The main characters of The Little Grey Men Series are four gnomes who are all named after native British flowers.
The Gnomes
Dodder
The oldest of the four brothers and the leader of the group. He has a peg leg after being attacked by a fox centuries earlier.- Badass Boast: He taunts a fox as it's about to eat him.
- David Versus Goliath: Dodder takes down a human 10 times his size.
- Dye or Die: Dodder's beard is naturally white, but he dyes it with walnut juice so it's harder for predators to spot him.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: Dodder's long grey beard gives him a grandfatherly appearance, in contrast to the Big Bad Giant Grum who has a scraggly, dirty beard.
- The Leader: He leads the expedition to find Cloudberry, and takes command of the Jeanie Deans.
- Older Hero Versus Younger Villain: The cruel giant is old for a human, but Dodder has lived for centuries.
- Sea Dog Peg Leg: He has a peg leg made from bone after losing his leg in a fox attack many centuries ago.
- Smoking Is Cool: Houseboat Hero Dodder smokes a pipe.
- Sweet Tooth: He loves peppermint creams.
Cloudberry
The second brother, his disappearance in the first book triggers the other gnomes into setting out to find him.- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He prefers exploring the forest alone, and is good friends with the wild geese of Spitzbergen.
- Crazy Survivalist: After his adventure with the wild geese, Cloudberry came back a very different gnome.
- Face–Heel Turn: Caused by his jealousy of Dodder.
- Jerkass: He behaves like a Big Brother Bully to Sneezewort, and manipulates Baldmoney and Squirrel.
- Karmic Death: He plans to poison Dodder and Squirrel with mushrooms, but gets bitten by a viper.
- The Starscream: He secretly wants to usurp Dodder's position as leader.
- Wild Hair: Cloudberry's beard becomes more and more unkempt in Down the Bright Stream as he descends into evil.
Baldmoney
The third brother, he acts as navigator and mechanic on the Jeanie Deans.- Baldmoney is the third brother. He acts as navigator and mechanic on the Jeanie Deans.
- Ace Pilot: Of Wonderbird, a Cool Plane he designed himself.
- Balloon Belly: He's a Big Eater who eats so much at the banquet in Crow Wood that his jacket splits.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He works out how to operate the boat's clockwork mechanism, and later invents a flying machine.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Baldmoney and Dodder smoke pipes. The cruel giant smokes cigarettes.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Part of his pilot outfit.
- The Scrounger: Baldmoney's dagger is made from the discarded blade of a human's pocket knife
Sneezewort
The youngest brother, he lacks a beard and is usually assigned chores like cooking or cleaning.- Camp Cook: He does most of the cooking on the expedition.
- Manchild: He's centuries old, but still considered the baby of the family. Dodder won't let him smoke, stay up late, or steer the ship.
- Perma-Shave: Sneezewort has never been able to grow a beard like his brothers.
- Roguish Poacher: Sneezewort is very good at stealing eggs from birds' nests.
- Team Chef: He's put in charge of the Jeanie Deans' galley.
