http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheDresdenFilesOrdinaryPeopleAndBadassNormals

WARNING! Due to the books relying heavily on mystery and surprise, the pages would be virtually unreadable with excessive spoiler tags. Therefore, all spoilers except for the most recent novel (Battle Ground) are UNMARKED. Tread carefully.

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Families

Beckitt Family

For Helen Beckitt, see her entry under Chicago Mafia.

Amanda Beckitt, aka "Persephone"

A young girl who was rendered comatose in a gang shootout. Having been declared legally dead, she is currently on life support in a private hospital with all her care paid for by Marcone.

Meaningful Name: Her nickname refers to the figure from Greek mythology who was taken away to the Underworld by Hades.
My Greatest Failure: Serves as this to Marcone, who was horrified that an innocent child was so badly hurt in a shootout that he was involved in.
Only Mostly Dead: In a coma, but still alive.

Gregory Beckitt

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gregory_stormfront.png

A man on a mission.

Amanda's father and Helen's husband. Sought revenge on Marcone after Amanda was rendered comatose; when Marcone's lawyers prevented them from suing Marcone, he and his wife took a darker path.

Broken Bird: A rare male example. The loss of his daughter is something he hasn't recovered from.
Bus Crash: Killed offscreen in a prison riot while serving his sentence.
Despair Event Horizon: After the loss of his daughter, he and his wife push themselves into seeking revenge against Marcone.
Put on a Bus: Arrested for his involvement in the Three-Eye cult.
Revenge: His only motivation for going after Marcone.
Revenge Before Reason: He joins a dark magic cult to sell a drug with horrible side effects in a mob-controlled city, virtually ensuring that both the police and the mob would come after him. Why did he do it? Because he wanted Marcone to pay for what he did to Amanda.

Linda Randall

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/linda_stormfront.png

Chauffeur, call girl... and blackmailer.

The chauffeur and live-in lover of Gregory and Helen Beckitt. Formerly a prostitute for Bianca and a friend of Jennifer Stanton.

Blackmail: Tries to do this by taking pictures of the participants of the orgies at Sells' lake house. Unfortunately for her, Sells just kills her rather than pay the blackmail.
Broken Bird: She shows shades of this when she says that she has a sex addiction that she implies that she's using to try to cope with a poor life and that she has little else in the way of skills. She explicitly mentions that Stanton had a talent for connecting with and uplifting clients, something that Linda never had.
Depraved Bisexual: Downplayed and invoked, in the sense that she was imaginative as a prostitute, while also being bisexual. She was a lover and coworker of Jennifer Stanton, and to both of the Beckitts. Later, she would betray the Beckitts to try to extort money out of the One Eye Franchise, but then they did kill a former lover of hers.
The Driver: One of her duties for the Beckitts.
Femme Fatale: Largely a front, but when she first meets Harry, she really turns on the smoulder. It was largely a front though, and she dropped it when Harry refused to be distracted by it.
Foreshadowing: The one time she was speaking to Harry, she was nervous and paranoid about being a cop. As it turns out, she was accessory to pushing what was essentially illegal drugs and several murders that her employers committed.
High-Class Call Girl: First for Bianca, and then privately for the Beckitts as part of her duties as a domestic.

Carpenter Family

For Michael Carpenter, see his entry under the Church.

For Molly Carpenter, see her entry under the Fae.

Charity Carpenter

"My children are vulnerable. I'm taking them to safety. Help me or stand aside."

Michael's loving and caring wife, mother of their seven children, devoted housekeeper, first-aid medic, armor- and weaponsmith, and sparring partner.

Abusive Parents: While loving her children dearly she has had her own flawed moments that prior to Proven Guilty drove Molly from the home, before working on them - but from what she says in Proven Guilty when she's talking to Harry about when she gained her magic, her own parents were pretty dickish to her even before she gained her magic.
Charity: I had some talent. It showed just before my sixteenth birthday. You know how awkward that kind of thing can be.
Harry: Yeah. How'd your family take it?
Charity: (gives a rueful smile) My parents were wealthy. "Respectable." When they had time to notice me, they expected me to be normal. "Respectable." They found it easier to believe that I was a drug addict, emotionally unbalanced. (Harry winces in sympathy as she continues) They sent me away to schools, and to hospitals disguised as schools. I eventually left them. Just... left them. I struck out on my own.
Action Mom: Not only was she her husband's training partner for much of their marriage, she charges head on into the capital of Winter Fae to save her eldest daughter.
Almighty Mom: Mess with her kids and doom will befall you, even if you're a powerful fear-eating faerie.
Amazonian Beauty: She keeps them covered, but when she's wearing workout clothes its obvious she has a Heroic Build to match her husband.
Badass Normal: Unlike her husband, Charity has no supernatural powers anymore or ancient artifacts. That doesn't stop her from being Michael's primary sparring partner and hitching up alongside Harry, Murphy, and Thomas to charge headlong into Queen Mab's stronghold to rescue her kidnapped daughter. And she pulls her own weight the whole way.
Character Focus: Charity gets her Day in the Limelight in Proven Guilty, where her Dark and Troubled Past is revealed and she struggles to reconcile her views on magic with Molly's burgeoning talent.
Comes Great Responsibility: Averted. Rather than continue using her magical abilities after she was rescued by Michael, she let them atrophy until they vanished completely. Molly, not knowing her mother was a former practitioner, cites the parable of talents as her reason for continuing to use magic and makes Charity realize her own mistake years ago.
Control Freak: Her relationship with Molly during Proven Guilty was basically them arguing over Molly's life choices until they rescued her from Arctis Tor. She realizes this afterwards, and that it was only driving Molly away, and stops it.
Deadpan Snarker: Can be rather dry-witted around Harry and his associates.
Death Glare: In "Cold Cases," Molly notes that her mother can give absolutely withering glares to anyone who has earned her ire.
Everyone Has Standards: She's never going to be a big fan of Harry, but is still genuinely horrified when Harry offhandedly mentions to her in Small Favor that his own mentor Justin DuMorne taught him how to make shields by throwing baseballs at him.
Forced to Watch: She gets pinned down with one hand by her daughter's kidnapper, while he chokes out Molly with the other hand via Super-Strength. A helpless Charity is near tears being forced to look, but fortunately, Harry had a plan.
Former Teen Rebel: Got close to violating the Laws of Magic when she was young and then nearly sacrificed to a dragon, before Michael showed up and saved her.
Freudian Excuse: Her own bad history with Black Magic is one of the primary reasons why she's so dismissive towards Harry and so reluctant to have Molly do anything with her talent once she starts to come into her magic. Part of her animosity towards Harry is also rooted in both how he helped inspire Molly to continue furthering her own magic and that he was a walking symbol for how she ignored using the benefits of her talent to help innocent people the world over.
Good Is Not Nice: Her earlier actions towards Harry were always curt and colored by her intense dislike of him. Even when she helps him with his injuries, she can be just a bit sadistic.
Harry: [narration] I hear they make antiseptics that don't sting anymore. But Charity used iodine.
Good Is Not Soft: She might be a civil housewife, but she can snipe right back at Harry and singlehandedly broke down the door to Mab's prison-garden at Arctis Tor.
Happily Married: To Michael.
Hidden Depths: A recovering warlock and Badass Normal par excellance.
I Hate Past Me: Does not look fondly back on her days as a warlock. Also, this trope is implied to be part of the reason for why she butted heads with Harry so much prior to her Jerkass Realization in Proven Guilty - He's a walking and talking example of someone who didn't give up their talent like she did, and so his mere existence is constantly (albeit unintentionally) rubbing Charity's face in how she wasted her magic when he's helping make the world a better place through his own magic.
Ironic Name: Not that charitable, at least to Harry.
Item Crafting: Her strong suit. While she can't fight in the league of her husband, she does make his armor. It's unique in its ability to stop both gunshots and swords.
Jerkass Has a Point: As Harry himself later admits, she might not be that charitable towards Harry... but whenever Harry's around Michael, he's usually dragging Michael off into problems that he caused himself and is putting her husband in the line of fire. She's also right to be scared of Molly wanting to pursue her magical talents, as she herself is a former warlock and knows just how dangerous that life can be.
Jerkass Realization: Has one regarding both herself and Harry in Proven Guilty, realizing that not only was she driving Molly away due to her own Control Freak nature, but that she had thought far lesser of Harry than he deserved and he was a more genuinely noble person than she thought.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nasty as hell to Harry for getting her husband involved in anything regardless of how noble the cause, Harry's efforts to help Michael, Michael's own willingness or anything really but cares for her family. She drops the Jerk part after Proven Guilty, now seeing Harry as family and calls him as such in Small Favor when they are waiting to see if Michael is going to survive the wounds he received fighting next to Harry.
Lady of War: Harry notes that she looks very feminine and maternal even when charging into the heart of Winter to save her eldest daughter.
Laser-Guided Karma: After years of serving the Lord with no monetary reward for their work, they get one-fifth of the diamonds stolen from Hades' vault, between one to two million dollars. Charity insists to Michael (who is still hesitant to take the money) that it's a divine gift. After all, they have children to put through college, and grandchildren will be coming soon.
Locked Out of the Loop: Inverted - she has the secret and doesn't share with anyone, not even Michael. Harry, being a detective, figures it out on his own.
Mama Bear: She doesn't care what sort of supernatural nasty you are, she'll punch you out if you threaten her children.
Meaningful Name: The Swords of the Cross are named after the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13), of which Michael wields Amoracchius, the Sword of Love. Some translations of the Bible (particularly the King James Version) name Love as Charity.
Not So Above It All: Participates in the snowball fight training Molly in making magical shields at the beginning of Small Favor by dumping a huge load of snow down the back of Harry's jacket.
Parental Hypocrisy: With the dash of Secret Legacy, her dislike for all things magical and knowing Molly was using it made her try to keep Molly from turning to a bad path. Michael notices however, that her controlling nature just made Molly want to stay away more and more.
Parental Substitute: While Michael and Charity love Maggie as if she was their own, they are well aware that they aren't her parents. They both encourage Harry to take over the role, both for Maggie's sake and his own.
Parents as People: She deeply loves her children and tries to be the best mother for them that she possibly can, but her own pride and traumas can sometimes blind her to the truth.
Rescue Romance: She met Michael when he saved her from a fire-breathing dragon.
Riches to Rags: Charity apparently came from a wealthy and affluent family, but she ran away from home and became a homeless vagrant and burgeoning warlock until Michael saved her.
Secret Legacy: Atrophied magical talent, which is passed on to her daughter Molly. By the time her other children are born, the magic is completely gone.
Statuesque Stunner: She normally dresses in loose conservative clothing, but Harry sees her in her underwear once in "The Warrior" and comments that she "won the genetic lottery."
Supreme Chef: Harry describes her at one point as "the MacGuyver of the kitchen."
Took a Level in Kindness: Due to her dislike for all things magical and how Harry could often come back with Michael injured, Charity was almost always a Jerkass towards Harry until Proven Guilty in stark contrast to Michael. After he helped her save Molly and she came to the realization about her projecting said dislike towards him, she becomes far nicer towards him.

