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* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Insults the group enough that not just the conflict-ready avatars of NYC, but Padmini and Aislyn -- the more polite ones -- really don't like him. Bronca threatens to throw him out of the car at one point. However, Hong has a notable soft spot for Paulo.
to:
* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Insults the group enough that not just the conflict-ready avatars of NYC, but Padmini and Aislyn -- the more polite ones -- really don't like him. Bronca threatens to throw him out of the car at one point. However, Hong has a notable soft spot for Paulo.
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* CelebateEccentricGenius: The second book confirms that Padmini is asexual.
to:
* CelebateEccentricGenius: CelibateEccentricGenius: The second book confirms that Padmini is asexual.
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* CelebateEccentricGenius: The second book confirms that Padmini is asexual.
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* JustFriends: The second book confirms that Padmini is [[spoiler:asexual.]] However, she seems to have a particularly close relationship with Veneza.
to:
* JustFriends: The second book confirms that Padmini is [[spoiler:asexual.]] However, she seems to have a particularly close relationship with Veneza.Veneza, perhaps because they're of similar ages and temperaments.
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* WasHumanOnce: A city avatar is a complex multidimensional entity that started out as a human being. It's an open question how human avatars ''remain'', and it's stated that a city avatar is perhaps closer to an TranshumanAbomination than to an ordinary human.
to:
* WasHumanOnce: WasOnceAMan: A city avatar is a complex multidimensional entity that started out as a human being. It's an open question how human avatars ''remain'', and it's stated that a city avatar is perhaps closer to an TranshumanAbomination than to an ordinary human.
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[[/folder]]
to:
----
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* MagicEnhancement: Padmini notes that city metaphysics aren't ''magic'' magic so much as a science no one understands yet, but for their purposes it might as well be magic.
to:
* MagicEnhancement: How avatars get to be avatars. Padmini notes that city metaphysics aren't ''magic'' magic so much as a science no one understands yet, but for their purposes it might as well be magic.
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* ProHumanTranshuman: Avatars start out as ordinary humans. Since a living city is an outgrowth of human activity, one of their main duties is protecting their cities' other residents.
to:
* ProHumanTranshuman: Avatars start out as ordinary humans. Since a living city is an outgrowth emergent property of human activity, one of their an avatar's main duties is protecting their cities' city's other residents.
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* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once, and has an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong. They're "on" again as of the end of the second book.
* FantasticNoir: He's supposed to guide the avatars of NYC, but after [[spoiler:Neek collapses,]] he has to hunt down the borough avatars and solve the mystery of why things in NYC are going so wrong. Smokes, has a very mysterious and jaded air, and has several "interruptions" throughout the first book written in his dry, professional voice, which turn these segments into a gritty detective story.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: [[spoiler:Neek]] seems to think of him this way.
* FantasticNoir: He's supposed to guide the avatars of NYC, but after [[spoiler:Neek collapses,]] he has to hunt down the borough avatars and solve the mystery of why things in NYC are going so wrong. Smokes, has a very mysterious and jaded air, and has several "interruptions" throughout the first book written in his dry, professional voice, which turn these segments into a gritty detective story.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: [[spoiler:Neek]] seems to think of him this way.
to:
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] Neek once, and has an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong. They're "on" again as of the end of the second book.
* FantasticNoir: He's supposed to guide the avatars of NYC, but after[[spoiler:Neek collapses,]] Neek collapses, he has to hunt down the borough avatars and solve the mystery of why things in NYC are going so wrong. Smokes, has a very mysterious and jaded air, and has several "interruptions" throughout the first book written in his dry, professional voice, which turn these segments into a gritty detective story.
* TallDarkAndHandsome:[[spoiler:Neek]] Neek seems to think of him this way.
* FantasticNoir: He's supposed to guide the avatars of NYC, but after
* TallDarkAndHandsome:
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* GeniusLoci: An avatar doesn't just represent their city, they ''are'' the city. An avatar's human preferences can and do shape the city's preferences, and vice versa--did Istanbul's love of cats precede his city's, or the other way around?
to:
* GeniusLoci: An avatar doesn't just represent their city, they ''are'' the city. An avatar's human preferences can and do shape the city's preferences, and vice versa--did Istanbul's the Istanbul avatar's love of cats precede influence his city's, or the other way around?
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* MagicEnhancement: Padmini notes that city metaphysics aren't ''magic'' magic so much as a science no one understands yet, but for their purposes it might as well be magic.
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* ManOfTheCity: Avatars genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
to:
* ManOfTheCity: Avatars genuinely love their cities, so cities--it's at least part of why they're chosen--so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
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* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy with no oversight for a very long time: it seems to be very easy to get very used to having things one's own way.
to:
* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy with no oversight for a very long time: it seems to be very easy to get very used to having things one's own way.
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* WithFriendsLikeThese: As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy with no oversight for a very long time: it seems to be very easy to get very used to having things one's own way.
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* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Established cities aren't exactly welcoming of new cities, whom they tend to perceive as too hopelessly naive to bother with for their first few hundred years of existence. New York City gets a ''lot'' of hostility for speaking up about the Enemy's changing tactics, not just for speaking an [[BearerOfBadNews inconvenient truth]], but for doing so right after being born.
to:
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Established cities aren't exactly welcoming of new cities, whom they tend to perceive as too hopelessly naive to bother with for their first few hundred years of existence. New York City gets a ''lot'' of hostility for speaking up about the Enemy's changing tactics, tactics: not just for speaking an [[BearerOfBadNews inconvenient truth]], but for doing so right after being born.
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
* TheAgeless / LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very'' young... and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city).
to:
* TheAgeless / LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. TheAgeless: The oldest city in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very'' young... and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city). It's never stated outright, but cities seem to stay the same age they were when they became avatars (since e.g. Istanbul is an older man).
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* LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age.
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* DimensionalTraveler: You can get to other dimensions from macrospace, though we only see Padmini really taking advantage of that to go exploring.
