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3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
4%%
5%% Handling Spoilers: Never spoiler tag trope titles or characters' names or the description.
6%%
7!The Dinsmores
8
9!!Elsie Dinsmore
10The lead heroine.
11* ExtremeDoormat: She tended to just put up with whatever crap her family threw at her, but to be fair, she knew no one except the slaves and her aunts Adelaide and Lora would have stood up for her. Even when her father punished her unfairly, she didn't stand up for herself, believing it to be the quickest way to earn his love. She matures out of this somewhat as an adult, while still believing in TurnTheOtherCheek.
12* HappilyMarried: She marries Edward Travilla when she grows up.
13* MeaningfulName: The name Elsie means "pledged to God." One hundered percent true with her.
14* NiceGirl: One of the nicest characters in the series, to a fault.
15* ThePollyanna: She tends to believe the best in everyone, even people who mistreat her.
16* TokenReligiousTeammate: Elsie was this to her family at first, as nobody else could comprehend why she's so obsessed with her Bible.
17* SouthernBelle: A charming, beautiful, kind lady from the South who is nice to all that come her way. Definitely a Bonne Belle.
18
19!! Horace Dinsmore Jr.
20Elsie's father.
21* AdaptationalNiceGuy: The "Life of Faith" reprints tone down his harsh treatment of Elsie signifigantly.
22%% * TheDandy: Was this in the first few books before maturing out of it.
23%% * DotingParent: Becomes this to Elsie at the end of the second book.
24* HairTriggerTemper: Lots of things set him off, from Elsie not obeying his every command, to being told how to raise her. He even gets mad at Elsie for the most asinine things, such as crying (for justifiable reasons at that) and freeing a hummingbird that ''he himself trapped in a glass jar and attempted to kill for his own amusement.'' He calms down significantly after his HeelFaithTurn.
25%% * HeelFaithTurn
26* MyGreatestFailure: He considers willingly going along with being separated from his first wife and leaving Elsie in the care of her relatives to be his greatest mistake.
27%% * NoSympathy: When Elsie is sad about something, he doesn't try to ask her what's wrong, help her out, or understand why, but instead berates her for crying and "disobeying" him. At one point, he tries to force-feed Elsie when she says she's too sad to eat dinner.
28* ParentsAsPeople: He's kind of a temperamental jerk, but does care for Elsie [[spoiler: and his two children with Rose Allison]]. His temper is toned down a good deal in the reprints.
29%% * RedOniBlueOni: The red to Edward's blue.
30%% * SouthernGentleman
31
32!! Enna Dinsmore
33Youngest aunt of Elsie.
34
35* BrattyHalfPint: The story begins when she's six years old, and she starts out as an insufferable little brat who takes Elsie's things for herself and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way.
36%% * SouthernBelle: Grows up into the Mauvaise variant.
37* HeelFaithTurn: After a carriage accident that left her with the mental capacity of a six year old, she converts with her daughter Molly's help.
38* PetTheDog: Say what you want about her personally, she does her damdest to be a good mother (and [[GoodStepmother stepmother]] in the reprints)
39* SpoiledBrat: Hoo boy, is she a real brat. In the beginning, she deliberately takes Elsie's things and claims them as her own even when she's not entitled to it, and when she doesn't get her way, she throws a tantrum. Her parents actually condone her behavior rather than punish or discipline her for it, which is why she grows up to be a WomanChild in later books.
40* WomanChild: She never really emotionally matured because her parents spoiled her, even when she became a mother herself.
41%% * YoungerThanTheyLook: She was an early bloomer.
42
43!! Arthur Dinsmore
44Elsie's uncle.
45* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:He and his brother Walter die in the Civil War]]
46* CreepyUncle: Downplayed since he is only two years older than her, but freely admits to having a one-sided crush on Elsie when they're more-or-less adults.
47* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: When they were younger, he often attacked Elsie when he doesn't get his way with her, but still cared for her. He may be something a ne'er-do-well, but does have moments of kindness, rare they may be.
48%% * TheGamblingAddict: He starts up the habit before he's even 13!
49* SpoiledBrat: When they were younger, he often attacked Elsie when he doesn't get his way with her. One such example is the incident with the watch, where he breaks it but tries to place the blame on Elsie, or in the reprints, an innocent slave boy.
50
51!! Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore
52Elsie's grandfather and step-grandmother.
53* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Mrs. Dinsmore dies of illness during the Civil War]].
54%% * DotingParent: To their own children, especially [[SpoiledBrat Enna]].
55* OldMoney: The Dinsmore's have had their plantation, Roselands, for generations.
56* ParentalNeglect: Mr. Dinsmore allowed Elsie to be abused by his wife and children. He doesn't fully admit that he treated her poorly until long after she's an adult, but Elsie has since let it go.
57* RichBitch: Mrs. Dinsmore. She's rich and wealthy, but hates Elsie and her stepson Horace, and is pretty much the reason why their relationship is so strained at first.
58* WickedStepmother: Mrs. Dinsmore is both a wicked stepmother and [[GruesomeGrandparent step-grandmother]]. She resented Horace since he's a child of Mr. Dinsmore's first marriage. She also sent letters about Elsie to her stepson slandering Elsie, and when Horace was sick, she kept Elsie out of his room, but told him Elsie intentionally didn't see him. Even when both Elsie and her own daughter Enna are adults, she can't help but sneer at Elsie. Also, as seen in one of Mildred Keith's books (which chronologically take place before Elsie's books), she also turned her family against Elsie, whom nearly everyone did treat at least cordially when she first came to Roselands.
