Characters from Emily of New Moon.
See here for characters from the anime adaptation.
New Moon Farm
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Emily Byrd Starr
The lead character. Emily is an imaginative girl with an active imagination, who dreams of being a writer. Her strong will and stubbornness tend to get her into trouble. After the death of her father, she goes to live with her maternal relatives on New Moon farm.
- Author Avatar: Emily is based on the author and her experiences as a young girl.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: In the live-action show, following Aunt Elizabeth's death, she briefly becomes responsible for New Moon and caring for her relatives. It's quickly deconstructed when she has to leave school early to care for everything, she has to take care of the cleaning duties because her aunt Laura becomes an Addled Addict, and she has to watch her ailing aunt like a hawk to ensure she's not abusing laudanum. She's very overwhelmed by all the responsibility.
- Didn't Think This Through: Tends to act first and think about the repercussions later. This is much more pronounced in the live action series, where it becomes the source of a few problems.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: She has two cats in the books (Saucy Sal and Mike), and one cat in the television series (Pandora.)
- Psychic Powers: Emily inherited a "second sight" from her great-grandmother, which allows her to speak to the dead and may have visions of the future. The live action series has her see with spectral visitors in most episodes.
- Purple Prose: Her writing is shown to be very flowery, and it sometimes seeps into her regular speech.
- Spirited Young Lady: A deconstructed example. She's very defiant and modern in her thinking, but she's also untempered and poorly-behaved. She gets very realistic pushback from others for it. Part of her development is about her keeping her ambitions and strength intact, while maturing and becoming more respectable.
Elizabeth Murray
A very austere woman, sister to Laura and half-sister to Juliet. She runs New Moon with an iron fist and is highly against Emily's dreams of being a writer.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: She has "iron-grey" hair in the books and anime, while the live-action show gives her graying brown hair.
- Death by Adaptation: She dies at the beginning of the live-action show's second season. In the books, she lives through
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Over the course of the novels and its adaptations, she warms up to Emily and starts encouraging her dreams.
- Freudian Excuse: She was forced to take care of the farm and her family. She had to harden her heart in order to shoulder the burdens around her.
- Kick the Dog: Right from the get-go, she makes it clear that she's only taking in Emily as familial obligation, and she won't tolerate Emily's writing ambitions.
Laura Murray
The mousy aunt, sister to Elizabeth and half-sister to Juliet. While she means well, she lacks power around the farm, living under Aunt Elizabeth's thumb.
- Adaptation Expansion: The live action show greatly expands her role, giving her more subplots and love interests.
- Addled Addict: In the television series, she develops an addiction to laudanum after Elizabeth's death. Over the course of season 2, she becomes more and more dependent on her addiction, which leaves her barely able to care for herself. She eventually breaks her addiction, but it's a hard road.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: In the live action show, she develops a brief romance with her doctor, Ilse's father.
- Shrinking Violet: She's a very timid woman.
James "Jimmy" Murray
Elizabeth and Laura's cousin, and Emily's first cousin, once removed. He had an accident as a child, which has left him a little slow. Still, he's a very astute and very caring.
- Adaptation Expansion: He's much more prominent in the live action television series.
- Berserk Button: Being called an idiot, or looked down upon for being slow. It aggravates him and can easily send him into a rage.
- Pet the Dog: He's one of the first people to reach out to Emily and show her kindness in Blair Water.
Malcolm Murray
Emily's grand-uncle from Scotland, and father of Cousin Isabel. After Elizabeth's death, New Moon reverts back to him. He and his daughter originally want to sell the land and make a profit, creating much of the drama in the live action show's second season. However, he warms up to his relatives and changes his ways.
- Alcoholic Parent: Much to Isabel's worry, he has a serious drinking problem.
- Birds of a Feather: With Emily. They both have the second sight, strong wills and big hearts. Naturally, they quickly form a bond.
- Canon Foreigner: Was created for the live-action show.
- The Dreaded: Before he arrived, the characters feared that he would show up and take the farm from them. Subverted, once it's revealed that he's actually a Cool Old Guy.
- Our Kelpies Are Different: His final episode all but states that he's a kelpie, and many of the Murrays have kelpie blood.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He had two children; Isabel, and a girl he refers to as the "Wee Angel." The Wee Angel passed away around toddlerhood.
- Put on a Bus: He leaves midway through season 2 to visit Scotland and settle his affairs. He comes back early into season 3, but leaves for Scotland permanently near the end of the season.
- Psychic Powers: Like Emily, he also has the second sight.
Isabel Murray
Malcolm's daughter, and Emily's first cousin, once removed. She aggressively pursues the sale of New Moon so she can make a profit.
- Canon Foreigner: Was created for the live-action show.
- Divergent Character Evolution: She fills Elizabeth's role in the show, and has a similar personality to her. But unlike Elizabeth, she doesn't get a redemption. In fact, she actually becomes a direct, if well-meaning, antagonist.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Her father calls her "Lucifer," due to her nagging and controlling nature. She absolutely hates it.
- Freudian Excuse: Isabel feels obligated to take care of her father, despite his alcoholism and his spitefulness towards her. She's also determined to get her money in order to secure her future, which she can't easily do as a single woman in the 19th century.
- I Did What I Had to Do: She has Aunt Laura committed after her laudanum addiction drives her to thievery. The conditions of the asylum are abysmal, and Elizabeth is treated very poorly. She defends her actions by pointing out that her mother went through similar issues with her health, and wanted to keep Laura from dying like her mother did.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: As expected of her time, she dislikes Catholics, is highly against charity, is prejudiced towards a black boy her father takes in. While these views are fairly understandable for the time, they're not views shared with the rest of her family.
- Put on a Bus: She leaves at the beginning of the fourth season, returning to Scotland to let her family deal with New Moon on her own. Unlike Malcolm though, she's not missed in the slightest.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She's basically a Scottish Elizabeth, and fills the same role as her in the story.
- The Unfavorite: Her father much preferred her half-sister, even in death.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: While her father is more boisterous and optimistic, Isabel is very sullen and down-to-earth.
- You Never Did That for Me: She frequently mentions how her father would do things for her half-sister, and would show her more kindness than he ever did her. It's treated as a big deal when he describes her as prettier than her sister, as he so rarely compliments her.
