Characters / Whitby Witches

The many characters of Whitby and beyond.—-

The Whitby Witches

Humans

Ben Laurenson

The eight-year-old hero, a boy with the Sight, the ability to see things not of the mortal world. His parents died when their car crashed into a river and he and his elder sister were bounced from foster home to foster home because Ben's claim to see ghosts unnerved all of their guardians. Finally they were taken in by Alice Boston in Whitby, where Ben befriended Nelda the Aufwader.

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• Annoying Younger Sibling: Jennet comes to think of him as this in the second book as a result of Crozier’s influence.
• Anti Anti Christ: Destined to be an even more powerful sorcerer than Crozier and potentially just as evil, but he uses his powers for good.
• Badass Boast: His future self comes out with the same one as Nathaniel:
  • "I am allpowerful, a master of domination and control. Slither back into your hollow and be thankful that Laurenson is merciful."
• Blasphemous Boast: His future self brags that the time of the gods is over and man rules over the Earth now.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Very nearly! Using the Horngarth, he imprisons the Lord of the Frozen Wastes but Jennet distracts him, allowing the Lord to break free.
• A God Am I: His evil future self has this attitude, bragging that man is higher than the gods and that he is invincible.
• Cassandra Truth: Warns Jennet that Crozier is bad news but she's too besotted to believe him.
• The Chosen One: Has the Sight perhaps better than any human alive and is destined to be an even greater threat to the Lords of the Deep than Morgawrus. The Lords of the Deep killed his and Jennet’s parents in order to get him to go to Whitby so that they could use him to find the missing Moonkelp.
• Creepy Child: A rare heroic version.
• Future Me Scares Me: Using the Horngarth causes him to turn into an evil potential future version of himself, a sorcerer powerful enough to best the gods but as arrogant and power-hungry as Nathaniel Crozier.
• The Hero: He’s the main protagonist.
• Third-Person Person: In his future self. “Be thankful that Laurenson is merciful.”
• Pintsized Powerhouse: A small eight-year-old boy who was able to use the Horngarth to ensnare a god.

Jennet Laurenson

Ben's big sister. She lacks the Sight but is protective and supportive of her little brother. Until she comes under a very bad influence.

• Ambiguously Bi: If you want to read something into her relationship with Pear.
• Baleful Polymorph: Even after being freed of Nathaniel Crozier’s control, she retains her ability to turn into a huge dog, which comes in handy when fighting Pear in the latter’s dog-form.
• Big Sister Instinct: She’s very protective of Ben, even when she hates him.
• Blatant Lies: When she tells Nathaniel that she only reads sensible books and not fiction, while a lurid paperback she’s just been reading is open on an armchair.
• Broken Pedestal: Has this attitude towards Nathaniel when she realises what sort of person he is, and towards Meta and Pear when she learns that one’s his wife and the other his daughter and they both worship him.
• Heroic BSoD: She spends most of The Whitby Child in a state of depression and PTSD as a result of being under Nathaniel’s control in A Warlock in Whitby.
• Hypnotise The Captive: Is hypnotised twice by Crozier.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: She's quite lonely due to Miss Boston and Ben being closer with one-another than they are with her, on account of both having the Sight. It's what causes her to fall under Crozier's influence and then that of his Brides.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: A variation when she stands up to Meta.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Subjects Edith Weathers to a nasty one when under Nathaniel’s influence and a much calmer and more sincere one to Meta, when she isn’t.
• Took a Level in Badass: By the end of the third book, having spent most of it moping in a(n understandable) state of depression.

Miss Alice Boston / Aunt Alice

Ben and Jennet's guardian, a ninety year old witch.

• Big Good: The most powerful fighter for good in the series.
• Bond One-Liner: “One for the pot!”
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: The full weight of her ninety two years descends upon her after she uses the Guardian to imprison Morgawrus.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: In Robin Jarvis's illustrations, she is heavily modeled on the actress Margaret Rutherford.
• Cool Old Lady: 'Very'' cool. As athletic as a woman a quarter of her age, a witch, highly intelligent, funny, dauntless and a Friend to All Children.
• Deadpan Snarker: Probably the biggest in the series.
  • “Strangely enough, I prefer the cream on the peaches, not on me!”
  • “Praise be for drunken butlers is all I can say.”
  • “I suppose we should be grateful for your slipshod incompetence. There doesn’t seem to be anything you can do right. Look behind you!”
  • “So I’m here for a pat on the head am I? Well, I don’t want it. If you hadn’t botched the job in the first place, Nathaniel Crozier wouldn’t have been able to free the brute.”
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Subjects the Lords of the Deep to a savage (and thoroughly deserved) reaming during her audience with them and gets off Scott-free.
• Everyone Calls Her "Barkeep": Everyone calls her either “Miss Boston” or “Aunt Alice.”
• Guile Hero: Tends to defeat more powerful villains with intellect. She defeats Rowena Cooper by tricking her into taking them through time to the day when the Abbey collapsed, then lures her in there and runs out just as it comes down, leaving Rowena buried beneath the rubble. Then in the second book she distracts Nathaniel Crozier long enough for Morgawrus to break free of his control and kill him, enabling her to imprison it back beneath the cliffs using the Guardian that Jennet brought with her to the cliff. In the final book she holds up a book of spells as a shield as Nathaniel tries to blast her with his magic, then uses her magic to send it flying in his face while she escapes with Ben and Jennet in tow.
• Handicapped Badass: In the third book, where she's using the spells in Patricia Gunning's Book of Shadows to regain her vigour after being drained by sealing Morgawrus away.
• Named After Somebody Famous: She gets her surname from Lucy M. Boston, author of The Green Knowe Chronicles. Robin Jarvis is a big fan of that series.
• Never Mess with Granny: A ninety-two-year-old woman who's saved the world twice.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Is very good at these. She gives one to two to Crozier, a brutal one to the Lords of the Deep and Dark, a pretty hilarious one to the Brides of Crozier (which she admits was rash) and a gentle but firm and much needed one to Jennet.

