The cast of Over the Hills and Far Away - Any differences between the fics in interpretations will be listed under such.—-
The Stranger
- Abusive Parents: A woman who is likely Benui's stepmother verbally abuses eir in a nightmare. Given what is learned later and that Anne calls the voice grandma... To spell it out: Benui and eir daughter seem to be victims of family abduction.
- Deadpan Snarker: The stranger has very dry and self-depreciating humor.
- Didn't Think This Through: To try to see Root's thoughts more clearly, the stranger decides to sing EXEC_Linker-and finds that the magic is already active but that eir casting it made it stronger. Why is this important? The original use of the song was to erase the caster's mind and let them be possessed by Mir/Mule.
- Enby Looks Like A Dude: Due to the body previously holding someone who identified at least loosely as male, people consistently misgender the stranger as male.
- The Fettered: While e does learn how to defend eirself, the stranger is very pacifistic and devoutly Wiccan. To quote the Wiccan rede: If it shall harm none, do as you will. Time will tell how well the stranger upholds that morality.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The stranger fakes this.
- Minnesota Nice: There's a few indications that stranger is from Minnesota.
- Missing Mom: Benui was a parent, whose child was stolen from them
- Shipper on Deck: Stranger for Ze'mer and the Traitor Lord's Child.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While outwardly shy and a bit standoffish, the stranger shows small acts of kindness, like thanking a kingsmould that is supposed to be mindless for their service and telling them ey're proud of them or comforting Ogrim by seeing his worth and loyalty, even if he's young and naive. The Stranger also prays to Unn when ey meet her as a show of humility and respect, which earns the grudging respect of the mosskin.
- Talk to the Hand: Radiance joins in on a hymn that Stranger is demonstrating, before realizing (sorta incorrectly) who she is actually dueting with and magically punts Stranger out so hard, it causes them to be physically thrown to the ground. Stranger doesn't take it personally.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Lurien is rather stunned by a spot of ruthlessness from Stranger when ey risk the moth tribe by teaching them of the Radiance.
The Youth
- Beware the Honest Ones: Just because the youth is being honest, doesn't mean it's dumb. On the contrary, it may be a smarter move than the stranger's lying.
- Cowardly Lion: The youth is scared shitless of everyone, at least, early on.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Root's behavior infantalizing towards the youth deeply annoys it; just because it's a nymph doesn't mean it is okay to baby the wyrm.
- Just a Kid: To the horror of the Dreamers and Root.** Kid Hero: But a very capable kid.
- The Trickster: The youth is a memester.
The White Lady
- Death by Childbirth: Far Away only. Due to Benui's focus understandably being elsewhere, she seemingly goes into a comatose state or dies, begging Benui to care for the children and seeing it as her penance.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: She was sustained by festivals and Wyrm praying to her. Benui didn't know that Root herself needed that, leading to her (for now) apparent death in Far Away.
- Poor Communication Kills: Her pregnancy took far greater of a toll, because she didn't tell Benui that she needed eir prayer.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She was willing in canon to subject her children to an arguable Fate Worse than Death.
The Pale King
- Dead All Along: Dead before the fics even begin.
The Great Knights
- The Exile: Ze'mer, who relays her very wuxia backstory on how she left and why she ultimately chose Hallownest as her home.
- Fairytale Motif: Ze'mer's story is very different from how Benui narrates, echoing the style of Exalted writer, Jenna Moran and wuxia, rather than the dark fantasy setting Hallownest truly is.
- Five-Man Band: As in canon, natch.
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Les Yay: Ze'mer is a lesbian and it's hinted to be the reason she got exiled.- Strongly hinted for Dryya for Root, she's Root's (very) personal knight.
Lurien the Watcher
- Hopeless Suitor: Lurien loved the Wyrm, but knew that Wyrm didn't share his feelings. In Over The Hills, he isn't interested in pursuing a child.
- Names To Run Away From Very Fast: His other title is 'the Whisperer' or 'the Whisper Master'-as befitting a spymaster.
- Relationship Upgrade: Lurien and Benui, Far Away only.
Herrah the Beast
- Genius Bruiser: In both works, she's a gruff warrior, who respects strength but she has compassion. She refuses to baby the Youth when she finds out it's a nymph and a sense of humor. She's insightful, but she has to remain tough.
- Black Widow: Literally a black spider widow.
Monomon the Teacher
- Mad Scientist: Monomon has canonically created life. Electrically-charged life.
The Lord of Shades
- Back from the Dead: The Lord of Shades is what brings the protagonists back from the dead.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Part of why LOS is fading.
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The Radiance
- The Dreaded: Several characters regard her as this, correctly.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Her canon fate. She's currently not exactly in a can, but she's got no physical means of interacting with the world outside dreams and very weak.
