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The Heap Family
Septimus
Septimus Heap
The main character, Septimus is a seventh son of a seventh son, wielding amazing Magykal powers.- The Apprentice: Of Marcia Overstrand. She had been in fact waiting for him since long.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: He's the only one who likes Aunt Zelda's Cordon Bleugh Chef cooking, but doesn't like chocolate.
- Character Development: At first, he's scared and rather antisocial. After the first book, he grows to be more confident and happy.
- Child Mage: He becomes ExtraOrdinary Apprentice at the tender age of ten years.
- Child Soldier: In the Young Army during his first ten years of life.
- Dragon Rider: He is Spit Fyre's rider.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: His hair is bright blond and he's a pretty Nice Guy.
- Magical Seventh Son: The main theme of the series is that seventh children of seventh children have extraordinary Magykal abilities.
- Mark of the Supernatural: He gets green eyes after being recovered from the Young Army in Magyk, as do all Wizard children when exposed to Magykal learning.
- Meaningful Name: Septimus is the seventh son of a seventh son. His name means "seventh" in Latin. Furthermore, his Young Army "name" was Boy 412, and 4+1+2=7.
- Reaches Arc Number level when in Queste, Marcia Overstrand is revealed to be the 776th ExtraOrdinary Wizard (remember, the first Wizard came sailing in from ancient Egypt), which will eventually make her apprentice, Septimus, the 777th.
- Nice Guy: He is genuinely compassionate towards others and doesn't regard anyone with malice. He even offers a second chance to Simon.
- Switched at Birth: With Jenna. And then again with Merrin.
- Took a Level in Badass: Septimus timidly starts off as The Load, but gets much better as his magical skill improves.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In Darke, partly as a consequence of the imminent Darke Week and its tribulations.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: All powerful Wizards tend to fear heights, as explained in Queste.
- You Are Number 6: Known as Boy 412 until the end of the first book. Of course, "Septimus" literally means "seventh," so in a way it still applies.
Jenna
Jenna Heap
The daughter of Queen Cerys and Milo Banda. She was rescued by Marcia Overstrand when the Queen was shot, and subsequently adopted by the Heap family.- Barrier Maiden: The safety of the Castle depends upon Jenna’s presence in it.
- Berserk Button: Don't try to kill Septimus or else she will take you down.
- Disappeared Dad: Milo's wherabouts weren't know until Flyte, and his reunion with his daughter was rather less than friendly.
- Genki Girl: She's generally upbeat.
- Happily Adopted: She considers the Heap family to be her true family, almost more than her actual family.
- Identical Grandson: When she travels back in time, she looks so much like her ancestor Princess Esmeralda that everyone assumes she is her.
- One of the Boys: Courtesy of living with six boys, leading into...
- Tomboy: Although she doesn't mind wearing the tiara and dress that come with being queen, Jenna gives off slight vibes of this. She's certainly not scared to get dirty.
- Plucky Girl: Whatever happens, she won't let her spirits be dampened.
- Princesses Rule: Only in Darke does she receive "official" royal promotion.
- Switched at Birth: With Septimus.
Simon Heap
Eldest son of Silas and Sarah.
- Cain and Abel: In Flyte, Simon is hunting down his younger brother Septimus and trying to eliminate him, to get the ExtraOrdinary Apprenticeship.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Subverted. He has blond hair like the rest of his family (except Jenna), but has a Face–Heel Turn between books 1 and 2.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He's a good guy in the first book, the antagonist of the second book, a non-entity in the third, in the fourth he's grudgingly back to being a good guy, and by the time the fifth comes along, he's back on the Magykal straight-and-narrow.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Simon realizes what he's done, but his family doesn't accept him back at first. They eventually come around.
- The Unfavorite: Simon feels that as the eldest son, he should be the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice, and temporarily joins DomDaniel to make it happen.
Sam Heap
Word of Gay: Angie Sage has confirmed that he and Wolf Boy (Mandy Marwick) are a couple.
Nicko Heap
Second-youngest Heap son. He becomes a sailor, though he often joins Septimus and Jenna on their adventures.
Silas Heap
An Ordinary Wizard. Father to Simon, Sam, Edd, Erik, Jojo, Nicko, Septimus, and Jenna.