* HadToBeSharp: Neek doesn't seem particularly ''inclined'' towards violence, but because of his past he can be ruthless and strong when he needs to be.
* DimensionalTraveler: Does the most exploration of alternate universes of any of the New York avatars.
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{{Atlantis}} survived its birth and even gave the Woman a good deal of trouble--then was the first victim of her team's horrific new tactic of killing cities ''so completely'' that they were only ever stories.
to:
{{Atlantis}} survived its birth and even gave the Woman Enemy a good deal of trouble--then was the first victim of her team's horrific new tactic of killing cities ''so completely'' that they were only ever stories.
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* PocketDimension: What's left of Atlantis and its avatar is in a pocket dimension.
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[[folder:City avatars]]
to:
[[folder:City avatars]]avatars generally]]
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* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should the city itself die due to illness or radiation (or volcano, or fire, or...) the death of the city itself will kill the avatar.
to:
* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should the city itself die due their ''city'' succumb to illness plague or radiation (or volcano, or fire, or...) radiation, though, the death of the city itself will kill the avatar.avatar--but not the illness or radiation directly.
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* ManOfTheCity: All avatars genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
to:
* ManOfTheCity: All avatars Avatars genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
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* TheSleepless: Avatars can forego sleep indefinitely. Tokyo says she hasn't slept in ten years.
* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy for a very long time.
* WasHumanOnce: Avatars start out as ordinary humans, but it's an open question how human they ''remain'', and it's stated that an avatar is perhaps closer to an EldritchAbomination than to an ordinary human.
* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy for a very long time.
* WasHumanOnce: Avatars start out as ordinary humans, but it's an open question how human they ''remain'', and it's stated that an avatar is perhaps closer to an EldritchAbomination than to an ordinary human.
to:
* ProHumanTranshuman: Avatars start out as ordinary humans. Since a living city is an outgrowth of human activity, one of their main duties is protecting their cities' other residents.
* TheSleepless: Avatars can forego sleepindefinitely. indefinitely; Tokyo says she hasn't slept in ten years.
* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy with no oversight for a very longtime.
time: it seems to be very easy to get very used to having things one's own way.
* WasHumanOnce:Avatars start A city avatar is a complex multidimensional entity that started out as ordinary humans, but it's a human being. It's an open question how human they avatars ''remain'', and it's stated that an a city avatar is perhaps closer to an EldritchAbomination TranshumanAbomination than to an ordinary human.
* TheSleepless: Avatars can forego sleep
* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy with no oversight for a very long
* WasHumanOnce:
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* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: She is a multi-bodied shapeshifter whose never shows her true form, because this would cause others to go mad or die.
to:
* BrownNoteBeing / YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: She is a multi-bodied shapeshifter whose never shows her true form, because this would cause others to go mad or die.
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Changed line(s) 143 (click to see context) from:
She's a major city, Manny tries to get her help.
to:
She's a major city, city whom Manny tries to get her approaches for help.
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Changed line(s) 6 (click to see context) from:
!! All cities
to:
Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
to:
[[/folder]]
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Changed line(s) 7 (click to see context) from:
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Established cities aren't exactly welcoming of new cities, whom they tend to perceive as too hopelessly naive to bother with for their first few hundred years of existence. New York City gets a ''lot'' of hostility for speaking up about the Enemy's changing tactics, not just for speaking an inconvenient truth, but for doing so right after being born.
to:
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Established cities aren't exactly welcoming of new cities, whom they tend to perceive as too hopelessly naive to bother with for their first few hundred years of existence. New York City gets a ''lot'' of hostility for speaking up about the Enemy's changing tactics, not just for speaking an [[BearerOfBadNews inconvenient truth, truth]], but for doing so right after being born.
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* TheChosenMany: As is common with this trope, cities tend to dislike change. While they
* EatingOptional: Avatars can eat, but they can also forego food indefinitely. Biological needs other than food and sleep are not addressed and so are presumably unchanged from human normal--reinforced when Padmini discovers that she definitely still needs to ''breathe''.
* EatingOptional: Avatars can eat, but they can also forego food indefinitely. Biological needs other than food and sleep are not addressed and so are presumably unchanged from human normal--reinforced when Padmini discovers that she definitely still needs to ''breathe''.
to:
* TheChosenMany: As is common with this trope, It's unclear exactly how many cities tend to dislike change. While they
there are; apparently a few dozen living, plus some number of dead cities.
* EatingOptional: Avatarscan ''can'' eat, but they can also forego food indefinitely. Biological needs other than food and sleep are not addressed and so are presumably unchanged from human normal--reinforced when Padmini discovers that she definitely still needs to ''breathe''.
* EatingOptional: Avatars
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* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should a plague manage to kill enough city residents, though, either to the point of depopulation or the city becoming unrecognizably different, the death of the city itself will kill its avatar.
* LivingADoubleLife: Most of New York's avatars keep their jobs and lives more or less intact, and fold in their avatar responsibilities as they can.
* ManOfTheCity: All avatars are chosen to represent their city, and all genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
* LivingADoubleLife: Most of New York's avatars keep their jobs and lives more or less intact, and fold in their avatar responsibilities as they can.
* ManOfTheCity: All avatars are chosen to represent their city, and all genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
to:
* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should a plague manage to kill enough city residents, though, either to the point of depopulation or the city becoming unrecognizably different, itself die due to illness or radiation (or volcano, or fire, or...) the death of the city itself will kill its the avatar.
* LivingADoubleLife: Most of New York's avatars keep their jobs and lives more or less intact, and fold in their avatar responsibilities as theycan.
can. Other cities we see glimpses of seem to be doing the same: Istanbul has a daily routine, Tokyo has a job, etc.
