Characters / Wicked Lovely

Characters in the Wicked Lovely series. Both marked and unmarked spoilers abound.

Summer Court Fey

Aislinn Foy

Aislinn Foy

The protagonist of Wicked Lovely, Aislinn is a mortal girl turned fey by Keenan. She is the Summer Queen.

• Badass Bookworm: She may be a faery queen, but she's also very scholarly as well. Even before becoming a faery she'd been a high-achiever at her high school, and plans on going to college, no matter what Keenan thinks of the idea.

• Big Damn Heroes: She and Keenan burst into Beira's home after taking the test, just as Beira is torturing Seth. The two of them proceed to kick Beira's ass and kill her.

• The Cutie: She's shown to be very pretty, sweet and kind, especially during her first appearance in Wicked Lovely.
• Cute Bookworm: She's very sweet and nice when you first meet her as a mortal. She's also a high-achiever at her local school who is determined to go to college and earn a degree.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Somewhat. Her mother died when she was a baby, and causing her to be raised by her grandmother, Elena Foy. Because Aislinn had the ability to see all faeries, her grandmother sought to protect from their notice by creating a number of rules for her to obey, resulting in a rather strict upbringing for Aislinn.
• Everyone Can See It: Most of Aislinn's friends in Huntsdale can tell that Seth is madly in love with Aislinn, and that Aislinn loves him back. It's just Aislinn who can't see it.

• Half-Human Hybrid: Though she's not half-human like Ani, Rabbit and Tish, she probably has some faerie ancestry as she has the power to see faeries. Confirmed in Cold Iron Heart. She is descended from Thelma, a Sighted mortal, and Irial, the former Dark King.

• Interspecies Romance: Is in a relationship with Seth, a human, for the majority of the series.

• Love at First Sight: Played with in an interesting way. While Seth reveals that he's been in love with Aislinn for seven months, Aislinn only just realises it over the course of Wicked Lovely and feels guilty for leading him on for so long. She'd been in love with him for almost as long as he'd been loving her, but had been too shy to say so, because she didn't want anything to change between them.

• Oblivious to Love: She has no clue that Seth loves her (or that she loves him) until he full-on admits it to her.

• Ship Tease: Between her and Seth in Wicked Lovely, before they finally confess their feelings for one another and agree to start dating. There's also some teasing between her and Keenan, due to Aislinn being instantly attracted to him because of their bond as Summer King and Queen.

Keenan

Keenan

The Summer King.

• Brought Down to Normal: He is turned into a mortal at the end of Darkest Mercy, as a result of him giving all of his winter essence to Donia to heal her after she is badly injured by Bananach. He regains his fey status after performing the rowan-staff ritual Donia had gone through years earlier, and ends up becoming a winter faery and Donia's consort.

• Friend Versus Lover: After Aislinn becomes Summer Queen both Keenan and Aislinn's mortal boyfriend, Seth, become rivals for her affection.

• Healing Hands: With the power of sunlight, Keenan can heal any wound a summer faery has by just laying hands upon them. He does this to Ailsinn in Fragile Eternity, after she is badly injured by Donia's ice.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Twice. First, he sacrifices his place as Summer King to make sure the Summer Court is strong enough to fight in the battle against Bananach. Second, he gives up his mortality to save Donia's life after she is mortally wounded by Bananach during the final battle.

• Parental Abandonment: His father was murdered by his mother; his mother then proceeded to neglect and ignore him. The only parental figure he had in his life was his adviser, Tavish.
• Really 700 Years Old: He is just over nine-hundred years old.

• Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: Half of Keenan's power as the Summer King, sealed away by Beira and Irial.

• Unwanted Spouse: He and Aislinn become this for one another. They are both trapped by their instinctual attraction to one another (something that was caused by the bond created between them due to their shared summer magic) while at the same time in love with other people. Keenan longs to be with Donia, the new Winter Queen, but is unable to because of his duty to his court, which requires him to try and romance Aislinn to make the summer fey stronger.

Tavish

Tavish

Summer fey, and advisor to Keenan and later Aislinn.

• Taking the Bullet: Takes the stabbing meant for Siobhan in "Summer-Bound". Fortunately he survives.

Winter Court Fey

Beira

Beira

The Big Bad of Wicked Lovely, and the Winter Queen who precedes Donia. She is the mother of Keenan.

• Abusive Parents: There's probably no mother in the series more abusive than Beira. She treats her son Keenan horribly, neglecting him emotionally during his childhood and later
• Ambition Is Evil: Her primary aim in binding Keenan's powers and limiting the Summer Court was to make her own court more powerful.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Keenan is this to her after he takes Miach's place as Summer King. Though it was largely Beira's fault— if she hadn't pushed Keenan away so much he would have become her heir instead of turning to Summer.

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She is very beautiful, but has a cold heart.

• Character Death: She is killed by Aislinn and Keenan at the end of Wicked Lovely.

• Evil Is Deathly Cold: Beira's heart is as cold as her natural element, snow and ice.

• Faux Affably Evil: She acts friendly and caring to those she approaches (mainly Keenan and Donia) but it's just an act; deep inside she's cold and a jerkass through and through.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Everyone is scared of Beira as Winter Queen and tries to stay out of her way and not anger her. Even her own fey hate and fear her, and are actually relieved when she's gone.
• The Heartless: Beira doesn't seem to care about anything or anyone except herself. It is implied that she did love the previous Summer King, Miach, but was manipulated into murdering him by Bananach, however. It's also possible that she did care for her own son before he chose to become the next Summer King in place of Miach.

