Main Character Index Planets and Political Powers Vorkosigan House — Other Barrayarans — Dendarii Mercenaries
The Dendarii Mercenaries (General)
Merc band formed by Miles' acting ability. Given a standing contract with ImpSec, at first to give a loophole to avoid the law against Vor having private armies and later because they are useful. Led by "Admiral Naismith".
- Catchphrase: Daring Rescues Our Specialty.
- Meaningful Name: Named after the Dendarii mountains on Barrayar.
- Plausible Deniability: Their main purpose is to carry out missions that would be diplomatically awkward for the regular Imperial Service.
Commander Elli Quinn
Devastatingly beautiful former Oseran mercenary; after her face got burned off by plasma fire in one of his first battles, Miles bought her a very nice new one, and since then she's used it, plus her superlative competence and hilariously twisted personality, to spectacular effect in the Dendarii.
- Action Girl: Of the "act before you think" variety, at least at first, though she's actually more cunning than she lets on.
- The Blank: For a period of time. Miles gets her a new one. Ivan made the tactical error of audibly commenting on her grotesque appearance before the surgical repair. When she met him seven years later, he'd forgotten and tried to turn on the charm — but she hadn't.
- Blessed with Suck: Elli states that her new gorgeous face has resulted in a lot more objectification from men, and she either has to prove herself, or in some cases, have them prove themselves (e.g. asking a man who hits on her if he can do pushups with his tongue like Miles can.)
- Character Tic: She bites her nails when she's under serious stress.
- A Day in the Limelight: Ethan of Athos has her as the deuteragonist with the title character, with Miles an offscreen character.
- Lady of War: Certainly by the time she takes over Miles' job as Admiral of the Dendarii, plus his working relationship with Barrayaran Imperial Security.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Was in love with Admiral Naismith, but not in love with Lord Vorkosigan, despite knowing that they were the same person. Her inability to find a way to work around this ultimately scuttled the relationship.
- Odd Friendship: With Athosian Non-Action Guy Ethan, eventually.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Her new face. She realized it the second time a soldier made a pass at her instead of following orders, forcing her to learn some new leadership techniques.
- Space People: Born and raised on Kline Station before taking up a career as a space mercenary. She does not like being on the ground, which ultimately proves to be a deal-breaker in her relationship with Miles when he becomes Lord Vorkosigan full-time.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Has what Miles considers a vile sense of humour; at one point, while in Miles' company, she fends off a marauding suitor by informing him that Miles can do push-ups with his tongue.
Captain Elena Bothari-Jesek
Miles' childhood friend and crush, the daughter of Sergeant Bothari, an Action Girl constrained by Barrayaran social norms...until she takes a role in Miles' new mercenary-ing endeavor and gets to spread her wings.
- Child by Rape: She is one, which is part of why she and Miles can't find any info on her mother before they decamp to Beta Colony.
- Happily Married: To a not-quite-so-disgraced Barrayaran engineer she met in her adventures with Miles.
- I Gave My Word: She may be a renegade Barrayaran but she still takes her marriage vows as seriously as any Vor woman. When one Dendarii officer hits on her, she doesn't just reject him, she considers the advances an implied insult to her character.
- Lady of War: In the Blood, considering who her father is. She's sick of death and violence by Mirror Dance and just wants to settle down.
- Missing Mom: Well, she was missing, right up until she walked in and shot Elena's father dead right in front of her. Mother and daughter do eventually manage some degree of reconciliation, despite the circumstances surrounding both Elena's conception and their deadly first meeting. Just how much is never made explicit. The fact that Miles notes the two Elenas are meeting on a semi-regular basis indicates it's going well.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Her father is a tall scary/ugly sort where she is an elegant Statuesque Stunner... but when one compares their builds, heights, facial structures, and so forth they look very much alike. Miles once described them as a demon and an angel carved by the same sculptor.
Commodore Baz Jesek
An honest, very competent Barrayaran tech who deserted after a particularly harrowing combat experience gave him PTSD, Baz was scraping by in a Betan waste centre when Miles found him and took him under his wing for the mission that wound up launching Admiral Naismith and the Dendarii Mercenaries. Baz later rose high in the ranks of the Dendarii.