* ManOfTheCity: All avatarsare chosen to represent their city, and all genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
* LivingADoubleLife: Most of New York's avatars keep their jobs and lives more or less intact, and fold in their avatar responsibilities as they
* ManOfTheCity: All avatars
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* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know which cities they represent) pretty much instantly. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar. Manny and his mom (avatar and future avatar) recognize Washington DC's incipient avatar.
to:
* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know which cities they represent) pretty much instantly. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar. Manny and his mom (avatar and future avatar) avatar, respectively) recognize Washington DC's incipient avatar.
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Changed line(s) 7 (click to see context) from:
* TheAgeless / LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very'' young and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city).
to:
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Established cities aren't exactly welcoming of new cities, whom they tend to perceive as too hopelessly naive to bother with for their first few hundred years of existence. New York City gets a ''lot'' of hostility for speaking up about the Enemy's changing tactics, not just for speaking an inconvenient truth, but for doing so right after being born.
* TheAgeless / LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very''young young... and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city).city).
* TheChosenMany: As is common with this trope, cities tend to dislike change. While they
* TheAgeless / LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very''
* TheChosenMany: As is common with this trope, cities tend to dislike change. While they
Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
* GeniusLoci: They don't just represent their city, they ''are'' the city. An avatar's human preferences can and do shape the city's preferences, and vice versa--did Istanbul's love of cats precede his city's, or the other way around?
to:
* GeniusLoci: They don't An avatar doesn't just represent their city, they ''are'' the city. An avatar's human preferences can and do shape the city's preferences, and vice versa--did Istanbul's love of cats precede his city's, or the other way around?
* LivingADoubleLife: Most of New York's avatars keep their jobs and lives more or less intact, and fold in their avatar responsibilities as they can.
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* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know which cities they represent) pretty much instantly. If the avatar is borough-level, they can detect that too. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar.
to:
* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know which cities they represent) pretty much instantly. If the avatar is borough-level, they can detect that too. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar. Manny and his mom (avatar and future avatar) recognize Washington DC's incipient avatar.
* WainscotSociety: The larger community of cities comes into focus in the second book. As a whole, cities seem to get along like wet cats, as might be expected of people who exercise a tremendous amount of autonomy for a very long time.
Changed line(s) 132 (click to see context) from:
The only other composite city (i.e. city with district-level avatars who embody specific neighborhoods, plus an overall prime avatar representing the entire city) to be born before New York and still living, London is also notable for having ''lost'' her borough avatars.
to:
The only other living composite city (i.e. city with district-level avatars who embody specific neighborhoods, plus an overall prime avatar representing the entire city) to be born before New York and still living, York, London is also notable for having ''lost'' her borough avatars.
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Changed line(s) 7 (click to see context) from:
* TheAgeless/LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very'' young and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city).
to:
* TheAgeless/LongLived: TheAgeless / LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very'' young and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city).
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Added line(s) 9 (click to see context) :
* TheAgeless/LongLived: Avatars live as long as their cities do, die only when the city does, and don't appear to age. The oldest in the series is Faiyum, who Padmini notes looks ''very'' young and who is at least 2000 years old (since he was ruled by a pharaoh before becoming a city).
* EatingOptional: Avatars can eat, but they can also forego food indefinitely. Biological needs other than food and sleep are not addressed and so are presumably unchanged from human normal--reinforced when Padmini discovers that she definitely still needs to ''breathe''.
* EatingOptional: Avatars can eat, but they can also forego food indefinitely. Biological needs other than food and sleep are not addressed and so are presumably unchanged from human normal--reinforced when Padmini discovers that she definitely still needs to ''breathe''.
Changed line(s) 9 (click to see context) from:
* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should a plague manage to kill enough city residents, though, the death of the city will kill its avatar.
to:
* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should a plague manage to kill enough city residents, though, either to the point of depopulation or the city becoming unrecognizably different, the death of the city itself will kill its avatar.
Changed line(s) 12 (click to see context) from:
* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know their cities) pretty much instantly. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar.
to:
* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know their cities) which cities they represent) pretty much instantly. If the avatar is borough-level, they can detect that too. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar.avatar.
* TheSleepless: Avatars can forego sleep indefinitely. Tokyo says she hasn't slept in ten years.
* TheSleepless: Avatars can forego sleep indefinitely. Tokyo says she hasn't slept in ten years.
Changed line(s) 134,135 (click to see context) from:
* IOwnThisTown: Tokyo
to:
She's a major city, Manny tries to get her help.
* FigureItOutYourself: The darkest version of this trope; Tokyo just doesn't care about what she views as a New York problem.
* IOwnThisTown:Tokyo
Tokyo is very wealthy and controls a good bit of real estate.
* {{Workaholic}}: Self-described. Tokyo hasn't slept in ten years.
----
!!Atlantis
{{Atlantis}} survived its birth and even gave the Woman a good deal of trouble--then was the first victim of her team's horrific new tactic of killing cities ''so completely'' that they were only ever stories.
* TheGhost: Atlantis' avatar is not ''quite'' dead.
* RetGone: Atlantis was killed by the Woman influencing realities so that it was never real, only stories.
* SurpriseCheckmate: The Woman crashed the city summit in Atlantis, gleeful at the thought of killing all the avatars at once, but had forgotten that ''Atlantis itself'' had an avatar.
* FigureItOutYourself: The darkest version of this trope; Tokyo just doesn't care about what she views as a New York problem.
* IOwnThisTown:
* {{Workaholic}}: Self-described. Tokyo hasn't slept in ten years.
----
!!Atlantis
{{Atlantis}} survived its birth and even gave the Woman a good deal of trouble--then was the first victim of her team's horrific new tactic of killing cities ''so completely'' that they were only ever stories.
* TheGhost: Atlantis' avatar is not ''quite'' dead.
* RetGone: Atlantis was killed by the Woman influencing realities so that it was never real, only stories.
* SurpriseCheckmate: The Woman crashed the city summit in Atlantis, gleeful at the thought of killing all the avatars at once, but had forgotten that ''Atlantis itself'' had an avatar.