Prudence Joyster

A sharp-tongued friend of Miss Boston.

• Deadpan Snarker: As good as Alice.
• He Knows Too Much: Rowena kills her for having figured out her true identity.
• Sacrificial Lion: A brave (but foolhardy) old lady who figures out the truth of the glamorous new neighbour, and is mauled to death for it.
• Too Dumb to Live: Yes Pru, sure, great idea to stomp up to the house of the woman you know to be a mass-murdering sociopath under an alias, bang on her door and tell her to her face that you know who she is.

Ernest Roper

A war-vet and widower, and friend of Miss Boston who becomes friends with Ben and guards an extremely important secret.

• Badass Grandpa: Resists Crozier’s mental torture for a long while.
• Collector of the Strange: A downplayed example. He collects rare cruet sets.
• Cool Old Guy: Tells Ben stories about the war and gives him a set of fireworks.
• The Determinator: Holds out on telling Nathaniel where the second Guardian is for a long while.
• The Lost Lenore: His wife Margaret, whom he loved so much he had a nervous breakdown after she died.
• Nice Guy: A really lovely man who is a good friend to Ben and determinedly protects him against Nathaniel Crozier.
• Sacrificial Lion: A war vet who guards the second Guardian of Irl and withstands the mental tortures of an evil sorcerer.
• Together in Death: At least given that there’s an afterlife in the books, he’ll get to see Margaret again.

Patricia Gunning

A wealthy friend of Miss Boston who lives in London and has fallen ill.

• Big Fancy House: Lives in a huge, grand London mansion.
• Fiction 500: Is fabulously wealthy.
• Ill Girl: Was ill before she brought in Judith Deacon as a nurse, but Judith poisons her and makes her worse.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Gives Alice her book of shadows before she dies.
• Retired Badass: Used to be an extremely powerful witch but has neglected her spells and fallen ill.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Dies as a result of Judith’s abuse.

Danny Turner

Whitby's neighbourhood bully.

• Bad People Abuse Animals: Well, their carcasses anyway, as he intends to affix the corpse of a mutilated cat to the helm of his bicycle.
• The Bully: He’d give Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter a run for their money.
• Enfante Terrible: Only ten and as bad as they get.
• Hate Sink: He’s just a common little local ruffian but you’ll probably hate him more than Nathaniel.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: The way he picks on Ben makes him arguably more detestable than Nathaniel Crozier and Judith Deacon as he has no supernatural powers and could just as easily exist in real life. The only thing that makes him unrealistic is imagining how any child could be so horrible.
• Karmic Death: Killed by the demon that killed the cat whose body he used as a toy.
• Sadist: Of the emotional and physical kind.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Calls Ben a “cret”, short for cretin, a dated term for a mentally retarded person.
• The Sociopath: A very low-functioning kind.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour

Edith Weathers

A neurotic friend of Miss Boston who is lost without a tissue up her sleeve.

• Berserk Button: Bullies seem to be one for her.
• The Cloudcuckoolander Was Right: Warns Jennet of the danger of "charming men."
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A fussy, neurotic old woman who after hearing of Danny Turner’s abuse of Ben, storms round to the boy’s house to give his parents a talking to.
• Nervous Wreck: Usually has frayed nerves.
• Silk Hiding Steel: More cotton wool hiding steel. As much of an anxious busybody as she is, she always rises to the occasion when it really counts.
• Took a Level in Badass: In the final act of A Warlock in Whitby, when she goes to give Mr. and Mrs. Turner a dressing-down for the way their son bullies Ben.

Rook

Patricia Gunning's butler, with a slight problem.

• The Alcoholic: Consumes more than THREE bottles of alcohol in a single night.
• Big Damn Heroes: Smashes a port bottle over Judith Deacon’s head.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He might be a drunken idiot but he saves Miss Boston’s life.

Aufwaders

In general:

• Does This Remind You of Anything?: One of their ancestors, an Aufwader called Oona, had sex with a human fisherman with the Sight and fell pregnant with his child, resulting in the gods laying the terrible Mother's Curse on them, which causes Aufwader women's blood to turn into brine when they give birth, killing them and usually their child, which is what has pushed them to the brink of extinction. As a result, most of them use the juice from a weed that grows on graves and can only be seen in moonlight to put an end to their pregnancies, a clear metaphor of birth control being prescribed for miscegenation back when racism was high.
• The Fair Folk: A seafaring kind.
• Last of Their Kind: They used to be a thriving people but have been reduced to a small tribe living in a subterranean network of caves due to their women dying in childbirth as a result of a curse laid on them by their gods for one of their ancestors having sex with a human fisherman.