Daniel Carpenter

The second oldest of Michael and Charity's children, and a member of the Chicago Alliance at the time of Ghost Story. Daniel served in the U.S. infantry in Afghanistan, and is married and expecting the first Carpenter grandchild as of Peace Talks/Battle Ground.

Badass Normal: Has no powers, but he has been very well trained. "Bombshells" reveals he's just come from a tour in the army.
Big Brother Instinct: He shows this, despite being Molly's younger brother. He's of course also protective on his numerous younger siblings.
The Big Guy: He is a trained fighter on the large size.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Has this dynamic with Molly. Especially when she left the family home following an argument with Charity in Proven Guilty. Molly being the more foolish one, while Daniel is the responsible one.
Hot-Blooded: Is a bit eager to deal with the Fomor and other issues, with a tendency to not think first. He also tends to be a bit of a jerk to his allies, with Father Forthill having to try and restrain him.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Daniel cares about the well being of people, and hates seeing innocents get hurt. But he's abrasive. Much like his mother, he cares for his older sister, but also struggles to understand her and tends to be confrontational. Similarly, Daniel's attitude rubs Will Borden the wrong way and the two often are at each other's throat.
Idiot Ball: He mentioned Murphy was now the custodian of two of the Swords in front of a White Court Vampire. Not his brightest move.

Matthew Carpenter

Michael and Charity's third child.

Big Brother Instinct: Even though he's technically Molly's little brother, he's very concerned about her when she enters her delinquent phase.

Alicia Carpenter

Michael and Charity's fourth child. Her father coaches her softball team.

Damsel in Distress: Abducted by the crazed Father Roarke during the short story "The Warrior". Harry has to save her from the threat of explosives turning her into mulch, and does so with his usual difficulty.
Embarrassing Nickname: Called "Leech" by Molly, due to her black hair.

Hope Carpenter

Michael and Charity's fifth child.

Affectionate Nickname: Called "Hobbit" by her family.
The Squire: Styles herself this in Small Favor for Harry, calmly providing him with snowball ammunition so he can test Molly's shielding abilities.

Amanda Carpenter

Michael and Charity's sixth child.

Adorably Precocious Child: invoked Decrees that Harry Dresden is now to be known as "Bill" because they already have a Harry (her younger brother) at the Carpenter house.
Affectionate Nickname: Called "Princess" by her family.
Cool Big Sis: To Maggie, who she intermittently babysits.
Huge Schoolgirl: By the time Skin Game rolls around, Amanda is 16 and taller than her big sister Molly, who, in turn, nudges six feet in bare feet. Oh, and Amanda goes to a Catholic school, with all that entails in terms of uniforms.
She Is All Grown Up: Harry first meets her when she's a child. By Skin Game, he notes that she's probably causing "neck injuries" from boys craning their heads to look at her.

Harry Carpenter

Michael and Charity's youngest child. Goes by "Hank" on occasion.

Big Brother Mentor: Maggie Dresden sees him as one, with him being the one who taught her about Creeps.
Distressed Dude: In Grave Peril, Harry had his energy drained by Kravos. And in Death Masks, Nicodemus threw a Blackened Denarius at him, though Harry Dresden managed to intercept it.
Meaningful Name: Named after Harry Dresden, who saved his life.

Dresden Family

For Harry Dresden himself and his daughter Maggie Dresden, see their entries under Harry and Harry's Household.

For Harry's mother Margaret LeFay Dresden, see her entry under The White Council.

Malcolm Dresden

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malcolm_ghoulgoblin.png

Rest in peace.

Harry's deceased father. Formerly a stage magician, he died when Harry was around six years old. Officially, he died because of a brain aneurysm; some have hinted otherwise. His ghost made a brief, cryptic appearance in Dead Beat.

Dead Person Conversation: In Dead Beat.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: All of Harry's remaining memories of them show him to be a loving and compassionate man who sincerely cared for his son.
Go Out with a Smile: Harry mentions at one point that when he woke up to find out that his father had died in his sleep, Malcolm was lying in his bed with a contented smile on his face.
May–December Romance: Word of God reveals Margaret was around a century old when she met him.
Morality Chain: It's hinted he became this for Margaret.
Nice Guy: He's always described as a genuinely kind and compassionate man.
Posthumous Character: He died long before the series started.
Pungeon Master: Where Harry gets it from.
The Power of Love: His genuine love for Margaret helped her become a better woman.
So Proud of You: To Harry.
Stage Magician: His profession.

Vagueness Is Coming:
- "Beware the Jabberwock, my son." However, this may just be part of the lead-up to a pun. "No, I don't have a vorpal sword to lend you. You'll have to make do with a Snickers snack."
- His remarks about how "Death" and "Terrible waters" lie in Harry's future play this straight, when events in Changes (Harry shot dead by Kincaid) and "Aftermath" (rise of the aquatic Fomor) are taken into account.
  - Those two can even be taken together, given that the Fomor made themselves known after the destruction of the Red Court, which Harry was responsible, for, and which he took on the mantle of Winter Knight to be able to destroy, which is why he had himself assassinated to begin with.

Murphy Family

For Karrin Murphy, Collin Murphy, and Rick Boughton, see their entries under Chicago Police and FBI.

Lisa Boughton

Lisa Murphy Boughton

Murphy's free-spirited younger sister. She married Murphy's second ex-husband, FBI Agent Rick Boughton, after he arrested her for underage drinking and public drunkenness during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Annoying Younger Sibling: An attitude she maintained into adulthood.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: With murphy. Lisa is the foolish one.
Girly Girl: In contrast to her Tomboy sister Murphy.
Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Got so drunk in New Orleans that she was arrested. Of course, she wound up marrying her arresting officer, so it wasn't all bad.
Parental Favoritism: She benefits from it.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Harry astutely notes that by marrying her, Rick was essentially getting a less-successful, less-strong-willed version of Karrin.
Youngest Child Wins: Lisa gets little grief from her mother about her lifestyle choices and is happily married, whereas Murphy had to sneak out to go to prom and is twice-divorced.

Marion Murphy

Matriarch of the Murphy clan.

Parental Favoritism: She goes easier on Lisa, her youngest, then she did with her older children.
Secret-Keeper: She never told her daughter Karrin that her husband Collin was part of the Black Cats, the department that handled supernatural crimes before Special Investigations was created.
Secret Secret-Keeper: Marion knows that Karrin wants to have at least one secret from her, and so doesn't let on that she knows Karrin's department, Special Investigations, handles supernatural cases.
Supreme Chef: Dresden marvels at how good her burgers are.

