History Characters / VorkosiganSaga

Only son and heir to the Vorkosigan countship, victim of a solotoxin attack while still in utero that left him with an abnormally stunted stature and frighteningly brittle bones, Miles grew up military-mad in a culture that despised him for a [[FantasticRacism mutie]]. When he fails his qualifying physical for the Barrayan military at seventeen, the death of his grandfather and a "breather" trip to Beta Colony with [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend his friend Elena Bothari]] and [[HeroicSociopath her father Sergeant Constantin Bothari]], followed by a chance meeting with a drunk-and-suicidal jump pilot, changes the course of his life, ending in him becoming the admiral of a mercenary fleet at seventeen and launching a career beyond his wildest adolescent imaginings.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: While not involved in Miles' exploits, Ivan has had a fairly successful military career, usually getting promotions ahead of Miles. He's about to get his own book, written with the working title of ''Ivan: His Booke.'' [=LMB=] is trying to come up with the real title now.

* DeadpanSnarker

* OddFriendship: Partnering up with Elli Quinn wouldn't be considered odd, except that Ethan is an Athosian, from an all-male PlanetOfHats which abides by a religion that considers women alien and dangerous.

'''Cavilo'''

* PronounTrouble: Bel (and other genetically-engineered Betan hermaphrodites) prefer the use of the pronoun "it".

* InsistentTerminology: Miles would like you to know that his physical issues are ''teratogenic'' in nature. Also, [[spoiler: Mark is his brother, not his clone.]]

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: happens to him in ''Cetaganda'' as a result of a drink spiked with an "anti-aphrodisiac". He is in a threesome with two Cetagandan ghem-ladies when the effects take hold, but manages to avoid embarrassment thanks to some almost Miles-worthy bluffing about Barrayan sexual customs and [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean a couple of handy bedroom tricks taught to him by an old flame.]]

'''Konstantin Bothari'''

A former subordinate of Aral's who had an extremely troubled history and career, Bothari eventually came into Cordelia's orbit and responded to her belief in him with fierce, unquestioning devotion to her. Despite his transition from a normal soldier to a Vorkosigan armsman, his status as the family's resident and willing shooter of dogs remains unchanged.

* BattleButler: To the Vorkosigans, and particularly the young Miles, [[spoiler: right up until his death.]]
* HeroicSociopath: Despite being a damaged killer with a violent, traumatic history, Bothari does his best to redeem himself through his loyalty to Cordelia and his Herculean efforts to be a good Da to his little daughter [[spoiler: by the female prisoner of war he raped while in a drug-and-Ges-induced fugue during the Escobar War]], Elena.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: His mother was a Barrayan prostitute who used to sell him to her customers.]] And that was before [[CompleteMonster Ges Vorrutyer]] got his hands on him.
* [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal: By his daughter Elena's biological mother.]]
* OverprotectiveDad: And when his daughter finds out his past behavior, she's totally disgusted with him.
* [[spoiler: SonOfAWhore: And it screwed him up hugely.]]
* ShootTheDog: In the service of Cordelia (and later Miles), Bothari often employs methods far more ruthless than either of them are comfortable with, but he gets results.

** And then later, in "Winterfair Gifts", [[spoiler: someone tries to kill her with a toxin-laced wedding gift, a pearl necklace, and frame an old flame of Miles' for the deed. Once the toxin is detected and Imp Sec cleans it out completely and marks the culprit for death, she wears the necklace to her wedding. When one of the guests compliments her on it, and comments that the giver must have spent a lot of money on it:]]

[[spoiler: A watching armsman decides at that point that she's going to make an excellent match for his CrazyAwesome boss.]]

^ CatchPhrase: "Unpack, Miles." (referring to the way his brain runs five steps ahead of his mouth.)

Tall, imposing, athletic and intelligent, Roic isn't former military like the other armsmen: he's a former police officer, taken into Count Aral's service after showing extreme heroism in a dangerous situation. Rapidly becomes Miles right-hand man after Miles becomes Imperial Auditor since Miles finds his police experience useful.

Miles' boss, head of [=ImpSec=]. Has a memory chip implanted in his head that lets him remember ''everything''.

[[spoiler: A watching armsman decides at that point that she's going to make an excellent match for his CrazyAwesome boss.]]

