The Dresden Files – The White Council / Characters

WARNING! Due to the books relying heavily on mystery and surprise, the pages would be virtually unreadable with excessive spoiler tags. Therefore, all spoilers except for the most recent novel (Battle Ground) are UNMARKED. Tread carefully.

The White Council is a loose confederation of wizards from all over the world that enforces the Laws of Magic and strives to protect humanity from the dangers of Black Magic. Unfortunately, many of its members are hide-bound by the old ways of doing things, and the body as a whole may not be up to the task of dealing with modern threats to the peace and stability of the world.

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Merlin, the Original

Merlin

The wizard and the creator of almost all the rules (and the White Council) and regulations of Magic. Mythic beyond belief and so revered that The Leader of the strongest human organization in the world is simply called "the Merlin" for more than a thousand years.

The Apprentice: He learned from none other than Vadderung himself.
The Archmage: If not a Physical God, he definitely applies for this in the very least.
Beyond the Impossible: His magic literally operates on principles that modern wizards believe are impossible.
The Chooser of the One: He did in fact hold onto Excalibur and looked for the right man to wield it. Excalibur, it should be said, is another name for Amoracchius, the Sword of Love.
Geometric Magic: Apparently one of his fortes, so good in fact, that they defy the universal laws of physics and magics in several realities, and so complex that his most basic examples left Bob flabbergasted.
Do Not Go Gentle: While the exact nature of his death is unknown, McCoy and Harry speculate this was his manner of death.
Noodle Incident: In Peace Talks, King Corb implies that there was some kind of relationship between him and Mab.
Our Founder: Of the White Council.
Public Domain Character: The famous wizard of Arthurian Legend.
Shrouded in Myth: He is the magical version of Superman for the White Council and there are legends upon legends of his abilities. Most of the young generations (including Harry) believe that most are exaggerations or propaganda but from what we (and Harry) see in Cold Days, if anything, the guy is underestimated.
Time Master: One of the forbidden magics and according to several god-like beings, one of the most dangerous and difficult to use, to the point that trying to move more than a century needs immeasurable quantities of power. Merlin used it to create the greatest magical construct ever conceived in the simultaneous span of eons.

The White Council In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/white_council.PNG

A group of White Council wizards in their current headquarters, the Edinburgh stronghold.

Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear how much, if at all, any given decision of the Senior Council, and their attitudes as a whole, were affected by Peabody's tampering.
Anti-Hero: The White Council is frequently forced to do hideous things in the name of the greater good, such as ordering for sixteen-year-old kids to be decapitated for partaking in Black Magic.
Awesome, yet Impractical: The Warden's signature swords are a downplayed case. On the one hand, they're really Cool Swords with Anti-Magic woven into their very making and are very effective weapons in combat. On the other, they're incredibly exhausting and time-intensive to make, can no longer be made for the time being thanks to Captain Luccio being stuck in a new body, and are intricately interwoven with the very essence of the Warden assigned them (meaning that if a Warden died, their sword could not be "reassigned" to someone else).
Badass Army: The Wardens, a team of roughly 200-strong combat-oriented wizards wearing ominous grey cloaks that serve both as an internal police force executing any warlock that's broken one of the Laws of Magic and a makeshift military force whenever the Council goes to war.
Badass Cape: All Wardens are given special long grey cloaks as marks of their status. Notably, they cannot be stained with blood.
Big Good: Are supposed to be this, but are frequently shown to be handicapped by their increasingly unwieldy organizational structure.
Bystander Syndrome: Justified.
- Aside from the Second World War (where they aided the Allies since Heinrich Kemmler - the most dangerous necromancer in history since the Fall of Rome - had sided with the Nazis), the Council has a long-standing tradition of not interfering in "normal" human affairs. This has stood at least since Merlin got involved with running King Arthur's court and the disastrous effects that had.
- Word of Jim holds that Wizards representing different nations interact more like lawyers outside of the courtroom: they're professional colleagues, they might even joke about who they're representing, but they're not their "client's" creature. This doesn't always hold, however, because the White Council is largely Eurocentric, and there are credible accusations that they have neglected other and underdeveloped countries.
- And finally, there's the obvious reason that if the ever moved against a specific nation, wizards either from that nation or those with family members in that nation would rebel and refuse to aid the Council, causing them to tear each other apart. And the Council can't afford the threat of dissolution since they need to exist to make sure that warlocks don't get to spread human suffering without any counter.
Combat Pragmatist: To a greater or lesser extent, but every wizard has to be this, since they are often up against enemies way more powerful than them.
Control Freak: Since Drunk with Power and More than Mind Control are quite common in this universe, they put a very tight leash on their members, much to the fury of free-spirited members like Harry.
Cool Sword: Before Captain Luccio lost a lot of her previous talent from being stuck in another body, the Wardens were all issues powerful enchanted swords with Anti-Magic woven into their very making and which also are used to execute warlocks.
Crazy-Prepared: Any competent surviving wizard learns to be this, with Harry particularly stressing this virtue during his sessions with Warden trainees in "AAAA Wizardry".
Deadpan Snarker: We've yet to meet a wizard with more than a couple lines who isn't this.
The Dreaded: Even with the massive battering they've taken, first at the hands of the Red Court and more recently with the Fomor, the White Council are still one of the heavyweight nations of the supernatural world and actually invoking their wrath is, quite simply, a terrible idea.
Elaborate Underground Base: Their current base of operations is in a series of complex tunnels (heavily implied to have been originally created by The Fair Folk millennia ago) running under Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Extremist Was Right: As Harry has reluctantly admitted after bearing witness to more and more of the utter horrors that Black Magic can wreak upon the world at large, their "decapitation-happy" view on how to rehabilitate warlocks is depressingly justified most of the time.
Gender Is No Object: Despite being a stereotypically hidebound organization for the most part, the White Council showcases a remarkable attitude of gender equality among its members, two members of the Senior Council being women and the current Captain of the Wardens being a woman (Luccio) among numerous other examples of women in positions of authority and power. Justified since magical talent is mentioned as being primarily inherited matrilineally, meaning that it is more likely for magic to come from the mother than the father, and so there's a lot more female wizards than male as consequence.
Gratuitous Latin: The White Council's lingua franca is Latin, and is almost always spoken at Council meetings so that members from all over the world only need to speak and listen to one language. It also helps showcase how hidebound and slow to change the Council is.
Healing Factor: As discovered by Butters, wizards have a very subtle case that is no more rapid than a normal human's. Wizards are unique in that their injuries aren't cumulative; a wizard's body keeps healing to the point where there is no sign of the original injury at all, not even scars. For instance, Harry gets shot in the hip in Storm Front, and roughly five years later in Dead Beat, there is no sign of fractures or cracks at all. Harry suspects that this is the reason for why Wizards Live Longer in this universe.
Idiot Ball:
- Averted with how the Council is handling Molly Carpenter. Technically, they have a legal claim to her head for the crimes she committed as a human mage, regardless of her current status. That said, no one is stupid enough to even try walking up to Mab and making this argument because Mab is many centuries older than any of them, many times stronger than them, and won't respond well to an attack against Molly.
  - Averted as well when Molly complained that the Council didn't help her while she was homeless. Harry points out that not only were they strapped for resources, but Ramirez (technically in charge of finding her) likes her and Ebenezar would've thrown down to keep her safe. A confrontation between the Blackstaff and the Merlin would be the last thing anyone would want.
- Enforced in the books leading up to Turn Coat, where a traitor working as secretary to the Senior Council uses a subtle form of mind-control magic to manipulate them into doing things they wouldn't otherwise do (though this is downplayed since it's only a subtle form of mind influence).
Jerkass Has a Point: As Harry comes to learn, just because a lot of the old guard are not the nicest of people, it doesn't mean they're wrong about the dangers of black magic. Furthermore, he gets frustrated when they treat him like a pariah—but he also flouts their unwritten rule of not exposing magic publicly, does shady things like regularly work alongside White Court vampires and John Marcone, and it's explicitly stated by Chandler that the only wizard he sees less often at Edinburgh than Harry is the Gatekeeper, whose duties usually keep him in the Nevernever.
Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Most of the time, Wardens are left to their own judgement in terms of seeing whether a warlock is completely irredeemable or not.
Kick the Dog: On the inside, it make sense. The rogue wizard had dragged them into multiple wars in less than a decade, surrounding himself with shady characters he should be avoiding. Harry and some of his friends feel like this about the Council's decision to boot him out.
Lawful Stupid: Harry's view of them for the most part, seeing them as pedantic murder-happy idiots that aren't being as adaptive and pragmatic as what's needed to match the challenges of the modern day. Whether or not this is true is debatable.
Long-Runners: They're a remarkably old organization, dating all the way back to before the Fall of Rome and into the mythical days of Arthurian Legend if Cold Days is to be believed.
Magic Knight: The Wardens and some of their other members are this. Justified as not only do they need to kill humans using a means besides magic to prevent themselves from being corrupted into warlocks, but there are plenty of non-human beings one would not want to get into a magic duel with.
Obstructive Bureaucracy: Thanks in large part due to being an entire faction of Walking Techbanes.
Oddly Small Organization: As a whole, the White Council seems to be a relatively short-manned organization in comparison to more numerous factions like the Red and White Courts of vampires. This is Hand Waved as being due to the Council being essentially made up of the "top 1%" of magical practitioners, and as shown by the ever-growing Paranet in the later novels, there's actually way more practitioners in the world than at first glance.
Oh, Crap!: Jim Butcher confirms this mentality among many members of the Senior Council and other council members in general regarding Harry Dresden. After the events of Cold Days, the Council knows that Harry has killed with magic, works closely with vampires when the need arises, raised that T. rex from the dead, bound himself to Demonreach (even if not everyone knows the island's true purpose, they know it has a powerful Genus Loci), is an apprentice to and defended by Ebenezar (and so under the protection of the Blackstaff for those aware of Eb's other job in the Council and for the fewer still who know Harry is his grandson), is Mab's personal hitman and is there to stay (so attacking him means dealing with Mab), personally trained the newest Winter Lady (so attacking Harry earns her ire as well), has some relationship with the newest Summer Lady (again, making some fearful about attacking him as it might draw her ire), was directly involved with the three times in ten years the Mantles of the Ladies changed hands, has a group of non-wizard allies who can communicate over vast distances on this "internet", is sharing information with said group, and he came back from the dead, not to mention his close friendship with both active Knights of the Cross. Then there's his close relationship with the White Court and John Marcone. He also controls four of the most holy relics in existence, is regularly entrusted with loose Swords of Faith, and as of Battle Ground is in possession of The Eye of Balor and (at least theoretically) is capable of compeling its previous wielder to act as he wills. Some, even those who are close and consider themselves his friends on the Council, think, "Maybe we should have killed him before when we had the chance." To many who are old enough to remember, they believe him to be the Kemmler 2.0.
Out-Gambitted:
- In Blood Rites Kincaid describes how he would kill a Wizard to avoid their Death Curse: Snipe them from 1,000 yards away with a super sonic bullet. Too far away to be noticed, too fast to stop, too dead to realize they are already dead and be able to cast their curse. Harry notes it is a very good strategy and it is likely even the highest ranked wizards could be victim to such a modern style attack.
- Duchess Arianna Ortega of the Red Court royally screwed them over with a combination of this and Rules Lawyer in Changes. She was apparently under the oath to not harm council members when she was in their headquarters and not bring death during a peace treaty discussion. Her servants dropped a non-lethal biological weapon the moment she left.
Politically Incorrect Hero: Subtly implied; As Harry learns in Turn Coat, there's a huge rising power block in the Council made up of the majority of new wizards, and is primarily consisting of those from developing countries in Latin and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The fact that their views are frequently being ignored and discriminated against on the Council is implied to be the result of many older wizards unfortunately harboring some pretty nasty prejudices.
Poor Communication Kills: Being a global organization that still has to rely primarily on physical mail for communication due to wizards' inability to use computers, this is a pretty understandable issue.
Purple Is Powerful: Members of the Senior Council are given purple stoles to wear to signify their rank and power.
Quality vs. Quantity: As a whole, the White Council lies more on the former end of the scale than the latter, as while there ultimately isn't that many wizards, sufficiently skilled individual wizards are Persons of Mass Destruction that can tear apart entire hosts of enemies with little effort.
Schizo Tech: Harry's brief time in Edinburgh in Turn Coat shows that the most recent technology they have there is modern (more or less) medical supplies, with the closest thing otherwise being the typewriters being used in the Council Library in lieu of computers.
Secret-Keeper: Wizards hoard knowledge and secrets, both to guard the information from misuse and to make sure they could use it exclusively if the need arises. Word of Jim is if Senior Councilman Listens-to-Wind learned anything specific about Pietrovich's death, he would keep the fact to himself.
Serious Business: One of the more pervasive parts of Wizard culture is always appearing to be more knowledegable and in control than anyone else in the room, wizard or non-wizard. Two of the most disturbing things Harry ever hears from a Senior Council member are the phrases "I don't know" and "I don't think I'm smart enough to make this decision on my own." They're enough of a deviation from the normal script that all the indignation and snark he had built up drop away instantly and leave him speechless.
- This is true for Harry himself, whose first lesson to his apprentice is that wizards should always act like they're in control of the situation and know what they're doing, and constantly keeps minor (and sometimes not-so-minor) information from friends and allies, either out of operational security or just to be annoyingly enigmatic. "It's like heroin for wizards," he claims. As much as he hates it when someone else does the same thing to him.
Slave to PR: The Council strives to maintain a united front at all times to outsiders, even if there is division within the group. Both heroes and villains are disgusted by it, unless they are running a gambit to exploit it. It's partly justified in that they are one of the very few organizations composed completely of humans, and thus need to keep face and not look weak and undecisive within the larger supernatural community which looks down on them. The PR is also needed to keep the organization from splintering, as they are a multinational group with all the friction that it implies. However, this means the lives, livelihoods and reputation of innocent people, even children, are tossed down the drain if deemed necessary.
Squishy Wizard: While they may be fairly tough by mortal standards, that's still pretty weak compared to many of the supernatural nasties they face. Hence why any experienced wizard tends to be Crazy-Prepared.
Stronger with Age: Very much applies to wizards. So much so that while seats on the Senior Council are awarded in a purely gerontocratic manner (at least officially) and with only a simple vote as confirmation, Senior Council members are generally some of the strongest members of the Council.
Sword and Gun: Many of the younger and more pragmatic Wardens and wizards (like Ramirez) are shown to be packing both a bladed weapon (usually their Warden swords) and some form of personal firearm.
Taking You with Me: One of the major threats associated with murdering any wizard worth their salt is that when dying, they can channel what's left of their life force into a "death curse," usually directed right back at their attacker. Their power naturally varies and requires the wizard in question to have enough time to have a coherent thought in mind for their target (meaning that a sufficiently skilled sniper or powerful explosive can negate this issue), but they can be truly devastating if the practitioner so wishes/is sufficiently talented. As an example, Harry mentions in Turn Coat that a Senior Council member's death curse could turn a entire city block to glass.
Vestigial Empire: As the books have gone on, the Council's membership seems to be slowly shrinking as their power wanes in the face of the modern world and their ever-growing host of enemies. Virtually everyone on the side of the protagonists is appropriately worried about this, with Harry's main response being to help create the Paranet with Elaine Mallory and the Orbo Lebes to make sure that magical practitioners don't necessarily need to always rely on the Council to protect them.
Walking Techbane: Their primary issue going into the modern age is that virtually anything made after World War II fizzles out around any wizard of particular note. In fact, this is shown to be one of the primary factors why the Red Court was so successful against the White Council during the Wizard-Vampire War, as the Council was only able to keep their head above water against the Red Court using modern communications and transportation technology to coordinate rapid response movements through the use of protected Ways through the Winter half of Faerie. This is part of the reason why Harry has increasingly advocated for the Paranet, pointing out that since minor practitioners can use modern technology, they can be used to reach out to burgeoning talents and help ward them away from Black Magic and accidentally becoming warlocks.
We ARE Struggling Together: One of their Fatal Flaws. The White Council consists of wizards from all over the whole world from across vastly different time periods (thanks to being Long-Lived) and cultures. Suffice to say, it's a miracle the Council is able to get as much done as it is.
We Have Become Complacent: The White Council's primary issue in the modern day is trying to adjust centuries-old apprenticeship styles and research allocation to the massive population booms and technological leaps of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The White Council will execute children if they've turned warlock simply because it needs to be done 90% of the time to prevent Black Magic from making the world even more of a dismal place than it already is.
Who Watches the Watchmen?: As Luccio lays out to Harry in Turn Coat, the Council is ultimately not about enforcing justice, but restraining power, serving in this role by making sure that the Seven Laws of Magic are being followed and that the propagation of Black Magic is stopped.
Wizards Live Longer: In multiple books, wizards are casually mentioned as being able to live for well over four centuries. Ebenezar McCoy, for example, was born around 1700, is still a One-Man Army, and is even considered abnormally young for a Senior Council member.
The Worf Effect: One in Small Favor; Eldest Gruff wearing three Senior Council's purple stoles means he has killed three of the most powerful wizards in the world, that he's orders of magnitude ahead in power level, and Harry notes that he would have no chance against him in direct combat.