Gregory Taggart

Murphy's first husband.

Dysfunctional Family: By the end, Gregory and Murphy couldn't even talk without the conversation degenerating into a fight.
The Ghost: Never seen onscreen.
High-School Sweethearts: With Murphy. It didn't last.
Posthumous Character: We first learn of him when Murphy shows Dresden his obituary in Summer Knight.

Sells Family

For Victor Sells, see his entry under Other Powerful Entities.

Monica Sells

Monica Stanton Sells

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monica_7.png

She will protect her children.

The wife of Victor Sells, and one of his first victims when he began dabbling in black magic. She hired Dresden to 'find' her husband in the beginning of the Storm Front case; she actually wanted Dresden to protect her and her children, if possible, from Victor's increasingly monstrous acts.

Abusive Parents: Was abused by her parents in St. Louis.
Domestic Abuse: Victor abused her, forcing her to take Three Eye and to participate in his orgies.
Girly Girl: In some respects. For example, she collects cartoon colored cows.
Mama Bear: Didn't resist Victor when he was only hurting her, but when he started to consider going after their children, she began working to stop him.
Put on a Bus: She and her kids entered a witness protection program after the Storm Front case concluded.
Spanner in the Works: Completely derailed Victor's plans just by getting Dresden involved.

Jennifer Stanton

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She tried to save her sister. It cost her everything.

Monica's younger, wilder sister.

Abusive Parents: To the point where she fled them as a child.
Big Brother Instinct: Inverted, by threatening Victor to leave Monica and the kids alone. Unfortunately, Sells just killed Jennifer before she could do anything.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Lived a wilder life than her sister Monica. From context, it wasn't "too" wild, since she was a prostitute and refused to get involved with anything even more illegal or that would earn her enemies, which turned out to be a plot point.
High-Class Call Girl: A former employee of Bianca's Velvet Room.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Despite her contrast with her sister, her old associate and lover Linda Randall admired Jennifer's talent for emotionally connecting with and uplifting her clients.
Out with a Bang: Killed while having sex with Tommy Tomm.
Posthumous Character: Already dead at the start of Storm Front.

Jenny Sells

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"Are you going to kill my daddy?"

The daughter of Monica and Victor Sells.

Adorably Precocious Child: She asks Dresden if he'll kill her monstrous father.
Promotion to Parent: As her father continues his downward descent, Jenny tries to defend the family, including threatening to call the police on Dresden and confronting Dresden over what he plans to do to Victor.
Put on a Bus: Goes with her mother and brother into a witness protection program at the end of Storm Front.
Wise Beyond Their Years: She's witnessed a lot of abuse, and Dresden remarks that her eyes are 'too knowing' for her age.

Billy Sells

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/billy_5.png

A child in need of protection.

The son of Monica and Victor Sells.

Put on a Bus: Goes with his mother and sister into a witness protection program at the end of Storm Front.

Martineaux Family

Mary Martineaux

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Mother of Max, and one of the survivors of the Dog Man's massacre in Taylor.

Max Martineaux

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Mary's daughter.

Broken Bird: Very much so. She basically what Maggie would have been without the mental fortitude.
Gender-Blender Name: A girl called Max.
Harmful to Minors: Forced to Watch her father being killed and eaten.

Talbot Family

Major Archibald Talbot

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Archibald, about to make the worst mistake of his life.

A major in the British Army who was stationed in Cairo during World War I. He harassed some cloaked men at a crowded cafe in an effort to drive them away and take their table, only to vanish shortly thereafter — until he reappeared, mummified, several years later.

Asshole Victim: He was somehow killed by the cloaked man, but given his racism and bigotry, it's hard to feel too sorry for him.
Disproportionate Retribution: Ended up mummied up and left in a tomb to die, but that's not the disproportionate part—the cloaked men also cursed his descendants.
Hereditary Curse: Hit with one which killed him and went on to kill his descendants as well for close to a century.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Used a racial slur to describe the cloaked men.
Sins of the Father: His jerkassery led to a bloodline curse on his descendants.
Sociopathic Soldier: A mild example; he doesn't kill or assault anyone, but he does harass the Egyptian locals and even overturn their drinks in an effort to drive them away.

Mildred Talbot Denning

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She thought her child was replaced by an imposter. The authorities disagreed.

A daughter of Archibald Talbot, Mildred was eventually committed to a sanitarium after the curse struck her.

Bedlam House: Where she wound up.
Changeling Tale: What she thinks happened to her son.
Offing the Offspring: She tried, after she came to believe her son had been replaced by a monster. Given the curse, she may even have been right about said replacement.

Carl Talbot

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When the curse hit Carl, it hit him hard.

The eldest of the seven Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Agent Scully: A flashback where his brother Joseph tries to persuade the family about the existence of the curse shows Carl turning his back on Joseph with his arms folded stubbornly.
Cruel and Unusual Death: His body was badly gouged and essentially ripped apart by hand.
Gutted Like a Fish: As shown above
Posthumous Character: His death occurred before the Ghoul Goblin case began.
Promotion to Parent: He helped to raise his five youngest siblings.

Sarah Patterson-Talbot

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Another victim of the Talbot curse.

The second-eldest of the seven Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Posthumous Character: She died before the Ghoul Goblin case actually began.
Promotion to Parent: Along with Carl, she helped to raise her five younger siblings.

Joseph Talbot

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He'll defend his family to the death.

The third-eldest of the seven Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Big Brother Instinct: While Joseph certainly wants to survive himself but he cares deeply about the safety of his brothers and sisters as well, putting his efforts into trying to save them too.
Cassandra Truth: He figured out there was a supernatural element to his parent's deaths and that there was a curse. But they refused to believe him, not helped by his standoffish personality, resulting in them pulling away from him.
Crazy-Prepared: Built a house full of weapons and protective amulets as well as a panic room, just to try to ensure his family could survive the curse.
Fantasy Kitchen Sink: His house is like this, in that he has protective amulets and symbols from countless faiths and magic traditions.
Imperfect Ritual: His mansion is full of supernatural defenses based on anything he could find out about. However, he didn't know what was real and what was junk, and either way he didn't know how to give them real power. Fortunately, Harry is able to fill the gaps to protect his remaining siblings.
I Own This Town: His import-export business kept most of the town employed despite high unemployment elsewhere. This resulted in him being favored by some locals, such as Sheriff Dagget, and opposed by Mayor Cedar, who was leery that his status as a prominent businessman could help him oust her from power.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He genuinely loves his siblings and wants to keep them safe, but is also sharp tempered and cautious. Pres describes him as "Not quite Howard Huges-weird, but not all that far off".
New Age: His business primarily focuses on this kind of material, including things like 'magic' crystals and magnetic bands.
Sacrificial Lion: Unlike the rest of his family, he's made substantial effort to prepare for the curse, including warding his house with every conceivable protective spell and also toting a double-barreled rifle. He's also got substantial influence and support in Boone Mill. However, he's taken out in very short order once Griswald and Ambre actually show up, showing how powerful they (as well as the curse) are.

Alex Talbot

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Not the brightest bulb in the bunch.

The fourth-eldest of the seven Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Car Fu: This is what kills him.
Coattail-Riding Relative: Tremaine says that Alex likes to pretend to be a tough guy but isn't bright enough to pull off anything successful or important on his own.
The Schlub Pub Seduction Deduction: A dim-witted, lazy, wannabe-thug who finds himself being flirted with by the beautiful Ambre? Yeah, it turns out to be a trap, and Ambre reveals her ghoulish nature shortly after Dresden and Tremaine show up.

Maddie Talbot

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Eager for anyone that could help her keep her little siblings alive.

The third-youngest of the seven Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Broken Bird: Joseph's death hits her hard, as she was always very close to him and even let herself hope he could find some way to beat the curse.
Cool Big Sis: She fits several aspects of this, including looking out for her younger siblings and being feisty enough to fight for her and her siblings' lives.
Heroic Sacrifice: Rushes out to help Dresden and Tremaine battle Griswald and Ambre, despite the danger. Indeed, she ends up dying, though not before helping Dresden to fend the monsters off and ending the curse.
Promotion to Parent: She winds up largely raising her two younger siblings.
Suicide Mission: She attacks two powerful magical beings, a ghoul and a goblin, despite being completely and utterly outmatched.

J.J. Talbot

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A scared and helpless little kid.

The second-youngest child of the Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Improbable Infant Survival: Applies to him; he's one of the two Talbots to survive the story.

Ella Talbot

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Her life is in Dresden's hands.

The youngest child of the Talbot siblings living in Boone Mill.

Improbable Infant Survival: Applies to her; she's one of the two Talbots to survive the story.

