A list of characters, listed by the books they first appear in.
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Her Majesty's Wizard
Alisande
"There sits a prisoner in a cell of stone Whose eyes should weep, for she's alone. Yet ill-becoming royalty are tears; And she's a queen, though slight in years. Away, away, through walls I'll fly to her, And there about our fates we shall confer!"
The rightful heir of Merovence and by the end of the first book its queen. By the end of the second book she becomes the wife of Matthew Mantrell.
- Background Halo: One is described at least once.The green gown set off the gold of her hair in a radiant halo, and her eyes were huge in the gaunt-cheeked face, almost enveloping...
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Once Matthew frees her from the dungeon, she takes a very proactive role in helping to take Astaulf down. She even has a Back-to-Back Badasses moment with Sir Guy at one point.
- Royal Blood
- The High Queen: Of Merovence.
Astaulf
The current king of Merovence, or at least he was until Princess Alisande the rightful heir to the throne takes it back.
- Evil Versus Evil: Against Malingo, and ended up learning why that was a bad idea.
- Face–Heel Turn
- Heel–Face Turn / The Atoner
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Debatable; since he usurped the throne, not everyone considers him a true king, but he was present in the final battle.
Matthew Mantrell
"You, betrayed by time and space, Born without your proper grace... To a world befouled and base— Feel your proper form and case, Recognize your homeland's face. Cross the void of time and space! Seek and find your proper place!
A Ph.D. student, who is transported to a magical world where poetry is used to cast spells.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Turns one of Sir Guy's daggers into this, Sharpened to a Single Atom.
- Court Mage: Pretty much becomes this at the end of the first book.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: It's used to his advantage though.
- Mundane Utility: Though he grows out of it once his companions warn him of getting too dependent on spellcasting for everything.
- Our Mages Are Different: "Mages are like Scholars" variant. His spellcasting is part classical poetry and part on-the-spot rhyming.
- Teleportation Sickness: A few times.
- Trapped in Another World: Subverted, since he could probably leave when he wants.
Sayeesa
A former Lust Witch.
- Cursed with Awesome: The power she has as a Lust Witch was literally gained by a curse that corrupted her. At the end of the book Her Majesty's Wizard uses this same power to get Malingo killed, though at the cost of her own life.
- Most Common Superpower: Even before she begins seducing Matt and the jig is up on her true nature, her voluptuous figure is described in vivid detail in almost every sentence mentioning her.
- Sex Magic: As a Lust Witch she has this.
Sir Guy
A wandering black knight who joins up with Matthew and Alisande.
- Black Knight: Non-villainous example. He just doesn't have a lord to serve and is looking for a cause to join. He paints his armor black to disguise his link to Hardishane.
- Defeat Means Friendship: One of the first things he does when he meets the wandering party? Challenge Matthew to a fistfight. Matt ends up laying him out cold with a lucky uppercut, which prompts Sir Guy to swear service to him and Alisande. Matt suspects from the beginning that he threw the fight, which is later confirmed.
- Keet: You can count the number of times he isn't smiling on one hand.
- Meaningful Name: Sir Guy Losobal ("Sir Guy the Black Knight"). Later on, Sir Guy de Toutarien. Matthew even lampshades what it really means.
Stegoman
It's light to which I do aspire; Send someone quick to light my fire! And long or short, by any name, So long as he's equipped with flame!
A dragon that was sent into exile. He was accidentally summoned by Matthew.
- Acrophobic Bird: A justified example, as it's for the safety of others. Flying makes him so happy he breathes flames in excitement almost involuntarily, and he has an odd condition that makes him act drunk after breathing fire, which makes him more likely to breathe flames again, etc. The other dragons actually kicked him out for basically being a drunk asshole when he flies. He gets better after Matthew cures him through magic, and they let him back in.
- Breath Weapon: Par for the course with a dragon
- I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Gets drunk off his own flames.
The Oathbound Wizard
Condemned Tree
Originally a simple stick that Matt cursed by mistake. King Gordogrosso brought it back as a fiery tree to attack Matt's group.
- Giant Mook
- Logic Bomb: Matt causes it to turn back into an inanimate stick when he points out that as an object without a soul, it couldn't have been damned to hell.
- Mind Screw: It doesn't have a soul, but Gordogrosso makes it intelligent enough to think that it does (meaning it's fully sentient). The theological indications of this are... weird, especially when Matt explains this to it and it promptly turns back into a normal stick in a Puff of Logic.
- Plant Person: Somewhat since it's described as having legs and eyes.
- Playing with Fire: Oddly enough this appears to be it's weapon of choice.
- To Hell and Back: Matt damned it as a stick and Gordogrosso brought it back as a Mook. It's all subverted since it never had a soul to go to Hell, Matt even brings this fact up to defeat it.
- We Hardly Knew Ye
- When Trees Attack
Fadecourt/Rinaldo
A traveling cyclops that is fighting against King Gordogrosso.
- Cyclops: Turns out this isn't his true form it's the result of a curse from King Gordogrosso, he's actually human.
- Little Bit Beastly: Aside from his head, Matt thought he looked like a Neanderthal.
Grendal
The legendary monster from Beowulf. He was summoned by Matt to get rid of some knights.
- The Juggernaut: It just charges through the enemy knights, trampling them or sending them flying.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: No one seems to know what Grendal is exactly and the book doesn't help matters either.
- We Hardly Knew Ye
Narlh
"It's going to rock right off the wing today, It's going to rock and a-rock till it rolls away, This rock'll roll, it'll roll away today!"
A dracogriff.
- Acrophobic Bird: Due to a horrible experience he now flies only when absolutely necessary.
- Child by Rape: His mother was raped by his father.
- Hybrid Monster: His mother is a griffin while his father is a dragon.
The Witch Doctor
Gruesome
A troll that tries to eat Saul when he crosses its bridge at the beginning of The Witchdoctor. Winds up getting enchanted to follow him around and do what he asks when Saul calls up The Fair Folk by accident and they decide it'd be funny.
- All Trolls Are Different: He's a big, hairy lump of a beast with a head that's just barely small enough to avoid being a Cephalothorax. Normally lives under a bridge, eating passers-by.
- Appropriated Appellation: Trolls apparently don't have names by default, Saul called him gruesome based on his appearance and the troll took it to mean that was what his name was.
- I Am a Humanitarian: By default. After being bound to Saul he mostly stops, but towards the big fight of the book he makes the comment that he doesn't like the taste of soldiers.