The Senior Council

Arthur Langtry, the Merlin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merlin_15.png

The leader of the White Council, and by extension one of the most powerful and skilled wizards alive. Unfortunately for Harry, he has taken a dislike to him as a rebellious upstart and possible warlock, and Harry in turn considers him a crotchety old man unable to come to terms with the changing world. Along with Morgan, he's one of the primary reasons for Harry's troubled relationship with the Council.

The Archmage: If he's not the most powerful and skilled wizard in the world, he's certainly in the top five or so.
Barrier Warrior: Specializes in warding spells, and good enough to stop the entire Red Court with a single one. He did this in the Nevernever without any threshold to ground the wards either.
Big Good: While he rather dislikes Harry, and is generally a jerk, he seems almost singlemindedly devoted to protecting the world from the dangers of Black Magic and whatever monsters may threaten it.
Crazy-Prepared: As with any good wizard. More specifically, he's mentioned as always have at least two backup plans for every plan he derives.
Deadpan Snarker: When in a good mood, he can snark very well. Such as when Harry realizes the Senior Council isn't foolish enough to trust a Red Court vampire visiting under a presumed truce and have them sit before her talking.
The Merlin: [raises an eyebrow] Egad Dresden, what gave you that idea?
Dumbass Has a Point: When Harry makes a smart and calculating point, the Merlin seems to fall under this area (though the Merlin isn't actually an idiot, just incredibly biased). One instance is when Harry notes any evidence proving Morgan's innocence discovered by the Merlin would stink of being false (even if it was legit) but anything found by Harry, as Morgan's former parolee, would be second to testimony from God on the matter. The Merlin doesn't correct this estimate.
Enemy Mine: He doesn't like Harry at all. This didn't stop him from recognizing in Turn Coat that the guy who makes a living as a private investigator might have the best chance of rooting out The Mole.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Usually he's just "The Merlin." Ebenezar is one of the few who does call him by his given name.
Good is Not Nice: A lifetime of dealing with the White Council's myriad enemies and dubious allies have made sure of it.
Heel–Face Turn: Of a sort. In the earlier books Harry depicts him as Head-in-the-Sand Management, trying to avoid war with the Red Court vampires. By Changes, however, when Cristos' faction is pushing for peace, the Merlin is among those who recognizes that this really is going to be a war of annihilation, and he's determined to fight it through. This transition makes sense when one realizes that with Peabody's mind-altering spells gone, the Merlin's thinking a bit more clearly.
Jerkass: He was going to have Molly executed just to spite Harry and keep his mantle of authority unchallenged. In his defense, he was under subtle Mind Control at the time, but as Molly notes, Peabody's powers are only enhancing his natural obstinate jerk-iness rather than wholly taking him over.
Knight Templar: In a quiet, political way.
Let's Get Dangerous!: The Merlin is initially seen by Harry only as a political schemer and power-grubber, but shows off some serious badassery when pushed into it.
- In Dead Beat, he blocked the Red Court's (and that's "Court" as in "all of them") advance, who probably had backup from an Eldritch Abomination group, with a single, threshold-less on-the-fly ward.
- At the end of Turn Coat, the Merlin creates a ward to contain a malicious non-corporeal entity, formulates a battle-plan, adds 3D visual aids and telepathically communicates it to the 200 or so other wizards in the room. In 3 seconds. In pitch dark. Without losing his cool for an instant.
- In Changes while he doesn't throw out, Harry sees him wearing a combat belt filled with various vials of potions, pockets with who knows what, and a small wand at the ready in case Arianna Ortega during her blatantly false peace-mission was a Trojan Horse sent to kill the Senior Council and other White Council members once she gets close enough, and kept only two Senior Council members in the room with her, one Cristos, who was supporting her, and the other being The Dreaded One-Man Army Ebenezar.
Manipulative Bastard: He's mentioned as being excellent at goading people into his strategems without them always realizing it.
Mysterious Backer: He's relatively more benevolent than other examples, though.
Popcultural Osmosis Failure: In Changes, when Langtry reveals only McCoy is sitting before Cristos and Arianna during their phony song-and-dance about peace and the rest of the Senior Council is keeping hidden in a secure room watching on a special feed, Harry notes they won't "drink the Kool-Aid at the peace conference." Langtry hides his confusion but glances at Luccio, who clarifies Harry's referring to the Jonestown mass suicide. After that, he agrees the reference is apt.
Stealth Pun: The full name of the current Merlin is Arthur Langtry.
Telepathy: Better at using mental communication without going crazy than anyone else on the Council, according to Word of Jim.
Villains Out Shopping: Well, more Jerkass than villain, but at one point Harry is a bit nonplussed by seeing the Merlin during a recess in a Council session, doing something as mundane as making himself a sandwich.
Wizard Classic: Like the original recipe Merlin before him.
Xanatos Gambit: According to Ebenezar, the Merlin always has three plans for every situation: A plan, a backup plan, and an "ace in the hole."

Ebenezar McCoy

Ebenezar McCoy, the Blackstaff

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mccoy_9.png

When the world's most powerful wizards need a hitman, this is who they call.

"I told you long ago that being a real wizard means sacrifice. It means knowing things no one else does. I told you that it meant you might have to act upon what you knew, and knew to be right, even though the whole world set its hand against you. Or that you might have to do horrible, necessary things."

An elderly wizard, homesteader from somewhere in Missouri, and one of the newest members of the White Council's Senior Council. Harry's mentor and teacher after Justin DuMorne's death. Also the Council's Blackstaff — the one White Council Wizard in the world authorized to use Black Magic without consequence.

Adaptational Attractiveness: In the book he's bald, with a very lined face. He's also short and stocky, and with a beard that covers his jowls. In the comic, he's got a head full of hair, and his beard less massive, making him more conventionally handsome.
- Later averted, as the picture shows.
Artifact of Doom: The Blackstaff itself, which is a tool that lets him effectively use magic to kill mortals without the effects staining his soul and driving him mad. During Battle Ground, Ethniu seems particularly angry when she sees him using it, saying that it's a weapon that mortals should not be playing with. It's implied in a few books that the Blackstaff is Mother Winter's missing walking stick.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Ebenezar didn't get to be Captain of the Wardens by collecting bottlecaps, and even though he's since handed over the title to Luccio, he is definitely not someone to mess with.
Badass Teacher: Taught Harry Dresden and several veteran Wardens of the White Council. Despite years of experience themselves, they are still trailing miles behind him.
Been There, Shaped History: McCoy is an old wizard, about three hundred according to Word of God. So, he's been here and there. Three notable events he's been mentioned to, as the assassin of the White Council, have caused are the New Madrid Earthquake (at least one of the four), the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 (an explosion four times stronger than the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated) and The Tunguska Event, the "meteor strike" in Russia in 1908. Word of God also has it that he fought in the Seven Years' War, and Ebenezar himself states that he's been responsible for at least a dozen other events as Blackstaff, though he's not forthcoming with details.
Berserk Button: Though it showed very little up until Peace Talks, he hates White Court Vampires more than nearly anything. They killed somebody very important to him, implicitly through treachery, and when asked if it was his daughter, he just bitterly answers "Her, too." He comes to blows with Harry for supporting the White Court, and it only ends with Ebenezar trying desperately to reach out to Harry to understand why he's doing it voluntarily and not just as a repaid favor. When Ebenezar's told that Thomas is his grandson and Harry's half-brother, his immediate reaction is to try to kill Thomas without a thought about the lives of everybody else aboard the Water Beetle (admittedly, he's amped up on adrenaline at the moment and not thinking clearly). Harry tries to intervene and takes the bullet instead. As Harry exchanges dying words with him, Ebenezar realizes that the Harry he just accidentally killed was a doppleganger.
Big Damn Heroes: He turns up to even the odds as Harry and team face off against pretty much the entire Red Court at the climax of Changes, bringing the Grey Council in tow.
Big Good: He seems to be the leader of the Grey Council (who are dedicated to fighting against the Black Council/Nemesis) and is the most prominent member of the Senior Council to be on Harry's side.
Black Magic: As the Council's Blackstaff, he's allowed to use it. At one point he casually kills about a hundred people at once with a single act of will. Then, he did it again moments afterwards. While using Black Magic has a terrible price, the physical Blackstaff is a workaround that lets Ebenezar work black magic without much risk to his sanity or mental integrity. It doesn't help the blatant hypocrisy Harry sees in the office, even if the realpolitik of the magical world means that the office is a necessary tool for the White Council.
Blasé Boast: Like many of Harry's most dangerous acquaintances, Ebenezar doesn't boast or brag. He just gets the job done.
Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Ethniu cracks his pelvis in Battle Ground, forcing him to be hospitalized.
Broken Pedestal:
- It takes Harry a long time^note to forgive Ebenezar after finding out about aforementioned Black Magic use, sanctioned or not.
- The pedestal takes a few more hits when he criticizes Harry for having a visible, close relationship to Maggie. McCoy's philosophy is that distance, physical and relational, is the best way to insulate a daughter from the dangers of her father's life. Harry makes the counterpoint that Susan's already tried that and it failed spectacularly (though Ebenezar also points out that the Carpenters' home is one of the safest places in the world, unlike a normal house in the middle of Red Court territory). Harry also comes a few shades short of outright accusing Ebenezar of ruining his relationship with his own daughter for the same approach.
- The pedestal is broken again when Ebenezar attempts to murder Thomas after finding out that he's Ebenezar's other grandson. Harry ended up taking the magic bullet instead, but he was wisely fighting Ebenezar in a doppleganger body. Before they part ways, Harry implicitly calls out Ebenezar for letting his hatred consume him to the point that he lost his temper to potentially catastrophic results.
Cane Fu: Very good at it. Using the Blackstaff, he manages to physically hold off Physical God Ethniu wielding Gungnir with it, while injured. As Harry remarks, he has lived through the ages when it was commonplace, and his teachers were masters.
The Captain: A throwaway line by Luccio in one of the short stories mentions that he was the previous captain of the Wardens.
Character Focus: Peace Talks gives him A Day in the Limelight, to the point where both he and Lara Raith are that book's deuteragonists.
Colony Drop: In Death Masks, in response to a Red Court Duke who threatened Harry and his friends, he rips a decommissioned Soviet satellite out of orbit and drops it on top of a castle owned by said Duke, obliterating the vampire noble and his servants. Given that he claims responsibility for Tunguska, it's a fair bet that he's had some practice.
Cool Old Guy: Ebenezar looks like what he is, a farmer from Middle-of-Nowhere, USA. Elderly, mostly bald, drives a beat-up old pickup. He's also one of, if not, the most dangerous combat wizards alive. This is the man that Harry Dresden refers to as "sir," with more respect than he shows to just about anyone short of Physical God level.
Cruel to Be Kind: Advocates this position in reference to keeping your daughter away from you as she's growing up.
Cultured Badass: According to Dresden, his quarters at Edinburgh have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves crammed full of books of all genres.
Deadpan Snarker: This is, after all, the man that Harry Dresden based himself off of.
Declaration of Protection: An implicit one at the end of Death Masks, when he drops a satellite on Ortega's house. The message is clear: Do not mess with Harry Dresden. It works, too: The Red Court are suspiciously absent from Chicago until Changes.
Dishing Out Dirt: Mentioned as using earth magic from time to time. Seeing as the guy set off Krakatoa, it's a fair bet he's pretty good with it.
- Unlike younger practitioners, he can pull off complex maneuvers with Earth instantly, as shown in Peace Talks.
- If he’s actually taking some time like ordinary wizards, the attack will be massive. In Battle Ground, he has Harry Hold the Line, before generating a colossal quicksand which entraps an entire army of building sized Jotnars.
The Dreaded: Harry refers to him as "the most feared wizard in the world" during Peace Talks.
Evil Weapon: As the Blackstaff, Ebenezar has in his possession a staff (itself known as the Blackstaff) that seems to have its own consciousness...and it's not a very friendly one either. Unlike most examples of this trope, though, using the Blackstaff allows Ebenezar to break the Laws of Magic without becoming Drunk on the Dark Side.
Famed In-Story: Apparently everyone in the supernatural community knows it was him who dropped the satellite on Casaverde and thinks it was in response to the attack on Archangel which led to Simon Petrovich's death.
Good Is Not Soft: At the end of Death Masks he told Harry, "Turn on the news." Harry would see his enemy's stronghold destroyed by a satellite that fell from orbit.
- Ebenezar is in general a caring (if not exactly doting) grandfather and a genuinely good man, who taught Harry much of his own morals. But he's also been the Council's assassin for at least a hundred-plus years, and it’s a very, very bad idea to mess with him or those he loves.
Horrifying the Horror: Jared Kincaid states, with absolutely no trace of hyperbole, that he doesn't even want to be in the same state as the Blackstaff after what happened in Istanbul.
Hypocritical Humor: In Turn Coat, he drily notes that Toot-Toot got his penchant for dealing with creatures well out of his weight class from Harry. Given who Harry himself got many of his heroic tendencies from...
- Similarly, in Blood Rites, he notes that Harry doesn't always know when to quit. Ebenezar himself is at least as hard-headed as Harry.
Hypocrite: This is why Harry takes it so hard when he finds out Ebenezar is the Blackstaff; from his point of view, Ebenezar was the one who had hammered in how critical respecting the Laws of Magic is during Harry's training, and yet as the Blackstaff he had been breaking the Laws of Magic on the Senior Council's behalf for decades. For Ebenezar, the laws of magic are very important, but the sour truth of the matter is that having all wizards obey them at all times just isn't realistic if the council wishes to survive.
Jerkass Has a Point: He's horrified when he learns Thomas Raith not only knows about Maggie, but is allowed in the same building with her. He gets into a heated argument about it with Harry, who in turn calls him out on his own poor parenting choices... but Ebenezar still has a point that Thomas is a White Court vampire, as well as being from a family he has plenty of good reasons to despise. And while Thomas is currently the Friendly Neighborhood Vampire, Ebenezar doesn't know that, and the first time the two crossed paths Thomas had only barely been thwarted from raping Molly Carpenter to death by her quick response (Thomas had been injured and forced into a feral state for this purpose by Shagnasty, but again, Ebenezar didn't know that, although he probably wouldn't have cared either way, for practical reasons) and the older wizard had also gotten a good look at the aftermath of Lara Raith actually succeeding in raping and devouring her own cousin. It's rather understandable that Ebenezar wouldn't want Thomas anywhere near his (known) family.
- Harry finds it despicable that Ebenezar recommends keeping one's child safe and far away from their parent. This despite the fact that the entire Trauma Conga Line of Changes occurred due to Maggie being kidnapped from her home in the middle of Red Court territory. Then, less than two months ago in-universe, Nicodemus targeted the Carpenter household and nearly killed Charity in a deliberate attempt to murder Maggie, which only barely failed. And as he soon finds out in Peace Talks, leaving her with the Svartalves isn't the best idea ever either. Granted, Harry's own abandonment issues are a clear factor here too - and as he bitterly points out, that approach didn't exactly work out very well with either him (ending up with Du Morne and thereby tied up with Nemesis and the Winter Court, which have caused him trouble and estranged him from the Council for his entire adult life—though Morgan states that Harry was hidden away only hours after Margaret died) or, for that matter, his mother.
Knight in Sour Armor: He's gone through a lot of harshness over the past few centuries, but underneath that, it's not hard to see where Harry gets his own idealism from. This bit of dialogue from Turn Coat really sums it up:

Listens-to-Wind: "There is the world that is and the world that should be. We live in one."

Ebenezar: "And must create the other, if it is ever to be."

Luke, I Am Your Father: In Changes, it’s revealed that he's actually Harry's maternal grandfather.
Magical Gesture: "Peace Talks" sees Ebenezer ride to a confrontation on a large flying boulder that he keeps in the air with his fingers crooked in what Harry refers to as a "mystic sign." Harry further describes it as a "mystic shorthand" for the spell keeping the boulder aloft.
Magic Staff: Ebenezar normally uses a staff carved from an oak tree struck by lightning on his farm. But when shit really hits the fan, he pulls out the Blackstaff, which allows him to work Black Magic without going insane by turning the mental corruption into painful-but-workable physical corruption of his flesh.
The Mentor: Harry's second mentor after Justin. He was also a Mentor to Harry's mother, his daughter, but by his own account, he pushed her too hard and she ran away (given his truckload of issues, it's possible he's a bit of an unreliable narrator on this, though).
My God, What Have I Done?: When it briefly looks like he's accidentally killed Harry during his Unstoppable Rage against Thomas, he falls to his knees in horror and lapses into a Heroic BSoD.
Nature Lover: It's mentioned throughout multiple books that Harry learned all of his skills in woodcraft from Ebenezar.
Necessary Evil: His role as Blackstaff is to break the Laws of Magic when adhering to them would make the world a worse place.
Noodle Incident: During Changes, he mentions "the Toronto safehouse" to Harry, implying that a) he's set up multiple safehouses across the globe, and b) Harry was told/shown where the Toronto one was offscreen.
- It's implied in Summer Knight that he's fallen afoul of Langtry's Manipulative Bastard nature before.
- What, exactly, did Kincaid do in Istanbul a century ago that led to Ebenezar swearing to kill him?
- Margaret was not the only person close to him that Ebenezar lost to the White Court. Who, and how, we may never know - though it's implied that Lara knows, and may have been involved, going by the haunted expression that Harry sees on her face.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Remember how much trouble Harry has had with one warlock at a time? According to Luccio, he once took down three. At the same time.
- In general, most of his actions as the Blackstaff. In particular, we learn in Peace Talks The Tunguska Event involved him killing a dragon. Which, in the Dresdenverse, means a minimally minor league Physical God.
- The Svartalf embassy in Chicago is constantly described as being, essentially, a nigh-invincible fortress. Ebenezar basically walked right through every one of their defenses, just to prove a point.
- Also in Peace Talks, a rumour is that his forcefields once stopped a round from a World War I battleship cannon. While it's not stated to be true, the fact that it's considered feasible is pretty notable.
Old Soldier: As former Captain of the Wardens, he most definitely qualifies as this.
One-Man Army: He is described as being the White Council's master brawler, the one best suited to flat-out combat magic. And since he's 300+ years old, he's gained a lot of experience going up against all kinds of enemies.
- He killed over two-hundred of the Red King's minions in just a few seconds.
Papa Wolf:
- The reason for the aforementioned Colony Drop is Ortega was still alive after trying to kill Harry and Ebenezer knew he would try something again.
- When Lara stated she planned to keep with Harry when pursuing her traitorous cousin Madeline and the wizard Binder against Eb's desires, Eb just squeezed his hand and nearly choked her to death. This, after calmly informing her that if she laid hands on Harry again, the only things her kin would have to bury would be her very expensive shoes. While Harry calls him off, Eb made the point.
- He made three separate attempts to kill the White King when he caused Margaret's death.
- The reason for him showing up with the Grey Council (And an army of Kenkus who owed him a favor) to help save his grandson and great-granddaughter.
  - Notably on that one, Eb chides Harry at first for wanting to mobilise the Grey Council to save one child and risking the world in the process. He changes his tune pretty much immediately when he learns Maggie is Harry's daughter (and thus his own great-granddaughter). He later admits he came more for Maggie's sake than Harry's.
- When Molly is complaining that the White Council didn't help her while she was living on the streets, Harry points out that Ramirez (who likes her) was mostly in charge of finding her, and even if someone had brought her in, Ebenezar would've gone up against anyone on the Council, up to and including Langtry himself, to protect her.
- When he visits the Svartalf apartment Molly got Harry, he deliberately causes a ruckus, provoking and then beating up the Jerkass security guards who had been pestering Harry needlessly for some time.
- Really, this line he gives to Lara Raith, after she punched Harry (she was trying to protect their cover and not expose them as allies), dripping with Tranquil Fury says it all:
  "Lady Raith, touch that boy again and the only things left for your kin to bury will be your five-hundred-dollar shoes.
Person of Mass Destruction: The New Madrid Earthquakes, The Tunguska Event, the eruption of Krakatoa, and during the series, dropping a satellite on Casaverde, were all Ebenezer putting the smackdown on deserving parties.
- In Changes, Harry could barely crack the pillars of Red King's palatial pyramid despite tapping into the Ley Line beneath it and the power of the Winter Knight. When Ebenezar arrives, he casually blows up entire sections of the structure housing the resident Physical Gods.
Playing with Fire: As to be expected of Harry Dresden's mentor. He can generate fireballs which can act like bombs, and he needs no tools as his foci.
Pop-Cultured Badass: Somewhat downplayed, but he calls Harry "Hoss," and in Turn Coat, he seems to recognize Harry's "Wile E. Coyote" reference. In the same novel, it's mentioned that his taste in authors ranges from Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein and Tom Clancy to Julius Caesar, D. H. Lawrence, Stephen Hawking, and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Pragmatic Hero: He's a genuinely good man, the one who taught Harry about the value of human life. But he's also caused some of the worst natural disasters in human history when it seemed there was no other choice.
Real Event, Fictional Cause: He claims responsibility for not only Tunguska, but also the New Madrid earthquake of 1812 and Krakatoa.
Really 700 Years Old: Fought in the French and Indian War. Word of Jim has it that he was born around the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Red Baron: To those in the know, he is called simply "the Blackstaff". When Jared "Hellhound" Kincaid, who casually drops a threat to assassinate Harry, mows through a small army of Red Court vamps without breaking a sweat, and later hunts and slaughters multiple Denarians in an aquarium, outright states that a) he's been avoiding Ebenezar for the last century due to a promise from the latter to kill him if he ever saw him again, b) he'd be in another state and still running if he knew Ebenezar was anywhere nearby, it says something about the man.
Respected by the Respected: As noted above, even Jared Kincaid is wary around him, and Mab shows him a certain amount of respect as well.
- When Murphy hears Harry Dresden refer to him as "sir," she starts treating him like he's the next best thing to the Pope.
Retired Badass: Downplayed. He's no longer Captain of the Wardens, and as a member of the Senior Council, doesn't go out in the field as much. But as the Blackstaff and in the war against the Red Court, plus helping out Harry in the occasional adventure, he had plenty of opportunities to get his hands dirty.
Sawed-Off Shotgun: Like Harry, he tends to lug one of these around with him. Not that he usually needs it.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Again, see aforementioned Colony Drop. The other noted instances may be this... or, considering how powerful some monsters in the 'verse are, perhaps they were just enough kill.
Tranquil Fury: It's noted that he speaks "calmly" when warning Lara that messing with Harry would be a very bad idea.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Joseph Listens-to-Wind. When the two aren't casually throwing Cultural Posturing at each other, they form the core of the radical wing of the White Council.
What the Hell, Hero?: Harry takes the fact that Ebenezar uses Black Magic without repercussion, was under orders to kill him if he even got out of line during his apprenticeship, and killed dozens of Duke Ortega's human slaves with the Colony Drop poorly. They eventually reconcile, but it was very uncomfortable for a while.
- Harry again when Ebenezar outright states Harry should have cut off all contact with Maggie to keep away from his problems: from Harry's point of view, Ebenezar doing the same with Margaret quite likely led to her problems with the White Court, also bitterly remarking on the fact that he didn't help Harry after Malcolm's death and that it took the debacle with Justin for Ebenezar to actually do anything.
- Inverted when Ebenezar calls out Harry for living with his daughter amongst the Svartalves and letting a vampire near her. While he's Locked Out of the Loop regarding the fact that Thomas is the only vampire who actually does try to be a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire, he makes some excellent points.
With Great Power: Taught this attitude to Harry. The latter is rather annoyed when he perceives Ebenezar to be a hypocrite given his role as the Blackstaff—although it seems that he became the Blackstaff because he is a proponent of this trope.
Worf Had the Flu: Harry notes the main reason Ebenezar didn't instantly destroy him in their fight at the docks during Peace Talks is because he was constantly tripping due to the ice and snow under his feet, while Harry, being the Winter Knight, cannot be harmed or impeded by aspects of Winter. Additionally, Ebenezar was deliberately pulling his punches since he didn't want to actually kill Harry.

Joseph "Injun Joe" Listens-to-Wind

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/listens_to_wind.png

The redneck hillbilly doesn't read. Otherwise he'd know he can't call me that anymore. Now I'm Native American Joe.

One of the wizards on the Senior Council, a genuine Illinois medicine man and an old friend of McCoy's. In addition to talking to animals and being able to transform, he's also the White Council's medical expert and goes back to medical school every ten years or so to stay up-to-date.

The Apprentice: It's all but confirmed that he was this to River Shoulders back in the day.
Bears Are Bad News: Turns out the best way to take on an Eldritch Abomination shapeshifter is by turning into a bear. The size of a minibus.
Braids, Beads and Buckskins: Listens-to-Wind has been guilty of all charges at some point or another, and uses a lot of Native American trappings to work magic, but manages to subvert the trope entirely. If anything, he seems to have about the same dress sense as most modern-day Native Americans.
Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Ethniu breaks his back in Battle Ground, forcing him to be hospitalized.
Connected All Along: Unsurprisingly, he's friends with River Shoulders, who taught him magic way back when.
Cool Old Guy: He's at least somewhat older than Ebenezar, who was born at the beginning of the eighteenth century. This doesn't stop him from sending a skinwalker running.
Day in the Limelight: Dog Men is his time to shine, during which he teams up with Harry.
Deadpan Snarker: Downplayed, but he gets in several quips during Dog Men, and occasionally at other times, usually at Ebenezar's expense.
Druid: Close ties to nature, animal companion, healing, and wild shape. He pretty much covers all the bases.
Friendly Enemy: To Harry in Turn Coat, sort of. Because of his greatest failure, he would reluctantly sacrifice Morgan to the executioner's sword to save the White Council because if Morgan doesn't die for the slaying of LaFortier then it could mean civil war for the Council, shattering it and leaving billions of innocent mortals free targets for the dark things in the world.
Hidden Depths: He has a Aerosmith T-shirt on in a scene where he's more dressed up for a visit to the mortal society.
- At first glance, he seems like a friendly, affable old man. But he's got a lot of anger under the surface.
Loyal Animal Companion: Little Brother, his raccoon familiar. He generally trusts the raccoon's intuition about people.
Making a Splash: Per Word of Jim, he's an expert at water magic. He demonstrates this by using a rain-dance-like spell use the downpour to wash away a skinwalker's attack or evade them completely, and it serves as the basis for his vast shapeshifting abilities.
Magical Native American: The most hardcore version ever. While not a follower of the Diné, he has enough magical power and skill to make a skinwalker run in fear.
Magic Dance: Used for some of his spells. He even uses the rain to dilute a magical attack thrown at him by a skinwalker.
The Medic: He's generally considered to be the most skilled healer on the Council, and even goes back to med school every few decades to make sure he stays on top of things.
My Greatest Failure: Sometime back in his past, he watched as the tribe he was meant to guide and protect be slaughtered by White Men because his principles told him it was wrong for the White Council to intervene with mortal politics. He waited until it was too late to do any good. His principles made him choose who would live and who would die. He will not make the same choice again. See Friendly Enemy.
Mysterious Past: Only Rashid's past is more opaque than his is.
N-Word Privileges: Harry's narration notwithstanding, Ebenezar McCoy is the only one who actually calls him "Injun Joe" to his face, and he gets a pass thanks to being a good friend who goes back far enough with Listens-To-Wind to excuse the political incorrectness. In return, he calls McCoy a "redneck hillbilly."
Science Wizard: He attends medical school every few decades to stay contemporary.
Shapeshifter Showdown: He battles a skinwalker to the point the skinwalker runs away.
Tranquil Fury: Do not be fooled by the affable, tranquil surface. According to Ebenezar, he (understandably) has a lot of anger to manage.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: One of his strong suits. He moves with fluid grace from animal to animal when fighting a skinwalker, and later Drakul and Ethniu.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ebenezar McCoy. The two are supportive of each other and have similar attitudes towards the roles they believe magic and the White Council should play, and collaborate frequently... none of which stops them from throwing ethnic slurs at each other whenever they can.
Zen Survivor: Subverted. While he's gone through enough to qualify, he's generally a nice, gentle guy. He's always been friendly and patient with Harry, even in Turn Coat. Of course, it's also mentioned that he has a lot of experience in coping with personal pain and anger, and even Harry is cowed when he sees past the surface of that particular iceberg.