Sarah Heap
Mother to to Simon, Sam, Edd, Erik, Jojo, Nicko, Septimus, and Jenna.
Zelda Heap
The witch of the Marram Marshes.
- Cool Old Lady: Aunt Zelda, being the Keeper of Draggen Island, is pretty cool and beloved by her friends and family.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Aunt Zelda is, erm, "renowned" for her boiled cabbage sandwiches, jellied eel stew, and haddock-and-banana pie. Only Septimus is a fan of her cooking, but it seems to be Nostalgia Filter for him. All of her dishes are perfectly edible, if rather odd-sounding.
Wizards
Marcia
Marcia Overstrand
The bossy ExtraOrdinary Wizard, she became EOW after her tutor Alther Mella was shot along with the Queen, and rescued Jenna in the same moment.- The Archmage: The ExtraOrdinary Wizard of the setting has high authority over other Wizards.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Usually, she is very bossy and can be a huge annoyance to everyone, but when trouble abounds, she can be very caring and helpful. Also, her abrasiveness is often directed at those who deserve it; oftentimes she is depicted as gracious and polite, especially towards those that she takes a liking to. Her biggest fault is probably her tendency to leap to wrong conclusions about people, but she is at least capable of admitting her mistakes, such as happens with both Silas and Marcellus.
- Parental Substitute: She is this to Septimus, according to
Word of God. - Purple Is Powerful: She is dressed head to toe in the purple robes of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. She orders her shoes to be handmade out of special purple snakeskin, much to her shoemaker's dismay.
- Tsundere: Marcia is a non-romantic variant — she's self-centered and abrasive as all get-out, but she very clearly cares deeply for Septimus (when she slips enough to let it show).
Merrin
Merrin Meredith
The former student of Dom Daniel, and a bratty, nasty boy with a bad attitude and worse morals. A general pain to everyone he meets, and mostly just a pile of poor choices wrapped up in stupidity and a hatred for the world.- Afraid of Blood: Merrin is afraid of blood, especially his own, which leads him to fight back in Magyk.
- Asshole Victim: Merrin has been through some horrible things, including a childhood where leaving his crying, toddler self in a closet was normal. He still manages to be an ass on every level, and isn't particularly one to sympathize too much for.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: He's a Darke mage and undoubtedly a disgusting person.
- Character Name Alias: He renames himself Daniel Hunter, after DomDaniel and the Hunter.
- Dirty Coward: A major one, willing to do nearly anything to ensure his own safety.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Hates his name, and gives the alias Daniel Hunternote when he applies to work at the Manuscriptorium.
- Fingore: Loses a thumb when the Two Faced Ring has to be removed.
- Freudian Excuse: He was raised by a major Big Bad, abused constantly, and lived in terror for most of his life, and is an absolutely awful person because of it all. He frequently whines about his past, too, and tries to use all the bad things that have happened to him as excuses for why he deserves a happy life (read: whatever he wants) now.
- Mistaken for Badass: Merrin was thought by DomDaniel to be Septimus Heap, who was the seventh son of the seventh son that was said to have extreme magical talent, so DomDaniel took Merrin in as an apprentice waiting for the talent to arise. It turns he was switched with the real Septimus at birth, so no such talent reveals itself. Merrin doesn't take this well.
- New Ability Addiction: Once Merrin gets actual power, he uses it almost constantly (and mostly just to show off).
- Non-Action Guy: Can't fight or protect himself for anything, and has to resort to magic, dirty tricks, and intimidation to get his way. Considering that he's also something of a coward, this might just be his personality.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He was harmless and mostly useless, right up until Darke, when he actually achieved threat status and a kill count.
- The Poorly Chosen One: DomDaniel abducted him because he believed he was the seventh son of a seventh son, and would have great Magykal power. Not only did he not have any significant talent, Merrin's abusive upbringing turned him into a complete Jerkass.
- Ring of Power: Gets a hold of a very evil one after braving the corpse of his old master. It doesn't end well for him.
- Switched at Birth: With Septimus.
- Ungrateful Bastard: No matter how nice anyone is to him, he remains entirely awful. Even saving his life earns nothing but attempted murder.
DomDaniel
Big Bad of the first two books.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: He simply, surprisingly and unceremoniously disappears after his bones were consumed by Spit Fyre in Queste.
- Evil Mentor: To Alther, his apprentice.
