Characters / Zero Sight

Lamba Squad

A group of students chosen specifically for their combat prowess and resistance to vampire mind manipulation. The following tropes applies to the squad as a whole:

• No-Sell: They all have varying levels of resistance against the vampires mind manipulation. It is the main reason they are chosen to be part of Lamba, since the vampire's ambassador (Rei) is part of their squad and the staff wanted to make sure she could not mind control them.
• Badass Crew: These guys can cast Death Ray and Invisibility spells, teleport in and out of buildings, create cones of silence, kill werewolves and trolls with box cutters, encase their fists in fire.
• Deadpan Snarker: Everyone gets at least one line in the two books.
• Training from Hell: They undergo one at the hands of Algacil Spinoza, one ICE's agents. The first day ends with their captain's confidence crushed and four of them in medical care.

Dieter Resnick

My libido had just burst out of the closet and was tripping over the furniture yelling "Who? What? Where?" (Please excuse him. He doesn't get out much).

The main protagonist of Zero Sight. The sole child of an abusive single father, he is Lambda Squad's newest member and, because of his ignorance about the world he just entered, one of the few who does not have prejudice against Rei. His narration and interactions with Rei, Jules and Dante is the reason for much of the series humour.

Dieter is 18 years old, 6'1'' and badly needs a haircut.

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• Accidental Pervert: To Rei, twice. Both are her fault since her dictionary lacks the word "modesty".
• Badass in Distress: Gets captured during the battle at the Over the Top. He is rescued by Rei, but the manner in which it happens is part of the reason for the book's Downer Ending.
• Catchphrase: Stars above!
• Combat Clairvoyance: He calls it Sight and it warns him of where blows are coming from.
• Combat Pragmatist: Being the weakest mage in the Lambda Squad, he frequently resorts to sneak attacks.
• Delinquents: It wasn't quite his fault, but he got involved into multiple fights while in school, the last of which ended with him killing a boy.
• Desperately Craves Affection: With a Missing Mom and abusive dad as parents, its no wonder Dieter feels so good about being treated by Dr. Montgomery during his hospital stay and gets attached to Rei so quickly after she patches him up.
• Determinator: Is dying from being electrocuted and lost most of the fingers in his hand, but still manages to create a Psychic Link between himself and Rei and conjure an Absurdly Sharp Blade for Rei to fight the mooks.
• Dhampyr: Quarter vampire. It's the reason Rei's blood heals him and Hans fails to turn him.
• Fainting: On multiple occasions in the first book. He gets over it in the second.
• First-Person Smartass: His running commentary provides many of the series funniest moments.
• Heroic BSoD: Has one when he finds out he enjoys murdering people.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Dante.
• Idiot Hero: Dieter is very intelligent, but often operates on instinct rather than thinking things through.
  • Attacks a mage preparing an electricity spell using a metal pipe.
  • Refuses to take the time to learn the truth about the creatures and myths of the world he lives in, even though multiple characters tell him to. This gets taken advantage of when an apparently friendly character gives him an incredibly obvious magic bomb telling him it's a departing gift.
• I Thought Everyone Could Do That: Shortly after arriving in Elliot, Dieter watches as Ichigo helps a girl escape from a spell that backfired. As he describes what he is seeing, Dean Albright is surprised that Dieter already has the Sight and Dieter comments that he thought it was something normal for mages. Becomes one of the serie's Nightmare Fuel when Albright explains how a mage acquires it.
• Mindlink Mates: With Rei.
• Missing Mom: She left shortly after giving birth to him. His father destroyed all her photos and refuses to talk about her.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In his attempt to stop the Big Bad's plan, Dieter unknowingly breaks a containment spell that was holding... something.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: His jokes frequently involve mentions of Star Wars other series.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Is warned multiple times by Rei not to react to the sights he is about to see, or interfere, while they are in one of the Bathory's safe houses. Still walks to a dying girl to comfort her, almost causing a battle they have no chance of winning.
• Selective Obliviousness: Is so infatuated with Rei that he downplays or ignores the fact the she feeds on people for a living. Various characters call him on it.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: Feeling intimidated by the prospect of studying in Elliot College, an elite institution described as the academic equivalent of ancient Sparta, he decides that, if he can read through Ulysses during his trip, he will be ready to tackle college courses.
• Sharing a Body: With the very evil... thing... in his head.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Jules assumes Dieter and Rei had sex after he tells her they went to her cabin to dry themselves in front of the fireplace. Dieter denies it vehemently, much to the dismay of the rest of the students in the cafeteria, who are eavesdropping.
• The Nicknamer: Only to Rei though.
• The Smart Guy: Science fair winner and full-merit scholarship awardee. The only student in Elliot to beat Jules' score in biochemistry.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: The first time Dieter's powers and his Enemy Within awaken, he kills a boy who was about to kill him.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Coffee and pancakes.
• Took a Level in Badass: Lampshaded by Rei, who comments that whereas his spells initially only killed a single person, now he is up to four.

