Characters / Critical Role Keyleth

Main Character Index / Dungeon Master Tal'Dorei (Campaign 1): Vox Machina (Grog | Keyleth | Percival | Scanlan)
Guest Party Members | Allies and Other Characters (Empire/Republic of Tal'Dorei) | Villains Wildemount (Campaign 2): The Mighty Nein (Caleb | Fjord)
Guest Party Members | Allies and Other Characters (Dwendalian Empire | Xhorhas) | Villains Marquet (Campaign 3): Bell's Hells (Laudna) | Guest Party Members | Allies and Other Characters | Villains The Setting Of Exandria: Gods | Historical Figures | Call of the Netherdeep One-Shots (Exclusive): One-Shot Characters (Exclusive) | The Darrington Brigade Exandria Unlimited: The Crown Keepers | The Ring of Brass

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Keyleth of the Air Ashari

Played by: Marisha Ray (Campaign 1, The Legend of Vox Machina), Matthew Mercer (Campaigns 2 and 3)

"I think faith and trust are not mutually exclusive."

Race: Half-elf

Class: Druid (Circle of the Moon)

An introverted and awkward half-elf druid of the Air Ashari, one of the four elemental druid tribes that safeguard the barriers between the Material and Elemental planes of existence. Due to her talents in the druidic arts, Keyleth has been (unwillingly) nominated to undergo the Aramenté, a grand pilgrimage to the four Ashari tribes that will eventually crown her as the new Headmaster of the Air Ashari. Keyleth is earnest and perseverant but struggles to control her self-doubt.

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Tropes A - H

• Accidental Murder: She accidentally killed a child pre-stream by playing tug-of-war over him with the Dread Emperor (resulting in the child suffering a Neck Snap), and she kills a dwarven prisoner because she carelessly picks him up in her jaws as a sabre-tooth tiger (without bothering to check to see if he's alive). Later on, she summons a pair of dryads to help Vox Machina fight some orcs, only for them to immediately fall into a pit. During the battle that ensued, Keyleth drops drop a couple of orcs into said pit... which kills the remaining dryad.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Occasionally called "Your Highness" by Tiberius.
  • Also called "Kiki" by Vax'ildan starting in Episode 22, and eventually called as such sometimes by the rest of the party.
• Ambiguously Bi: She is very much in love with Vax, but she's always had a bit of a fascination with Vex. But as she is still new at relationships, she's still trying to figure things out about herself.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: After 30 episodes of complications, missed opportunities, and much, much tragedy and anguish, Keyleth finally finds the courage to confess her feelings to Vax'ildan in Episode 65 upon realizing that her fears are purely based on an unwritten future, much to the relief and excitement of both the two of them and the fandom.
  Keyleth: I love you, Vax. I have for a long time. And I'm sorry for being me and that it took me this long to say it.
• Arch-Enemy: Considers Raishan to be hers.
• Assassin Outclassin': In Campaign 3, Orym, an Air Ashari guard in Keyleth's service, tells his new traveling companions that mysterious assassins once infiltrated Zephrah and attempted to kill her. She turned into an earth elemental and effortlessly stomped them into paste.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Keyleth is given the mantle of leadership and is ordained Voice of the Tempest and leader of the Air Ashari in Episode 90.
• Back from the Dead: She ends up dying instantly in Episode 97 after a reckless swan dive off a cliff. She is fortunately revived by Vex using a coin infused with Tary's Revivify.
• Badass Adorable: One second, she's staging Be Our Guest with magical cutlery. The next, she's transforming into a sabre-toothed cat and savagely biting a demon from hell. If not that, she's unleashing fierce elemental magic on large groups of enemies or transforming into mighty elementals.
• Badass Cape:
  • Briefly donned Vax's Cloak of Displacement in Episodes 54 and 55, and was given it to wear starting in Episode 70. It was later loaned to Kerrek, who did not return it and he has kept it since.
  • She is given the Mantle of the Tempest in Episode 90 upon becoming the Voice of the Tempest.
• Badass in Distress: Despite her level of power, there have been times where she was on the verge of death, most notably in the Nine Hells.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason Keyleth started having feelings for Vax, as mentioned here during an episode of Talks Machina, was because he was the first person to stand up for her.
• Belated Happy Ending:
  • She is eventually reunited with Vax'ildan upon her death.
  • It took over twenty years and the intervention of another group of heroes, but in the end, Keyleth got her long-lost Missing Mom back.
• Berserk Button: Do not remind Keyleth that she's killed an innocent kid in her past. Raishan also pushes hers by calling her a child.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Keyleth is introverted, well-meaning and generally the most naïve of the bunch, but when she gets angry she shows it, usually with both her spells and her Wild Shape abilities.
