History Characters / ChildOfTheStormGodsAndCosmicEntities

* PostHumousCharacter: By the time of the story, she's been dead for twelve years. Of course, since she's NotQuiteDead as the White Phoenix of the Crown, this calls into question the 'posthumous' part.

* SignificantGreenEyedRedHead: Like in canon and like her first cousins once removed, Jean Grey and [[spoiler: Maddie Grey]].

* TeenPregnancy: Lily was 19 and a half when she got pregnant.

* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally. Whether it was Thor and Loki's influence - or conversly they got it from him - is a RunningGag in the series.

* ExactWords:
** [[FriendlyAddressPrivileges When he tells Harry to call him Joshua]], he's neatly avoiding a name Harry recognises - after all, it ''is'' the most common English translation of his ''actual'' name, Yeshua.
** Possible example, when he calls the place where he and Harry meet Between. Valid English translations for [[PurgatoryAndLimbo Limbo]] are hem (when speaking more generally), edge, border (land)... or in between (place). While WordOfGod has made no comment on this, it wouldn't be entirely out of character. Considering this might be taken as implying that Harry were (near) dead or otherwise out of body - it's probably best he didn't elaborate.

** He's very good at this when he wants to be - InMysteriousWays, naturally. So much so that Wanda feels a bit [[ThereAreNoCoincidences paranoid]] and positively ''nagged'' by him at one point to stop drowning her sorrows and go and reconcile with [[spoiler: her daughter]] ''already'', because of constant plot events reminding her of it. She mostly seems ruefully amused, and a little annoyed, by it. Note that it's unclear if he even ''is'' involved, whether directly [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or]] indirectly - she just ''thinks'' it would be like him.
** For a different loophole: there's no rule saying that examining someone in the role of [[JudgementOfTheDead judge of the living and the dead]] can't be dual purposed as therapeutic counseling if he's checking their soul over anyway, is there?

** However, impressively, he's also in the running for nicest all round character in the entire series (again, with the possible exception of Diana, as well as Cedric, Clark, and perhaps Michael Carpenter, the latter two of whom happen to be disciples of his).

* NoodleIncident: Apparently he, Thor and Loki hung out a very long time ago. They were supposedly a bad influence on him, though it's occasionally hinted that it [[FridgeBrilliance might have]] [[JewsLoveToArgue been]] the other way around.

* WordsCanBreakMyBones: Inverted. His chat with Harry, while primarily exactly what it is - a sympathetic ear lent to Harry's problems - subtly has lasting, beneficial effects going above and beyond good advice and counseling. Those could be due to the words being thus multi-purposed; and it's entirely possible that [[ChekhovsGun other chats]] in-story had effects yet to be revealed - including the one with Gambit.

* AffablyEvil: He's not exactly evil, more an indifferent force of nature that happens to kill a ''lot'' of people, but he's quite polite - even when Harry's threatening him.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He was apparently nearly responsible for destroying Krypton in the past. He also sends Sunniva and Harry to Sakaar.
* WorthyOpponent: Averted. Sunniva absolutely loathes him (although she acknowledges the necessity of his existence). In turn, he's surprisingly polite to Harry and Sunniva, if disconcerted at first that he's being threatened by a kid.

[[folder: Gorakhnath]]

!!Gorakhnath

-->''Because [Taliesin] was your name when we first met. And in part because it is a reminder, old friend: for that was when you were at your best.''

One of those strange entities who's a bit hard to classify, being an exceptionally powerful {{tulpa}} (psychic entity) who was created an unknown number of millennia ago by Vishnu to defeat a psychic demon called Logos. After that, he went travelling the universe in search of knowledge, meeting the Phoenix in the process. Now, he's a yogi and teacher in his own right, with one of his former students being none other than Stephen Strange himself. The two disagree philosophically, but Strange comes to him in ''Ghosts'', asking specifically for his different perspective when teaching Harry.

* BlackSheep: For the Asgardian Royal Family.