Rei Acerba Bathory

Dieter, I cannot have you waking around in public covered in our enemies' blood. Relations are tenuous and appearances matter.

A second year student at Elliot College and ambassador to the vampires, she is the first of her kind to be accepted. Due to a childhood spent living cloistered among her kin Rei knows little of modern society and has odd speech and mannerisms. Even though she sides with the heroes, Rei is not much different from the rest of her evil kin, specially when her vampire side takes over.

Rei is 19 years old, 5'10'', weights around 90 pounds, has long black hair and blue eyes that turn grey when she is hungry. She has a preference for black clothes, fatigues and dislikes wearing bras. Her accent is a mix of Chicago and Hungary.

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• After-Action Patch-Up: Uses a black band-aid to cover Dieter's head wound and her own blood to heal his burned hands.
• Ambadassador: She is a badass and the vampires' ambassador in Elliot College.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: She is well versed in literature, knows enough medicine to understand that if the dermis is not cut sutures are not needed, and has some of the highest grades in Elliot.
• Berserk Button:
  • So far only the series Greater-Scope Villain and one of her mooks survived after harming Dieter in front of Rei. At one point Rei goes One-Winged Angel to protect him.
  • A minor one, but she gets mad every time Dieter calls her "partner", since that is the word used to describe people who are Weft Pairs. They are one and will be killed if anyone else finds out.
• Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Jules' Betty and Dieter's Archie.
• Blind Obedience: To Dean Albright. When one of the characters asks Rei why she is helping them when the big bad's plan would not affect her or her family, her answer is "Because Joseph Albright asked me to."
• Blood Knight: Loves to fight and ignores the main advantages that vampires have over normal humans in favour of a frontal attack.
  Dieter: Those crazed eyes, that gleeful smile... Rei had totally lost it. She was battle-mad.
• Blue Blood: Related to Elizabeth Báthory.
• Characterization Marches On: When she is introduced during the bus trip to Elliot, Rei's speech patterns are strange and she uses wrong words at times (asking Dieter if he was broken, for example), even though she seems to speak fluent english. She is also genuinely surprised that Dieter wouldn't know her name. A few chapters later the oddness is limited to her constant use of alliterations and archaic words and she is much better socially adjusted.
• Catchphrase: "My most ADJECTIVE SUBSTANTIVE". Only to Dieter though.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Gets irritated whenever Dieter mentions Jules. Rushes back to the hotel they are staying to stop the two from taking their relationship further even though she had just delivered a The Reason You Suck speech to him.
• Cute Little Fangs: She tries her best to hide them and even practices smiling without showing her teeth.
• Dark Action Girl: Abandons her mask of civility often.
  • See Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique below.
  • Feeds on living (and non living) humans and werewolves every chance she gets.
  • Kills a group of Mexican hitman, leaving only one alone. Proceeds to psychologically torment him.
  • While in vampire mode holds down a frightened Dieter long enough to remind him that she can feed on him any time she wants and there's nothing he can do about it.
• Dark and Troubled Past: At eight years old she killed her only friend/caretaker when the vampire's urge to feed manifested for the first time. It torments her to this day.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Goes from intentionally acting like a monster in front of Dieter trying to push him away, to giving him a goodbye kiss at the ending of the second book.
• Determinator: Tries to get back up on her feet after getting electrocuted, even with her face bashed in, multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Asks Dieter if he succeeded in killing a classmate that had goaded him into a fight and later decided not to warn him about the magic bomb in his pocket because he lost her blood coolers.
• Drunk on Milk: In her case, on blood.
• Homeschooled Kids: Its the reason for her odd speech and little knowledge of modern society.
• In-Series Nickname: Ms. Sneakums, Ms. Fangtastic, Count Chocula, Fanger, Bunnycola, Baby Rays.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Flays alive a mage mook and licks her hand clean in front of him. Becomes an example of Torture Is Ineffective because the guy had no memories.
• Honorary Princess: Despite not being royalty, she is considered a princess among the vampires. Ichigo even calls her Bathory-Hime.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters:
  Rei: We (vampires) take what we need, and you call us monsters. You starve your own kind, and you call yourselves shareholders.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Uses her body to soften Dieter's fall from a cliff, getting her skin pulverised, nose crushed and neck cut. Calmly talks to Dieter while holding him against a tree with a hand and using the other to reset her nose.
• Mindlink Mates: With Dieter.
• Noble Demon: Lampshaded by Dieter.
  Dieter: Rei might be a killer but she is not a sneak. She'd probably call you out in the middle of the quad, hit you with a glove, and demand to see your second.
• Non P.O.V. Protagonist: Shows up early in the books, gets most of the screen time aside from Dieter, but we never see her thoughts.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When her eyes shift from blue to pale gray, it means her vampire aspect has taken over.
• Shameless Fan Service Girl: Swimming naked in your college's lake? Check. Taking a shower next to the guy you met a few hours ago? Check. Offering said guy a picture of you naked as a reward? Check.
• Smart People Play Chess: With Ichigo.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Dieter thinks covering her black hair should be a breach of the Geneva Conventions, at 5'10'' she is only smaller than Sheila, and her she only loses to Dieter when it comes to snark.
• The Reason You Suck:
  • To Monique, questioning why she had let a single opponent send four of their teammates to the infirmary while she, the team's captain, was unharmed.
  • To Dieter after he implies she is monster who feeds on children.
  Rei slaps Dieter
  Dieter: I thought you wanted honesty
  Rei wipes off her hand like it was dirty
  Rei: Indeed. And now I want something better than you.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Vomits all over Dieter after drinking too much blood. The description if graphic and it lasts a good thirty pages until he has to chance to finally clean it.
• When She Smiles: Smirk actually. Dieter wishes she had a smirk button he could press, or that there were smirk sales.

