before they fight.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Dresden notes that in contrast to Magneto's usual Tranquil Fury, he goes absolutely berserk when he sees Voldemort again. This is not surprising, given that Riddle was responsible for the his wife's death and (for over a decade) his daughter's presumed death, as well as their estrangement.
Papa Wolf: Challenged pretty much every single superhuman power broker in the Europe, and possibly the world, to protect Wanda when her powers manifested. And to say that he is displeased by what happened to Lorna and and Harry at the hands of the Red Room would be putting it mildly.
- He even extends this to Harry Dresden, coldly incapicating and murdering Cassius for the crime of harming his daughter's beloved.
Pet the Dog: Remarks that Carol seems a worthy successor to Alan Scott, temporary though it was.
- Goes out of his way to protect civilians during his brawl with the Red Son.
- When he subjects the Winter Guard to a Curb-Stomp Battle, he leaves Shapandar and Shostakov, who were Forced into Evil and at most mildly villainous respectively, more or less unharmed, even destroying Shapandar's emotional inhibitor to restore her conscience (though considering what she was made to do, that's Cruel Mercy in its own right). This is in striking contrast to what he does to the other, more villainous members of the Winter Guard, who don't get off nearly so easily.
- Strikes up a friendship with Harry, based on their mutual connection to Wanda and how both feel that they owe the other - Harry saved his younger daughter from the Red Room, while Magneto was able to stop him during the Red Son rampage.
- Adopts and cares for a girl called Ruth when her newly-manifesting powers (specifically, manifesting just as Harry and Maddie go toe to toe and send psychic shockwaves around the world) drive her mad, also getting Doctor Strange to come in and help her, to the point where they call each other "zayde" and "aynikl" (grandfather and granddaughter).
Physical God: Well into this category. Dresden explicitly compares him to a force of nature, while Strange explicitly notes that he's in Thor's weight class for raw power.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Gives a sufficiently cold and murderous sounding one to the Winter Guard of chapter 13 of Ghosts after they've walked straight into what is basically the lion's den.
Good evening. My name is Magneto. You kidnapped my daughter. You kidnapped my daughter's godson. I would like to discuss this. And once we are done, if you are very lucky... I might actually allow some of you to live.
Psychic-Assisted Suicide: While not psychic, his trademark as a Nazi Hunter was to make his targets shoot themselves, or each other.
Psychic Radar: Has developed a limited version of this by extending his electromagnetic powers.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Led a truly savage one on behalf of the late Howard and Maria Stark against the Hellfire Club.
- Goes on another one in chapter 13 of Ghosts of the Past against the Red Room for what they did to Lorna and Harry.
Secret-Keeper: For Wanda, in respect to Hermione being her daughter.
Shadow Archetype: Of Xavier. While both are dedicated to mentoring and protecting mutant-kind, Xavier is known for his kind and gentle nature, never fighting unless there's great need. Magneto, on the other hand, makes even hardened veteran Wardens turn pale at the mention of his name, and for very good reason.
Shock and Awe: While he notes subtle Weather Manipulation is beyond him, this is definitely part of his repertoire.
Sink or Swim Mentor: Subverted. It looks like this when he drops a large piece of wreckage on Harry's head to test his reactions, but it turns out that it's actually a hologram (which Harry instinctively catches anyway), intended to demonstrate to Harry that he's not half as limited as he thinks he is.
Skilled And Strong: He's in Thor's weight class when it comes to raw power, and has had decades of experience training himself to master many applications of those abilities. Natasha also states that he's dangerous for reasons that have nothing to do with his powers.
Stern Teacher: He's an excellent teacher who's not only brilliant but capable of explaining his lessons to someone without multiple degrees in the hard sciences, and innovative in his training methods, opening Harry's mind to the possibilities of his abilities. He's somewhat brusque during lessons, expects a lot of Harry (because he knows he's able), and doesn't hesitate to point out Harry's mistakes, but softens the criticism with praise where he feels it is deserved.
Tranquil Fury: Very calmly informs the Winter Guard that he would like to "discuss" their having kidnapped and tortured his younger daughter and his older daughter's godson, making the latter into a Brainwashed and Crazy slave. Later on, after he saves Dresden from Cassius, he's noted as having eyes "seething with power and fury," while calmly discussing whether or not to kill him.
Twerp Sweating: Looks as if he's about to have an If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her... chat with Dresden in chapter 78, who ineffectually tries to hide behind Wanda, who cuts him off with a glare and a single sentence: "Father, don't you dare." Magneto, amused, acquiesces and remarks that since he's not John Constantine, that's already a point in his favour. He even shows a certain amount of respect to Dresden, and is willing to protect him from Cassius.
Villain Respect: Accorded the late Alan Scott this, holding him in high regard. Though he's not a villain anymore, he also possesses a certain respect for Harry Dresden, as well, and is something of a Friendly Enemy to Xavier.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Wants to protect mutants from humans who would exploit them and doesn't believe that mutants and humans can live in peace. These days, however, he's more interested in separatism than domination.
Worthy Opponent: Regarded the late Alan Scott as one, and Xavier as another.

Namor

King Namor MacKenzie of Atlantis

Well, you're only human.

Namor the Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis. Broadly benevolent - or at least, opposed to the likes of HYDRA - but pursues his own agenda in the form of protecting his kingdom (and protecting the surface world from his kingdom). Also a bit of a dick.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He's the King of Atlantis and he commands all life in the seas (which, as he demonstrates, includes sea serpents and sea dragons), he can fly, and he's strong enough to comfortably stabilise and lower a plummeting helicarrier into the water, one handed. He also went toe to toe with the First Class of X-Men and the so-called 'Angel of Cuba' in the 60's and came out on top, particularly impressive since the Angel is heavily implied to be a time travelling Harry.
Awesome Ego: Incredibly arrogant, and as the Battle of London demonstrates, at least almost as badass as he thinks he is.
The Beastmaster: Commands all the creatures of the sea. All of them. To say that this is unfortunate for those who piss him off is a gross understatement.
Big Damn Heroes: When he bails out the SHIELD Helicarrier, Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Rhodey in the first book.
Bling of War: He wears gold fringed greenish-black chainmail, a departure from his canon counterpart's Underwear of Power.
Casual Danger Dialogue: Has a friendly, if serious, chat with Magneto in chapter 78 whilst in the midst of an incredibly violent pitched battle.
Deadpan Snarker: His default setting is Sarcasm Mode, so this isn't exactly surprising.
Dynamic Entry: Into HYDRA's base on the back of a colossal sea serpent during the Battle of London.
Establishing Character Moment: Catching the SHIELD Helicarrier and safely lowering it into the Hudson, gently putting down Rhodey (showing his Hidden Heart of Gold), while also snarking at the latter and Steve.
Flying Brick: The primary aspect of his power-set, and a large part of what makes him so formidable.
Hero of Another Story: He has his own affairs in Atlantis and he took part in the battles against HYDRA and Grindelwald in World War II.
Hot-Blooded: More than happy to settle a grudge Colonel Summers has in the middle of a meeting.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's not half as callous as he likes to pretend, and is actually rather impressed by Rhodey keeping the listing Helicarrier afloat.
Large Ham: Two words - "IMPERIUS REX!"
- The fact that they're bellowed from atop a gigantic sea serpent just underlines the point. Strange, unsurprisingly, Lampshades it.
"He is such a ham."
Long-Lived: Well over a century old.
Making a Splash: According to Colonel Summers, he can create tidal waves.
Noodle Incident: Something happened in Cuba involving him, the First Class of X-Men, and the mysterious Angel of Cuba, something he did that left Colonel Summers holding a significant grudge most of fifty years later. According to him, he apologised. He's also worked with Magneto before and genuinely respects him.
Odd Friendship: The snarky, anti-social, hot-blooded King of Atlantis has this with Steve Rogers, going back to their days fighting side by side in WW2.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: King of Atlantis, charged with defending his realm from all sorts of undersea threats.
Older Than They Look: He's well over a century old and he most certainly does not look it.
Out of Focus: A Justified Trope, since he's usually dealing with undersea problems and isn't especially sociable.
Protectorate: Atlantis is his, which is why he doesn't get involved in surface affairs too much.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: More than a little bit.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Fully intends to embark on one on Steve's behalf after he's captured by HYDRA.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Oh yes.
Snark-to-Snark Combat: With Logan and, surprisingly Steve.
Super-Strength: Short of the strongest Asgardians and the Hulk, he's probably currently the physically strongest character in the setting. He lowers a listing helicarrier into the ocean with one hand and Logan notes that he can rip a battleship in half.
Villainous Friendship: More Anti-Villain than Villain, but he was friends with Magneto back before the latter mellowed out, and regards him as a peer, feeling out an alliance against humanity if humanity comes after them. Magneto demurs.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Steve, and with more emphasis on the vitriolic, Logan.

Miscellaneous

Other heroes and superpowered beings who don't fall under any of the other categories.

The Lady Knight

The Lady Knight a.k.a. Julie Maupin a.k.a. Julie d'Aubigny a.k.a. Phryne Fisher

The bitch is back.

An oft-referred legend of mysterious origins and even more mysterious everything else. Among other things, she trained Sif and Fandral, the two greatest swordsmen in Asgard. All that is really known about her is that she is a time traveller, she has no control over it, and that she hasn't been seen since the 17th century. May or may not also have been the first Spitfire.

Finally appears in person in The Phoenix and the Serpent, adding to the mystery of her true identity and goals. By necessity, she is a Walking Spoiler, so the vast majority of spoilers are UNMARKED.