Ancient Mai

A little old lady with a whole lot of magic.

Another member of the Senior Council. Dedicated to maintaining the appearance of stability in the White Council. Little else is known.

Adaptational Attractiveness: In the books she is a frail and very elderly lady. In the TV series she's played by 28-year-old Elizabeth Thai and is possibly The Ageless.
Deadpan Snarker: Gives Lara Raith a taste of this.
Mai: (In an "utterly tranquil" voice) It is possible that I am unfairly judging your people in accusing them of plotting LaFortier's death. You are, after all, vampires, and well-known for your forthright and gentle natures.
Didn't See That Coming: She would never have guessed that Harry lives with a Temple Dog. Harry describes her reaction as someone who was hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer.
Item Crafting: Word of Jim is that this is her specialty. She is better at enchanting items and crafting artefacts than anyone else on the Council, and doing so is her strongest skill.
Miniature Senior Citizens: Harry describes her as "tiny". She also scares him witless - and going by the behaviour of some of the Wardens around her, he's not the only one.
Never Mess with Granny:
- At one point in Turn Coat, Ancient Mai is observed with the toughest and most experienced Wardens available. One of them is holding her umbrella.
- In that same scene, Harry lets a tiny detail slip, and Ancient Mai uses this information to effortlessly deduce several things about the situation, none of which are good for Harry. To quote Harry, "The only thing worse than scary is smart and scary."
Prim and Proper Bun: When she appears on Demonreach in Turn Coat her hair is held up with jade combs.
Really 700 Years Old: At over 400, she is old even by Senior Council standards.
Support Party Member: She has little in the way of direct offensive magic. That still leaves her a lot of options.

Martha Liberty

One of the members of the Senior Council, Liberty is an ally of Harry's, though rarely seen. Relatively little is known about her compared with other members of the Senior Council.

Communications Officer: Seems to have skill in this.
Never Mess with Granny: Implied. She has been described to running off with other Senior Council members to defend Luccio's training camps and she is a powerful Wizard. You also don't get onto the Senior Council by collecting bottlecaps.
Noodle Incident: She asks Harry if he remembers her, though also notes that they have never met in person before.
Out of Focus: Aside from Cristos, she gets the least amount of narrative focus (and if anything, he gets more than she does).
Reasonable Authority Figure: She's willing to listen to Harry and Ebenezer, and if her brief scene in Summer Knight is anything to go by, anyone who comes before her while she's acting as a judge.
Sassy Black Woman: Downplayed. She's not particularly snarky, but she always makes her displeasure known in a precise manner to everybody.

Rashid the Gatekeeper

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rashid_99.png

There is always a price for knowledge. Always.

A member of the White Council who covertly aids Harry and is generally mysterious. Usually wears a cowl, and has powers of precognition. His precise job on the Senior Council is not explained, but he appears to have a great deal of knowledge regarding Outsiders.

Big Good: Cold Days reveals that he's one of the series' Greater Scope Paragons in the fight against Nemesis.
Cool Old Guy: Of all of the Senior Council, save Ebenezar and Listens-to-Wind, Rashid is most often a friend and ally to Harry, if distantly. Being on the Senior Council alone makes him pretty powerful, but Rashid is still extremely powerful even by their standards. And thanks to his position as the Gatekeeper, he has the greatest understanding of Harry's own position.
Cryptic Conversation:
- By nature. Rashid can see across time and into the future, but he has to pick his words very carefully when warning people of what is coming. If his words or actions alter the future too much, it may result in a paradox that backlashes against him, possibly driving him insane or ripping apart reality. As a result, his warnings and actions tend to be cryptic or limited in immediate utility.
- In the comments in the RPG rulebook, Harry muses that he expects Rashid would answer like this even if you asked him something as mundane as "What would you like on your pizza?"
Dark Is Not Evil: He goes around in a Black Cloak with a deep hood, but seems to be a pretty decent guy and is firmly on the side of the heroes.
The Dreaded: invoked Word of God has remarked that the Gatekeeper is the most dangerous member of the Senior Council (with Eb being the best combatant and Langtry the most powerful), and Harry has a healthy amount of respect bordering on fear for him.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's referred to as "the Gatekeeper" much more than "Rashid".
Exactly What It Says on the Tin. He's called "The Gatekeeper". It turns out that's because he watches over the stupidly huge and very literal gate that blocks access from the Outside.
Eyepatch of Power: One of his eyes is replaced by a silver orb. The eye is actually made of the same material as the Outer Gates, and can sense people affected by the Outsiders' influence, among other things.
Hero of Another Story: When he's not at Edinburgh (which is most of the time), he's beating up Eldritch Abominations alongside the Winter Court.
In the Hood: Usually wears his hood up to add to the air of mystique. He's lowered it twice in the entire series.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: He stalls Molly's trial, and execution, by not casting a vote under the pretense he needs time to consider Harry's argument against the Merlin's. While his singular vote will not tip the scales one way or another, as the Merlin is the proxy vote for the other five absent Senior Council members making the vote at least 6-to-1 in favor of guilty, he claims it’s a heavy choice to make and is carefully thinking on it. This allows him to stall until other Senior Council members can arrive and they will vote to put Molly on parole.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The reason we don't usually see him is because he's busy helping the Winter Court beat up eldritch abominations.
- It's unclear why (Word of Jim is that it's not related to Demonreach's limp), but the island bears a grudge against him.
Out of Focus: He often doesn't appear for a few books at a time; a Justified Trope since he's often busy protecting all of reality from Outsiders, and is explicitly mentioned as the one wizard who's seen at Edinburgh even more rarely than Harry himself.
Precision F-Strike: For a man of carefully chosen words, the fact Harry gets Rashid to mutter "Blood of the Prophet" shows the craziness of his plan to bind himself to Demonreach and face the Senior Council on the island.
The Quiet One: Out of all the members of the Senior Council, he's the one least likely to speak during a meeting.
Really 700 Years Old: invoked Going by Word of God on how he apparently took out Abdul Alhazred (a worshipper of the Great Old Ones - the masters of the Outsiders in The Dresden Files) in 738 AD, he's likely over 1,300 years old, which is beyond any other wizard we've ever seen or heard of. How this happened is uncertain, but given that he spends a lot of time in the Nevernever and rarely appears at Council meetings, his biological and chronological ages probably don't sync up.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Notably, even the Merlin defers to him where he'd back down to nobody else, and Rashid is perfectly willing to listen to Harry's explanations.
Red Baron: While his name is known, very few people refer to him as anything other than "Gatekeeper".
Secret-Keeper: Harry tells him that Luccio killed LaFortier rather than Morgan, but only so he can treat her and on the condition that he keep it secret.
- Rashid heavily implies in Cold Days that he knows Maggie was Ebenezar's daughter. It's possible he therefore knows about Thomas, though the matter isn't addressed either way.
Secret Test of Character: To Harry in Summer Knight. Rashid also accepts personal responsibility and would have killed Harry on the spot if he failed the test, as it would have the same result in the long run. The test is to see if Harry, having fulfilled the exact worded need of Mab, would still walk into a war between the Fae Courts to stop the villain from unleashing an ice age. Mab would honor her side if Harry just sends her the information, but Harry refuses to stand by and let an innocent woman be murdered. Had Harry chosen the easy path, Rashid would have killed him.
Token Minority: Rashid is the only known Muslim character in the series, and even then his religious affiliation is never directly stated.

Gregori Cristos

The newest member of the Senior Council, who forces the Merlin to appoint him lest he take roughly a third of the Council and secede from the whole. Ambitious, aggressive, and dangerous, Cristos has both Harry and Ebenezar convinced that he is an agent of the Black Council. Or just stupid. Ebenezer considers the latter the worse of the possibilities.

Ambadassador: He spends most of his appearance in Peace Talks engaging in diplomacy with the svartalves and White Court. While his magical chops aren't seen, nobody makes it onto the Senior Council without some impressive skills, and they show up in the next book, and he certainly shows that while he may not be anywhere near the most powerful of the Senior Council, he's no pushover either.
Ambiguous Situation: It's unconfirmed whether or not the Black Council were behind his election. If so, it's unclear whether he's a genuine member or if they simply wanted him on the Senior Council because he's a Corrupt Politician.
Corrupt Politician: Mole or not, the man used his position as LaFortier's apprentice to usurp the dead man's spot. He even threatened to split the Council by leaving the Council with those whose interests LaFortier represented and fought for if he wasn't given LaFortier's seat on the Senior Council. Word of Jim has confirmed that his greatest talent isn't magic; it's networking with other wizards and using the connections he makes.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He looks like nothing more than a Corrupt Politician or useful idiot at best, but in Battle Ground he demonstrates that he's got every bit the combat chops you'd expect of a member of the Senior Council.
Dishing Out Dirt: In Battle Ground, he shows mastery of Earth magic, slaughtering Fomor minions by droves and keeping the ground stable for Ebenezar to do his thing.
Hanlon's Razor: It's unknown if he's an actively malicious Mole for the Black Council, or just a naïve power-hungry idiot.
Idiot Ball: If he isn't The Mole, then he holds this for believing the Red Court would agree to a good peace treaty and all would end well, and for threatening to pull his block out of the White Council entirely if he doesn't get the vote.
The Mole: Harry and Ebenezar are convinced that he is the Black Council's replacement for Peabody, though they don't have any proof.
Small Role, Big Impact: He doesn't make many appearances onstage until Peace Talks as one of the main proponents of the peace talks with the Fomor. Even then much of this takes place off-screen or gets interrupted before he can achieve much. In the following battle, he's only mentioned in group scenes and has no dialogue.
Uncertain Doom: It's mentioned that he got struck down by Ethniu during the Battle of the Bean in Battle Ground, and it's unknown if he survived.
Unwitting Pawn: One of the interpretations of his relationship with the Black Council - that, or he's a member, or he's a collaborator.

Aleron LaFortier

A member of the Senior Council who despised Harry. Considered the most approachable Senior Council member for smaller countries with less representation and power on the Council.

Hero of Another Story: While the man dislikes Harry, he is considered a hero by the wizards from less developed countries whose positions and points of view, they feel, aren't represented by the majority of the Senior Council.
Jerkass: To Harry, with Harry's first memory of him being LaFortier voting for him to be executed after killing DuMorne in self-defense.
Lean and Mean: Description wise, he's compared to a withered corpse.
Master of Illusion: According to Word of Jim, LaFortier's specialty was illusion spells.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Harry suspects if Cristos is the mole for the Black Council, then the primary reason to knock LaFortier off is to allow their own agent a chance to move up onto the Senior Council.

Simon Pietrovich

A Senior Council member from Russia who had been headquartered in Archangel. The Council's expert on vampire hunting, his death in the early days of the war against the Red Court was a heavy blow.

Badass Army: It was mentioned that he had a "brute squad" that had died with him in Archangel. They're mentioned as distinct from the Wardens on more than one occasion, implying that they were Pietrovich's personal followers from the Council rank and file, but whatever they were, they were powerful combat mages who specialized in earth magic.
Been There, Shaped History: While of dubious canon, in the tabletop RPG Billy found notes that indicated that Pietrovich was a friend of Czar Nicholas around the Russian Revolution, and he even introduced him to Rasputin. When Pietrovich's apprentice murdered Rasputin, the Blackstaff shows up to apprehend him, and Pietrovich handed his apprentice over without a second thought because of how bloody the situation got (although there are doubts mentioned in the same material, over whether he actually handed over the right one).
Character Death: He and his "brute squad" were killed to a man in a huge attack organized by Duke Ortega of the Red Court.
Dishing Out Dirt: Word of Jim states that Pietrovich and his followers specialized in earth magic. While tricky, earth magic is both very powerful and hard to counter, making Pietrovich's group "hell on wheels in a fight."
Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted; he was a good friend of McCoy's, and Archangel was a sore point for quite a while. In fact, McCoy later using "Asteroid Dresden" to obliterate Ortega's stronghold after he failed to kill Harry was both him defending his grandson and getting revenge on behalf of his dead friend. Eb also uses "Remember Archangel!" as a battle cry in Changes.
Master-Apprentice Chain: He was the mentor of Justin DuMorne, who was the mentor to Harry Dresden (who eventually trained Molly Carpenter) and Elaine Mallory. Dresden's tutelage went to Ebenezer McCoy, while Elaine took refuge with the Summer Court where she presumably continued her training. The former is used as a line of attack after the fall of Archangel, with Harry having supposedly known of the ward patterns and been able to betray them.
Posthumous Character: While he was alive at the very start of the series, he was killed by the Red Court by the time we learn of his existence.
The Smart Guy: The Council's top expert on the Vampire Courts and how to fight them. For this reason, he is killed in a brutal attack on his base, and Liberty cuttingly points this out to the Merlin.
Taking You with Me: Implied to have killed all the remaining vampires attacking his base via his death curse, except possibly for Ortega - who masterminded the attack and may have been involved.
Small Role, Big Impact: He is only mentioned in throwaway lines, and never makes an on-screen appearance, but he is still quite important to the overall series plot:
- Since he is a Senior Council member in an organization ran by Asskicking Leads to Leadership, his death shows that:
  - The White Council has been infiltrated by The Mole.
  - Anyone Can Die regardless of Power Level.
  - The Red Court are established as The Unfettered and a legitimate threat.
  - Gets Ebenezar on the Senior Council and gives a demonstration on how the politics of the White Council works. This saves Harry's bacon quite a few times.
- Furthermore, his death introduces the concept of the death curse.
- He is also revealed to be the mentor of Justin DuMorne, Harry Dresden's Evil Mentor. This not only gives a bit of backstory to DuMorne, but increases the suspicion on Harry since he might have known the general principles of Simon's defenses via Justin's teachings.
Stern Teacher: Probably. Justin got his teaching methods from somewhere, and from what Luccio and Morgan say, stern teaching is generally the norm for wizards.

Wardens

For Harry Dresden, see his entry under Harry and Harry's Household.

Anastasia Luccio

Captain Anastasia Luccio

The Commander of the Wardens, doing what she does best.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/new_luccio.PNG

Even a new body won't stop her.