• Black-and-White Morality: After the events of Episode 25, Keyleth feels that all the things they did on that night were subtextually evil. Following this, Keyleth almost seems incapable of seeing any shade of moral gray. Such as her resistance to making a bargain with the Clasp, who wanted Vox Machina to assist in opening up a branch of their clandestine business in Vasselheim in exchange for their assistance in keeping the people of Emon provided for and spying on Thordak, who razed Emon. Percy in particular scolds her for being unwilling to make a deal.
• Blow You Away: Her tribe is the Air Ashari, and she has strong spells that are associated with wind (Wind Wall, Skywrite, Wind Walk, Gust, Whirlwind, etc.) as well. She can also change into an Air Elemental.
• The Bus Came Back: Keyleth is the only player character in Critical Role who has appeared in some capacity in all three main campaigns.
  • In Campaign 2, she returns for a brief cameo. After the Mighty Nein help Keyleth's mother Vilya recover her memories, they send her to Keyleth through a portal. There is a brief moment of shock before Keyleth runs to her mother, and the portal closes.
  • In Campaign 3, her role is a little more plot-critical and longer in scope. She returns (albeit played by Matt instead of Marisha) to help Bell's Hells deal with the aftermath of Laudna's death. The fact that Delilah Briarwood was involved somehow, and that Orym was a guard in her employ, helped spur Keyleth into helping them.
• Came Back Wrong: Downplayed and Played for Laughs, but after she's resurrected from her ill-fated cliff dive in episode 97, she's noticeably a bit... punchy, with her occasional awkwardness and spaciness coming to the fore.
• The Cameo: In the very last scene of Campaign 2 Episode 107, Veth briefly sees her spotting and running to her mother as Vilya walks into Zephrah through a tree portal.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: As Episode 38 has proven, she gets drunk (and therefore sillier than usual) very easily. Lampshaded in The Legend of Vox Machina, where she throws up after one cup of ale during a drinking contest.
• Can't Take Criticism: As hard as she often is on herself, she does not take being called out by other people (most notably the other members of Vox Machina) well, and will often stonewall them for it.
• Character Development: As the campaign has progressed, Keyleth has definitely been shedding her naivete and her self-imposed shell, speaking out a lot more, growing a bond with those she calls family (including falling in love with Vax'ildan), learning to be more flexible regarding her morals while staying true to herself, and gaining more confidence in herself despite her self-doubt as she progresses throughout her Aramenté, a fact that Marisha even mentions during Talks Machina. She even managed to learn to restrain herself when it came to Raishan which ultimately paid off in Episode 83 as she confronted the dragon before the battle and gave one hell of a speech in addition to a chance to surrender peacefully and face trial for her actions. And not once did she give in to her rage. Her development comes full circle in Episode 90 as she is formally given the mantle of leadership and is titled "Voice of the Tempest". She's still growing as a person and as the new leader of her people, but deep down she's still the same awkward and adorable druid.
• Child Prodigy: She was considered so by her father, and as such she was groomed to become the new leader of her people. She even began her quest at the tender age of 20 (half-elves can live longer than 180 years).
• Conspiracy Theorist: Out of the entire team, only Keyleth thinks that there might be some impure motivations behind Lady Kima's want to destroy K'varn. After discerning her intentions, though, Vax believes Keyleth's suspicions may bear some weight. Though ultimately, Kima turns out to be as trustworthy as any paladin should be.
• Cuddle Bug: In a trait carried over by the actors, Keyleth has a tendency to cling on Percy whenever possible.
• Damsel in Distress: Invoked and Played for Laughs in Episode 87 when Keyleth tries to reach out to Taryon:
  Keyleth: In this moment, I am a damsel and I am in distress. So cross it off, bitch! Come on!
• Death from Above: When she goes into her earth elemental form while in the air, she can ignite her hands, curl up into a ball, and turn into the equivalent of a meteor. It's eventually coined the "Keyteor" in Episode 67 when Keyleth and Vax team up to sink Dr. Ripley's boat.
• The Determinator: Throughout the campaign, whether due to lucky dice rolls, sheer endurance, or her Wild Shape making her a tank (or a combination of all three), Keyleth has managed to endure harsh punishment several times over and still keep fighting. In fact, she has had quite a few close calls:
  • Nearly dying from possession twice.
  • Narrowly resisting being sucked into the siphon within the Ziggurat.
  • Enduring Dr.Ripley's explosive trap on the isle of Glintshore and, instead of healing herself, focusing on keeping Percy alive. Not even getting knocked unconscious twice slows her down.
  • Getting repeatedly grappled and even swallowed by a kraken, and still managing to survive.
