History Characters / TheDresdenFilesTheWhiteCouncil

* SeriousBusiness: One of the more pervasive parts of Wizard culture is always appearing to be more knowledegable and in control than anyone else in the room, wizard or non-wizard. Two of the most disturbing things Harry ever hears from a senior council member are the phrases "I don't know" and "I don't think I'm smart enough to make this decision on my own". They're enough of a deviation from the normal script that all the indignation and snark he had built up drop away instantly and leave him speechless.
* SlaveToPR: The Council strives to maintain a united front at all times to outsiders, even if there is division within the group. Both heroes ''and'' villains are disgusted by it, unless they are running a gambit to exploit it. It's partly justified in that they are one of the '''very few''' organizations composed completely of humans, and thus needs to keep face and not look weak and undecisive within the larger supernatural community which looks down on them. The PR is also needed to keep the organization from splintering, as they are a multinational group and all the friction that it implies. However, this means the lives, livelihoods and reputation of innocent people, even ''children'', are tossed down the drain if deemed necessary.

* SeriousBusiness: One of the more pervasive parts of Wizard culture is always appearing to be more knowledegable and in control than anyone else, wizard or non-wizard. Two of the most disturbing things Harry ever hears from a senior council member are the phrases "I don't know" and "I don't think I'm smart enough to make this decision on my own". They're enough of a deviation from the normal script that all the indignation and snark he had built up drop away instantly and leave him speechless.

* SeperatedByACommonLanguage: It get played for laughs more often than not, but this is one of the more thought out and cruel aspects of DuMorne's training of Harry and Elaine. The point of a LanguageOfMagic in the Dresdenverse is to insulate the caster's mind against the raw forces of magic they command. It has to be a language not used in other circumstances so a wizard doesn't cast spells accidentally, fluency in the language is generally a downside, and it seems to be almost impossible to change once you start using it. The language DuMorne chose to teach them in? Latin. The common language of the White Council, used in literally every formal interaction between capital-W Wizards? Also Latin. From the very start, he was trying to isolate his pet enforcers from other wizards.

* OhCrap: Jim Butcher confirms this mentality among many members of the Senior Council and other council members in general regarding Harry Dresden. After the events of ''Cold Days'', the Council knows that Harry has killed with magic, works closely with vampires when the need arises, raised that ''T. rex'' from the dead, bound himself to Demonreach (even if not everyone knows the island's true purpose, they know it has a powerful Genus Loci), is an apprentice to and defended by Ebenezar (and so under the protection of the Blackstaff for those aware of Eb's other job in the Council and for the fewer still who know Harry is his grandson), is Mab's personal hitman and is there to stay (so attacking him means dealing with Mab), personally trained the newest Winter Lady (so attacking Harry earns her ire as well), has some relationship with the newest Summer Lady (again, making some fearful about attacking him as it might draw her ire), was directly involved with the three times in ten years the Mantles of the Ladies changed hands, has a group of non-wizard allies who can communicate over vast distances on this "internet", is sharing information with said group, and he came back from the dead, not to mention his close friendship with both active Knights of the Cross. Then there's his close relationship with the White Court and John Marcone. He also controls four of the most holy relics in existence, is regularly entrusted with loose Swords of Faith, and as of ''Battle Grounds'' [[spoiler: [[ArtifactOfDoom The Eye of Balor]]]]. Some, even those who are close and consider themselves his friends on the Council, think, "Maybe we should have killed him before when we had the chance." To many who are old enough to remember, they believe him to be the Kemmler 2.0.

