Characters that were introduced in, and are exclusive to Phase 2 of the series.
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The Dead Men
Luke Skywalker
An American mage who joins the Dead Men on their expedition to the Leibniz Universe to assassinate Mevolent.
- Dimensional Traveller: Has the Dimensional Shunter discipline which why he was hired for the mission.
- Fan Boy: In case you haven't guessed, he loves Star Wars.
- Malicious Misnaming: At first, nobody wants to call him Luke Skywalker and Tanith calls him SpongeBob.
- Non-Action Guy: Is ashamed of the fact that his reaction to a draugar attack is to run away when everyone else is fighting.
- Prone to Vomiting: Spends a lot of the boat trip to Germany vomiting over the side.
- Red Shirt: Gets killed in one of the earlier fights on their mission, leaving the Dead Men stranded in the Leibniz Universe.
- You Wanna Get Sued?: Skulduggery states after the Malicious Misnaming that they will respect his Taken Name... and hope that they won't get sued for it.
Major Antagonists
Abrogate Raze (SPOILERS!)
Skulduggery Pleasant's father, actually the weakened form of the God of the Apocalypse known as Gog Magog.
- Amnesiac God: He turns out to be Gog Magog after losing his memory.
- Archnemesis Dad: All of his children (those who didn't end up brainwashed, anyway) absolutely despise him for murdering their mother.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The four archivists putting together the Grimoire are converted into his followers, and begin searching for his coffin. And anyone who reads the book, most likely Sanctuary Elders, will also become worshippers.
- Big Bad: Of The Skulduggery Pleasant Grimoire; his influence leads to the four archivists putting together the book to become his worshippers, he's suspected of being the villain of The Age of the Maggot short story, and his past is detailed in his titular sections of the book.
- The Corruption: Those who learn more about Gog Magog begin worshipping him.
- Elemental Powers: His son, Clarver mentions this was his original discipline.
- God in Human Form: He's a God who lost his memory and lives as a human mage.
- Meaningful Name: Abrogate means "evade responsibility or duty" and Raze means "completely destroy". Because he lost his memories of being Gog Magog, he was evading his duty as god of the apocalypse to destroy the world.
- Mistaken for Servant: Variation where due to lost memories he doesn't realize he's Gog Magog and thinks he's the god's servant.
- Reality Warper: Skulduggery once fought him and said he had a countermove for anything and it seemed his only limit was his imagination.
- The Red Mage: His son, Bayard says he probably had multiple disciplines before meeting Gog Magog as he thinks all their siblings likely inherited their magical ambidexterity from him.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Skulduggery and his siblings eventually managed to seal him in a coffin and transferred it to another dimension. Skulduggery is eventually forced to retrieve, much to his displeasure.
- Superpowerful Genetics: Bayard thinks all his children inherited magical ambidexterity from him.
Abyssinia
- Affably Evil: She's genuinely quite friendly, and has nothing personal against anyone unless they harm her son - she even tells Auger that it's genuinely Nothing Personal, and she'd really prefer he and her son didn't fight. She also respects and oddly quite likes Valkyrie, both because of her abilities and because they both genuinely care for Skulduggery, asking her to take care of him when she's dying - and both agree that Skulduggery isn't quite as clever as he thinks he is, somewhat to his annoyance.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Her death is rather tragic, given that she was only ever used as a means to an end by her father. Then she's brought back by Cadaver Cain.
- Arc Villain: The main antagonist of the fourth trilogy of books.
- Back from the Dead: She's introduced in a book called Resurrection for a reason.
- Cadaver ends up resurrecting her again in Until The End.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Finally puts her plan into motion in Bedlam, working with the Blackbrook mercenaries to start a war between sorcerers and mortals. However, she has no knowledge of the mercenaries' employer Crepuscular Vies, and as such is unprepared for when he sabotages her scheme.
- Big Bad Wannabe: In both of her main appearances in the series she winds up being betrayed by an underling (first when Cadaverous kidnaps Caisson and then when Vies and Flannery have their mercenaries attack her and the other neoterics instead of First Wave) forcing her to work with the good guys. She is ultimately killed by Vies, but not before transferring The Unnamed's essence into Caisson (which she instantly regrets).
