History Characters / TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:He raised his son in seclusion and trained him in order to prepare him for destroying the evil he had helped to create.]]

* FatalFlaw: His former friend Fin-Kedinn reveals that Torak's father was convinced of his own infallibility and paid no heed to the advice of others. It led him to realize the Soul Eaters' corruption too late [[spoiler:while being one of them]]. He trained Torak to listen to the knowledge the Forest has to offer so that he wouldn't repeat his father's mistakes.
* NobleWolf: Bit of an InformedAttribute. Everyone calls him wise, but the evidence leaves something to be desired.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: His death at the claws of the demon bear in the first book is what sets Torak on the journey to find a way to destroy the bear, leading him to meeting his friends and facing the Soul Eaters in the following books.

* ScarsAreForever: There is an old scar on his chest which makes it difficult for Torak to draw the Death Mark on it. He received this by [[spoiler:cutting off the tattoo that marked as a Soul Eater]].

* TheUnreveal: We never find out his name [[JustifiedTrope since clan traditions dictate that five summers must pass before the name of the person who died can be spoken]]. [[spoiler:Even when Eostra says his name while summoning his ghost in ''Ghost Hunter'', it's not revealed by the narration.]]

* FatalFlaw: It's when he gets impatient that he tends to act without thinking things through and bring misery to himself and his loved ones. For example, his desire to have his revenge on Thiazzi in ''Oath Breaker'' leads him to [[spoiler:leave Renn behind and inadvertently let her end up in the Oak Mage's clutches]], and in ''Wolfbane'', his desperation to end [[spoiler:Naiginn's]] threat once and for all leads him to risk becoming [[spoiler:outcasted again]].

* OverarchingVillain: [[spoiler:Tenris and Seshru hold more influence over the entire series that the other Soul Eaters. Tenris first appears in the second book and dies in it, but the demon bear he created is the main antagonist of the first book and responsible for the death of Torak's father which triggers the series. Seshru first appears in the third book and dies in the fourth book. They both make a cameo appearance in the sixth book as Eostra's mindless spirit underlings, and they're both continuously referred to in the books they don't appear in. The new BigBad of the three last books is revealed to be their son Naiginn, and Seshru is responsible for having trapped a demon inside him and put on him a charm which his goal is to break. Though only Seshru [[DeadPersonConversation appears in Renn's dreams]], the fact that Tenris is Torak's EvilUncle and Seshru is Renn's EvilMatriarch makes killing Naiginn [[KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil problematic]] to them.]]
* ProngsOfPoseidon: They adopted as their symbol the three-pronged fork, a healer's tool used to snare souls of sick people. They each have it tattooed on their chests, and the fork is remembered as a symbol of great evil. The clan laws state that merely having the tattoo is enough a reason to get exiled from the clans, as is done to [[spoiler:Torak]] in ''Outcast''.

* ProngsOfPoseidon: In ''Ghost Hunter'', she wields a three-forked spear, the symbol of the Soul Eaters. She uses it to snare souls and eat them.

* SiblingTeam: They shared the same nest in their first appearance, and they're rarely seen apart from each other. [[spoiler:The very ending of the series reveals they're not siblings after all since they've mated and had three chicks.]]

[[WMG:Realvi]]

* MentorOccupationalHazard: Averted. He survives the entire series.

Naiginn is a young hunter from the Narwal Clan, the son of their Mage Marupai, and the best hunter of the Far North. In ''Viper's Daughter'', he meets Renn and becomes her guide in her quest to seek a solution to her strange secret desire to kill Torak. He is one year younger than either of them. He's eventually revealed to be in reality the son of Seshru and Tenris who was used by the former as a vessel to an ice demon immediately after birth, making him a grown-up tokoroth as well as Renn's half-brother and Torak's cousin. Wanting to be released from the spell that hides his demonic nature but also binds him, he tricks Renn into thinking she's subconsciously trying to hurt Torak so that he can capture her and force her to break the spell that can be undone only by Seshru's kin in the ice cave on the Island at the Edge of the World where he was born. After that fails, he makes his way into the Deep Forest, and after the Thunderstar strikes in ''Skin Taker'', he unites several surviving clans as the "Chosen Ones" who make him their leader.

* EvilCounterpart: He's the demon-offspring Seshru tried to create out of Naiginn's half-sister Renn but failed thanks to Saeunn. And like his cousin Torak who's the best tracker of the Forest, Naiginn is the best hunter of the Far North.
* EvilPlan: In ''Viper's Daughter'', his goal is to take Renn to the Island at the Edge of the World and force her to undo the masking spell Seshru cast on him so that he can feed on the souls of the living.

* PoisonedWeapons: He uses poisoned arrows.
* {{Sadist}}: He revels in being feared. In ''Skin Taker'', he plans to subject Torak to ColdBloodedTorture and pauses when Torak faints out because he doesn't find it satisfying to mutilate a prisoner who can't experience the painful process.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's grumpy, unfriendly and at times threatening, but he aids Torak and Renn after they help him out in two occasions, and [[spoiler:he shows up to aid them in the final battle against Eostra]]. He's also pretty affectionate towards the various little animals he takes as pets and names Narik.

* SiblingTeam: They shared the same nest in their first appearance, and they're rarely seen apart from each other.

Dark is an albino boy who lives in the Mountain of Ghosts with only a white raven called Ark for company. He was abandoned by the Swan Clan when he was younger, both due to his albinism and his ability to see ghosts. After befriending Torak, Renn and Wolf, he aids them against Eostra. [[spoiler:He afterwards becomes the new Mage of the Raven Clan.]] He's of the same age as Torak and Renn.

* BeautyMark: By the time of ''Outcast'', she has gained a tiny freckle at the corner of her mouth. As Torak falls in love with her, he grows to like it.

%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold

%%* AxCrazy:

* GenerationXerox: Like his birthfather Tenris, Naiginn is a member of a proud clan living in close connection to the Sea, gets a part of his face burned, is a skilled manipulator, gets a position as a trusted religious figure, and tries to take Torak's power for himself by eating his body part.

* {{Sadist}}: He revels in being feared. In ''Skin Taker'', he plans to subject Torak to ColdBloodedTorture and pauses when Torak faints out because he doesn't find it funny to mutilate a prisoner who can't experience the painful process.

* {{Pyromaniac}}: She worships fire and wishes to be one with it.

* OverarchingVillain: [[spoiler:Tenris and Seshru hold more influence over the entire series that the other Soul Eaters. Tenris first appears in the second book and dies in it, but the demon bear he created is the main antagonist of the first book and responsible for the death of Torak's father which triggers the series. Seshru first appears in the third book and dies in the fourth book. They both make a cameo appearance in the sixth book as Eostra's mindless spirit underlings, and they're both continuously referred to in the books they don't appear in. The new BigBad of the three last books is revealed to be their son, and though only Seshru [[DeadPersonConversation appears in Renn's dreams]], the fact that Tenris is Torak's EvilUncle and Seshru is Renn's EvilMatriarch makes killing Naiginn [[KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil problematic]] to them.]]

* TheBrute: Subverted. As the biggest, strongest and the most openly sadistic member of the Soul Eaters, Thiazzi seems like a textbook example. In his first appearance in ''Soul Eater'', he acts as the group's muscle while Nef and Seshru display more moments of brilliance. However, ''Oath Breaker'' proves that Thiazzi is capable of acting as a [[GeniusBruiser highly cunning]] BigBad of his own right, and he has his ambitions to rule the Forest alone.

* HorrifyingTheHorror: Thiazzi is the strongest man of the Forest and an extremely sadistic and violent psychopath, yet even he is afraid of [[TheSoulless Eostra]].

* TheSoulless: Proven to be this when Torak spirit walks into Eostra during their last confrontation. In her eyes, everything is colored grey except for the Fire Opal. She doesn't feel pleasure or pain, only the hunger for eternal life.