'20s Bob Haircut: Has one in line with her general 20s aesthetic. As she notes, while it was far from without flaws, she did like the styles of that particular decade.
The Ace: Explicitly the best of Arthur's court. Thor implies, and Harry states, that she's still better than Sif and Fandral, who have thousands of years of experience and are the two greatest swords-masters in the Nine Realms.
Action Girl: Quite possibly the greatest sword-fighter in history, trainer of a significant number of downright legendary Master Swordsmen (and Swordswomen), and competed with gods and godlike beings despite being physically human. Yup, she qualifies.
The Ageless: What with the time-travelling, no one's entirely sure how old she is other than the fact that she doesn't look it and Harry's suspicion that she's lived far longer than normal humans simply because humans don't live long enough to get as good with a sword as she is (which she doesn't deny), and she's explicitly described as having this sort of appearance.
Amazonian Beauty: She's one of the greatest fighters in history, and Thor remarked that when he met her, he thought she was very beautiful, an assessment Harry agrees with - she's described as tall, slender, and leanly muscular, and she effortlessly beats a Scarab Warrior to a pulp.
Ambiguous Gender: In-Universe. Whether at the time or in retrospect, she was referred to as Sir Bedivere when she was in Camelot, though it seems that no one at the time doubted her gender.
Badass Normal: Most of the time. In her baseline state, she has no powers, but she does have a lot of very sophisticated nanobots in her body that she can mentally activate to enhance her and transmute more or less any materials around her or on her person. However, she couldn't use them except in conflicts like the Frost Giant War when the tech level would blend in (and even then, she states she was holding back).
Badass Teacher: According to Thor, she's the single greatest swordswoman he's ever seen, and as seen under Been There, Shaped History, she's trained many of history and mythology's biggest badasses. When she appears, she demonstrates just why she's a Living Legend, and ends up having a talk with a rather awed Harry about swordsmanship about other things that a half-listening Hal Jordan sums up as 'teaching class', inwardly comparing it to Chuck Yeager lecturing at the Air Force Academy.
Been There, Shaped History: Trained Sif and Fandral, served Merlin and was 'the best of Arthur's court', fought in the Last Great Frost Giant War, trained William the Marshal, Johannes Liechtenauer, Roland of Roncesvalles, Gerard Thibault d'Anvers, Ridolfo Capo Ferro, Chu Culainn, Atalanta and 'most of the Argonauts', cross-trained with Miyamoto Musashi, and that's apparently not a complete list. Oh, and she was Julie d'Aubigny.
Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: She was Julie d'Aubigny, among many, many other identities.
The Chanteuse: Acts as this and a Knowledge Broker in her very twenties themed club, Maupin's, on Sakaar. Apparently she liked the decade's aesthetics.
Chekhov M.I.A.: She's alluded to a few times in the first book, and a couple of times in the second, mostly in passing, with it being implied that there is a reason for her disappearance. Finally, she pops up as The Chanteuse in The Phoenix and the Serpent.
Composite Character: Among many other identities, she was both Julie d'Aubigny and Phryne Fisher. Later legends combined her with Nimue, who is a very distinct individual. She also may (or may not) be Spitfire I, Peggy Carter, and/or others.
Contralto of Strength: An excellent singer with a comparatively deep voice (though she's got the range to hit a perfect soprano when she feels like it) and a literal Living Legend in combat.
Cool Teacher: She's friendly, charming, and plain cool. She also has a long conversation with Harry discussing swordsmanship, which Hal notes is a textbook example of "teaching class" and compares both her presence and the way Harry's hanging off her every word to Chuck Yeager giving a lecture at the Air Force Academy.
Cosmic Plaything: She's on a quest not entirely of her own choosing through time and space, and has absolutely no control over it. She wasn't particularly happy about it, with Thor noting that she seemed very sad when he met her, though by the time she pops up on Sakaar she seems to cheered up a bit - probably because its atemporal nature means she can settle down a little and remove and repair the time machine.
Curbstomp Battle: She hands out a brutal one to a Beetle, neutralising its higher weapons and carving it up without taking a scratch, before casually impaling the Scarab itself to disarm it.
Cyborg: She's got a lot of nanobots inside her, though most of the time, they're dormant, leaving her at baseline human state. When they're not they can make her minimally capable of matching the speed and strength of a Scarab Warrior. She also had a malfunctioning time machine of unknown origins implanted in her, explaining her periodic time jumps - if she tried to fiddle with it, she'd jump on. On Sakaar, however, she could remove it freely.
Deadpan Snarker: More on the snark than the deadpan, though she's capable of that, too.
Dual Wielding: Her own blade and the Sword of Gryffindor, no less, during the Last Great Frost Giant war.
Dude Magnet: She shagged over a third of the Round Table, and that seems to be pretty normal by her standards. And it isn't just the guys, either. Her conquests include Han Solo and Princess Leia. Multiverse travel was, apparently, involved.
Expy: Word of God has noted that she's the product of a lot of influences, but pinpointed Phryne Fisher as played by Essie Davis as the primary one, being the source of her appearance, 20s aesthetic, and a great deal of her personality. This is further complicated by the fact that she technically was Phryne.
Empowered Badass Normal: When her nanobots are activated and set to enhancing her, she can become as strong as a Greater God like Thor and Loki. For most of her history, however, they've done nothing of the kind as she's tried to pass relatively beneath notice (or at least be underestimated).
Establishing Character Moment: Casually rearranges her club to move Harry and Hal out the way, transforms her mike/stand into a sword with a semi-sonic screwdriver hilt, her clothes into a suit of light battle armour, while declaring that she doesn't like trouble in her club unless she's starting it, before casually beating the crap out of a Beetle and giving it a message for its master and then crippling it.
Tell him the bitch is back.
Eternal Hero: Thanks to her time travelling, her heroism can be traced back at least three thousand years, back to when freaking Hercules was young. And an Eternal Teacher of Heroes, no less.
Ethical Slut: As demonstrated in her life as Phryne Fisher, she Really Gets Around, but she also seems to genuinely care for her exes. Despite shagging over a third of the Round Table, Merlin, and Morgana, she implies that her connection with Arthur (who was married) was strictly platonic, and refers sympathetically to Lancelot's unrequited love for Gwen. And when telling Hal about her adventures in a version of Star Wars universe (which included sleeping with Han Solo and Princess Leia), she states she does not get between married couples - at least, not without invitation.
Even the Girls Want Her: As her life as Julie D'Aubigny demonstrated. Morgana's among them, apparently - she's smoking hot and she knows it.
The Fog of Ages: Subverted. She remembers everything - something implied to have a lot to do with her nanotech enhancements.
The Gadfly: She's many things, and very serious when matters are serious, but she's also chock full of mischief.
Gadgeteer Genius: And good enough at it to stun several of these, including the classic example of Reed fricking Richards, and startle Sunniva, who as an extremely well-travelled royal Asgardian Phoenix host, has almost Seen It All. At one point she spends an entire chapter mostly in the background casually using her nanotech to redesign and reprogram the Future Foundation's portals so they, a) actually work, b) with enough power and a big enough processor, can transport the entire population of Sakaar - problems she also has answers to, with her clutch TARDIS and Sunniva.
Genius Bruiser: She's best known for her incredible swordsmanship, but she's also demonstrated to be a technological genius with a vast command of nanotechnology and the ability to casually disable the advanced weapons on a Beetle's armour. Oh, and she turned her clutch purse into a TARDIS.
Girly Bruiser: Legendary Warrior. Swordswoman without compare. Great lounge singer who accessorises fantastic retro outfits and whose clutch purse is actually a TARDIS.
Guile Hero: She's also a scientific genius, and as Harry notes to his mild disgruntlement, she's perfectly capable of leading even him around by the nose with next to zero effort.
Has a Type: Idealistic, courageous brunettes, apparently.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: When she does armour up against a Beetle, she doesn't bother with a helmet. She doesn't need one.
I Am Very British: She has the accent of a 1920s British aristocrat, inflected with something else, though given how old she is and her Mysterious Past, there's no way of telling if this is even close to her original accent.
I Have Many Names: Offhandedly notes that Julie and Maupin are by no means her real name, and she's had many aliases - though that is one of her favourites.
Immortal Genius: She's apparently The Ageless and brilliant at more or less whatever she turns her hand to, nanorobotics included. She also turned her clutch purse into a TARDIS.
Impossible Thief: She picks Harry's dimensional pocket to get at Curtana and his Galahad armour, unlocking additional functions on the former to turn it into a lightsabre, and apparently altering the latter into a flawless mimic of Obi-Wan Kenobi's Clone Wars armour. Without him noticing.
Immortality Bisexuality: Implied by her past life as Julie D'Aubigny, and confirmed by Word of God. Apparently she has a very extensive little black book, one that does not discriminate based on sex or gender.
Inconspicuous Immortal: On the one hand, very little about her is inconspicuous, and even during her two centuries plus of explicitly fading into the background, this included a stint as a socially scandalous upper class lady detective in 1920s Melbourne. On the other hand, she went to a great deal of trouble to conceal who and what she really was, entirely successfully, even Heimdall didn't spot her when she didn't want to be found, and no one had any idea where she'd ended up.
Jumped at the Call: According to Buri, while she's not a fanatic, she's dedicated to her somewhat enigmatic duty of preserving the timeline like nothing he's ever seen - and while she gets attached and likes to have fun, the mission always comes first.
Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Played With. On the one hand, she's wearing a very fancy dress when she starts her fight with the Beetle. On the other hand, she's using nanotech to turn it into light battle-armour.
Knight Errant: Largely due to her unwilling time travel jerking her from one point in history, usually without any warning. Apparently even Odin couldn't help her, not without risking unravelling Time itself. She finally figured out how to solve it herself, though she seems to still be at it - and working for Strange.
Knight In Shining Armour: She was apparently the best of Arthur's court, and trained one of the greatest real life examples, William the Marshal.
Knowledge Broker: This is one of the main attributes of her reputation on Sakaar, apparently.
Like a Son to Me: According to Loki's researches, William the Marshal, 'who she treated like a son', and Atalanta - she actually raised the latter, apparently.
Living Forever Is Awesome: She's a very cheerful immortal, as these things go, despite having experienced incalculable personal tragedy - including losing loved ones who only she remembers even existing. Unlike Strange, who not only absolutely does not want to live forever, but never did and just wants to die, she looks on the bright side.
Long-Lived: At the very least. It's very heavily implied that time travel aside, she's lived far longer than any human should have been able to, with Harry stating after watching her fight that humans simply don't live long enough to get as good as she is, something she does not deny. Buri later tacitly confirms this, implying that they're at least in similar age categories - and he's somewhere between four and eleven thousand years old.
Master Swordsman:
- As a master of the sword and a teacher of masters, she's got a good claim to be the greatest example of this in the setting. Sif and Fandral's sheer skill is explicitly put down to the fact that she trained them. And Harry states after watching her fight that even as good as those two have become, she's still better than they were. Separately, she was stated to be the best of Arthur's court.
- When we finally meet her in person, she goes toe-to-toe with a Blue Beetle, something that gave Harry Thorson a significant fight when it was holding back, and defeats it without more than a couple of hairs out of place. An astounded Harry, who's already pretty talented with a blade, notes that for a swordsman, watching her in action is like a musician listening to Mozart or Doctor Strange.
Meaningful Name: She alludes to a number of these, and then mentions that she used to go by Phryne when she was living as an upper-class PI in 20s Melbourne, and the name was appropriate. While Harry misses it, the historical Phryne was an ancient Athenian courtesan who, according to legend, was accused of blasphemy by the Athenian courts and responded by flashing them, moving them to vote not guilty - implying that she's that gorgeous, that she knows it, and that she's more than willing to use her looks when necessary.
Mirror Character: To Strange. Both are Immortal Geniuses, exceptionally musically talented, the standard to live up to in their chosen fields, both have had many names over many lives and the name they use now is most certainly not their original, both are intimately connected to Camelot and time, both are mischievous with a puckish sense of humour, and both are shaped by tragedy. The difference is that where Strange manipulates, she teaches and guides, being relatively open and inviting people to figure her out where Strange actively obscures his past, and she cherishes her past and those she's lost while he runs away from them. He's a study in bitter self-hatred at what he has become, whereas she's perfectly happy with who she is. More to the point, she enjoys her immortality, even with the downsides, while he just desperately wants to be allowed to finally die.
Mistaken Identity: Her stint at Arthur's court, and possibly her relationship with time, led to her being mixed up with Nimue.
Mysterious Past: No one has any clue where she came from, or even what her name is (by her own admission, she has had many), with one speculation being that she's Peggy Carter. Word of God has hinted that she's the equally mysterious Spitfire I, but no one really knows anything about her, either, not even what she looked like.
Nice Girl: When we finally meet her, she turns out to be kind and supportive, inspiring hope in both Harry and Hal Jordan.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Time-travelling bisexual tech-genius Knowledge Broker ex-opera singer ex-PI cyborg master swordswoman. Among many other things.
Nom de Guerre: She's only known as the Lady Knight, though it's implied that she's been given - or has taken - others. Later reveals that she was once known as Julie D'Aubigny and Lady Maupin.
Oh, Crap!: She's genuinely concerned by the arrival of 'Midnight', whoever they are, disguised as Darth Revan. This is an order of magnitude beyond the detached amusement that most situations have drawn from her.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: A Scarab Warrior? A brief amusement and a messenger. The Grandmaster? A concern, but no more. Harry in the arena? Popcorn entertainment. When someone arrives disguised as Darth Revan? Someone she recognises? Now she's concerned. As it turns out, she has reason to be.
Palm on Cheek Pose: Rests a hand on the cheek of a very tired Hal Jordan, when gently commiserating with him/admiring him over how hard he's fought without hope of reward.
Platonic Life-Partners: Has this dynamic with Buri, who explains to Harry that no, they've never been more than friends - he's not interested in that sort of thing any more, and even if he was, it would make no difference, as both are too old to go calf-eyed over a simple roll in the hay.
Proud Beauty: She's kind, compassionate, and wise, as well as being frighteningly intelligent, and the gold standard for swordsmanship. She's also gorgeous and entirely aware of it.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Her implied baseline form, described as dropdead gorgeous, with a black bob haircut and alabaster pale skin, qualifies, since she's got a limited degree of Voluntary Shapeshifting - though Harry implies that it could be far more than just 'limited' if she ever felt like it.
Really 700 Years Old: It's not entirely clear how old she is, given the intermittent time travel, but she was long in the game by the time she raised Atalanta and knew a young Hercules, and Buri implies they're of similar ages, while Harry flat out states that humans don't live long enough to get as good at swordsmanship as she is.
Really Gets Around: And proud of it.
- Buri, who knows her better than most, wryly remarks that he reckons her main ambition in life is to shag her way through time and space, adding that if someone's attractive, interesting, and interested, she'll go for them. He then offhandedly mentions that if Harry was a few years older and unattached, he'd be just her type. Cue furious blushing.
- In the next chapter, she cheerfully lists off some of the Knights of the Round Table and associates that she slept with. The list includes Merlin, Morgana (before she went mad), Lancelot (who was very sweet, but hung up on Guinevere, "poor thing"), Gwaine, and Percival. According to her, the total was a little over a third - and she implies that at the very least, she modelled nude for Leonardo da Vinci, and happily confirms that she's shagged most of history's all-stars. As she quips to Hal, if you want to get good at something, "practice, practice, and practice some more." Hal is largely lost for words, still adjusting to the casual reveal that King Arthur is real, then eventually resolves to stick with what he knows and fist-bump her.
- Given that time travel and multiverse travel are, apparently, "much of a muchness, really", she's also got Han and Leia under her figurative belt. Simultaneously. She is extremely smug about it. Hal, once again, is flabberghasted.
Red Baron: Mixed with Spell My Name with a "The" - she's the Lady Knight. No ifs, no buts, no qualifiers. Harry later compares her to the Trope Namer, to give Hal Jordan some context as to just how ludicrously good a swordswoman she is.
Renaissance Woman: The Master Swordswoman, a Gadgeteer Genius and Omnidisciplinary Scientist who leaves some of the smartest people in the universe in awe, an Information Broker of unparalleled influence on Sakaar, a singer of quite extraordinary talent, and a literal example - she modelled nude for Da Vinci. All while being an agent of Doctor Strange, fighting his temporal war. Of course, being around as long as she has rather helps.
Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Even if people she's trying to protect, especially those she cares for, are erased from history, she remembers them - and is usually the only one who does. Harry thinks about this, imagines how he'd cope, then very quickly concludes that it would drive him insane and wonders how the hell she manages.
Self-Proclaimed Knight: She may have been knighted at some point, but she was well into her career by the time things like knighthood existed, so it's quite possible that she never formally got around to it. By all accounts, she was an exemplary knight and trained many superb knights.
Shrouded in Myth: Even Odin has no idea who she is, and he has access to a million years of Asgardian records - as did Loki when he did some digging on Sif's behalf.
The Slow Path: She was stuck on a cruel mixture of this and time travel, thanks to a malfunctioning time machine being lodged in her arm - she'd spend a long time in one era, then suddenly be yanked along without warning (and any attempt to fix it, pre Sakaar, would just make the jump). It's implied she ended up on Sakaar on purpose, precisely so she could fix it and remove it without impediment.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: The Wise Girl to Hal Jordan's perpetually baffled Straight Man.
Strong as They Need to Be: While her base form is that of a peak level human, when empowered by her nanobots, she can enhance herself to an unknown but significant degree, sufficient at least to keep up with Greater Gods (which are beings on the power level of Thor and Loki). All the sword skill in the world means naught without the power to back it up, and her victorious fight in the last Frost Giant War against a Greater God level being like Byleistr (whose magical powers were compared to Loki's), would not have been remotely possible without enough enhancement to keep up.
Spell My Name with a "The": She's the Lady Knight.
The Tease: Even when she isn't actively pursuing someone, she's more than a little bit of a flirt, being gorgeous, entirely aware of it, and totally unashamed. One does not have to think too hard about where Fandral got it from.
Time Police: Apparently this is her job, in a subtle fashion, as she's meant to protect the timeline - and it's heavily implied that like Buri, she's working for Doctor Strange.
Two Aliases, One Character: Possibly. Word of God has hinted that she's the mysterious Spitfire I, who was supposedly one of the Winter Soldier's earliest victims - except they Never Found the Body, just her explosion-crumpled gear. Which raises the question of whether (if it was her), this caused another jump in time, or this caused her first jump in time.
Uncertain Doom: She hasn't been seen for at least three hundred years, and while Thor raises the possibility that she's changed her alias, he also does not state that it is very possible that she's dead. Then, she pops up, alive and apparently thriving in The Phoenix and the Serpent, explicitly having avoided all notice for over two hundred years before winding up on Sakaar.
Unseen No More: She finally pops up in The Phoenix and the Serpent, having been referenced long before as someone who had vanished centuries ago.
Withholding Their Name: Implied, since her real name was - and remains - a matter of speculation.
World's Best Warrior: Her status as the greatest swordfighter in history is more or less unquestioned - and when it comes to it, she more than lives up to her rep.
Wrote the Book: Not her, but several of her students would go on to write some of the greatest treatises of western swordsmanship.