  • Falling into a river of lava that would've killed her flat if she lacked the hit points to survive and managing to crawl out.
  • Getting struck down by a bone devil in the prison of Mentiri due to forgetting to heal after taking severe damage from the battle with Utugash, while being the party's only way out of the Nine Hells.
• Did Not Think This Through:
  • Episode 6 sees her turn into Minxy, a sabre-tooth tiger. She then picks up a limp dwarf prisoner, weak from torture and starvation, with her mouth... without checking to see if he's alive first. He dies.
  • Episode 49 has her summon a pair of dryads in order to help fight a group of orcs, only for them to immediately fall into a pit. While Keyleth had no way of knowing the pit was there, she does later drop a couple of orcs into the pit without waiting for the surviving dryad to escape... which winds up crushing her to death.
  • In episode 59, she picks the pretty flower (completely disregarding the warnings the group had heard about touching things in the Feywild). This draws the attention of a nymph, which winds up (temporarily) blinding Percy.
  • A bit of a recurring trend regarding her spellcasting. She often has some pretty good ideas for what effect she wants her spells to have, and whenever she learns a new spell she's eager to use it to help the party. Unfortunately, she's usually so eager to help that she casts her spells without a full understanding of their effects, at inopportune times, or both. Justified by Marisha herself in the fact that she has a lot of spells to memorize, and even then many of them depend on Matt's interpretations due to how they are worded in their descriptions.
    • Episode 39 offers the strongest example when she casts Wind Walk on a majority of the party during a battle, thinking it would protect them from damage and allow them to move faster, which it does. What escaped her is that those under the effect of the spell can only Dash or revert to normal - they can't attack, heal, speak or cast spells. Even worse, the only way for a character to revert to normal at first seems to be remaining stationary for one minute - in game, ten rounds - whilst the rest of the party is under attack by giant worms; the only other person present able to dispel magic, Pike, had no knowledge or understanding of what was happening. Eventually, after a lot of bickering and Matt being a stickler for the rules, some nuance was reached that allowed Keyleth to break the spell by no longer concentrating on maintaining it, instantly reverting all those effected by it.
  • Everything involving her spontaneous Pocahontas cliff dive in Episode 97, starting with her decision to do it in the first place to her last-second Wild Shape into a goldfish (under the rationale that a goldfish would be more likely to land in water than a half-elf. It was not.)
• Dishing Out Dirt: Episode 8 reveals she trained for a while with the Earth Ashari, and learned some of the techniques of the Earth Elemental spirits, including the ability to phase through the earth as an Earth Elemental. She's also demonstrated the ability to use Stoneshape, which bends rocks to her will, and Wall of Stone, which has had various practical uses throughout the campaign. She has also used Move Earth, Earth Bind, Bones of the Earth, Transmute Rock, and Earthquake.
• The Ditz: As noted in Gameplay and Story Segregation below, she tends to show little in the way of common sense.
• The Dragonslayer: Played With. Even though she didn't kill Raishan in the physical sense, what Keyleth did was the next best thing. With a single casting of Feeblemind, she stripped Raishan of her intellect, cunning, pride, and her very identity, effectively killing the Diseased Deceiver as they knew her, leaving behind a feral shadow of her former self.
• Elemental Powers: Being a druid with strong elemental ties, many of her spells revolve around elements such as air (and lightning), fire, earth, water, ice, and thunder. She can also turn into any of the four main types of elementals (air, fire, earth and water).
• Elemental Shapeshifter: Can transform into Elemental Beings.
• Even the Girls Want Her: To quote Zahra and Kashaw and Vax and Vex, Keyleth is "fucking hot".
• Fartillery: Uses a "poo attack" as an eagle unintentionally on a palace servant in Episode 25. Said servant turns out to be a future ally of Vox Machina in disguise.
• Fatal Flaw: Her self-loathing. According to the vision she had when she visited the Earth Ashari, lack of faith in herself as a warrior and future leader will get her killed.
• Fee Fi Faux Pas: Because of her low Charisma (which is rendered average by her prized circlet), she tends to blunder her way through social situations, whether it be by bringing up the deaths of Kashaw's family or flailing during the end of a failed attempt to keep part of Grog's former herd from leaving (before the rest of them fight a dragon).
  Keyleth: Only big men talk big words that only fail on the battlefield.
• Fiery Redhead: Literally since she can use several fire spells.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: Has access to several spells of these elements. It's also reflected in her usage of the Spire of Conflux.
• First Kiss:
  • Despite being, as Kashaw stated "the most annoying person I've ever met," she receives her very first from him.
  • Her first kiss from Vax'ildan happens in Episode 33.
