The Rising & Solar Republic | Darrow's Family | House Barca | House Telemanus | The Howlers | The Sons of Ares | The Rim Dominon | House Raa | The Society | House Lune | House Grimmus | House Bellona | House Augustus | The Boneriders | The Gorgons | The Institute | The Obsidians | Criminals and Terrorists
Due to the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers and First Episode Twists in both the Red Rising and Iron Gold series, spoilers from Red Rising, Golden Son, and Morning Star may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.
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House Lune
The ruling family of The Society. House Lune has ruled the solar system for over seven centuries by the beginning of the first novel, passing down the office of Sovereign from one generation to the next.Previous Generations
Silenius au Lune
The founder of House Lune and first leader of The Society.
- Founder of the Kingdom: Founded the Society hundreds of years before the beginning of Red Rising.
- Posthumous Character: Has been dead for centuries by the time the series begins.
Current Generation
Octavia au Lune
Sovereign of the Society. She rules the solar system from her throne on Luna after she overthrew her tyrannical father.
- Big Bad: Of the orignal trilogy, as she's the one in charge of the Society and all of it's oppression.
- Blatant Lies: She tends to do this.
- Decapitation Presentation: Did this to her father to become Sovereign. She's the one whose head is being presente at the end of Morning Star.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She loves Lysander.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Darrow fatally stabs her.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: An evil, female Sovereign.
- Greater-Scope Villain: As the Sovereign, she's the main villain of the entire trilogy, although she's only directly involved in the plot for the last two-thirds of it.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Overthrew her tyrannical father only to become a tyrant herself.
- Klingon Promotion: Became Sovereign by overthrowing her own father.
- Never Mess with Granny: Rules with an iron fist despite her age.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Octavia never does any fighting herself, relying entirely on her armies and Furies for that.
- Offing the Offspring: According to rumor she made sure her daughter had an "accident" due to suspecting she was plotting a coup. The rumors are confirmed in Dark Age.
- Older Than They Look: Described as having an ageless face in Red Rising, even though she has been Sovereign for about 60 years and is at least a 100 years old. However, her age is starting to show when Darrow comes face-to-face with her in Morning Star. By then her hair is streaked with deep rivers of grey and tendrils of blue worm through the corners of her eyes from relapsed cellular rejuvenation therapy. The very thing that supposed to keep her looking "ageless". Of course, the LowColors revolting, losing the Sword Armada and The Jackal blackmailing her with the threat of setting off the nukes on Luna might have been taking a toll on her as well...
- Patricide: Became Sovereign by presenting the Senate with her father's head.
Anastasia au Lune
Daughter of Octavia and Lysander's mother. Died in a pirate attack sometime between Red Rising and Golden Son.
- Killed Offscreen: Her death occurred during the timeskip beween the first and second novels.
- Posthumous Character: She and her husband are dead by the time the audience learn of their existence, and all information about her comes from people who knew them when they were alive.
Brutus au Arcos
Anastasia's husband and Lysander's father. Died in a pirate attack sometime between Red Rising and Golden Son.
- Killed Offscreen: His death occurred during the timeskip beween the first and second novels.
- Posthumous Character: He and his wife are dead by the time the audience learn of their existence, and all information about him comes from people who knew them when they were alive.
Lysander au Lune
Official art of Lysander in Iron Gold
Ocatvia's grandson and heir to the Morning Throne.- Ambition Is Evil: It is heavily hinted at the end of Light Bringer that Lysander's true motive is ambition.Lysander: I will be Sovereign.
- Ascended Extra: Only had a few scenes in the original trilogy, but becomes one of the main POV characters of the Sequel Series.
- Children Are Innocent: Relatively speaking. He's not as innocent as real-world children, but he's still more innocent than the rest of the cast. Subverted in Dark Age and Light Bringer, when his actions make Darrow regret sparing him.
- Combat Pragmatist: Though fair with a razor, Lysander is not above fighting dirty and shooting his way through problems. He kills both Alexandar and Cassius, who each could have eaten him alive in melee, by shooting them.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Lysander is a rich kid who lost everything, in contrast to Darrow, a slave who rose up to lead the rebellion.