Nelda

The youngest of the Aufwaders. She befriends Ben, much to the displeasure of her community.

• Little Miss Badass: A teenager girl who fought off her Evil Uncle and helped find the treasure of the gods, defying her community in the process, and that’s just in the first book. In the second she makes a huge sacrifice to find the last Guardian.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She moved the third Guardian from the Dark Mirror, allowing Morgawrus to break free.
• Plucky Girl: Called Esau Grendel, the chief village elder an old fool to his face.
• Pregnant Badass: Being pregnant with Esau Grendel’s child doesn’t stop her helping out Ben in The Whitby Child.
• Scarpia Ultimatum: On the receiving end of this from Esau, who promises to reveal the location of the third Guardian of Irl on “one condition.”
• You Killed My Father: Says this to her Uncle Silas.

Hesper Gull

Nelda's aunt who is religiously devoted to finding the Moonkelp in order to lift the Mother's Curse.

• All of the Other Reindeer: Is teased by her fellow Aufwaders for her conviction to find the Moonkelp.
• Fantastic Racism: Downplayed as she doesn't want Nelda mixing with Ben as she fears that as they get older, they may become attracted one another and repeat the crime that got them into trouble with the gods in the first place. She has no hatred for humans though, as when Rowena sends her back in time to when Vikings were invading Whitby and one of the Vikings throws a spear at a child, she jumps into the path of the spear, giving her own life to protect a human.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Takes a spear for a human child and loses her life in the process.
• Never Mess with Granny: Never mess with Auntie! She's fiercely protective of Nelda.
• The Optimist: Never loses hope that the Moonkelp, which is both Prometheus's fire and the Holy Grail in the narrative of the story, will be found and he people will be saved.

[[folder:Silas Gull]]Nelda's violent uncle.

• 0% Approval Rating: The least popular among the Aufwaders, although they still mourn his “passing”.
• Dirty Coward: Likes to pick on small kids.
• The Dragon: To Rowena.
• For the Evulz: Presumably his only motive in helping Rowena Cooper find the Staff of Hilda.
• Hate Sink: He’s a vile, lecherous, murdering coward.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Word of God describes him as possessing hatred for everyone.
• Slimeball: Has this vibe. Is described as constantly “leering”, suggesting a certain amount of lechery on his part.
• Smug Snake: His smug smile never leaves his face until he’s being dragged to a watery death and while he presumably thinks Rowena will share power with him, she clearly regards him as nothing more than a pawn in her plan.
• Taking You with Me: On the receiving end of this from Sister Bridget, when she jumps into the sea, causing the Lords of the Deep to drag her down enabling her to drag him into the water with her.
• What Does She See in Him?: Not even his wife knows why she married him.
• Would Hurt a Child: Tries to kill Ben twice and according to Robin Jarvis, he’s fond of killing human children.

Tarr

Nelda's grandfather and guardian.

• Badass Grandpa; Threatens to unleash a world destroying serpent to kill his gods unless they remove the curse from his people and let his granddaughter live.
• The Determinator: Will stop at nothing to save Nelda and his people.
• Manly Tears: A very manly Aufwader who bursts into floods of tears upon seeing what the Deep Ones have done to his ancestor and them telling him that if he unleashed Morgawrus, it would do worse to her.
• Papa Wolf: Or Grandpapa Wolf at any rate, towards Nelda.
• Rage Against the Heavens: He understandably hates the gods of his people, given that they’ve cursed them.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives the Lords of the Deep a thorough piece of his mind when he and Alice Boston meet them. She gives as good as him.

Esau

The leader of the Triad, the Aufwader governent.

• Dirty Old Man: The most ancient of the Aufwaders, who forces the adolescent Nelda to marry and sleep with him.
• Dying as Yourself: In his final moments, he regains his sanity and whispers “Nelda, forgive me.”
• Ephebophile: Nelda is described as “a child” but is of child-bearing age which means that in Aufwader years, she’s a teenager. Doesn’t stop Esau lusting after her.
• Hate Sink: A dictator and a cruel, perverse old man.
• I Ate WHAT?!: He gains power from drinking from a pool of black ooze in his chamber which he calls his “Dark Mirror”. It transpires to be the tears of Morgawrus, the evil serpent god trapped beneath the ground and while increasing his powers, it’s driven him mad. When the pool evaporates revealing Morgawrus’s eye as he opens it, Esau realises what he’s drunk and the revelation is enough to shock him into sanity.
• Old Man Marrying a Child: Nelda is considered a child by the Aufwaders and he's set on marrying her, despite being the most ancient of the tribe.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Having regained his sanity with his dying breath, he’s consumed with remorse for what he did to Nelda.
• Sanity Slippage: He’s already gone mad by at least the time the second book starts and he just gets worse from there.
• Scarpia Ultimatum: Inflicts one on Nelda, in return for him telling her where to find the third Guardian.

Irl

A legendary figure who stole some of the Moonkelp, the treasure of the gods.

