A listing of characters that appear in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. Beware of unmarked spoilers!Clare is also publishing a prequel series, The Infernal Devices. Check out that character sheet, too.
Clary's was perfectly content with living life with her overprotective mother and geeky best friend. But her normal life is turned upside down she starts seeing things other people can't. When she comes home one evening to find her apartment sacked, her mother missing, and a demon in the room, she is thrust into the world of the Shadowhunters. Which sucks, considering she was totally unprepared for it. And if that wasn't enough, she might be the only one who can stop the impending war.
Tropes that apply to Clary:
A-Cup Angst: Not as pronounced as some examples, but Clary feels insecure when she compares herself to the more traditionally beautiful, busty/curvy Isabelle.
Bio-Augmentation: Valentine unknowingly added angel's blood to her before she was born.
Brother-Sister Incest: Jace and Clary, when it is revealed that they were both Valentine and Jocelyn's children.
Subverted when it turns out that they aren't even related.
Played straight with Sebastian Verlac/Jonathan.
Simon: "So, Jace isn't your brother, but you HAVE kissed your brother."
Cartwright Curse: The trope doesn't apply to her, although when she meets Sebastian/ Jonathan for the first time she describes him as looking like a character from her manga who was this.
Fish out of Water: Clary is not a hardened Shadowhunter or a Downworlder like the rest of the cast, at least at first. She jumps right on the mundie racism bandwagon rather disturbingly fast, though.
Idiot Ball: At the end of City Of Glass, Clary decides to wish Jace back to life. Which is great except she seems to have forgotten about all the other Shadowhunters that died. Real considerate there, Clary.
She usually grabs the Idiot Ball and runs with it whenever Jace is involved, like when possessed!Jace is able to trick her into mind-control just by batting his eyelashes at her and playing on her hormones.
Sarcastic, cynical, and a ladies' man, Jace seems like the archetypal Byronic Hero. But it's not like that arrogance is unfounded - Jace is widely renowned as one of the best - if not the best - Shadowhunters of his age. He lives with the Lightwoods at the Institute, and is, for some reason, incredibly attracted to Clary.
Tropes that apply to Jace:
Abusive Parents: Valentine, who was posing as Michael Wayland.
Angel Unaware: The angel's blood that Valentine used to experiment on him with gave him certain characteristics (such as the ability to jump supernaturally high).
Dark and Troubled Past: He saw his father, Michael Wayland, murdered in a pool of his own blood. That was staged, of course. And Michael Wayland was never his father.
Driven to Suicide: His real mother, Celine Herondale, who killed herself due to the death of her husband Stephen. Valentine cut Jace out from her body and raised him as his own.
Expy: Of Cassandra Claire's infamous interpretation of Draco Malfoy.
Hollywood Atheist: He believes that there is a God, just not that God cares, after seeing his father murdered in front of him.
Idiot Ball: Grabs it with a bloody deathgrip when he refuses to tell anyone about the possible prophetic dreams he's having about murdering Clary until it's almost too late, nearly starves himself to death, doesn't sleep... oh, and ends up getting himself possessed by Sebastian. What an IDIOT.
Lie Back and Think of England: Jace tells Clary to do this before they kiss in front the fairy court. More like "Close your eyes and think of England."
Like Brother and Sister: Arguably with Isabelle, with whom he has a purely platonic relationship.
Lightning Bruiser: Jace is very fast, very strong, and very enduring, thanks to Valentine's training.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Michael Wayland was never Jace's father. Valentine is. Only Valentine isn't. Stephen Herondale was.
Omniglot: Jace can speak a lot of languages, thanks to all the training his father put him to.
An example is when he speaks to Sebastian in Romanian in City of Glass.
Jace: "De ce crezi ca va ascultam conversatia?"/"Why do you think I was listening to your conversation?"
Sebastian: "M-ai urmarit de când ai ajuns aici. Nu-mi dau seama daca nu ma placi ori daca esti atât de banuitor cu toata lumea.” / "You've been watching me since you got here. I can't tell if you don't like me or you're just this suspicious of everyone."
Clary's best (and probably only) friend, Simon, along with her, inevitably discovers the world of the Shadowhunters - something he then becomes a part of when he gets turned into a vampire.