• Fluffy the Terrible: Calls her tiger form "Minxy".
• Forced Transformation: As a user of the Polymorph spell, Keyleth can inflict this on others, and has used it quite effectively such as turning a wyvern into a bunny while it was flying.
• Foreseeing My Death: In Episode 22, Keyleth had a vision while visiting the Earth Ashari that depicted Vox Machina trying to continue on after Keyleth's death.
• Friend to All Living Things: Druid who worships nature itself rather than a specific god, talks to trees and animals, has a personal garden, and in general inspires the rest of the group to make hippy jokes whenever possible.
  Taliesin: You're going to kill him with hugs. That might be the most Keyleth thing I've ever heard.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Due to a well timed level-up, Keyleth's conclusion to her Aramente happens at the same time she unlocks her ninth level spells, including the spell Shapechange (which in practice is a more powerful version of Keyleth's Wild Shape). As such, the campaign treats this spell as a symbol of Keyleth completing her Aramente and reaching her full potential.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In terms of ability scores, Keyleth has the highest wisdom in the entire party, however, she tends to show barely more common sense than the likes of Tiberius, such as casting Windwall in an attempt to blow away what she assumed was poisonous gas without realizing that it trapped the gas in a section of the room with several of her party members making it more likely for them to get poisoned (fortunately, it was a vampire the group was fighting in a gaseous form rather than poison like Keyleth initially thought) or transforming into a goldfish after a reckless swan dive off a cliff, believing that a goldfish would be more likely to land in water than a half-elf.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Allura gives her the verbal version of this while she's guilt-ridden over Thordak being released. Vex'ahlia, on the other hand, deals her a tight slap when she's freaking out over being unable to trust anyone after Taryon is kidnapped.
• Green-Eyed Monster: She screams and storms off in a jealous rage after learning that Percy and Vex'ahlia have eloped, largely because it's something she and Vax'ildan will never get to have.
• Guilt Complex: Ties into her Fatal Flaw. If there's a way Keyleth can make something be her fault in her mind, she'll make it her fault. The destruction of Pyrah and Raishan temporarily killing Vex and Scanlan in Episode 80 are the most notable examples.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Same as the twins and her parents Korren and Vilya, she's a half-elf.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: She loves a good pub crawl, and generally enjoys getting drunk for fun.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Keyleth realizes how dangerously close she came in regards to her struggles with Raishan and even tells the dragon that she hopes that during her long life she never becomes like her.
• Healing Hands: Knows Cure Wounds, Healing Word, and Mass Cure Wounds. She can also use Greater Restoration and Heal. She also mentioned that she could have used Reincarnate to resurrect Percy, but didn't want to due to the unpredictability of the spell.
• The Heart: She typically acts as this when Pike isn't around, though it later takes a turn for the dark. While Keyleth does strive to stop Vox Machina from engaging in morally-grey actions, she's become so distrustful of their motives and personalities that she has trouble seeing any kind of "white" in moral-grey.
• Heartbroken Badass: She never quite gets over Vax's death. It's a long, long, long time before she thinks she's ready to maybe start dating again.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: This gets brought to the forefront in Episode 56, where she reveals to Vex and Kerrek that she's firmly under the belief that people like her don't deserve happiness and that she does not think of herself as a hero due to all the things that have happened ever since she set out on her quest and met Vox Machina.
• Hypocrite:
  • Calls out Tiberius for needlessly murdering an enemy who gave up and attempted to flee, but not too long afterwards, incinerates a guard who gave up, attempted to flee, and then stopped fleeing in order to surrender.
  • She is rightfully concerned with the safety of the people of Whitestone during the violent, bloody revolution Vox Machina instigates against the Briarwoods, but she (along with the rest of Vox Machina) completely ignores a group of villagers attacking an undead giant, which results in their deaths.
  • She is understandably upset over the prospect of sending the allies they've gathered over the Chroma Conclave arc to their deaths, but in the same episode, at Percy's insistence, she uses an innocent pixie she summoned as a guinea pig in order to test an artifact. Given that said artifact is apparently a magic siphon, and the pixie was sucked in rather than destroyed, it could have very well suffered a Fate Worse than Death. ^note  Percy suggested summoning the pixie. It was Keyleth who asked it to touch the black sphere, and she really should have known better, given that she was almost sucked into it herself when she tried stabbing it with a shard of residum. Percy tried to countermand this suggestion, but he doesn't speak Sylvan, so the pixie didn't understand him. . Being a druid adds a second level of hypocrisy to this particular action.
  • She absolutely despises senseless killing, but commits Accidental Murder multiple times because she Did Not Think This Through.