* WorldsStrongestMan: He's the strongest human represented in the series and is called as the strongest man of the Forest. Whatever his strength is a case of a CharlesAtlasSuperower or magical enhancement is never revealed.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: She carries out her plans with deadly focus and efficiency, and she holds little to no interest in wasting time gloating.

* ProngsOfPoseidon: In ''Ghost Hunter'', she wields a three-forked spear, the symbol of the Soul Eaters. She uses it to catch souls and eat them.

* SoulEating: Eostra is the only member of the Soul Eaters who is confirmed to be able to actually eat souls. She plans to take Torak's spirit walker power by eating his world-soul (for that's where his power lies) and spit out his name-soul and clan-soul, making him a Lost One.

* TheSoulless: Proven when Torak spirit walks into her in their last confrontation. In her eyes, everything is colored grey except for the Fire Opal. She doesn't feel pleasure or pain, only the hunger for eternal life.
* ThirdPersonPerson: She mostly refers to herself this way.

* BlasphemousBoast: Makes in ''Oath Breaker'' one which he practically uses to compare himself to the World Spirit.

* TheBrute: Subverted. As the biggest, strongest and the most openly sadistic member of the Soul Eaters, he seems like a textbook example. In his first appearance in ''Soul Eater'', he acts as the group's muscle while Nef and Seshru display more moments of brilliance. However, ''Oath Breaker'' proves that Thiazzi is capable of acting as a [[GeniusBruiser highly cunning]] BigBad of his own right, and he has his ambitions to rule the Forest alone.

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:The Oak Mage ends up dying by falling from the highest branch of the Great Oak.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:He's ignited while he's on the top branch of the Great Oak, resulting in him losing his balance.]]

* HorrifyingTheHorror: Thiazzi is the strongest man of the Forest and an extremely sadistic and violent psychopath… yet even he is afraid of [[TheSoulless Eostra]].

* ManipulativeBastard: He proves himself to be this in ''Oath Breaker'' when he [[spoiler:orates the Deep Forest clans to unite against the Open Forest clans]].
* MasterOfDisguise: [[spoiler:His disguise of the elderly, secluded, and reasonable Auroch Mage fools Renn until he reveals himself.]]
* MeaningfulName: Named for the giant Thjazi in Myth/NorseMythology, and [[spoiler:like his namesake he falls to his death after being set aflame]].

* WhipItGood: He skillfully fights with a whip in ''Oath Breaker''.
* WorldsStrongestMan: He's the strongest human represented in the series and is regarded as the strongest man of the Forest.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: She's heavily implied to be undead, with how corpse-like the little of what her body is shown resembles, and how she reeks of a corpse.
* AnimalMotifs: [[OminousOwl Eagle Owl]]. She wears a wooden mask resembling the owl's face and a cloak made of feathers. Also, her eyes look orange like with an eagle owl. At one point in ''Ghost Hunter'', Torak compares Eostra to a spider that is weaving a web across the Forest and can sense even the tiniest vibration of the web. (Literature/SherlockHolmes makes [[ShoutOut a similar comparison]] to [[DiabolicalMastermind Professor Moriarty]].)

* EvilCounterpart: To the Walker. Both are outwardly cadaverous, [[ThirdPersonPerson refer to themselves in the third person]], and display mental illness. However, Eostra has none of the noble qualities the Walker has under his threatening demeanor. The Walker treats affectionately the little animals he keeps as pets, but Eostra regards as tools the animals she has corrupted into monstrous minions. [[spoiler:Both are powerful mages, with Eostra being a {{necromancer}} and the Walker having a connection with [[TheFairFolk the Hidden People]]. By the end of the series, the two of them are all that's left of the seven Soul Eaters until the Walker kills Eostra.]]

* GenocideFromTheInside: As soon as Eostra became her clan's Mage, she carried out a forbidden rite by bringing to life a ten-year-old Eagle Owl boy who had died in a rockfall. All the other Eagle Owls died out of sickness soon after, making Eostra responsible for her clan's demise.

* ImmortalitySeeker: She intends to steal Torak's spirit walker abilities and use them [[BornAgainImmortality to exist forever by spirit walking from one body to another repeatedly]].

* LackOfEmpathy: Torak's spirit walk into Eostra reveals that the Eagle Owl Mage views tokoroths and her dogs not as possessed children and corrupted animals, but as tools she can dispose of once they've served their purpose. As for Torak, he is merely the shell of the power she craves.

* NightmareFuel: ''Everyone'' in the series, even the other Soul Eaters, fears her. [[invoked]]
* NoNonsenseNemesis: She carries out her plans with deadly focus and efficiency, having little to no interest in wasting time in gloating.

* IsThatWhatHeToldYou: [[spoiler:Renn had been told by Saeunn that Seshru gave birth to her only to use her as a sacrifice. Seshru tells her that her intention was not to kill her infant, but to make her a tokoroth, which is [[FateWorseThanDeath considerably worse]].]]

%%* ManipulativeBitch
* MasterPoisoner: Her special ability is expert usage of herbs and remedies. During ''Soul Eater'', she uses this skill to help capturing a polar bear by feeding it sedatives. In ''Outcast'', she poisons crowberries that Torak eats, rendering him unconscious and following his resuscitation, mostly paralyzed yet aware of everything happening around him and able to communicate with Seshru.

** When Renn has to resort to lying or use Magecraft, it makes her uncomfortable because she doesn't want to be like [[spoiler:her mother]] Seshru. ''Viper's Daughter'' in particular has her finding from herself too many parallels to Seshru.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:She lives longer than Hord by a year and a half.]]

* RavenHairIvorySkin: She's an evil version of this trope.

* SmugSnake: She's cunning, but makes no attempt to hide her hubris. As the Viper Mage, that's fitting.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Though not noticeable at first, she has subtle resemblance to [[spoiler:her daughter Renn]]. They both have a pale skin, high cheekbones, and their hair curls the same way.
* TheVamp: She will ruthlessly exploit her beauty to get what she wants. [[spoiler:She seduced Fin-Kedinn's brother -- whom she left earlier to join the Healers -- in order to have a baby, and then she broke his heart by leaving him again. Then she charmed Marupai and tricked him to raise her demon-possessed son Naiginn for her, claiming him to be his son.]]
* VillainousLegacy: [[spoiler:She's dead by the time of ''Viper's Daughter'', but the plot is driven by her demon-son Naiginn trying to force Renn to free him of the masking spell which Seshru cast on him and can be undone only by a mage related to Seshru. Renn also finds herself uncomfortably similar to her mother in leaving Torak behind and lying to advance on her quest, with Seshru herself appearing in her dreams to gloat how they're NotSoDifferent.]]

''[Seshru continues gloating until Renn raises her bow, against which Torak and Bale protest]''\\

* BerserkButton: Don't do damage to his boat. Just... don't do it.

* ColorCodedEyes: Grey, which is symbolic of his LackOfEmpathy and [[FamilyEyeResemblance his relationship]] to [[spoiler:Torak's father and Torak]].

Nef is the Bat Mage with bowlegs and swift wits. She makes her only major appearance in ''Soul Eater'', where she helps Thiazzi, Seshru and Eostra with their new attempt to gain power. She's the most awkward and out of place among the antagonistic Soul Eaters, and the least malevolent of them. Many years before, her son died, and she tried to kill herself, but Torak's father saved her.

* AntiVillain: A mix of the [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Woobie Anti-Villain and Well-Intentioned Anti-Villain]] types. While she assists the other Soul Eaters in sacrificing predators (which is forbidden by the clans' laws) in order to take control over demons and brings in a White Fox boy (whom Torak impersonates) [[spoiler:to [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice him]] as well]], she doesn't like needless cruelty and Thiazzi's sadism. She believes that the World Spirit lets some prosper and others die early (like her own son) because the clans don't live like they should and that the Soul Eaters can unite all the clans for their own good. She's also sorry for being unable to repay Torak's father for preventing her suicide [[spoiler:until at the end of ''Soul Eater'']].

