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.
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The Society
The Society in general
The ruling civilization of the Solar System at the beginning of Red Rising.
- Fascist, but Inefficient: The Society regime prioritizes control and subjugation at the expense of what would actually be efficient.
- Repressive, but Efficient: In terms of military logistics, terraforming, and infrastructure, many characters note that the Society is frighteningly efficient.
Golds
The Board of Quality Control
The Board in general
The organization responsible for enforcing the Golds' views of genetics.
- Population Control: Their role is to maintain the Society's population as well as manage the "quality" of it's population.
Varus au Celinius
A Gold responsible for maintenance of Board of Quality Control facilities. The early Sons of Ares captured and interrogated him in order to track down Bryn.
- Boom, Headshot!: Ryanna executes him when Doran accidentally reveals Fitchner's name in front of him.
- Defiant Captive: Refuses to cooperate with the Sons when they try to get his dataPad password. At least until they start torturing him.
- Fingore: Ares cuts his hand in half to get him to talk.
- He Knows Too Much: He's killed when Doran slips up and reveals the names of the early Sons of Ares.
- Hidden Depths: His initial dialogue depicts him as the stereotypical decadent Pixie, yet he effortlessly identifies his captors by the way they talk and.
- Sherlock Scan: Identifies his captors' colors based on various cues like language (only Reds use the word "Bloodydamn") or body odor (Greens smell like caffeine from all the coffee they drink and oil from their implants).
Arturius au Vardan
Fitchner's friend from the Institute. He was Primus of House Jupiter for his year, and went on to become a Prefect for the Board of Quality Control.
- All Love Is Unrequited: It turns out that he fell in love with Fitchner, but Fitchner had already married Bryn.
- Big Bad: Of the Sons of Ares comic. He's responsible for Sevro and Bryn's abduction, along with Bryn's execution.
- Big Bad Friend: He knows Fitchner married and had a child with Bryn, and their abduction was intended as his idea of a favor to help Fitchner avoid the consequences of his actions in exchange for taking a position at the board of Quality Control.
- Betrayal by Inaction: When his mother orders him to sever all ties with Fitchner, he complies with her demands.
- Broken Pedestal: Fitchner takes his reluctance to oppose his mother rather hard.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: his actions in the second half of the comment are motivated by his unrequited attraction to Fitchner.
- I Have Your Wife: He's the one who took Bryn.
Olympic Knights
Lorn au Arcos
The retired Rage Knight and grandfather to Lysander.
- The Dreaded: He calmly threatens to kill anyone who gets within two meters of Darrow when confronting Pliny in Golden Son, and nobody is willing to call his bluff.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Has one brief appearance during the Drafting in Red Rising, before returning as a major character in Golden Son.
- Fantastic Racism: despite being nice to all of his servants, he views Obsidians as little more than mindless killing machines.
- Mauve Shirt: Only part of the cast for one book, but his scenes are memorable ones.
- Nice to the Waiter: Greets each of his servants by name.
- Old Master: One of the most famous in the whole solar system. Is well over a hundred years old and can still kick ass.
- Retired Badass: Until Darrow drags him out of retirement kicking and screaming in Golden Son.
Kalindora au San
The maternal aunt of Alexandar au Arcos and the new Love Knight of the Society Remnant. She and Atalantia were close friends with Lysander's mother and are responsible for her death.
- Deathbed Confession: When dying from poison, she admits to Lysander that she and Atalantia were responsible for his parents' deaths.
The Boneriders
See their separate page.
The Gorgons
See their separate page.
The Institute
See the Institute page.
Gold Houses
Gold Houses with their own pages:House Votum
Scorpio au Votum
Cicero au Votum
The heir to House Votum, the ruling family of Mercury. He serves in the Society Remnant's Scorpion Legions.
- The Idealist: Cicero is a Reformer who truly believes in making a better society.
- The Lancer: Arguably this to Lysander in Light Bringer.
- Noble Demon: One of the more sympathetic Golds of the Society in the sequel series.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Is much more clever and thoughtful then he lets other see.
Horatia au Votum
House Carthii
Asmodeus au Carthii
Head of House Carthii, the ruling family of Venus.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Name-dropped in Iron Gold before appearing personally in Dark Age.
Valeria au Carthii
House Valii
Tactus au Rath
A young man who serves in Darrow and Mustang's army at the Institute.
- Ambiguously Brown: his skin is described as looking like honeyed oak.
Word of God confirms he's of mediterranean descent. - Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Tactus is fully capable and willing of turning on anyone. Ultimately subverted, however, as he turns back to Darrow's side.