Miles' aunt (really a first cousin by marriage, once removed), Ivan's long-suffering mother, and a grand dame of the High Vor. Possibly more deadly than the male.

* EnbarrassingFirstName: She keeps Drou as a nickname after her marriage. Even her husband calls her Drou. Hell, even the ''Emperor'' call her Drou.

Kou and Drou's four daughters, Delia, Olivia, Martya, and Kareen.

'''Ekaterin Nile Vorsoisson [[spoiler: later Vorkosigan]]'''

[[spoiler: A watching armsman decides at that point that she's going to make an excellent match for his CrazyAwesome boss.]]

* DomesticAbuse: Tien certainly emotionally abused her [[spoiler: and stole money from her to pay back his bad investments that should have gone to the medical treatment of their young son]], and Miles considers it verging on abuse that Tien talked Ekaterin into having her son Nikolai by body-birth when the much safer, painless uterine replicator was already widely available.

* ActionGirl

'''The Koudelka Girls'''

** Martya and Kareen engineer a food fight that would put Blake Edwards to shame, to protect Enrique Borgos (and their shares in Mark's company) from Escobaran law enforcement.
** Olivia personally beats down a couple of thugs [[spoiler: hired by Richars Vorrutyer to reverse his cousin Dono's Betan sex-change surgery with a vibra-knife.]]
* AmazonBrigade: The girls tend to go about in a herd by their own admission, and Miles speculates that ex-bodyguard Drou taught them more than baking techniques.

* BiTheWay

A eight-foot-tall genetically engineered super-soldier with fangs, claws, Taura was rescued from Jackson's Whole by Miles and joined up with the Dendarii, becoming a valued fleet member and also Miles' lover (well, one of them). Taura is both a highly competent soldier, and immensely strong and fast in addition to her sheer size. Unfortunately, this comes at a terrible price, as her extremely high metabolism and overall genetic design means that her natural lifespan was cut very short; by the time she and her batch mates from the super soldier group were in their mid-to-late teens, she was the only one who hadn't died of old age. Miles sets the Dendarii fleet medics to prolonging her life, and it works [[spoiler: until ''Cryoburn'', when Sergeant Taura passes away aged thirty.]]

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: She takes apparent comfort, during the events of "Winterfair Gifts", in the fact that Ekaterin obviously loves Miles deeply, and vice versa.]]

* PassingTheTorch: To Eli, after he decides to [[spoiler: retire to Earth and get married.]]

* OddFriendship: Partnering up with Eli Quinn wouldn't be considered odd, except that Ethan is an Athosian, from an all-male PlanetOfHats which abides by a religion that considers women alien and dangerous.

* PronounTrouble: Bel (and other genetically-engineered Betan hermaphrodites) prefer the use of the pronoun "it". The genderless Cetagandan ''ba'' servitors, also genetically engineered, are referred to as "it" as well.

* AlmightyJanitor: Despite commanding his own mercenary fleet as Admiral Naismith, Miles never manages to rise past the rank of Lieutenant [[spoiler: until after he gets himself fired from [=ImpSec=].]] Also applies to [=ImpSec=]'s own janitors, who are usually experienced veterans for security reasons.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Miles is a deeply caring soul and almost compulsively determined to do right by everyone he can, from helping a miserable drunken jump pilot keep his beloved ship from being repossessed to [[spoiler: helping ''ten thousand'' [=POWs=] escape a Cetagandan prison camp when he was only supposed to engineer the breakout of a tiny group of them]] ("Daring Rescues our specialty!"). Cross him, or worse yet mess with his loved ones, and you ''will'' be very, ''very'' sorry.

* ChickMagnet: Despite the loss of his first love Elena, Miles doesn't seem to have any trouble attracting strong, capable, badass women (and hermaphrodites), and has remarkably successful relationships with them, to the point where [[spoiler: he still trusted Rowan Durona enough to consider her performing an illicit medical procedure on his brain in "Memory", and after "Civil Campaign", Eli sent him a kinky (if snarky) wedding gift and Taura stood as Second to his wife Ekaterin during the marriage ceremony.]]

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Obsessed with his Butterbugs, thinks custumizing his butterbugs (which look like a giant cross between a cochroach and a termite) with his host's livery is a way to get on his good side, and writes poetry!