** He talks to Harry, lending him a sympathetic ear to listen to his problems after ''Forever Red'', and doing so not because of Harry's ApocalypseMaiden nature, but because... well. See the folder quote. He also pops up in ''Bloody Hell'', and though his purpose was more to give Harry a warning, he first sincerely congratulates Harry on resisting the extremely strong temptation to [[CuttingTheKnot Cut The Knot]] and save Carol by [[spoiler: going Dark Phoenix]], doing what is right rather than what is easy. Both times he appears, he provides gentle but serious advice. On the latter occasion, he also takes [[spoiler: Gambit]], who's suffering from CloningBlues aside and has a little chat with him, while also offering the same to the others present. He's pretty much the nicest member of the collected pantheons that we've seen, with the possible exception of Diana. [[JerkassGods Granted, this is not especially hard.]]

* AntiHero: While they're pretty friendly, and very fond of humanity, humanity tends to see their best face. By most human moral standards, they're capable of being astonishingly ruthless, even savage, when provoked - the effective genocide of the Dheronians (after the Dheronians committed genocide against Krypton) being a prime example. It's also hinted from time to time, usually when referring to Bor, that at various points in their history, they've been considerably more violent and less conventionally heroic. In recent times, from Bor's reign onwards, this isn't entirely their fault - [[spoiler: Malekith tried to use the Reality Stone to corrupt their entire civilisation into the psycho barbarians he imagined/needed them to be, and in Bor's case, it took. As for Asgard as a whole, it set them back by hundreds of millennia, despite attempts at mitigation]].

* WorldOfHam: Most Asgardians are very, very loud.

* AbusiveParents: He had one in Bor. Odin ''tried'' to [[BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting be better]] to Thor and Loki, and undoubtedly succeeded... but how much better is up for debate, with Harry citing the GenerationalTrauma in Book III.

* FriendlyAddressPrivileges: Essentially, all of Midgard (Earth) has these: as Odin notes in the first book, Midgardians' custom of dropping the decorum around authority figures does ''not'' translate into a lack of respect on their part (rather the opposite), and by now he knows this because the Avengers taught it to him.

** Most aptly demonstrated when he slams Chthon, who's threatening his family, face first into the floor at the Battle of London.

* CompositeCharacter: He used to be the God of Thunder and Lightning before Thor, and wielded Mjolnir. Also, being a practically forgotten eldest child of Odin gives him shades of the MCU Hela - though without the latter's homicidal inclinations or interest in the throne (which he gave up claim to at the first opportunity). In-universe, he's also both an Asgardian prince and Santa Claus.

* AnythingThatMoves: A throwaway line by Odin in the first book implies that they're responsible for the existence of winged horses. This gets a CallBack in the sequel when Harry encounters Beauxbatons' elephant-sized Abraxan horses, remembers this, and inwardly decides that Huginn and Muninn have a lot to answer for.

Yes, [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} that one]], the Son of Man, the Messiah... and generally the NiceGuy of the collected pantheons. Apparently Thor and Loki were a bad influence on him. Tends to keep himself to himself and, like his father, work through agents. Makes a direct appearance in ''Ghosts of the Past'' after the ''Forever Red'' arc, and briefly appears again after the ''Bloody Hell'' arc. Following the former, because of [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]] incident, he seems to have taken to functioning as something to Harry that the latter describes as a combination of "parole officer and social worker"[[note]]to Clark[=/=]Kal-El, when Clark quotes him.[[/note]].

** It's implied that 'the White God', of whom he is technically as an aspect, may be [[CosmicEntity an Elder God]] - though not even the other Skyfathers are all that sure what he is.

TheAntichrist of ''Literature/GoodOmens'': "the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness". As anyone who has read ''Good Omens'' knows, Adam himself had other plans about starting the apocalypse he was born to bring on. Technically he's a demigod (or equivalent), but easily as powerful as most "full" deities.

* IHaveManyNames: She's been called the Grim Reaper (not that she's grim or a reaper), Teleute, Didi and, of course, Death.

* KillItWithFire: Extends this to everything from Dementors to planets to galaxies.

* InterspeciesFriendship: Frigga reports that he was close to the Kryptonian House of El.

** The third book reveals that [[spoiler: he left linear time to help mitigate the effects of Malekith's attack on Asgard and its people]].

** When he tells Harry to call him Joshua, apart from being a [[FriendlyAddressPrivileges friendly]] way of not scaring Harry further with TheReveal by neatly avoiding a name Harry recognises - this ''is'' the most common English translation of his ''actual'' name, Yeshua.