Yardly Family

Megan Yardly

Cassandra Truth: Her ability to see the future is not beleived by most.
Mama Bear: Takes on a supercharged spirit haunting her children in a battle of wills, and wins.

Chicago Forensic Institute

For Butters, see his entry under The Church. For Phil, see his entry under Other Powerful Entities.

Dr. Brioche

Butters' boss at the Forensic Institute.

Bad Boss: He deliberately sabotages Butters to make it look like he's doing a bad job so he can fire him. This extends to putting tasks on Butters' docket without sending him notifications that his docket has changed, hoping Butters won't notice and thus won't get them done on time.
Cool Car: Is very proud of his Jaguar, which he boasts about at work.
The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: He rules the deaths of the Ordo Lebes members (and Jessica Blanche) as suicides despite the fact that various details of their cases are not indicative of suicide. For example, one victim slashed both her wrists, but the cuts were very neat and clean—indicating that another person was present, since if one person tried to do that they wouldn't be able to slash their second wrist precisely (as they would be holding the blade in a hand which had already had its wrist slashed and thus would be virtually incapable of precise motion.)
Glory Hound: Butters mentions that he tries to do autopsies that will result in him getting press, such as especially brutal murders.
The Ghost: Has not yet been seen in person.

Casey O'Roarke

A security guard at the Chicago Forensic Institute.

Reasonable Authority Figure: Accepts Butters' request not to tell Brioche that he and Dresden are around; he knows Butters can be trusted. He also lets Dresden back into the staff area without hassling him, just on his and Butters' say-so.

Court System

Judge Mavis Jefferson

The judge presiding over the murder trial of Hamilton Luther.

Reasonable Authority Figure: She judges the trial fairly, and when she reveals she knows that Dresden found Maria and thus doomed the prosecution's case, she doesn't go after Dresden for interfering with the trial.
The Reveal: A muttered line Harry happened to Listen in on reveals that she knows "Supernaturals" were involved with the trial. It comes with the implication that some of them involved themselves with the local legal and political system.^note

Counselor Tremont

The lead lawyer prosecuting Hamilton Luther.

Naïve Newcomer: Dresden picks him out as a new lawyer and wonders why he would have been given a flashy, high-profile murder case like this, eventually concluding that the case is weak and he was chosen because his superiors didn't want to get involved themselves.

Maximillian Valerious

Maximillian "Max" Valerious

A retired law professor who takes the occasional case. His name was dropped as the only person to have beaten Talvi Inverno.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a quirky man who raises chickens and has a license plate reading 'LAWYUR.' He's also possibly the only person to beat 'Talvi Inverno' in court.
Expy: Being a humble, but ferociously competent and remarkably scrupulous country lawyer, he bears more than a passing resemblance to Atticus Finch.
Naïve Newcomer: Averted. He recognizes Harry as a Wizard, which could have been chalked up to Harry's local celebrity status as that gimmick P.I. But Max goes on, revealing the unusual circumstance that he doesn't know a lot of the supernatural side, but he's certainly aware of it.

Criminals

The Churchmice

In General

A group of highly-skilled thieves who specialize in robbing churches. Dresden is drawn into contact with them after they steal the Shroud of Turin.

Impossible Thief: They're incredibly talented, and managed to steal the Shroud of Turin itself from the Church. Granted, it turned out to be a copy, but it was still very well protected.

Anna Valmont

A professional thief who was a member of a crew that called themselves the Churchmice, Valmont first met Harry when she was hired to steal the Shroud of Turin in Death Masks. She reappears in Skin Game as part of Nicodemus's caper.

Boring, but Practical: In Hades' Vault, she goes right for the fountain of diamonds, filling her sack from the spout. She chose them over the gold and other treasures because they had the highest value for their weight and would be easy to move once they got back home. Anna's practicality ends up ensuring that the heroes involved in the caper come away with a monetary profit.
The Bus Came Back: Returns after a 10 year absence.
Impossible Thief: She has a reasonable claim to the title of the best thief in the "Dresdenverse" at the moment.
Revenge: Her main reason for joining Nicodemus' group in Skin Game is for a chance to avenge her friends that died in Death Masks.
Safecracking: We see her do this on one of Marcone's models in Skin Game. Compounding the challenge is that the plans she was given were wrong and she had to figure out how to break into the vault on the fly. The explosives in the wall don't help.

Gaston LaRouche

The leader of the Churchmice. Tortured by the Denarians for the location of the Shroud, and ultimately killed by them.

Facial Horror: After Deirdre is done with him.
Posthumous Character: Dead before Death Masks begins.

Francisca Garcia

Another member of the Churchmice.

Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Courtesy of Deirdre again.
Heroic Sacrifice: Dies distracting Deirdre from attacking Anna.

Vargassi Crime Family

Tony Vargassi

Former boss of the Vargassi crime family.

Create Your Own Villain: His method of covering up his son's action was to blame the Jamaicans. Then the Jamaicans came after him in revenge in a bloody mob war. Ultimately, Marcone overpowered both gangs and took over.
The Don: Of the Chicago mafia, before Marcone took over.
Never Found the Body: Mysteriously vanished during the turf war with the Jamaican gangs that he initiated.
Only Mostly Dead: He ensured that this happened to Amanda Beckitt, keeping her alive on life support after she was shot and rendered comatose during Marco's hit on Marcone. This way, if Marco ever was accused of her murder, he could produce her still-living form and have the charges reduced.
Treachery Cover Up: After his son Marco puts a hit on Marcone (who was a Vargassi capo at the time), Tony tried to bury all evidence of the incident. He paid off everyone who might know about it, publicly blamed the Jamaican gangs, and stashed Amanda Beckitt in a private medical facility after having her declared legally dead so nobody would look for her.

Marco Vargassi

Tony's son, and another prominent member of the Vargassi crime family.

Conspicuously Public Assassination: He tried to gun down Marcone in a public park during broad daylight when other civilians were out and about.
Create Your Own Villain: His failed hit on Marcone directly led to Marcone having the opportunity to rise up and overthrow the Vargassis.
Murder Is the Best Solution: Marco's solution to Marcone being a talented capo? Gun him down in the park.
Never Found the Body: Like his father, he vanished mysteriously during Marcone's takeover of the Chicago crime scene.

Independent Criminals

Steven "Stevie D" Douglas

A hired thug operating in the Chicago area. Baron Marcone and Duchess Ortega have both hired him for jobs.

Genre Savvy: He knows that Dresden's a tough opponent, so he tries to kill him as soon as he has a chance, before Dresden has time to cast any countermeasures. He even tried to kill Butters — whom he hadn't been paid to shoot — just because Butters was between him and Dresden and he didn't want to give Dresden the few seconds it would take to move Butters out of the way.
Professional Killer: His job.

Bart

A thug hired by Torelli as part of his attempt to supplant Marcone. Bart tried to run Dresden off the road after Dresden began investigating Marcone's disappearance.

Amusing Injuries: His butt wound.
Butt-Monkey: Shot in the butt by another of Torelli's goons.

Morelli

A rival of Marcone's based out of Boston.

The Ghost: He's mentioned in "Even Hand", but does not actually make an appearance.

Ray

An abusive superintendent who was supporting drug dealers that were unaffiliated with Marcone's outfit. Appears in the short story "Aftermath".

Dead Man Walking: He survives the story, but it's heavily implied Maria will kill him as soon as she's done investigating the drug dealers he's supporting.
Domestic Abuse: Implied that he's doing this to Maria, his live-in girlfriend and elite troubleshooter for Marcone.

Herbert Orson Caine

A rapist, brute, extortionist, and dabbler in dark magic. Appears in the short stories "Heorot" and "Last Call".

Blackmail: Another of Caine's many crimes.
Butt-Monkey: He suffers for all the bad things he's done. He suffers a lot.
Combat Pragmatist: He doesn't believe in fighting fair. He attacks Dresden from behind with a weapon, and has backup. He still loses. Badly.
The Dragon: In his second appearance, he serves as this for Meditrina Bassarid.
Evil Is Petty: After Elizabeth Braddock embarrasses him, he harasses the Braddocks for years.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Makes anti-gay slurs as he beats on Dresden, and repeatedly calls Murphy a bitch.
Rape as Drama: Caine is a rapist, and it's played seriously. The other characters think he's scum and treat him accordingly.
Revenge: One reason Dresden speculates Caine may have been eager to help Bassarid hurt Mac — Caine was still jealous Mac's homebrew beat out his to win the beer competition in "Heorot".

"Darth Wannabe"

The leader of a group of teenage delinquents who fancy themselves dark wizards. They have virtually no magical power, but they still make a nuisance of themselves and even vandalize Harry's house. He and his group appear in the story "Day Off".