- Even Evil Has Standards: In spite of being a true Token Evil Teammate with Chronic Backstabbing Disorder who uses drugs and is guilty of Attempted Rape, Tactus has some lines he won't cross. Specifically, and importantly, he Wouldn't Hurt a Child.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Right after Tactus steps down from threatening to kill Lorn's family and rejoins Darrow's side Lorn kills him anyway, not believing that people can actually change.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Whether Tactus is a good guy or not depends heavily on circumstances. While he does genuinely have a certain friendship with Darrow, he's also willing to switch sides on a dime.
- Hidden Depths: Revealed to be a skilled enough musician that Darrow, attempting to encourage their friendship, gives him a Stradivarius. Unfortunately, his upbringing leaves him so leery of gifts he sells it... or at least tried to. Apparently, he kept it, and was practicing to repay Darrow with some music before he broke ranks from Augustus.
- Jerkass: Tactus is a misogynstic asshole fully willing to betray and murder his own allies. He eventually softens up into a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and dies a noble death.
- Redemption Equals Death: Since he refuses to kill Lorn's grandchildren, Darrow and he reconnect their friendship for all of a few minutes before Lorn kills him in retribution.
- Token Evil Teammate: Darrow allies with various parties through the course of the books, but Tactus proves among the most depraved, being a ruthless, backstabbing attempted rapist with a vile streak a mile wide, although he has his Hidden Depths and good qualities to be sure.
- Tragic Villain: Oh, yeah, Tactus is a bad fellow, being an attempted rapist, addict, and traitor. All that said, it's made clear that Tactus doesn't know what to do with his life, just wants the approval of his family, and any Gold is bound to have serious personality defects due to their upbringing. Tactus is a Token Evil Teammate for a reason, but that doesn't keep Darrow from allowing him on his side due to seeing that he can be better, and his death remains tragic, with him dying just after choosing the side of good and befriending Darrow.
- Undying Loyalty: Despite his backstabbing tendencies, he still believes that Darrow is worth following.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Tactus truly wants the approval of his family, which drives him to some of his worst acts.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: Tactus, for all he's awful, refuses to hurt or kill children.
Tharsus au Valii-Rath
See the Boneriders page.
Apollonious au Valii-Rath
The older brother of Tactus and Tharsus. He was captured by the Solar Republic during the Time Skip after a failed assassination attempt against Mustang.
- Ax-Crazy: Orders The Ash Lord's cronies cut up and fed to the crabs in Venus' oceans upon returning home from Deepgrave. Blinds the warden of Deepgrave on his way out.
- Boxed Crook: The Howlers liberate him from prison in order to use his rivalry with the Carthii family and the Ash Lord to destabilize the Gold loyalists on Venus.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Prior to Iron Gold, Tharsus was the only one of Tactus' brothers to be named and appear in person.
- Enemy Mine: Darrow breaks him out of Deepgrave so that the Howlers can use his credentials to get onto Venus and assassinate the Ash Lord.
- Faux Affably Evil: Puts on a veneer of culture, but he's a complete psychopath underneath.
- Red Baron: Apolloniuos is also known as the "Minotaur of Mars."
- Wicked Cultured: Apollonious has a very poetic, refined way of speaking and is a skilled violinist in addition to being an Ax-Crazy warrior.
Other Golds
Roque au Fabii
One of Darrow's classmates at The Institute and the son of a prominent Gold senator. He's drafted into House Mars at The Institute, and becomes a lancer for House Augustus after he graduates.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: He kills himself rather than become a prisoner of the Rising in Morning Star.
- Cartwright Curse: Having Roque's love may as well by paramount to bringing him pain. Every single one of his romantic interests dies or betrays him—or in Tactus's case, both.
- Driven to Suicide: After Darrow completely annihilates his forces in Morning Star, he commits suicide out of shame.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Does this to Darrow.
- Evil Former Friend: To Darrow in Morning Star.
- I Can Change My Beloved: His interactions with Tactus in Golden Son qualify.
- Love Hurts: Oh boy. This guy has to be the most unlucky person ever when it comes to love. In order: Lea dies, Quinn dies, Tactus dies, and his Pink lover betrays him. And for just that extra string, that last one brings about the downfall of his fleet, guaranteeing he will be most remembered for his one failure, which drives him to suicide.
- Warrior Poet: He's the most balanced and philosophical out of house Mars, and often waxes poetic, whether his friends are interested or not.
- We Used to Be Friends: Darrow realizes that this has happened in Golden Son; unfortunately, he doesn't realize how bad it's become.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In Golden Son he betrays Darrow to his enemies and kills most of his former friends.