- Came Back Strong: Was very efficiently killed by Lord Vile, but came back years later even stronger than before. You can thank the King of the Darklands for that.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Inverted. She is constantly being betrayed. Even in the backstory, when Lord Vile chooses to attack her rather than help usurp Mevolent (because he didn't want the war to end).
- The Corrupter: When Skulduggery was at his lowest, she was there to push him well and truly off the deep end.
- Death Equals Redemption: Spends her dying moments thanking Skulduggery for making her happy and telling him and Valkyrie to look after each other. Even after Cadaver resurrects her again, she has no problem having a quick chat with Omen to get caught up and holds nothing against him for Auger killing her father in her son's body.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She cares greatly for her son, Caisson, and puts her evil plans on hold just to rescue him when he's endangered. She also genuinely cares for Skulduggery, in her own, slightly odd way.
- Flight: An ability she got from her father.
- Flying Brick: She has the strength, flight durability and regeneration.
- From a Single Cell: Regenerates from a heart, but she needs the life force of three sacrifices to do it.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The anti-Sanctuary work on her orders despite being long dead, and Cadaverous Gant was already working for her when he makes his first appearance in The Dying of the Light.
- I Gave My Word: Mainly why she resurrects her father. She immediately regrets it.
- Killed Off for Real: By Crepuscular Vies, after having lost the power that brought her back previously.
- Meaningful Name: "Abyss" can refer to a dark void, but the word "Abyssinia" was also the name of an ancient empire - fitting for the name of a sorceress who wants to conquer the world.
- Not That Kind of Mage: President Flanery keeps calling her a witch when she's a Sorceress.
- The Power of Love: When Valkyrie does this to turn Cadaverous Gant temporarily good, Abyssinia says she could have done a better job of it and maybe made it permanent.
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Skulduggery's.
- Posthumous Character: Is long dead by the time of Resurrection. Until the end of the book, that is.
- Running Both Sides: She tried to instigate a war between mortals and sorcerers with herself controlling both sides.
- The Starscream: To Mevolent.
- Super-Strength: She was able to send Valkyrie flying and was described as if a mountain was swinging a freight train like a bat.
- Unexplained Recovery: Nobody did figure out how she survived getting gutted and thrown to the rocks by Lord Vile. It's finally revealed in Bedlam that, after being gravely wounded, she received the power of her father - the King of the Darklands - which kept her alive and allowed her to recuperate. It's that same power that enables her to stay alive and conscious even after being reduced to a heart in a box.
- Villain Has a Point: In the last book, she cheerfully, and somewhat wryly, points of that she's the best mother of everyone present. Given that the other two mothers present are China, who loved in her own way but isn't exactly overflowing with emotional reserves, and Solace, the latter's daughter, who holds a grudge against her but is if anything infinitely worse, and Abyssinia is for all her flaws, a very devoted mother... she's not wrong.
- Would Hurt a Child: When Cadaverous send a six year old with a hatchet after them, she kicks him unconscious when Skulduggery and Temper wouldn't and then says she loves kicking children.
Damocles Creed
The Arch-Canon of the Church of the Faceless
- Affably Evil: In a chilly, dispassionate sort of way he can be genuinely quite polite, having civil conversations with people with whom he shares a mutual loathing.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Cadaver in Dead or Alive. Also with Crepuscular and Obsidian in Until The End.
- Back from the Dead: He's later resurrected after being assassinated, though he's under some sort of mind control.
- Despair Event Horizon: After the Faceless Ones anbandon their power and flee Obsidian, he's faced with the fact that his gods are gone forever and his lifes work has been for nothing, leaving him to spiral into depression.
- No Sense of Humor: No matter the situation, Creed is always stone cold and serious. So when Omen finds him and he's cracking jokes and being sarcastic, it shows how badly he's taken the Faceless Ones' defeat.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As a sign of how much the defeat of the Faceless Ones has affected him, he develops a sense of humour. He lampshades it.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While there's a streak of frothing fanatic in him, he is eminently practical and able to assess both allies and enemies relatively dispassionately, noting what kind of Godzilla Threshold it is for Skulduggery to suffer the return of even an imprisoned Abrogate Raze to their reality.