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!! All cities
* ExtradimensionalShortcut: There's a dimension accessible only to cities called ''macrospace'', and moving through it is called ''macrostepping''. There are places ''only'' accessible by macrostepping, like Atlantis. Sometimes it's not "safe" to move through macrospace, in which case avatars can travel through ordinary space--Hong states this is the case in the first book, though what this means is left unclear because Hong isn't inclined to explain himself.
* GeniusLoci: They don't just represent their city, they ''are'' the city. An avatar's human preferences can and do shape the city's preferences, and vice versa--did Istanbul's love of cats precede his city's, or the other way around?
* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should a plague manage to kill enough city residents, though, the death of the city will kill its avatar.
* ManOfTheCity: All avatars are chosen to represent their city, and all genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
* NighInvulnerable: An avatar in their own city is at the heart of their power and can channel city magic to e.g. heal broken bones within seconds. An avatar outside their city is far more vulnerable.
* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know their cities) pretty much instantly. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar.
* WasHumanOnce: Avatars start out as ordinary humans, but it's an open question how human they ''remain'', and it's stated that an avatar is perhaps closer to an EldritchAbomination than to an ordinary human.
* ExtradimensionalShortcut: There's a dimension accessible only to cities called ''macrospace'', and moving through it is called ''macrostepping''. There are places ''only'' accessible by macrostepping, like Atlantis. Sometimes it's not "safe" to move through macrospace, in which case avatars can travel through ordinary space--Hong states this is the case in the first book, though what this means is left unclear because Hong isn't inclined to explain himself.
* GeniusLoci: They don't just represent their city, they ''are'' the city. An avatar's human preferences can and do shape the city's preferences, and vice versa--did Istanbul's love of cats precede his city's, or the other way around?
* IdealIllnessImmunity: Avatars can't get or transmit illnesses or radiation. Should a plague manage to kill enough city residents, though, the death of the city will kill its avatar.
* ManOfTheCity: All avatars are chosen to represent their city, and all genuinely love their cities, so they tend to fall into Man (or Woman) Of The City roles and champion their city's unique strengths.
* NighInvulnerable: An avatar in their own city is at the heart of their power and can channel city magic to e.g. heal broken bones within seconds. An avatar outside their city is far more vulnerable.
* PsychicRadar: "Cities know their own, even before they're cities." Avatars can recognize other avatars (and know their cities) pretty much instantly. This is true even if the city hasn't quite emerged yet--other avatars (and future avatars) will be able to recognize an incipient avatar.
* WasHumanOnce: Avatars start out as ordinary humans, but it's an open question how human they ''remain'', and it's stated that an avatar is perhaps closer to an EldritchAbomination than to an ordinary human.
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[[folder: Allies]]
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
[[/folder]]
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
[[/folder]]
to:
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
[[/folder]]
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The only other composite city (i.e. city with district-level avatars who embody specific neighborhoods, plus an overall prime avatar representing the entire city) to be born before New York, London is also notable for having ''lost'' her borough avatars.
to:
The only other composite city (i.e. city with district-level avatars who embody specific neighborhoods, plus an overall prime avatar representing the entire city) to be born before New York, York and still living, London is also notable for having ''lost'' her borough avatars.
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----
!!Tokyo
* IOwnThisTown: Tokyo
!!Tokyo
* IOwnThisTown: Tokyo
Added DiffLines:
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Allies]]
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
[[folder: Allies]]
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
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!!Prime
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!!Manny/Manhattan
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!!Brooklyn
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!!Bronca/The Bronx
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!!Padmini/Queens
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!!Aislyn/Staten Island
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!!Veneza[[spoiler:/Jersey City]]
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[[folder: Allies]]
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
[[/folder]]
!!Bel Nguyen
Bel is from London originally. He and Manny are in Colombia's doctoral program together, and agreed to split an apartment.
* MuggleBestFriend: Bel got introduced to magic when he and freshly-incarnated Manhattan got attacked by the Enemy, but took to it with Londoner unflappableness. By the second book he's the sole Muggle inhabitant of the shared avatar apartment.
[[/folder]]
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!!Paulo/São Paulo
The city most recently awakened before New York, and therefore the one assigned to come help them get adjusted. An urbane, ageless man who wears a business suit and grew up in the favelas. His constructs are business cards and cigarette smoke to represent his city's reputation as a place full of business-obsessed people, which has an air pollution problem.
The city most recently awakened before New York, and therefore the one assigned to come help them get adjusted. An urbane, ageless man who wears a business suit and grew up in the favelas. His constructs are business cards and cigarette smoke to represent his city's reputation as a place full of business-obsessed people, which has an air pollution problem.
to:
The city most recently awakened (several decades before the events of the first book) before New York, and therefore the one assigned to come help them get adjusted. An urbane, ageless man who wears a business suit and grew up in the favelas. His constructs are business cards and cigarette smoke to represent his city's reputation as a place full of business-obsessed people, which has an air pollution problem.
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* AloofAlly: Paulo's somewhat reserved (especially compared to the brash New Yorks) with a dry, sarcastic voice, but he's firmly on New York's side and drops hints on how to handle the elder cities.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once, but seems to have an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once, but seems to have an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong.
to:
* AloofAlly: Paulo's somewhat reserved (especially compared to the brash New Yorks) with a dry, sarcastic voice, dry sense of humor, but he's firmly on New York's side and drops hints on how to handle the elder cities.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once,but seems to have and has an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong.Kong. They're "on" again as of the end of the second book.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once,
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!!Hong/Hong Kong
Paulo's mentor and former romantic partner... probably. Shares Paulo's noirish air of mystery. Also shows up to help -- well, to help Paulo, when he's injured. [[spoiler:Wields a yellow umbrella, associated with Hong Kong's pro-democracy protestors, in the final battle.]]