Karrin Murphy

Head of the Chicago PD's Special Investigations unit, intended to solve supernatural crimes (not as glamorous as it sounds, as In-Universe until the Battle of New York saying you saw the supernatural was grounds for getting fired or sent to a psychiatrist). Roughly five feet tall, has no superpowers, and will knock your teeth in if you imply this makes her weak. All canon tropes up to Proven Guilty apply here.

Badass Normal: Phil Coulson says that he actually offered her a job as a SHIELD agent, and reckons that she's probably a better hand-to-hand combatant than he is.
Best Friend: To Dresden, exchanging affectionate snark with him and giving Wanda an If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him speech. She's also the one he turns to in order to unload on during the below-mentioned Heroic BSoD about the extent of Strange's manipulations of his - and Thomas' and their mother's - lives ( Margaret LeFay was his apprentice and he explicitly arranged Dresden and Thomas' very existences), comforting him and telling him that You Are Better Than You Think You Are. During the same incident, she's also noted as looking like if she ever meets Strange, he won't get away without at least one broken bone.
By-the-Book Cop: Does not approve of people taking the law into their own hands. This has formerly caused some tension with Dresden.
If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: Tells Wanda after she starts going out with Harry that she will not be happy if she hurts him. Dresden's mortified, but Wanda's fine with it.
Friend on the Force: For Harry Dresden, and latterly, Wanda Maximoff.
Headbutting Heroes: Downplayed, but she's rather wary of Coulson due to his position with SHIELD.
The Leader: Of SI, mostly Levelheaded, though with shades of Headstrong and Charismatic.
The Mentor: Dresden mentions that she's been teaching him and Bruce Wayne staff-fighting and martial arts.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Described as being like Buffy with "none of the powers and all of the badass."
Put on a Bus: She doesn't appear in the Bloody Hell arc because she was on a romantic getaway with Kincaid in Hawaii. It remains to be seen how much she'll be involved with Dresden's further adventures.
Respected by the Respected: It's explicitly stated that Coulson affords her the same level of professional respect he affords the Black Widow.
- Doctor Strange also genuinely respects her and her values, enough that Dresden explicitly states that if not for her principles, he would have killed Rudolph without a second thought.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Harry Dresden, whenever they see each other. She was vastly amused by Harry going Squee when he saw Wanda.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Tells this to Dresden in Ghosts when he's in a Heroic BSoD about Strange manipulating his life.

Michael Carpenter

Sir Michael Carpenter a.k.a. the Fist of God

In the name of Almighty God, step away from that boy.

A Knight of the Cross and wielder of Amoracchius, the Sword of Love, better known as Excalibur. A carpenter in his day job and devoted family man, he's a devout Catholic (but not a dogmatist) and a literal and metaphorical Knight In Shining Armour. All canon tropes up through Proven Guilty apply here.

Action Dad: Father of a large family/small clan - he has seven children in canon, and acts as Harry Dresden's Cool Uncle.
Badass Cape: Wears a white one, embroidered with a red cross.
Beware the Nice Ones: Very kind, and usually very gentle. If he's not being gentle, it's probably because you're a monster that's hurt/is about to hurt innocents. This is a Very Bad Idea—he's known as "Fist of God" for a reason.
Big Brother Mentor: Is this to Thomas and Wanda in the main story, and has been to Harry Dresden in canon.
Big Damn Heroes: Arrives in the nick of time to save Dane Whitman.
The Cape: He even wears one. It is suitably badass. Morally speaking, he's probably the most idealistic character in the entire series, aside from Clark and Captain America.
Church Militant: A nice version. He's even prepared to be polite to a White Court Vampire (albeit one who'd proved both helpful and uncommonly decent in the past).
Cool Sword: The archetypal example; his sword Amoracchius was one of the two blades that went by the name of freaking Excalibur.
Curbstomp Battle: Takes on the undead warrior that beat Dane to a pulp and destroys it in three moves.
Excellent Judge of Character: He's pretty shrewd, noticing how Thomas doesn't behave like an ordinary White Court vampire - and unlike most uninformed observers, figuring out that there's more to his closeness to Dresden than mere self-interest. He's also worked out just why they're so close (as he says, he knows what it looks like when siblings argue).
Famed In-Story: He's recognized, and respected, across the supernatural world.
Flaming Sword: Amoracchius burns with white flames, and in the right situation, is one of the most powerful weapons in the Nine Realms.
Good Is Not Soft: He is kindly, friendly and forgiving. He'll give even undead abominations a chance to surrender (though in this context, it just means die quickly). However, if you face him on the battlefield and turn down his offer of your own free will, he will give no quarter.
Knight In Shining Armour: A very literal (as well as metaphorical) example.
The Mentor: It would be easier to list the characters he doesn't serve as a role model/confidant/source of advice to.
Nice Guy: Even when severely worried about his missing daughter, he takes the time to be polite to Thomas (even though as a White Court vampire, he's still understandably suspicious of him) and to be concerned for Wanda, who's been drinking to cope with Hermione's reaction to her.
Noodle Incident: He's apparently met Wanda a few times, including before she met Dresden.
One-Man Army: As part of the Strong as They Need to Be thing the Knights have.
The Paladin: Fulfils this trope in every way - he's kind, he's noble, and completely morally upright. Even when he's worried about his missing daughter, he remains entirely polite and strictly observes the speed limit. He also didn't earn the nickname 'the Fist of God' by collecting bottle-caps.
Pop-Cultured Badass: References The Chronicles of Narnia to Harry Dresden, pointing out that C. S. Lewis was a theologian.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "In the name of Almighty God, step away from that boy."
Red Baron: He's also known as 'the Fist of God'.
Secret Secret-Keeper: By his second appearance, he's figured out that Thomas and Harry are half-brothers.
Strong as They Need to Be: A total badass by himself, but like the other knights, he gets stronger in proportion to the threat faced (or depending on how you look at it, the threat is brought down to be as strong as them. It may vary depending on who they're fighting).

Thomas Raith

[You are] someone who wishes to help. Someone who was given every reason to be a monster, but chose to be better. Someone who is cursed, and who found a cure he could never take. Someone who risks everything, time and time again, for his brother.

The Token Good Teammate to the White Court of Vampires, one of the only good vampires known on Earth, and Harry Dresden's older half-brother. All canon tropes up to Proven Guilty apply here.