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To [[spoiler:Tenris. Tenris acts as a friendly ally towards Torak for most of ''Spirit Walker'' [[EvilAllAlong until he reveals himself to be utterly ruthless]] and responsible for the death of his brother, Torak's father. Nef is presented as an antagonist right from the start (with Torak deceiving her by impersonating the White Fox boy the Soul Eaters intend to sacrifice), but she shows herself to have a kinder side than her allies. Tenris craves power at the expense of others, but Nef [[WellIntentionedExtremist wants to subjugate all the clans for the good of all]]. Tenris acts with just his tokoroths at his beck and call, while Nef shares the main antagonist role of ''Soul Eater'' with the remaining Soul Eaters (though she's the one who gets the most amount of attention). Tenris suffers a KarmicDeath when he tries to kill his nephew Torak for power shortly after revealing himself to be responsible for the death of Torak's father, but Nef ends up sacrificing her own life to repay Torak's father for saving her life]].

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Somewhat inverted because Nef jumps into the crevasse with the Fire Opal fragment wholly by her own accord as her final act of redemption.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She's truly fond of her bat, and she would have followed her deceased son into afterlife if not for Torak's father. [[spoiler:Before she sacrifices herself, she sends her bat free so that it won't die with her.]]

* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: While Torak is impersonating the White Fox boy brought in as an acolyte, Nef orders him to kill a young owl as a sacrifice, saying it to be the first test on his way to become a Soul Eater. For the sake of maintaining his disguise, Torak obeys.

* PointyEars: She has pointy ears that remind Torak of a bat.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Torak pities Nef after hearing how she tried to commit suicide after her son's death. Before freeing the sacrifices, he tries to make her see the error of her ways, and after [[spoiler:she sacrifices herself]], he cries for her.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Among the Soul Eaters who were corrupted[[note]]all the others but the Walker and Torak's father[[/note]], Nef is easily the least malevolent and the most sympathetic. [[WellIntentionedExtremist She performs ruthless acts in the name of what she believes to be the greater good]] instead of just for the sake of power. She never practices pointless cruelty like the others, and she [[spoiler:ends up dying in a redeeming way]].

Seshru the Viper Mage is a beautiful woman who's as venomous as her totem, though it is suggested that she changed her name and clan when she joined the Healers. She serves as the main antagonist of ''Outcast'', and it's revealed in the same book that she is [[spoiler:Renn and Hord's mother]]. She's also responsible for [[spoiler:forcibly tattooing Torak with the Soul Eaters' mark]].

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:She impregnated herself with Renn just to put a demon inside her infant in order to have her own tokoroth. While she failed thanks to Saeunn, ''Viper's Daughter'' reveals that she afterwards had Naiginn and managed to do to him what she failed to do to Renn. As soon as she discovers her kinship with Renn in ''Outcast'', she forces Torak to spirit walk in a viper, ordering him to bite Renn.]]
* AnimalMotifs: She's described to be in everything like a snake, especially in the traditional [[SnakesAreSinister vile]] and [[SnakesAreSexy sexy]] characterizations, though apparently she isn't actually a born Viper. The way she torments Torak from afar during ''Outcast'' resembles the way a viper injects its venom into its prey and returns to finish the job when the time is right. She has also changed her name and clan in a same way a snake sheds its skin and creates a new one.
* ArchEnemy: To Renn. Renn holds a personal enmity towards Seshru because [[spoiler:the latter birthed her just to create her own tokoroth as well as shattered the heart of Renn's father. It is because of Seshru's legacy that Renn hates her gift for Magecraft and refuses to practise it. Even after Seshru's death, Renn fights to prove to herself that she's nothing like her mother, especially in ''Viper's Daughter'' in which she gains a new nemesis in the form of her demon-possessed half-brother Naiginn, a creation of their shared mother]].

* ConsummateLiar: Regular lying is for her as easy as is expected from a stereotypically portrayed snake, making her able to deny her crimes and take credit for the actions of someone else, like how [[spoiler:she claims to be responsible for the drowning of Lake Axehead]].

* {{Determinator}}: In ''Viper's Daughter'' Renn notes that she never, ever gives up.

* IfIWantedYouDead: When she has Torak at her mercy at Lake Axehead's healing spring, she states that she could have taken his spirit walker powers by eating his heart while he was unconscious, but she wants instead to make him use his power for her.

* MarkOfTheBeast: Every Soul Eater has a trident tattooed on their chest, representing the tool they use to snare stray souls. Even cutting it out will not remove the magic, as [[spoiler:Torak]] finds out in Book 4; neutralizing the tattoo's magic requires a very specific ritual.

* ProngsOfPoseidon: They adopted as their symbol the three-pronged fork, a healer's tool used in fetching souls of sick people. They each have it tattooed on their chests, and the fork is remembered as a symbol of great evil. The clan laws state that merely having the tattoo is enough a reason to get exiled from the clans, as is done to [[spoiler:Torak]] in ''Outcast''.

** Brought UpToEleven in ''Ghost Hunter'', where not even ''literally'' dying can get the characters who want out out.

The first named Soul Eater. He started the first book's plot by creating the demon bear in order to destroy Torak's father. [[spoiler:His name is actually Tenris, the Seal Mage whom Torak meets when he travels to the Seal Clan in the second book. He's horribly scarred all over his body from the Great Fire ignited by his brother, Torak's father. He pretends to be very kind and helpful towards Torak, but tries to kill him in order to get the power of the spirit walker.]]

* ArcVillain: The one responsible for the plots of the first two books.
* BadassBaritone: [[spoiler:Tenris' voice is described to be magnificent like the Sea; smooth-flowing and low-pitched, yet with an undertow of great power. It amplifies his charisma and makes other characters compelled to trust him.]]
* BearsAreBadNews: He created the demon bear from ''Wolf Brother'' in an attempt to assassinate Torak's father, and it worked.

* ColorCodedEyes: Grey, which is symbolic of his LackOfEmpathy and his relationship to [[spoiler:Torak's father and Torak]].

* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:He's first presented as the Seal Mage who's friendly toward Torak and agrees to help him in creating a cure for the plague... only to be revealed a Soul Eater as well as the creator of the plague and the demon bear.]]

* EvilCounterpart: Both to Torak's father [[spoiler:(his younger brother)]] and Fin-Kedinn (his childhood friend). Like the former, he was devoted to Magecraft in his childhood, but while Torak's father wanted to learn about the world and help people with his talents, [[spoiler:Tenris]] has always wanted power to dominate others. These opposing motives were their reasons to [[spoiler:join the Healers (the future Soul Eaters)]]. Both are also skilled in remaining beneath notice and covering their tracks. Like Fin-Kedinn, [[spoiler:Tenris is a highly influential man in his clan and the region they live in, even though they're scarred/injured. While Tenris plays nice with Torak, the boy considers him to be a more friendly and less distant Fin-Kedinn, but he's ultimately proven to be much more heartless and dishonorable. Both of them have lost a brother, but while Fin-Kedinn takes care of his brother's children Renn and Hord, Tenris tries to kill for power his nephew Torak whom Fin-Kedinn eventually adopts]].
* EvilCripple: He's said to have been crippled by an accident that happened during a hunting trip. [[spoiler:It's subverted because while he's horribly scarred, [[ObfuscatingDisability he only pretended to be crippled]] in order to make it easier to infiltrate the Red Deer Clan.]]
* EvilIsNotAToy: By using a Fire Opal fragment, he was able to conjure from the Otherworld an elemental, the strongest type of demons, and trap it inside a bear's body. However, he could ''not'' control the freshly created monstrosity. Seshru comments later on how foolish [[spoiler:Tenris]] was to create something too powerful to control.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:He's killed by a killer whale for killing its offspring.]]

* TheMole: [[spoiler:He pretends to be interested in helping Torak to find a cure for the disease he created.]]