  • She regularly lectures the team on their morality, but can't stand to have her own questioned.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Her inability to live up to her own standards is part of why she has such awful self-esteem and is much harder on herself than anyone else is on her. It is one reason why she insists that she's not a hero but a terrible person who is definitely not qualified to succeed her father as leader of the Air Ashari.

Tropes I - P

• I Just Want to Be Normal: Confides in Kerrek the blacksmith in Episode 56 that she never wanted the destiny that was forced upon her by the Air Ashari, and that she just wants to go back to a life of blissful ignorance.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: More than once she's taken a gulp of Grog's ale stock after a stressful battle.
• An Ice Person: She can use ice-based spells such as Sleet Storm and Ice Storm, the latter of which can be cast through the Spire of Conflux as well.
• Immortality Begins at Twenty: Timeless Body which she gained upon reaching level 18. This ability, however, is what scares her the most, especially since it means that she will eventually outlive Vax.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Keyleth is probably the closest party member to come to this. A lot of the show's art and prequel comics have her heavily resemble Marisha and she shares several basic features, being a slim redhead. Marisha also doesn't affect an accent nor make an effort to change her voice very much, especially noticeable when compared to Beau where she goes to substantial lengths to consistently speak in a deeper tone then her normal voice.
• Innocently Insensitive: In Marisha's own words, Keyleth has "shitty charisma" ^note  she needs a +2 magic item to bring it to the base average of 10 and so she has a tendency to cause offense without meaning to.
  Keyleth: So, Kashaw, if you're the only one who knows about this goddess, that means she also killed your parents?
  Kashaw: Yes.
  Keyleth: ...Huh.
  Kashaw: Thank you for bringing that up.
• Intimate Haircut: Receives one from Vax in Episode 81 due to most of her hair being burnt off during the battle with Raishan. Crosses over with Important Haircut, as it's another sign of her dropping the last of her hesitancy in regards to her relationship with Vax.
• Irony: Everyone in the cast has died at least once, but Keyleth went the longest without dying. The irony? She did so by jumping off a cliff and hitting the ground hard enough to die instantly. That's right. Everyone else died in combat, while Keyleth died outside of combat.
• It's Personal: Ever since Raishan released Thordak from the Plane of Fire which resulted in the destruction and decimation of Pyrah and the Fire Ashari, the dragon has ended up on Keyleth's "shit list", something that she reminded Raishan herself of when they interacted in Episode 70.
• Jack of All Trades: Both played straight and averted.
  • Being a druid, she has a large variety of spells and combat abilities that make her very versatile in nearly every situation. The only real drawback is having to prepare spells ahead of time on top of an already extensive spell list, thus potentially leaving her lacking in certain situations. This drawback was the most prevalent when Scanlan left the party temporarily.
  • Averted in that, unlike most of Vox Machina, Marisha never multi-classed. Putting levels into another class makes for a more balanced character, but one has to start from the beginning of that class, as opposed to the higher levels and bigger bonuses of one's original class had they stayed the course. By playing a pure druid, late game Keyleth is less balanced but ultimately more powerful for it.
• Kamehame Hadoken: Both Matt and Marisha form the classic stance from Dragon Ball when Keyleth casts Sunbeam.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Keyleth is convinced that she and the rest of Vox Machina are awful people who don't deserve happiness; partially due to all of the creatures they've killed (even justifiably), partially because of the genuinely horrible things they've done. This is brought to the foreground in Episode 56, where she interprets every action by Vox Machina as a selfish one: taking a fraction of the dragon's hoard is stealing from Westruun, convincing Westruun's citizens to stay is condemning them to death, and documenting the town's survival in a mural is purely to immortalise themselves. Percy later convinces her to think otherwise on all of that.
• The Leader: Her ultimate destiny is to become headmaster for her people. She ultimately fulfills that destiny in Episode 90, becoming the Voice of the Tempest and even gaining the Inspiring Leader feat.
• Light 'em Up: Uses the Daylight spell.
• Like Brother and Sister: Explicitly so with Percy, to the point where Vex makes a point to ask Keyleth about starting a relationship with him.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • She was not happy when she finds that she was one of only two party members that were unaware of Craven Edge changing Grog for the worse (the other being Vex).
  • It happens again in Episode 105 when she figures out that Vex'ahlia and Percy- the woman she idolizes and her best friend- did not just get secretly engaged during the Time Skip, but secretly eloped. Having already been driven close to a mental breakdown, she does not take the news well.
• Love Interest: For Vax'ildan. However, while she does love him, she's scared of committing due to her fear of losing him as well as outliving him because eventually, she'll have an extended lifespan compared to him. However, as of Episode 65, she chooses to overcome her fears and confess her love for Vax, admitting that she had loved him for a long time.