Abusive Parents: His father, Lord Raith. Even the most truncated account, specifically regarding the hiding of the truth about what he was to, like all young Raiths, make him more malleable after transforming, has Michael Carpenter, a man of saintly forgiveness, on the verge of drawing his sword, marching up to Chateau Raith and stabbing Lord Raith through the heart.
Badass Family: His mother was Famed In-Story amongst the magical community (and was an apprentice of Doctor Strange), his father is (or was) the King of the White Court, his half-brother is Harry Dresden, and his half-sister on the other side is the power behind the throne of the White Court.
Bash Brothers: He and Harry snark a lot, but they also know that they can trust each other to watch their backs in a fight.
Big Brother Instinct: He's protective of Harry, which is part of how Michael figures out that he's Harry's older brother. The other part is that Michael has seven children and knows what it looks like when siblings squabble.
Blatant Lies: He tells Wanda and Michael he has no magical talent, when in fact he's fairly decent at thaumaturgy. In his defence, hiding one's true abilities is second nature for the White Court (especially with his father routinely trying to kill him), and with Wanda present, there's no actual need for him to use them.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Apparently a lazy, snarky slob who happens to be loyal to his friends but otherwise sees no further than the end of his nose. Actually a skilled politician, deadly fighter, emotionally insightful confidant, and low-level magical practitioner who's done some extensive study and put a great deal of thought into pre-emptively inoculating nascent White Court vampires against their demons - successfully. When he reveals the latter to Michael and tacitly confirms his shocked response that this information could destroy the White Court, the other man wonders in shock how he could ever have underestimated Thomas.
Dark and Troubled Past: He's not particularly communicative about it, but his mum escaped his controlling (literally) father when he was six, he discovered what he was only after killing his first lover on his first feed, his father routinely tried to have him killed, and his best efforts to protect his younger half-brother met with mixed success.
Deadpan Snarker: More than equal to his brother in Snark-to-Snark Combat.
Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Probably the only vampire in the story who's actually friendly, as opposed to being Affably Evil (the Welshman is a good guy, but by all accounts he's really not friendly). Michael explicitly notes that he's got a number of very unusual traits for a vampire, and what seals his judgement is the fact that when Wanda's drowning her sorrows, she trusts Thomas around her, and Thomas spends his time ensuring she moderates her drinking rather than taking advantage of a prime opportunity to get psychic hooks into one of the most personally powerful and well-connected people on the planet (which literally any other vampire would do).
Hidden Depths: While Michael suspects his better nature, he figures out its extent at the end of Ghosts. He's also much, much smarter than he pretends to be - this is someone who figured out how to successfully inoculate a nascent White Court vampire against their hunger demon, something that could destroy the White Court.
Hunter of His Own Kind: He fights fellow vampires, yes, but more indirectly, he's figured out how to stop a Hunger Demon taking hold during the first feeding, something that Michael notes in shock could potentially wipe out the White Court. Thomas doesn't seem displeased at the idea.
Mistaken for Gay: Michael is neither the first nor the last person to assume he's been feeding on Harry before Wanda came along. He finds it hilarious (and isn't shy of using it to obscure their true connection).
Nice Guy: Quips and snark aside, he's a genuinely good person, at one point sitting and drinking with Wanda when she's in the process of drowning her sorrows to ensure that the considerably smaller woman with the ordinary metabolism paces herself. This actually earns him Michael's genuine respect, the other man having been previously on the fence about him.
Obfuscating Stupidity: He pretends to be a fairly louche, slobbish, and childish gadfly, and he's good enough at it that even people who know he's more than he seems tend to underestimate him. For one thing, he's quite possibly the only person to have worked out how to kill a White Court Hunger demon before it manifests.
Odd Friendship: He and Clint Barton, of all people, are said to have hit it off. This may actually be an example of Birds of a Feather—both of them are pleasant, somewhat silly, good-looking guys on the surface, but are much smarter, much more ruthless, and far more dangerous than they might appear.
Out of Focus: He's only shown up in person during Chaos Reigns, and doesn't appear in the main story outside a couple of cameos until late in the second book. His lack of appearances during the Bloody Hell arc is an Invoked Trope, though - Thomas and Harry have to stay away from each other while the Wardens are around, because their relationship is a necessary secret.
Smarter Than You Look: Like his deceptively intelligent brother, he's much, much smarter than he pretends to be - and it's implied that he's easily the smarter of the two. It's practically a survival tactic in the White Court, most of whom couldn't avoid backstabbing each other if they tried.
Star-Crossed Lovers: With his girlfriend Justine, who he is in deeply and mutually in love with. And since he was exiled by the White Court, and the touch of someone who is in true love is harmful to them, and Justine works for (and spies on for him) his older sister Lara, he barely ever gets to see her.
Succubi and Incubi: As a White Court vampire, this is a given. However, he tries not to harm anyone he feeds off of, taking as little as possible.
Troll: He has his moments. When Michael drops by to find Harry and is greeted by a mostly dressed Thomas and hears a feminine groan, he jumps to the inevitable conclusion and looks disapproving. Thomas just looks amused, then pointedly calls for Wanda. Wanda, hungover, appears and both her and Michael marinate in embarrassment as she realises what he assumed. Thomas?
The vampire smirked.

Gambit (SPOILERS)

Remy LeBeau a.k.a. Gambit a.k.a. Remy Summers

Want me to deal y'in, homme?

A powerful mutant, master-thief and ladies man from New Orleans, who is much, much smarter than he pretends to be. He first appears in Ghosts working for Sinister to pay off a debt, though his actual agenda is initially a mystery. He's also an artificially aged clone of Scott Summers. He is always charming, always friendly, and always, always dangerous. Given the nature of his identity and his scheming, he's Walking Spoiler, so spoilers for Ghosts are UNMARKED.

