The Rising & Solar Republic | Darrow's Family | House Barca | House Telemanus | The Howlers | The Sons of Ares | The Rim Dominon | House Raa | The Society | House Lune | House Grimmus | House Bellona | House Augustus | The Boneriders | The Gorgons | The Institute | The Obsidians | Criminals and Terrorists
Due to the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers and First Episode Twists in both the Red Rising and Iron Gold series, spoilers from Red Rising, Golden Son, and Morning Star may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.
Obsidians
A caste of warriors raised in medeival settlements on the frozen polar regions of terraformed planets. Following the liberation of the tribes on Mars' south pole in Morning Star, they emerge as their own distinct faction in the conflict against the Society. open/close all folders
The Volarus family
Alia Volarus
Leader of the Valkyrie clan of Martian Obsidians and Ragnar's mother.
- Abusive Parents: Willingly gave up her male chidren into slavery.
- Les Collaborateurs: Knows that the Golds are really mortal, but upholds the hierarchy anyway.
- Off With Her Head: Sefi kills her when she refuses to abandon the Golds.
- Red Baron: as the Snowsparrow.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Dies just 3 chapters after she's introduced.
Vagnar Hefga
See the Gorgons page.
Ragnar Volarus
A Stained Obsidian in service to the Ash Lord. He pledges his loyalty to Darrow after the latter takes control of the Ash Lord's flaghship in Golden Son. Eventually, Darrow tells him the truth about being a Red, and he becomes a key leader in the resistance from then on.
- Baritone of Strength: Ragnar has an incredibly deep voice, to the point all of his dialogue is in bold and he is also incredibly strong, capable of taking on and killing large groups of enemies all at once by himself.
- Bash Brothers: Formed this dynamic offscreen with Sevro by the time of Morning Star.
- Big Brother Mentor: He mentions being one to his sister in Morning Star.
- Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Dies fighting Aja in Morning Star.
- Blood Knight: As all Stained Obsidians are.
- Character Development: Goes from a largely one note killer to one of the most idealistic warriors for the heroes.
- Gentle Giant: When he's around Darrow's nieces and nephews.
- Friend to All Children: Darrow's nieces and nephews love him.
- I Die Free: Midway through Morning Star, he decides to die against Aja with his freedom intact.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: His initial reason for joining with Darrow.
- Painting the Medium: Ragnar's voice is so deep all of his dialogue is written in bold.
Sefi The Quiet
Ragnar's sister and heir to the Valkyries. She uses the rebellion to assume leadership of all Obsidian tribes in the Republic.
- Action Girl: Leads her own Amazon brigade.
- Arranged Marriage: [[spoiler: Her marriage to Valdir
- Blood Knight: Like her brother Ragnar.
- Cloudcuckoolander: The low-tech culture of the Obsidians causes her to come off as this when she interacts with the advanced technology of the rest of the universe.
- Dead Sparks: Her marriage with Valdir has become this by the time of Dark Age, though she later reveals that this is deliberate on her part so that she won't risk the incurable poison she's been infected with to spread to him during sex.
- Genius Bruiser: Uses the near lynching of Cassius to establish herself as leader of all Obsidians, not just the Valkyrie.
- Self-Made Orphan: A rare heroic example, as her mother was one of Les Collaborateurs.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Is initially more concerned with killing the Golds who uphold the hierarchy. After Cassius's "trial" and the Jackal's nuclear devastation of Luna, she chooses to follow in her brother's footsteps.
Volga Fjorgen
An Obsidian from Earth, and a member of the Horn Gang. Later revealed to be the daughter of Ragnar.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: Her dream is to open up a sanctuary for carved animals that have been abandoned.
- Designer Babies: She was the result of House Grimmus's attempt to breed stronger Obsidians.
- Emotional Bruiser: Unlike her co-workers, she doesn't make any effort to hide her emotions.
- Escaped from the Lab: Was bred in a laboratory on Earth before being freed and immigrating to Luna.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Lyria and Victra in Dark Age.