- Sinister Minister: He's in charge of the Church of the Faceless Ones and is as every bit as menacing as one would think.
- Smug Snake: Creed is as cunning as he is cruel, and he know that it's only a matter of time before the Faceless Ones return.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Pretty much all of his appearances end with him victorious: he manages to gain increasing influence with China and the Sanctuaries in his first few appearances, he becomes Supreme Mage in Seasons of War, and activates his Child of the Faceless Ones in Dead or Alive. At the end of Until the End, it all comes undone for him, however.
- Villainous Rescue: His arrival stops Mevolent from killing Valkyrie.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He completely disappears from the story after being ousted from power. Even at the end of the book it’s left ambiguous if he is still out there or has been imprisoned for his numerous crimes.
Lethe
An enigmatic masked figure who leads the anti-Sanctuary in their goal to both resurrect Abyssinia, and bring war between sorcerers and mortals. Has held a man named Savant Vega hostage for five years in order to force his husband into the anti-Sanctuary.
- Actual Pacifist: As Savant Vega.
- Adaptive Ability: Learns how to deal with his opponents as he fights them, meaning he'll start and end fights on opposite sides of a Curb-Stomp Battle.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: His suit is filled with Smoke's corruption magic.
- Big Bad: Of Resurrection, as the de facto leader of the anti-Sanctuary.
- Big Bad Friend: He isn't holding Savant Vega hostage, he is Savant Vega.
- The Heavy: For Abyssinia and the anti-Sanctuary as a whole, taking over as the latter's leader from the incompetent Smoke.
- Malevolent Masked Man: Wears a full body Necronaut suit, complete with mask.
- Meaningful Name: "Lethe" was the name of the river from the Greek mythological Underworld, which erased the memories of any who touched its waters. This foreshadows the revelation that Lethe is Savant Vega after having his past and identity removed.
- Lethe's original taken name also counts: "savant" refers to a person of learning, which reflects his magical ability of being able to learn incredibly quickly. "Vega" is the name of a star that, in some stories, represents a long-lost lover who was separated from their beloved - much like how Savant was taken from his husband, Richard Melior.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: His suit was originally used for basically holding someone in stasis while they travelled through different dimensions.
- Would Hurt a Child: Or at least order someone else to.
Solace
One of the inmates of the Greymire Asylum, the wife of Caisson... and the daughter of China Sorrows by Skulduggery Pleasant.
- Abusive Parents: Let's see, bred twenty children to be raised and trained by a doomsday cult, had another prepared as a spare (actually a host for all the others), may or may not have known that another was turned into one of the Kith (and it's hard to imagine her caring)... yeah. She makes the Unnamed look like a good parent. Really, it's not hard to see why Crepuscular casually amended his remark about how no one was to touch his family by saying that if someone wanted to kill his mother, who was right there, they could go ahead.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: While she had a lot of aunts and uncles, and some of her family by blood and marriage was already the definition of screwed up, she emphasised this by having at least 22 children (The Twenty, Reynard/ Crepuscular Vies, and one unknown child that ended up as one of the Kith after being experimented on by Damocles Creed).
- Chosen Conception Partner: Caisson was this, on behalf of the Hosts, thanks to his heritage. However, she ended up falling in love with him.
- Elderly Immortal: Not immortal, but she's around 400 and something years old, and she looks pretty damned old.
- Evil Matriarch: Sees China as this, while her own son considers her to be this in turn. While she has legitimate reason for a grudge against China, she was a much, much worse parent in her own right.
- Evil Old Folks: She has the look and most of the personality, even if it's tinged with being a Psychopathic Womanchild, despite being younger than most of the main cast.
- Happily Married: With Caisson, despite originally being The Vamp. This is initially sympathetic, until you find out that she conceived all her children for the purposes of a magical doomsday cult/nuclear deterrent, and that by her son's account, he's the only person she loved.