Amazon Chaser: By his own admission. He draws the line at Yelena Belova, however.
Ambiguously Human: Possibly. After studying his DNA, Hank concludes that he's a clone or even an Artificial Human. It's later revealed that he's a clone of Scott Summers, albeit one who's been given a few tweaks.
Artificial Family Member: He's a tweaked and partially rapid-aged clone of Scott Summers, who he initially ironically, the later seriously, refers to as his brother. Scott reciprocates, despite being initially weirded out by having been cloned, and their grandmother, Emma Frost, seems to have no problem whatsoever with his origins.
The Atoner: He's out to atone for his previous inaction, having turned a blind eye to the depravities of the Red Room and Sinister while working for the latter, and his failure in this 'verse's version of the Morlock Massacre. His main means of this is by trying to save the prisoners, especially Maddie. He ultimately succeeds.
Badass Longcoat: He wears his canon tatty brown coat and even by Super-Soldier standards, he's a One-Man Army.
Badass Teacher: One of the most dangerous characters on Earth and becomes this at the Xavier Institute, teaching very popular classes in escapology, combat, and other thief related skills. His Danger Room classes are less popular when it's discovered that he's even more inventively sadistic at scenario construction than Logan.
Bad Powers, Good People: His powers are, potentially, horrifyingly lethal and incredibly destructive, even without being in the hands of one of the most ruthlessly intelligent people in the series. However, he is a good man.
Becoming the Mask: His romance with Maddie. Initially, it was faked, to get leverage and freedom from Sinister, but he realised that she was just as much of a victim as him, and came to care for her. Now, they seem to be Amicable Exes, though Word of God has summed their relationship status up as "It's Complicated."
Beware the Silly Ones: A charming flirt with a Funetik Aksent, a fairly laidback attitude and a card related gimmick, he doesn't exactly come off as dangerous, even with his powers. Of course, what makes him dangerous has very little to do with his powers - and those powers are much greater than they seem, and much, much more dangerous. He successfully ran a con on both Sinister and the Red Room, coaxing Maddie away and serving as Natasha's mole right under their noses, with only Maddie realising any of it (and even her information was limited). Carol later uses this to illustrate to Monica just how dangerous he is, and why she likes him but doesn't entirely trust him.
Big Brother Instinct: In the Unfinished Business arc, he rapidly develops this towards Monica Rambeau and Peter Parker.
Blackmail: Sinister fixed a flaw in his powers that was killing him and uses this to control him.
The Bus Came Back: Invoked by Doctor Strange, who ensured that Gambit would be in place to assist Carol, Stevie, and Peter Parker against the Grey Court vampires who were hunting them.
Cane Fu: With his bo staff.
The Casanova: Subverted, surprisingly enough. While he's charming and has a flirtatious manner, he's only mentioned as being in two relationships, and in the one we see, despite his original intentions, he's absolutely loyal to his girlfriend - Maddie - and when they do break up, it's amicable and he sticks around for long enough to ensure that she was fine.
The Charmer: Frequently. At one point, Carol claims his charm isn't working on her, then she notes to her own disgust that it kind of is. It later turns out that he's capable of using his powers to amplify this effect on physical contact, though he positively loathes the idea.
Charm Person: He's got a version of his canon charm power, though it's suggested to work by physical contact and stimulating nerves and pleasure centers in the brain. It's also very strongly suggested that he does not like doing it.
Chick Magnet: And he knows it. And he still manages to be likeable.
Clone Angst: Strongly hit by this after The Reveal he's actually Scott Summers' clone, feeling that he's a bad copy of a better man.
Clones Are People, Too: Steadily sought to inculcate this attitude in Maddie, eroding her belief that she was just a Living Weapon, showing her that she could be a person too. Ironically, it turns out that he's the clone, and she's the real human. After a very nasty initial shock, he develops this attitude, even ironically (and later more sincerely) referring to Scott as his "brother".
Composite Character: With the third Summers brother, Gabriel a.k.a. Vulcan, but he's actually a tweaked clone of Scott rather than a naturally-born sibling.
Cool Big Bro: Namechecked as this when he joins up with the Xavier Institute, as he's younger than the teacher and more relaxed about rules than Jean and Scott - something most of the teachers don't mind, as him being the one the students turn to for aid in inevitable teenage mischief means that it'll be carefully judged and safe.
Dark and Troubled Past: He grew up on the streets with no idea of where he'd come from, was adopted into the LeBeau crime family (though he apparently had a happy upbringing), then seems to have killed his girlfriend's brother in self-defence, which accounts for the dark. It gets mysterious after the revelations that he's a lot Younger Than He Looks, having been created whole, most probably by Sinister, before the process was interrupted when he was seven and that he's a clone of Scott Summers.
Deadpan Snarker: A bit, first shown in a very dark, grim way when talking to Agent Coulson. It develops into something more playful with time.
Death Dealer: His cards are his signature weapon and extremely dangerous.
Defusing the Tyke-Bomb: Slowly worked this on Maddie/Rachel, with genuine success.
Deprogramming: He tried to do this to Maddie/Rachel, to get her out from under Sinister's thumb as part of Defusing the Tyke-Bomb, and ultimately succeeded.
Distracted by the Sexy: He has this effect on people, especially heterosexual women - Carol is charmed against her own better judgement, and Jean has to keep reminding herself that she has a boyfriend and that he's sort of dating her sister when he comes up in conversation.
Enigmatic Minion: To Sinister. He's actually Natasha's mole, and trying to help out the heroes, being mostly focused on trying to free Maddie/Rachel.
Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Carol tells him that it won't work on her, since Jean-Paul, also calls her 'cherie'. To her internal disgruntlement, Gambit being Gambit, it works anyway.
Forced into Evil: His involvement with Sinister and the Red Room boils down to this. He doesn't take it lying down.
Funetik Aksent: As per canon, though it's suggested that he can dial it up and down as he chooses. Lukin inwardly complains about its impenetrability.
The Gambler: Retains his canon persona's use of cards and tendency to take chances - though unlike canon, they tend to be very carefully judged ones. He's also cheerfully entirely willing to rig a betting pool on Scott and Jean's potential relationship in exchange for a substantial commission.
Gratuitous Foreign Language: As per canon. Carol informs him that the 'cherie' thing won't work on her.
Having a Blast: He blows things up, primarily, though he's got more than a few other tricks up his sleeves.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: Offscreen, some time previously, he was involved in this 'verse's version of the Morlock Massacre, and tried to save some Morlocks by collapsing a tunnel behind them. While he succeeded, Sinister was not pleased and... punished him. Unusually, this merely made him more cautious.
Heroic BSoD: After realising that his attempt to get Maddie out failed.
Heroic Seductress: A rare male example. He originally set out to seduce Maddie as a means of getting leverage on Sinister and escaping, playing on her relative youth and inexperience. As he admits, he isn't proud of it, and changed his mind when he realised that she was as much a prisoner as him, trying to coax her away from Sinister, and encouraging her to think for herself. As it turns out, she figured it out what he was up to pretty quickly (being a powerful telepath helps), but went along with it because it was the first time that someone had even pretended to care. Gambit is horrified.
I Gave My Word: His justification for working for Sinister, remarking - like Strange - that his word is all he has. As the rest of the folder indicates, he's lying.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Dudley, with half his own staff.
Improbable Weapon User: His favoured playing cards.
In the Blood: It's noted by Emma herself that his talents for scheming, charming, and manipulating, using one's looks to best effect and disguising true intelligence come straight from her.
Irony:
- When he realized how much Maddie had been messed up by her conviction she being a clone meant she would amount to nothing more than a Living Weapon, he did her best to show her that she still was a person. Unbeknownst to both of them, Maddie was the "real", naturally born human while Gambit was the clone.
- There's also a certain irony in the man most famous for blowing up pretty much everything he touches being the one to steadily and carefully defuse the Tyke Bomb.
- The character who very firmly believes in the importance of choices, and taking responsibility for them, also has powers that can be (and, it's implied, has been) used to influence others' emotions. On the other hand, it's implied that this is precisely why he loathes that facet of his abilities.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. The facade of jerk is only presented in the Red Room, and evaporates once Carol realises very quickly that he's not the soulless mercenary douche that he'd like to appear to be.
Let's Get Dangerous!: When he drops the flirting and gets business-like, things tend to get very messy indeed.
Lovable Rogue: Roguish, nominally working for the bad guys when he first appears, and very, very hard not to like (especially if one is at all attracted to men). Even after his official Heel–Face Turn, he's still a master thief and has absolutely no shame about making an under the table deal with Bobby Drake, betting shark of the Institute, about rigging the betting pool for the timing of Jean and Scott finally twigging to their mutual feelings.
The Magic Touch: He can make anything he touches explode. He can also zap people back into consciousness and turn a vampire corpse to dust. It's later revealed in Unfinished Business that he can control his charge, delaying its detonation, charging something through another substance, and he's even capable of charging air and water molecules - and it's indicated that this is only the tip of the iceberg. It turns out that the precise control comes from his grandmother, Emma Frost.
Manipulative Bastard: He's a benevolent variant, but he's capable of playing Sinister, the Red Room, the heroes, and technically Maddie/Rachel as part of Defusing the Tyke-Bomb - originally, he was straight up playing her, but changed his mind when he realised that she was a victim too (though it turns out that she knew) at once. On their reunion, Carol is a little wary of him as a result, now knowing what he can do. Emma Frost, his grandmother, who knows all about his skills in this department remarks with dry amusement that he'd not only take to the Hellfire Club like a duck to water, but the inhabitants of that particular pond would soon find that they were not dealing with a duck, but a sea serpent.
Meaningful Name: he's prone to taking serious, but carefully calculated, gambles. Carol, a fluent French speaker, also lampshades the meaning of his surname, teasing that he must think a lot of himself. Gambit just laughs, says it's his real name and that he's adopted, then Gambit being Gambit, adds:
But it fits, non?
Minion with an F in Evil: While working for the Red Room and Sinister. He wasn't evil to begin with, and by the time he appears, he's actively undermining them as Natasha's mole and steadily defusing Maddie.
Nerves of Steel: Powers or no, staring down Yelena Belova without blinking takes stones. Even more so since he's Natasha's mole inside the Red Room, who are noted to be hard enough to cross, even without telepaths - these are the people who scare HYDRA.
Obfuscating Stupidity: No one who knows him is really in any doubt that he's dangerous, but it's suggested that his Poirot Speak and flirty, irreverent attitude is a disguise for just how smart he is.
One-Man Army: As Unfinished Business shows, he can take on a baker's dozen of armed low-budget Super-Soldier berserkers in close quarters and come out unscratched. Indeed, Carol's first impulse on seeing the fight is to note that she almost feels sorry for them.
Outdated Outfit: Deadpool snarkily calls him "thrift-store Neo." Even Harry, not exactly known for his fashion knowledge, notices. However, he also notes that Gambit has the confidence to carry it off. Considering how many female viewpoint characters are practically drooling over him (primarily, Carol, Jean, and Maddie), he's not wrong.
Person of Mass Destruction: While his use of his powers is usually surprisingly subtle, he's capable of casually obliterating powerful Symbiotes and charging a very large cloud of mist sufficient to flatten a small forest and blow the roof off of Project Pegasus in a blast visible from miles away. It's also implied that this is far from his limit.
Pinned to the Wall: The floor, to be exact, by Dudley. With his own bo staff, to add insult to injury.
Playing Card Motifs: Unusually, unlike canon (where he opts for the Joker or the Ace of Spades), his favoured card is the Jack of Hearts. It's still apt - the Jack is usually Manipulative Bastard-y, and also known as the Knave, with the Knave of Hearts being a thief who "stole the Queen's tarts", most famously referenced in Alice in Wonderland.
Poirot Speak: His first language is English, his Cajun background just means that he mixes in French words. However, it's also shown to diminish dramatically when he's getting serious, suggesting that it's Obfuscating Stupidity.
Power Incontinence: How he fell under Sinister's control - he lost control of his powers, accidentally killed his girlfriend's brother (the fact that they were part of Feuding Families didn't help), and fled New Orleans, before Sinister performed surgery that gave him control of his powers, but put Gambit in his debt.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Gives a pretty good one to Harry.
Gambit: Want me t' deal y' in, homme?
Pretty Boy: Carol and Jean outright call him a pretty man. Indeed, Carol spends a lot of her time in his presence Eating the Eye Candy (and trying, often unsuccessfully, to Ignore the Fanservice).
Psychic Block Defense: He's had one implanted (presumably by Maddie) that's good enough that Harry notes that it would take him a while to dismantle - he could go straight through, but that would just fry Gambit's brain.
Punch-Clock Villain: Characterises himself as such when working for Sinister to pay off a debt. In fact, he's running a game on the Red Room and Sinister, stabing them in the back to free Maddie and the prisoners.
Ragin' Cajun: As per canon.
Rescue Romance: Of a sort. There's a romance between him and Maddie/Rachel, though it's part of his steadily working on Defusing the Tyke-Bomb, and they more or less break up afterwards, and fairly amicably at that.
The Mole: He's Natasha's mole inside the Red Room.
Sibling Yin-Yang: His genetic template Scott Summers is sweet and awkward, while Remy is described by one reader as "a Weapon of Mass Seduction". When the two spend more time together at the Xavier Institute, the narrative remarks that a number of the students have realised that they're effectively twins and are thoughtfully reassessing Scott in light of this.
Sir Swears-a-Lot: He's mentioned as having an impressive repertoire of foul language.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: As he repeatedly states, he believes that people should be free. If there's one thing he's truly passionate about, it's that people have to be able to make their own choices.
Southern Gentleman: He's got the mannerisms, and Carol's a bit charmed against her better judgement.
Street Smart: Very much so, as an ex Street Urchin and current Guile Hero.
Strong Family Resemblance: Once Jean got past the eyes and speech pattern, she easily guessed he was Scott's clone because of his looks and the way he moved.
Stuff Blowing Up: His main use of his powers, but by no means the only one.
Swiss-Army Superpower: You wouldn't think that charging stuff up would be that flexible, but he makes it do a lot of work. Notable uses (aside from the obvious) include jolting people awake, setting things on fire, shorting out electronics, boosting leaps, charged cane strikes, and dusting vampires - and it's implied that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Sympathetic Murder Backstory: He accidentally killed his girlfriend's brother after a case of Power Incontinence.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Which Carol, Jean, and Maddie, along with most of the Xavier Institute, most definitely notice.
Team Chef: Becomes this at the Xavier Institute.
Technicolour Eyes: Red on black, as per canon. It's one of the things that initially throws people off his resemblance to Scott.
Telescoping Staff: He uses an extendable bo staff in combat.
Token Good Teammate: For the Red Room. He's a fairly decent guy, as Carol observes, while his colleagues are Belova, Sinister, Lukin, and Maddie, who's not precisely malicious but a bit... off, and Dudley, probable murderer and definite rapist who enjoys hurting people. It transpires that he's Natasha's mole and The Atoner, ultimately out to save both the prisoners and Maddie.
Touch of Death: One of the many, many more subtle applications of his powers. It's implied that he's had to use it, and he found it utterly sickening.
*Twang* Hello: And then it explodes.
Underhanded Hero: As per canon, he's an acrobatic thief and brilliant manipulator and con-man. It's why Carol later doesn't entirely trust him. She likes him, yes. But she doesn't always trust him.
Unreliable Narrator: Claims at first that he's helping Harry because Thor stopped Hurricane Katrina before it hit New Orleans. Gambit being Gambit, this is rather less than the truth.
Wild Card: Initially teased as this. He's sided with the heroes all along. Thereafter, however, he remains this, as it's not entirely clear where he's going to turn up next, or what he'll do.
Xanatos Speed Chess: Forced into this after Carol informs him just who was kidnapped along with her.
Younger Than They Look: Intensive tampering with his genetic material by Sinister had this effect, with Hank implying he was actually "born" as a seven-year-old. Xavier hypothesises that he was being artificially grown by Sinister, programmed in the process, and something went wrong at the lab, and the young Gambit escaped in the power cut. He has absolutely no idea about this, at least at first.

Jor-El

We must wait until the very last moment. And calculate when that last moment will be to ensure that Kal has the best chance of survival. Anything less would put him at greater risk than needed. Neither I, nor Lara, will countenance that.

The birth father of Clark Kent a.k.a. Kal-El, husband of Lara Lor-Van, and the most brilliant scientist on Krypton. He figured out that Krypton was doomed, and after his warnings were ignored, with his wife, he took measures to protect their only son, planning on sending him to Earth, a world he'd visited several times before. This included soliciting Alison Carter for help. Despite being long dead, his actions continue to affect the world. He is heavily implied to have been the source for this world's version of Bizarro.