* OhCrap: Jim Butcher confirms this mentality among many members of the Senior Council and other council members in general regarding Harry Dresden. After the events of ''Cold Days'', the Council knows that Harry has killed with magic, works closely with vampires when the need arises, raised that ''T. rex'' from the dead, bound himself to Demonreach (even if not everyone knows the island's true purpose, they know it has a powerful Genus Loci), is an apprentice to and defended by Ebenezar (and so under the protection of the Blackstaff for those aware of Eb's other job in the Council and for the fewer still who know Harry is his grandson), is Mab's personal hitman and is there to stay (so attacking him means dealing with Mab), personally trained the newest Winter Lady (so attacking Harry earns her ire as well), has some relationship with the newest Summer Lady (again, making some fearful about attacking him as it might draw her ire), was directly involved with the three times in ten years the Mantles of the Ladies changed hands, has a group of non-wizard allies who can communicate over vast distances on this "internet", is sharing information with said group, and he came back from the dead, not to mention his close friendship with both active Knights of the Cross. Then there's his close relationship with the White Court and John Marcone. Some, even those who are close and consider themselves his friends on the Council, think, "Maybe we should have killed him before when we had the chance." To many who are old enough to remember, they believe him to be the Kemmler 2.0.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: A warlock summoned SS-styled demons to help the Nazis and thought Klaus would be an utter pushover. Klaus used his enchanted toys to beat them back. Word of Jim says his favorite image is these demons being destroyed with just a ''windup-wooden duck.''

* WeAreStrugglingTogether: One of their {{Fatal Flaw}}s. The White Council consists of wizards from all over the whole world from across vastly different time periods (thanks to being LongLived) and cultures. Suffice to say, it's a miracle the Council is able to get so much done as it is.

* PopCulturedBadass: More implied than anything, but he calls Harry "[[Series/{{Bonanza}} Hoss]]," and in ''Turn Coat,'' he seems to recognize Harry's "[[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner Wile E. Coyote]]" reference.

* HiddenDepths: Despite wizards' [[WalkingTechbane anti-technological aura]], she studies computer science as a hobby. Incidentally, this will probably put her in a position of considerable authority over the Council, since she will be well ahead of the curb if the rules of magic change again in her lifetime.

* TheWorfEffect: One in ''Small Favor''; The Eldest Brother Gruff wearing ''three'' Senior Council's purple stoles means he has killed three of the most powerful wizards in the world, that he's orders of magnitude ahead in power level, and Harry notes that he would have no chance against him in direct combat.

* AdultFear: His treatment of Harry and Elaine is a pretty disconcertinly accurate depiction of both AbusiveParents and {{cult}} leaders (minus the actual magic, of course). Probably the biggest example of this is how it's mentioned that he would intentionally distance Harry and Elaine from other children and was trying to teach them that using violent magic wasn't actually wrong (basically making them into {{Child Soldier}}s).

* SpotOfTea: Offers Dresden some when they meet during ''Literature/SmallFavor''.

* OhCrap: Jim Butcher confirms this mentality among many members of the Senior Council and other council members in general regarding Harry Dresden. After the events of ''Cold Days'', the Council knows that Harry has killed with magic, works closely with vampires when the need arises, raised that ''T. rex'' from the dead, bound himself to Demonreach (even if not everyone knows the island's true purpose, they know it has a powerful Genus Loci),is an apprentice to and defended by Ebenezar (and so under the protection of the Blackstaff for those aware of Eb's other job in the Council and for the fewer still who know Harry is his grandson), is Mab's personal hitman and is there to stay (so attacking him means dealing with Mab), personally trained the newest Winter Lady (so attacking Harry earns her ire as well), has some relationship with the newest Summer Lady (again, making some fearful about attacking him as it might draw her ire), was directly involved with the three times in ten years the Mantles of the Ladies changed hands, has a group of non-wizard allies who can communicate over vast distances on this "internet", is sharing information with said group, and he came back from the dead, not to mention his close friendship with both active Knights of the Cross. Then there's his close relationship with the White Court and John Marcone. Some, even those who are close and consider themselves his friends on the Council, think, "Maybe we should have killed him before when we had the chance." To many who are old enough to remember, they believe him to be the Kemmler 2.0.

* BaldOfAwesome: In the books he's described as bald. And he's the White Council's hitman.