- The Exile: He and Cassius go into exile together at the end of Morning Star.
- Fantastic Racism: There are many signs throughout the sequel series that Lysander is heavily prejudiced against lower colors, hinted at early on when he chooses to save a Gold over many captured crew members. It worsens as the series goes on, and he seems to have no empathy for low colors at all by the end of Light Bringer.
- Foil: To Lyria.
- Both Lyria and Lysander lost the privileged lives they had during the original trilogy as a result of Darrow's actions, and blame Darrow for their losses. But while Lyria grows past this and recognizes that the situation isn't that black and white, Lysander continuously fights to try and rebuild what he lost and never stops blaming Darrow for all the chaos in the solar system that occurred after the death of his grandmother.
- Hero Killer: Kills Alexandar and Cassius, two of the Republic's greatest and most noble fighters. Also kills Rhone, who is a hero of the Society and perhaps the most famous Gray alive.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Lysander starts out a kind and idealistic soul, who believes that he should restore the Society to reinstate order and that he should use lighter, softer methods to do so, but as he goes on he ends up using more severe and backhanded methods to do so, culminating near the end of Light Bringer where he betrays Diomedes and the Rim, kills his old mentor Cassius and destroys the Rim's main food supply, which he had been trying to save before, and keeping the Eidmi that Atlas stole to threaten to commit genocide if he deems it necessary.
- Kick the Morality Pet: Punctuates his complete turn to villainy by murdering Cassius and betraying Pytha.
- Lack of Empathy: When Diomedes asks him what he would do if he had been Born into Slavery like Darrow was, Lysander recoils in revulsion, incapable of imagining himself in such circumstances.
- Lost Orphaned Royalty: At the end of the original trilogy, his grandmother is killed. While Darrow and Mustang have no intention of harming him, Cassius takes him into exile because they all know that not everyone in the solar system will be as forgiving.
- Morality Pet: Serves as one for his grandmother.
- Noble Demon: Lysander does sincerely believe in Golds as shepherds of humanity so while he does view himself as superior to low colors, he also doesn't go out of his way to be cruel to them. This is increasingly less the case as the series goes on. During the battle of Phobos, he exults at the gruesome death of a low color burned by his drill. He also orders the sack of the Garter without a shred of remorse.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: His arc over the course of the sequel series.
- Raised by Grandparents: His grandmother raised him after his parents died in a shuttle accident that she herself engineered.
- Replacement Goldfish: Cassius admits in Light Bringer that he partially saw Lysander as one for Julian.
- Slave to PR: Lysander deeply cares about his reputation.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The fact Darrow spared his life at the end of Morning Star does not stop him from becoming an antagonist in the sequel series. And Cassius' protection, company and affection don't stop Lysander from killing him when Cassius gets in his way of his goals.
- Unreliable Narrator: Lysander believes he has a nearly perfect memory, but there are signs of this as the series goes on. Most notably, in Light Bringer, he recalls having been burned by Darrow's boot in Dark Age. In fact, Darrow had simply knocked him down and a dead Gray's boot caused the burn.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Throughout the sequel series, Lysander justifies his actions by thinking that they will help bring peace to the worlds. As his ambition grows, he imagines he will be a reformist Sovereign who will build a more just Society. There are hints that this is Believing Their Own Lies.
- Villain Protagonist: His decision to join the Moon Lords in their impending war against the Republic sets him up as this. Even more so in Dark Age when he openly fights alongside the Society forces on Mercury against the Republic.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Lysander is a master of propaganda and is seen as a better alternative to Atalantia by the Society and the Republic alike. The end of Light Bringer casts this into serious question.
- Walking the Earth: What he and Cassius do after the end of Morning Star until the events of Iron Gold draw him into the conflict between the Republic and the Society.
- You Can't Go Home Again: After Octavia is killed in Morning Star, he is forced to flee Luna to escape persecution from anyone seeking to eliminate the Lune bloodline.
