WARNING: Morning Glories is a story that runs very much on Jigsaw Puzzle Plot, so even the least bit of information could be a spoiler. You have been warned.
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The Glories
Casey Blevins
A smart and overachiving student from Chicago, Casey has been dreaming of attending Morning Glory for a long time. However, that fantasy is soon broken when her parents are brutally murdered by the school faculty and the true nature of the school is exposed. Charismatic and hot-headed, Casey quickly decides to take a stand agains the Academy and becomes the de facto leader of the Glories.
- Abusive Parents: The only one of the Glories who averts this. Casey's parents were extremely loving and were killed for refusing to cut contact with her after her admission to MGA.
- Action Girl: Her father trained her in boxing and she's definitely not afraid to kick some ass.
- Arch-Enemy: With Isabel since middle school.
- The Ace: Beautiful, smart, talented, a natural leader...
- Broken Ace: ...and broken on the inside after everything the Academy has done to her. She hides this well, but there are moments where she slips up.
- Antagonistic Offspring: She's David's mother.
- Badass Bookworm: A certified genius in physics that can fight and knows how to make tear gas.
- Charm Person: Hodge taught her to command a person just by looking in their eyes and telling them what to do.
- Condescending Compassion: It's implied her warmness to Hunter comes more from pity for the geeky kid than genuine affection for him.
- Deadpan Snarker.
- Enemy Mine: Teams up with Hodge several times.
- Genre Savvy: When she and Hunter first meet each other by accidentally bumping in the corridor she lampshades how many couples meet and fall in love like that in romantic movies right before telling him to go away and forget everything since she "doesn't want that kind of relationship with him".
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Casey's desperate search for answers and revenge has led to her lashing out several times. This is lampshaded by Isabel, who claims that this clouds Casey's judgment.
- Just Friends: With Hunter.
Jade Ellsworth
An emo/goth-like girl from Des Moines, Jade is introduced as The Eeyore of the Glories. Her emotional and depressive nature often makes others think of her as nothing but a broken soul who won't be able to handle the dangers of the Academy, but a string of supernatural occurrences which always seem to happen around her prove that Jade is much more than what meets the eye.
An adult version of Jade referred to as Doctor Ellsworth shows up several times in the series to offer advice to both her past self and other characters. She acts much more confident and serious than current Jade and seems to be working for Morning Glory Academy.
- Action Girl: She's a late bloomer, but she is very handy with a gun, as Irina found out.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: In love with Ike.
- Back from the Dead: One of her abilities, though she has only done it once and refuses do it again when asked by Guillaume.
- Broken Bird: Was already this before the beginning of the comic and the school tries it's damn hardest to make it worse, but it looks like she may be getting better.
- Came Back Wrong: Her mother.
- Crisis of Faith: Used to be a devout Catholic before a tragedy in her past caused this (though her conversation with Ike in the Cave shows that might be on her way to believing again).
- Dark and Troubled Past: Was involved in a car accident along with her mother, who passed away...until Jade somehow brought her back to life. However, she realized what Jade had done and began acting violent or outright ignoring her before commiting suicide.
- Death Seeker: Tried to kill herself at least twice but it seems to have something to do with her powers rather than an actual desire to end her life.
- Fiery Red Head: Has quite a temper and a habit of setting places on fire.
- Odd Friendship: Perhaps "friendship" is stretching it but Jade and Ike bonded a little bit during the Woodrun and she's the only character who bothers to give him the time of day.
- Meaningful Name: Her future self is quite jaded.
- My Future Self and Me: She and Dr.Ellsworth get along quite well.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: As Dr.Ellsworth shows, adulthood has been very kind to Jade.
- Ship Tease: Again, with Ike.
- When She Smiles: Doesn't do it often but when it happens it's quite lovely.
- Dr.Ellsworth: You've got—we've always got—the prettiest smiles. Why didn't we do it more often?
Isaac “Ike“
Handsome, intelligent and manipulative Isaac (or Ike as he is always called) is the only child of a prestigious family from Manhattan who commands a powerful corporation. Always looking out for himself and only himself, Ike does not hesitate to betray or insult everyone he meets. He also had a tense relationship with his father, Abraham, whom he may or may have not murdered a year prior to arriving at MGA.
Like with Jade, he also has an adult version of himself that shows up from time to time.
- Broken Ace: Much like Casey, Ike's mask of confidence hides a pretty messes up boy. See "The Reason You Suck" Speech below.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Disappeared Dad: His father wasn't around much.
- Iconic Outfit: Almost always seen wearing a vest, sunglasses, and, most frequently, a scarf.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: He is never genuinely nice to someone, but there are still moments where he is willing to help without asking for something in return (such as saving Jade from Gribbs and making him promise to let her go with him when Ike leaves the academy) and it becomes clear over the course of the comic that he may be just acting aloof and like a jerk on purpose.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Pretty much the only person who refers to him by his full first name is Dagney, everyone else just calls him Ike.