* DidntSeeThatComing: She would never have guessed that Harry lives with a Foo Dog. Harry describes her reaction as someone who was hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer.

** Aside from the Second World War (where they aided the Allies since Heinrich Kemmler - ''the'' most dangerous necromancer in history after the Fall of Rome - had sided with the Nazis), the Council has a long-standing tradition of not interfering in "normal" human affairs. Rgis has stood at least since Merlin got involved with running King Arthur's court and the disastrous effects that had.
** [[WordOfGod Word of Jim]] holds that Wizards representing different nations interact more like lawyers outside of the courtroom: they're professional colleagues, they might even joke about who they're representing, but they're not their "client's" creature. This doesn't always hold, however, because the White Council is largely Eurocentric, and there's credible accusations that they have neglected other and underdeveloped countries.

* JerkassHasAPoint: As Harry comes to learn, just because a lot of the old guard are not the nicest of people, it doesn't mean they're wrong about the dangers of black magic. Furthermore, he gets frustrated when they treat him like a pariah--but he also flouts their unwritten rule of not exposing magic publicly, does shady things like regularly work alongside White Court vampires and John Marcone, and it's explicitly stated by Chandler that the only wizard he sees less often at Edinburgh than Harry is the Gatekeeper, who spends most of his time in the Nevernever.

* WizardsLiveLonger: In multiple books, wizards are casually mentioned as being able to live for well over four centuries.

* StrongButSkilled: You don't need a lot of force with particle beams. That, and almost everyone looks WeakButSkilled next to Harry "Powerhouse Slob" Dresden. And remember, the White Council only takes the top 1 percent of the magical community.

* BystanderSyndrome: Justified. Aside from the Second World War (where they aided the Allies since Heinrich Kemmler - ''the'' most dangerous necromancer in history after the Fall of Rome - had sided with the Nazis), the Council intentionally limits itself from interfering in "normal" human affairs because if they ever moved against a specific nation, wizards either from that nation or those with family members in that nation would rebel and refuse to aid the Council, causing them to tear each other apart. And the Council can't afford the threat of dissolution since they ''need'' to exist to make sure that warlocks don't get to spread human suffering without any counter.

* StrongerWithAge: Very much applies to wizards. So much so that while seats on the Senior Council are awarded purely geriacratically and only a simple vote as confirmation, Senior Council members are generally some of the strongest members of the Council.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Blackstaff itself, which is a tool that lets him effectively use magic to kill mortals without the effects staining his soul and driving him mad. During ''[[Literature/BattleGround2020 Battle Ground]]'', [[spoiler:Ethniu seems particularly angry when she sees him using it, saying that it's a weapon that mortals should not be playing with]].

* {{Hypocrite}}: This is why Harry takes it so hard when he finds out Ebenezar is the Blackstaff; from his point of view, Ebenezar was the one who had hammered in how critical respecting the Laws of Magic is during Harry's training, and yet as the Blackstaff he had been breaking the Laws of Magic on the Senior Council's behalf for decades. For Ebenezar, the laws of magic are very important, but the [[NecessaryEvil sour truth of the matter]] is that having all wizards obey them at all times just isn't realistic if the council wishes to survive.