Jules Nelson

Awen's Ghost, Dieter. Stop yer gapin'. Year fockin' tie be on fire.

A genius mage, druid, protector of animals against vampires, and Dieter's second magic teacher.

Jules 19 years old, has blonde hair, green eyes and dresses like an old grandma most of the time. Her accent is typically Irish.

• Accidental Pervert: She enters Dieter's hotel room to filch his deodorant and ends up getting a full frontal when he walks out of the bathroom naked.
• Badass Adorable: A small blond girl with heavy Irish accent, who is the youngest adept mage of her generation
• Badass Bookworm: Earned Elliot's lone Dean's Scholarship.
• Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Rei's Veronica and Dieter's Archie
• Beautiful All Along: First when all her clothes are lost during the attack on Elliot and she has to borrow Sadie's jeans and t-shirt, which show off her curves. Then again when Ayaan forces her to wear a green cocktail dress to a formal dinner.
• Catchphrase: Awen's Ghost!
• Druid: She is one.
• Exact Words: Uses Madame Freemont wording of her offering for Xenia to include Rei in it, preventing the woman from killing her.
• Hot Teacher: She is hot and Dieter's magic teacher.
• Hot for Student: For Dieter
• I Just Want to Be Normal: She is the only person in her family who cannot scry.
• Mundane Utility: Uses a fae as her personal shopper

Jay Dante

Bud, it got real emotional in there. I'd give the porcelain goddess some time to breath.

Lambda’s lieutenant, Dieter’s best friend and roommate, gifted at shrouding spells. He grew in a farm in one of the border states, where vampires might kill you at any moment. Dante is shy and quiet (at first), never had a girlfriend, and tends to view everything female related as good. He is interested in Sheila but is afraid of asking her out.

• Butt-Monkey: Along with Dieter he is on the receiving end of many of squad jokes. Jules even captures his walk of shame for posterity.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He is interested in Sheila, but does not have the courage to ask her out.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Dieter.
• Shipper on Deck: For Dieter and Jules.
• You Need to Get Laid: Dieter says that due to Dante's tendency of viewing everything female related as good, even cleaning the toilets in the girl's bathroom.

Sheila Mordred

Descendant of King Arthur, current wielder of Excalibur, captain of the fencing team and cataphract in training. Sheila is one of the few students in Elliot who is friends with Rei. She is is 6' tall.

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: The current wielder of Excalibur.
• Blue Blood: She descends from King Arthur.
• Statuesque Stunner: A six feet tall one.

Maria Spinoza

"And I remember you with the secretary."