- Hypocrite: She hates her mother for how she treated her, and more to the point, how she treated her ward/Solace's husband, Caisson, giving him up to protect Solace. She accuses China of being a bad mother. She is, if anything, infinitely worse. She went out of her way to conceive over 20 children with Caisson (picked for his bloodline's power, though she fell in love with him anyway) to act as Living Weapons, and treated Reynard, explicitly designated as the spare, a.k.a. Fregoli Cleft a.k.a. Crepuscular Vies so badly that when he says that anyone who harms his family dies, he then casually amends it to exempt his mother, who anyone can kill if they feel like it, remarking that the only love she had was spared for her husband. He'd probably have liked her even less if he knew his real purpose was to act as a vessel for all his siblings.
- In Love with the Mark: With Caisson, much to her surprise. They ended up Happily Married for the best part of 200 years.
- Lack of Empathy: She cares for Caisson and that is literally it. Seriously, she makes China look like a wellspring of compassion.
- Psychic Powers: She's a Sensitive strong enough to stick China in a multi-book coma, nearly force Valkyrie (who has a documented history dealing with that sort of thing and is by this point a very powerful if poorly trained Sensitive herself) to kill herself, and run long term Mind Control on someone so well that a recovered China doesn't pick up on it.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: While her inability to use magic at Greymire has left her a very old woman, physically, at a contrast to her glamorous and youthful looking mother, and she initially has shades of being a bitter old woman, as a whole she comes off as an angry child in an old woman's body, impulsive, selfish, and lashing out at her mother and the world. Caisson even calls her out for blaming everyone, even Temper Fray who wasn't even born when she was locked up, because she wants to hate forever.
- Smug Snake: She's competent and very dangerous, putting China in a coma for several books, but it's quite clear that the planning genius skipped a generation, with China pointing out more than one of her clumsier moves, and her plans are heavily reliant on the scheming of her son, Crepuscular Vies.
Obsidian
The end result of Auger Darkly's corruption from a fragment of the Obsidian Blade. He ends up as the final antagonist of Phase 2.
- Achilles' Heel: Obsidian's only weakness is the Void Meteorite. Skulduggery and Valkyrie intend to forge a weapon they can use to defeat Obsidian only to lose the meteorite. Damocles Creed had later forged a set of bullets from the Void Meteorite and manages to nearly kill Obsidian only for him to escape.
- Ambiguously Human: He's a Humanoid Abomination, but it's not always entirely clear how much of his humanity remains. It usually shows up around Omen.
- Final Boss: He serves as the final boss of Phase 2 as a whole, and is the final antagonist left in "Until The End".
- Flying Brick: When he chooses to bother, and an exceptionally powerful one, easily crushing Valkyrie.
- Humanoid Abomination: At the end of Dead Or Alive, he becomes "Obsidian" where his entire body is jet black, including his eyes and the inside of his mouth.
- Morality Pet: Even as an inhuman impossibly calm Omnicidal Maniac, what's left of Auger still loves his brother and tries to help him.
- Near-Villain Victory: He very nearly succeeds in destroying everything, having erased the universe and most of the planet by the time the final chapters roll around. It's only due to a Stable Time Loop that Darquesse is able to create a new universe.
- Non-Malicious Monster: In a very, very weird way, he's actually downright Affably Evil, and there's a sense that there's nothing personal - and certainly nothing painful - in what he's doing.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Obsidian has one goal and one goal only. Erase everything. It takes Darquesse sacrificing herself to create a new universe that Auger is finally freed from his corrupted state.
- The Dreaded: He ends up being a very powerful threat, enough so that he scares the Faceless Ones with his sheer power, forcing them to turn into a harmless spark-like form and surrender.
- Thinking Up Portals: Obsidian can create portals, allowing him to move around, and ends up preventing him from being killed by Damocles Creed during "Until The End".
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Early on, Skulduggery and Valkyrie have been investigating a series of murders related to followers of the Faceless Ones. As it turns out, Obsidian had been killing them, likely to strike fear into the Faceless Ones.