* OhCrap: Jim Butcher confirms this mentality among many members of the Senior Council and other council members in general regarding Harry Dresden. After the events of ''Cold Days'', the Council knows that Harry has killed with magic, works closely with vampires when the need arises, raised that ''T. rex'' from the dead, bound himself to Demonreach (even if not everyone knows the island's true purpose, they know it has a powerful Genus Loci),is an apprentice to and defended by Ebenezar (and so under the protection of the Blackstaff for those aware of Eb's other job in the Council and for fewer still know Harry is his grandson), is Mab's personal hitman and is there to stay (so attacking him means dealing with Mab), personally trained the newest Winter Lady (so attacking Harry earns her ire as well), has some relationship with the newest Summer Lady (again, making some fearful about attacking him as it might draw her ire), was directly involved with the three times in ten years the Mantles of the Ladies changed hands, has a group of non-wizard allies who can communicate over vast distances on this "internet", is sharing information with said group, and he came back from the dead. Then there's his close relationship with the White Court and John Marcone. Some, even those who are close and consider themselves his friends on the Council, think, "Maybe we should have killed him before when we had the chance." To many who are old enough to remember, they believe him to be the Kemmler 2.0.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: [=McCoy=] is an old wizard, about three hundred according to WordOfGod. So, he's been here and there. Three notable events he's been mentioned to, as the assassin of the White Council, have ''caused'' are the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811%E2%80%9312_New_Madrid_earthquakes New Madrid Earthquake]] (at least one of the four), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa the eruption of Krakatoa]] in 1883 (an explosion four times stronger than the ''Tsar Bomba'', the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated) and TheTunguskaEvent, the "meteor strike" in Russia in 1908. WordOfGod also has it that he fought in [[UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar the Seven Years' War]].
* BerserkButton: Though it showed very little up until ''Peace Talks'', he hates White Court Vampires more than nearly anything. They killed somebody very important to him, implicitly through treachery, and when asked if it was his daughter, he just bitterly answers [[CrypticBackgroundReference "Her, too."]] He comes to blows with Harry for supporting the White Court, and it only ends with Ebenezar trying desperately to reach out to Harry to understand why he's doing it voluntarily and not just as a repayed favor. When Ebenezar's told that Thomas is his grandson and Harry's half-brother, his immediate reaction is to try to kill Thomas without a thought about the lives of everybody else aboard the Water Beetle. Harry tries to intervene and takes the bullet instead. As Harry exchanges dying words with him, Ebenezar realizes that the Harry he just accidentally killed [[ActuallyADoombot was a doppleganger]].

* FamedInStory: Apparently ''everyone in the supernatural community'' knows it was him who dropped the satellite on Casaverde and thinks its in response to the attack on Archangel which led to Simon Petrovich's death.

** In ''Changes'', Harry could barely crack the pillars of Red King's palatial pyramid despite tapping into the Ley Line beneath it and the power of Winter Knight. When Ebenezar arrives, he casually blows up entire sections of the structure housing the resident {{PhysicalGod}}s.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Killed by Drakul in ''Battle Ground''. Even worse, it's implied that he and Yoshimo will be turned into Black Court vampires by Mavra]].

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Killed by Drakul in ''Battle Ground''. Even worse, it's implied that she and Wild Bill will be turned into Black Court vampires by Mavra]].

* BadassBeard: Described as having a thick black beard.

* BadassBeard: Had a goatee, and was a Warden of the White Council.

* {{Jerkass}}: He was going to have Molly executed just to spite Harry and keep his mantle of authority unchallenged. In his defense, he was under subtle MindControl at the time, though, as Molly notes, Peabody's powers are only ''enhancing'' his natural obstinate jerk-iness rather than wholly taking him over.

%%* ObstructiveBureaucrat:
* PopculturalOsmosisFailure: In ''Changes'', when Langtry reveals only [=McCoy=] is sitting before Cristos and Arianna during their song and dance about peace and the rest of the Senior Council is keeping hidden in a secure room watching on a special feed, Harry notes they won't "drink the Kool-Aid at the peace conference." Langtry hides his confusion but glances at Luccio, who clarifies Harry's referring to the Jonestown mass suicide. After that, he admits the reference is apt.

* {{Telepathy}}: Better at using mental communication without going crazy]] than anyone else on the Council, according to [[https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/25q3em/i_am_jim_butcher_author_of_the_dresden_files_the/chjqznr Word of Jim]].

* {{Telepathy}}: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/25q3em/i_am_jim_butcher_author_of_the_dresden_files_the/chjqznr Better at using mental communication without going crazy]] than anyone else on the Council, according to [[WordOfGod Word of Jim]].