• Creepy Good: An ominous figure in a dark robe who turns out to be a Humanoid Abomination who is the greatest hero of the Aufwaders.
• Expy: Being a legendary figure who stole power from the gods to help his people and was subjected to a Fate Worse than Death as a punishment, he’s one of Prometheus.
• Fate Worse than Death: What the Deep Ones have inflicted on him for stealing some of their treasure. He’s now a Humanoid Abomination whose every movements cause him agony.
• Humanoid Abomination: He’s a tentacled Aufwader sea-creature hybrid with a beak and ulcerous, painful skin.
• In the Hood: Wears a green hooded cloak at all times.
• Mouth of Sauron: Serves at the ambassador of the Lords of the Deep and Dark.

The Coven of the Black Sceptre

A polygamous cult bent on world domination.

Nathaniel Crozier

A mysterious stranger who comes to Whitby.

• A God Am I: Likes to boast that he’s “all-powerful” and “a master of domination and control.”
• And I Must Scream: After being turned into a statue by Morgawrus before falling and shattering.
• Awesome McCoolname: You have to admit, Nathaniel Crozier is a pretty cool name.
• Badass Boast: Brags that he intends to dominate and control the Morgawrus.
• Bad Boss: Of a cult leader and Domestic Abuser variety.
• Back for the Dead: Together with Back from the Dead. In The Whitby Child, the Lord of the Frozen Wastes brings him back from Hell only to send Rowena to send him straight back there!
• Beard of Evil: Sports a beard and is the standard for evil in the series.
• Big Bad: Of A Warlock In Whitby.
• The Casanova: A very dark example. He’s leader of a polygamous cult of women whom he uses and abuses.
• Character Catchphrase: “I am all-powerful, a master of domination and control.”
• The Charmer: His main power, combining strong magical powers with innate charisma.
• Compelling Voice: He has one of these which he can use to make people do what he wants in conjunction with his hypnotic eyes.
• Control Freak: A classic example. He’s obsessed with power and control and constantly brags that he’s a master of them. Even his powers revolve around this.
• Deadpan Snarker: A very subtle but regular example. When the talking head he's interrogating tells him he can find the other Guardians, he answers "Oh good - do you know I was rather hoping you'd say that."
• Did Mom Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Is sipping tea and eating biscuits with Jennet when Ben walks into the kitchen, having just seen him talk to and destroy the first Guardian the previous night. Then later he returns for tea, bringing the Fish-Demon which Jennet can’t see but Ben can this time, just to threaten Ben.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: As with Diary Riddle and Ginny, his interactions with Jennet Laurenson have an uncomfortable subtext of child grooming, even though they’re not.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: As he learns from Morgawrus, not that he learns from it, going on to destroy the mouthpiece of the god that just brought him back from the dead.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: As one of the Guardians of Whitby warns him, to no effect.
• Evil Sorcerer: Albeit one who dresses and acts like a normal person to blend in.
• Expy: Has more than a few traits in common with the UNIT era Master, including hypnotic powers, a Beard of Evil and a tendency to try to achieve world domination by attempting to control or making deals with powerful entities that screw him over.
• Faux Affably Evil: That’s just about the nicest thing you can say about the guy!
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of book one, being the person who sent Rowena to Whitby.
• Hairtrigger Temper: Blows up nastily whenever he’s ever defied.
• Hate Sink: He’s treacherous, merciless, murderous, bloodthirsty, sadistic, manipulative, callous, malicious, vindictive, remorseless, sociopathic, cruel, misogynistic, perverse and very badly dressed.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Comes back in the climax of ‘’The Whitby Child’’.
• Hijacking Cthulhu: Wants to resurrect Morgawrus so that he can gain control of its mind while it’s still sleepy and use its power to Take Over the World. And he nearly succeeds!
• Hypnotic Eyes: Very dark ones that resemble “shards of black glass.”
• It's All About Me: Jennet accurately describes him as “a vile, evil man who cared for no-one but himself.”
• Karmic Death: Two of them. First he's killed by the beast he was obsessed with releasing, then after being brought back from the dead, he's painfully absorbed and killed by the wife he abused.
• Kavorka Man: Although certainly not ugly, he's still not much to look at, but leads a cult consisting entirely of his devoted concubines. Justified in that he's extremely charismatic and they were predominantly unattractive, lonely middle-aged women.
• Knight of Cerebus: Not that the first book was particularly lighthearted but the second book in which he makes his appearance is significantly darker and marks a permanent tonal shift for the trilogy.
• Large Ham: Whenever he uses his powers, he starts Chewing the Scenery. He ‘’really’’ gets into this in the climax of ‘’A Warlock in Whitby’’.
• Literally Shattered Lives: Morgawrus freezes him with his breath and then he falls and smashes into a million pieces. It's deserved!
• Mage in Manhattan: Or Warlock in Whitby. It's even in the title of the book in which he's introduced!
• Manipulative Bastard: A textbook example, to the point that him coming to Whitby in person is out of character as he almost always works through others. He uses his charm and mind power to control vulnerable women and girls and make them act as his minions.
• Near-Villain Victory: He actually had control over Morgawrus until Miss Boston distracted him, enabling Morgawrus to regain its faculties and break free of his mind control.
• No-Sell: All of his attack spells on Morgawrus amount to absolutely nothing.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Prone to petulant outbursts when defied or thwarted.
• Really Gets Around: His coven consists entirely of women he’s slept with.
• Sadist: An emotional ‘’and’’ physical version. He could have just taken the information about the second Guardian from Roper using his mind-reading abilities but decides instead to make it as long and painful as possible, just for his own amusement.
• Slasher Smile: Sometimes sports “an ugly” one of these.
• The Sociopath: You could put a picture of this guy in the Oxford English Dictionary next to the definition of this word. He’s highly manipulative, utterly remorseless for any of the pain he causes and the lives he takes and ruins, cares for utterly no-one but himself, is extremely charming and charismatic, insanely arrogant, has a nasty temper, criminally versatile, lives a parasitic existence using the funds of his wives to achieve his goals and sees others purely as obstacles or means to an end.
• Straw Misogynist: He doesn’t seem to think highly of women, given his attitude towards them and some of his remarks.
  Crozier: How fickle is woman.
• Taken for Granite: Morgawrus does this to him with his icy breath.
• Take Over the World: His ultimate goal, with Morgawrus as his personal WMD.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Warlock, historian, philanderer, most evil man in the world and High Priest of the Coven of the Black Sceptre.
• The Unfettered: He’ll step on or kill anyone or destroy anything to achieve his goals.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: An interesting variation as he's generally a witting instigator of doom, but it's probably due to him speaking the Lord of the Frozen Wastes' name that the other Lords of the Deep were able to learn of their brother's treachery, causing him to come and destroy Whitby and instigating a battle with his brothers that lead to the destruction of the world.
• Wicked Cultured: He’s very well-educated, well-travelled and knowledgeable, uses a sophisticated vocabulary and is described as a historian.
• Would Hit a Girl: Slaps Jennet.
• Would Hurt a Child: Tries to kill Jennet and Ben.