Blood Lust: After he becomes a vampire, he needs blood. Badly. After he is imprisoned by Inquisitor Aldertree, the latter tries to starve him to death to find out the secret of his being able to walk in daylight.
Deadpan Snarker: One of the snarkiest in the books. And that's saying something.
Distinguishing Mark: The ability to walk in sunlight, nicknaming him "Daylighter" and the Mark of Cain, though he later loses the latter.
Fish out of Water: Clary and Simon are not hardened Shadowhunters or Downworlders like the rest of the cast. In Simon's case, however, he does get turned into the latter.
Mark of the Beast: The Mark of Cain, which dates way back to the book of Genesis. Subverted in that Clary puts it on him to save his life. It actually comes in handy several times during the fourth book, as anybody who tries to lay hands on him gets punishment laid down on them sevenfold. In book five, the angel Raziel removes the Mark of Cain when Simon summons him, in exchange for a heavenly sword to sever the bond beyond Jace and Johnathan/Sebastian.
Megane: Although he doesn't need his glasses after he gets Turned.
Muggle Best Friend: To Clary after she finds out she's a Shadowhunter. Eventually subverted when he gets turned into a vampire.
Not Growing Up Sucks: He is dismayed at being sixteen forever, saying that it's one thing to be frozen at twenty-five but looking how he is he is never going to grow into his features. Or get a drink. And there's the fact that he's going to far outlive his friends.
Only Sane Man: Recognized that loving Clary was a dead end, and had enough self-respect to let her go and move on to Isabelle and Maia. Yes, at the same time. Yes, they find out. He seems to be together with Isabelle at the end of the fourth book, though.
Our Vampires Are Different: Thanks to him drinking Jace's blood (which contained angel blood) he can walk in sunlight.
Plot Armor: You didn't really think that whole vampire fiasco would kill him off, did you?
Token Minority: He's Jewish. This is especially hard for him once he becomes a vampire.
Too Dumb to Live: The incident with the vampires in City of Ashes may count. After ingesting a tiny bit of Raphael's blood, he believes he is turning into a vampire and goes there at night, alone, to be sure. Naturally they nearly rip him to shreds, but Raphael keeps him alive for Clary's sake. Then he gets turned into a vampire.
Victorious Childhood Friend: For a few days in City of Ashes, at which point he and Clary decide it's never going to work out.
Walking the Earth: He's scared he's going to end up doing this, with the Mark of Cain and everything. Good for him the angel Raziel removes it
Isabelle "Izzy" Lightwood (Jemima West)
Alec's younger sister, Isabelle is beautiful, confident, and dangerous - she is an accomplished Shadowhunter, after all. Being the middle child, Isabelle is rebellious and attention-seeking. The snobbish, Fantastic Racism she seems to hold against non-Shadowhunters, as well as the Ice Queen persona she upholds, starts to crumble once she meets Clary and Simon.
Aloof Dark Haired Girl: Described as a Statuesque Stunner with waist-length dark hair. She's also very proud and distant, as well as an accomplished Shadowhunter.
Combat Stilettos: Isabelle wears heels constantly and fights in them when she needs to. She has even been known to use them as weapons, slashing and impaling targets with her kicks.
Does Not Like Men: While she is not averse to dating them, she distrusts men in general (in contrast to Jace and Alec, who wear their hearts on their sleeves) because she was The Confidant to her mother, who told her how her marriage to Robert was breaking apart.
Foreshadowing: The Lightwoods have a history of marital problems. Isabelle is noted as wishing she had her parents' blue eyes instead of her own dark ones. Blue eyes are a recessive genetic trait, it's impossible for two blue-eyed parents to have a child who is not also blue-eyed.
It's All My Fault: Believes Max's death to be her fault, as she was in charge of him at the time. To be fair, though, she had absolutely zero reason to suspect Sebastian.
Middle Child Syndrome: Isabelle is always raring to go into fights, not to mention she consistently dates boys her parents would hate. Jace says she does it to get attention, as she is not only the only girl but also the middle child.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Isabelle is very beautiful, with pale, clear skin and long dark hair.
Razor Floss: Edges her whip. She uses it to take off Sebastian's hand in City of Glass.