• Lunacy: Knows the Moonbeam spell, as well as being a Druid of the Circle of the Moon (which empowers her Wild Shape ability, tying into the werewolf symbology that the term "lunacy" comes from).
• Magic Staff: Her druidic staff that she can also use for melee sometimes. She later claims the Spire of Conflux after the rematch with Vorugal the Frigid Doom in Episode 71.
• Make Them Rot:
  • Has access to the Blight spell which lets her send out negative energy to drain the vitality from a living target. It's the most devastating against plant-based creatures.
  • She also can use the Contagion spell, which can inflict a creature with a disease of her choice. She normally never uses this spell unless she absolutely has to.
• Making a Splash: She's shown some mastery of water-based spells such as Create or Destroy Water, Control Water, Watery Sphere, Tidal Wave, and Tsunami. She can also transform into a Water Elemental.
• Missing Mom: Episode 16 reveals this. Her mother Vilya disappeared twenty years prior while undertaking the same quest Keyleth is currently on, and she later discovers that Vilya had died a few years prior to her own arrival at the Water Ashari city of Vesrah. It’s not until Episode 102 of the subsequent campaign— twenty years later in-universe and five years in real life— that Vilya is revealed to have survived as an amnesiac named Viridian on the island of Rumblecusp, off the coast of Wildemount.
• Morality Chain: For the rest of the group throughout episode 26. Although at that point it was certainly needed.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Upon realizing that her visit to Pyrah may have inadvertently set free Thordak and killed the town's population. Thankfully, Allura sets her straight and tells her that the incident isn't her fault.
• My Instincts Are Showing: Sometimes happens to her while in animal form. She'll often nuzzle others or roll over asking for belly-rubs as a tiger, for example.
• Nay-Theist: Keyleth acknowledges the gods as powerful entities and doesn't seem to hold anything against their worshipers (i.e. Vax'ildan, Pike, Kashaw, and eventually Lady Kima). However, she seems to regard the beings themselves with something between mistrust and outright hostility. There are even times when she appears to take other people having faith as an attempt to make her follow their gods, such as when she asked why she should believe in a deity with a woman who had just gotten back her child (and only had her faith to get her through her trauma). It was revealed in a Q&A that it's because she has seen enough examples of corruption within those of the faith to justify that kind of mindset. It's also part of the reason why she and Kima butted heads in the past, as well as the fact that Kima was far too reckless and ended up dragging Vox Machina into her own circumstances. As such, their two opposing mindsets clashed. However, due to several events, she eventually becomes more comfortable with her dealings with the gods, especially Melora the nature goddess.
• No Social Skills: To say her lack of social grace has gotten her in trouble with strangers and has caused misunderstandings would be an understatement. However, as seen with her interactions with the Fire Ashari, when among her sister tribes she's much more capable. She's gotten better at this, though, such as in Episode 64 when negotiating with Tooma in the ruins of Draconia and in Episode 65 when she managed to convince the guards of the Cerulean Palace of Ank'Harel to allow them entry inside to speak to J'mon Sa Ord. Even the party was impressed.^note This is reflected in her having taken the Persuasion and Intimidation skills upon gaining the Skilled feat back when she was level 12.
• Odd Friendship: She is surprisingly close with Percy despite the two of them being on opposing ends of both the hero-antihero spectrum and the Mother Nature, Father Science spectrum. They do notably butt heads every now and then, so it's debatable whether this is genuine or from Marisha and Taliesin's friendship bleeding into their characters
• Pacifist Wind: Keyleth of the Air Ashari is a kind, innocent, pacifistic druid who often argues for more restrained and humane solutions compared to her battle-happy teammates. She eventually becomes a formidable warrior and her people's leader as the Voice of the Tempest, emphasizing the air/storm motif, but only throws down when she needs to or is seriously angered.
• Playing with Fire: Completes her training with the Fire Ashari in episode 22. She uses the Sparkstone acquired from this on herself in episode 28, allowing the punching or slashing attacks of her transformations to have fire damage, and has since also conjured the Flaming Sphere spell and (after leveling up to 13) the 7th-level spell Fire Storm, which was used to great effect both combat-wise and RP-wise in Episode 42. All of them being good for burning. She can also turn into a Fire Elemental. After obtaining the Spire of Conflux, she can cast Fireball from the Vestige in addition to the aforementioned Fire Storm.