The Brides of Crozier

In General

• Baleful Polymorph: Can turn into huge, vicious hounds.
• Hellhound: See above.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Can assume their dog forms whenever they want.
• Wicked Witch: A whole coven of them.
• Would Hurt a Child: Tasked with killing Ben by the Lords of the Frozen Wastes, they pursue the task enthusiastically and unhesitatingly.

Rowena Cooper / Rosalyn Crozier

An enigmatic newcomer in Whitby who quickly befriends most of the local community, but whom Miss Boston has misgivings about.

• A God Am I: Gains this attitude after she gets possession of the Staff of Hilda.
• Alpha Bitch; Seems to be this towards the rest of the Coven, given the way she talks down to them upon her resurrection, and they recall her stinging barbs.
• Ascend To A Higher Plain Of Existence: After killing Nathaniel, she permanently becomes a servant of the Deep Ones.
• Back from the Dead: The Lord of the Frozen Wastes brings her back to kill Nathaniel.
• Big Bad: Of the first book.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Miss Boston tricks her by challenging her to prove her power over time.
• Deadpan Snarker: Arguably as much as Miss Boston. Just listen to the shade she throws at the Brides after her return from the dead:
  Rowena: My, we have been depleted haven't we. No snivelling Liz, no mannish Miriam or potato-sack Judith, why not even the stunning Meta. Has the harlot deserted us at last? Has she found safety in another man's arms or just his money. What a rag-tag bunch the Coven is, I had almost forgotten.
• Disc-One Final Boss: She’s the final enemy of the first book.
• Dragon with an Agenda: She’s Crozier’s second in command and he sends her to Whitby to find the three Guardians of Irl but instead she sets about finding the Staff of Hilda so that she can use its power to be free of his control, and maybe Take Over the World.
• Eldritch Abomination: Becomes what’s basically a Shoggoth in book three.
• Evil Redhead: Has strawberry blonde hair and is a multiple murderer.
• Evil Sorceress: Has strong magical powers and can turn into a huge, vicious attack dog.
• Hero Killer: Hesper dies as a consequence of her actions.
• Large Ham: Throughout the book but especially when she gets her hands on the Staff.
• Made of Iron: When the Lords of the Deep bring her back, she’s so strong that none of the Brides can harm her.
• Nothing Can Stop Us Now!: Declares herself invincible upon gaining the Staff.
• Pitiful Worms: Calls Miss Boston, Jennet, Nelda and Hesper this when they try to stop her.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Makes fun of Hillian’s broken English and “drab olive face.”
• Prefers Going Barefoot: Is barefoot when Miss Boston first meets her at a party at her house, while everyone else has shoes on.
• Purple Is Powerful: Always wears purple.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one of these to all of the Brides upon her resurrection and it visibly stings them all.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Appears in the first book but come the third, the characters are still traumatised by her actions.
• Socialite: Hosts many parties in her big house in Whitby.
• The Starscream: Subverted. She claims she didn’t want to take Nathaniel’s place as head of the coven and just wanted out.
• Take Over the World: Maaaybe.
• Touched by Vorlons: When she gets her hands on the Staff of Hilda, she has power over time and space.

Meta

A beautiful member of a local band of hippy musicians who arrive in book three.