Sibling Yin-Yang: With Alec. Isabelle is not averse to showing off her beauty, is generally nicer, and like Jace, always rushing headfirst into demon-slaying. It's implied that Isabelle is the way she is in part because she wants to draw attention from her brother's homosexuality, as she does not want her parents to find out when he wasn't ready.
Statuesque Stunner: According to Jace, Isabelle hates being taller than most boys her age and would rather be dainty and petite.
Strong Family Resemblance: Like Clary and her mother, Maryse Lightwood greatly resembles her daughter.
Tap on the Head: Sebastian renders her unconscious in City of Glass with a hammer after he finishes with Max.
Big Brother Instinct: He takes his job as the eldest Lightwood sibling very seriously. And he's also the only one of them to be at least eighteen, making him legally an 'adult'.
Coming Out Story: He comes out of the closet rather nicely in the third book.
Demon Slaying: He's Nephilim. However, it's noted that up until late in the story he's never killed a demon because he's always looking out for Isabelle and Jace, who tend to do most of the dirty work.
Sibling Yin-Yang: With Isabelle. Unlike her, Clary notes that he is shyer, easier to guilt, and tries everything he can to downplay the good looks he shares with his sister.
Adaptation Dye Job: In the books Valentine is described as having white-blonde hair and black eyes. He's portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers for the film who has dark brown hair and blue eyes.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He does seem to care for Jace, in a way, as well as Clary, Jocelyn, Sebastian / Jonathan and even Luke in his own twisted way.
Dead Person Impersonation: He killed Michael Wayland and his infant son (using that baby to make Jocelyn believe her son Jonathan was dead) and took over Michael Wayland's identity while raising Jace (who was Stephen Herondale's son. It's complicated.
Faking the Dead: While posing as Michael Wayland he faked his own death to strengthen Jace.
Guinea Pig Family: Experimented on his own children in the womb to create better Shadowhunters. He infused Jonathan/Sebastian with demon blood, which made him horrifically strong but had the unfortunate side-effects of making him soulless and Jocelyn depressed. To make her feel better he gave her angel blood, not knowing she was pregnant with Clary at the time...
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In the third book, he actually uses a rune to avoid this - ie. he can monologue without interruption. Clary manages to foil him by writing in the dirt.
Hunting Accident: Kind of. He never intended to murder Lucian, just get him bitten by a werewolf. Then he hands him a dagger and asks him to kill himself.
Meaningful Name: "Morgenstern" means "morning star" - signifying, of course, Lucifer.
Never Found the Body: After his ship is destroyed - which naturally means that he's still up and kicking. That is, until he gets stabbed by the angel Raziel in City of Glass, is cremated and has a funeral. He is dead for good. Unlike his other son.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Unfortunately, his plan to reform the Clave to protect against demonic threats involves raising a massive demon army and slaughtering them all.
Parental Substitute: Helped raise Clary along with Jocelyn. In a way, he was sort of a father figure to Simon, too, as the latter's father died when he was younger.
Playing Gertrude / Hollywood Old: In the film, Luke (who is at least in his late thirties in the book) is played by 29-year-old Aidan Turner.
Although as of City of Fallen Angels, it turns into Victorious Childhood Friend as Jocelyn seems to reciprocate his feelings and they plan to get married, although it's postponed.
What the Hell, Hero?: Gives Clary a nice talking-to in the beginning of the third book.
Convenient Coma: Jocelyn induces a coma on herself to avoid anyone squeezing information out of her about the whereabouts of the Mortal Cup. The only person who knew how to revive her aside from the warlock that cast the spell was an old acquaintance, who gets killed early on in the third book.
Hidden Badass: Under the Overprotective Mom stance, Jocelyn was a powerful, talented Shadowhunter who plotted to overthrow her husband during the Uprising. Not to mention she ran away from Valentine to prevent his turning Clary into a "monster" like he did Jonathan.
Hooked Up Afterwards: With Luke. They planned to get married in City of Fallen Angels but the marriage was postponed indefinitely, with Jace's possession by Lilith and subsequent disappearence.
Hot Mom: Jocelyn is said to be beautiful: tall and willowy, with sharp features.
It Was a Gift: The tarot cards she gave Dorothea which contained the Mortal Cup.