• Karmic Death: She is killed the same way she tried to murder Donia— by breathing into her mouth. In Beira's case, it was sunlight being blown into her lungs that killed her.

• Rank Scales with Asskicking: As the Winter Queen she is stronger than most other faeries except for other monarchs. Hence the reason none of the fey can defeat her until Keenan has been freed from his curse.
• Really 700 Years Old: She is hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of years old.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Before killing Miach and cursing Keenan, she was probably this. Unfortunately Bananach's machinations led to her Start of Darkness...
• Start of Darkness: Her decision to kill Miach (though influenced by Bananach) is what brought her over the edge into full villainy.
• Unwitting Pawn: She was just a tool used by Bananach to further her goal of war and put the courts off-balance.
• Woman Scorned: Implied to be the reason for Beira turning all psycho (because of Miach).

Donia

Donia

The Winter Girl in Wicked Lovely, and later Queen of the Winter Fey. She is in love with Keenan.

• A Friend in Need: Agrees to accept Rika's fealty to the Winter Court after Rika tells her of Keenan's machinations in the desert and the trouble he's causing her. She also privately considers what's in it for her, thinking that the desert fey would make good allies for her court.

• Badass Boast:

  "I am the Winter Queen. As those before me, I will carry the wind and ice."

• Badass in Distress: She is wounded and almost killed by Bananach in the final battle. It takes Keenan's Heroic Sacrifice (giving her all of his winter essence) for her to recover from it.

• Celibate Hero: She was celibate the entire time she carried the cold, though she did love Keenan from afar.

• Fate Worse than Death: Is forced to live with freezing shards of ice in her veins for over fifty years. Fortunately, it ends after Aislinn picks up the staff and becomes the Summer Queen.

• Heroic Sacrifice: Even knowing that she'll die if Aislinn picks up the staff, Donia still encourages Keenan to win the game, knowing that Aislinn's becoming Summer Queen will break the curse and defeat Beira.

• In-Series Nickname: 'Don'.

• Magical Girl: Donia is a mortal-turned-faerie who can manipulate ice and snow.

• Non-Human Sidekick: Her wolf Sasha is this for her.
• Official Couple: With Keenan.

• Opposites Attract: Keenan is the impulsive, tempestuous king of the Summer Court. Donia is the reserved and cold Winter Queen. They fell in love when Keenan was wooing her as a mortal and later continue their relationship after Keenan's curse is broken.

• Reasonable Authority Figure: As Winter Queen.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Keenan's red.

• Ruling Couple: Rules the Winter Court with Keenan as her king-consort after the end of the series.

• The Stoic: She is usually calm and reserved, as is the way with the winter fey. She rarely shows any emotions when speaking in a formal audience with other monarchs such as Keenan and Aislinn.
  • Not So Stoic: When she sees Beira kill Agatha and realises that she would meet the same fate if Keenan wins the game. She retreats into her cottage and hugs Sasha silently while crying for hours until Keenan comes to see her.
• Took a Level in Badass: After becoming the Winter Queen.

• True Companions: With Evan, her friend and advisor, and also with the other Winter Girls, who she states are all sisters to one another.
• The Un Chosen One: She is one of the girls who chose to take Keenan's test, but ended up being frozen instead of becoming Keenan's queen.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets one from Keenan in Fragile Eternity, after she stabs Aislinn with her ice (something which almost kills Aislinn).

• Youngest Child Wins: Donia is the youngest of the girls to become Winter Girl and bear the ice in her veins; in the end, she has the happiest ending out of all of them.

Evan

Evan

Donia's advisor and confidant in the Winter Court.

• The Confidant: Becomes this for Donia over the course of Wicked Lovely, and continues to be so for the rest of the series.

• Really 700 Years Old: Like most fey, he is probably centuries, if not thousands, of years old.

Dark Court Fey

Irial

Irial

The Dark King in Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange.

• Back from the Dead: At the end of Darkest Mercy, Irial is returned to life after agreeing to take Bananach's place as Discord.

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Niall, before Niall forgives him for what he did to him and Leslie. In Old Habits it's revealed that there's quite a bit of this between Irial and the High Queen, Sorcha.
• Big Bad: Of Ink Exchange. Sort of. It's noted in the book that his intentions aren't evil, but that some of his actions are.
• Broken Pedestal: Niall's image of him was shattered when Irial gave him to his fey to be raped and abused in place of the mortals Niall wanted to spare. It takes him centuries to accept that, however it looked at the time, Irial never wanted to hurt Niall and was only doing what he thought best for his court.

Irial:

• Dark Is Not Evil: He's made of the stuff of nightmares. However, he's also kind at times and very protective of those he loves.

• Doting Grandparent: Intends to be this when he discovers that Aislinn is his great-granddaughter. To the point where he sends her a lavish gift of two tiger cubs.

• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Irial may be made of the stuff of nightmares, but there's no denying that he truly cares for Niall, Gabriel, Ani, Tish, Rabbit, and Leslie, and would fight to the death to keep them safe.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Niall is attracted to him for centuries, though it takes him a long time to admit it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A non-fatal example. At the end of Ink Exchange Irial gives up his title as Dark King so his court won't be weakened by his love for Leslie. In Stopping Time Irial goes even further, encouraging Niall to pursue a relationship with Leslie so that they can both be happy together.
  • He sacrifices his life to save Ani's when Bananach attacks her, by taking the brunt of the poisoned blade meant for her.
  • A century before the series began, he gave up his memories of his lover and their child to protect them from the Summer King's curse.
• Horror Hunger: He feeds off the negative emotions of other faeries.
• In-Series Nickname: Iri.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He encourages Niall and Leslie to be together at the end of Stopping Time, seeming content to watch the two people he loves be happy together.

• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Allows Sorcha to take away his memories of Thelma and Elena to protect them from the Summer King's curse.
• Legacy Character: At the very end of the series, he takes Bananach's place as Discord.

• Really 700 Years Old: He is thousands of years old.

Niall

Niall

A gancanagh. Originally of the Dark Court, but after a traumatic event he left and pledged his loyalty to the Summer Court, becoming an advisor to Miach and later Keenan. He later returns to the Dark Court as its king after being betrayed by Keenan.

• Bodyguard Crush: Leslie crushes on Niall after she sees the latter at Bishop OC with Keenan and Aislinn. Unbeknownst to her, Niall actually serves as her guard from a distance, not revealing himself to her as per Aislinn's orders (as she doesn't want her human friends to be dragged into the faery world like she had been). This crush is quickly reciprocated by Niall, who begins to feel attracted to Leslie during the nights he is watching her from afar.
• Broken Pedestal: Centuries ago, Niall broke all ties with Irial and the Dark Court after he discovered what cruelty Irial was capable of and revelled in as the Dark King. The pedestal is rebuilt eventually, as Niall realises that everything Irial did to him and the humans he fed on was because he had to.
  • Niall breaks all ties with Keenan after he realises that Keenan used him and put Leslie in danger just to further his own goals. Unlike the Irial pedestal, this is unlikely to ever be fully rebuilt.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: Like all faeries, Niall can't lie.
• Chick Magnet: All the girls (both human and faerie) seem find him quite attractive. For humans, this is a bad thing.

• Conflicting Loyalty: Throughout Ink Exchange Niall feels conflicting loyalty between his king, Keenan, and his old lover, the Dark King, Irial.

• Emotion Eater: He can feed on the emotions of other faeries. After he becomes Dark King he uses this power to keep all of his fey sated.

• Face–Heel Turn: He rejoins the Dark Court at the end of Ink Exchange. Most summer faeries (Aislinn and Keenan in particular) view this as a Face–Heel Turn, since the Summer Court has long been enemies with the Dark Court. However, Donia and the winter fey don't seem to feel that way, as their court had always been on good terms with the Dark Court and so they don't view Niall as having become 'evil'.

• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Niall has a long scar running down his face. He's still a good guy (at least, as far as 'good' goes in the Dark Court). Neither does the scar detract from his rather attractive appearance.

• Horror Hunger: He feeds off the negative emotions of other faeries. As Dark King, he has the power to feed all his fey like this.
• Important Haircut: After leaving the Dark Court Niall cut his hair short because of trauma-related reasons and to make himself less attractive to mortals.
• Not Himself: In Darkest Mercy, the shade of dead Irial persists in Niall's mind, and sometimes takes full possession of the body, causing the already-falling-apart-at-the-seams Niall to black out now and then, only to come to and realize that he's stabbed someone else without being aware of it and other such things. Keenan figures out what's going on after realizing that Niall is not himself and that Niall's behaviour is very similar to the last Dark King, Irial.

• Pretty Boy: He is described as very good-looking, despite having a scar running down his face.
• Rape as Backstory: Was raped by the Dark Court denizens centuries ago, in a horrific manner. It was the main reason he abandoned the Dark Court to serve Miach.
• Really 700 Years Old: He is almost as old as Irial, and is certainly old enough that he'd lived in Faerie when the Dark Court still held court there thousands of years ago.

• Resigned to the Call: At the end of Ink Exchange, Niall is forced by Irial into becoming the Dark King. He is not happy about it, but realises that he can't do anything about it now as he can't just give the kingship to any faerie he meets.
• Sadistic Choice: After Niall protested against Irial playing with (read: raping) the mortals he'd brought to the Dark Court, Irial gave him a choice: he could give the mortals to the court or he could give himself. Niall chose to give himself.

• Senseless Sacrifice: Views his decision to take the mortals' place as this, as they withered and died anyway, lusting away for his touch.

• Took a Level in Jerkass: After becoming the Dark King. Justified, since he has to be more menacing and jerkass-like when dealing with the sorts of fey that live in his court, Bananach especially. However, Ani notes in Radiant Shadows that Niall is still not as cruel as he could be, and calls him a 'humane king' who keeps his court on a leash. It's also revealed that Irial deals with the more dirty aspects of being Dark King because Niall can't handle it himself.

Bananach

Bananach

One of the two original faeries, and the embodiment of war and chaos. She is sister to Sorcha, mother-sister to Devlin, and adoptive aunt to Seth.

• Ax-Crazy: Her future-sight and the centuries of playing her role have driven her completely mad.
• Blood Knight: She longs for blood, war and chaos. Each of her actions and choices are calculated to bring about war in the faery world. The Ly Ergs support her for this reason, as they are also BloodKnights with a longing for the violence war would bring.