*** The combination of both almost, but not quite, qualifies as a StealthPun and shout out [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory to]] this very wiki...

* LooksLikeJesus: Subverted. Unlike most depictions of Jesus, which have him as tall, bearded, often blue eyed and with straight (sometimes blond) hair, he ''actually'' looks more or less as if a TV series would cast a young ''Creator/DannyDevito'' for the part: a [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller short]] guy with curly black hair and brown eyes. The latter is always [[ColorCodedEyes noted]] first off by the naration - as in a setting where nearly ''everyone'' else has strikingly significant and/or flamboyant eye colors, a warm brown is very unusual by sheer contrast.\\

* LoopholeAbuse: InMysteriousWays, naturally. With a side order of ContrivedCoincidence and MaybeMagicMaybeMundane.
** So much so that [[spoiler: the Sorceress Supreme]] feels a bit [[ThereAreNoCoincidences paranoid]] and positively ''nagged'' by him at one point to stop drowning her sorrows and go and reconcile with [[spoiler: her daughter]] ''already'', because of constant plot events reminding her of it. She mostly seems ruefully amused, and a little annoyed, by it. Note that it's unclear if he even ''is'' involved, whether directly [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or]] indirectly - she just ''thinks'' it would be like him.

** It's hinted that he uses the fact he's supposed to watch [[spoiler: Harry]] for the Council Elite (as a threat) as watching ''out for'' them (as someone to be guarded). Either way, when watching there is little that slips him by (if anything) - he specifically notes that while the average cosmic entity misses a lot of things (mostly out of disinterest), he does not.

* NiceGuy: He talks to Harry, lending him a sympathetic ear to listen to his problems after ''Forever Red'', and doing so not because of Harry's ApocalypseMaiden nature, but because... well. See the folder quote. He also pops up in ''Bloody Hell'', and though his purpose was more to give Harry a warning, he first sincerely congratulates Harry on resisting the extremely strong temptation to [[CuttingTheKnot Cut The Knot]] and save Carol by [[spoiler: going Dark Phoenix]], doing what is right rather than what is easy. Both times he appears, he provides gentle but serious advice. On the latter occasion, he also takes [[spoiler: Gambit]], who's suffering from CloningBlues aside and has a little chat with him, while also offering the same to the others present.
** In short, he's pretty much the nicest member of the collected pantheons that we've seen, with the possible exception of Diana. [[JerkassGods Granted, this is not especially hard.]] However, impressively, he's also in the running for nicest all round character in the entire series (again, with the possible exception of Diana, as well as Cedric, Clark, and perhaps Michael Carpenter, the latter two of whom happen to be disciples of his).
* NiceJewishBoy: The archetypal example.

* OddFriendship: He name-drops Adam, the AntiAntichrist of ''Literature/GoodOmens'', when he's talking to Harry after the [[spoiler:Dark Phoenix incident]]. Apparently he knows him well enough to think he and Harry would get along.

** It's implied [[spoiler: (by Odin), that God the Father may be an Elder God (though according to Odin "He's not one to elaborate on such matters"); and if the story suscribes to Christian trinitarian notions, then that would include Joshua. All of this is, as usually, downplayed.]]

* TheDeadHaveNames: He uses this as a teaching tool in one scene. When [[spoiler: Harry]] is thinking about getting over all skis with supernatural power and starting a war among the gods for the sake of rescuing [[LoveMakesYouCrazy beloved]] [[spoiler: Carol]], Joshua takes them to London's battle memorial stone and has [[spoiler: Harry]] read him all the names of the fallen in the battle of the gods that took place there. Going by [[spoiler: Harry]] being much more considerate of unintended consequences to potential bystanders in later chapters, it's very effective.
->There were [...] a lot of [names].

* WordsCanBreakMyBones: Downplayed to the point of MaybeMagicMaybeMundane, but meet the grand master: up to and including Words Can Be A SoulCuttingBlade[[note]]used for mental trauma surgery[[/note]]. In line with his badass pacifist tendencies it's only used for [[MundaneUtility mundane purposes]], though.
** [[spoiler: His chat with Harry, while primarily exactly what it is - a sympathetic ear lent to Harry's problems - subtly has lasting, beneficial effects going above and beyond good advice and counseling. Those could be due to the words being thus multi-purposed; and it's entirely possible that [[ChekhovsGun other chats]] in-story had effects yet to be revealed - including the one with Gambit.]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: He has yet to make a true appearance, but he was responsible for giving Harry Dresden Soulfire (like he did in canon), only several years early this time. So far, Dresden's used it to heavily injure Gravemoss and Voldemort.