Your Cheating Heart: "City of Fallen Angels" reveals that all wasn't fine and dandy for the Lightwoods after the Circle broke up. Robert blamed their wrecked lives on Maryse, and it seems they were on the verge of separation/divorce but decided to stay together for the sake of Alec and their unborn daughter. Unfortunately, a few years later, Maryse found out about his having an affair with somebody, and confided in Isabelle about it. Still, they stayed together, even if Robert was spending more and more time away.
Hodge Starkweather (Jared Harris)
The tutor at the Institute, who taught Alec, Jace, and Isabelle everything they needed to know about Shadowhunting.
Anything That Moves: He's been with men, women, warlocks, vampires, humans, fey, and the occasional djinn, which does show that he does go for anything. Except mermaids. They smell like seaweed.
A member of the downtown werewolf pack, Maia's had a rough life. Her brother abused her, and her ex-boyfriend hit her and eventually turned her into a werewolf. She seems to be getting along fine though.
Tsundere: Towards Simon and Jordan in City of Fallen Angels.
Why Did It Have To Be Beautiful Men: She has a fear of guys that look like her deceased brother, who abused her as a child. There's also her possessive ex-boyfriend Jordan, who was mentioned as the reason she was turned into a werewolf.
The Proud Elite: In some cases an even better example than Isabelle, but it's played with as while he's certainly proud and he does see himself and vampires as elite, the magical world (re:the Clave) does not see them as so.
The Starscream: According to Camille, he was the reason she left - he killed mundanes and blamed them on her, causing her to flee. When she did so, he seized her position and told the rest of the New York vampire clan that she was struck with wanderlust and a desire to travel (something that was not unheard of in vampires.)
Lipstick Lesbian: Heavily implied in the third book. Although she is seen kissing Jace, she tells Clary later it was merely a test to see if any guy was "her type". Confirmed in book five, where she appears with her girlfriend, Helen Blackthorn, and it's revealed she came out the closet, inspired by seeing Alec do so.
Rape as Drama: The poor girl was nearly raped by a demon.
Early-Bird Cameo: In Clary's dream in City of Ashes, she sees Jace standing with white wings (a reference to his angel blood) and, behind her, a dark-haired boy with blood-tipped wings - Sebastian.
The Mole: He was the reason Valentine knew what Jace's group was about to do. He killed the real Sebastian Verlac and posed as the Penhallows' cousin in order to get information.
Not Quite Dead: In the fourth book, it turns out that he isn't exactly dead because of Clary's wish at the end of City of Glass to bring Jace back to life, which screwed up the balance of life and death.
Polyglot: Like Jace, he's also fluent in a variety of languages.
Romantic False Lead: We all know who's going to win Clary in the end. Besides, he's her brother.
Break the Haughty: When she realizes that her plan to trade Jace for the Mortal Instruments wasn't going to work and she realizes that Valentine might not care for his "son" as much as she cared for hers.
Cynicism Catalyst: She was deeply grieved over the loss of Stephen Herondale.
Heroic Sacrifice: Pulls one to let Jace escape on the ship, knowing that he was Stephen Herondale's son.
An ex-Shadowhunter residing in Idris, who turns out to be Luke's sister.
Tropes associated with Amatis:
Happily Married: To Stephen Herondale, for like a few years, until...
Toilet Seat Divorce: Not played for laughs, and the divorce actually did happen. Valentine convinced Stephen to divorce her on the grounds that she had "undesirable family connections" - ie. her brother was turned into a Downworlder, and Valentine does not like Downworlders.
Long Lost Relative: To Luke, more or less, although it's more of the fact that they're estranged siblings and Luke's afraid that she'd blame him for her divorce.
The newest member of Simon's band, Kyle seems like your typical nice guy (although Clary describes him as superhot). He's a member of the local Wolf Guard as well as Maia's ex-boyfriend who turned her into a werewolf.
The Atoner: He does seem to sincerely regret what he did to Maia, and only picked Simon as an assignment so he could get close to her.
Chekhov M.I.A.: He was mentioned back in City of Ashes as Maia's ex-boyfriend who turned her into a werewolf and disappeared for nearly two years.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Simon says that he grows weird plants on his balcony. He then follows it up by claiming they aren't drugs. The plants turn out to be wolfsbane.
Only One Name: Simon asks why his name is listed as just Kyle even on his apartment door. It turns out Kyle is his surname and his first name is Jordan, which he hid so that Maia wouldn't find out.