Paulo's mentor and former romantic partner... probably. Shares Paulo's noirish air of mystery. Also shows up to help -- well, to help Paulo, when he's injured. [[spoiler:Wields a yellow umbrella, associated with Hong Kong's pro-democracy protestors, in the final battle.]]
to:
Paulo's own mentor (being the city most recently emerged when São Paulo awoke, in his case during the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century) and
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* ToughLove: Hong is mostly helping out because he cares about Paulo, but to the extent that Hong is helpful to the New Yorks ''at all'' his style is pure ToughLove with zero coddling.
to:
* ToughLove: Hong is mostly helping out because he cares about Paulo, but to the extent that Hong is helpful to the New Yorks ''at all'' all'', his style is pure ToughLove with zero coddling.
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The characters of ''Literature/TheCityWeBecame'' and ''Literature/TheWorldWeMake''. Most of them are GeniusLoci. They can channel "constructs" based on things significant to the culture of their boroughs and their personalities, which they use to fight the Enemy.
[[foldercontrol]]
----
[[folder:New York City]]
!!Prime
A young queer Black man who's been living on the streets for a long time. Artistic and creative, and prideful and stubborn. In the second book, he takes the name "Neek" (NYC spoken phonetically).
!! Tropes:
* AloofLeaderAffableSubordinate: His initial dynamic with Manny. [[spoiler:Manny feels compelled to "serve" Neek, and even though Neek rejects this as an unequal and unethical relationship given Manny's amnesia,]] Manny remains affable and good at communicating, while Neek is much more introverted. The other avatars observe that he dislikes being seen as the leader of the group.
* GeniusLoci: While all of the avatars are this, it becomes clear that Neek is somehow ''more'' the city of New York than the rest of them.
* GeniusBruiser: Padmini observes that Neek appears to be a polymath, despite his deprived upbringing, and Bronca considers him an artistic genius. [[spoiler:The Woman In White seems to fear him, because he's one of the few avatars to actually hurt her during their battle. He also seems to be able to just ''imagine things at her'' instead of needing a construct as the other New York avatars do.]]
* MadArtist: Subverted in that the weird things he sees are real; what's changed is that he's becoming a city and can see them now, whereas normal people can't.
* StarvingArtist: He's homeless and mentions eating mostly off the charity of others and "church-plate dinners." Later [[spoiler:he lives in Manny's apartment with the other avatars, but Manny doesn't charge him rent.]]
----
!!Manny/Manhattan
Arrives in New York City with no memories of who he was before. The classic new kid in the city, eager to start fresh, but has the capability within him to be ruthless, manipulative, and violent, which he feels very conflicted about. Generally channels credit cards and cash as constructs.
!! Tropes:
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Invoked; Manny does in fact have a specific ethnicity (Black American), but everyone who looks at him assumes he shares their heritage somewhere along the line, as part of his power subtly influencing people to trust him.
* AmnesiacHero: Manny loses his memories of his past life upon arriving in New York, in what's implied to be the city taking away everything from him except what would be useful.
* AmnesiacResonance: Manny finds it easy to intimidate people with threats of violence, and has a vague feeling this was because he was violent and intimidating before he lost his memories.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Manny, as the avatar of the borough "where money talks and bullshit walks", has powers that come down to emotional manipulation and magical late capitalism, as well as a nasty set of skills from his former life, but he's firmly one of the good guys.
* BodyguardCrush: Seemingly, being Manhattan is a role that involves being the bodyguard of New York City (whether he wants that or not). It also comes with a rather fanatical crush.
* TheChampion: Manny is completely loyal to and in love with the primary avatar and feels his mission is to do anything to protect him.
* DeviousDaggers: Manhattan has Wall Street, and that cutthroat part of town comes out in Manhattan rather often. Sometimes that cutthroat-ness manifests literally, in the form of a knife, especially in the second book.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Manny can remember all the general knowledge he had before awakening, but nothing about the details of his own life. He believes it's because he was not a good person before becoming Manhattan, and the City took away that knowledge so it wouldn't impede his ability to fight.
* LikeADuckTakesToWater: You can't get more "quick adjustment to new location" then ''literally becoming that location''.
* SharpDressedMan: Often wears a suit or is otherwise professionally attired.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: It gradually becomes clear that before coming to NYC and [[spoiler:losing his memory,]] Manny was nowhere near as nice a person. [[spoiler:Turns out he was the enforcer for a Chicago crime family.]]
----
!!Brooklyn
A former rapper turned politician and single mother. Extremely competent and level-headed, but has constant friction with Bronca because they're both older women with similar forceful personalities. Her constructs are usually music.
!! Tropes:
* ActionPolitician: Quick to ''take off her earrings'' and throw hands in the very physical sense, although she's also hyperaware that as a Black woman in politics that cannot be her first response to every threat.
* BlackBossLady: Commands a small army of aides in her role as a city council member, and later [[spoiler:as a mayoral candidate.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMusic: A rare literary example. Manny and his roommate Bel are surrounded by minions of the Enemy, and Manny's construct of literally throwing money at it is only buying them time (no pun intended). Cue Brooklyn, JustInTime, striding in blaring [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmaster_Flash Grandmaster Flash]] and withering away the minions. Establishes her instantly as extremely capable, and also hints at her past as a rapper herself.
* GlamorousSingleMother: Her family has done rather well--her father bought two Brooklyn brownstones several decades ago when the neighborhood was blighted, and they're now worth millions. Brooklyn herself didn't get ''rich'' off her musical career (as she said, she had an Eighties record contract) but she seems to be comfortably well off and well able to support her teen daughter and elderly father.
----
!!Bronca/The Bronx
A Lenape woman pushing 70, self-identified as a butch lesbian, and the head of an art center. Received the most knowledge of how city magic works. Generally uses physical movement and her steel-toed boots -- significant because she used them to stomp on a cop at Stonewall -- as constructs.
!! Tropes:
* ButchLesbian: And damn proud of it.
* CoolOldLady: Very much so, although she resents being called old.
* GoodIsNotNice: Bronca is rather abrasive but ultimately heroic, with her harshness largely coming from having fought oppression her whole life.