- Ring of Power: The Two-faced Ring allows him to survive almost anything, coming back in Flyte as Dem Bones.
Syrah Syara
ExtraOrdinary Apprentice 500 years ago. She was selected for the Queste, but managed to escape on the back of a dolphin, making her way to the Isles of Syren.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: When Septimus and co. rescue her from the Syren, she takes a long time to adjust to the world 500 years after her time.
Hotep-Ra
The first ExtraOrdinary Wizard. Built the Wizard Tower, the Dragon Boat, and the House of Foryx.
- The Archmage: The first ExtraOrdinary Wizard, who founded the Wizard Tower.
- Cool Old Guy: Though he doesn't appear old, since time doesn't pass inside the House of Foryx.
Ghosts
Alther Mella
Marcia's mentor, and before her Silas's. Killed in the first chapter of Magyk.
- December–December Romance: An extreme example, with him only getting together with his love Alice Nettles after they're both dead.
- Klingon Promotion: A rare heroic example. Alther became ExtraOrdinary Wizard by wresting the Akhu Amulet away from his Evil Mentor DomDaniel, who then fell off the roof of the Wizard Tower in a Disney Villain Death. Unfortunately, DomDaniel was immortal because of the Two-faced Ring, and returned for his revenge.
Cerys
The previous Queen of the Castle. Biological mother to Jenna Heap.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Cerys and Alther were murdered by an Assassin while she was still recovering from giving birth to Jenna and too weak to defend herself.
- Mama Bear: Her powers are limited, but what little she can do to protect Jenna she does without hesitation - up to and including throwing her ancestor Etheldredda out of a window. When it comes to her daughter, the queen has cajones.
- Sealed Good in a Can: As is the nature of ghosts, she can only enter places that she visited at least once when she was alive. Being the queen, that extends to very few if any places outside the castle. Her options are so limited that she opts to stay in the Queen's Chambers for pretty much the entire series, since someone needs to guard the secret passages up there anyways.
Etheldredda
Queen of the Castle 500 years ago. Mother to Marcellus and Esmeralda. Big Bad of Physik.
- Came Back Wrong: She drowned when Jenna pushed her off the Castle into the moat below, but having drank Marcellus' incomplete immortality tincture, she came back as a Substantial Spirit - more than a ghost, but less than alive. She is not technically a ghost, so can go anywhere she wants rather than being bound to places she knew in life. But being not technically alive either, she cannot be killed, only sealed away - or, with great difficulty, destroyed.
- The Dreaded: Her nickname is literally "Etheldreadful".
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Pretty much nobody was unhappy when she died.
- Offing the Offspring: She personally ordered the drowning of two of her own children, because she was paranoid about them overthrowing her. Their ghosts haunted the castle for years afterward. She tried to do the same to her daughter Esmeralda, but Marcellus rescued and hid her.
- She later tried to personally kill Jenna multiple times, initially because she'd mistaken Jenna for Esmeralda and then later simply because Jenna was a thorn in her side.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Etheldredda has spent 500 years trapped in a painting before being released.
Tertius Fume
First Chief Hermetic Scribe, and the Evil Mastermind behind the Queste.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Tertius Fume does this to the point of being called out for this by Merrin Meredith.
Manuscriptorium
Beetle
O Beetle Beetle
Septimus's best friend, he's the General Dogsbody and Inspection Clerk at the Manuscriptorium.- Beleaguered Assistant: "General Dogsbody" basically means he does the jobs nobody else wants to do, and the places he has to inspect as clerk are the labyrinthine Ice Tunnels. Gets even worse when Jillie Djinn becomes his Bad Boss.
- Last-Minute Baby Naming: His mother was overcome by grief at his father's death right before he was born, and at the naming ceremony could only sob "Oh, Beetle! Beetle!", which promptly became his name.
- Last-Name Basis: Or middle name, since they're the same.
Ephaniah Grebe
Ephaniah Grebe
- Crazy-Prepared: Though not in the usual sense — Ephaniah Grebe, who can't speak, has a box filled with hundreds of cards, apparently written to apply to any occasion, including one written just for the off-chance that he somehow meets the Queen or Princess ("Greetings, Your Majesty"). When his cards fail him (which requires a highly specialized situation, like needing to ask about the range of someone's Seek), he resorts to a pen and paper.