* TwoFaced: [[spoiler:His face's right side shows him to be handsome in a sharp-boned way, but the entire left side of his head (excluding his mouth) is hairless and mottled pink due to the burns received from the Great Fire.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:When Tenris forces Torak to associate with the Seal boys he doesn't like, he correctly tells the irritated boy that he should care about earning the trust of his kin. After all, they couldn't otherwise work together in retrieving the faux cure ingredient.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler:He's the well-respected Mage of the Seal Clan, with none of them having any idea of his membership to the Soul Eaters or that the plague that killed four of them was his creation.]]

* WeUsedToBeFriends: He used to be a great friend of Fin-Kedinn until he failed to become the mage of his clan. He then left and cut off all ties to Fin-Kedinn, never seeing him again, even after joining the Healers.

* CainAndAbel: Though [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou it is in his interests to keep his half-sister Renn alive]], there is no doubt in her mind that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he'll kill her once she has freed him from the masking spell]]. Once he discovers another way to do that, all bets are off.

** The Soul Eaters were Mages, but Naiginn can't do Magecraft, so Renn is able to use his lack of knowledge regarding the subject against him. Instead, he's a first and foremost a hunter like Torak. He's only one year younger than Torak and Renn, whereas the Soul Eaters were much older than them. He's also more of a one-dimensional villain who has no other motives than destroying everything in his path, while the Soul Eaters were more rounded villains.

* DemonicPossession: Naiginn is actually an ice demon trapped inside a human body, which Seshru birthed only to use her own infant as a demon's vessel.

* EvilAllAlong: He appears friendly and helpful at first, but he's actually a ruthless demon.
* EvilCounterpart:
** He's the demon-offspring Seshru tried to create out of Naiginn's half-sister Renn but failed thanks to Saeunn.
** Like his cousin Torak who's the best tracker of the Forest, Naiginn is the best hunter of the Far North. This is played in ''Skin Taker'' wherein Naiginn wears the pelts of the bears he has killed in order to feel superior; as Torak states, only he has the power to assume a bear's power by spirit walking in one.

* {{Gaslighting}}: He causes various accidents that cause Renn to believe that she's subconsciously trying to hurt Torak, prompting her to begin her journey to the Far North to find a solution to this problem.
* GenerationXerox: Like his birthfather Tenris, Naiginn is a member of a proud clan living in a close connection with the Sea, gets a part of his face burned, is a skilled manipulator, gets a position as a trusted religious figure, and tries to take Torak's power for himself by eating a part of him.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: In ''Viper's Daughter'', he gets a part of his face burned.

* MuggleBornOfMages: Despite being the son of two Soul Eaters and the stepson of the Narwal Mage, Naiginn cannot do Magecraft himself. That's why he needs Renn to undo their mother's binding masking spell.

* PickyEater: He prefers [[PrefersRawMeat eating his food raw]] or rotten, particularly the brains, tongues and eyes, and doesn't like green food. In ''Skin Taker'', he has started [[BrainFood eating the brains]] of living creatures because that weakens the spell binding him.

* SoulEating: Like all demons, he desires to feast on the souls of the living, but thanks to Seshru's charm, he has to settle for the shreds of souls clinging to the eyes, tongues and brains of dead creatures. By the time of ''Skin Taker'', he has found out that by eating the brains of still living creatures, he can feast on souls and weaken the charm.

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: The Soul Eaters don't follow the rules of [[ThankYourPrey properly respecting the prey]]. In ''Spirit Walker'' and ''Soul Eater'', they kill predators to acquire certain body parts and leave the rest to rot. The Crippled Wanderer traps an elemental in a bear's body, and in ''Ghost Hunter'', Eostra has corrupted a pack of dogs into her bloodthirsty minions. Thiazzi in particular enjoys torturing Wolf and the other caught predators in ''Soul Eater'' and slowly killing others with fire in ''Oath Breaker''. The only one who has reserves in animal cruelty is Nef [[spoiler:who also performs a HeelFaceTurn]].
* TheDreaded: Though they've been undercover for over a decade, their legacy hasn't been forgotten. The clan laws decree that those who want to join them are to be exiled.

** The Crippled Wanderer [[spoiler:(Tenris)]] is '''Pestilence''' (an alternative interpretation of '''Conquest'''): the sickness he created and had his tokoroths spread is the driving plot point of ''Spirit Walker''. In addition to that, the demon bear he created runs rampage across the Forest and grows more powerful in ''Wolf Brother''. (If the bear hadn't been killed before the zenith of the Great Auroch's red eye, it would have become invincible.) [[spoiler:Tenris has also won the complete trust of the Sea clans over the years, making him the real authority figure of the Seal Islands.]]
** Thiazzi is '''War''': not only he's the strongest man of the Forest and the most violent Soul Eater, but in ''Oath Breaker'', he drives the Deep Forest clans into warring among each other, [[spoiler:and then he unites both sides and nearly leads them into an open war against the Open Forest clans]].
** Seshru is '''Famine''': in ''Outcast'' she causes Lake Axehead to gradually dry and grow sick with deformed and inedible fish [[spoiler:(with only the latter being true)]], which are the main food source of the Otter Clan.
** Eostra is '''Death''': she has always been obsessed with the secrets of the dead and even resembles a corpse. In her youth, she resurrected a boy, and in ''Ghost Hunter'', she summons the spirits of [[spoiler:the deceased Soul Eaters]].

* PapaWolf: Towards his niece. He also grows protective of Torak. In ''Outcast'', he's sad that Torak is banished, but goes along with it. At the book's end, however, when the clans are about to kill Torak while wrongfully blaming him for [[spoiler:the flood]], Fin-Kedinn suddenly declares Torak as his foster-son and says that if the clansmen want to kill Torak, they have to kill him first.

* NotSoDifferent:

Torak is the protagonist of the series. He lives with his father in seclusion until a bear possessed by a demon kills his father. He meets Wolf and discovers that he can actually communicate with him, resulting in Wolf becoming Torak's "pack brother" and guide. During the quest to kill the demon bear, Torak learns that he's the predicted Listener whose destiny is to take down the creators of the bear, the Soul Eaters. It is revealed in ''Spirit Walker'' that he is also a spirit walker, a creature whose spirits can leave his body and take over other bodies. It is for that reason [[spoiler:the World Spirit ordered Torak's mother to make him 'clanless' when he was born]]. He and Renn are initially enemies when they meet in the first book. However, they become friends, in later books best friends, and in the last few books they become more than friends. When the series begins he is twelve years old, and by the end of ''Ghost Hunter'', he is nearly sixteen.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:He falls to his death in ''Ghost Hunter'', but Wolf guides his spirits back to his body.]]

* BelligerentSexualTension: With Renn.

* TheChosenOne: He is in the first book the Listener who is prophesied to end the demon bear's threat over the Forest. In ''Oath Breaker'' it is revealed that [[spoiler:the World Spirit decreed that he must fight to undo the evil of the Soul Eaters which his father had helped to create.]].

* TheExile: He's made an outcast in the fourth book for [[spoiler:having the Soul Eaters' symbol that was forcefully tattooed on him in the previous book]]. He manages to return to the clans at the end of the book by [[spoiler:vanquishing Seshru and one of the Fire Opal pieces at the same time]].
* EyeColourChange: After spirit-walking in trees in the fifth book, he gains tiny green flecks in his eyes. He loses them after the Thunderstar destroys much of the Forest, and regains them following the Rite that brings the First Tree back.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: In the eight book, [[spoiler:Naiginn]] slits his cheek, leaving a visible scar.

* MarkOfShame: [[spoiler:When he's exiled by the clans in ''Outcast'', he gains on his forehead a black circle so that everyone will know he's to be killed on sight. After this conviction is revoked, Fin-Kedinn divides the cirle into four differently colored sections -- green for the Forest, blue for the Sea, white for the Far North, and red for the Mountains -- to make Torak belong to all the clans.]]
* TheOathBreaker: In ''[[TitleDrop Oath Breaker]]'', Torak vows through his three souls to kill Thiazzi as revenge for [[spoiler:Bale's murder]]. During the climax, he breaks his oath so that Thiazzi would let Renn go. While doing that is instrumental in [[spoiler:allowing Bale to rest in peace]], it's revealed in the next book that it possibly weakened the connection between Torak's three souls, making it more possible for Eostra to make him a [[FateWorseThanDeath Lost]] [[AndIMustScream One]].