Badass Bookworm: A brilliant and thoughtful scientist, and a powerful 'high blood' Kryptonian, he was apparently more than capable in a fight when required to be.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's a gentle, kindly pacifistic scientist, a genius by the standards of the most advanced society in the mortal universe. However, as a 'high blood' Kryptonian, he's a Flying Brick on par with Thor when under a 'yellow' sun. Word of God has it that he overpowered a young Colossus and demonstrated his displeasure with Omega Red by dropkicking him up through Mount Yamantau. Not over. Through. Good thing he can heal, eh?
Broken Ace: By the time of Krypton's near destruction, all his efforts to save his world having come to nothing, and it's almost broken him - he's entirely focused on saving his son by any means necessary.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of the reason he chooses the Kents as adoptive parents for his son is because Hiram Kent once cleared him of a murder charge and Jonathan seemed to be 'cut from the same cloth.'
Came Back Wrong: After a fashion, with Sinister cloning an imperfect version of him as this world's Bizarro to use as a bodyguard. It promptly gets frozen in place by a vengeful Doctor Strange, then after punching the Dark Phoenix into the Moon from high Earth orbit, vaporised by the individual in question.
The Cassandra: As per canon, almost no-one on Krypton believed him.
Crazy-Prepared: As Book II demonstrates in a flashback, he built as many redundancies and back-ups as was imaginable or conceivably possible into his plan to save his son. He indicates that this is something that he and his wife, Lara, had in common.
Didn't See That Coming: He didn't predict Clark's ship dragging a lot of debris with it, causing the Smallville Meteor Shower and making the landing a much bigger event than he'd hoped (making it harder to completely conceal Clark), and creating a much bigger problem for Clark in terms of 'meteor freaks' and the fact that Kryptonite Is Everywhere.
Fling a Light into the Future: His only son, Kal-El/Clark Kent, believed to be the Last of His Kind. He also left several artefacts with Alison Carter for when Clark was ready.
Flying Brick: He was this on Earth, unsurprisingly, on par with Thor.
Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Alison notes shades of this in his character going by his horror, bafflement, and misery at what his earnest attempts at warning his people of disaster unleashed (a brutal civil war after an attempted military coup led by General Zod, and a violent 'Cult of the Eradicator', both of which venerated him). He's also troubled by a glimpse of Alison's ruthless streak.
Happily Married: To Lara, a practical minded military woman.
Ignored Expert: As per canon in regards to Krypton's doom.
Interspecies Friendship: Had this with Peggy and Alison Carter, Charles Xavier, possibly with Loki, and also, it's hinted, with Captain Mar-Vell.
Martial Pacifist: Not a fighter by inclination or training, but also more than handy in a battle when necessary.
It Runs in the Family: After his first appearance during a flashback in Ghosts, it's very clear to see where Clark got not only his looks and powers, but also his nature, as a Nice Guy who doesn't like fighting, but shouldn't be underestimated. Jonathan and Martha Kent also note that Clark has his smile.
Mr. Exposition: Explains the Dheronian attack on Krypton and his reasons for sending his son where and when he does to Alison.
My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction to those Kryptonians who believed his warnings - Zod started a civil war to depose the ruling council, and the Cult of the Eradicator, an apocalypse cult, venerated him as their prophet.
Nice Guy: Described as being very kind, and something of a Humble Hero who only wanted the best for his people.
Noodle Incident: On Earth, he was once falsely accused of murder, though Hiram Kent helped clear him of it. Separately, Loki respected him personally, judging by his remarks about the Bizarro clone.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: He's mentioned to have been active on Earth on multiple occasions, including getting involved in the incident that involved the Red Room trying to get Alison Carter's blood.
Papa Wolf: His own life is completely irrelevant to him, as long as his son is safe.
Posthumous Character: He's been dead for over a decade by the time the story starts, appearing only in a flashback.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: As a young man, he looked startlingly like his son, Clark.
When He Smiles: Is noted to have the same dazzling smile as his son.

Deadpool

Wade W. Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool

"I'm the special guest star. Last minute addition to the cast by the author, I can understand why you didn't get the memo. Basically, it's just a cameo – I come, I see, I stab. Him, to be exact. In the process, I throw out a few quips, make some references, and a good time is had by all. Except him, because he's dead, but you can't please everybody."

Mercenary, mutant (in line with the films), assassin, and surprisingly chirpy soldier of fortune. Has an incredibly powerful Healing Factor, may be immortal, and is definitely completely insane. After eight years of the author refusing to include him, he finally appears in Unfinished Business.

Actor Allusion: He jokingly claims to be "a clone of Ryan Reynolds" until he was "bitten by a radioactive Shar-Pei". This is also a Shout-Out to Cable & Deadpool, where Deadpool explicitly described himself as looking "like Ryan Reynolds crossed with a shar-pei." He reckons that since his super-suit isn't green or animated, he came out ahead.
Affably Evil: Though "evil" might be overstating it. He's mostly a Punch-Clock Villain, seeing the mercenary business as a job - targeting Gambit is Nothing Personal. Gambit appreciates this, but doesn't appreciate being targeted in the first place.
Ambiguously Bi: Happily Married to Vanessa, eulogises both Alison and Jack O'Neill's asses, refers to Remy as 'Mr Seductive Funky Accent', and hits on Carol once or twice before finding out she's under-age.
Black Comedy: He's a Heroic Comedic Sociopath, for a given value of heroic.
Body Horror: Standard for Deadpool - for instance, in Unfinished Business, Gambit charges Carol's shield and hurls it straight into his body, blasting him through a wall, through a lower roof, and halfway through a VW Beetle. Mostly, he just seems mildly annoyed. Magical cordyceps is more of a problem, however.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: He claims he's allowed a statutory number of fourth wall breaks per chapter. Which is itself a fourth wall break, after he complained about not getting an appearance for eight years (and that only in a side-story), and how only a year or so had passed In-Universe.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's crazy and he has the attention span of a toddler, but he's almost indestructible, he's got extensive black ops training, and no discernible sense of caution. This makes him a very effective mercenary.
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He's... odd, to say the least.
Facial Horror: In spite of having seen more than a few truly disgusting wounds, Carol is very much appalled when she gets to see him unmasked.
Everyone Has Standards: He's a little horrified to find out that Carol, who he's been half-jokingly hitting on, is not even 16, as she's Younger than She Looks. When everyone else stares at him in disbelief, he complains that while he may be a mercenary, he does have standards.
Genre Savvy: Given that he's constantly Leaning on the Fourth Wall, this isn't surprising, and it comes in useful when he immediately realises that Carol can be saved and they have all that they need to do it.
Happily Married: To Vanessa. It is a strange and unconventional relationship, but it works for them.
Healing Factor: As in canon, his is stupidly powerful.
Heroic Comedic Sociopath: For a given value of heroic. His every other line is Black Comedy.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He's entirely happy to make fun of his own appearance, stating at one point that he used to be a clone of Ryan Reynolds, but he was bitten by a radioactive Shar-Pei. He also separately remarks that he has the skin of a baked potato.
Hidden Depths: Under the many layers of easily bored smart-mouthed loon there is an extremely experienced and skilled black ops expert.
Hitman with a Heart: He's devoted to his wife, Vanessa, and he's possibly the most affable mercenary you're ever likely to meet.
I Gave My Word: He takes his markers seriously, so when Alison calls one in, he complains, but goes with it.
Kavorka Man: Completely disfigured yet married, and if judging from his lurid comments, he enjoys a passionate sex life with Vanessa.
Lampshade Hanging: It's Deadpool. This happens, frequently.
Morality Chain: Vanessa - per Strange, by some unknown means that even he does not understand, she's the one person who can reliably make Deadpool behave for more than five minutes.
Motor Mouth: Again, Deadpool. He's known as 'the Merc with a Mouth' for a reason.
Noodle Incident:
- Jacksonville, like in the films (though here, we find out that he ended up in a coma and a full body cast because he strayed a little too close to some explosives while getting a good look at Alison's ass. Apparently it was Worth It) and he owes Alison a marker for it.
- There was also a mission with Jack O'Neill in East Berlin in '88. Excessive amounts of vodka, a swimming pool full of black market Ben & Jerrys, half a dozen Stasi agents, and Jack and Deadpool doing karaoke as Abba as part of their cover that somehow involved the Hellfire Club.
- After the East Berlin mission, Jack apparently swore to fire him into space if he saw him again. According to Deadpool, he'd preferred to avoid that because "re-entry stings like a bitch." How he knows that is so far unknown.
Nothing Personal: Says this word for word about the hit that's been called in on Gambit.
Obfuscating Insanity: In the best traditions of this trope, some of his insanity is definitely a mask to disguise his intelligence and expertise, though how much is debatable.
Odd Friendship: As in canon, he gets along disturbingly well with Peter Parker. He also develops into a kind of Vitriolic Best Buds with Gambit.
Oh, Crap!: Realises mid-sentence, just before it happens, that Gambit's charged up Carol's shield and is about to throw it at him.
Deadpool: Oh chocolate sprinkled fucksicles.
Old Soldier: It's hard to tell how applicable ageing really is for him, but he's certainly older than he appears. Plus, he's been running black ops, then working as a mercenary, for most of twenty five years, including missions in East Berlin and Yugoslavia. And Jacksonville. This does not count whatever more ordinary military experience he'd have had before he went into black ops, either.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he gets serious and stops joking, things are generally pretty bad.
Pop-Cultured Badass: Just as fond of pop culture as he is of weapons.
Punch-Clock Villain: He's just a guy, doing his job. Which happens to be killing people. Though he believes in really committing to the job, and refuses to be regarded as just another notch on the bedpost.
Sad Clown: Strange identifies him as this, remarking sadly that sometimes humour is there to cover up pain - and Deadpool has a lot of pain to cover up.
Smarter Than You Look: It's not entirely clear whether he's simply pretending to be an idiot or, often enough, is an idiot. However, underneath the idiot there is a competent strategist with enough experience and Genre Savvy to pick up on what Strange is up to when Carol has been turned into a tree even before Gambit does.
Take That!: He takes jabs at the author's slow update schedule and large amounts of "this is reality" moments.
Take Our Word for It: There's no real description of his face, but Carol's horrified reaction says everything.

Karima Shapandar

Karima Shapandar/The Sentinel

A police officer from India, who after an unexplained accident, became a cyborg, likely through the Red Room's technology. Through further unclear circumstances, Karima became an "associate" of the Winter Guard and the Red Room (in other words, she had her personality suppressed in a way similar to the Red Son/Harry).

Bit Character: Appears with the rest of the Winter Guard, then goes offscreen after the Forever Red arc, being mentioned by Loki as being repaired and in counselling.
Cyborg: She's one of these due to an unexplained "accident", and is apparently capable of interfacing with and controlling technology, among other things, as a result.
Foreshadowing: In Chapter 17 of Ghosts, Loki implies that the Avengers intend to expand their roster, and that she's been identified as a very likely candidate for membership.
My God, What Have I Done?: After Magneto destroys her emotional inhibitors, all she does for a while is fall to her knees, crying Broken Tears. It's mentioned afterwards by Loki that she's currently receiving medical treatment (and likely psychiatric aid).
Mysterious Past: It's not exactly clear how she ended up as a Red Room cyborg, but Loki implies that it happened with the connivance of the Indian government.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Loki suggests to the Indian Prime Minister that she and Nagraj Shah, a fellow former prisoner of the Red Room, should be allowed to go on one of these against the Red Room's Indian base.
Sole Survivor: While her being a part of the Winter Guard was unwilling on her part, she is as far as we know the only one of the Red Room's top brass who's not imprisoned or dead.
Technopathy: Her main ability, thanks to her Unwilling Robotization.
Token Good Teammate: "Teammate" is a bit of a strong word given that Karima's not a willing ally of the Red Room. She was either kidnapped by the Red Room, or (possibly unwittingly) handed over to them by the Indian government.
Unwilling Robotization: Appears to be why she was captured by the Red Room, but the exact details on how this happened aren't clear, given the current lack of a Sentinel project in the Child of the Storm universe (as far as we know).
You Will Be Spared: Compared to the rest of the Winter Guard, who he tears to shreds, Magneto doesn't really hurt her besides destroying aforesaid inhibitors (probably due to said Unwilling Robotization).

Shou-Lao

Shou-Lao the Undying

I am He Who Is Undying. I am He Who Holds The Burning Heart. I am He Who Said 'No More'. I am the Last Test of The Iron Fist, the Judge of the Worthy. I am Life, and I am Fire. I am Shou-Lao.

One of the Elder Wyrms who chose to break with Surtur and make a better, more peaceful existence as guardians, guides, and protectors. His chosen method is as the source of the power of the Iron Fist, in the mysterious mystical city of K'un L'un...