Minor Antagonists
Commander Hoc
A corrupted, racist and bullying member of the city guard.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Only with his authority as a city guard is he a threat and even then, he's outperformed a humiliating number of times. He gets absolutely no respect for anyone, with his authority constantly undermined and even Creed being unable to stand him. He gets nothing done in Until the End, as he's beaten up and outwitted, and in his last appearance, Creed lets him know he's going to be fired.
Martin Flannery
The 45th President of the United States of America. His hatred for magic users is only rivalled by his stupidity and malice.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Martin Flannery wants to believe that he's the most important man in the room, but is often a pawn to stronger characters such as Crepuscular Vies who are the only ones who can force him to heel, much to his displeasure.
- Celebrity Paradox: Despite being based off Donald Trump, he and Trump are separate people who both exist in the world. Considering that he's US President, it could be implied that Donald Trump either lost the 2016 US Election or never ran for President.
- Curbstomp Battle: During an ill-fated attempt to force Flannery to stop killing magic users, Skulduggery Pleasant ends up demolished due to Flannery taking Splashes that increase his strength immensely.
- Fantastic Racism: He utterly hates magic users, enough so that he has no problem with persecuting them despite them being willing to put their lives on the line to fight off the Shaggoths attacking the US.
- Ignored Epiphany: After taking a Splash that boosts his intelligence, Martin Flannery briefly manages to be more efficent and understanding of his subordinates, and realizes that his behavior stems from his upbringing and personal insecurities. This bothers him so much that he refuses to take another intelligence boosting Splash and ends up reverting to type.
- Muggle Power: He's noticeable for being one of the few antagonists aside from Ian Moore to be an ordinary man with no ties to the magical. During "Until the End", he uses Splashes created by Doctor Nye and Professor Nye to boost his physical strength and at one point, his intelligence.
- President Evil: To put it lightly, Martin is not a moral person. He has no problems allying with shady characters such as Doctor Nye to create an army of super-powered super soldiers, or stoking hatred between mortals and magic users due to his own paranoid fears of "sorcerers" being more powerful than him.
- Sadist: He takes joy in forcing Magenta Blithe to serve him by taking her son hostage to force her into using her powers to convince people to view him as a more popular politician.
- Trumplica: Martin Flannery is Donald Trump in all but name, though he's co-incidentally named after a UK politician. Unfortunately for him, he lives in a world where he's a far smaller fish compared to the various magic users he's forced to submit to.
The Apocalypse Kings
Representatives of three now-extinct races of gods: the Deathless, the Cythraul, and the Sathariel. They seek to destroy earth as a last act of desperate revenge against their oppressors.
- Aliens Speaking English: They read Adedayo's mind to learn about the modern world and the English language.
- Anti-Villain: They see wiping out Earth as simply Necessarily Evil, though they are amenable to being persuaded otherwise.
- Arc Villains: The titular main antagonists of the Apocalypse Kings novella.
- Last of His Kind: Each is the last member of their race.
- Omnicidal Maniac: They want to wipe out humanity so the Faceless Ones will starve. Adebayo makes them rethink this.
- Sealed Cast in a Multipack: The three were sealed in a magic box by the Faceless Ones.
Tunnrak Rakhir
The king of the Order of the Maggot.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The being behind the deaths of the other high-ranking Rakhirrian demons and Remember's maggot attacks.
Remember Me
A former worshipper of the Faceless Ones, now a follower of the Order of the Maggot.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: After joining with the cult of Tunnrak Rakhir, he gained influence on her so she could enact his will on earth.
- The Heavy: Tunnrak's "agent of destruction" while he tries to maintain his benevolent and innocent facade within his court.
The King of The Darklands
- Back from the Dead: Abyssinia resurrects him in his grandson's body.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Set up as a major villain and Auger's Arch-Enemy, only to get quickly killed by him in his first major outing after being resurrected.
- Captain Ersatz: Has shades of Voldemort from the Harry Potter franchise with a prophecy saying that he and Auger are due to fight sand that one will kill the other. Voldemort and Harry had a similar prophecy.