• Alpha Bitch: She oozes this.
• Attention Whore: As observed by Jennet and repeatedly commented on by Pear.
• Blondes Are Evil: Blonde and a member of a murdering cult.
• The Dragon: Holds this role to Nathaniel, who comments that she excels as an assassin.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Stunningly beautiful but evil and murderous to the core.
• Headturning Beauty: She’s so beautiful, people can’t help but turn and look as she struts down the street, to her delight.
• It's All About Me: Cares about herself, Nathaniel, and on good days, Pear. She needs to be the centre of everyone’s world.
• Jerkass: Behind her charming veneer, she’s a callous, snobbish, conceited bitch who insults and looks down on others.
• Large Ham: Beats all of the other Brides on this score, which is saying something.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After accidentally killing her daughter.
• Narcissist: A somantic example. Pear describes her as “terminally vain.”
• Sexy Walk: Walks “with an accomplished swing of the hips.”
• Small Name, Big Ego: In Pear’s opinion, who describes her as “a former teacher who thinks she’s the Queen of Sheba.”
• Statuesque Stunner: Very tall and easily the most beautiful woman in the series, including Rowena. It’s said that she was the only woman Crozier wed mainly for her beauty.

Persephone “Pear” Crozier

Meta's free-spirited daughter who befriends Jennet.

• Ambiguously Gay: Seems ‘’very’’ attached to Jennet, to the point of sacrificing her life to save her.
• Daddy's Little Villain: Subverted. She’s Crozier’s daughter but not really evil, just deluded about her father’s true nature.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Dies in Meta’s arms, after taking the knife for Jennet.
• The Gadfly: She’s very cheerful and chipper.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Throws herself on Meta’s blade when she tries to stab Jennet.
• Prefers Going Barefoot: Even walks barefoot through the streets. Meta always tries to get her to wear shoes but she scorns them, describing them as “pieces of dead cow.”
• Sacrificial Lion: Dies after defending Jennet in her hound form.
• Troll: Likes to wind up her mother.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: She admits to Jennet that Pear is an odd name but says it's short for something a lot mouthier. Turns out to be Persephone.

Judith Deacon

Patricia Gunning's menacing nurse.

• Axe-Crazy: Proves to be this when the Mask of Sanity comes off in her pivotal scene, ranting about her devotion to Nathaniel and viciously slapping Miss Boston before trying to kill her.
• Beneath the Mask: Presents herself as a confident, authoritative, stern and disciplined woman but beneath that is a very fragile, broken and disturbed individual.
• Berserk Button: Being called an animal by Miss Boston causes her to roar and slap her, probably because she knows it’s true, both metaphorically and literally.
• The Bully: Poisons and beats the elderly Patricia Gunner.
• Control Freak: Demands “complete authority” over the house in her role as Patricia Gunning’s nurse, and limits who can see her. Justified in that she's poisoning her and trying to cover it up.
• Disney Villain Death: Rook smashes a bottle over her head, causing her to fall over the banister to her death on the marble floor below.
• Eat the Rich: She justifies her abuse and ultimately murder of Patricia by saying that she was rich and lived a long, full life.
• Hypocrite: Calls Rook “a servant with an inflated opinion of himself”, which Miss Boston thinks of her. Subverted when she turns out not to have such an inflated opinion of herself.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Worships Nathaniel for loving a “drab, unloved woman” like herself, not realising and refusing to believe that to him she’s just another pawn in his schemes.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Being an ugly and unloved woman, she follows Nathaniel’s orders because it gives her a sense of self-worth.
• Large and in Charge: Built like Agatha Trunchbull and rules the Gunning estate with an iron fist.
• Sadist: Grins manically as she’s about to maul Miss Boston to death and declares that she's proud of having killed Patricia Gunning.
• You Monster!: Miss Boston calls her an “animal.”
• You're Insane!: And this.

Hillian Fogel

Owner of the local antiques shop who arrives in book three.

• Evil Genius: She’s the smartest of the Brides, masterminding Crozier’s resurrection and as a result becomes his High Priestess upon his return.
• Funny Foreigner: It’s unclear where she’s from but her English isn’t so good.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Easily the most intelligent and efficient out of Crozier’s followers, now that Rowena’s dead.
• Lady in a Power Suit: Always wears a very smart dress suit.
• Not So Stoic: The only time she shows any emotion is when the Fish-Monkey attacks her and slashes her face to ribbons.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She’s always immaculately groomed.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Depicted wearing them in the illustration in which she appears.
• The Smart Guy: She’s the one who got the idea of contacting the other side in an attempt to bring back Nathaniel, getting a direct line with the Lord of the Frozen Wastes in the process.
• The Spock: Always consummately business-like and calm in her dealings with others, even when going about murder and even keeps her cool when Nathaniel is brought back, despite being just as fanatically devoted to him as the rest of her sisterhood.
• Team Mom: Seems to care a lot more about the other Brides of Crozier than they care about each other.

Miriam Gower

Owner of the local bookshop, who arrives in book three.