Bullying a Dragon: They try to attack Harry with their near-zero magical talent. We don't need to say any more.
Evil Is Petty: Wannabe and his group harass Harry basically for standing up to him. Presumably, they "cursed" the old lady they mentioned attacking for similar reasons.
In-Series Nickname: We never learn his real name. Dresden just calls him "Darth Wannabe" and "the Dim Lord".
Magic Duel: He tries to get one with Harry. Harry just draws a gun on him and forces him to flee.
Obviously Evil: Their van has inverted crosses, flaming skulls, and goat's-head pentacles. Additionally, they wear black robes, Dark Marks, and Slytherin scarves.
Trick Bomb: Rigs a smoke bomb to look like a pipe bomb, then throws it through Harry's window.
Who Dares?: Is stunned that Harry "dares" to stand up to him.

Dresden's Boardinghouse

Mrs. Spunkelcrief

The elderly landlady of Harry's boardinghouse apartment.

Contrived Coincidence: After her failure to save her tenants on the second floor, she prays to God for help. And Sanya arrives. He assures her it was just a coincidence.
Cool Old Lady:
- While misguided, her pulling a gun on Dresden when he broke into her apartment was still awesome.
- Despite her bad hip, she tries climbing a ladder to save her tenants on the second floor.
I Can't Hear You: Has trouble hearing, which causes some issues when Dresden tries to get her to leave the boardinghouse after vampires set it on fire and she initially doesn't understand him.
Miniature Senior Citizens: Noted to be short and old.
Never Mess with Granny: When Dresden breaks into her apartment (because the building is on fire and he wants to help her escape), she pulls a gun on him and holds him at gunpoint while she calls the police to report him as a burglar. Once she figures out what's going on, she tries to rescue the upstairs tenants herself despite her limp and hearing difficulties.
Single-Issue Landlord: While she gets on well with Dresden, she does get on his case about repairing damage to the apartment, such as when the FBI breaks his door down.

Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby

An elderly couple living in the upper level of Dresden's boardinghouse.

Damsel in Distress & Distressed Dude: Trapped in a burning building in Changes.
Small Role, Big Impact: Barely shown at all, but their being stuck in a burning building results in Dresden trying to rescue them, breaking his back in the process, and ultimately becoming the Winter Knight.

Genosa's Studio

For Lara Romany, see the entry for Lara Raith under The Vampire Courts.

For Inari Raith, see her entry under The Vampire Courts.

For Madge Shelly and Trixie Vixen, see their entries under Other Powerful Entities.

Arturo Genosa

Executive producer and director of his own studio. He split from the White Court-controlled Silverlight Studios and took several actors and staff with him to form his company, and is desperately trying to finish some profitable movies in order to get enough leverage to stop Silverlight from blacklisting and crushing him and his employees in revenge.

Agent Mulder: He has no problem believing that his production is cursed after the first couple of bizarre deaths.
Bittersweet Ending: His studio goes bankrupt, but he survives as does most of his cast and crew, and he's so happy to be with Joan that he doesn't care about his studio's failure.
Doing It for the Art: Even Dresden is able to pick up on the fact that he cares about his work and is willing to take financial risks that hurt the bottom line rather than compromise his vision.
Earn Your Happy Ending: After a lot of struggle, he survives his ex-wives and winds up happily married to his true love, Joan Dallas.
Fake Boobs: He doesn't use these in his films, even though they're common in other studios.
Happily Married: He ends up married to Joan Dallas.
Just the Way You Are: How he prefers his performers. Since the White Court uses psychological conditioning via Hollywood Beauty Standards, Lord Raith was displeased.
Kavorka Man: Downplayed, but he is an ordinary looking man who was thrice married to literal supermodels. Deconstructed, as they turned to be nasty despite him truly loving them and he ended up divorcing them and marrying an ordinary looking but loving womann
Locked Out of the Loop: Harry and Joan don't tell him Trixie and the other exes were the ones involved in ruining him, as it would break his heart.
Serial Romeo: His big problem. He falls in love with women, divorces them, and falls in love with the next. By the time we meet him he has a literal coven of ex-wives out to ruin him.
Sex Is Good: He believes everyone should be able to enjoy themselves romantically, and he rejects the idea that love should be restricted to beautiful thin white twenty-somethings. This is part of why the White Court are backing the women targeting him: his new standards and style of porn are directly opposing both their strategy for the present and their ambitions for the future.
True Love: He is able to resist Lara Raith's lust magic because he is truly in love with Joan Dallas. At the end, Genosa and Dallas wed.

Sheila Barks

Genosa's personal assistant.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Run over by a car... while waterskiing. (The car went off a bridge over the reservoir.)
Posthumous Character: Killed shortly before the Blood Rites case begins.

Bobby

An actor working for Genosa.

Butter Face: Though he's handsome overall, it's noted that his face is slightly unattractive - though Harry admits that his hostile expression doesn't help.
Heroic Build: Which comes in handy for his career as a porn actor.
Jerkass: He acts this way to Dresden at first, because he thinks Dresden has been brought in to replace him during sex scenes in case he, Bobby, suffers from Erectile Dysfunction while on set.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In addition, Dresden puts two-and-two together and realizes he was also supremely nervous at the thought of "performing" in front of Inari, something he can sympathize with even more.
Put on a Bus: Leaves with Jake and Inari at the end of Blood Rites to open a feng shui business in California.
Stage Name: "Gowan Commando", at Jake's suggestion.
Taking the Bullet: For Inari Raith, though unlike many examples of this trope, he survives.
True Love: Falls in love with Inari Raith.

Joan Dallas

A plain-looking producer working for Genosa.

Beneath Suspicion: The Evil Eye Franchise doesn't even consider her as a suspect for the position of Genosa's bride-to-be, since she's a Plain Jane surrounded by literal porn actresses.
Betty and Veronica: She's Betty, and the three ex-wives are all Veronicas. She wins in the end.
Happily Married: To Genosa, once the Evil Eye Franchise is dealt with.
Jack of All Trades: Her job title is producer, but she can do almost everything that needs to be done around set.
Plain Jane: Described as 'plain-faced'. This is significant, as it means the coven of exes (and Lord Raith) overlook her entirely.
The Reliable One: Has worked with Genosa for twenty years, and has learned to do pretty much anything he needs her to do on set.

Emma

An actress working for Genosa.

Amicable Exes: She seems well enough disposed to Jake, just very firm on not being involved with him.
Fatal Family Photo: Emma has two kids, and mentions it pretty early on, only to be cut down by the curse. Jake is the father, and he takes custody of them when she dies.
Fiery Redhead: She's a redhead, and she has a quick temper when she feels people are looking down on her or her profession.
Instant Death Bullet: Played brutally straight.
Straw Feminist: Downplayed. Once Giselle is scarred and Emma comments that she won't be able to work in the porn industry anymore, Dresden makes a comment along the lines of 'could be worse.' He meant that Giselle could have died instead of just being scarred, but Emma interprets that to mean that she could still be in the porn industry instead of being forced out of it, and she lectures Dresden on not looking down on porn actresses. Immediately after, she simmers down and apologises, admitting that she's a bit keyed up and on a hair-trigger because she gets the 'repent' reaction a lot. Dresden empathises, remarking that it happens a lot to him, too, though she is understandably sceptical.
Working with the Ex: Jake is her former boyfriend and father of her kids.

Giselle

An actress working for Genosa.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Very narrowly averted. The Evil Eye Franchise caused the water in her shower to superheat, which scalded her, and when she fell over in pain she crashed through her shower's glass door, slashing herself. Then an overhead light fell and electrified the water. This almost killed her, though Dresden was able to save her just in time.
High-Voltage Death: Very narrowly averted when Dresden intervenes.
Put on a Bus: Taken to the hospital to recover from her wounds and not seen again for the rest of the series (so far).
Scars Are Forever: Emma says that Giselle's scars will remain visible and thus she won't be hired for more adult films.

Jake Guffie

An actor working for Genosa.

Big Brother Mentor: To Bobby, whom he is older than, gets on well with, and mentored as an actor.
Good Samaritan: Tries to help Giselle when she's trapped in a pool of electrified water. He doesn't succeed, but he does try, and is injured in the process.
Put on a Bus: At the end of Blood Rites, he leaves with Bobby and Inari to open a feng shui business in California.
Stage Name: "Jack Rockhardt".

Stacy Willis

Genosa's driver.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Killed by tens of thousands of bees which somehow got into her car's trunk and swarmed her when she opened it.

Posthumous Character: Killed shortly before the Blood Rites case begins.

Hospital Staff and EMTs

Jason Lamar

One of the two EMTs who saw Kumori resurrecting a recently-killed mobster.