* RaisedByWolves: When he was baby, he was given to a female wolf be taken care of until his father could take care of him by himself.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: His father taught him tracking so well that he's the best tracker of the Forest. Fin-Kedinn states that Torak inherited this gift from his mother and his father taught him to use it so that he'd be attentive of the surrounding Forest and wouldn't make the same mistakes he did in not listening to others.

* TallDarkAndHandsome: In ''Outcast'' he grows into this.

Renn is Torak's best friend, and later becomes his mate (Stone Age word for lover/girlfriend/wife). She has a very strong sense of justice and right and wrong. Like Torak, she has a very short temper, but unlike him, she is extremely rational and thinks before she acts. She is very tough, and purposely prickly, as she lost her parents at a young age. She can be very secretive, hiding her true [[spoiler:parentage]]. She is the best archer in the Raven Clan, and she is a very talented Mage, although she hates to practice Magecraft. She is Fin-Kedinn's niece, and his favourite person in the Clan. At the start of the series she is twelve, and by the end of ''Ghost Hunter'', she is nearly sixteen.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The rest of the Raven Clan generally avoid her because of her strange eyes and dreams that come true. They only tolerate her because she is Fin-Kedinn's niece, and Fin-Kedinn is the Clan Leader.

* BeautyMark: By the time of the fourth book, she has gained a tiny freckle at the corner of her mouth. As Torak falls in love with her, he grows to like it.

* FieryRedhead: Spirits help you if you get on her bad side.

* PowerTattoo: In ''Soul Eater'', she gets lightning-bolt tattoos on her arms to protect herself from demons, especially when doing magecraft.

* SiblingRivalry: With her arrogant older brother Hord.

Torak finds Wolf when he is a cub, after his family was killed in a flood. Torak realizes that he can communicate with Wolf, and Wolf becomes his 'pack-brother'. Wolf eventually finds a mate, Darkfur, and has cubs with her. Wolf initially dislikes Renn, and does not warm up to her until the second or third book. After that, he likes her nearly as much as he likes Torak, even referring to while talking to Torak as 'the pack-sister' . Wolf is very loyal and does not leave his friends behind.

* ADogNamedDog: A wolf named Wolf. Torak was recently orphaned when he named him, and presumably wasn't in a good state of mind to come up with something more imaginative.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Of his and Darkfur's first three cubs, only Pebble is alive. Click dies of a sickness one moon before ''Ghost Hunter'', while Shadow is killed by Eostra's eagle owl. In ''Skin Taker'', two more of their cubs, Blackpaw and Tug, are killed when the Thunderstar strikes.

Fin-Kedinn is the Leader of the Raven Clan. He was the older brother of Renn's father, and [[{{Nephewism}} took care of Renn after her father died]]. In fact, he made her bow and taught her to shoot. He is wary of Torak initially, but lets him live with the Raven Clan, and gradually warms up to him. He was once best friends with Torak's father, [[spoiler:but also in love with his mother]]. He eventually becomes Torak's foster-father, which is a great honor.

* DoomMagnet: Pretty much everyone he loves dies and/or somehow gets tangled with the Soul Eaters: [[spoiler:his friends Fa and Tenris and sister-in-law Seshru join the Soul Eaters and die; his brother as well as his nephew Hord are killed in an avalanche; his friend Oslak is killed by Tenris' plague; the woman he loves dies in childbirth, and his entire clan suffers from an unnatural plague two times. Narrander is about the only friend he has who ''doesn't'' die, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation not that that's any comfort]]]].
* FieryRedHead: ZigZagged. He's redheaded like his niece and nephew, and he was described to have a fiery temper when he was younger. He has nowadays nerves of steel, but when he gets angry, beware.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Used to have a crush on [[spoiler:Torak's mom]]. He handles it pretty well, but never fully gets over it. It ruined the promising relationship he had with a woman from the Wolf Clan.

* MyGreatestFailure: He denied shelter from Torak's parents out of anger and jealousy, and never saw them again. He confesses that he possibly caused both their deaths this way.
* PapaWolf: Towards his niece. He also grows protective of Torak. In ''Outcast'', he's sad that Torak is banished, but goes along with it. At the book's end, however, when the clans are about to kill Torak, wrongfully blaming him for [[spoiler:the flood]], Fin-Kedinn suddenly declares Torak as his foster-son and says that if the clansmen want to kill Torak, they have to kill him first.

Torak's father is a hunter from the Wolf Clan who raised his son in isolation for twelve years until he's mauled by the demon bear and dies in the first chapter of the first book. It is revealed that the bear was sent specifically to hunt him by the Soul Eaters. This is because he was a [[spoiler:former Wolf Mage and a member]] to the Soul Eaters before they became evil. When he realized what they were doing, he created a huge fire known as the Great Fire to destroy them, but he managed only to force them to go into hiding for thirteen years.

* BrokenPedestal: He's this to the entire Wolf Clan because [[spoiler:he, the best Mage they ever had, joined the Soul Eaters]], even though [[spoiler:Fa turned on the Soul Eaters and tried to destroy them]]. The entire clan has chosen to bear a mark of shame and become more reclusive than ever because of this. In ''Outcast'', they attempt to kill the outcasted Torak to cleanse themselves of the shame they believe Fa to have caused them.

* ScarsAreForever: There is an old scar on his chest which makes it difficult for Torak to draw the Death Mark on it. He received this by [[spoiler:cutting off the tattoo that signaled his membership to the Soul Eaters]].
* UnnamedParent: Torak refers to him just as Fa. It's justified since five summers must pass before a deceased person's name can be spoken, otherwise the deceased person cannot rest peacefully.
* TheUnreveal: We never find out his name [[JustifiedTrope since clan traditions dictate that five summers must pass before the name of the person who died can be spoken]]. [[spoiler:Even when Eostra says his name while summoning his ghost in the final book, it's not revealed by the narration.]]

Saeunn is the impossibly old Raven Clan Mage. Her age is never actually stated, and considering that it's the Stone Age, perhaps she isn't really that old at all by modern standards (though she may be). She forces Renn to learn Magecraft, though the two of them have a fierce dislike for each other. At the end of the series, [[spoiler:she dies of extreme old age]].

* BecauseDestinySaysSo: It's her only argument to things.
* CrypticConversation: She's prone to these.

* GoodIsNotNice: No-one particularly likes her due to her callous attitude, but she still helps the heroes in their quest to destroy the Soul Eaters. She also [[spoiler:rescued Renn before Seshru could create a tokoroth out of the newborn]].

* MentorArchetype: She tries to teach Renn Magecraft, but the girl doesn't want to learn it, coming to ask advice from Saeunn only when she has no other choice.

* FaceHeelTurn: Granted, he was always an antagonistic jerk toward Torak, but after Torak has gained Fin-Kedinn's support in delivering the Nanuak to the World Spirit with Wolf, Hord chases after them and tries to kill them just to deliver the Nanuak himself.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: As noted in his first appearance by Torak, Hord comes off as being desperate to be the best, yet fears of always being the second rate.

* {{Jerkass}}: Oh yeah. Before Torak defeats Hord in a duel, the young man shows unwarranted contempt at the younger boy and afterwards fully supports that interpretation of the prophecy which includes [[HumanSacrifice Torak being sacrificed]]. He also pays no heed to Dyrati's obvious admiration of him and claims to have shed no tears for his sister's possible death after her act of "disgracing him" by releasing Torak.

* SiblingRivalry: With Renn.

* WouldHurtAChild: He's fully supportive of the idea of sacrificing a 12-year-old boy and tries to kill him with an axe [[spoiler:before his death]].