- Dangerous Deserter: Averted. It's his Barrayaran-bred Action Girl wife you want to watch out for.
Captain Bel Thorne
A Betan hermaphrodite and highly competent mercenary who becomes captain of the Ariel as a result of Miles's conquest of the Oseran fleet.
- Ambiguous Gender: Bel tends to vary its gender presentation along the sliding scale of masculinity/femininity depending upon what it wants from the situation at hand — or sometimes just to mess with people.
- Berserk Button: During "Labyrinth", develops one re: the powerful Jacksonian Houses that deal in the flesh trade (particularly Houses Bharaputra and Ryoval). This later leads Bel to betray Miles by helping Mark launch a rescue operation on some clones from House Bharaputra that ends up deep-sixing Bel's career with the Dendarii. It doesn't express regret for the outcome, only for having let Miles down.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Seems to have caught it off Miles by "Labyrinth", and in Mirror Dance it costs Bel its job.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Or so it appears by the end of "Labyrinth", anyway, but by Diplomatic Immunity...
- Happily Married: With Nicol, as of Diplomatic Immunity. They're even planning a family together.
- It's Personal: Any kind of Playing with Syringes behaviour, especially by the profit-hungry Jacksonian major houses. Bel's a member of a genetically-engineered minority and knows where that road can lead.
- Knight Errant: Bel accepts a fee of only one Betan dollar, just to make it official, to rescue Nicol — but when Bel looks her up years later it claims to have kept that very dollar as its lady's favor. Miles is suspicious (knowing Bel's talent for scam) but admits that it's a wonderfully romantic gesture regardless.
- Pronoun Trouble: Bel (and other genetically-engineered Betan hermaphrodites) prefer the use of the pronoun "it"; during Diplomatic Immunity Bel explains that "it" doesn't have the same unfortunate connotations in Betan usage as it does on certain other planets. On the other hand, it is very happy to use its preferred pronoun to wind up people from cultures where It Is Dehumanising, suggesting that this is at least half of why it prefers 'it' to the more broadly-familiar 'they'.
Sergeant Taura
An eight-foot-tall genetically engineered super-soldier with fangs and claws, Taura was rescued from Jackson's Whole by Miles and joined up with the Dendarii, becoming a valued fleet member and also Miles' lover (well, one of them). Taura is both a highly competent soldier, and immensely strong and fast in addition to her sheer size. Unfortunately, this comes at a terrible price, as her extremely high metabolism and overall genetic design means that her natural lifespan was cut very short; by the time she and her batch mates from the super soldier group were in their mid-to-late teens, she was the only one who hadn't died of old age. Miles sets the Dendarii fleet medics to prolonging her life, and it works.
Under the muscle, confidence, and competence is a woman described by Miles as something of a fairy princess at heart. If kept away from pink things, frills, and bows, Taura is strikingly attractive. By the end of "Winterfair Gifts", she partners up with kindred spirit Armsman Roic.
- Action Girl: Comes with being a female super soldier.
- Artificial Animal People: She's an eight-foot-tall genetically modified Super-Soldier with fangs and claws who is only half jokingly described as a "werewolf." Despite her appearance, she's highly intelligent and not particularly bestial in personality at all.
- Beware the Nice Ones: In spite of the teeth, she's quite sweet. Unless someone threatens a loved one, in which case the "fairy princess" turns into a monster:Taura: The little man is mine. Hurt him one little bit, and I'll tear your head off and drink your blood.
- Big Eater: Her metabolism is stuck in permanent overdrive due to House Bharaputra's genetic tinkering.
- Dead Guy Junior: Miles and Ekaterin name their second daughter (fourth child overall) in her honor.
- First Girl Wins: Miles sleeps with Taura (discreetly) while in a relationship with Quinn. He does it partly because Taura doesn't have long to live, but also because he simply can't let her go.
- Friends with Benefits: With Miles, though she's clearly more than a little sad to see him taken off the market in "Winterfair Gifts".
- Game Face: She can make grown men wet themselves with hers.
- Gentle Giant: In spite of all the things spliced into her that make her a killer, she's downright cuddly. When the Dendarii are stuck with a hold full of terrified kids, Taura goes in and helps calm them down.