- Only One Name: His last name hasn't been revealed either.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gets an absolutely brutal one courtesy of his older self:
- Listen to me, you little shit! You think you can fool everyone else with that scoundrel act, but I know the truth, you understand? I know about your nights curled up in a ball, sobbing, wondering why you can't get the evil out of you!You're a mistake. An aberration. You never should have been allowed to live. And all the whores and booze and parties won't make that one bit less true.
- Self-Made Orphan: Was accused of killing his own father. Turns out he really did do it. Or did he?
- Ship Tease: With Jade, especially given some comments by both their future selves...
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ike has always struggled with wanting attention and approval from his distant father, to the point of setting his own bedroom on fire at the age of six to try and get Abraham to talk to him.
Hunter
One of the six newest students at Morning Glory Academy and most likely to understand your obscure pop-culture references.- Ambiguously Human: Depending on your interpretation of the Woodrun events.
- Brainsand Brawn: He and Hisao.
- Give Geeks a Chance: He sure hopes this will be the case with him and Casey.
- Gypsy Curse: Believes he was placed under one after relieving the gold watch from Abraham.
- Hopeless Suitor: In love with Casey, despite Zoe warning him he has no chance.
- Only One Name: Yet another character with no surename.
- Redheads Are Uncool
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Also not immune to these and this time at the hands of Zoe during the Woodrun.
Jun Fukayama
Ike and Hunter's room mate with an appropriately Dark and Troubled Past.- Bury Your Gays: as of #33
- Brainsand Brawn: The Brawn to Hunter's Brains, though he is clearly smart enough to be accepted to MGA.
- Twin Switch: He and the real Jun switched places at a young age. Though Hisao was the one selected for entry to MGA, Jun took his place to protect his brother, only for them to both end up there in the current story. This is not helped by the fact that the Real Jun eventually believes that he is Hisao after being brainwashed by the school.
- Actually happens twice, as the boys switch places as Jun is dying, leading to Hisao's death.
- Back from the Dead: Jun's plan for him
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: #9 and #18 are probably the best examples.
Zoe
Just your average Cruel Cheerleader type. Sometimes with a knife.- Alpha Bitch: Was definitely this at her old school. Though she sometimes falls into the role of Lovable Alpha Bitch. Just don't tell anyone.
- But Not Too Foreign: Is Indian by birth, but is drawn with no darker complexion as the white characters.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Zoe's mother was killed by her father in front of her when she was a child.
Truants
A group of Child Soldiers trained by Abraham, they were sent to infitralte Morning Glory Academy two years before the main story starts
Akiko
A perky, happy-go-lucky girl japanese girl that serves as the overall moral compass of the Truants. She's also a member of the AV club.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Has a major crush on Fortunato, who only sees her a sister. Meanwhile, she has no idea that Ian is in love with her
- Adventures In Coma Land: After being knocked unconscious by David, her spirit is still able to walk around and communicate with people, though only Fortunato is able to hear her.
- Badass Adorable: Akiko's very first appearence has her using a science fair experiment to send Daramount and some guards flying, and she's one of the nicest characters in the comic.
- Ballet: Used to be a ballerina before being taken in by Abraham, and several of her coma dreams also have her dancing ballet.
- Morality Pet: To Ian. Bad things happen when she's not around to hold his darker impulses back.
Irina
An Ukranian assassin with a dark past, and the leader of the Truants.
- Abusive Parents: Irina's mother subjected her to Training from Hell from a young age, trying to kill her and even hiring five men to rape if she couldn't defend herself.
- Berserk Button: Anything involving the headmaster or her half-sister Daramount is bound to piss her off. Also, she's Ukranian, not Russian.
- Blood Knight: Absolutely adores fighting and killing.
- Child Soldier: Notable for being one even before Abraham recruited her.
- Dramatic Irony: Despite hating her, Irina shares a lot of characteristics with Daramount, such as sadistic tendencies and a need to control those around her. This is another hint that they're related.
- Little Miss Badass: A sixteen-year-old girl that can take down men much larger and stronger than her, and even go toe to toe with the Headmaster.
- Love Is a Weakness: When she was a child, Irina had a pet dog named Snowball that she loved very much. Her mother then killed him in front of her to teacher her this. It worked to well, with Irina frequently stating this to others.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: She and Daramount are half sisters.
- Training from Hell: Courtesy of her mother.
Ian Simon
The Smart Guy of the Truants, and the leader of the AV club.
- Artificial Human: Is one of six clones created by Dr.Simon and Dr.Richmond.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: His reaction to Akiko's crush on Fortunato is to torture him, and then literally try to erase his existence.
- Deadpan Snarker: Rarely a word goes out of his mouth that isn't some form of snark.
- Insufferable Genius: And when he's not snarking, he's bragging about how smart he is.
- Me's a Crowd: Issue 50 implies he can control his other clones.
- Non-Action Guy: The only one of the Truants who can't fight.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: While most of the characters want to take down the Academy or the Headmaster, Ian only cares about keeping Akiko safe.
- Two First Names