Adaptational Badass: In the comics, he could be beaten by the Iron Fist, which means he definitely wasn't a full-blown Physical God, somebody who could likely fight Thor at full power and have a non-zero chance to win.
Adaptational Intelligence: It's a bit ambiguous how intelligent Shou-Lao is in the comics, but this version quickly makes clear that he is very, very smart indeed.
Always a Bigger Fish: While he keeps it under control, he's more than a little wary of Harry losing control, knowing that a truly uncontrolled Phoenix host is out of even his league. Indeed, after helping contain Harry as he purges his anger, he's visibly concealing a limp.
The Atoner: Started out wanting to burn down the universe, and now spends his time leading, protecting, and mentoring.
The Chooser of the One: He's the "Last Test of the Iron Fist, the Judge of the Worthy". In the comics, the Iron Fist got their powers by defeating him - given this Shou-Lao is easily a Physical God, here he simply decides if a candidate is worthy of being empowered by him, judging them primarily on their self-awareness and reasons for wanting the Iron Fist power.
Cold Ham: He's very dramatic, but he never "raises" his voice (although considering how big he is and how Dave could shatter castle windows of Hogwarts from miles away by yelling, that's definitely a good thing).
Defector from Decadence: At some point, he decided to turn against his father, Jormungandr, and their creator, Surtur. Why and when are still unknown.
Evil Is Bigger: Inverted. He's the Good Counterpart of 'Dave' and he's much, much bigger.
Expy:
- To Dalek Caan from Doctor Who, as a formerly high-ranking member of an army of monsters who wanted to destroy the universe, then said "No More" and pulled a Heel–Face Turn, using his powers to help the heroes. Though thankfully, Shou-Lao is much more sane.
- As acknowledged by Word of God, his personality also owes more than a little bit to a more or less benevolent Count Dooku.
Gentleman Snarker: Seems to have a bit of this going on, given how he reacts to Harry.
Good Counterpart: To Vandlat a.k.a. 'Dave', the Elder Wyrm of Hogwarts. One wants to blow up the world, the other wants to protect it. One eats or enslaves humans, the other empowers them. One tries to kill and/or manipulate Harry, while the other helps teach him.
Good Is Not Soft: He's fairly nice under the cool snark, but he's also brutally honest, ruthless and uncompromising - as he makes clear, if someone keeps going in the Test of the Iron Fist, he will kill them.
Heel–Face Turn: During or after (the implication is the former) the war against Surtur, he turned against his creators for undisclosed reasons.
Hidden Depths: He's not exactly a sweetheart, but he is fairly kind and quite a good therapist, willing to help Harry work through his issues and understand himself and the Phoenix better.
- Sunniva notes that he's genuinely proud of K'un L'un and the people in it—not in the way a farmer is proud of his flock, but the way a leader is proud of his company.
I Have Many Names: One thing he has in common with his sibling, 'Dave'.
I am He Who Is Undying. I am He Who Holds The Burning Heart. I am He Who Said "No More".
Kaiju: Put it this way. 'Dave' was the size of a small mountain with a head as long as a Hogwarts house table, and was observed to be capable of eating Godzilla like a bar snack. Shou-Lao, when passing through clouds, is mistaken for a ridgeline, and has a head the size of a battleship.
The Mentor: He teaches Harry in The Phoenix and the Serpent, helping him through his issues and teaching him how to wield, not just control, the Phoenix.
Nice Guy: Sweet and vivacious he is not, but he does have a sense of true compassion, and is genuinely angered on Harry's behalf by what was done to him by the Red Room (which, as he and Sunniva note, is no small thing, given the kinds of things Shou-Lao has seen).
Noodle Incident: Strange mentions training in K'un L'un, which means that they've presumably met at some point. Certainly, a passing mention in Book III implies that Shou-Lao is familiar with him and his methods.
Not So Above It All: For all his exasperation at Harry's quips, he's got the same proclivity for dramatics as his evil relatives.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: He tells Harry that he's slain some of his own kin. It's still a bit of a sore spot.
Our Dragons Are Different: Inverts 'Dave', being the wise teacher type of Eastern tradition, residing in a magical city that appears in a Chinese mountain range, but designed after the fashion of Western dragons, wings and all.
Physical God: He's an Elder Wyrm and consequently a planet-cracker, and is considerably more powerful than the one we've seen so far. When testing Harry (who went toe to toe with the previous example and killed it without being pushed too hard), he weathers the latter's best attacks with ease, being only mildly wounded and forced to work up a sweat to make it clear how utterly outmatched Harry is.
Resurrective Immortality: Hence the name 'Undying'. The power of the Iron Fist itself is involved.
Seen It All: As Harry notes, Shou-Lao isn't impressed very easily, since he's been around for quite a while.
The Stoic: Very rarely shows much emotion.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: The somewhat exasperated Straight Man to Harry's Wise Guy, going by the snapshot of his appearance in the teaser for The Phoenix and the Serpent.
Time Abyss: He was born during the War for the Dawn, and hundreds of millennia later, is still hale and hearty.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Can take the form of a human man, though some draconic traits remain (most likely he could hide those as well if he really wanted to, though). And as he reveals, it's a significant mistake to assume that a human-looking form means the same arrangement of internal organs, which he exploits ruthlessly.

Hal Jordan

Harold 'Hal' Jordan a.k.a. Green Lantern III

An Ace Pilot of legend mentioned from time to time in Child of the Storm, including as a candidate for the Green Lantern Ring, he vanishes after the Battle of London, having fallen through a crack in time and space. He eventually reappears on Sakaar, determined to bring law and justice to a chaotic world as best he can, even if his equipment is cobbled together and the closest thing to a god in the area is aligned against him...

Ace Pilot: He's a brilliant pilot, and adept at flying with his gauntlet.
Aura Vision: After his gauntlet gets recharged, he finds himself developing this, much to his bemusement - one that covers the Emotional Spectrum.
Badass Longcoat: Wearing one in his first appearance, with Word of God noting that the whole scruffy trenchcoat gauntlet backpack look was heavily modelled off the Renegade arc of the New 52 Green Lantern run.
Beyond the Impossible: He shouldn't have been able to get a ring to spark up with so little power, let alone do what he has with it for so long, even if he did have a genius jury-rig the gauntlet arrangement.
Cool Car: Drives a black flying sports car. Harry approvingly considers this a sign that Hal is a man of taste.
Cowboy Cop: He's a self-appointed cop, this is more or less inevitable. He's doing his best, though.
Determinator: He is quite literally the only person who even managed to make an almost dead Lantern Ring spark, and Harry explicitly notes that he's spent the equivalent of a decade and a half feeding his gauntlet and battery with his raw willpower, forcing it to work through sheer stubbornness. And then there's the fact that he's entirely sure that there is no real point to what he's doing, thanks to the fundamental nature of Sakaar, but he's doing it anyway.
- It's also worth noting that only one of these could ever get a Ring to work at all in the first place, he's just taking it to a whole new level.
Determined Defeatist: He firmly believes that a) Sakaar is a hellhole and will remain that way no matter what he does, b) Harry and 'Julie' are going to pull something that could bring down the wrath of the Grandmaster and absolutely won't work and he has no way of stopping them, c) he's damned if he's giving up, either on trying to do some good, to help them out, or to just protect the people in his sector. Then, Harry restores his faith in miracles.
Early-Bird Cameo: Appeared and was mentioned a couple of times in Child of the Storm.
Emerald Power: His motif, though it mostly just sputters and glows dimly unless he's really mad until Harry recharges him. Then, you should beware.
Expy: As a tired and cynical cop in an absolutely bonkers, bizarre city, fighting crime and corruption simply because it's the right thing to do, even if his idealism has almost entirely faded, before an idealistic young hero comes along and restores his faith, he bears more than a little resemblance to Samuel Vimes.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When he gets genuinely angry, his eyes burn emerald green.
Heroic Spirit: How he can use his gauntlet, and to a degree that severely impresses both Harry (an example in his own right), and 'Julie' (who has seen all the heroes come and go, and trained a fair few of them).
Heroic Willpower: His deeply impresses Harry, who's near enough to a poster boy for the trope in his own right. It's strong enough to make a jury-rigged Lantern gauntlet run on dregs for the equivalent of about fifteen years.
Hero of Another Story: The man's had a lot of adventures on Sakaar.
Iron Woobie: He's spent the equivalent of fifteen years in an insane reality where nothing makes sense, no one ages, no one is born supposedly, and the only way out is by dying - also, time doesn't exist unless you walk into a puddle of it - fighting crime and corruption with a cobbled together weapon he barely understands because it's the right thing to do. It attracts Julie's respect and sympathy.
Knight in Sour Armour: He's amiable enough, he's just exhausted and fairly convinced that it's All for Nothing, wearily saying that he wishes he could believe. Harry promptly gives him reason to do so.
Noodle Incident: What, exactly, happened with him, Clint, Agent Sitwell, and a bungee cord?
Physical God: After getting fully charged, Julie estimates that he's in the same weight-class as the Silver Surfer, and when angry he casually exerts planet busting levels of power without even noticing.
Really Gets Around: Before Sakaar, at least, he was a "skirt chaser extraordinaire."
Space Police: His self-appointed role, though he's entirely aware that there should be a Lantern Corps.
Timey-Wimey Ball: Aside from all of Sakaar being this, while he's contemporary with Harry, more or less, he vanished when there was just one Ring and the Battery was buried under Project Pegasus. Despite that, he has five rings, one battery, and implies that there are a hell of a lot more. Which leads to the inevitable questions of where those came from.
Took a Level in Badass: Originally, he was 'just' a strong-willed Ace Pilot considered for the Green Lantern but dismissed thanks to his proclivity for wacky hijinks. Then he became a veteran space cop capable of casually losing a tail with a highly lucrative potential bounty with nothing more than a flying car and staring down a Scarab and someone who outclasses him by so much it isn't even funny just to keep the peace and protect the people of his sector, with just a jury-rigged gauntlet. And then, Harry fully recharged his battery and all five rings of his gauntlet.
Took a Level in Cynic: While we don't see him before he turns up on Sakaar, he's described as having got up to some pretty wacky hijinks and refers to getting involved with the Battle of London as being allowed to "join the party." After a long time on Sakaar, he's a lot more tired and cynical, resigned to disaster at the Grandmaster's whim and inclined to just do his best to mitigate it. Then, Harry restores his faith in miracles.

The Thing

Benjamin 'Ben' Grimm a.k.a. the Thing

After exposure to energy implied to be from the Negative Zone during the Battle of London, along with the rest of the proto Fantastic Four, he became the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing, and ended up as a gladiator in the Contest of Champions on Sakaar. The idol o' billions, he's become reconciled to his rocky form, but he'd much rather be at home.

Adorkable: After stunning Lobo for Harry to finish off, he actually blushes and says he always wanted to fight alongside a Jedi - Harry's disguised as Obi-Wan at this point, It Makes Sense in Context.
Early-Bird Cameo: He makes a brief appearance in human form, keeping an eye on Johnny at the Battle of London, and then is glimpsed in vision fighting the Silver Surfer on Sakaar in Ghosts.
Nice Guy: He's friendly and welcoming to Sunniva from the start and has an excellent relationship with a group of his fellow gladiators.
Super-Strength: As per usual, though he keeps a pretty close control on it—Sunniva affectionately notes that he makes an effort not to squash her hand when they shake, though if anything, even without the Phoenix she is the one who should be worrying about squashing his hand.

The Future Foundation

Operating out of Kadesh base in Earth-Town on Sakaar, the Future Foundation is a bunch of scientists who are rather more than they seem. It's where the denizens of Sakaar take the Ultimate Problems for the Ultimate Solutions. And they're working on the Ultimate Problem: getting off Sakaar...

Doctor Adam Brashear

A brilliant scientist who vanished in the 1970s after experimenting with knowledge from the Mar-Vell Files, he wound up on Sakaar. Despite spending the equivalent of eighty years there, he has yet to Fade or to lose hope. He is also the one responsible for rigging up Hal Jordan's Green Lantern Gauntlet.

Adaptational Wimp: Possibly. It's implied that he has something like his canon senses, given that he can study people without scientific apparatus, however, there's no sign whatsoever of his vast Superman Substitute Flying Brick power-set. A comment from Sunniva suggests otherwise.
Black and Nerdy: He's black and he's off the charts brilliant, figuring out how to - among other things - figure out a time system for a realm without time, and to jury-rig a working Lantern substitute out of five rings and a battery and Hal Jordan's Heroic Willpower.
Long-Lived: Since he was middle-aged before he ended up on Sakaar, he's at least 130.
Older Than They Look: Like everyone on Sakaar, he's much older than he appears. Of course, they technically don't age...