* NotSoDifferent: When Torak suffers from soul-sickness in ''Outcast'', he finds himself resembling the Walker while looking at his reflection. The Walker himself invokes this in ''Ghost Hunter'' with Torak; the Walker says he can sense on the boy's souls the marks caused by spirit walking into various creatures. The old man says that like him, Torak must always wander and not settle down because of his experiences.

* AnimalMotifs: Otter, like his clan. Very subtle {{Foreshadowing}}, as it throws him in with the other characters to get strong AnimalMotifs.
* BigDamnHeroes: He ended up [[spoiler:killing Eostra in ''Ghost Hunter'']], just as she was about to [[spoiler:literally destroy Torak and take his powers]].
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:He is the seventh Soul Eater whom everyone thought was dead.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Admittedly, he's got a dark and troubled present too. [[spoiler:Having once been a Soul Eater, having his kid die, and being ostracized by his clan]] sure didn't help.
* ExtremeOmnivore: He's shown snacking things what most people wouldn't want to eat, like a louse from his beard or a raw rotting dove's wing. However, even he finds the taste of frostbitten toes too horrible.

* GoodCounterpart: To Eostra. Both are outwardly cadaverous, [[ThirdPersonPerson refer to themselves in the third person]] and display mental illness. However, Eostra is without doubt evil and dangerous to everyone. The Walker, on the other hand, comes off as threatening, but he's ultimately harmless as long as he's left alone and helps out those who help him. The Walker treats affectionately the little animals he keeps as pets, while Eostra views the animals she has corrupted into bloodthirsty minions merely as tools. [[spoiler:Both are powerful Mages, with Eostra being a {{necromancer}} and the Walker having a connection with [[TheFairFolk the Hidden People]]. By the end of the series, the two of them are all that's left of the seven Soul Eaters until the Walker kills Eostra.]]

* HandicappedBadass: This one-eyed, toeless and insane old man has been able to live all on his own in the Forest since [[spoiler:the Great Fire]]. He also [[spoiler:retains enough Mage-power to summon the Hidden People to destroy Eostra]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's grumpy, unfriendly and at times threatening, but he aids Torak and Renn after they help him out twice, and [[spoiler:he shows up to aid them in the final battle against Eostra]]. He's also pretty affectionate towards the various little animals he takes as pets and names Narik.

Bale is a boy from the Seal Clan, first introduced in ''Spirit Walker''. Torak's paternal grandmother was from the Seal Clan, meaning that he and Bale are kinsmen. Bale and Torak are initially wary of each other, but become friends. He returns in ''Outcast'' to aid Renn in helping Torak who's made an outcast. In ''Oath Breaker'', he's [[spoiler:murdered by Thiazzi, resulting in Torak seeking vengeance on the Oak Mage]]. When he is first introduced, he is fifteen, and by ''Oath Breaker'' he is nearly seventeen.

* DarkSkinnedBlond: He lives by the Sea, so he's pretty tan.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:He plays a fairly large role in both ''Spirit Walker'' and ''Outcast'' only to get tossed off a cliff in the opening chapters of ''Oath Breaker''.]]
* FriendlyRivalry: He and Torak are initially quite hostile towards each other but it eventually mellows out into this.

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: With Torak and Renn.
* UnrequitedLove: For Renn.

* FeatheredFiend: This bird is unnaturally malevolent. It is not possessed by a demon, so it's unknown what Eostra has done to it.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: It is in ''Soul Eater'' and ''Oath Breaker'' a fairly minor character, but it changes the course of the latter book's climax by [[spoiler:stealing the last Fire Opal piece from Thiazzi]]. This leads to [[spoiler:the Oak Mage's KarmicDeath]] and serves as buildup for the events of ''Ghost Hunter''.
* WouldHurtAChild: It tries to attack Renn (a thirteen-year-old girl at the time) in ''Soul Eater''. In ''Ghost Hunter'', it kills Wolf and Darkfur's cub Shadow and captures the other cub Pebble.

* BatOutOfHell: Subverted. Despite being the pet of a villain, it's a normal bat that does nothing villainous and even likes Torak.
* MoralityPet: Its mistress cares for it very much. Torak lampshades it by wondering how Nef can caress her clan-creature even though she stains her spirit with sin. [[spoiler:Before sacrificing herself, she makes sure to release the bat so that it won't die with her.]]
* ParrotPetPosition: It rests on Nef's shoulder where she'd keep the fur of her totem.

Aki is the Boar Clan Leader's son, and a few years older than Torak. In ''Outcast'', he discovers Torak's [[spoiler:Soul Eater tattoo]], resulting in Torak's outcasting. Aki spends Torak's time as an outcast attempting to hunt him. They later become allies after Torak saves his life.

A black-furred female wolf from the pack Wolf lives with between ''Wolf Brother'' and ''Spirit Walker''. She becomes so attached to Wolf that she leaves the pack to be with him in ''Oath Breaker'', becoming his mate.

* DisneyDeath: While trying to protect her cubs from Eostra's eagle owl, she falls in a river and is assumed dead by everyone. Renn later re-encounters her barely alive at the Gorge of the Hidden People.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Of her and Wolf's first three cubs, only Pebble is alive. Click dies of a sickness one moon before ''Ghost Hunter'', while Shadow is killed by Eostra's eagle owl. In ''Skin Taker'', two more of their cubs, Blackpaw and Tug, are killed when the Thunderstar strikes.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:When Torak is at the mercy of the Deep Forest clans who intend to kill him, the Chosen One secretly aids Renn in rescuing him by drugging the guards. She does this because she thinks they have no right to kill him because she thinks he's blessed for being able to survive the forest fire she tried to offer him to.]]
* TheFundamentalist: She hates everyone but Thiazzi because she thinks no-one else but him treats fire with proper respect or start a flame correctly. [[spoiler:She tries to offer Torak to the forest fire she ignites, but after he survives, she believes that the fire letting him live makes him blessed, so she secretly helps him escape from the Deep Forest clans, and after she's caught, she submits to whatever punishment Torak gives her.]]
* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:After Thiazzi is killed, the Chosen One is caught and Torak is given the honor of deciding her fate. She's happy with whatever decision he makes because she regards him blessed for surviving the forest fire.]]

Dark is an albino boy who lives in the Mountain of Ghosts with only a white raven called Ark as his company. He was abandoned by the Swan Clan when he was younger, both due to his albinism and his ability to see ghosts. He befriends Torak, Renn and Wolf, aiding them against Eostra. [[spoiler:He afterwards becomes the new Mage of the Raven Clan.]] He's of the same age as Torak and Renn.

** He was born to the Swan Clan, but he was feared [[AlbinosAreFreaks due to his albinism]] and ability to see ghosts. His only consolation was his mother, and when she died when he was eight, he was abandoned.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the eight book, he surprises everyone with the anger of meeting his father Realvi who left him to die in the Mountains.

* NotSoDifferent: He is more or less like Torak was at the beginning of the series. Torak lived his first twelve years wandering away from the clans with his father, visiting only once a clan meeting and being ignorant of a lot of things when first meeting the Ravens. Since the age of eight, Dark has lived in the Mountain of Ghosts, with only Ark and ghosts for company.
* SufferTheSlings: His weapon is a sling, and he aims with it even more accurately than Renn does with her bow.

* BirdsOfAFeather: With Dark. They both were cast out by their bird-themed birth-clan at an early age due to being different and had to learn how to survive in a cold environment, but after befriending and helping Torak, Renn and Wolf, they found their place among the Ravens.

!!Soul Eaters

[[folder:Tropes that apply to all of them]]
A group of mages from different clans and the primary antagonists of the series. They were formed by seven mages thirteen years before the start of the series and were originally known as the Healers. At first they helped the clans by curing the sick and driving away evil spirits. However, the majority of them were corrupted by their ambitions, and now they aspire to rule the Forest and other areas presented in the series. Torak's father fought against them and forced them to go into hiding. Following his death, Torak's quest to destroy the demon bear expands into his destiny to destroy the bear's creators, the Soul Eaters.

