History Characters / AlcatrazSeries

* DatingCatwoman: Attica is the heir of the Smedry clan, a family of once-royalty with magical talents who lead the fight again the evil Librarians who now rule more than half of the world. Shasta is a Librarian, and not a very well-liked one at that. [[spoiler:Attica and Shasta are married. A rather more {{deconstructed|Trope}} version. By the time of the books, they've been separated for almost 13 years, although they're not actually divorced. It's clear why they don't work as a couple, but it's also clear that they still have some love for each other.]]

* DatingCatwoman: Attica is the heir of the Smedry clan, a family of once-royalty with magical talents who lead the fight again the evil Librarians who now rule more than half of the world. Shasta is a Librarian, and not a very well-liked one at that. [[spoiler:Attica and Shasta are married. A rather more {{deconstructed|Trope}} version. By the time of the books, they've been separated for almost 13 years, although they're not actually divorced. It's clear why they don't work as a couple, but it's also clear that they still have some love for each other.]]

* DatingCatwoman: [[spoiler:Attica is the heir of the Smedry clan, a family of once-royalty with magical talents who lead the fight again the evil Librarians who now rule more than half of the world. Attica married Shasta, a Librarian. A rather more {{deconstructed|Trope}} version. By the time of the books, they've been separated for almost 13 years, although they're not actually divorced. It's clear why they don't work as a couple, but it's also clear that they still have some love for each other.]]

Alcatraz's case worker and mother. A Librarian whose allegiance is... unclear, to say the least.
* AbusiveParents: She emotionally abuses Alcatraz throughout his childhood. [[spoiler: She's his mother too, although Alcatraz didn't know that then.]]

* BlessedWithSuck: [[spoiler:Has a Smedry Talent by virtue of her marriage to Attica, but has never been able to use it effectively.]]

* DatingCatwoman: [[spoiler:Attica is the heir of the Smedry clan, a family of once-royalty with magical talents who lead the fight again the evil Librarians who now rule more than half of the world. Attica married Shasta, a Librarian. A rather more {{deconstructed|Trope}} version. By the time of the books, they've been separated for almost 13 years, although they're not actually divorced. It's clear why they don't work as a couple, but it's also clear that they still have some love for each other.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: The Librarian's big shtick is power via controlling information. The climax of ''The Shattered Lens'' is when she makes Alcatraz realizes that--sometimes--they're ''right''. If everyone had a bomb, that would be really bad... and it'd be the same if everyone had a Smedry Talent.

* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Alcatraz breaks the way the Firebringer's Lens works so it shoots backwards, into Blackburn's remaining good eye.]]
* HandicappedBadass: Though he's missing an eye, this actually makes him ''more'' dangerous -- at least until [[spoiler:Alcatraz blinds him in that eye too.]]

!! Himalaya Smedry née Rockies
A defected Librarian from the Wardens of the Standard. Also, Folsom's wife.

* BlondsAreEvil: She's more morally gray than flat-out evil, but she has blond hair and isn't a particularly nice person.

* AbsentMindedProfessor: A lot of the Smedrys are intelligent academics while at the same time being eccentric, absent minded or just plain strange.

* BadassFamily: They fight Librarians with their cousins.

* OldMoney: The Smedrys used to have their own kingdom, before one king abdicated. They still keep their status and wealth, though.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething ({{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed): If by "do something" you mean "ruling," then no: They abdicated generations back because (a) ruling is an absolute pain, and (b) it was better for everyone if the tiny kingdoms got consolidated into something bigger. Now they enjoy many of the perks and privileges of royalty, without any of the work of ruling. So in that way, they're royals who do nothing. But if by "do something" you mean "do something that helps the people," then yes: Without ruling, they have time to fight the Librarians, which benefits ''everyone''.