• Femme Fatalons: Bananach's trademark features are her bird-like talons, which she uses to her advantage in battle.
• The Nicknamer: She really seems to like nick-naming other faeries. Some of her nicknames include 'the Ash Queen' (Aislinn), 'Snow' (Donia), and 'Gabriel's Girl' (Ani).
• Omnicidal Maniac: Bananach solely desires war, blood and chaos, and doesn't care how many fey or mortals die to achieve it. In fact, she seems to relish the deaths of others, or at least it doesn't disturb her at all.
• Really 700 Years Old: She is the second-oldest faerie on earth.
• Sanity Slippage: It's implied that she's become insane over the millenia, for whatever reason.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: She is the embodiment of war and discord—the complete opposite of her twin Sorcha.
• Would Hurt a Child: Bananach murders Tish, a girl just out of adolescence, in cold blood.

Gabriel

Gabriel

The Gabriel of the Hounds, and father of Tish, Ani and Rabbit. He is killed by Bananach in Darkest Mercy.

• Action Dad: He is the feared leader of the Hounds and rides out with them on the Wild Hunt; he is also the father of Ani, Tish and Rabbit.
• Ambiguously Evil: Like all dark fey. He appears menacing, especially to those not of his court, but he also has a good heart and is not willfully evil.
• Brutal Honesty: All the Gabriels are known for this, and this Gabriel is no exception. It's the main reason he's not suitable to be Dark King— he is too blunt and honest when a Dark King must be more subtle at times.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: Like all faeries, he cannot lie.
• The Confidant: Is this for Irial, both before and after Irial's abdication. Once Niall becomes Dark King he acts as confidant to him as well.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone calls him by his title, Gabriel.

• The Leader: He is the leader of the Hounds for the majority of the series, until his death in Darkest Mercy.
• Non-Human Sidekick: He has a steed which he rides out on during the Hunt.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: He's only known as 'Gabriel'. No one even knows his real name.
• Outliving One's Offspring: But only by some weeks. His daughter Tish is murdered by Bananach not so long before he is.
• Really 700 Years Old: He is centuries old.

Chela

Chela

Gabriel's second-in-command of the Hounds, and his casual lover. She becomes Gabriela in his place after his death in Darkest Mercy.

• Action Girl: Is this as a Hound. Gets even more prominent once she becomes the Gabriela.

• The Leader: Of the Hounds after Gabriel's death.
• Magical Girl: She's a faery. Though as a Hound, her main power comes from brute force, rather than magic.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Her steed is this for her.
• Psychic Link: To her steed and the rest of the Hounds.
• Really 700 Years Old: She is centuries old.
• Undying Loyalty: To Gabriel, the Hounds and the Dark King.

The High Court

Sorcha

Sorcha

The High Queen, ruler of the High Court in Faerie, and also the first faerie to have existed (along with Bananach).

• Cannot Tell a Lie: Like all faeries.

• The Fog of Ages: By her own account, she can't remember a lot of what happened when she first created Faerie and began the faery race.
• The High Queen: Of the High Court, and Faerie as a whole before the Shadow Court is formed.

• Mama Bear: When it comes to Seth's safety, she will do anything to ensure it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her worry over Seth and her insistence on watching over him through the magic mirror Rae procures for her in her dream almost causes the destruction of Faerie.

• Really 700 Years Old: She is the oldest faery on earth, alongside Bananach.
• Reality Warper: Sorcha warps the very world around her, and not always voluntarily. This is why she never ventures into the mortal world.

• Sanity Slippage: In Radiant Shadows, after using her own blood to turn Seth into a faerie she becomes increasingly unstable and unbalanced.
• Seers: She can see the threads of possibile futures of those around her, except her own and that of those she loves.
• Sibling Rivalry: Has one against her twin Bananach, in which Devlin is a pawn. Sorcha is determined to be independent of Bananach, and eventually be able to be rid of her once and for all.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Sorcha is the embodiment of reason and order; Bananach is the embodiment of chaos and war. Unsurprisingly, they don't get along very well.
• Would Hurt a Child: She was perfectly willing to send Devlin to murder the four-year-old Ani. Justified, since she is reason-personified and incapable of feeling any emotion or empathy for anything. When ordering Ani's death, she was simply doing what she thought was the most logical solution.

Seth

Seth

Aislinn's boyfriend, and adoptive son of the High Queen Sorcha.

• Badass in Distress: Is held prisoner by Niall and later Bananach in Darkest Mercy.

• Determinator: He does whatever he can to fulfill his own wish of being together with Aislinn for eternity, going so far as to asking Sorcha to turn him into a faerie. He will not let Keenan take Aislinn's love away from him.
  • Later, he never gives up in his quest to hunt down Bananach and kill her.
• Friend Versus Lover: He and Keenan have this sort of relationship after Aislinn becomes the Summer Queen, as they are both competing for her attention.

• Interspecies Romance: With Aislinn, a faery, while he is still human.
• Nice Guy: He is generally a nice person. He is certainly one of the nicest fey (once he becomes one, that is).
• Parental Abandonment: His biological parents left him alone to pursue their own interests travelling around the globe.
• Reality Warper: After being made into a faery by Sorcha, in the human world Seth can bend reality to his will.
• Seers: After Sorcha turns him into a faerie, he is able to see the threads of other people's possible futures.
• Try Not to Die: Devlin says this to him just before he leaves Faerie to try and hunt down Bananach.
• Understanding Boyfriend: To an unimaginable degree.
• Wonder Child: He was made into a faery using some of Sorcha's essence, thus making him Sorcha's son.