- Cast From Life Span: Being attacked by the Obsidian Blade meant that doing magic would kill him. Passing his powers to his daughter finished him off.
- Cessation of Existence: The Obsidian Blade destroys its target's very soul.
- Complete Immortality: Is thousands of years old and can only be hurt by the Obsidian Blade. He believes he'll live forever if he kills Auger.
- Flying Brick: He can fly and is superstrong and indestructible.
- Kryptonite Factor: The Obsidian Blade is the only thing that can hurt him.
- No Body Left Behind: Anything stabbed by the Obsidian Blade fades from existince.
- No Immortal Inertia: Mevolent's attack on him with the Obsidian Blade drastically aged him.
- No Name Given: He's only ever referred to as The King of The Darklands or The Unnamed.
- Offing the Offspring: He didn't want any male successors so he killed all his children apart from Abyssinia.
- Remember the New Guy?: He was foretold in an ancient prophecy that's well known in-universe but wasn't mentioned until the phase 2 books.
- Super-Empowering: Was able to pass his Flying Brick and Healing Factor onto Abyssinia.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: He killed his wife alongside most of his children.
- Zerg Rush: Being distracted by a barrage of fireballs from Corrival students leads to him getting killed.
Other
Sebastian Tao
A mysterious masked individual who calls himself "The Plague Doctor", who first appears in Resurrection and wishes to bring back Darquesse in order to save the world from a greater threat to come.
- Bumbling Dad: He makes Desmond Edgley look smooth, suave, and put together as a parent. However, like Desmond, he's a good father under difficult circumstances - in this case, to the most challenging child in existence.
- Butt-Monkey: For all his mystery and skill, he's still a massive dork who struggles with other people and is frequently treated as a joke. This should be an obvious connection between him and Omen.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's a bit ridiculous, but he's shown to be a fairly skilled fighter from the start, he went into a dead universe to find Darquesse (who was fighting Faceless Ones), talked her into coming back, survived having her as a very strange house guest, then further survived raising her. More to the point, he's the only person willing and able to stand up to the reincarnated Darquesse and call her out on her habit of letting things happen because she's bored.
- Future Badass: While he always had the training, Sebastian is really able to show how far Omen comes through the series.
- Good All Along: At first, it seems like believing Darquesse is the means of saving the world is little more than a delusional fanatic's dream. Turns out however, he knows exactly what he's doing because Darquesse really is needed to save everyone from Obsidian.
- Good Parents: He's a bit of a Bumbling Dad to the reincarnated Darquesse, but he's actually a pretty good parent for what has to be the most challenging child in existence.
- The Leader: Unintentionally, but the Darquesse worshippers all find him to be the natural choice for leading their cause, with the main opposition being Sebastian himself.
- Meaningful Rename: At the end of the series, Sebastian retakes the name Omen Darkly after being able to accept his parents despite their flaws.
- Plague Doctor: Dresses like one and initially refers to himself as 'the Plague Doctor', in a specialised suit that nourishes his body without the need for food or water. He can't take it off without risking being dragged back to his time, which leaves him persistently a bit glum.
- Stable Time Loop: As the world draws to an end, Omen agrees to put on the plague doctor suit in order to become Sebastian. Sebastian Tao spends his time getting Darquesse back from the Faceless Ones, then eventually ends up raising a reincarnated Darquesse, and eventually has a philosophical conversation with a strange man before eventually witnessing his parents and accepting their flaws before returning to his own time and shedding his new name to become Omen again. From Omen's perspective, this takes 2 years; for Valkyrie and Skulduggery, it only takes a few seconds for all this to happen.
- Set Wrong What Was Once Made Right: His entire motivation is to find Darquesse and convince her to save the world from his brother Obsidian.
- Spell My Name with a "The": Initially just goes by 'the Plague Doctor'.
- Vindicated by History: In-Universe example. He mostly just seems like a bit of a weirdo and a joke to most people, outside of the Darquesse society (who are a bunch of oddballs in their own right), but at the end of Until the End the priests of the Church of Darquesse are dressed as Plague Doctors and he's remembered as the man who persuaded Darquesse to save the universe.