- From Roque's point of view, this applies to Darrow, who from his point of view got Quinn murdered for no reason at all save to satisfy his own incomprehensible ambition.
Seneca au Cern
A Gold in the Society's Tenth Legion who serves as Ajax au Grimmus's second in command.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: A Centurion in Ajax's Iron Leopards.
Coppers
Timony cu Podginus
The chief administrator of the mine of Lykos on Mars.
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: Implied in the first book and then confirmed in Golden Son when Darrow points out that the mine's output doesn't match up with the totals he reports.
- Holier Than Thou: Acts as if he's superior to the other colors in Lykos.
Bondilus cu Tancrus
A member of the Board of Quality Control sent to ensure that students don't cheat on the entrance exam.
- Les Collaborateurs: He's part of the Board of Quality Control, making him a great deal more involved in the oppression of the masses than the other Coppers.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Only appears for a single scene in the first book, but without him certifying that Darrow didn't cheat on the entrance exam, nothing that happened over the rest of the saga would have been possible.
- Spear Carrier: His only role in the story is to interview Darrow after he takes the Institute's entrance exam to verify that he didn't cheat.
Oranges
Glirastes
An Organge architect and inventor living on Mercury. He defected to the Republic on the condition that Darrow keep civilian casualties to a minimum by launching an Iron Rain.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: First he supported the Society. Then he defected to the Republic. Then when he believed that Darrow broke his promises, he turns back to the Society once he finds out Lysander is still alive.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Glirastes betrays the Republic and allows Lysander and the Society to secure a great victory at Heliopolis. This eventually gets him captured on Atalantia's orders, tortured, and killed when Lysander abandons him.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Atalantia has him caged and put on a leash to punish Lysander for plotting against her, and warns that any further disobedience from him will result in Glirastes' execution.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Lysander au Lune.
Grays
Ugly Dan
A Gray working as a police officer in Lykos.
- Artificial Limbs: Has a robotic arm after he lost his original one in battle.
- Jerkass: He treats the Reds in the mines horribly.
- Elite Mook: One of the only Grays from Lykos referred to by name.
- Police Brutality: Prone to this when making arrests.
Rhone ti Flavinius
The former second officer of Legio XIII Dracones under Aja au Grimmus. When Lysander returns to the Society during Dark Age, he and the remaining Preatorians return to their previous service under House Lune.
- Badass Normal: "Normal" is relative in this universe, but Rhone, a Gray, has killed many Obsidians and Golds, who would both normally be considered outside his weight class.
- Crazy-Prepared: Rhone is always on the lookout for danger and has a plan to kill anyone he meets. He uses a veritable arsenal of hidden weapons in his fight against Lysander.
- Fantastic Racism: Rhone is prejudiced against Reds, and Light Bringer hints that he resented Lysander's choice to celebrate a Gamma at the end of the battle of Phobos.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: From a street urchin named Fleabite to the most famous Gray in the solar system and one of the leaders of House Lune's Praetorian Guard.
- Happiness in Slavery: Willingly serves the Hierarchy and House Lune because of how the Legions gave him a home and a purpose after growing up on the streets of Luna.
- Hypocrite: Rhone ti Flavinius, champion of the Hierarchy and the Society, reveals himself in his final fight to be experienced with razors. This is forbidden to his color.
- Master of All: Lysander thinks Rhone is mainly deadly at range, but he discovers in their fight that he's a terror in melee as well.
- Praetorian Guard: To House Lune.
- Undying Loyalty: To Lysander as the last of House Lune. Or so Lysander thinks at first. In truth, Rhone's Undying Loyalty is towards the Society.
Demetrius ti Interimo
An archCenturion of Legio XIII Dracones who serves as one of Lysander's personal bodyguards in Light Bringer.
- Blood Knight: Consistently holds the top spot in the Praetorian's competition for who can make the most kills.
Markus ti Lacrima
A centurion of Legio XIII Dracones who serves as one of Lysander's personal bodyguards in Light Bringer.
Drusilla ti Pistris
A decurion of Legio XIII Dracones who serves as one of Lysander's personal bodyguards in Light Bringer.
Kyber ti Umbra
A Praetorian who serves as Lysander's personal bodyguard in Light Bringer.
- Token Good Teammate: The only named member of Lysander's Praetorian detail who isn't collaborating with Atlas and the Gorgons.
- Undying Loyalty: To Lysander, House Lune and the Blood.
Browns
Exeter
Glirastes' butler.
- Happiness in Slavery:
- Les Collaborateurs: Willingly serves Lysander and seeks to restore the Society's rule over Mercury