59
60!! Adelaide Dinsmore
61Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore's oldest daughter.
62* CoolAunt: She's basically the only Dinsmore child who doesn't treat Elsie like crap and genuinely cares for her like a sister. The only time she ever lost her temper with Elsie was after the death of her fiance, but is quick to apologize at her outburst. At one point in the reprints, she tells Horace that he's being too harsh with Elsie with his authoritarian ways and stands up for her on numerous occasions, though he, along with most of the adults, brushes her off. She is also the only one of her family who volunteers to care for Elsie when she becomes ill.
63* OldMaid: She is 26 when she marries and felt uneasy about her age.
64* SouthernBelle: She's the Bonne variant like her niece.
65* TurnToReligion: After her first fiance dies, Elsie helps her convert to Christianity.
66
67!! Lora, Louise and Walter Dinsmore
68Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore's other children; Elsie's other aunts and uncle.
69* BystanderSyndrome: Walter wasn't so much a bully to his niece Elsie, but he still didn't defend her when his siblings would bully and abuse her.
70* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Walter dies in the Civil War after both parents shame him for his initial refusal to sign up for the military.]]
71* ShrinkingViolet: Walter is described as shy and bookish, and whenever Arthur, Louise and Enna didn't bully Elsie, they would bully him.
72* SpiritedYoungLady: Lora. She has a strong sense of justice, and tries to stand up for her niece Elsie after she's given an unfair punishment from their governess.
73* SpoiledBrat: Louise, while not nearly as bratty as Enna, does grow up into a gossipy RichBitch.
74
75! Other Characters
76
77!! Aunt Chloe
78Elsie's devoted nursemaid
79* HappinessInSlavery: She doesn't seem to mind being a slave, but admits [[spoiler: she does miss her family. Eventually, Elsie buys Chloe her husband and granddaughter.]]
80%% * {{Mammy}}: Elsie even calls her mammy sometimes.
81* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:She had four children who are long dead by the start of the first book; two died of illness, one drowned, while a daughter lived to adulthood and had her own daughter, Dinah.]]
82* ParentalSubstitute: Raised Elsie like she was her own child.
83
84!! Edward Travilla
85Horace's childhood friend
86* CaringGardener: He has an interest in horticulture.
87* RedOniBlueOni: He is much more mellow and genial than Horace, who was stoic, stern, and extremely short-tempered pre-conversion.
88* MayDecemberRomance: Marries Elsie when she comes of age. They have an age difference of 16 years.
89* SouthernGentleman
90
91!! Rose Allison
92Elsie's aunt Adelaide's friend from the north.
93* HonoraryAunt: To Elsie, eventually becoming her [[GoodStepmother stepmother]].
94* GoodParents: Easily the best parental figure Elsie has aside from Aunt Chloe.
95* NiceGirl: She's a perfectly pleasant young woman.
96* SecondLove: To Horace
97
98!! Mrs. Mary Murray
99The former housekeeper of Viameade
100* ApronMatron
101* CoolOldLady: She is in her late-50s/early 60s when introduced, and while as intense in her faith as Elsie, is nothing but kind and pleasant to everyone, and is a source of wisdom for both Horace and Elsie.
102* {{Oireland}}: She is from Galway.
103* ParentalSubstitute: Raise Elsie along with Aunt Chloe. She also raised her grand-nieces after their parents die from illness.
104
105!! Wealthy Stanhope
106Elsie's great-aunt
107* CoolOldLady: She's friendly and cheerful to everyone.
108* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: She's a bit out there, to say the least.
109* MaidenAunt: She never married.
110
111!! Tom Jackson
112One of Arthur's ne'er-do-well friends.
113%% * BettyAndVeronica:[[spoiler:The Veronica]]
114* DirtyCoward: For all his talk about killing Elsie or her friends, most of the time he finds one reason or another to put it off, or goes in when they're asleep or otherwise vulnerable.
115%% * TheGamblingAddict
116* GoldDigger: He and Arthur plot for Tom (under an assumed name) to marry Elsie for her fortune.
117* {{Yandere}}: For someone who never loved Elsie, he sure doesn't take Elsie's rejection of him when she finds out his true colors very well, up to and including trying to kill her, [[spoiler: and her husband Edward on their honeymoon]].
118
119!! Mildred "Millie" Keith
120Elsie's second cousin. Featured primarily in her own stories, but occasionally referenced in the main ''Elsie'' books.
121* AdaptationDyeJob: In the original books, she has brown hair and brown eyes. in the "Life of Faith" reprints, she has blond hair and violet eyes.
122* DeterminedHomesteader She's a bit nervous to move out west at first, but quickly adjusts to life in Pleasant Plains, Indiana.
123%% * FriendToAllChildren
124* MassiveNumberedSiblings: The oldest of ''nine'' children (though one is dead before the events of the first book)
125* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In the reprints, she is almost exclusively called "Millie", but even in the original books, her youngest siblings will call her "Milly"
126* {{Schoolmarm}}: Mildred was the tutor to her siblings when they moved to Pleasant Plains, and until she married she worked as one for the community.
127
128!! Violet Travilla
129Daughter of Elsie and Edward Travilla. Becomes the main focus of later books.
130* DaddysGirl: She and her father were quite close, and takes his death very hard.
131* GoodSamaritan: In the reprints, she opens a mission building.
132* ShrinkingViolet: Befitting her name. She matures out of this as she grows up.

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