* MrExposition: The Bronx is the oldest borough, and Bronca's the oldest avatar, so the universe chooses her as the one best suited to knowing the lexicon, the body of knowledge that new cities wake up with. Since the others don't have it, she has to tell them how stuff works.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She is a grandmother (or soon-to-be, at least), and you absolutely do not want to mess with her.
----
!!Padmini/Queens
A young Indian immigrant, living with family in America on a work visa. Very good at math, and had the nickname "Math Queen" (hence Queens). Master of FormulaicMagic, using math and science as the basis of her constructs.
!! Tropes:
* GoodWithNumbers: Does complex math problems in her spare time to relax. She is unhappy because she has to get a degree in financial engineering to have a hope of getting employed after she finishes grad school, rather than the pure math she loves.
* JustFriends: The second book confirms that Padmini is [[spoiler:asexual.]] However, she seems to have a particularly close relationship with Veneza.
* PlatonicLifePartners: [[spoiler:Proposes this to Manny, in order to get a green card marriage. Manny accepts, if it comes to that.]]
----
!!Aislyn/Staten Island
An agoraphobic young woman living at home with her abusive cop father, who has passed many of his prejudices on to her. Her constructs are based on being an AbsoluteXenophobe -- she can teleport people elsewhere and generate a shield by saying "Get off my lawn!"
!! Tropes:
* DarkMagicalGirl: The Woman in White manipulates her due to her isolation and feelings of being neglected by the other boroughs.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Her relationship with [[spoiler:The Woman In White]] is this.
* GrewASpine: Does so as needed, though normally she is shy and easily frightened.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: The thing that seems to push Aislyn into considering that the Woman In White may not actually be her friend isn't [[spoiler:the fact that she actively wants the destruction of all of New York, the fact that she's implied she would kill Aislyn too, or the fact that she's mind-controlling all of Staten Island into being uncomfortably pleasant...it's that the DJ being controlled by the Woman ''won't play Wu-Tang Clan''. (Or other music by bands that are from Staten Island.)]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Due to her abusive father and insular upbringing. Has a phobia of leaving Staten Island.
----
!!Veneza[[spoiler:/Jersey City]]
Bronca's young protege at the art center, eager to tag along and try to help the boroughs in their city work.
!! Tropes:
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Veneza is half Portuguese-American and half Black. Her father is racist, even towards her.
* StarvingArtist: Has a college degree in art, and works at the art center but has little confidence in her own work. Complains initially that Bronca doesn't pay her enough for benefits. [[spoiler:She gets better pay and benefits after the center gets a huge number of donations.]]
* SurpriseCheckmate: [[spoiler:Saves the day at the end of the first book by getting suddenly transformed into an avatar of NYC as well. Jersey City isn't technically part of New York, but it's so close both culturally and geographically that it becomes an honorary borough.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Other Cities]]
!!Paulo/São Paulo
The city most recently awakened before New York, and therefore the one assigned to come help them get adjusted. An urbane, ageless man who wears a business suit and grew up in the favelas. His constructs are business cards and cigarette smoke to represent his city's reputation as a place full of business-obsessed people, which has an air pollution problem.
!! Tropes:
* AloofAlly: Paulo's somewhat reserved (especially compared to the brash New Yorks) with a dry, sarcastic voice, but he's firmly on New York's side and drops hints on how to handle the elder cities.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once, but seems to have an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong.
* FantasticNoir: He's supposed to guide the avatars of NYC, but after [[spoiler:Neek collapses,]] he has to hunt down the borough avatars and solve the mystery of why things in NYC are going so wrong. Smokes, has a very mysterious and jaded air, and has several "interruptions" throughout the first book written in his dry, professional voice, which turn these segments into a gritty detective story.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: [[spoiler:Neek]] seems to think of him this way.
----
!!Hong/Hong Kong
Paulo's mentor and former romantic partner... probably. Shares Paulo's noirish air of mystery. Also shows up to help -- well, to help Paulo, when he's injured. [[spoiler:Wields a yellow umbrella, associated with Hong Kong's pro-democracy protestors, in the final battle.]]
!! Tropes:
* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Insults the group enough that not just the conflict-ready avatars of NYC, but Padmini and Aislyn -- the more polite ones -- really don't like him. Bronca threatens to throw him out of the car at one point. However, Hong has a notable soft spot for Paulo.
* ToughLove: Hong is mostly helping out because he cares about Paulo, but to the extent that Hong is helpful to the New Yorks ''at all'' his style is pure ToughLove with zero coddling.
----
!!London
The only other composite city (i.e. city with district-level avatars who embody specific neighborhoods, plus an overall prime avatar representing the entire city) to be born before New York, London is also notable for having ''lost'' her borough avatars.
* LoonWithAHeartOfGold: London seems pretty lucid, but according to her has been mad for centuries, because London is far too big for a single avatar.
* ResolvedNoodleIncident: In the first book, Hong casually mentions that London ''ate'' her borough avatars, which understandably alarms the New York borough avatars. In the second book, London explains that she didn't ''[[ImAHumanitarian eat]]'' them literally, but that London's ''[[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs thirty-four avatars]]'' were perpetually gridlocked and unable to function as a group, so London Prime agreed to take their avatar-ness into herself and become the sole London.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Enemy]]
!!The Enemy/The Woman in White/[[spoiler:R'yleh]]
A whole smorgasbord of Lovecraftian tropes rolled into one entity.
* AboveGoodAndEvil
* AffablyEvil: Usually polite, friendly, and funny -- even if her words are full of [[spoiler:threats and portents of doom.]]
* BlackSpeech: When she speaks her real name, or when others attempt to do so, it causes humans pain and even allergic reactions.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Since she is a [[spoiler:hive mind created by her "masters" in the Ur-verse,]] her ideas regarding right and wrong have almost nothing to do with human ideas of same.
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: She is a multi-bodied shapeshifter whose never shows her true form, because this would cause others to go mad or die.