• Death by Irony: Was about to throw Ben off the pier… got thrown off the pier herself for her troubles.
• Disney Villain Death: Falls of the pier to her death.
• Evil Is Petty: She’s the pettiest and nastiest of the Brides, picking on Susan O’Donnell for no reason and hating Meta for being beautiful.
• Fat Bitch: Interestingly enough, she’s initially described as “strictly speaking… not fat” but still a big girl, then described as fat in every other scene in which she appears, and she’s a petty sadist and murderer.
• Hate Sink: She’s a cruel, vicious woman who impersonates an eight-year-old boy’s dead mother in an attempt to lure him to his death.
• Karmic Death: Tells Ben that he’ll either painfully drown or dash his head against the rocks as she prepares to throw him off the pier into the sea, but gets thrown off instead by Sister Frances, resulting in her suffering either one of the fates she’s just described.
• Manipulative Bitch: Wears a suit of enchanted seal skin that enables her to assume the form of the ghost of Ben’s mum to lure him onto the pier so that she can kill him.
• Sadist: ‘’Loves’’ seeing people suffer, including children, to the point that while Hillian watches Ben choking from the living ammonite the three of them have made crawl into his throat with complete stoicism and Suzy finally has a Heel–Face Turn, she watches it in fascinated glee.
• The Sociopath: She’s the most ruthless and uncaring out of the Brides.

Demons and Abominations

The myriad supernatural creatures of the Whitby universe.

The Fish-Demon

The last of the Mallykins, a race of monsters of the ancient world.

• Animalistic Abomination: An ancient, amphibious, carnivorous monster.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Rids the world of Danny Turner and Esau in that order. You’re almost rooting for it by that point. Downplayed in that it’s not really evil, just an animal that needs to feed and survive.
• Disney Villain Death: Takes and antagonistic roll and falls off the Bridge of Sighs during the rise of Morgawrus.
• The Dragon: To Crozier in 'A Warlock in Whitby''.
• It Can Think: Is a primitive creature but seems to possess an almost human level of intelligence.
• Last of Its Kind: The last of the Mallykins, a tribe of demons from the ancient world.
• Made of Iron: All of the Aufwaders blows serve only to anger it.
• One-Man Army: Kills tons of Aufwaders singlehandedly.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: It’s about the same height as Ben but capable of carving through armies of Aufwaders.
• Trademark Favourite Food: Living bipeds apparently, with cats a second.

Morgawrus the Dreaded One

A powerful and ancient serpent, imprisoned beneath the cliffs of Whitby by the gods of the sea.

• Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly has this attitude when it’s fully woken up, belittling Crozier’s futile attempts at subduing it.
• Dragons Are Demonic: It’s an ancient giant, evil serpent that is in some ways a Satan-figure to the Aufwaders.
• Draconic Abomination: A serpent “vast enough to swallow the whole harbour in one gulp” with huge horns and three nostrils.
• The Dreaded: It’s even in its title! “The Dreaded One.” Even the gods fear this thing.
• Enemy to All Living Things: Is even called this in universe.
• God of Evil: An evil Physical God that wrought terror in the world until it was subdued by the Gods of the Sea.
• It Can Think: It may look like a mindless beast which is what Crozier expects it to be but it proves highly articulate, quite witty and easily as intelligent as any human being, potentially even vastly moreso.
• No-Sell: None of Crozier’s spells work on it after it breaks free of his mind control.
• Physical God: A giant, immortal serpent.
• Pitiful Worms: Calls Miss Boston and Crozier “tiny insects” and mocks Crozier as “little man.”
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Was imprisoned beneath the cliffs of Whitby by the Lords of the Deep and Dark and Irl stole the Moonkelp to make three Guardian objects that would keep it tethered, once the Deep One’s enchantments began to wane.

The Fish-Monkey

A small mummified creature sent by the Lord of the Frozen Wastes to assist the coven.

• Berserk Button: Disrespecting the Lord of the Frozen Wastes in any manner whatsoever.
• Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Is described as having one of these, in keeping with its brittle, emaciated appearance.
• Dying Curse: Warns Crozier and his Brides that the Lord of the Frozen Wastes will have his revenge on them, after his body is smashed to bits by Crozier.
• Hairtrigger Temper: Loses it whenever the Lord of the Frozen Wastes is disrespected or someone fails in their mission or proposes an idea that he thinks is stupid.
• Mouth of Sauron: The Mouth of the Lord of the Frozen Wastes! He’s described in the book as the “mouthpiece of the Allpowerful.”
• Politically Incorrect Villain: When attacking Hillian for betraying the Lord of the Frozen Wastes, he calls her "harridan of the East", which is a bit weird considering being a creature of the deep, he's neither an Easterner, nor a Westerner.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Subjects Miriam to one of these when she proposes poisoning Ben, not unlike the one the Grand High Witch subjected one of her Witches to after suggesting poisoning children, and gives one to Nathaniel after he lets Miss Boston and the Laurenson children get away, then another one to Hillian when she say she hopes that Ben ‘’does’’ bring about the death of the Lord of the Frozen Wastes.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Takes an increasingly dim view of the competency and intellect of the Brides of Crozier the more they try and fail to kill Ben.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To the Fish-Demon, being an ancient minion of the main villain that’s part fish. Subverted in that it’s an intelligent being rather than a primitive animal.
• Undying Loyalty: To its master, the Lord of the Frozen Wastes, to the point of flying into a rage whenever he is disrespected.
• Unstoppable Rage: Attacks Hillian and slashes her face to ribbons in fury when she says now that the Coven has its Priest back they don't need the Lord of the Frozen Wastes anymore and she hopes Ben does destroy him because she's sick of him bossing them around. It gets him killed by Crozier.

The Lords of the Deep and Dark

The gods of the sea and "Powers of the World", worshiped (reluctantly) by the Aufwaders.