Doctor Susan Storm

Another brilliant scientist (specifically a Quantum Physicist), an acquaintance of Harry's, and last seen dating Lex Luthor, she worked on Jane Foster's project to force HYDRA out of hiding at the end of Child of the Storm, leading to the Battle of London. Along with Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and her little brother, Johnny Storm, she was exposed to bizarre radiation, and vanished shortly after. At the start of The Phoenix and the Serpent, she reappears on Sakaar, around fifteen years of relative time later, with superpowers, a husband, and a secret she's trying very hard to keep...

Badass Bookworm: She keeps her nerve at the Battle of London, she fought off her father at thirteen when he tried to murder her little brother, and like the rest of the Future Foundation, she's scheming against the Grandmaster to save as many people on Sakaar as possible.
Big Sister Instinct: She fought off a grown man, her father, to protect her baby brother as a teenager, and she's very protective of him.
The Bus Came Back: Last seen near the end of Child of the Storm, reappears during The Phoenix and the Serpent, published in April 2023, approximately seven years later. Her last shared scene with Harry had been back in chapter 39 of Child of the Storm, in fact, about nine years earlier. As the author said with some satisfaction, everything, and everyone, comes back eventually.
Good Parents: With Reed, and a little help from Adam, she's managed to raise one of the most well-adjusted children imaginable under impossible circumstances. 'Good' barely describes it.
Mama Bear: Towards her little brother, who she's guardian of. Also towards her son, naturally, the only natural born child on Sakaar.
Mystical Pregnancy: Her child is literally impossible.
Nice Girl: She's a warm and kind person, as she demonstrates in all her appearances, and remembers Harry instantly despite not having seen him from - from her point of view - fifteen or so years. When he pops up on Sakaar, her first reaction is delight, to hug him, and then horror as she realises that he's trapped there with them (or so she thinks).
Oh, Crap!: When she realises that Harry's presence means that he's trapped too (or so she thinks) and when she realises that Harry has sensed the presence of her son in his little dimensional hiding spot.
Older Than They Look: Thanks to her time on Sakaar, she looks in her early to mid 20s, when she's actually closer to 40.

Doctor Reed Richards a.k.a. Doctor Fate

One of the geniuses, Reed is a legendarily intelligent man with an occasionally absent-minded demeanour that makes him seem distant and uncaring when he is anything but. Largely a background figure in his appearances and the least mentioned of the Fantastic Four, that is changing on his reappearance, partly thanks to his possession of the Helm of Nabu...

Absent-Minded Professor: A textbook example, with said absent-mindedness disguising how much he cares, something Hal notes via his Aura Vision to his surprise.
The Ace: One of the smartest people on the planet, and a fair player for one of the smartest in the trans-temporal/universal nightmare that is Sakaar, backed up by the magical knowledge of a former Sorcerer Supreme.
Amplifier Artifact: The Helm of Nabu gives him magical perception, if not full-fledged magical powers.
Badass Bookworm: Like his wife, he held his nerve at the Battle of London, he's plotting against the Grandmaster, he has his canon powers, and the considerable powers granted by the Helm of Nabu.
Good Parents: He's often distracted and a bit odd, but he's a caring father.
Irony: While his canon counterpart often has problems accepting something as magic, and his ultimate counterpart even had trouble with the more 'magical' laws of nature of the former's reality, this one has no problem studying magical phenomena with the Helm of Nabu. Of course, given who's tutoring him, that might not be a good thing.
Mental Fusion: With Nabu, when wearing the Helm. Sue thinks this is a bad idea, and Harry very much agrees, pointing out the kind of influence this sort of personality merge tends to have.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: More like his Ultimate Counterpart, he's not just a Rubber Man, but capable of growing eyes on his fingers to get a better look at something. It is profoundly disturbing.

Francis Benjamin Storm-Richards

A Walking Spoiler of the highest order, he's the son of Sue Storm and Reed Richards, and the first and only natural born child on Sakaar. Thanks to his impossible birth and the fact that, somehow, he ages, he's a subject of great interest from those precious few who know about him... and a secret that is kept very, very close to the chest.

Adaptation Name Change: Sue and Reed's son is canonically named Franklin, but this iteration of him has been called Francis instead. Word of God says that this is because Franklin Storm, his canon namesake, murdered his wife and tried to murder his son - though he's also indicated that this may have been a frame-up.
Cheerful Child: He's about six and isn't remotely afraid of Harry, despite likely having stranger danger drilled into him from birth and the latter plucking him out of a pocket dimension, instead being absolutely fascinated by him.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's blonde, like his mother and uncle, and so far as we can see, he's a total sweetie.
Our Phlebotinum Child: He is a quite literally impossible. Given that Sakaar's timeless nature prevents little things like ageing, no one - not even Sunniva - has a clue how the hell he was conceived, much less how he continues to grow at an apparently normal rate.

Johnny Storm

Jonathan 'Johnny' Storm

Current favourite at the Grandmaster's court, he appears to be a pretty, vapid, and pretty vapid eternal teenager, an influencer style celebrity and sycophant. However, as becomes quickly apparent, appearances deceive - after all, he's lasted this long, hasn't he?

Adaptational Superpower Change: Unlike almost every canon version of him, Johnny's powers are not fire-related, but light related - much like his sister's, in fact. However, the Grandmaster implies that there's still some similarity, stating that he's a "matter-energy shifter", implying he can become living light. This is later confirmed and demonstrated to provide (among other things) Super-Speed.
Composite Character: Of his 616 and Ultimate selves, being a teenager (more like the latter) and having amber eyes. Then, he gets forcibly composited with the soul of Anakin Skywalker, of all people.
Distressed Dude: He's an eternal teenager forced to effectively be the Court Jester for a capricious and easily bored Eldritch Abomination, one that sometimes turns him into an art installation of living light that mixes past and present and makes his souls scream. That's pretty damned distressed.
Fate Worse than Death: He's either required to be constantly amusing for a cosmic scale narcissist and Reality Warper who's known to kill billions in his tantrums, or he's a living art installation, the fabric of his energy form warped into a sculpture where his very soul is screaming.
Obfuscating Stupidity: As Harry very quickly realises, Johnny's very good at giving the Grandmaster what he wants, and extremely quick on the uptake.
Royal Favorite: Subverted. Superficially, this is his dynamic with the Grandmaster, leading Harry to suspect the historical sexual associations - and to make it quite clear that if this is the case, he'll repeat his trick of making "an Elder God scream". As it is, that isn't the case, but the truth is arguably worse - he's more like a court jester, entertaining the Grandmaster to survive, or spending time as an abstract installation of living art which makes his soul scream.
Smarter Than You Look: Given that he's survived the equivalent of fifteen years in the Grandmaster's immediate proximity, when the Grandmaster is a Cosmic Entity with the attention span and impulse control of a toddler, it's pretty safe to say that he's not the brainless youth he pretends to be.
Super-Speed: He can shift into living light, coming with this. Since he's spliced with a Master Swordsman, Anakin Skywalker, when he reveals this, the combination is a fearsome one.
The Watson: He serves as a dark variant of this to the Grandmaster, being the one that the Grandmaster likes to explain things to/talk at in order to hear blind assurance that his ideas are great.
Took a Level in Badass: Powers aside, the brief glimpses of him in Book I and the mentions depicted him as a fairly ordinary and impulsive teenager with zero brain to mouth filter. Despite the fact that he's not physically aged (mentally is more complicated), fifteen years on Sakaar in the Deadly Decadent Court of the Grandmaster has made him an excellent actor who knows just how far he can push the Grandmaster's amusement, can quickly pick up on a situation and manipulate it at least somewhat in his favour, and endure some pretty horrible fates. He's also implied to be exceptionally powerful.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Capable of this to a truly remarkable extent... which is exploited by the Grandmaster, both as an art installation and when he splices the soul of Anakin Skywalker onto him.

SPOILER CHARACTER

Anakin Skywalker

No, we really aren't kidding. Immediately post-Mustafar, pre-suit, Anakin's soul was grabbed on a whim by the Grandmaster and pulled into Sakaar and forcibly spliced onto Johnny Storm, whose Voluntary Shapeshifting was abused to turn him into a perfect replica of Anakin's form. Both a deadly Sith Lord, fresh from his first atrocities, and a scared, manipulated boy in far over his head, it's extremely unclear where his path is going to go next.

Adaptational Badass: Possibly because thanks to a little Epiphany Therapy from Harry he can go full Mortis mode more or less at will, at least on Sakaar, he can at least briefly reach the galaxy shaking height of his powers and take on the Grandmaster's main avatar directly.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: By proxy of Harry's shapeshifting into and imitation of Obi-Wan, and being knocked out of his Fall, it's demonstrated a few times that he really does still love his old Master.
Berserk Button: In Sith mode, being mocked, because he desperately wants/needs to be taken seriously. Which Harry does, relentlessly.
Cooldown Hug: On the receiving end from Harry. It helps that Super-Strength makes it very hard for Anakin to squirm out of his grip.
Color-Coded Eyes: Bloodshot gold equals Sith. Blue equals confused Jedi.
Dual Wielding: Takes up Curtana when Harry is temporarily down and out alongside his own lightsabre.
Epiphany Therapy: Receives some of this from Harry, who passes on some of the lessons he's learned about handling emotions, helping Anakin at least temporarily overcome his demons and tap into his full potential.
Eye Color Change: His eyes change as Harry's Cooldown Hug takes effect.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Under the darkness, he is fundamentally a good person, and spliced with Johnny Storm, another example.
Heroic Rematch: A villainous variant, with the Grandmaster doing over the Duel on Mustafar For the Lulz. This gives Harry the opportunity to break the cycle of violence.
Master Swordsman: As per canon. However, Harry can match him blow for blow once he gets past the shock, and is controlling the fight, and even when the two of them are working in perfect psychic synchrony against Midnight, the best they can do is destroy one of their lightsabres - and the Lady Knight explicitly says that Midnight is toying with them.
Meditation Power Up: Repeats his Mortis feat, tapping into his full potential after a bit of Epiphany Therapy and a reminder from Harry, with the resultant power-levels sticking for a little while and giving him the ability to challenge - and actually atomise - the main avatar of the Grandmaster.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Notices that 'Obi-Wan' is behaving oddly even through his wild rage and is worried about it.
Physical God: Borders on this at his height, taking on the Grandmaster, shrugging off an exploding star like a match, and being compared to the Silver Surfer and a fully charged Hal Jordan.
Power Glows: When he really revs up, he starts shimmering with blue light.
Psychic Powers: Derived from the Force, which in turn is implied to be related to/analogous to the Power Cosmic - which in turn is implied to be where the Fantastic Four's powers come from.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: He's wearing black and his lightsabre is, courtesy of the Grandmaster, suddenly red. Harry, in a fashion typical of both him and Obi-Wan, points this out and mocks the aesthetic - and states that red really isn't Anakin's colour. After the Cooldown Hug, he tweaks the lightsabre back to blue.
Spotting the Thread: Even out of his mind on the Dark Side, he can spot the inconsistencies in his situation and in 'Obi-Wan'.
Tragic Villain: This aspect is emphasised in Harry's compassion for him.
Unexpected Character: Literally no one expected him to turn up, least of all him. It helps that after Nathan, he's the first character explicitly from another universe - and one outside the 'local' multiverse, at that.
Voice of the Legion: In Mortis mode, albeit a little less dramatically than last time, snarking at the Grandmaster.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Harry immediately pegs him as this, and recognises the parallels, ending up giving him a Cooldown Hug.

Characters / Child of the Storm: Other Heroes and Allies

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