The Commander of the Wardens, Morgan's teacher. Was forcibly transferred to a much younger woman's body by Corpsetaker in Dead Beat. Became briefly romantically involved with Harry over the events of Small Favor and Turn Coat. In Turn Coat, it was revealed that she was an unwilling mole in the White Council, as being transferred to a younger body made her less resistant to mind-altering magics.

Narrates the short story "A Fistful of Warlocks".

Action Girl: One of the most hardcore ones in the Dresdenverse. In Dead Beat, she's described as wiping out over thirty undead in under five seconds in an utter Curb-Stomp Battle. And even after she becomes significantly weaker upon being placed in a new body, she's still incredibly formidable, to the point where Harry admits in Changes that any potential fight he'd pick with her would likely go horribly for him.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Her original body was never described as ugly, far from it - she's implied to have been quite a beauty as a young woman. However, after a couple of centuries, she's described as more tough and matronly. The comics, however, portray her in her original body as being a Silver Vixen.
Anti-Magic: She made the spell-cutting silver Warden swords, at least before her little accident.
Armor-Piercing Question: She succinctly calls out Harry in Turn Coat when he's complaining about the White Council not interfering in vanilla human affairs by pointing out that by his logic, Harry's home country of the United States should be destroyed for the numerous atrocities they've committed throughout history. This gives him pause and makes him realize that Luccio has a good point in that the Council purpose is not in serving as a magical global police force, but serving as a vital restraint on mortal practitioners.
Berserk Button: Her name is Anastasia. Do not call her "Stacy."
- She's also not a big fan of people badmouthing the White Council, with most of her arguments with Harry over the Council being best described as polite but tempered allowance. When Lara Raith goes into a lengthy "The Reason You Suck" Speech in Turn Coat about how the Council is irrelevant and has no place in the modern world, she's described as looking like she's barely restraining herself from decapitating the vampire.
- Harry comes within a hairs breath of calling her a coward in Changes, which she is clearly furious over.
Birds of a Feather: With Harry. The short story "A Fistful of Warlocks" shows that she has many similar views and attitudes to Harry, which is why they got on so well.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Mind-controlled by Peabody into killing LaFortier, and also was mind-controlled into being attracted to Harry in order for the traitor to keep tabs on him. The latter is a downplayed trope, as it's speculated by Harry and Rashid that she probably did feel at least some attraction to him, as there would have needed to be a foundation.
The Captain: The current commander of the Wardens, and her official title is "Captain".
Deadpan Snarker: Luccio doesn't overindulge in it, but she can snark with the best of them.
Luccio: I’m sorry, Harry. We don’t exactly have orbital satellites for detecting black magic.
Didn't See That Coming: In Dead Beat Harry tells her about Morgan and the Merlin's gambit to kill him before he went to do Mab's favor. Her reaction is clear she didn't know and is furious with the concept.
Former Teen Rebel: While probably not as a teenager, its implied she was quite The Hedonist. Everything suggests that she used to Really Gets Around. She apparently used to moonlight as an exotic dancer, in which she was The Rival to Lara Raith. When she walks in on what looks like Harry, who she was then having a relationship with, having a Destructo-Nookie orgy, he panics and tells her that it's Not What It Looks Like (which is true). She just rolls her eyes and says she's seen and done worse, and that she's neither judgmental nor likely to jump to conclusions.
Fighting from the Inside: While she couldn't override Peabody's order to kill LaFortier, she had enough strength of will to know this was wrong. That is why she used a knife, as she didn't believe enough to be able to use magic to kill.
Grand Theft Me: How she ended up in her current body, courtesy of Corpsetaker.
Hates Being Nicknamed: Downplayed. "Ana" is fine among close friends, but don't call her "Stacy" unless you like the taste of your own teeth.
Hidden Depths: Despite wizards' anti-technological aura, she studies computer science as a hobby. Incidentally, this will probably put her in a position of considerable authority over the Council, since she will be well ahead of the curb if the rules of magic change again in her lifetime - which, given her new body, is quite likely.
Hero of Another Story: She's been in the Wardens for quite a long time, suffice to say. "A Fistful of Warlocks" in particular focuses on one of her hunts for Heinrich Kemmler during the Wild West.
I Was Quite a Looker: Says this trope near word-to-word, about her old body in her youth. She was apparently attractive enough both to rival and catch the attention of Lara Raith.
I Have Your Wife: She became aware of this concept early enough in her career to start avoiding any romantic relationships. Even when it wasn't uncommon for opposite-sex Master-Student relationships to get intimate, she abstains from one with Morgan.
Irony:
- Luccio abstained from a relationship with Morgan in their youth as explained above. Decades later, when she tried to pursue a relationship with him, Hero-Worshipper Morgan, having modelled himself after her, refuses despite still loving her. When she started a relationship with Harry, who was in a Headbutting Heroes attitude with Morgan, things got awkward.
- Her and Harry's relationship is a May–December Romance... but only mentally in that they're actually relatively close in biological age.
Kill It with Fire: See above. Even Harry is impressed.
Lady of Black Magic: A composed matriarchal witch who wields fire magic with a more controlled and graceful air, being able to create thin ribbons of fire as opposed to Dresden's massive cone of flame.
Lady of War: A very refined fighter. Where as most Wardens throw huge fire balls at their enemy, she uses fire like a laser cutter, something Harry positively gushes about (and to be fair, he frequently notes that any idiot can call up a firestorm - controlling it is another matter entirely). She's also shown herself to be an incredibly effective and firm commander who knows how to effectively lead her Wardens into battle.
Magic Knight: She is the commander of the Wardens, an entire army of these guys.
May–December Romance: Had one with Harry mentally speaking. Harry is somewhere in his early to mid thirties, while Luccio is well over two centuries old.
Muggle with a Degree in Magic: Inverted. Luccio is a mage, and as such she burns out any technology from later than the fifties by being in the same room. In spite of this, she is fascinated by computers and knows a fair amount about programming and computer science.
The Needs of the Many: Averted in Dead Beat, she and her patrol of Wardens are working to stop the Darkhollow from being complete when they discover a group of children trick-or-treating and about to be attacked by zombies. They can either let the kids die and work on saving everyone by stopping the ritual, or potentially let the ritual go off and protect the children. Luccio chooses the latter and is angered - and a tad dismayed - Harry would think she would do otherwise.
Noodle Incident: When Harry jokes about posting naked pictures of her on the internet, she makes it clear that she had to deal with something similar a couple hundred years ago.
Luccio: I am not going through that again. You'd be amazed how fast pictures circulate when they're painted on canvas.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She keeps her relationship with Harry a secret. Not just because of the sleeping with her underling, but if any of her older friends knew she was dating anyone it would be a red flag to investigate. So she, under influence of Peabody, keeps mum on the matter. Harry even lampshades how while there were changes to her personality, they were positive ones. Her being happier in such a harsh time is ignored by the Senior Council and Morgan because they wouldn't begrudge her some happiness in this bleak world.
Projectile Spell: Her choice of offensive spell is usually fire concentrated into a needle-thin beam of pure intense heat, which Harry eventually learns how to use in Changes. Luccio's is still superior, though, as Harry mentions that he can probably only use it in the Nevernever (where magic is easier). He also gushes a bit every time he sees her use it. Given that fire is his primary weapon and he's repeatedly remarked on how difficult it is to control, this is unsurprising.
Quickly-Demoted Woman: Subverted. Although getting switched to a younger body leaves her much less effective in combat (and incapable of enchanting Warden swords), and Morgan becomes the Wardens' combat commander, Luccio retains her rank as overall commander of the Wardens, and uses her knowledge to good effect in a less-physical position. Plus "much less effective in combat" still leaves her capable of kicking a lot of ass, and Harry notes that he really would not want that fight in the same book that he goes one on one with a vampire sorceress who has been around since before the invention of writing.
Really 700 Years Old: Was born in the 1700s. Currently has the body of a twenty-five year old. Literally.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Immediately brings every available Warden to Chicago once Harry reports of Kemmler's heirs running about in during Dead Beat, and works well with Harry in contrast with her subordinate Morgan. She also doesn't consider for one moment that Harry is compromised by Thomas being his brother (in any sense other than the obvious emotional one) and doesn't reveal it to anyone.
Secret-Keeper: She's the only person on the White Council who knows about both Thomas and Maggie - until Peace Talks, when Ebenezar, who already knew about Maggie, finds out about Thomas. Her reaction to the former is surprisingly subdued, mainly just being angry at Margaret LeFay (probably for the position she left Harry in) and noting that Harry and Thomas don't look all that alike, "except for the eyes". So far, she doesn't seem to have revealed either secret to anyone.
Totally Trusting Love Interest: In the short story "Day Off", she finds him wearing just a towel, apparently kissing (actually, giving CPR to) his young, pretty, and half-naked apprentice on the day they were supposed to have a date. Instead of throwing a tantrum, she is amused to learn about the circumstances that led to such a situation and helps Harry clean up the mess before proceeding with their original date plans.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Before her transition into the new body. She was the one in charge of enchanting the famous Warden anti-magic swords. To make them, she has to work the entire sword-making process, from purifying the ore to the forging of the blade. Unfortunately, she doesn't have sufficient power in her younger body to continue the practice, and no one else has the necessary skill.
Weak, but Skilled: By necessity. Ever since being transferred to her younger body, Luccio's talents have suffered as her new body doesn't have the potential for magic that her older one possessed. That being said, she is still incredibly powerful and a masterfully-skilled fighter, and makes use of her reduced talents to impressive effect. Even with a comparatively modest magical talent now, Luccio can produce deadly beams of precise energy or wide area-effect illusions. Harry states in Changes even with the obvious decrease in power he still wouldn't want to fight her.

Donald Morgan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morgan.PNG

He makes sure warlocks follow their parole ...and deals with them when they don't.

"No. I would rather be dead — do you hear me? Be dead than have you use black magic on my behalf."

A high-ranking member of the Wardens, skilled swordsman and battle wizard, Morgan is introduced as the magical equivalent of a parole officer - his job is to keep an eye on Harry and execute him if he shows signs of having gone back to his warlock ways, a duty Morgan pursues with gusto. Later on that role takes a backseat to his mastery of battlefield combat as the Wardens go to war.

Narrates the microfiction "Journal".