[[folder:SPOILER CHARACTER]]
[[WMG:Naiginn]]
Naiginn is a young hunter from the Narwal Clan, the son of their Mage Marupai, and the best hunter of the Far North. In ''Viper's Daughter'', he meets Renn and becomes her guide in her quest to seek a solution to her strange secret desire to kill Torak. He is one year younger than either of them. He's eventually revealed to be in reality the son of Seshru and Tenris who was used by the former as a vessel to an ice demon immediately after birth, making him a grown-up tokoroth as well as Renn's half-brother and Torak's cousin. Wanting to be released from the spell that hides his demonic nature but also binds him, he tricks Renn into thinking she's subconsciously trying to hurt Torak so that he can capture her and force her to break the spell that can be undone only by Seshru's kin in the ice cave on the Island at the Edge of the World where he was born. After that fails, he makes his way into the Deep Forest, and after the Thunderstar strikes in ''Skin Taker'', he unites several surviving clans as the "Chosen Ones" who make him their leader.

* BigBad: He's the antagonist of the three last books which take place after the demise of the Soul Eaters.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He's first portrayed to be more friendly than the rest of the prideful and misogynistic Narwal Clan, but it's all lies.
* CainAndAbel: Though [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou it is in his interests to keep his half-sister Renn alive]], there is no doubt in her mind that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he'll kill her once she has freed him from the masking spell]]. Once he discovers another way to do that, all bets are off.
* CarryABigStick: In ''Skin Taker'', he uses a club studded with bear teeth.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
** The Soul Eaters were Mages, but Naiginn can't do Magecraft, so Renn is able to use his lack of knowledge regarding the subject against him. Instead, he's a first and foremost a hunter like Torak. He's only one year younger than Torak and Renn, whereas the Soul Eaters were much older than them. He's also more of a one-dimensional villain who has no other motives than destroying everything in his path, while the Soul Eaters were more rounded villains.
** The bear from the first book was possessed by a demon like Naiginn, but while the bear was a rampaging beast and open about its demonic nature, Naiginn's demon nature is hidden by a spell, and he has the cunningness to appear friendly.
* DemonicPossession: Naiginn is actually an ice demon trapped inside a human body, which Seshru birthed only to use her own infant as a demon's vessel.
* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: His stepfather Marupai loves him fiercely, and [[spoiler:dies trying to save him at the Island at the Edge of the World]].
* EvilAllAlong: He appears friendly and helpful at first, but he's actually a ruthless demon.
* EvilCounterpart:
** He's the demon-offspring Seshru tried to create out of Naiginn's half-sister Renn but failed thanks to Saeunn.
** Like his cousin Torak who's the best tracker of the Forest, Naiginn is the best hunter of the Far North. This is played in ''Skin Taker'' wherein Naiginn wears the pelts of the bears he has killed in order to feel superior; as Torak states, only he has the power to assume a bear's power by spirit walking in one.
* EvilPlan: In ''Viper's Daughter'', his goal is to take Renn to the Island at the Edge of the World and force her to undo the masking spell Seshru cast on him so that he can feed on the souls of the living.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: He's unusually handsome for an inhabitant of the Far North. He inherited his good looks from Seshru and Tenris who were both attractive Soul Eaters, and since he's a demon in human skin, this trope is played quite literally.
* FacialHorror: He gets burns on his face at the end of ''Viper's Daughter''.
* FlatCharacter: His only motivation is to be free to destroy all life. By contrast, the Soul Eaters were more rounded villains who [[KnightTemplar believed themselves to be right with their villainous actions]]. Justified because like the rest of the demons, Naiginn lacks a sense of right and wrong as well as all other feelings than hatred towards all living things and hunger to destroy.
* {{Gaslighting}}: He causes various accidents that cause Renn to believe that she's subconsciously trying to hurt Torak, prompting her to begin her journey to the Far North to find a solution to this problem.
* GenerationXerox: Like his birthfather Tenris, Naiginn is a member of a proud clan living in a close connection with the Sea, gets a part of his face burned, is a skilled manipulator, gets a position as a trusted religious figure, and tries to take Torak's power for himself by eating a part of him.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: In ''Viper's Daughter'', he gets a part of his face burned.
* IcyBlueEyes: He has light-blue eyes that reflect his nature as an ice demon as well as Seshru and Tenris' son.
%%* ImAHumanitarian:
* LoveIsAWeakness: He despises love because he views it as an exploitable weakness.
* ManipulativeBastard: He has his parents' manipulative skills. In ''Viper's Daughter'', he gaslights Renn into leaving alone to the Far North, and in ''Skin Taker'', he manipulates several Deep Forest clans into turning on their leaders and mages, uniting as Chosen Ones, and making him their Great Leader who keeps them safe from the nonexistent Skin-Takers.
* MasterPoisoner: Like his parents, he's skilled at using poisons and drugs.
* MightMakesRight: His thoughts reveal that he views Fin-Kedinn as a weakling for leading the Raven Clan through persuasion instead of force.
* MuggleBornOfMages: Despite being the son of two Soul Eaters and the stepson of the Narwal Mage, Naiginn cannot do Magecraft himself. That's why he needs Renn to undo their mother's binding masking spell.
* {{Narcissist}}: This handsome young hunter is overly vain and believes behind his fake niceness himself to be stronger and smarter than everyone else. He refuses to admit making mistakes, and after he gets scarred by Torak, he seeks to have revenge by scarring Torak in return. He inherited his vanity from Seshru, though it is also a part of his demonic nature to regard all living things to be inferior to himself.
-->'''Naiginn''': There's nothing ''wrong'' with me, I'm more perfect than you'll ever grasp!
* NeatFreak: He takes much longer than Torak to clean his clothes out of respect for the Sea Mother. When Renn purposefully gets herself smeared with bird droppings, Naiginn is furious because of the stench and spends ages cleaning his clothes of a slight dropping spatter.
* NeverFoundTheBody: In ''Viper's Daughter'', he's last seen staggering through volcanic smoke before he's apparently destroyed by a mammoth's spirit. However, as a dream version of Seshru points out to Renn, the heroes never actually saw his death or body. Against everyone's expectations, he returns in ''Skin Taker''.
* PickyEater: He prefers [[PrefersRawMeat eating his food raw]] or rotten, particularly the brains, tongues and eyes, and doesn't like green food. In ''Skin Taker'', he has started [[BrainFood eating the brains]] of living creatures because that weakens the spell binding him.
* PoisonedWeapons: He uses poisoned arrows.
* {{Sadist}}: He revels in being feared. In ''Skin Taker'', he plans to subject Torak to ColdBloodedTorture and pauses when Torak faints out because he doesn't find it funny to mutilate a prisoner who can't experience the painful process.
* SmugSnake: Like his mother, he's clever and manipulative as well as vain and arrogant.
* SoulEating: Like all demons, he desires to feast on the souls of the living, but thanks to Seshru's charm, he has to settle for the shreds of souls clinging to the eyes, tongues and brains of dead creatures. By the time of ''Skin Taker'', he has found out that by eating the brains of still living creatures, he can feast on souls and weaken the charm.
* WalkingSpoiler: Hardly anything can be told about him without revealing his demonic nature and relation to the heroes.
[[/folder]]

[[WMG:Shamik]]
A girl from the Ptarmigan Clan who was sold to the Narwals due to her withered arm at the age of five. When she first appears, she's about ten years old and serves the Narwal Mage Marupai. Torak meets her while he's searching for Renn in the Far North. When the heroic trio returns to the Forest, they take Shamik with them to live with the Ravens.
----

[[folder:SPOILER CHARACTER]]
[[WMG:Naiginn]]
Naiginn is a young hunter from the Narwal Clan, the son of their Mage Marupai, and the best hunter of the Far North. In ''Viper's Daughter'', he meets Renn and becomes her guide in her quest to seek a solution to her strange secret desire to kill Torak. He is one year younger than either of them. He's eventually revealed to be in reality the son of Seshru and Tenris who was used by the former as a vessel to an ice demon immediately after birth, making him a grown-up tokoroth as well as Renn's half-brother and Torak's cousin. Wanting to be released from the spell that hides his demonic nature but also binds him, he tricks Renn into thinking she's subconsciously trying to hurt Torak so that he can capture her and force her to break the spell that can be undone only by Seshru's kin in the ice cave on the Island at the Edge of the World where he was born. After that fails, he makes his way into the Deep Forest, and after the Thunderstar strikes in ''Skin Taker'', he unites several surviving clans as the "Chosen Ones" who make him their leader.