The Shadow Court

Devlin

Devlin

The first male faerie, and brother-son to Bananach and Sorcha. Acts as the High Queen's Bloody Hands.

• Badass Boast:

  Devlin: I’m the High Court Assassin. Trust me when I say that running from me is not in your best interest, Ani.

• Be Yourself: The majority of Devlin's character development is focused on him accepting his own nature and breaking away from the stoicism the High Court and Sorcha expect of him. Because he wanted so much to belong in Sorcha's court, he chose to deny his own nature and pretend to be High Court. It takes Rae, Ani, and the conflict caused by Bananach and Sorcha in Radiant Shadows to make him confront and accept who he really is.
• Blind Obedience: He is very loyal to Sorcha, and generally always obeys her orders (except for a few fateful times), when he is the High Court Assassin. However, while he doesn't fail to obey her he does question her judgement from time to time, such as when she sends him into the mortal world to watch over Seth.
• Brains and Brawn: The brain to Ani's brawn. Though Ani is just as smart and capable of thinking up plans as he is, she's more likely than he is to willfully leap into action without thinking things through, while he prefers to weigh up his options before choosing the best course of action.
• Break the Haughty: Irial warns Devlin of the possibility of this happening when Devlin comes to his house for permission to take Ani with him away from Huntsdale to protect her from Bananach. It doesn't actually end up occurring, however.

• Bruiser with a Soft Center: He's a skilled assassin and feared by most faeries, but deep down he really has a soft heart. It's most obvious when he's interacting with or thinking about Rae and/or Ani.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: Like all faeries.
• Celibate Hero: For all eternity, he's been completely alone, and has never been in any sort of romantic relationship before. When he ends up falling for Ani and thinks about dating her, he's amused at the thought that for all the millenia he's existed, he's more innocent than Ani when it comes to relationships and love.
• The Confidant: Is this, in a way, to Sorcha, though Sorcha doesn't reveal all of her secrets to him.
• Conflicting Loyalty: For most of his long existence he has been conflicted between his loyalty to his mother-sister and queen, Sorcha, and his other mother-sister, Bananach. This is complicated even more when Rae comes into the picture. Out of compassion, love and responsibility Devlin chooses to hide her in Faerie and keep her a secret from his own queen, despite knowing that he is being disloyal to his mother-sister by not reporting all that goes on in her domain. Because of his love for Rae he reluctantly agrees to spare Ani after he is ordered by Sorcha to end her life, and realises as he does so that he's being disloyal to his own mother-sister yet again, and feels extremely guilty about it.

• Deadpan Snarker: Has shades of this.
• Declaration of Protection: He vows to keep Rae safe when he first finds her in Faerie (as part of the first wish he granted her).
  • Over a century later he swears to protect Ani with his life, and always put her well-being before his own. This when they are facing Bananach, who is threatening to take Ani's life as Ani did not obey her wishes and kill Niall and Seth.

• Fatal Flaw: His extreme pride could be said to be this for him. It almost ends up killing him, near the end of Radiant Shadows, when he refuses Seth's offer of blood just because he's too proud to admit to Ani that he needs blood as sustenance to survive. It's only thanks to Ani, who gives Devlin her own blood after he passes out, that he doesn't weaken or die because of it.
• Friendless Background: He had no friends at all before meeting Rae. His job as the High Court Assassin prevents him from having a social life, as everyone finds him too frightening to approach and befriend him.
• Foil: To Gabriel, leader of the Hounds and Ani's father. Both are Honest Advisors and serve as 'thugs' in their courts. The only difference is their personalities: Gabriel is blunt and impulsive, while Devlin is more stoic and pragmatic.
  • Devlin and Niall are this to each other. Both start their character arcs serving a court opposite to their own natures as an Honest Advisor, but eventually come to accept their natures and who they are and become kings of another court better suited to their personalities. Differences are that Niall was running away from his own nature out of fear, while Devlin had been hiding his nature out of a need to belong in the High Court.

• Green-Eyed Monster: Has a bit of this during his, Ani, Niall and Irial's shared dream, when he sees Ani's closeness to Irial.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: As the High Queen's Bloody Hands, he has a rather fearsome reputation both outside and inside of Faerie. Among the other courts he is viewed with a lot of wariness, because of what he does and who he is; in the Dark Court he is feared and hated, as he steals away Dark Court halflings to take back to Faerie on Sorcha's orders. Ani especially despises him, because he murdered her mother long ago, and it takes her a long time after she becomes acquainted with him to actually like and trust him. He has no friends aside from Rae in Faerie as the fey stay away from him because of his reputation, and he admits to himself that he's often very lonely because of it.
• Hidden Depths: When Seth (and the reader) first meets him in Fragile Eternity, he appears frightening and menacing, which is how most faeries see him. His first act after being initially introduced to Seth in Faerie is to strangle him into unconsciousness. Come Radiant Shadows, in which Devlin is the Deuteragonist, it becomes plain that there is much more to him than cold-blooded killing and obedience to Sorcha. He is revealed to have been protecting a spectral girl in Faerie for the past century, and also had disobeyed his queen in the matter of ending Ani's life, instead choosing to spare her as a favour to Rae and because his own heart was crying out against killing her. He also turns out to be quite emotional and attracted to violence and blood by his own nature, but hides this in his attempt to belong in the High Court.
• Hitman with a Heart: Definitely. He spares Ani's life after being ordered to assassinate her (though mainly because Rae asked him to spare her), and even beforehand his heart cried out at the thought of killing Ani.
• Honest Advisor: To Sorcha. He's not afraid to tell her what he really thinks and question her judgement.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Ani only reaches up to Devlin's shoulder.