A Death in the Limelight: The last book to feature Morgan - Turn Coat - is not-so-coincidentally the one where he's the deuteragonist.
All Love Is Unrequited: Towards Luccio.
Bad Liar: Morgan is normally brutally honest, to the point that when he finds himself trying to lie, it's usually pretty feeble. For instance, in Summer Knight, when Harry figures out that Morgan is trying to provoke him into a fight so he has legal justification to kill Harry, Morgan's eyes widen in shock and he blurts "I don't know what you're talking about."
Beautiful Dreamer: Not exactly beautiful, but the impression of him sleeping is less that of an utter Jerkass and more he has had a rough life.
BFS: Morgan carries a massive broadsword forged by Luccio to break enchantments.
The Cavalry:
- In Storm Front he pulls Harry out of the fire and begrudgingly agrees to retract his charges of Harry violating the Laws and would give him praise where it is due with handling the warlock Victor Sells.
- And subverted in Dead Beat when he is taken out of commission before the final battle. He still protects innocent people until the end, though.
Comically Missing the Point:
- When Harry sarcastically implies that he's about to start watching porn, Morgan takes him seriously.
- Molly offers to find out information from a young PI, with some "black magic", to which Morgan replies that he would rather be dead than have someone use black magic on his behalf. As it happens, her methods have nothing to do with Black Magic, and everything to do with another trope.
Cool Old Guy: Despite his jerkish personality, the man is admittedly awesome.
- He got within mere yards of killing the King of the Red Court Vampires and carved his way through several Red Court lords in the process.
- Killed an Eldritch Abomination by luring it into a nuclear testing site. Even Harry, after an internal struggle, admits that it's downright cool.
- In Dead Beat, when Harry had executed Corpsetaker in Luccio's body, Morgan, thinking he just murdered his commander and the woman he was in love with, was going to come after Harry despite the fact that Harry is a powerful wizard in his own right and had a multi-million year dead zombie T-Rex on his side. Harry didn't think he could win in such a confrontation, and realized that even if he did kill Morgan through some miracle, then Morgan's death curse would've obliterated him regardless.
- In Turn Coat, he shows off a pretty dry wit and even develops something of a rapport with Harry.
Cruel to Be Kind: Morgan believes in this. Like Harry, he was trained with shields by having his master (Luccio) throw rocks at him, even quoting the same line Harry mentions when discussing Justin's similar training "Pain is an excellent motivator". Similarly, Morgan purposely tries to taunt Molly, and disapproves of Harry's coddling of her. When confronted by Harry, he explains that people on the Council, and the wider world, will be far more cruel than him to Molly, and it's not by sparing her that Harry will teach her to resist the urge to abuse her powers again. Molly later notes that Morgan was succeeding at just that, that his barbs were making her want to use mental magic on him, and the realization of what she was being tempted to do not only horrifies her, but also marks a further milestone in her development.
- The microfiction "Journal" set between LaFortier's death and Morgan's escape, shows that the main reason why he’s been a dick to Harry for so many years is because he was actively trying to make sure that Harry had not been co-opted or turned by the bad guys, and that apparently Morgan seems to know the importance of Harry being a star born and how important that is regarding the Outsiders. He was also aware of Nemesis itself, and how to spot an infection by Nemesis in other people.
Deadpan Snarker: Mostly in Turn Coat, with Harry as his target, and the two more or less match each other in Snark-to-Snark Combat.
Determinator: More than anything else, this is where Morgan's character stems from. At the end of Turn Coat, Harry comes to realize that this is what made Morgan into the man he is. Despite everything that has happened to him over his life, and despite all the losses and pain he endured, Morgan never gave in.
Harry: "See, here's the thing. Morgan was right: You can't win them all. But that doesn't mean you give up. Not ever. Morgan never said that part - he was too busy living it."
Dishing Out Dirt: As demonstrated in Dead Beat, his specialty is in earth magic.
Dying Moment of Awesome: The man, despite badly injured and dying, described by Harry as being "barely able to walk", races out of his wheelchair to chase down Peabody and ends up putting two in the guy before he can kill Harry.
Enemy Mine: In Turn Coat, he immediately runs to Harry because he figures nobody will look for him under the care of someone with whom he shares a certain amount of mutual loathing. More importantly he understands that, of all people, Harry understands what it means to be wrongfully accused.
Face Death with Dignity: Near the end of Turn Coat, the White Council has caught up to him, the traitor has (seemingly) escaped without being caught, and not having someone killed for LaFortier's death will likely lead to a Civil War in the Council. Morgan's response is to thank Harry and Molly for trying to clear his name, give a "confession" to Ancient Mai, Ebenezer, and Listens-To-Winds that he tricked them into helping him and that he was responsible for killing Lafortier, and asking Molly to lower the barrier the two of them are behind so he can turn himself in, despite knowing he'll be killed for a crime he didn't commit.
Good is Not Nice: Morgan would never even consider using dark magic or breaking the Council's laws. Doesn't mean he isn't a huge Jerkass to Harry, to the point where at one point when he's about to actually thank Harry, he's described as looking like he's about to willingly stick his hand into a fire.
Hero of Another Story: Certainly a Anti-Hero, of course, but he's still done lots of heroic (more or less) deeds during his exceptionally long time in the Wardens. Entire novels could be written about his exploits, such as that time where he nuked a skinwalker.
Hidden Depths:
- He's a surprisingly good teacher, as shown when he teaches Molly how to open ways into the Nevernever in a matter of hours, despite being a) in serious pain, b) in a wheelchair.
- The microfiction Journal is a journal entry told from his perspective. While Harry sees a hardnosed, overeager bad cop who is all too eager to carry out death sentences, the short story shows a jaded Old Soldier who was looking out for a young Harry due to a promise to Margaret. Looking over him and his every movement, due to his past as a warlock shaped by Justin DuMorne, was out of fear that Harry might just shift back to his old ways and become a "Destroyer" and a creature of Nemesis. He had regrets about how overzealous he was in pursuing Harry, but the possibility that Harry was a tool of the archenemy weighed even heavier on him. While Harry doesn't know this, by the end of Turn Coat he's figured out the Old Soldier part.
I Need a Freaking Drink: With a little Even Inspector Javerts Have Standards. After Molly's trial in Proven Guilty, where Morgan would have been Molly's executioner (and looked positively sick at the very idea), he went back to the White Council headquarters and got himself massively drunk.
Inspector Javert: To the core. Though, to be fair, it turns out that he had a depth of character that was initially opaque to the audience. He stalked and tried to bait Harry into aggressive actions because he was convinced that Harry really was rotten - or rather, he had genuine reason to worry that Harry had been programmed into an agent of Nemesis and baited him to try and lure any sign of it out. He even played the same role with Molly, though she had earned it, and as he pointed out to Harry, the world would be much harder to her than he is and he's not simply doing it to be a jerk (and it does bring her to an important realisation) - nearly carrying out the sentence caused him enough grief to go get drunk when he got back to HQ. In Turn Coat, he ironically ends up as the one on the run because he was covering for a mind-controlled Luccio for LaFortier's murder; and he does finally come as close as somebody as stiff-necked as him came to admitting that his pursuit of Harry was unjustified.
Irony:
- Luccio abstained from a relationship with Morgan in their youth as explained above. Decades later, when she might have been ready to pursue a relationship with him, Hero-Worshipper Morgan, having modelled himself after her, was unable despite still loving her. When she started a relationship with Harry, who was in a Headbutting Heroes attitude with Morgan, things got awkward.
- In Turn Coat, he ends up as a fugitive from the Wardens, ironic given how he was usual the one pursuing fugitives. He is entirely aware of the irony.
  - Furthermore, in the same book, Harry binds himself to Demonreach in order to secure a Home Field Advantage as part of his plan to protect Morgan and prove his innocence at the same time. Cold Days would later reveal that Demonreach is a massive prison strong enough to hold Skinwalkers, Titans and presumably much worse creatures, and by binding himself to it, Harry became the Warden of this prison — as in The Warden that apparently inspired the term for the enforcers of the White Council. This mean that Harry technically made himself Morgan's boss for the remainder of the book, and neither of them ever found out about it until later.
Jerkass: He seems to enjoy stalking Harry just a little too much, and typically comes up with particularly barbed comments to throw at Harry. To put it into perspective, even ten books after Morgan has stopped officially hounding Harry, the latter still has nightmares of "a grey-cloaked wraith drawing his blade and cutting me to ribbons." Journal explains why - he knows about Nemesis and he's genuinely worried that it may have got into/programmed Harry into its destroyer, so he used every means to try and force it out if it was there.
Jerkass Has a Point: He's a jerk, but he's not necessarily wrong a lot of the time.
- While it was completely wrong of him to phrase it in such a harsh way, he's not entirely wrong in Turn Coat when he points out that Harry is still partly responsible for the Alphas getting involved with the supernatural world.
- His baiting of Harry across the series comes off as cruel, but Journal presents at least a logical reason for it - he knows about Harry being a Starborn, about Nemesis, and the Black Council, and was trying to force out any programmed personality.
- His baiting of Molly in Turn Coat also seems needless, but as he points out entirely accurately, neither the Council nor the rest of the world (particularly the monsters) will treat her with kid gloves, and neither of them would help her by treating her gently. Given that Molly has a horrified realisation about wanting to use mental magic on him, a milestone in her development, he's proven right.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: However, in the end Morgan is still one of the good guys, fully willing to give his life for the sake of the Council, and his attitude is revealed to be driven not by any particular belief that Harry was special (as in, specially bad), but that he wasn't - i.e. that he'd revert like the vast majority of other Warlocks Morgan had dealt with, and take a lot of people down with him (also, he knows about Nemesis and had reason to suspect Harry). And though he never says it outright, his last words to Harry are "the closest he'd ever come to admitting he was wrong about me."
- At the very beginning of Turn Coat, he's willing to thank Harry for taking him in, though the latter cuts him off since he knows the resulting conversation will be awkward for both.
Knight in Sour Armor: Still very much a believer in fighting the the good fight, but spending more than a hundred years doing so has left him a very tired and bitter man. Harry compares him in Dead Beat to a worn-out cop that was probably at first a Wide-Eyed Idealist and who's now been on "his beat" seeing the worst of humanity for well over a century.
Magic Knight: As are most Wardens, with his massive broadsword being his weapon.
The Mentor:
- Of a twisted sort to Harry, functioning as his Stealth Mentor by harrying him at every point - and then saving his life in Storm Front once he's proven himself. While Harry thinks at first that It's Personal and out of spite, and then that it's Nothing Personal because Morgan thinks he's not any different from any other Warlock, Journal reveals that he's actually doing it because he knows about Nemesis, Harry being Starborn, and Du Morne, and is trying to force out any programmed personality.
- He briefly serves as a mixture of the above and a more straightforward one to Molly, teaching her how to open gateways to the Nevernever, and adding to Harry's explanations of magic and elaborating based on nearly a century more experience, while also baiting her to test her control over herself - as he points out, Harry does her no service by coddling her, because the rest of the world sure as hell won't, and as Molly realises, he was right, as she was tempted to use mental magic on him, a milestone in her development.
My God, What Have I Done?: He's horrified when he realizes that he actually was in the wrong during Dead Beat and Harry didn't kill Luccio.
The Needs of the Many: Averted in Dead Beat, he and Luccio's patrol of Wardens are working to stop the Darkhollow from being complete when they discover a group of children trick-or-treating and about to be attacked by zombies. They can either let the kids die and work on saving everyone by stopping the ritual, or potentially let the ritual go off and protect the children. Morgan joins the others in protecting the kids.
Nerves of Steel: During Dead Beat, when he thinks that Harry has killed Luccio, he snaps and goes in for the kill. When Harry gets Sue on his side, Morgan blinks in shock at the Tyrannosaur before shrugging it off and growling to Harry that even if he has to use his death curse, he'll make damn sure that Harry will never harm another innocent person.
Nuke 'em: Morgan had problems with a skinwalker about fifty years before. They're basically minor dark gods that eat magic. So Morgan lured it into a nuclear testing ground and stepped into the Nevernever as the bomb went off. Bad. Ass.
Obstructive Zealot: He regularly ignores Harry's attempts to explain the situation; at one point he even yelled "No! You lie!"
Older Than They Look: Morgan is well over a century and change, but only looks to be in his late thirties to early forties (descriptions vary).
Pet the Dog: A few times here and there. These moment are always very, very subtle.
- There is a very clear one in the first book; Morgan could have easily stood by and let Harry die in the burning house, but he came in, rescued Harry, and then admitted to the White Council that he was wrong in that specific case, reporting honestly and accurately. He may not like Harry, but he's not without honor.
- According to Luccio, he without hesitation led the Wardens to step between children and a pack of zombies in Dead Beat.
- When he's ordered to execute Molly in Proven Guilty he looks absolutely sickened, and more so when Harry steps in his way. He'd have killed them both anyway, because it's his job, but apparently afterwards he went and got utterly sloshed at the Council bar. Most poignantly, this scene has him not only being polite to Harry (when Harry gets in Morgan's way, he just wearily states "Dresden, please stand aside"), but he also helps stall for time, quietly noting to the Merlin that the Gatekeeper does still get to cast his vote (even though the Merlin has already outvoted him six-to-one).
- He calls Molly "Miss Carpenter" when working with her to stop Binder from killing Harry and Karrin. He also teaches her how to open gateways to the Nevernever, and does so surprisingly well.
Principles Zealot: His faith in the Laws of Magic and the Senior Council. He's mentioned to basically be the Merlin's right-hand man because of this.
Redemption Equals Death: He dies shortly after finally making peace with Harry. Or as close to it as he's openly capable of.
Secret Secret-Keeper: The microfiction "Journal" set between LaFortier's death and Morgan's escape, shows that not only does he know Harry is Ebenezer's grandson but he made a promise to Harry's mother to watch over Harry and Malcolm.
Shockwave Stomp: Is seen to do this in Dead Beat.
Shoot the Dog: While he Would Hurt a Child because the White Council's policy on Black Magic use is rather severe, he's dealt with enough errant warlocks to know that rehabilitation is only asking for trouble 999 times out of 1000.
The Stoic: Is this the vast majority of the time... except for when he's completely snapped and trying to kill someone like Harry, in which he becomes a terrifying fountain of Unstoppable Rage.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: His immediate knee-jerk denial of Harry mentioning the Black Council or a White Council traitor immediately clues Harry in to the fact that Morgan and possibly the Merlin have considered the possibility of a traitor but won't publicly admit it due to the backlash.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Even when they do ultimately reach a strange understanding, Morgan and Harry never really stop hating each other and every moment they're forced to work together inevitably devolves into bitter Snark-to-Snark Combat.
To Be Lawful or Good:
- In Proven Guilty, Morgan is among those convinced by Harry's argument that Molly Carpenter doesn't deserve to be executed for her use of black magic. He still intends to personally carry out her execution if the Senior Council rules it, because it is his duty... but he looks utterly sickened by the prospect, hesitates, is visibly relieved by Harry's Loophole Abuse to buy time and supports it, and then promptly gets absolutely hammered at the Wardens private bar in Edinburgh.
- In Turn Coat, Morgan knew Molly used mind magic on Luccio and could be executed for breaking the terms of her parole, and Harry for failing as her parole officer. However, he keeps this violation to himself. He chooses Good to protect Harry and Molly.
Training from Hell: Morgan mentions to Harry that he isn't doing Molly any favours by being gentle. His teacher (presumably Luccio) threw stones at him to help him develop his shield spells; Morgan mentions that pain is a good motivator and this is a good way of teaching how to block out unnecessary emotions. Harry simply grunts. (Harry mentioned to Charity in the previous book that Justin trained him the same way, but with baseballs.)
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He truly believes that Harry will turn and that killing him now will countless innocent lives.
Windmill Crusader: Believes wholeheartedly that Harry is a black magic time-bomb waiting to go off. Harry's opinion of him softens ever-so-slightly once he realizes Morgan honestly believes this and isn't hounding him because he's a jerk. This is a man who has seen countless times the failures of Black Magic rehabilitation, leading to more deaths. He didn't hound Harry because Harry's special. He hounded Harry because he thought Harry was not.
Would Hurt a Child: But not out of sadism, and it frequently horrifies him. He's a Warden of the White Council, and will do any execution he's ordered to due to Black Magic corruption, but he doesn't like having to do it one bit - as demonstrated by the way that after Molly's execution was very narrowly averted, he went and got absolutely hammered at the Council Bar.
Old Cop, Young Cop: Morgan fits the "Old Cop" archetype to a tee. Harry literally compares him to a veteran beat cop who has seen the worst humanity has to offer, and who has become burned out on idealistic notions like second chances and redemption.

Carlos Ramirez

Council Prodigy.

"It hurts to be this good!"

The regional commander of the Wardens on the West Coast, barely out of his apprenticeship when he first appears. He loves to make jokes about his own awesomeness and popularity with the ladies. Over time, he becomes a more hardened and effective Warden, and is recognised as the poster boy of the younger generation of Wizards.