* BigBad: He's the antagonist of the three last books which take place after the demise of the Soul Eaters.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He's first portrayed to be more friendly than the rest of the prideful and misogynistic Narwal Clan, but it's all lies.
* CainAndAbel: Though [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou it is in his interests to keep his half-sister Renn alive]], there is no doubt in her mind that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he'll kill her once she has freed him from the masking spell]]. Once he discovers another way to do that, all bets are off.
* CarryABigStick: In ''Skin Taker'', he uses a club studded with bear teeth.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
** The Soul Eaters were Mages, but Naiginn can't do Magecraft, so Renn is able to use his lack of knowledge regarding the subject against him. Instead, he's a first and foremost a hunter like Torak. He's only one year younger than Torak and Renn, whereas the Soul Eaters were much older than them. He's also more of a one-dimensional villain who has no other motives than destroying everything in his path, while the Soul Eaters were more rounded villains.
** The bear from the first book was possessed by a demon like Naiginn, but while the bear was a rampaging beast and open about its demonic nature, Naiginn's demon nature is hidden by a spell, and he has the cunningness to appear friendly.
* DemonicPossession: Naiginn is actually an ice demon trapped inside a human body, which Seshru birthed only to use her own infant as a demon's vessel.
* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: His stepfather Marupai loves him fiercely, and [[spoiler:dies trying to save him at the Island at the Edge of the World]].
* EvilAllAlong: He appears friendly and helpful at first, but he's actually a ruthless demon.
* EvilCounterpart:
** He's the demon-offspring Seshru tried to create out of Naiginn's half-sister Renn but failed thanks to Saeunn.
** Like his cousin Torak who's the best tracker of the Forest, Naiginn is the best hunter of the Far North. This is played in ''Skin Taker'' wherein Naiginn wears the pelts of the bears he has killed in order to feel superior; as Torak states, only he has the power to assume a bear's power by spirit walking in one.
* EvilPlan: In ''Viper's Daughter'', his goal is to take Renn to the Island at the Edge of the World and force her to undo the masking spell Seshru cast on him so that he can feed on the souls of the living.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: He's unusually handsome for an inhabitant of the Far North. He inherited his good looks from Seshru and Tenris who were both attractive Soul Eaters, and since he's a demon in human skin, this trope is played quite literally.
* FacialHorror: He gets burns on his face at the end of ''Viper's Daughter''.
* FlatCharacter: His only motivation is to be free to destroy all life. By contrast, the Soul Eaters were more rounded villains who [[KnightTemplar believed themselves to be right with their villainous actions]]. Justified because like the rest of the demons, Naiginn lacks a sense of right and wrong as well as all other feelings than hatred towards all living things and hunger to destroy.
* {{Gaslighting}}: He causes various accidents that cause Renn to believe that she's subconsciously trying to hurt Torak, prompting her to begin her journey to the Far North to find a solution to this problem.
* GenerationXerox: Like his birthfather Tenris, Naiginn is a member of a proud clan living in a close connection with the Sea, gets a part of his face burned, is a skilled manipulator, gets a position as a trusted religious figure, and tries to take Torak's power for himself by eating a part of him.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: In ''Viper's Daughter'', he gets a part of his face burned.
* IcyBlueEyes: He has light-blue eyes that reflect his nature as an ice demon as well as Seshru and Tenris' son.
%%* ImAHumanitarian:
* LoveIsAWeakness: He despises love because he views it as an exploitable weakness.
* ManipulativeBastard: He has his parents' manipulative skills. In ''Viper's Daughter'', he gaslights Renn into leaving alone to the Far North, and in ''Skin Taker'', he manipulates several Deep Forest clans into turning on their leaders and mages, uniting as Chosen Ones, and making him their Great Leader who keeps them safe from the nonexistent Skin-Takers.
* MasterPoisoner: Like his parents, he's skilled at using poisons and drugs.
* MightMakesRight: His thoughts reveal that he views Fin-Kedinn as a weakling for leading the Raven Clan through persuasion instead of force.
* MuggleBornOfMages: Despite being the son of two Soul Eaters and the stepson of the Narwal Mage, Naiginn cannot do Magecraft himself. That's why he needs Renn to undo their mother's binding masking spell.
* {{Narcissist}}: This handsome young hunter is overly vain and believes behind his fake niceness himself to be stronger and smarter than everyone else. He refuses to admit making mistakes, and after he gets scarred by Torak, he seeks to have revenge by scarring Torak in return. He inherited his vanity from Seshru, though it is also a part of his demonic nature to regard all living things to be inferior to himself.
-->'''Naiginn''': There's nothing ''wrong'' with me, I'm more perfect than you'll ever grasp!
* NeatFreak: He takes much longer than Torak to clean his clothes out of respect for the Sea Mother. When Renn purposefully gets herself smeared with bird droppings, Naiginn is furious because of the stench and spends ages cleaning his clothes of a slight dropping spatter.
* NeverFoundTheBody: In ''Viper's Daughter'', he's last seen staggering through volcanic smoke before he's apparently destroyed by a mammoth's spirit. However, as a dream version of Seshru points out to Renn, the heroes never actually saw his death or body. Against everyone's expectations, he returns in ''Skin Taker''.
* PickyEater: He prefers [[PrefersRawMeat eating his food raw]] or rotten, particularly the brains, tongues and eyes, and doesn't like green food. In ''Skin Taker'', he has started [[BrainFood eating the brains]] of living creatures because that weakens the spell binding him.
* PoisonedWeapons: He uses poisoned arrows.
* {{Sadist}}: He revels in being feared. In ''Skin Taker'', he plans to subject Torak to ColdBloodedTorture and pauses when Torak faints out because he doesn't find it funny to mutilate a prisoner who can't experience the painful process.
* SmugSnake: Like his mother, he's clever and manipulative as well as vain and arrogant.
* SoulEating: Like all demons, he desires to feast on the souls of the living, but thanks to Seshru's charm, he has to settle for the shreds of souls clinging to the eyes, tongues and brains of dead creatures. By the time of ''Skin Taker'', he has found out that by eating the brains of still living creatures, he can feast on souls and weaken the charm.
* WalkingSpoiler: Hardly anything can be told about him without revealing his demonic nature and relation to the heroes.
[[/folder]]

!!Soul Eaters

[[folder:Tropes that apply to all of them]]
A group of mages from different clans and the primary antagonists of the series. They were formed by seven mages thirteen years before the start of the series and were originally known as the Healers. At first they helped the clans by curing the sick and driving away evil spirits. However, the majority of them were corrupted by their ambitions, and now they aspire to rule the Forest and other areas presented in the series. Torak's father fought against them and forced them to go into hiding. Following his death, Torak's quest to destroy the demon bear expands into his destiny to destroy the bear's creators, the Soul Eaters.
----

[[WMG:Shamik]]
A girl from the Ptarmigan Clan who was sold to the Narwals due to her withered arm at the age of five. When she first appears, she's about ten years old and serves the Narwal Mage Marupai. Torak meets her while he's searching for Renn in the Far North. When the heroic trio returns to the Forest, they take Shamik with them to live with the Ravens.

* CleverCrows: They tend to notice things that others miss. It is Rip who first realizes that [[spoiler:the second Fire Opal piece is hidden in the hilt of the knife that belonged to Torak's father]].