Apathetic Citizens: While he presumably works hard at his actual job, his reaction to seeing magical activity is to get away from it as quickly as possible and not get involved in any way.
The Cameo: Shows up again in Cold Days to take Andi to a hospital.
Combat Medic: Lamar was a Navy medic before he left the service and began working at Cook County Hospital.
I Need a Freaking Drink: His reaction to seeing Kumori resurrect a dead mobster, seemingly torturing him (the mobster) in the process.
Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?:
- When he meets Harry, after a minute, he realizes this is the Harry Dresden who was found inside the hospital nursery under weird circumstances, but after that visit the high number of SIDS the hospital suffered dropped way down low. He doesn't know about the ghost haunting the nursery (nor wants to know) but because Harry helped those kids, he tells Harry what he saw involving Kumori.
- When he shows up again in Cold Days, he recognizes Harry, and asks wasn't he dead. Harry answers that it didn't take, and Jason simply leaves, shaking his head.

Gary Simmons

One of the two EMTs who saw Kumori resurrecting a recently-killed mobster.

The Cameo: Shows up for the first time onscreen in Cold Days to take Andi to a hospital.
The Ghost: At first. He never appeared in the book in which he was first mentioned (Dead Beat). However, he showed up briefly in Cold Days when Andi needed transportation to a hospital.
I Need a Freaking Drink: His reaction to seeing Kumori resurrect a dead mobster, seemingly torturing him (the mobster) in the process.

Patterson

An ER nurse at Saint Anthony's hospital.

Geek: So much of a gamer that he gives Butters confidential patient information in exchange for a rare RPG item, namely World of Warcraft's Blue Murloc Egg ^note.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Willamena "Will" Rogers

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/willhelmina.png

A humble zoologist in way over her head.

Dr. Reese's assistant. She acts as Dresden's helper during the Welcome to the Jungle case.

Bespectacled Cutie: She has glasses and is drawn in a cute manner. She's also quite brainy.
Cooldown Hug: She takes Moe's hand during her efforts to calm him down after Reese's death.
Friend to All Living Things: Gets along very well with Moe, a territorial gorilla, and Mister, Dresden's notoriously ornery cat.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: It's mentioned that she does most of the actual work with the gorillas while Doctor Reese remains in the lab.
The Watson: Serves as this during the case, since she knows nothing about magic.
Weirdness Censor: Dresden tells her that he is certain she will block out all the magic and horrors she experienced during her time assisting him.

Dr. Reese

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reese.png

He will not let his animals come to harm. No matter what.

Head of the gorilla program at the Lincoln Park Zoo. He was murdered by Dana Watson during the Welcome to the Jungle case.

Badass Bystander: A man with no prior experience of the supernatural, his love for Moe was such that he grabbed his chair and attacked a powerful monster who intended to do the gorilla harm. It didn't work, but since he went down fighting with his bare hands, Dresden was able to get some of the hag's hair.
Fluffy Tamer: Moe can be quite dangerous, as his actions against Watson show, but Reese was still able to befriend him.
Heroic Sacrifice: Died trying to save Moe from Watson, and—by virtue of getting her hair under his nails—played a key role in derailing Watson's plans.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: A rare positive example. Reese threatens to pull every string he has in City Hall to prevent Moe from being put down.

Maurice Sandbourne

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He went up against a creature of the night... and lost.

A security guard at the Lincoln Park Zoo. His death at the hands of Dana Watson kick off the Welcome to the Jungle case.

Guns Are Worthless: Sandbourne's gun skills (he was a competitive pistol marksman alongside Murphy) were useless against Immune to Bullets Watson.
He Knows Too Much: Watson killed him because he saw her taking blood from Moe for her totemic ascension ritual.
Plot-Triggering Death: If he hadn't died, Dresden wouldn't have been brought into the case.

Moe

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moe_7.png

Warning: messing with his keeper could be very bad for your health.

A silverback gorilla at the Lincoln Park Zoo who is framed for the murders of Maurice Sandbourne and Dr. Reese. He appears in Welcome to the Jungle.

Androcles' Lion: Will was kind to Moe, helping get him back into his cage after he was found over Reese's body. Moe repays the favor by saving Will from Watson.
Attack Animal: When Dresden lets him out of his cage, he annihilates Watson.
The Dog Bites Back: Watson stole some of Moe's blood for her ritual and also tried to frame him for Sandbourne's and Reese's murders (the latter of which Moe sees), which would have gotten him put down. He exacts bloody revenge on her once he has the chance.
Fall Guy: Was supposed to be this for the murders of Sandbourne and Reese.
Killer Gorilla: Averted at first, but played straight by the end of the story.

Occult Proprietors and Their Staff

For Shiela Starr, see the entry for Lash under the Denarians.

Artemis Bock

The man who owns Bock Ordered Books, one of the best resources for literature on the supernatural in the Midwest.

Magical Library: It's a store, not a lending library, but his shop otherwise fits the concept.
Nice Guy: Even when people don't have enough money to buy from him, he tries to work something out so they can still benefit from his wares. He's been known to let minor talents cast protective wards on his shop in lieu of cash payment, for instance.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He cuts Harry off from coming to his store and his reasons are fully understandable: Harry is a Person of Mass Destruction and a Destructive Savior, and Bock's shop got caught in the crossfire once. He's got kids in college and he can't afford damage to his store. Harry can still place orders and Bock could have them delivered or picked up by Will and Georgia, but as far as actually coming to the store, that's a no-go. Harry agrees with it all because he was the one who wrecked Bock's shop, to begin with.

Burt Decker

Proprietor of Left Hand Goods, an occult store whose merchandise is mostly overpriced junk, and who doesn't much care about the purposes his customers put their purchases to.

Black Magic: The market Decker claims to cater to. Of course, real evil wizards don't need him, so he mostly deals with wannabe Death Eaters who don't know any better.
Evil Is Petty: After Meditrina Bassarid is rude to him, he decides to get revenge by directing her to meet Herbert Caine, a convicted rapist, on the basis that Caine has a magic item Bassarid needs for her ritual. Fortunately, Bassarid is much more powerful than Caine and winds up terrorizing him instead.
Honest John's Dealership: The magic equivalent.
Magical Library: Runs a really crappy store for magic supplies.
Politically Incorrect Villain: His description of Bassarid includes a crude comment about her breasts.
Too Dumb to Live: Somehow doesn't seem to realize that mouthing off to a police officer (who could put him away for a long time for illegal goods and fraud) and a White Council Warden (who has the authority to cut off his head) simultaneously is not a good idea. Had it been anyone other than Murphy and Harry, say Rabid Cop Greene and / or Warden Morgan, he would have been finished.

Paparazzi, Photographers, and Reporters

For Susan Rodriguez, see her entry under Other Powerful Entities.

Lydia Stern

A reporter who took over Susan Rodriguez's position of lead reporter for the tabloid The Midwestern Arcane after Ronriguez was infected by the Red Court and left the magazine. Appears in Proven Guilty.

Intrepid Reporter: Describes her in a nutshell.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. A member of Kravos' cult calling herself Lydia appears in Grave Peril.
Out-Gambitted: She aides Harry in Proven Guilty by listening in with a tape recorder when he barges in on a police interview with Molly Carpenter. Dresden points out to Molly's interrogators that they never informed Molly of all her rights, never said she could have a lawyer present, and never checked Molly's age — they were interrogating a minor without her parent or legal counsel present.
Silk Hiding Steel: Looks more like someone's goofy aunt than an incredibly smart and determined reporter who is viewed with undisguised dread by any surrounding authority figure.

Donny Wise

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Just your average paparazzi scumbag.

A sleazy photographer hired by Linda Randall to take pictures of the orgies at Victor Sells' lake house.

Animal Motifs: Described as having a mouth and eyes like a ferret.
Blackmail: The purpose of his photographs.

People from outside Chicago

Residents of Boone Mill, Missouri

For members of the Talbot family, see their entries under Talbot Family above on this page.

Mayor Cynthia Cedar

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Her town. Her rules.

The mayor of Boone Mill, Cedar has been in elected office for many years. Much of her past, including what she did during her tenure as Deputy Ambassador to Egypt, is a closely guarded secret.

Bold Explorer: When she first arrived in Egypt she hit all the major tourist sites. Then she started to go off the beaten track, to obscure and forgotten places only the locals remembered. This turned out to be a bad idea when she was attacked by mummies.
Dark and Troubled Past: Her adventures in Egypt, which culminated in her being attacked by mummies and saved by a qarin who became a fugitive as a result of the act. She returned to the states, left national politics under a cloud of scandal, and never told anyone what happened... until Dresden came to town.
Interspecies Romance: She is in love with a qarin, a jinn-like spirit, who saved her life in Egypt.
Parental Substitute: Adopts J.J. and Ella after the curse is lifted and the other Talbot siblings are dead.
Permanent Elected Official: She's been in office for over fifteen years and shows no sign of leaving anytime soon.
Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: Has one with the qarin when he's preparing to unleash his power against Ambre and Griswald, knowing this will allow his superiors to find him and take him away forever.
Reasonable Authority Figure: She understands what's going on in Boone Mill and supports Dresden in his efforts to fight the curse, even springing him from jail after Dagget imprisons him.
Ultimate Authority Mayor: She seems to have total power in Boone Mill, and is even able to force Dagget to release Dresden, a suspect in multiple homicides.