Back-to-Back Badasses: Harry and Carlos Ramirez in White Night, against Vittorio and Madrigal
Beware the Nice Ones: Carlos has proven he is not someone you want to underestimate.
Big Brother Mentor: What Dresden is essentially to him, a wise, more powerful ally that isn't afraid of making fun of him.
Big Damn Heroes: Three times. Twice in Dead Beat: Once when he stops Morgan from killing Harry after the other man believes Harry killed Luccio (having actually killed the body-swapping necromancer they were fighting) and again when he kills Grevane just in time to save Harry. The third one is in White Knight: Carlos creates an incredible powerful disintegrating water shield Just in Time to protect The Cavalry (Murphy, Thomas, Marcone and his men), Harry, Lara and himself from a group of uber-ghouls.
Broken Pedestal: By the end of Battle Ground, his respect for Harry is pretty much completely shattered, partly due to an epic lack of communication skills on both sides.
Calling the Old Man Out: Did this to the Merlin in Proven Guilty when the latter was considering executing Molly.
Casanova Wannabe: He's a young, somewhat cocky, warden who is constantly bragging about his sexual exploits. None of which have ever happened, seeing that he's a virgin. Revealed hilariously by Lara Raith.
Chivalrous Pervert: For all his talk, he is unfailingly polite to all women. Not to mention a virgin.
Combat Pragmatist: As seen in both Dead Beat and White Night, Ramirez is more than willing to use his gun and sneak attacks to win the day if he needs to.
Dashing Hispanic: He has guts, and not only in combat situations; he called the Merlin senile to his face.
Deadpan Snarker: In a more playful way than Harry.
The Determinator: Continued fighting with a dagger in his gut and a matching dagger in his leg in White Night.
Didn't Think This Through: In Changes. Made a very well-intentioned but poorly timed rebellion against authority, sending the White Council into chaos and ensuring that Harry was facing a The Only One situation.
Disintegrator Ray: One of his spells is a narrow beam fired from his finger that turns people to dust and water.
Entropy and Chaos Magic: Of the entropy and decay form. Carlos has a lot of spells that specialize in disintegrating matter or causing it to decay. His shield for example breaks bullets apart into powder. In Cold Case he enters a church by neatly turning a part of wooden wall into powder. Harry notes in Battle Ground that it's phenomenally efficient, and the energy used can be reused, meaning he can more or less keep it up forever.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Harry. Carlos is Harry’s Heterosexual Life-Partner among the Wardens.
Have I Mentioned I Am Sexually Active Today?: He won't shut about his talents with the ladies. He's a virgin. Harry, naturally, finds this hilarious.
Hero of Another Story: Being the senior Warden and commander in Los Angeles, he sees almost as much action as Harry, on top of being an active participant in the war. In White Night, Harry notes that Ramirez's gear is as battered and battle-scarred as his own, despite the difference in age. He also, like Harry and Ebenezer, has put together the pieces about the Black Council's existence.
I Got You Covered: Carlos says he's with Harry 100%. This fades over time thanks to increasing mistrust, and leading to the Broken Pedestal moment in Battle Ground.
Improbable Age: There's no way he would hold the rank he does at his age if a) he wasn't really good, and b) most of the other Wardens hadn't gotten killed off in Dead Beat, making this a Justified Trope.
In-Series Nickname: “Los”. A diminutive of his name, Carlos.
Kill It with Water: He uses water-based magic, as opposed to Harry's fire and force. Fun fact - in this universe, water-magic comes associated with entropy and "cleansing" and is capable of offensive disintegration.
First-Name Basis: Harry initially calls him Warden Ramirez. Carlos corrects him and permits him to use his first name.
"Everyone else who lets me ride on their dinosaur calls me Carlos."
Likes Older Women: Mentions asking Elaine out on dates in White Night. As she's roughly Harry's age, this makes her at least a decade older.
Magic Knight: Part and parcel with being a Warden on the White Council. Unlike most examples of this trope, even a few of the in-universe examples, Ramirez carries a large-caliber pistol, grenades, and some other military grade hardware.
Major Injury Underreaction: In White Night, Ramirez looks down and says, "There's a knife in my leg", then "There's a knife in my gut", then "Holy crap, they match". Justified, because he's in shock, although played straight a moment later when he says he felt the impact of the knife in his leg, he just figured Harry had stepped on him by accident.
Making a Splash: Sort of. He uses principles of water and entropy in most of his magic, and the result is silent, green energy that even Harry finds a little weird. Whatever you might think of it, the powerful effects can't be disputed.
Moment Killer: In the end of "Cold Case" Carlos looks like he is about to have sex with Winter Lady Molly, when her mantle overrides her, and badly damages Carlos because he tried to have sex with Molly.
Nice Guy: Under all that bragging about his sexual prowess and battle prowess, he really is an extremely decent guy.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Hinted at. When not in his “flirting, Awesome Ego mode” Carlos has proven himself to be not only very quick on the uptake and just as competent, But White Night shows him to be both quite savvy, to have pretty good instincts and much wiser than he normally acts (Lara actually notices this).
Old Cop, Young Cop: While Morgan 100% fits the "Old Cop" archetype to a T, Carlos in turn is the best example among The Wardens of the Young Cop: Comparably idealistic, perfectly willing to indulge in rebellious rule bending yet inherently moral actions, is considerably more willing to compromise with others and has shown a great interest in seeing positive changes among the ranks. And while he has grown more world-weary as the series goes on he still maintains his deeply understanding and virtuous attitude intact while faces the monsters of the world with everything he has. Its almost fitting that when Ramirez first made his debut in the series is was sitting side by side with Morgan on a table, almost as if the comparison between them was meant to be noticed from the get go.
Remember That You Trust Me: At one point, Ramirez reminds Harry that they're Fire-Forged Friends and tells him that he knows he's keeping secrets from him. Unfortunately, it doesn't stick.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Carlos is the youngest regional Warden as of Dead Beat, and easily one of the most understanding and truly virtous of the lot, as seen in Proven Guilty and White Night. In Ghost Story it’s revealed that Carlos is in charge of tracking Molly, but he’s slowing the search intentionally to buy Molly and The Chicago Alliance time and some peace. Add to that, Molly's presence is helping against the Fomor in Chicago while he handles the West Coast.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Although Harry isn't actually sleeping with Lara, Carlos is correct that he's been hanging out with monsters a lot and hasn't shown trust to his friends.
Smart Ball: When he was being seduced by Lara, and Harry letting him resist her on his own, so as not to make him look like prey to her, Carlos forces a Soulgaze with Lara. This destroys her seduction attempt and helps him remain focused on what sort of creature she is under that lovely exterior.
Strange Minds Think Alike: While Harry internally thinks it first, Carlos also utters the “You don't become Merlin of the White Council by collecting bottlecaps" line when talking about the Merlin’s One-Man Army You Shall Not Pass! act against the whole Red Court. The strange coincidence of similar thinking is actually Lampshades by Harry himself, who gives Carlos a surprised look, only to have Carlos grinning cheekily at him in return, obviously amused at having guessed Harry’s train of thought.
Strong and Skilled: You don't need a lot of force with particle beams. That, and almost everyone looks Weak, but Skilled next to Harry "Powerhouse Slob" Dresden. And remember, the White Council only takes the top 1 percent of the magical community.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Seems more contrary and opposed to Harry in the latest two books (though given Harry's lack of communication, one can't exactly blame him too much).
Trauma Conga Line: He almost certainly would have lost quite a few comrades during the Vampire War. By the time of Peace Talks he's had his back broken and still has pain issues and trouble moving. He almost got to sleep with the girl he liked, only for her to go wild and half-cripple him (in fairness, that wasn't her fault, but still). As of Battle Ground he's now lost his three closest comrades to the Black Court and has had his attempts to reach out to Harry constantly be rebuffed so many times it's essentially destroyed their friendship.
Tricked-Out Gloves: Wears a gauntlet with Olmec or Aztecan pictoglyphs to focus his water magic.
Unexpected Virgin: Harry fully believes his bravado about being a ladies man. Then Lara outs him as a virgin.
Urban Legend Love Life: He talks a fantastic game, completely convincing Harry that he can get with any women he wants. Then Lara outs him as a virgin.
What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out Harry for his incredibly poor communication skills and general jerkishness in Battle Ground. Harry directs one at him in turn, for having fired the first shot in that regard (tagging him with a tracking spell, jumping to the worst conclusions rather than letting him explain himself).

"Wild" Bill Meyer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wild_bill.png

He'll show you why you shouldn't mess with Texas.

A Warden from Texas. Has interacted with Dresden a few times, including when retrieving a shoggoth from a Venatori stronghold that was besieged by the Red Court.

Call-Back: He always treats Harry with respect because he remembers when Harry reacted to the murders of Tina and Terry Trailman and what he did to the ghouls who killed the kids.
Deadpan Snarker: Most of his lines from the first half of War Cry are pure snark, and he only starts dropping off when he's absolutely exhausted.
Dishing Out Dirt: He's strongest with earth magic.
Handicapped Badass: A vampire breaks his hand early in War Cry, but he manages to fight just as well as his companions despite his injury.
Killed Offscreen: Killed by Drakul's followers offscreen in Battle Ground. Even worse, it's implied that he and Yoshimo will be turned into Black Court vampires by Mavra.
Mage Marksman: Wields an enchanted rifle with rune inscribed shells in Battle Ground to great effect

Yuki Yoshimo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoshimo.png

She lets her sword do the talking.

A trainee Warden who participates in the battle against the Kemmlerites due to the lack of trained fighters. She is injured, but recovers and later helps to retrieve a shoggoth from a besieged Venatori stronghold.

Beware the Quiet Ones: She doesn't talk much, but she can still dish out a lot of damage with her swordplay and her magic.
Blow You Away: She's strongest with air/wind magic.
Heroic Lineage: She is a distant cousin of Shiro, Knight of the Cross, meaning she is also a descendant of the last king of Okinawa.
Killed Offscreen: Killed by off screen by Black Court vampires in Battle Ground. Even worse, it's implied that she and Wild Bill will be turned by Mavra.
Last-Name Basis: She keeps her first name a secret and doesn't let anyone call her by it. Ramirez eventually finds it out, though, and rumor has it that she has yet to forgive him.

Tina and Terry Trailman

Two trainee Wardens who were at Camp Kaboom, an evocation-training camp, when it was raided by ghouls.

Brother–Sister Team: They worked together before they were killed.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted; Harry is very pissed at the next ghouls he encounters in White Night. It remains a sore point for him years later in Peace Talks and Battle Ground, as Harry's hatred of ghouls is largely from this event and he equates it to Ebenezar McCoy's hatred of the White Court.
Last Stand: When Dresden found Terry's corpse he saw that Terry's knuckles were bloodied, showing that even when up against (physically) nearly unbeatable ghouls, he still fought with the only weapon he had left — his fists.

Chandler, aka "Steed"

Chandler

A young British warden who acts as Luccio's aide-de-camp.

Brits Love Tea: He's shown to be making some in Small Favor.
Classy Cane: What he uses instead of a rod or staff.
Cultured Badass: Checkpoints to Edinburgh are usually manned by five or six Wardens at once. Chandler can defend one by himself, and is one of the highest-ranking Wardens. He also enjoys tea and walks with a cane. He's also doing PhD in History.
Gentleman Snarker: Has a British sense of humour, and uses it frequently.
Hidden Depths: Harry notes that, despite Chandler's relatively young age, he's still very well trusted by the Wardens.
I Am Very British: Revels in this trope. At one point, he sends a letter to Harry and randomly capitalizes several words, noting in a postscript at the end:
Why, yes, I can in fact capitalize any words I desire. The language is English. I am English. Therefore mine is the opinion which matters, colonial heathen.
Seers: Word Of Jim is that Chandler specializes in seer-type magic, both looking back into the past and forwards into the future.
Sharp-Dressed Man: He wears "an expensive dark blue cashmere suit, with a cream-colored shirt and a metallic copper-colored tie" while on guard duty.
Stiff Upper Lip: While freezing his "well-tailored ass" off, he talks about guarding the entrance in a wintry area of the Nevernever in a cheery tone with an Oxford accent.
"But I endure thanks to excellent breeding, a background in preparatory academics, and metric tons of British fortitude."
What Happened to the Mouse?: Invoked in Battle Ground. Drakul hits him with a teleportation spell nobody involved in the fight has ever seen before, sending him to parts unknown. He doesn't reappear in the denouement after the Battle of Chicago is over and is presumed dead.

Thorsen

A grizzled veteran who has survived a lot of combat and now leads his own cadre of Wardens.

Bullying a Dragon: Worries about this when preparing to fight Harry, to the point where he is visibly reluctant to actually start the fight — regardless of the fact that his forces outnumber Harry substantially. However, he's still willing to do it if Mai gives the order.
Embarrassing Nickname: Dresden makes up a bunch of increasingly ridiculous nicknames for him on the basis of his Scandinavian heritage, including "Bjork", "Yorgi", "Berserkergang", and "Bjorn Bjorngunnarson". Fortunately, Dresden doesn't say these names aloud.
Old Soldier: His actual age isn't known, but he's seen much more combat than most of the other Wardens and is very well-experienced.
Somebody Doesn't Love Raymond: He, along with most of the rest of the veteran Wardens, dislikes Harry.

Simmons

Another veteran Warden.

The Ghost: Morgan mentions him, but he's not actually shown.
One-Steve Limit: Averted; there is an EMT in Dead Beat named Gary Simmons.

"Lucky"

A member of Ancient Mai's staff.

Butt-Monkey: First seen half-frozen after being tasked with delivering a message from Mab. Harry next meets him at Warden Headquarters, where he's stationed after breaking his ankle and thus being unable to help search for Morgan.
Ironic Nickname: Given all his injuries, Harry's nickname for him of "Lucky" (which he fortunately doesn't actually state aloud) is very ironic.

Ilyana

A trainee Warden who attends a lecture by Harry on investigating potential supernatural threats. Appears in "AAAA Wizardry".

Character Development: Learns to be less overconfident as Dresden explains how he misread a situation and almost hurt the family he was trying to help.
Combat Pragmatist: At first she doesn't see the point of spending time analyzing exactly what kind of monster is causing problems instead of just killing it right away. Dresden disabuses her of this idea in short order, pointing out that you have to know what the monster actually is to know how to kill it.
Phenotype Stereotype: A Russian with very pale skin and ice-blue eyes.
Pride: Seems to have difficulty understanding the concept that she could make a mistake or misread a situation. As such, she questions Dresden whenever he counsels caution or warns that a Warden's actions may cause unexpected problems if they don't fully understand what the situation is.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: With McKenzie. Ilyana is the serious one, and McKenzie is the comical one.

McKenzie

Another trainee Warden who attends a lecture by Harry on investigating potential supernatural threats. Appears in "AAAA Wizardry".

Character Development: Grows somewhat more serious over the course of the story, from cracking jokes at the beginning to soberly analyzing what happened and what should be done next to prevent future problems in the end.
Class Clown: Makes pleasant jokes during the lecture, such as wondering — after Harry says it's important to analyze the threats—how he persuaded an ogre to sit down on a couch like one would do at a psychologist's office.
Pop-Cultured Badass: Or badass-in-training, anyways. He's got the Pop Culture down, and even references The Avengers (2012) during the story.
Straight Man and Wise Guy: With Ilyana. McKenzie is the comical one, and Ilyana is serious.

Kostikos

A younger Warden who was seen guarding the Murphy house along with Chandler to use as a base during the Small Favor case.

Spear Carrier: His only appearance is a brief mention in Small Favor.

Kowalski

A trainee Warden who fought the Chicago Kemmlerites.

Character Death: Killed by the shades resurrected by the Corpsetaker.
Red Shirt: Doesn't get much characterization before he dies.

Justin DuMorne

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/justin_4.PNG

Harry's first mentor, teacher . . . and enemy.

Harry's and Elaine's adoptive father, first mentor and Warden turned Warlock. He was raising Harry to become one of his enforcers but was killed in self-defense by Harry. He also took Bob after Kemmler's final death.