- Properly Paranoid: Despite her innocence, she accompanies Ephraim to deliver Pax and Electra to the Syndicate armed with six knives and an acid gun.
- Rags to Royalty: Goes from a life of crime to becoming the Queen of the Obsidian nation.
- Raised in a Lab: Was born and raised in a lab due to her origins as a test-tube baby.
- Secret Legacy: The laboratory she was born in was a breeding farm owned by the Grimmus family, and one half of the genetic material used to create her comes from fan-favorite character Ragnar Volarus.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: Expresses concern when the team drops off Pax and Electra at the Syndicate's safe-house and she fears the children will be harmed.
Other Obsidians
Wulfgar
See the Solar Republic page.
Ozgard
A shaman for the Obsidians and one of Sefi's advisers in Dark Age.
- Eye Scream: Both of his eyes are gouged out after Sefi's death.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Runs off into the streets of Olympia after House Barca's Sol guard recover Sefi and Ephraim's bodies following Fa's sack of Olympia.
Valdir the Unshorn
An Obsidian warlord and Sefi's royal concubine. Sefi recalled him from the front lines after the Iron Rain on Mercury in Iron Gold and he now serves at her side.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Dark Age and Light Bringer indicate that he has a crush on Darrow, who is Happily Married to Virginia.
- Arranged Marriage: Light Bringer reveals that his marriage to Sefi was one in order to ensure peace between the various Obsidian clans.
- Ascended Extra: Originally he was one of the nameless Obsidians that Darrow gave a razor to in Golden Son. He returns in Dark Age as Sefi's husband.
- Dead Sparks: His relationship with Sefi has become this by the time of Dark Age, though Sefi later reveals that this is deliberate on her part because she doesn't want the incurable poison she's been infected with to spread to him during sex.
- Remember the New Guy?: First appears in Dark Age, where it's revealed Valdir is Famed In-Story as one of the greatest Obsidian warriors of the Republic.
Freihild
A Skuggi warrior for the Obsidians
- Dead Guy on Display: She's killed by Volsung Fa and her corpse is hung from the ceiling of the Valkyrie's old throne room.
- Killed Offscreen:
- The Mistress: She and Valdir are sleeping together in Dark Age
Gudkind
A Skuggi warrior for the Obsidians
Skarde Olsgur
An Obsidian Jarl of the Blood Ram tribe who fought alongside Darrow during the Time Skip between Morning Star and Iron Gold.
- Opportunistic Bastard: He was all in favor of siding with Volsung and tried to kill Darrow, but when Darrow confronts Volsung he supports his claim to duel him to ensure he won't face trial in case Darrow wins.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His son is executed on Volsung Fa's orders.
Sigurd Olsgur
Skarde's son and a brave of the Blood Ram tribe.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Attempts to help Lyria infiltrate the Obsidian camp to convince Volga not to follow Fa, and gets executed for it.
Tongueless
A mysterious Obsidian missing his tongue found by Darrow and Sevro in Apollonius's cell in Deepgrave. Not much is known about him, including his name but they bring him along on their mission to assassinate the Ash Lord rather than leaving him in Deepgrave.
- Mysterious Past: Tongueless is believed to have been a guard at Deepgrave that had the misfortune of shoved into Apollonius's cell, but Darrow notes his skills are unusual for that of a prison guard and wonders if that's not who he really was.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is never learned and he's only referred to as Tongueless.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: After being introduced in Iron Gold he is quickly sliced apart by Ajax in the prologue of Dark Age.
- Tongue Trauma: The reason for his nickname is that his tongue has been removed.
The Ascomanni
Ascomanni
The descendants of the Obsidians who surived the Dark Revolt five hundred years before the saga began.
- Bio-Augmentation: They modified themselves with enslaved Carvers to survive in space without the aid of technology.
- Human Subspecies: How the rest of the solar system sees them after half a millennium of biological modifications.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Some of the Ascomanni eat the people they capture.