• Intergenerational Friendship: With Ani and Rae, given that he's centuries older than either of them.

• Love at First Sight: Downplayed. He and Ani don't fall in love straight away, but are attracted to one another from the moment they first meet. They only end up loving each other after having been on the run together for over a week.
• Love Confession: Devlin's is possibly one of the most heartwarming confessions in the series.
• Nice Guy: Once you get underneath all the arrogance and the Hidden Heart of Gold-hiding facade, he turns out to be a very nice guy.
• No Social Skills: Played with. Devlin has some social skills, but his lack of companionship (aside from Rae) and his unfamiliarity with some mortal customs result in some awkward situations for him when he is on the run with Ani. When stopping at a toilet on the side of the road, Devlin follows Ani into the ladies' toilet, wanting to protect her there, and is stopped by a group of angry-looking women. It's only then that he realises that men aren't meant to enter the ladies' toilet and that it's considered impolite to do so. Later, while in Barry, he goes deep into contemplation and stays silent for days, not even touching Ani, thinking about how to protect Ani from both his sisters. After three days of this a very irate Ani finally calls him out on it, and he then realises that what he'd been doing hadn't been especially nice, especially given that he was also depriving Ani of the physical touch she needed to stave off her skin-hunger. After seeing that he apologises, explains that he's not used to being around other people and making conversation with them, and tells her to just start speaking to him if he accidentally starts giving her the silent treatment again.

• Though they are from completely opposite courts, Ani quickly realises that Devlin is more like the dark fey than he cares to admit.

• Opposites Attract: Devlin is the stoic, cool and collected assassin of the High Court. Ani is a hot-blooded, impulsive young Hound who isn't afraid of showing her emotions and being reckless when she feels like it. They end up being attracted to each other and later fall in love. Subverted in that it turns out that Devlin is not so different from Ani than the latter originally thought, for all that he's High Court.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Not technically vampires, but needing others' blood is a result of Devlin being the creation of Sorcha and Bananach, and thus the balance between Reason and War.
• The Pawn: He is essentially just a tool in Bananach and Sorcha's conflict against each other.
  • Devlin sees himself as this, at least. Sorcha seems to genuinely care for him, and Bananach seems to feel some sort of affection for him as well, given how hurt and enraged she is at his betrayal in Radiant Shadows. Though when it comes to Bananach, you can't take anything she says with a grain of salt.

• Pride: He can get extremely arrogant and proud. It could be said to be a Fatal Flaw of his.
• The Quiet One: He's not one for talking much, and is shown to be very introverted. Justified given his Friendless Background.
• Really 700 Years Old: He is the third-oldest faerie on earth (Sorcha and Bananach being the first- and second-oldest respectively).
• Reality Warper: Like Sorcha and Bananach, Devlin can remake the world around him. But unlike them, he can do so at his own will, and also walk through the mortal world without accidentally remaking it. It's a skill he keeps secret, out of respect for Sorcha.

• Ruling Couple: He and Ani become this after the formation of the Shadow Court, with them being called Shadow King and Shadow Queen.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Compared to Ani, who's extremely impulsive and energetic, he's very stoic and cool under pressure.
• Seers: Like his mother-sisters, Devlin can see threads of possibility of those around him. However, he cannot see the threads of his own future or the threads of those who are close to him.
• The Stoic: Because he is a part of the High Court, he has become skillful at hiding his emotions.
  • Not So Stoic: Sometimes, if he can't help it, he succumbs to this, particularly when he's in the mortal world or in close proximity to his mother-sister Bananach. He hates this part of himself, though, as it signals that he is not fully High Court.
• Start My Own: He, Ani and Rae form their own court in Faerie, the Shadow Court, to balance Sorcha and her court.

• Strong Family Resemblance: After being found by Sorcha and forced to serve her, Rae notices the similarities to Devlin that she has, such as her arrogance.
• Tranquil Fury: He is more prone to this than to full-blown anger, given his habit of hiding his emotions.
• Troubled, but Cute: He is very good-looking, as Ani notes, but boy does he have issues. He's extremely conflicted, caught in the conflict between the twins and feeling like he doesn't truly belong in the High Court.
• True Companions: With Ani and Rae.
• Try Not to Die: Devlin says this to Seth almost word-for-word, just as Seth is returning to the human world to hunt Bananach.
• Undying Loyalty: To Sorcha and the High Court, at least before the formation of the Shadow Court. After becoming Shadow King his loyalty rests with his court and the whole of Faerie.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between him and Ani. It gets resolved by the end of Radiant Shadows, with the two of them becoming an Official Couple.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets this from Ani, when she calls him out on his giving her the silent treatment for eighteen hours straight when they are on the run together in Radiant Shadows.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Subverted. Other faeries look at him and think that he's something to be avoided and feared, but really deep inside he's not as cold as he appears to be. His hair is white, however.

Ani

Ani

Daughter of Gabriel, and sister of Tish and Rabbit. A halfling, after she was discovered to have the ability to feed on the emotions of other faeries (something which should not be possible for halflings) she was sent to live in the Dark Court. There she struggled to be accepted as a true member of Gabriel's Hounds.