Abusive Parents: To Harry and Elaine, if Harry's testimony is anything to go by, physically and emotionally. Really, Lord Raith is the only parent in the series (adopted or otherwise) who is worse than DuMorne.
Asshole Victim: Easily one of the biggest in the whole series. Treated Harry and Elaine like utter garbage, subjecting the later to brutal Mind Rape and then sicced an Outsider on the former when he ran away from home. Literally no one is ever shown to be sad about DuMorne's death.
Bait the Dog: Him giving Harry a baseball glove and playing catch with him during a flashback in Ghost Story isn't an act of genuine kindness — it's actually just a depressing Call-Forward to how he supposedly taught Harry how to use a shield according to Small Favor.
Brainwashed and Crazy: In "Journal," Morgan notes that he suspects that DuMorne was infected by Nemesis, and was trying to infect both Elaine and Harry.
Dirty Cop: The fantasy equivalent, at least, as he was a Warden who had gone full warlock & become a cruel, abusive monster. It is even strongly implied that he used his position of power to keep Elaine and Harry isolated from other members of the White Council who could have helped save them from his abusive treatment.
Even Evil Can Be Loved: One of the more tragic elements of Justin's character is that, despite him having been a despicable and abhorrent Hate Sink, he was still the first caregiver to show Harry seemingly genuine affection since the death of his father. As such, even into the present day, Harry is clearly holding onto a slight hope that Justin did sincerely care about him to at least some degree despite all evidence to the contrary. Notably, Lea actually comes across as the Only Sane Man in Ghost Story when she gives some Brutal Honesty to Harry in how he's viewing Justin with rose-tinted glasses, attempting to ascribe some potentially good qualities to someone he loved when the truth of the matter is that Justin viewed him and Elaine only as potentially useful weapons to discard if they proved useless/dangerous.
- To a slightly lesser degree, the same can also be said for Elaine; as Harry muses in White Night when Elaine is discussing the "laundry list" of mental health disorders she's been struggling with since escaping from Justin's Mind Rape, the mere fact that her surrogate father had turned on her before dying in a fire is in and of itself more than enough reason for her mental state having gotten so screwed up.
Evil Mentor: To Harry and Elaine.
Fallen Hero: DuMorne used to be a Warden, and became a ruthless warlock who summoned Outsiders to his aid and whom Harry was forced to kill in self-defense.
Hate Sink: Justin DuMorne was not only a powerful warlock who consorted with Outsiders (a.k.a. the Omnicidal Maniac Big Bads of the whole franchise), but was a disgustingly realistic portrait of a horribly Abusive Parent to Harry and Elaine, with him even subjecting the latter to Mind Rape in order to control her and also hitting the two of them with baseballs in order to teach them how to make force shields. Seriously, Rudolph and Lord Raith are probably the only characters in the whole series who are more despicable and unlikable than DuMorne is.
Hidden Agenda Villain: At one point Harry muses on the idea that, with both him and Elaine having been Starborn (wizards whose magic is much more easily able to affect Outsiders and are also immune to the corruptive influence of Nemesis), that Justin was somehow molding them to fight against Outsiders in some greater plan, and that by fighting back and escaping, he ruined that plan and set back humanity in the rising war against the Outsiders that they now face. He's quickly disabused of the notion when it's brought up that Justin was inherently selfish in his actions and, even if he did have some plan to fight Outsiders, it would have been one ultimately for his own benefit.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Killed by one of the abused children he intended to use as a Laser Guided Tyke Bomb for his own uses. Furthermore, the child in question (Harry) was goaded into it by the Outsider that DuMorne had summoned to kill him.
Jerkass: Harry frequently mentions that Justin put him and Elaine through quite a lot of physical and emotional abuse. Just one example includes how he would throw baseballs at Harry and Elaine to get them to learn how to make Deflector Shields.
Laser Guided Tyke Bomb: This was his intentions with Elaine and Harry, though for what exact intention is kept vague.
Manipulative Bastard: He isolated Harry and Elaine, and it's implied that he not only knew about their relationship, but subtly encouraged it and manipulated it to further isolate them from their peers.
Mind Rape: Used mental magic to subject this to Elaine and also planned to do to Harry so he could have his own little cadre of Starborn at his beck and call.
Mysterious Past: Not only did he aid in the White Council's fight against Heinrich Kemmler, but he also knew a lot about Outsiders and was a contact of Margaret LeFay (Harry's mother).
Obviously Evil: In the RPG, Harry sheepishly admits that DuMorne only dressing in black silk and leather along with carving the end of his staff into a cobra should have rung an alarm bell or two.
Parental Substitute: He was the adopted guardian of both Harry and Elaine.
Posthumous Character: Killed by Harry before the series began.
Separated by a Common Language: It get Played for Laughs more often than not, but this is one of the more carefully thought-out and cruel aspects of DuMorne's training of Harry and Elaine. The point of a Language of Magic in the Dresdenverse is to insulate the caster's mind against the raw forces of magic they command. It has to be a language not used in other circumstances so a wizard doesn't cast spells accidentally, fluency in the language is generally a downside, and it seems to be almost impossible to change once you start using it. The language DuMorne chose to teach them in? Latin. The common language of the White Council, used in literally every formal interaction between capital-W Wizards? Also Latin. From the very start, he was trying to isolate his pet enforcers from other wizards.
Training from Hell: Literally the only good thing that can be said about DuMorne is that him practicing this is a pretty good reason behind why Elaine and Harry are both so competent and dangerous in the present.
Unwitting Pawn: Ghost Story implies that he was one for He Who Walks Behind.
Villainous Legacy: Let's see... Not only did his status as an Abusive Parent help ensure why Harry and Elaine are so dysfunctional as adults, but his Mind Rape of Elaine caused her to develop numerous mental health issues that have plagued her into the present day and Harry being forced to kill him with magic in self-defense has forever tainted his soul with Black Magic, helping drive Harry's Fatal Flaw regarding his lust for power. Oh, and he also inadvertently left Bob in Harry's care.

Other Members

For Samuel Peabody, see The Outsiders

Margaret LeFay Dresden

Margaret Gwendolyn McCoy LeFay Dresden

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/margaret_4.png

Harry's deceased mother. Known to have been a maverick in the White Council — to the point where she was under surveillance from the Wardens for suggesting "alternate uses" to the Laws of Magic. The repercussions of her actions are still being revealed. She has not yet and probably never will appear directly in the series; consequently, most of the below examples are inference or outright speculation.

All Girls Want Bad Boys: At first. Her relationship with Lord Raith, the King of the White Court likely has some merit to this.
All Women Are Lustful: invoked Amusingly, it seems that Harry and Thomas apparently came by their libidos honestly, what with Word of God stating that her motive for shacking up with Lord Raith was "awesome vampire sex." Needless to say, that royally backfired.
Dating Catwoman: Deconstructed when it turns out that her relationship with Lord Raith was what ultimately caused her death.
Dating What Daddy Hates: Given how much Ebenezar despises White Court vampires, it's heavily implied that at least part of why Margaret shacked up with Lord Raith was her trying to get back at her father.
Dead Person Conversation: Using some carefully applied mental magic she had previously set up, she manages to appear to her sons postmortem through a soulgaze between the two.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: Seems that way at first, but further books have revealed that she was far from a saint.
Death by Childbirth: Though it was actually due to an entropy curse caused by Lord Raith — but not before she laid a brutal death curse on him.
Did Not Think This Through: This was basically her Fatal Flaw, as while she was an incredibly powerful and clever wizard, she was pretty terrible at long-term planning and reasoning the consequences of her actions, with it being mentioned that she fell in love with Malcolm Dresden while on the lam fleeing from her numerous enemies that were finally coming after her after she screwed someone over one too many times.
Extra-Dimensional Shortcut: Even amongst the wizards of the White Council, Margaret's knowledge of the Ways was acknowledged as nearly unmatched, with only the Gatekeeper being as proficient as (if not more than) she was, which made it especially hard for the White Council to control or monitor her. It's stated in the text without hyperbole that she could "be in Beijing at breakfast, Rome at lunch, Seattle for supper, and stop for coffee in Sydney in-between".
Fatal Flaw: Her brilliance blinding her from reality. LeFay was insanely clever, but often wasn't that good at logically thinking through the consequences of her actions.
- For instance, she advocated for the White Council to become more active in the non-magical world because their immense power could be used for so much better causes, but Luccio later points out to Harry how she was incredibly shortsighted in this viewpoint and didn't realize that the Council primarily exists just to keep wizards and warlocks in check, not police the world (which would be a completely impossible and self-destructive endeavor). It's notable that Harry, despite being in his early thirties at most when this subject comes up, instantly works it through once Luccio points him in the right direction, whereas his mother — who lived for over a century — either never did or didn't until the last years of her life.
- Similarly, as noted above, her main reason for hooking up with Lord Raith was the "awesome vampire sex." Apparently, she didn't consider the negative aspects of hooking up with the king of the succubi very well.
Generation Xerox: Just like her son Harry, Margaret LeFay was a Rebellious Spirit among the White Council, a major Deadpan Snarker, possessed a remarkably high libido, make numerous dealings and "friendships" among The Fair Folk (after all, the Leansidhe is Harry's Fairy Godmother thanks to Margaret), had a problem with thinking through the consequences of her actions (though she was even worse at it than Harry), and was remarkably tall.
Hero of Another Story: From what little is hinted of them, her colorful adventures among the White Council and Courts both Sidhe & Vampire could have their own entire series.
In the Blood: Lord Raith actually tells Harry flat out that she was just as much of a smartass as he is.
Insufferable Genius: By all accounts, she was almost as brilliant a wizard as she was a chore to hang out with. Goodman Grey, in Skin Game, ruefully calls her a "piece of work", and directly compares her to his father, a skinwalker.
Loophole Abuse: According to Luccio, this was the biggest reason for Margaret being the black sheep of the White Council. She frequently skirted around the Laws of Magic to show how wizards could still cause plenty of harm and take advantage of people in order to goad the White Council into updating their laws and enforcement. For reasons both good and bad, it did not win her many friends.
Love Redeems: Falling in love with Malcolm Dresden, and breaking off with whoever she was hanging out with at the time, is implied to have saved her from a very bad end. How bad, one might ask? Chauncy, a demon, tends to have an "Almost got her" reaction to her. Nicodemus Archeleone has 'fond memories' of her. Hell, she had a son with Lord Raith!
Mayfly–December Romance: As a magical practitioner, her relationship with Harry's father Malcolm had shades of this, and she's suggested to have been over a century old when she had Harry (though given how much time she spent in the Nevernever, it's unclear how old she was physically). In a bit of tragic irony, he ended up outliving her.
Meaningful Name: The title LeFay was given to her because of her many connections and dealings with the Sidhe.
Meaningful Rename: Changes reveals her birth name is Margaret McCoy.
Memento Macguffin: Is the source of one to her sons Harry and Thomas. At first, Harry wears a pentacle-shaped pendant on a necklace that he'd had since birth that he uses sometimes as a ritual focus but otherwise has no magical properties. That changes when Harry also receives a gem meant to fit inside the pendant that is Margaret's self-made map of the Ways. Given that the Ways constantly change, this is exceptionally important, because she figured out the pattern (meaning that it also functions as a predictive algorithm). Additionally, the identical silver pentacles she gave both of her sons help serve as one of the main factors from which Thomas is able to convince Harry that he's his elder half-brother.
Missing Mom: She died giving birth to Harry.
Posthumous Character: She died before the series began, but her choices and actions still affect both her children, and she makes an appearance via an impression she left on both her sons that allows her to talk to them when they soulgaze each other.
Rage Against the Mentor: Towards McCoy, her own father.
Rebellious Spirit: To the White Council's strict and morally-lacking views on the Seven Rules of Magic. See Loophole Abuse. Of course, this also has somewhat unsavory manifestations too, such as her relationship with Lord Raith.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: To Malcolm Dresden, eventually.
Sins of Our Fathers: She left quite a burden behind for Harry to bear. What's even worse is that he still doesn't know all of what it is.
So Proud of You: In what's easily one of the most touching moments out of the entire series, she specifically tells Harry that she's so proud of him and the man he grew up to become during his and Thomas' soulgaze.
Spirit Advisor: Briefly, when Thomas and Harry soulgaze each other, as she left an impression for both of them to talk to, one that was somehow up to date on current events (such as Justine's believed death) and able to observe both sides of the soulgaze. We don't know what she said to Thomas, but she gave Harry the insight into what she did to Lord Raith.
Taking You with Me: Downplayed. She knew Lord Raith was the one responsible for killing her, but his magical defenses were too good for her to kill him outright with her death curse... so instead she somehow used it to remove his ability to feed. This would not only kill him in a very slow way, but it also crippled the White Court for at least a generation. Rather than letting his weakness be known by his treacherous subordinates, Lord Raith withdrew, changing the White Court agenda from outward-looking and expansionist to conservative and preserving their holdings.
Vampires Are Sex Gods: Invoked. Word of God is that she firmly believed in this, and was even dating Lord Raith at first solely for the opportunity to have "awesome vampire sex." Unfortunately, it really backfired on her due to Lord Raith being The Sociopath.
Walking Spoiler: She's the mother of both Harry and Thomas, and is also Ebenezar McCoy's daughter.

Klaus Schneider

Klaus "the Toymaker" Schneider

Klaus is an old, respectable, and honest wizard, though considered a bit on the young side to join the Senior Council. Belgian by birth, he is a short man with white hair, a large belly, and love of enchanting toys and using them as his foci. He briefly fought on the side of the Allied Nations in World War II when a warlock was helping the Nazis out.

Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear if he genuinely didn't want LaFortier's spot, or if Langtry got him to decline. Ebenezar suspects the latter.
Badass Santa: If Kringle represents the myth version of Santa Claus, Klaus can be seen as the mortal man.
The Cavalry: To the Allied Forces during the Battle of the Bulge. The Nazis had a warlock helping them fight, so the Senior Council sent Klaus to help them out.
The Creon: Somewhat, at least. He's been nominated for the Senior Council twice, and both times turned down the offer. However, it's unknown whether or not he did want the seat the second time and Langtry persuaded him to turn it down.
Old Master: He's Senior Council level-material and was nominated for the position at least twice, though in both cases declined.
Red Baron: He is called Klaus the Toymaker for his habit of putting his magic into children's toys.
Spanner in the Works: In Summer Knight the Merlin hoped to elevate him to the open position on the Senior Council. Klaus didn't play ball and openly gave his support to Ebenezar instead.
Underestimating Badassery: A warlock summoned SS-styled demons to help the Nazis and thought Klaus would be an utter pushover. Klaus used his enchanted toys to beat them back. Word of Jim says his favorite image is these demons being destroyed with just a windup wooden duck.

"Bluebeard"

A wizard with blue hair whom Dresden sees during the White Council meeting in Summer Knight.

Spear Carrier: Only has a couple lines, and never appears again after the meeting.

Characters / The Dresden Files – The White Council

Merlin

Arthur Langtry, the Merlin

Ebenezar McCoy, the Blackstaff

Joseph "Injun Joe" Listens-to-Wind

Ancient Mai

Martha Liberty

Rashid the Gatekeeper

Gregori Cristos

Aleron LaFortier

Simon Pietrovich

Captain Anastasia Luccio

Donald Morgan

Carlos Ramirez

"Wild" Bill Meyer

Yuki Yoshimo

Tina and Terry Trailman

Chandler

Thorsen

Simmons

"Lucky"

Ilyana

McKenzie

Kostikos

Kowalski

Justin DuMorne

Margaret Gwendolyn McCoy LeFay Dresden

Klaus "the Toymaker" Schneider

"Bluebeard"

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Index

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Characters / The Dresden Files – The White Council

Edit Locked

Merlin

Arthur Langtry, the Merlin

Ebenezar McCoy, the Blackstaff

Joseph "Injun Joe" Listens-to-Wind

Ancient Mai

Martha Liberty

Rashid the Gatekeeper

Gregori Cristos

Aleron LaFortier

Simon Pietrovich

Captain Anastasia Luccio

Donald Morgan

Carlos Ramirez

"Wild" Bill Meyer

Yuki Yoshimo

Tina and Terry Trailman

Chandler

Thorsen

Simmons

"Lucky"

Ilyana

McKenzie

Kostikos

Kowalski

Justin DuMorne

Margaret Gwendolyn McCoy LeFay Dresden

Klaus "the Toymaker" Schneider

"Bluebeard"

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Index

Next