- Huge Girl, Tiny Guy: A necessary consequence of being eight feet tall, particularly where Miles is concerned. However, she even towers over Big Guy Armsman Roic (not that he minds.)
- Intimate Psychotherapy: How Miles keeps her from acting on her suicidal impulses in "Labyrinth". (It was her idea.)
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She takes apparent comfort, during the events of "Winterfair Gifts", in the fact that Ekaterin obviously loves Miles deeply, and vice versa.
- Monster Girl: An unfortunate side-effect of her fangs is that her smile is unnerving — and the more genuine the smile, the more terrifying. At least, to people unfamiliar with her.
- Pink Means Feminine: Taura's initial efforts to pretty up are informed by this, despite multiple people pointing out that however hot she is, pink frills don't do her any favours. Alys dresses her in white cream with no frills, and she's stunning. She'll still wear a bow just for Miles.
- Raised in a Lab: In "Labyrinth," when her age was sixteen and her designation was Nine, she describes her upbringing as "I lived with hired fosterers till I was eight. Like the clones do. Then I started to get big and clumsy and break things—they brought me to live at the lab after that. It was all right, I was warm and had plenty to eat."
- Rescue Romance: Five words. "He came back for me."
- She Cleans Up Nicely: With a bit of help from Lady Alys. Armsman Roic concurs.
- Super-Soldier: A genetically engineered soldier built by a committee with no actual soldiers on it. It would be hilarious, except...
see below. - Tomboy and Girly Girl: With Elli Quinn. Ironically, beautiful Elli is the tomboy. Taura's the girly one.
- You Are Number 6: Before being named "Taura", she was simply known as "number 9".
- Your Days Are Numbered: A built-in component of her Super-Soldier status. It bothers her lover and C.O. Miles more than it does her: she's too busy living her life as hard as she can to waste time feeling sorry for herself.
Ky Tung
Formerly a captain in the Oseran mercenaries, Ky Tung hit it off much better with the young genius "Admiral Naismith" than with his pragmatic boss Oser, and took Miles under his wing.
- Accidental Truth: Practically the first thing he says to Miles is "Who do you think you are? Lord Vorkosigan?" He was referring to Aral's reputation as a strategic genius, but nearly caused Miles to choke on his drink (Aral having become Count Vorkosigan, and Miles thus Lord Vorkosigan, at the start of the book).note
- Ascended Fanboy: Of Aral Vorkosigan's mad tactical skills. When told he's going to get be a dinner-guest of Aral at the conclusion of The Vor Game, he is the second-happiest we see him in the entire series (his happiest moment is spoilered under Passing The Torch, below).
- Honour Before Reason: While more practical than Miles about it, Ky is a warrior and tactician first, a mercenary second; Proud Warrior Race Guy Miles appreciated this quality, Oser didn't. Guess who got to benefit from Ky's brains and experience, not to mention his loyalty?
- Old Master: Takes on Miles as a tactical and military apprentice.
- Passing the Torch: To Elli, after he decides to retire to Earth and get married.
- Worthy Opponent: To Miles in The Warrior's Apprentice, before they became allies.
- He was also a junior officer at Komarr. In other words, he survived both Vorkosigans.
- The Unreveal: Ky's parting words to Miles imply that he's aware of Miles' true identity.
Arde Mayhew
Pilot Officer Mayhew first appears near the end of the first Vokosigan Saga novel, Shards of Honor as a young, inexperienced cargo ship pilot, who Cordelia cons into giving her a lift, off the books, to Escobar when she has to escape from her home world of Beta Colony.
Eighteen years later a young Miles Vorkosigan, on Beta Colony to visit his grandmother, overhears some people talking about a down on his luck jump pilot who has taken his obsolete ship hostage, and is threatening to blow it up to save it from the wreckers, and then he recognizes the pilot's name, and decides to help him out. Events then spin wildly out of control.
- The Alcoholic: When Miles first meets him, he's devolved to this.
- Becoming the Mask: Though a Betan, he learns to behave like a devoted Armsman when Miles is around.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Fades from the narrative after The Vor Game, and is not listed as one of the three Dendarii who know Miles's true identity in Brothers In Arms, leading some to conclude that he had died or disappeared on a quest to replace his ship. He reappears again in Winterfair Gifts, but only in the background.