- The Hermit: Hardly ever leaves the Manuscriptorium basement, due to his unfortunate appearance.
- Rat Men: Ephaniah Grebe is the unfortunate victim of two rogue spells, one of which involved rats, hitting him at the same time. He spends most of his time in the Manuscriptorium's basement, hiding his rodent face from the outside world. His transformation also changed his vocal cords to make him unable to form human speech, so he communicates using notecards.note He's not a bad person at all once you get over the initial shock at his appearance.
Jillie Djinn
Jillie Djinn
Chief Hermetic Scribe for most of the series.- Asshole Victim: No one feels particularly sad when she dies. She was very nasty to Beetle and largely to blame for Merrin's actions through her employing of him in the Manuscriptorium.
- Bad Boss: To most of the Manuscriptorium staff, but especially Beetle.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: In Darke, Jillie expires standing up on Marcia's sofa a moment after the climax, without getting much attention.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Employs Merrin and fires Beetle with barely a second thought.
Other Castle Residents
Marcellus Pye
Son of Queen Etheldredda and Castle Alchemist.
- Absent-Minded Professor: Especially in Queste, where he constantly forgets the reason for Septimus’s visits. Explained as a consequence of his age (about 500 years).
- Age Without Youth: His imperfect immortality elixir didn't keep him from aging 500 years.
- Elderly Immortal: Marcellus's imperfect immortality potion turned him into this. He gets returned to his youthful appearance after drinking the perfected version.
- Immortal Genius: Marcellus has had 500 years to learn everything there is to know about alchemy, though he was already the foremost expert on it before he became immortal.
- I Was Quite a Looker: 500 years ago he was a very handsome young man.
Lucy Gringe
Simon's girlfriend, and an Action Girl in her own right.
- Babies Ever After: With Simon.
- Boots of Toughness: She always wears a pair of sturdy boots, even with a nice dress.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Her father doesn't exactly hate the Heaps, and he later becomes a Counter-Feet buddy with Silas, but both families are shocked when Lucy and Simon run away together (they don't actually get married until the seventh book).
Others
Wolf Boy
Septimus's Only Friend from his Young Army days.
- Brats with Slingshots: In Flyte, he's able to blind Simon in one eye with his slingshot.
- Embarrassing First Name: In Darke, he finds out his birth name is Mandy Marwick. He decides to stick with Wolf Boy, and use "Marwick" for official documents.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He doesn't even know his birth name until the sixth book.
- Wild Child: Lived on his own in the woods for several years until he met the "Forest Heaps" (Sam, Edd, Erik, and Jojo) and started living with them.
- You Are Number 6: Known as Boy 409 in the Young Army.
- Word of Gay: Angie Sage has confirmed that he is gay and in a relationship with Sam Heap.
Snorri Snorrelsen
A merchant from the Northern Countries. She has some Ship Tease with Nicko.
- Bond Creature: Her cat, Ullr, who travels everywhere with her. He turns into a panther at night.
- Gender-Blender Name: Her mother decided she'd name her child Snorri, no matter what gender.
- Intrepid Merchant: Her people are known for traveling long distances to trade.
- Minor Living Alone: She sailed all the way to the Castle on her own as a teenager.
- Mystical White Hair: Though she doesn't have any Magykal powers. She's just a foreigner with unusual hair.
- The Runaway: She sailed to the Castle against her mother's wishes to find her father's ghost.
Milo Banda
Jenna's biological father. He's often away on trading expeditions.
- Disappeared Dad: He didn't appear for the first 12 years or so of Jenna's life (though to be fair for most of that time he probably thought she was dead).
Animals
Stanley
A Messenger Rat.
- Recurring Traveler: Stanley the rat has a way of popping up where Septimus and Jenna least expect him.
- Resourceful Rodents: Messenger Rats will stop at nothing to deliver their messages.
- Talking Animal: Stanley the Message/Secret Service Rat. In fact, all message rats can talk, since they convey their messages via voice.
- You Are Number 6: Happens to Stanley the message rat after DomDaniel's heavies take over the rat office. The new head rat reassigns him as Rat 101 and strips away his chartered confidential status.
Spit Fyre
Septimus's dragon.
- Big Eater: As to be expected of a growing dragon. He's also somewhat of an Extreme Omnivore.