TheAntichrist of ''Literature/GoodOmens'': "the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness". As anyone who has read Good Omens knows, Adam himself had other plans about starting the apocalypse he was born to bring on. Technically he's a demigod (or equivalent), but easily as powerful as most "full" deities.

* AntiAntiChrist: Was expected to destroy the world, and didn't. Adam was born to start Armageddon, the Last Battle between Heaven and Hell.

* GodzillaThreshold: Wanda's reaction to Constantine's intentions to get him involved in the finale of ''Child of the Storm'' implies this - though given his disposition, it's probably because he just ''really'' doesn't want to get involved.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: It's stated that Harry and Adam would "get on" like a house on fire if they met.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: The Council Elite. They bicker, a lot, and they're stood off by Odin and cowed into submission. However, Odin goes to face them in full expectation that he'll probably die protecting his grandson, and Strange's ''job'' is fighting Skyfather plus level beings (and he had armed himself with [[spoiler: the Tesseract]]). As Thor and Joshua warn Harry, they are ''not'' to be underestimated. They're in the same order of power as Odin, who Harry himself noted could squash him without trying should it ever come to that (Phoenix related interventions excepted), and they a) live more or less forever, b) hold grudges, c) specialise in DisproportionateRetribution.

* BigGood: Of the Hindu Pantheon. He was also one of the gods who is stated to have faith in Harry's ability to [[spoiler: control the Phoenix within him.]]
** It's also stated that the Hindu Pantheon was one of the only ones to keep watching over Earth after the Celestials ordered the pantheons to cease direct interference with it.

* TopGod: The ancient head of the Egyptian pantheon, and extremely powerful with it.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Even the nicer ones do things for reasons that can be quite alien to humans, largely because of their responsibilities and their differing perceptions of the universe. They also have to follow Rules, ones that are unclear (but apparently very clear on the subject of offspring).

* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Because she's really quite a nice person (for a somewhat loose value of "person"), most encounters with her fall into this. Dumbledore and Carol both have pleasant conversations with her at different points, and she's welcoming and polite to [[spoiler: Maddie,]] Jono, Sir Fix, and Dresden.

* LoopholeAbuse: She's limited in how she can intervene, since her kind are bound by Rules. However, she helps out where she can, with chapter 75 being the most blatant example - not only does she explain to Carol how she's NotQuiteDead (she's wearing the Green Lantern Ring, thanks to Doctor Strange, which has decided to make its full abilities apparent), she buses in the late Alan Scott, former owner of said ring, to give her a crash course in how to use it.
** In ''Ghosts'', she, Destruction, Dream and Delirium all bend the rules as far as they can to help [[spoiler: Harry.]]

** For this reason, Frigga very bluntly informs Harry (who was looking like he was planning on trying to get Her involved) that She is ''not'' one who takes being summoned well. Dumbledore's account of what happened to the Clan Akkaba after they tried that trick only underlines this point. Granted, She probably wouldn't have minded in his case, but that wasn't known at the time (even if Odin did suspect it).

* GoodIsNotNice: While Lily is a pretty sweet person (though she can be almost obnoxiously cryptic sometimes, like her son), Destruction as a whole is, after all, Destruction, and has no problem with destroying whole planets if She decides that they're past salvation/need to be destroyed for a greater purpose.

Mentioned in ''Child of the Storm'', Galactus is a being that devours worlds to feed himself, in order to keep beings far worse than himself sealed away. He finally appears in ''The Phoenix and the Serpent.''

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Apparently, approximating the AboveGoodAndEvil approach - he serves a cosmic purpose, no more, no less. Sunniva still loathes him.
* ConnectedAllAlong: As it turns out, he's an agent of the Phoenix in Her role as Destruction.

** When he tells Harry to call him Joshua, this neatly avoids saying a name Harry recognises - but it ''is'' the most common English translation of his ''actual'' name, Yeshua.

* PopCulturedBadass: They enjoy human television, and Huginn quotes ''Film/StarWars'' in the first book.