• Above Good and Evil: Think this of themselves but Aunt Alice ain’t buying it, telling them that although they’re the gods of the world, they’ll still answer to the God of the Universe.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Operate by this at the best of times.
• The Chessmaster: They caused Mr. and Mrs. Laurenson’s car to crash into a river so that Ben and Jennet would be adopted by Miss Boston and taken to live in Whitby, so that Ben could use his Sight to find their stolen treasure.
• Eldritch Abomination: Three of them: huge, tentacled, physical gods of the sea.
• Expy: Are essentially the Valar of the story, being deities capable of shaping reality, but still presumably subordinate to the creator of the universe.
• I Have Many Names: The Lords of the Deep and Dark or just the Lords of the Deep for Short, the Deep Ones or the Triad.
• Jerkass Gods: Placed the Mother’s Curse, which causes women’s blood to turn into brine in childbirth on the Aufwaders just because on of them slept with a human being and turned Irl into their Humanoid Abomination slave after he stole a small amount of their Moonkelp to make objects to keep Morgawrus enchained.
• Lord of the Ocean: Three sea gods who also happen to be the gods of the planet.
• Manipulative Bastard: Use Ben for their own goals in regaining the Moonkelp, although they’re outplayed by Rowena Cooper.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The Lord of the Circling Seas is the Nicest (though that’s still not saying much), the Lord of the Roaring Waters is In Between as he doesn’t really join in much and the Lord of the Frozen Wastes is definitely the Meanest!
• Pet the Dog: The Lord of the Circling Seas and the Lord of the Roaring Waters recreate the entire world after its destruction in their battle with their evil brother, with everyone they killed alive again, including Ben and Jennet’s parents. They even lift the Mother’s Curse, give Irl his freedom and the Aufwaders a new home.
• Physical God: Three of them. A battle between them is enough to completely destroy the entire planet.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Subject Irl to a Fate Worse than Death for stealing Moonkelp from them despite the fact that he only did it to strengthen the weakening bonds on Morgawrus, who if it got free, would have come for them first.

The Lord of the Circling Seas

The apparent leader of the Deep Ones.

• A Lighter Shade of Black: He’s the most pleasant of his siblings but still thinks the Aufwaders deserve their suffering.
• Authority Sounds Deep: Is described as having a very deep voice, and is a Physical God.
• Big Good: The closest to one out of his siblings.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Nice, at least compared to the Lord of the Frozen Wastes.

The Lord of the Roaring Waters

One of the Deep Ones.

• Nice Mean And In Between: In between his brothers.
• The Nondescript: He doesn’t say or contribute much.

The Lord of the Frozen Wastes

The most ruthless and feared of the Deep Ones.

• Big Bad: Of the final book.
• The Chessmaster: Somehow manipulated Crozier into going to Whitby to try and release Morgawrus in the hope that it would kill his brothers so that he could rule the seas himself.
• Dirty Coward: Quails before his brothers when they come after him, but still puts up one heck of a fight.
• The Dreaded: Is feared by all. Irl tells Miss Boston and Tarr to be particularly afraid of him before their audience with the Triad.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: The only unambiguously evil one out of his siblings and check out his name.
• Evil Overlord: One of the Lords of the Ocean and irredeemably evil.
• Expy: Of Melkor, being the evil one of the Valar stand-ins.
• God of Evil: Is described as “the evil Power of the World.”
• Greater-Scope Villain: For the first two books, being the true power behind Crozier and his Brides.
• He Who Must Not Be Named: The Fish-Monkey repeatedly warns the Coven not to speak his name because there are invisible spies everywhere who could report to his brothers. He's generally just referred to as "The Allpowerful."
• I Can Rule Alone: Doesn’t want to share power with his brothers anymore.
• If I Can't Have You…: When he knows that his brothers know about his conspiracies to murder them, he knows that they’ll kill him so he decides to completely destroy Whitby.
• Irony: He uses the Coven for his own ends but they also use him for his. He still gets the last laugh however.
• It's All About Me: Only cares for his own power and dominion and not even his siblings matter to him.
• Leave No Survivors: When his treachery is exposed, he decides to utterly annihilate Whitby and everyone in it.
• Manipulative Bastard: The biggest in the series, which is saying something!
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The meanest out of his brothers, which again, is saying something.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: “Frozen Wastes” don’t exactly sound like a holiday destination do they.
• No Man of Woman Born: Learns from looking into the future that Ben will bring about the destruction of him and his brothers and immediately acts to neutralise the threat, in the name of his self-preservation naturally as he’s not exactly a family man. Or god.
• Taking You with Me: When he knows his brothers are coming for him, he decides if he’s going down, so’s Whitby.
• Put Them All Out of My Misery: Whitby is the home of the people who defied and challenged him the most and he demolishes the entire seaside down when he knows his brothers are coming to destroy him.
• The Sociopath: Remorseless, manipulative and caring for no-one but himself, he certainly qualifies as much as Crozier.
• Xanatos Gambit: Promises the Coven of the Black Sceptre that he will resurrect their High Priest if they kill the boy who is destined to destroy him, while secretly resurrected their High Priestess as an Eldritch Abomination to kill him, knowing that their Priest will attempt to take revenge on him for using him.

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