• Awful Truth: As a young child she was targeted by Sorcha, who wanted to eradicate a possible future she didn't want to happen. If Devlin hadn't been a Hitman with a Heart, she would have been murdered with cold blood. As it was, she had to grow up believing her mother dead at the hands of a faceless man (the High Queen's Bloody Hands), when in actuality Jillian survived and had been living in Faerie without her memories.
• A Girl and Her X: In this case, a girl and her steed.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Ani is attracted to Devlin, the dangerous and dark High Court Assassin, from the moment she first meets him.

• Blood Knight: Ani really loves a good fight, though not to the extent of Bananach and the Ly Ergs, who seem dead-set on starting a war between the courts.

• Break the Cutie: Tish's death comes very close to doing this to her. She manages to keep on going and recovers from it eventually.

• Cannot Tell a Lie: Like all faeries, she can't tell a lie.

• The Chosen One: She is the one who's meant to bring balance back to Faerie, along with Devlin.
• Cute Bruiser: She's small (at least compared to Devlin), good-looking, and a capable fighter.
• Darkest Hour: The news of Tish's death and the confrontation with Bananach in the tattoo shop are this for her.

• Determinator: Ani is determined to keep her family safe from Bananach.
• Drives Like Crazy: Something which Devlin notices while he's on the run with her in Barry. He puts it down to it being a Hound trait.
• Emotion Eater: She has the ability to feed off the emotions of faeries and mortals.

• Genki Girl: Compared to Devlin, Ani is very energetic and hot-blooded and gets excited very easily. Even Devlin lampshades this at one point in Radiant Shadows, after he is forced to follow her into the forest when Ani impulsively decides to have a run:

  Devlin: You're exhausting.

  Ani: I'm what?

  Devlin: Exhausting, tiring, capable of wearing on my very last bit of peace.

• Half-Human Hybrid: Ani (and Tish's) mother was a human woman named Jillian. Their father is Gabriel, the leader of the Hounds.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Ani and Tish.

• Horror Hunger: Ani is sated by feeding off the negative emotions of those around her (whether they are mortal or faerie).

• Jumped at the Call: Unlike Aislinn, Niall and Donia, Ani is all for becoming the Gabriela of the Shadow Court and rebalancing Faerie. Given that she didn't fit in the Dark Court or among Gabriel's Hounds, it's quite understandable.

• The Leader: As Devlin notices, Ani was made to be an alpha of her own pack. She constantly challenges authority and hates being made to obey rules.
• Like Parent, Like Child: She is similar to her mother in looks, but is very like her father when it comes to her personality.

• Magical Girl: A result of being a faerie. Though as a Hound, she isn't as magical as other faeries, and mainly uses brute force in battle.

• Missing Mom: Her mother was supposedly murdered by Devlin when Ani was a small child. In actuality, Devlin spared her life and brought her into Faerie to live. She gave up her memories to prevent Sorcha from finding out about her (and through her, Ani).
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In part, it's Ani's decision to leave Huntsdale and not give Bananach what she wants that causes Bananach to murder Tish.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Has a steed called Barry, which is short for Barricuda.

• Reality Warper: Becomes this after she binds herself to Devlin in Faerie.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Devlin's blue.

• Single-Minded Twins: Acts like this with Tish, though they're not actually twins (Tish is older by three years).
• Start My Own: She, Devlin and Rae start their own faery court to rebalance Sorcha and Faerie.
• True Companions: With Devlin and Rae.

• Who Are You?: Asks this question to Devlin, after discovering how much of a hand he's had in her life.

Rae

Rae

A spectral girl who Devlin took in after finding her wandering in Faerie.

• Astral Projection: When she was still in her own body, Rae could project her spirit out of her body while she was asleep.

• Be Yourself: Rae constantly tries to convince Devlin to be this, realising that his denial of his true nature is bad for him in the long run.
• The Confidant: Has become this to Devlin, by the time of Radiant Shadows.

• Cute Ghost Girl: Rae is a spectre girl (she has no body at all), and she is quite cute.
• Determinator: She is determined to bring about the future she saw in Devlin's mind on the day she first met the Eolas.
• Dream Weaver: She has the ability to walk through and manipulate another person's dreams. She can also weave two people's separate dreams together.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Her reasoning behind everything she does for Devlin and Ani.
• Magical Girl: Surprisingly so, for a mortal. Though she has no physical form, she can walk into other people's dreams and manipulate them. She can also weave two dreams together and, apparently, create a mirror which can see into the mortal world.

• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It is Rae's creation of the dream-mirror for Sorcha which results in Sorcha discovering her in Faerie and later almost causing the destruction of Faerie so she can watch Seth in the mirror in her dreams.
• Only Friend: She is Devlin's only friend for decades before his meeting Ani and falling in love with her.
• The Promise: Rae makes Devlin promise to spare Ani when he is ordered by Sorcha to kill her.
• Reality Warper: When in someone's dream Rae can manipulate her surroundings.
• Secret-Keeper: After accidentally seeing a possible future involving both Devlin and Ani in Devlin's mind, the Eolas swore her to secrecy and threatened to kill her if she ever spoke to Devlin of what she had seen.

Solitary Fey

Rika

Rika

A former Winter Girl who now resides in a desert with a pack of solitary desert fey.