• Poor, Predictable Rock: Almost literally. Keyleth's go-to Wild Shape in combat is the Earth Elemental, and some of Vox Machina's enemies have taken notice of this and accounted for it in their tactics. Notably, in Campaign 3, Ludinus Da'leth plans around her tendency to use this form in battle; the Earth Elemental is vulnerable to Power Word Stun^note The Power Word spells in 5th edition D&D automatically take effect if the target is below a certain HP threshold; the Earth Elemental only has 132 Hit Points, and Power Word Stun works on any creature with 150 or fewer, which Ludinus uses to render Kiki completely defenseless against Otohan Thull.
• The Power of the Sun: She's capable of using the Sunbeam spell. She's killed at least four vampires (including Lord Briarwood) so far with it. Also, Sunburst.
  Keyleth singing: Let the sun shine....Let the sun shine in!
• Precision F-Strike: Episode 40, during a needed "What the Hell, Hero?" rant to the rest of the team.
  Vex'ahlia: Keyleth, you don't know what's happening.
  Keyleth: I would if any of my fucking party would for once tell me something!
• Puppeteer Parasite: Keyleth was possessed in this way at least twice. And both times, she nearly died.

Tropes Q - Z

• Really Royalty Reveal: In the second Q&A, the cast explains how Keyleth's party members initially didn't know that she was an Air Ashari princess. The reveal came after a significant amount of time adventuring with them.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite being extremely busy, she shows up in Campaign 3 to aid Bells' Hells at Orym's request and takes them to Whitestone to help resurrect Laudna.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a blistering one to Raishan that leaves the rest of the table gaping in awe.
• Red Baron: "The Voice of the Tempest." She receives this title in Episode 90 of Campaign 1 by becoming the leader of the Air Ashari. As late as Campaign 3, she still holds the title and the position.
• The Red Mage: Being a druid, she is capable of fulfilling several roles as needed by the party, with access to offensive spells in addition to defensive spells, healing, and general utility including fast transportation.
• Resigned to the Call: For the longest time she was very hesitant to accept her destiny of becoming headmaster, but in the end she chose to embrace it and became the Voice of the Tempest.
• Revenge Before Reason: Keyleth has been teetering on the edge of this since the group encountered and made a temporary alliance against Thordak with Raishan, the green dragon responsible for releasing Thordak and the destruction of the Fire Ashari. Grog of all people talks her down not once but twice. Over time, she learned how selfish her desire was which showed in her confrontation with the dragon in Episode 83, instead offering Raishan a chance to surrender and face trial.
• Running Gag: The Druid tends to get arrested a lot.
• Schmuck Bait:
  • When Kashaw fell down a slide, likely to his death, she can't resist going down the "Super Fun Happy Slide." But only after Tiberius did so.
  • In Episode 82, when examining a brazier within the lair of a necromancer, she uses her fire hands to light it at Grog's insistence. Said act triggers an explosion that damages those within the radius, including her. She doesn't even get to make a Dexterity save since she was in the epicenter of it.
• Shipper on Deck: A subversion. She initially supports Vax getting together with Gilmore... only to confess to Vax herself later.
• Shock and Awe: She can use spells that use lightning such as Call Lightning. She can also cast Chain Lightning through the Spire of Conflux.
• Signature Headgear: She's almost never without her "antlers", in fact an enchanted druidic Circlet of Wisdom that she inherited from her Missing Mom. Taryon sometimes calls her Antlers as a nickname when he travels with the party.
• Single Tear: The end result of her using Fire Storm against a bunch of wyverns and lizard folk in Episode 42, after channeling the rage of her fallen brothers and sisters in the Fire Ashari.
• The Smurfette Principle: Episodes 20 & 21, Keyleth is the only female party member of the Second Group of the trial of the Slayer's Take.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Marisha dumped charisma when creating her, so Keyleth is incredibly awkward on her adventure. She displays greater self-confidence when wrestling a beholder than talking to a given NPC. Even around her party members, she gets nervous and unsure when talking. She does best in highly formal situations with her own people, because such situations are both familiar and ritualized.
• Status Buff: Has access to several spells that can give varying boons to allies or herself. Such spells include Enhance Ability, Stoneskin, and Protection From Energy.
• Stupidity-Inducing Attack: Can use the Feeblemind spell. It reduces the target's Intelligence and Charisma to 1, neutralizes their spellcasting abilities (if any), and renders them feral and dumb. It's what turns the tide during the party's final battle against Raishan, the spell destroying everything that made her who she was.
• Team Chef: Thanks to the Heroes' Feast spell. It cures diseases, grants immunity to poison and fear, gives advantage to Wisdom saving throws, and increases hit points for 24 hours.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Is resigned to ally with Raishan despite their mutual hatred for each other. In fact, the others had to calm her down and convince her to accept the alliance.
• Teleportation: Knows Cloud Walk, Transport via Plants and Plane Shift. She is essentially Vox Machina's main mode of long-distance transportation.