Sheriff Dagget

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Try not to get arrested on his turf.

Head of law enforcement in Boone Mill.

Bad Boss: Openly mocks Tremaine's ambitions to rise higher in law enforcement, and punishes him for actually trying to solve the mysterious deaths happening around town instead of just writing them off as tragic accidents.
Police Are Useless: Well he is, anyways. He contributes nothing to the battles against Griswald and Ambre, and even arrests Dresden (the only person in town with a chance of driving the monsters away) under suspicion of having committed some of their murders himself.
The Sheriff: His job.
Weirdness Censor: An industrial-strength one. No matter how many mysterious and inexplicable accidents occur in Boone Mill, he refuses to accept that anything weird is happening, and instead attributes the earlier deaths to coincidence and the latter ones to Dresden.

Deputy Sheriff Prescott "Pres" Tremaine

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Prescott Tremaine, ready for war.

The junior member of law enforcement in Boone Mill, Prescott balances his time between his official duties, classes for professional advancement, and his girlfriend Ambre. He tries to get to the bottom of the Talbot deaths, only to learn that Ambre is much more involved than she seemed at first glance.

Agent Mulder: Pres is cautiously skeptical about Harry when they first meet, but he's also willing to believe that something supernatural is going on with the Talbot family deaths, and joins Harry in fighting the monsters.
Badass Normal: No magic to work with, but he can handle a fight with monsters just fine on his own.
Boy Meets Ghoul: Literally — his girlfriend, Ambre, turns out to be an actual ghoul who was only dating him as a way to hang around town and get close to the Talbots without falling under suspicion.
Car Fu: He manages to badly injure Ambre by tricking her into jumping on the roof of a car that was filled with gasoline, then blowing up the car.
The Cassandra: He consistently tells Dagget the truth about what's going on and how Dresden can help them stop it. Dagget consistently blows him off.
The Coroner: While not an official one, he's taking forensic pathology classes which help him to determine that Carl's wounds didn't come from a wild animal but from something inhuman.
Distaff Counterpart: A blond Badass Normal cop with minimal knowledge of the supernatural, who comes to Harry for help with a case, but is frustrated when he goes off on his own? Who uses plenty of guns? Yup, he's basically a male version of Murphy. He even says "Dammit, Harry!" the same way. Harry, who's currently in a rough spot with Murph, comments on the similarity.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: To Dagget. While the actual sheriff is useless, Tremaine helps to drive off Ambre and Griswald, and even distracts Ambre for most of the final fight entirely on his own while Dresden deals with Griswald.
More Dakka: For the final fight he outfits himself with a massive gun from Joseph's personal stash.
Parental Substitute: Becomes this, along with Cedar, to J.J. and Ella Talbot once the five older Talbot siblings are dead and the curse has been lifted.

Residents of Norman, Oklahoma

Dean

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A campus security officer at the University of Oklahoma.

Agent Scully: While he hears Dresden out, he ultimately doesn't believe in Dresden's supernatural explanation for the chaos on campus.

Residents of Taylor, Mississippi

Bo Gentle

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A deputy working on the Dog Man massacre case.

Badass Driver: Having his hand ripped off while driving did not impede his driving skills.
Badass Normal: One has to be to survive multiple encounters with ghouls.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Harry against a literal army of ghouls.
Game-Breaking Injury: As expected, Gentle cannot fightvas well as he used to after losing a hand.
Major Injury Underreaction: As mentioned above, he doesn't react to getting his hand ripped off at the wrist. Though as Harry notes he was probably in shock.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Offers to assist Dresden by showing him the evidence the police managed to collect.

Bartender

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A bartender working at The Three Pigs, a bar in Taylor.

The Bartender: Her job.
Knowledge Broker: She provides Dresden with information on the local wolfmen, and also lets him know that the mysterious women who come into the bar looking to party have been there before.

Private detectives

Vince Graver

A Private Investigator who was hired to spy on Harry during the Turn Coat case. Dresden managed to get him on his side, and Graver was able to obtain key evidence in proving that Samuel Peabody was a spy on the White Council.

Could Say It, But...: When Molly pulls an I Have Boobs, You Must Obey! tactic on him, he still refuses to divulge the details of his client... but he does mention one specific lawyer at one specific firm who might be able to help her find a job if her apprenticeship with Harry falls through. The lawyer, of course, is the client.
Mundane Solution:
- Harry knows Binder will be looking to block any mystical means of tracking and takes all the precautions (shaving his head and jumping into a river ect), so Harry hires Vince to just follow the guy after he does this.
- Harry outs Peabody by simply having Graver watch the one entrance from Edinburgh to Chicago via the Nevernever and take photos of everyone who comes through.
Private Detective: His job, though more of a mundane one. Rather realistically, his job is more of an intelligence gatherer, as his MO is utilizing a high-power camera and a bit of breaking and entering.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: He is a man of integrity. Ironically, going independent lead to a degree of success.
- He was once a cop from a district outside of Chicago. When he looked into some prostitutes being beaten, despite orders to back off, he found a Chicago councilman was the culprit. And then he arrested the guy despite knowing the political consequences could ruin his career (which they did).
- When he learns his job in following Harry to get to the "Old Man" (Morgan) in Turn Coat has lead to fights and attempted murder, he drops the job then and there.
- At the same time, he refuses to give Harry any information on who hires him because of his integrity.
Turn in Your Badge: He does this rather than be relocated to Murphy's division of the Chicago PD.

Nick Christian

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A private investigator who has eked out a career of saving missing children.

A Private Investigator and one of Harry's mentors.

The Alcoholic: Implied to have more than a thing for whiskey.
Friend to All Children: He takes a variety of jobs to pay rent, but his passion is missing children cases. He's managed to save several children from abductors over the years, and in his view, that makes all the sacrifices he's made worth it.
Generic Graffiti: On his office door, there's a graffitied picture of a fat angel with a donut in one hand and a sawed-off shotgun in the other. Perhaps a mark of respect from the local gang.
The Ghost: Besides a brief appearance which didn't even describe him in Harry's first appearance and inaugural short story, Christian was mentioned only in passing a few times over the course of the series. He finally appears, appropriately enough, in Ghost Story.
The Mentor: To Harry, when he started out as a detective.
Perpetual Poverty: He lives out of his "office", which is little more than a cubby hole in the side of a building, closed off by a garage door, in a bad part of town.
Private Detective: His job. He appears to be rather expert at it, and turns out to be the guy Harry reaches out to when he needs information on gangs in the mundane side of things. In his case, it hasn't led to much in the way of success, as he's more broke than even Harry is.

SplatterCon!!! attendees, staff, and supporters

Rosanna "Rosie" Marcella

One of Molly's friends, and a staff member at the SplatterCon!!! convention. Molly tried to help her overcome her heroin addiction with black magic.

Functional Addict: Rosie was a heroin user before Molly used magic to make her fear the drug.
Teen Pregnancy: Rosie is pregnant with Nelson's child.

Nelson Lenhardt

Molly's ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with Rosie. Molly tried to help him overcome his heroin addiction with black magic, but because she was still angry at him for cheating, her spell warped and caused him severe psychic damage.

Badass Normal: Downplayed, but Dresden pegs him as a martial artist in moments by the way he moves, suggesting at least fairly extensive training/experience.
Delinquents: Has been in trouble with the law and is a drug user.
Driven to Madness: As a result of Molly's spell. It is unknown if he will ever properly recover from her attack on him.
Functional Addict: Like Rosie, he was a heroin addict.

Drea Becton

Another friend of Molly's. She was driven catatonic after Molly's magic attracted the phages to the SplatterCon!!! festival.

And I Must Scream: Trapped in perpetual terror after the fetches put her in a coma.
Convenient Coma: Rendered comatose from the fetches.

Ken

Rosie Marcella's boyfriend. He died when Molly's magic drew the phages to SplatterCon!!!

The Ghost: He's killed in the phage attack, but he's not depicted. Rosie learns about it after the fact.

Clark Pell

A supporter of SplatterCon!!! who owns a theatre neighboring the convention center. He was attacked and mauled by fetches during the Proven Guilty case, but he managed to survive.