• Action Girl: Being the strongest solitary in the desert, Rika certainly can fight when she feels a need to, especially after the remainder of her Heroic BSoD lifts and she finally begins to take part in the leadership of the solitaries alongside Sionnach. Special points go to when she beats down Maili to prove her authority over the solitary desert fey and stages a dramatic assembly to let the fey know what will happen if they cross her or Shy again.
• Broken Bird: Rika was extremely traumatized by her time spent as the Winter Girl; it took her entire centuries to finally begin to recover from it.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She is a former Winter Girl who was traumatized by her centuries of carrying the ice inside her body and her role in the game. After being freed from it she escaped to the Mujave Desert, where she hoped to forget her memories of carrying the ice and move on with her life.

• Heroic Sacrifice: Though not fatal. To protect the solitary fey and keep Keenan off her back, Rika swears fealty to Donia and the Winter Court, despite her freedom and independence being the most important thing to her.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Two years after starting her relationship with Jayce, Rika agrees with him to end it, reasoning that it was time and that he would be happier with a normal life with a human girl he could age and start a family with.
• Magical Girl: Like all female faeries, Rika is this. Though she doesn't have any magical powers to speak of, and mainly uses brute force to exert her will.
• Really 700 Years Old: Despite her girl-like appearance, Rika is really centuries old.
• True Companions: Rika is this with Sionnach, who is the only (and closest) friend she has in the desert. She is also True Companions with all the other Winter Girls, for as Donia says, they all consider themselves sisters to each other because they all bore the Winter Queen's ice in their veins.
• The Un Chosen One: She is a former Winter Girl, one of those who chose to pick up the Winter Queen's staff in the hopes of becoming Keenan's queen.

Sionnach

Sionnach

The alpha of the desert solitaries Rika becomes a part of. He is Rika's only friend, and later becomes her lover.

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Sionnach is the leader of the solitaries in the desert because he's the strongest solitary there and the only one capable (well, aside from Rika) of defeating them all in a fight.
• Badass in Distress: He is injured by Maili at one point in Desert Tales; Rika finds him and brings him back to her cave, where she tends to him until he is well again.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: Like all faeries, he can't lie.

• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: His main reason for practically shoving Jayce into Rika's arms, even though he is in love with Rika himself. That, and the knowledge that any romance between Jayce and Rika would be bound to end eventually anyway, as Jayce has a mortal lifespan.

Humans

Elena Foy (Grams)

Elena Foy

Aislinn's grandmother, and Moira's mother.

• Disappeared Dad: Her father wasn't in her life when she was growing up.
• Half-Human Hybrid: She is half-fey, half-mortal.

• Outliving One's Offspring: She outlived her daughter Moira, who killed herself when Keenan wooed her as part of his curse.

Moira Foy

Moira Foy

Aislinn's mother, and daughter of Elena. She was one of the girls chosen by Keenan.

• By the Eyes of the Blind: She had the ability to see all faeries.
• Driven to Suicide: She killed herself to prevent herself from becoming a faery.
• Half-Human Hybrid: She is part-fey, being descended from Thelma Foy and Irial.

Leslie

Leslie

A friend of Aislinn's who accidentally becomes involved in the world of faeries after she is chosen for an ink exchange within the Dark Court.

• Be Careful What You Wish For: Leslie had always wished for safety from her brother Ren. After receiving her ink-exchange tattoo, that's just what she got.
• Bodyguard Crush: She develops a crush on Niall, who is then a member of the Summer Court and secretly protecting her from afar. Leslie has no clue that he is her bodyguard. The crush is reciprocated by Niall.

• Break the Cutie: Being a part of the Dark Court and seeing the horrors going on there really puts a strain on her, as does the ink-exchange. By the time she decides to cut her link to Irial she's a shadow of herself, exhausted and afraid. Even afterward, it takes her a long time to recover from it.

• Dark and Troubled Past: Her mother left her when she was younger, leaving her alone with her drug-addicted, unpredictable brother and her neglectful father. Her brother abuses her (even setting her up to be raped just to pay off a debt) and her father is too drunk to even pay the bills, let alone look after her.
• Polyamory: With Niall and Irial.
• Put on a Bus: Being a pretty smart girl, Leslie puts herself on a bus at the end of Ink Exchange.
  • The Bus Came Back: She comes back in Darkest Mercy.
• Rape as Backstory: She was raped by one of her brother's friends, who had wanted payment for some drugs Ren had bought from him.

Ren

Ren

Leslie's unpredictable, drug-addicted brother.

• Bullying a Dragon: In Stopping Time he tries to blackmail Irial and Niall into showing themselves and revealing the faerie world by threatening Leslie's life. Needless to say, it does not end well for him.
• Character Death: He is murdered by Niall after threatening to reveal faeries to humans and endangering Leslie, who he held at gun-point. Though horrific (especially seeing Niall be the one to end him), he definitely had it coming.
• Jerkass: He is mean through and through, and cares little about his own sister and her well-being. In Ink Exchange it's revealed that he physically abuses her at some points.
• Too Dumb to Live: He tries to blackmail two powerful faeries who are (or in Irial's case, was once) in charge of the court made of nightmares. And tries to accomplish this by endangering the life of the mortal they both love, the mortal who they'd do anything (even kill) to protect.

Rianne

Rianne

Another friend of Aislinn's.

• What Happened to the Mouse?: She is never seen or mentioned again after the events of Fragile Eternity.

Jayce

Jayce

A human boy Rika meets and befriends in the desert. They eventually enter into a relationship together, though it doesn't last.