• These Hands Have Killed: In Episode 9, she laments over the fact that she had taken so many lives, including the child that accidentally died when they fought the Dread Emperor, and subsequently breaks down. In fact, the child's death ended up becoming the catalyst for her resolve beginning to falter regarding her personal quest, as is revealed in episode 22. It happens once more in Episode 104, this time with Velora Vessar. And once again, it was an accident.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!:
  • Memorably, to Raishan as she retorts against her:
  Keyleth: You unleashed the mad dog, you bitch!
  • And once more, again, to Raishan as she destroys the corpse of the dragon:
  Keyleth: That was for Scanlan, from the Ashari, you bitch.
  • She does this again in Episode 87, this time to Taryon:
  Keyleth: In this moment, I am a damsel and I am in distress. So cross it off, bitch! Come on!
• Time Abyss: Starting at 18th Level her Druid class causes her aging to be reduced by 1/10 (for every ten years that pass, she only ages by one), causing her no amount of distress because she realizes that this means she will vastly outlive Vax despite them both being Half-Elves. The decision is ultimately rendered moot when Vax offers his life in service to the Raven Queen and she comes to collect after Vecna is defeated, but it does take Keyleth a much longer time to finally reunite with him than it would have normally.
• Together in Death: At the end of her lifespan Keyleth becomes one with the Raven Tree, allowing her to reunite with Vax in the afterlife.
• Too Dumb to Live: Keyleth's death, unlike any of the others, leaves the players laughing thanks to the poor decisions that led up to it. To wit; she dives off a massive, sloped cliff, and after barely blowing herself away from slamming headfirst into it, decides to turn into a goldfish hoping it would somehow help her land in the water, because she's like a God.
  Sam: Goldfish are not magnetically attracted to water...
  Travis: You jumped from a thousand feet in the air! Totally logical! You can't even see the water or rocks but you're like "Yep, I'm a GOLDEN GOD!".
• Trauma Conga Line: Keyleth undergoes this the instant that Vax was disintegrated in Episode 102 with no sign of stopping. From there, she discovers that: the Raven Queen brought Vax back but only until Vecna is defeated, depriving her of a Happily Ever After; she meets Sprigg whom she sees as a reflection of her worst nightmares come to life (being someone who outlived all of their friends, causing him to Go Mad from the Isolation); and then figures out Vex and Percy had gotten married in secret, which only served to remind her of the future she would never get to have with Vax.
• Undercover as Lovers: She and Vax'ildan pose as a married couple during their Slayer's Take trial.
• Undignified Death: Keyleth dives off a massive cliff to retrieve a diamond in episode 97. Rather than an elemental or a bird, she chooses to Wild Shape into a goldfish, of all things, due to a last-minute panic and is killed on impact. Certainly not her finest moment.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Tends to clash with Vex'ahlia from time to time, mostly due to Vax's crush on the druid. They still trust each other regarding things other than that. That changed during Episode 56, however. She also disagrees with Percy very frequently, but the two consider each other best friends.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Has a multitude of spells (Polymorph, Alter Self, Animal Shapes, Shapechange) and abilities (Wild Shape) that render her capable of shifting form into a variety of animals, elementals, and other creatures, especially after her completion of her Aramente grants her access to Shapechange.
• Warrior Princess:
  • Her title isn't actually "princess" but her standing in her druid society is effectively the same (she's to inherit sovereignty from her parents), and she was referred to specifically as "Princess" by one of the Fire Ashari in episode 22, presumably to hammer the point home for her party. Part of her role as "princess" is that she is expected to be an exceptionally competent spellcaster and, like her father, lead the effort to quell elemental incursions.
  • Tiberius affectionately refers to Keyleth at times as "Your Highness" whenever he conveys respect or wants to comfort her when in times of great stress, as shown in episode 9. Despite this, she's not entirely fond of being called as such.
  Vax'ildan: (after cutting her hair) Look at you. Don't you look like royalty?
  Keyleth: (smiles) I'm not a princess, remember?
• Weather Manipulation: After reaching level 15 in Episode 67, she debuts her new Control Weather spell with magnificent results, parting a lightning storm that threatened to slow down Vox Machina's pursuit of Dr. Ripley.
• The Worf Effect: By the time of Campaign 3, Keyleth has been an Archdruid and the Voice of the Tempest for three decades, and she's canonically one of the most powerful people in Exandria. However, when she actually enters the field of battle for the first time as an NPC, Ludinus Da'leth is able to concoct a Batman Gambit that leaves Keyleth paralyzed and on the brink of death within a single round— and, to add insult to injury, he only did so to use her as bait for Vax'ildan, whom he immediately turned into an arcane battery.

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