* FosterKid: He spends the first 13 years of his life bouncing around from foster home to foster home because no of his foster parents could deal with his talent for very long.
* FreakinessShame: His social worker/[[spoiler:mother]] often berated him for breaking things, as though he was doing it on purpose.
* FriendlessBackground: Alcatraz never mentions any friends, and it's implied he pushed anyone that tried to get close to him away out of fear of being abandoned.
* TheHerosBirthday: His 13th birthday kicks off the story because he gets his inheritance then, as is the custom.
* TheHerosJourney: The CallToAdventure is Grandpa Smedry. He Crosses the First Threshold when he enters the room behind oil can door at the gas station. The Road of Trials are everything that happens in the library. He wins a decisive victory when he breaks the lenses. He returns to the "normal world" when he goes back to Joan and Roy's house with the intent of staying with them a while longer. He is a grown and changed person.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If he'd simply left his father alone, the plot of the final book would not have come to pass.

* TheRemnant: [[spoiler:The only remaining pureline Smedry by the end of Book 5.]]

* WellExcuseMePrincess: With Bastille. She insults him a lot (mostly for his lack of Free Kingdom knowledge, sometimes for his Smedry impulsiveness) and hits him sometimes.

* CoolOldGuy: Undeniably one of the coolest old guys in the series.

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Able to survive injuries that would kill the ordinary person, by arriving late to the wound a bit at a time.

* ThePatriarch: Father to Attica, Kaz, and Patty, grandfather to Alcatraz, Quentin, and Folsom, and uncle to Sing, Australia, and Aydee. A powerful Oculator and head of the Smedry clan.

* TheBigGuy: A 6 foot 2, 350 pound Polynesian man. Also a guns expert.

-->'''Alcatraz''': Trying to curb Sing's love of the Hushlands was like... well, like kicking a puppy. A six-foot-eight, three-hundred-fifty-pound Hawaiian puppy. Who liked to carry guns.

A Nalhallan man, and a graduate student (a language specialist who focuses on Hushlander dialects). A Smedry cousin, whose Talent is that he can say things that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. He's also really sneaky.

* NoSenseOfDirection: Literally his Talent. He gets lost a lot.

* DatingCatwoman: Attica is the heir of the Smedry clan, a family of once-royalty with magical talents who lead the fight again the evil Liberians who now rule more than half of the world. Attica marries Shasta, a Librarian. A rather more {{deconstructed|Trope}} version. By the time of the books, they've been separated for almost 13 years… although they're not actually divorced. It's clear why they don't work as a couple, but it's also clear that they still have some love for each other.

* SeekerArchetype: Is insatiably curious, and would do pretty much anything in pursuit of knowledge. Case in point: [[spoiler:gives up his soul to the Curators of Alexandria to gain access to their library]].

A Nalhallan woman, and a professor of silimatics. A Smedry aunt, whose Talent is that she can say inappropriate things at awkward moments.

A Nalhallan man, and a critic for the newspaper. A Smedry cousin, whose Talent is that he can dance really poorly.

* KungFuWizard: Folsom's Talent turns him into a OneManArmy, attacking everyone in sight with expert kung fu moves. This translates to dancing poorly.

* CheerfulChild: Aydee is always perky, happy and outgoing. She’s about 8 years old.

* {{Flanderization}}: Of all the traits that make Smedrys, Smedrys. He's very over the top, suggests brainy schemes, and constantly makes messes that the others have to clean up after him. [[spoiler:This is because he's purposely parodying what a Smedry is in order to fit in.]]

* ChildProdigy: The youngest Crystallian knight, sworn in at thirteen. This is somewhat of a subversion, as she was sworn in to make her fail, but she brings this trope back by proving her worth.

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Bastille desperately wants to be an Oculator. But it’s a genetic ability, not something that can be learned, and the trying in the world can’t change her lineage.
-->'''Bastille''': I learned that studying can't change a person, Smedry. I've always wanted to be something I wasn't -- and the thing is, everyone supported me. "You can be anything you want, if you try hard enough!" said. Well you know what, Smedry? They lied. There are some things you just ''can't'' change.