* LightIsNotGood: All of her manifestations are white (racially or just as a color) or take the form of bright light. Aislyn finds her whiteness reassuring because of her racist upbringing, but the others know to be ready for a fight when things turn white.
* TentacledTerror: Most of her manifestations have a Lovecraftian look.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: Literally always wearing white.
[[/folder]]
[[foldercontrol]]
----
[[folder:New York City]]
!!Prime
A young queer Black man who's been living on the streets for a long time. Artistic and creative, and prideful and stubborn. In the second book, he takes the name "Neek" (NYC spoken phonetically).
!! Tropes:
* AloofLeaderAffableSubordinate: His initial dynamic with Manny. [[spoiler:Manny feels compelled to "serve" Neek, and even though Neek rejects this as an unequal and unethical relationship given Manny's amnesia,]] Manny remains affable and good at communicating, while Neek is much more introverted. The other avatars observe that he dislikes being seen as the leader of the group.
* GeniusLoci: While all of the avatars are this, it becomes clear that Neek is somehow ''more'' the city of New York than the rest of them.
* GeniusBruiser: Padmini observes that Neek appears to be a polymath, despite his deprived upbringing, and Bronca considers him an artistic genius. [[spoiler:The Woman In White seems to fear him, because he's one of the few avatars to actually hurt her during their battle. He also seems to be able to just ''imagine things at her'' instead of needing a construct as the other New York avatars do.]]
* MadArtist: Subverted in that the weird things he sees are real; what's changed is that he's becoming a city and can see them now, whereas normal people can't.
* StarvingArtist: He's homeless and mentions eating mostly off the charity of others and "church-plate dinners." Later [[spoiler:he lives in Manny's apartment with the other avatars, but Manny doesn't charge him rent.]]
----
!!Manny/Manhattan
Arrives in New York City with no memories of who he was before. The classic new kid in the city, eager to start fresh, but has the capability within him to be ruthless, manipulative, and violent, which he feels very conflicted about. Generally channels credit cards and cash as constructs.
!! Tropes:
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Invoked; Manny does in fact have a specific ethnicity (Black American), but everyone who looks at him assumes he shares their heritage somewhere along the line, as part of his power subtly influencing people to trust him.
* AmnesiacHero: Manny loses his memories of his past life upon arriving in New York, in what's implied to be the city taking away everything from him except what would be useful.
* AmnesiacResonance: Manny finds it easy to intimidate people with threats of violence, and has a vague feeling this was because he was violent and intimidating before he lost his memories.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Manny, as the avatar of the borough "where money talks and bullshit walks", has powers that come down to emotional manipulation and magical late capitalism, as well as a nasty set of skills from his former life, but he's firmly one of the good guys.
* BodyguardCrush: Seemingly, being Manhattan is a role that involves being the bodyguard of New York City (whether he wants that or not). It also comes with a rather fanatical crush.
* TheChampion: Manny is completely loyal to and in love with the primary avatar and feels his mission is to do anything to protect him.
* DeviousDaggers: Manhattan has Wall Street, and that cutthroat part of town comes out in Manhattan rather often. Sometimes that cutthroat-ness manifests literally, in the form of a knife, especially in the second book.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Manny can remember all the general knowledge he had before awakening, but nothing about the details of his own life. He believes it's because he was not a good person before becoming Manhattan, and the City took away that knowledge so it wouldn't impede his ability to fight.
* LikeADuckTakesToWater: You can't get more "quick adjustment to new location" then ''literally becoming that location''.
* SharpDressedMan: Often wears a suit or is otherwise professionally attired.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: It gradually becomes clear that before coming to NYC and [[spoiler:losing his memory,]] Manny was nowhere near as nice a person. [[spoiler:Turns out he was the enforcer for a Chicago crime family.]]
----
!!Brooklyn
A former rapper turned politician and single mother. Extremely competent and level-headed, but has constant friction with Bronca because they're both older women with similar forceful personalities. Her constructs are usually music.
!! Tropes:
* ActionPolitician: Quick to ''take off her earrings'' and throw hands in the very physical sense, although she's also hyperaware that as a Black woman in politics that cannot be her first response to every threat.
* BlackBossLady: Commands a small army of aides in her role as a city council member, and later [[spoiler:as a mayoral candidate.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMusic: A rare literary example. Manny and his roommate Bel are surrounded by minions of the Enemy, and Manny's construct of literally throwing money at it is only buying them time (no pun intended). Cue Brooklyn, JustInTime, striding in blaring [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmaster_Flash Grandmaster Flash]] and withering away the minions. Establishes her instantly as extremely capable, and also hints at her past as a rapper herself.
* GlamorousSingleMother: Her family has done rather well--her father bought two Brooklyn brownstones several decades ago when the neighborhood was blighted, and they're now worth millions. Brooklyn herself didn't get ''rich'' off her musical career (as she said, she had an Eighties record contract) but she seems to be comfortably well off and well able to support her teen daughter and elderly father.
----
!!Bronca/The Bronx
A Lenape woman pushing 70, self-identified as a butch lesbian, and the head of an art center. Received the most knowledge of how city magic works. Generally uses physical movement and her steel-toed boots -- significant because she used them to stomp on a cop at Stonewall -- as constructs.
!! Tropes:
* ButchLesbian: And damn proud of it.
* CoolOldLady: Very much so, although she resents being called old.
* GoodIsNotNice: Bronca is rather abrasive but ultimately heroic, with her harshness largely coming from having fought oppression her whole life.
* MrExposition: The Bronx is the oldest borough, and Bronca's the oldest avatar, so the universe chooses her as the one best suited to knowing the lexicon, the body of knowledge that new cities wake up with. Since the others don't have it, she has to tell them how stuff works.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She is a grandmother (or soon-to-be, at least), and you absolutely do not want to mess with her.