Cool Old Guy: A senior citizen, and virtually fearless.
Grumpy Old Man: By the time Dresden meets him, after he's been injured by the fetches, he's surly and upset.
Nerves of Steel: Fearless enough that the horror magic of the fetches couldn't hurt him too badly; they had to maul him physically to frighten him.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: His only fear is a movie monster called a Hammerhand. Unfortunately, the fetches can take the shape of a person's worst fear, and they attacked him in that form.

Sandra Marling

A part-time volunteer at a homeless shelter who befriended Molly Carpenter after the other girl was sentenced to community service. An offhand comment by her led Molly to study recent research on using fear to bypass addictions, which had the unfortunate result of Molly using fear spells on their mutual friends Nelson and Rosie. As chair of the horror convention SplatterCon!!!, she also invited horror director "Darby Crane" to Chicago; when Darby Crane turned out to be White Court vampire Madrigal Raith, Harry mistakenly blamed Raith for Molly's actions.

Silk Hiding Steel: She appears perfectly normal at first, and in fact drops out of the Proven Guilty case less than halfway through it (and hasn't reappeared so far). However, the RPG notes (which are written from an in-universe perspective) show how Marling was indirectly responsible for Molly's corruption, Molly's abduction by phages, and Dresden being distracted by Madrigal for long enough to allow said abduction to occur. It also mentions that she vanished after the novel and Dresden — wizard PI — has been completely unable to locate any trace of her.

People Dresden has rescued or otherwise worked for

Faith Astor

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A child in need of rescue.

A young girl who ran away from home. Harry Dresden rescued her from the troll Gogoth in one of his earliest cases in Chicago. Appears in A Restoration of Faith. Word of God states that she will show up again to kick off the big apocalyptic trilogy serving as the capstone to the Dresden Files series.

The Cynic: Starts the story believing there's no magic and that parents don't really love their kids.
Driven to Suicide: She says that if Dresden abandons her (so he isn't arrested for kidnapping) she'll go to some nearby cops, but Dresden can tell she'll go back to the bridge where Gogoth will eat her. Fortunately, Harry is able to snap her out of it.
Earn Your Happy Ending: After Dresden shows her real magic, and after he and Murphy risk their lives to fight Gogoth with her, she realizes there's magic and joy in the world after all. She tells Murphy she wasn't kidnapped and returns to her family.
Parental Neglect: Why she ran away.
Spoiled Brat: What she is at first.
Wise Beyond Their Years: When Dresden tells Faith that there are monsters in the world, she says she knows. At about that time Dresden turns to her and notes that she looks sad and 'too wise for her years.'

Alison Ann Summers

A baby being cared for at Cook County Hospital. She was attacked by Agatha Hagglethorn, then saved by the timely intervention of Dresden and Michael during the Grave Peril case.

Forced Sleep: What would have happened to her until she dies. It would be written off as SIDS.
Improbable Infant Survival: Applies in her case, if only just.

Brother Wang

A monk at a monastery where temple dogs are raised. He hired Dresden to recover a box full of kidnapped puppies, inadvertently enabling Dresden and Mouse to come into contact.

Small Role, Big Impact: Appears very briefly in Blood Rites, but without him, Mouse would never have met Dresden, saved his life several times, and gone on to protect his daughter.

Donovan

An agent of the Chicago Cubs who hires Dresden to deal with the Billy Goat Curse. Appears in the short story "Curses".

Second Place Is for Losers: Only cares about getting rid of the curse so that the Cubs can win the championship, even when Dresden explains that the presence of the curse allows for Cubs fans to focus more on their love of the game instead of just hoping for a championship win.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Shows up wearing a $2000 suit.

Dr. Helena Pounder

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A tall and powerfully-built archeologist who had a child with one of the Forest People, Strength of a River in his Shoulders.

Brawn Hilda: Helena is more than six feet tall and powerfully built. Dresden says that she 'wasn't really pretty' and looks like a bouncer.
Mama Bear: Dresden refers to this trope by name after meeting her, and it fits. After all, when her son is being bullied, her way of solving the problem is to pull some strings and have a professional wizard—capable of fighting warlocks, vampires, and demons—hired at her son's school to can sort them out.
Rescue Romance: Starts dating Strength of a River in his Shoulders after he saves her life by getting her food when she's stranded on a barren dig site for months.

Maria

A young child who was about to be murdered by a White Court Vampire when Hamilton Luther saved her. Some time later, the White Court attacked her again to keep her from testifying in Luther's trial.

Improbable Infant Survival: Sustained in her case; Dresden is able to rescue her.

Maya

A former prostitute who turned her life around after her pimp was jailed. Maya set up a tutoring school for poorer families who wanted their children to have better lives, and was quite successful at it. However, when the pimp got out and hired a magical lawyer in an effort to take everything Maya had worked for, Maya needed Dresden's help.

The Oldest Profession: Maya used to be one of Tripp's whores.

Other victims of supernatural monsters

Stan

A hapless convenience store clerk who has the misfortune of getting involved with Harry's flight from He Who Walks Behind.

Butt-Monkey: Terrified by Harry, then slaughtered by He Who Walks Behind.
The Stoner: Has the scent of marijuana about him.

Harvey Morrison

Owner of Morrison Fiduciary Services, and Hades' financial representative in Chicago

Escort Mission: Dresden tries to lead him away from Tessa and protect him until backup can arrive. He fails.

The Mendozas

Maggie Dresden's foster family.

Body Horror: Rodriguez and Martin had to put the mutilated pieces of the Mendozas back together (with the scent of blood driving them mad with thirst, no less) in order to see if Maggie was among the deceased.
Cruel and Unusual Death: They were all ripped to pieces
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: They were nothing but caring and attentive to Maggie and showed no indication of Parental Favoritism despite her being adopted. Then the Red Court kills them.

Greg and Cindy Bardalacki

Siblings trapped in a Red Court scheme to synthesize artificial love.

Brother–Sister Incest: Forced into it by the Red Court spell.
Driven to Suicide: As a result of the spell's compulsions.

Steph and her friend

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Steph (right) and her friend having a very bad night.

Two girls hunted down by Puck in Wild Card.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Steph's friend pleads for mercy, to no avail.
Damsel in Distress: Introduced fleeing in terror from Puck.

Stanley Bowers

An addict being treated as Saint Anthony's who falls victim to the baka baku Miyamune.

Addled Addict: Barely functional on account of his drug abuse and Miyamune's torment.
Hobos: He's homeless.

Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Armand Jean de Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu

A cardinal who was once a powerful French nobleman... until Mab caught up with him and demand that he pay her back for a favor she'd done him.

Forced Transformation: In addition to being frozen, he was also turned into a literal cardinal. (As in, the bird.)
Historical Domain Character: Richelieu really existed.
An Ice Person: One of Mab's frozen sculptures.

Other

Mike Atagi

A mechanic who services Harry's car of choice, the Blue Beetle. After the Beetle is destroyed he continues to service other vehicles Harry drives in.

Broken Masquerade: Subverted. Harry is usually level with Mike at first, but Harry knows the man would like to hear a more reasonable explaination for the damage to Harry's car. When Harry explains the damage is from "giant owl" ripping at the top of the car and has hole punctures confirming that, Mike asks for the real explaination for the damage, which Harry then blames on mobsters attacking with a backhoe.
The Engineer: His character.
The Ghost: After twenty years of the series producing fifteen novels, twenty-five short stories, five comics, he finally appears in a small microfiction set after Wild Card which itself is between White Night and Small Favor.
Mr. Fixit: He can repair almost any damage to a car. At one point he fixes up a hearse that's been damaged by a bomb going off inside it. Even Cat Sith, The Dragon to Mab, uses his services.
"The usual deal, then. Cheap, fast, or good, pick two.”
Insane Proprietor: Plays it up with the name of his garage, "Mad Mike’s Motorcycle and Volkswagen Repair".
Only One Name: Was like this for thirteen books. His last name was finally revealed in Cold Days.

Randy

A civilian who joins a mob inspired by Harry to protect Chicago from the Fomor.

Badass Bystander: He's just a random guy, but he manages to hold his own while fighting an army of monsters.
Papa Wolf: His motivation for fighting is his newborn daughter, who is stranded in one of the hospitals and cannot be evacuated.

Larry Fowler

The host of The Larry Fowler Show, a Chicago-area talk show.

Frivolous Lawsuit: He continues to serve Dresden with a variety of legal papers and lawsuits even though he has no real case against him.
Jerkass: Happy to embarrass his guests for the sake of his audience.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Is very clearly based on Jerry Springer, complete with the audience chanting "LAH-REE! LAH-REE! LAH-REE!" at the start of an episode.
Sitcom Archnemesis: He essentially functions as this to Dresden, annoying him with his attitude and his frivolous lawsuits.
Smarmy Host: Describes him in a nutshell.
Talk Show: He has one.

Characters / The Dresden Files – Ordinary People and Badass Normals

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