* TheStoic: It's only rumored that she may have laughed once. It could have been a sneeze.

King of Nalhalla. Also Draulin's husband, and Rikers and Bastille's father.

A Nalhallan princess by birth, and Queen of Mokia by marriage. Also Bastille's elder sister.

* NeverFoundTheBody: His body was never found, [[spoiler:because he never actually died.]]

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Shasta's real motivations are fairly obscure for most of the series, but she generally acts antagonistic towards Alcatraz, using him and the Librarians to her own ends. It's only at the end of book four that her true motivations are revealed, landing her squarely into the AntiVillain category.

* CruelToBeKind: She claims she did this to Alcatraz, to keep him from learning about his legacy. It backfired into nothing more than emotional abuse.
* DatingCatwoman: Attica is the heir of the Smedry clan, a family of once-royalty with magical talents who lead the fight again the evil Liberians who now rule more than half of the world. Attica marries Shasta, a Librarian. A rather more {{deconstructed|Trope}} version. By the time of the books, they've been separated for almost 13 years… although they're not actually divorced. It's clear why they don't work as a couple, but it's also clear that they still have some love for each other.

* WildCard: In the end, Shasta is only on her own side. Not the Librarian's, and not the Free Kingdoms. She's willing to betray both sides to get what she wants.

* ScarilyCompetentTracker: He manages to follow them through ''Kaz's'' Talent, which is ''getting lost.''

* SayMyName: Grandpa Smedry calls her by her real name.

* SingleLineOfDescent ({{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed): As the eldest child of Attica, who is the eldest child of Leavenworth, Alcatraz is the heir to the pure Smedry line. But he has a lot of cousins.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Inverted; he absolutely ''hates'' fish sticks.

* HiddenDepths: It seems at first like she's almost unaware of her Talent, but later in the book we learn that she's actually learned how to take advantage of it---pretty impressive for someone her age.

* CursedWithAwesome: [[spoiler:Has a Smedry Talent by virtue of her marriage to Attica, but has never been able to use it effectively.]]

Alcatraz's father. A Smedry, whose Talent is that he can loose things.

* SeekerArchetype: Is insatiably curious, and would do pretty much anything in pursuit of knowledge. Case in point: [[spoiler:gives up his soul to the Curators of Alexandria to gain access to the library]].

* GloryHound: Attica seeks to be the most important Smedry by bringing fame to his name with discoveries such as new types of glass and [[spoiler:bringing Smedry Talents to everyone.]]

* StepfordSmiler: Alcatraz suspects that she sometimes uses her cheery demeanor to mask her negative emotions.

* TheClan

* ThePatriarch: Father to Attica, Kaz, and Patty, grandfather to Alcatraz, Quentin, and Folsom, and uncle to Sing and Australia. A powerful Oculator and head of the Smedry clan.

* StepfordSmiler: Alcatraz suspects that her cheery demeanor sometimes masks her negative emotions.

* GoodProstheticsEvilProsthetics: Very evil, in his case. Much of his body has been replaced by animated metal, the process of which requires losing some of your humanity.

TheProtagonist. A Smedry, whose Talent is that he can break things.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: She's the daughter of King Dartmoor.
-->'''Alcatraz''': ''[pointing an accusing finger at Bastille]'' You’re a princess!\\

'''Bastille''': Well, I can’t inherit the throne. I renounced claim on it when I joined the Knights of Crystallia. Vow of poverty and all that.
** KingIncognito: When Alcatraz finds out, he remarks that "stories such as this one ''always'' have at least one hidden member of royalty among the core cast. It’s, like, some kind of union mandate or something."

* ItsAllAboutMe: Attica is somewhat self-centered and only thinks of how his work will benefit himself and his direct family.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Sacrificed in a ceremony to create a blood-forged Lens. In front of his son and wife, no less.]]