• Noodle Incident: Tried to teleport her mother's paella into Elliot. The college's protective wards caused her spell to partially fail, resulting in the recipient the paella was in exploding and making Lambda Squad's dormitory stink of fish.

Rooster

"Aw, shit... she (Rei) managed to escort him without snacking? There goes my beer money."

A Catapract in training.

• Characterization Marches On: He is introduced as a stupid jock that likes to make lewd jokes and play pranks on others, but mellows a lot on the second book.
• The Big Guy: Taller than Dieter, who is 6'1'' and with abdominal muscles that wage war against each other.
• What the Hell, Hero?: To Dean Albright, when lambda squad figures out that they were chosen because of their high resistance to mind manipulation, which means that if Rei, their teammate, goes berserk they will be able to put her down.

Monique Rice

Lambda’s captain

• Traumatic Haircut: Rei gives her one after their fight and claims they have bonded and become friends. Monique disagrees.
• Killed Off for Real: At the end of the second book.
• The Captain: Promoted after Lucas' death.

Saddie

• The Mole: For Talmax.

Ichigo Fukimura

"She (Rei) would have perished if you (Dieter) were not. I would have been sad. My best chess opponent. She is most difficult to predict. Decisive, quiet and honourable..."

One of the few students in Elliot who is friends with Rei, he is the only person so far that has noticed that Rei and Dieter are a weft pair.

• Barrier Maiden: Charged at birth with restraining a demon fox.
• Smart People Play Chess: With Rei, who he considers an honourable opponent.

Elliot College

Students

• Gossipy Hens: Lampshaded by Dieter.
  Dieter: We go to a school in the sticks, gossip is life.
• Too Dumb to Live: Wait, we have a vampire student among us now? She is faster and stronger than us? She can regenerate broken ribs and a collapsed lung in seconds? She can control us just by looking us in the eyes? Her entire race is composed of evil merciless killers? I know, let's call her names and try to get her expelled. No, better yet, let's take a picture of her naked!
• Trenchcoat Brigade: The standard uniform includes a gray robe.

Dean Joseph Albright

"If she wants to lead, she cannot look at her subordinates as people. Subordinates are tools. Tools to complete one's objective with."

• After-School Cleaning Duty: To Dante and Dieter as punishment for spying on him and Rei.
• The Mentor: To both Rei and Dieter.

Magus

Gastone Spinoza

I love this one. He beats himself up ahead of time.

An ICE agent who spends three months training Lambda Squad.

• Action Dad: Maria's father.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Against Dante, Ichigo, Sheila and Rooster.

Madame Fremont

• Never Mess with Granny: A very powerful Magus with no qualms about using her power to get her way.

Dolores Fink

• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A comedic example, she is called "The Florist", for her habit of getting teenage boys drunk and bedding them.

Diego Carrera

Leader of Talmax.

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• Big Bad: His plan to revive Mexico's Ley Line involves sacrificing thousands of innocents.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Dieter says that after seeing the man for the first time.

Nostophorus & Dhampyrs

Anna Bathory, Duchess of Peoria

• Batman Gambit: Uses Talmax's plan to revive Mexico and Dieter's own hero tendencies to get him to break a containment seal holding. What it contained is not explained though.
• Blue Blood: The Duchess of Peoria, related to Elizabeth Báthory.
• Greater-Scope Villain: She is the one in control of Talmax, not Carrera.
• The Vamp: Evil, sexy, and bends the Big Bad to her will.

Hans Johansen

Oh, hush, magus. We've just started our relationship and you're already hurting my feelings.

• Ambiguously Gay: Some of the things he says to Dieter makes you wonder.

Kurtz "The Butcher" Resnick

• Abusive Parents: Crosses into nightmare fuel, as he used to beat his son so often and so badly that Dieter developed the mage's combat clairvoyance before ever knowing he was a mage.
• Action Dad: Dieter's father.
• Dhampyr: He is one.
• Meaningful Name: Resnick is the americanised spelling of Jewish Reznik, which means "Butcher"
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: You do not get a title like "The Butcher" for being a nice guy.
• Retired Badass: Used to be an ICE agent, now is a cards dealer at a Las Vegas casino.
• The Alcoholic: Drinks often and heavily. Rei says it's normal for a Dhampyrs, as a substitute for addiction for blood.

Werewolves

Trey Easton

• Half the Man He Used to Be: Rei does this to him

Humans

Lauren Curray