----
!!Padmini/Queens
A young Indian immigrant, living with family in America on a work visa. Very good at math, and had the nickname "Math Queen" (hence Queens). Master of FormulaicMagic, using math and science as the basis of her constructs.
!! Tropes:
* GoodWithNumbers: Does complex math problems in her spare time to relax. She is unhappy because she has to get a degree in financial engineering to have a hope of getting employed after she finishes grad school, rather than the pure math she loves.
* JustFriends: The second book confirms that Padmini is [[spoiler:asexual.]] However, she seems to have a particularly close relationship with Veneza.
* PlatonicLifePartners: [[spoiler:Proposes this to Manny, in order to get a green card marriage. Manny accepts, if it comes to that.]]
----
!!Aislyn/Staten Island
An agoraphobic young woman living at home with her abusive cop father, who has passed many of his prejudices on to her. Her constructs are based on being an AbsoluteXenophobe -- she can teleport people elsewhere and generate a shield by saying "Get off my lawn!"
!! Tropes:
* DarkMagicalGirl: The Woman in White manipulates her due to her isolation and feelings of being neglected by the other boroughs.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Her relationship with [[spoiler:The Woman In White]] is this.
* GrewASpine: Does so as needed, though normally she is shy and easily frightened.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: The thing that seems to push Aislyn into considering that the Woman In White may not actually be her friend isn't [[spoiler:the fact that she actively wants the destruction of all of New York, the fact that she's implied she would kill Aislyn too, or the fact that she's mind-controlling all of Staten Island into being uncomfortably pleasant...it's that the DJ being controlled by the Woman ''won't play Wu-Tang Clan''. (Or other music by bands that are from Staten Island.)]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Due to her abusive father and insular upbringing. Has a phobia of leaving Staten Island.
----
!!Veneza[[spoiler:/Jersey City]]
Bronca's young protege at the art center, eager to tag along and try to help the boroughs in their city work.
!! Tropes:
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Veneza is half Portuguese-American and half Black. Her father is racist, even towards her.
* StarvingArtist: Has a college degree in art, and works at the art center but has little confidence in her own work. Complains initially that Bronca doesn't pay her enough for benefits. [[spoiler:She gets better pay and benefits after the center gets a huge number of donations.]]
* SurpriseCheckmate: [[spoiler:Saves the day at the end of the first book by getting suddenly transformed into an avatar of NYC as well. Jersey City isn't technically part of New York, but it's so close both culturally and geographically that it becomes an honorary borough.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Other Cities]]
!!Paulo/São Paulo
The city most recently awakened before New York, and therefore the one assigned to come help them get adjusted. An urbane, ageless man who wears a business suit and grew up in the favelas. His constructs are business cards and cigarette smoke to represent his city's reputation as a place full of business-obsessed people, which has an air pollution problem.
!! Tropes:
* AloofAlly: Paulo's somewhat reserved (especially compared to the brash New Yorks) with a dry, sarcastic voice, but he's firmly on New York's side and drops hints on how to handle the elder cities.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Opportunistically sleeps with [[spoiler:Neek]] once, but seems to have an on-again-off-again relationship with Hong Kong.
* FantasticNoir: He's supposed to guide the avatars of NYC, but after [[spoiler:Neek collapses,]] he has to hunt down the borough avatars and solve the mystery of why things in NYC are going so wrong. Smokes, has a very mysterious and jaded air, and has several "interruptions" throughout the first book written in his dry, professional voice, which turn these segments into a gritty detective story.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: [[spoiler:Neek]] seems to think of him this way.
----
!!Hong/Hong Kong
Paulo's mentor and former romantic partner... probably. Shares Paulo's noirish air of mystery. Also shows up to help -- well, to help Paulo, when he's injured. [[spoiler:Wields a yellow umbrella, associated with Hong Kong's pro-democracy protestors, in the final battle.]]
!! Tropes:
* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Insults the group enough that not just the conflict-ready avatars of NYC, but Padmini and Aislyn -- the more polite ones -- really don't like him. Bronca threatens to throw him out of the car at one point. However, Hong has a notable soft spot for Paulo.
* ToughLove: Hong is mostly helping out because he cares about Paulo, but to the extent that Hong is helpful to the New Yorks ''at all'' his style is pure ToughLove with zero coddling.
----
!!London
The only other composite city (i.e. city with district-level avatars who embody specific neighborhoods, plus an overall prime avatar representing the entire city) to be born before New York, London is also notable for having ''lost'' her borough avatars.
* LoonWithAHeartOfGold: London seems pretty lucid, but according to her has been mad for centuries, because London is far too big for a single avatar.
* ResolvedNoodleIncident: In the first book, Hong casually mentions that London ''ate'' her borough avatars, which understandably alarms the New York borough avatars. In the second book, London explains that she didn't ''[[ImAHumanitarian eat]]'' them literally, but that London's ''[[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs thirty-four avatars]]'' were perpetually gridlocked and unable to function as a group, so London Prime agreed to take their avatar-ness into herself and become the sole London.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Enemy]]
!!The Enemy/The Woman in White/[[spoiler:R'yleh]]
A whole smorgasbord of Lovecraftian tropes rolled into one entity.
* AboveGoodAndEvil
* AffablyEvil: Usually polite, friendly, and funny -- even if her words are full of [[spoiler:threats and portents of doom.]]
* BlackSpeech: When she speaks her real name, or when others attempt to do so, it causes humans pain and even allergic reactions.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Since she is a [[spoiler:hive mind created by her "masters" in the Ur-verse,]] her ideas regarding right and wrong have almost nothing to do with human ideas of same.
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: She is a multi-bodied shapeshifter whose never shows her true form, because this would cause others to go mad or die.
* LightIsNotGood: All of her manifestations are white (racially or just as a color) or take the form of bright light. Aislyn finds her whiteness reassuring because of her racist upbringing, but the others know to be ready for a fight when things turn white.
* TentacledTerror: Most of her manifestations have a Lovecraftian look.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: Literally always wearing white.
[[/folder]]
