History Characters / Ravenloft

* BroughtDownToNormal: A Vistani who undergoes the phenomena known as "static burn" loses their magical powers, overt and subtle, ''permanently''.

* FantasticRacism: Held a rather justified abhorrence of the Vistani for years as a monster-hunter. He eventually got over this.

* DimensionalTraveler: Perhaps the most impressive power of the Vistani is that they have the ability to not only freely travel between the various realms of the Demiplane of Dread with perfect accuracy and ignoring all attempts to blockade their travel, but also to move between the Demiplane of Dread and the rest of TheMultiverse as they see fit. Whilst they're usually happy to offer the former service at a stiff price, they are ''very'' reluctant to extend the second service.

* MageSpecies: Zigzagged. Not ''all'' Vistani have levels in magic-using classes. But they do have several subtle magical abilities, and some of those break the normal rules of magic in the Demiplane of Dread. The most overtly magical aspect of the Vistani is that all of them can invoke the EvilEye, but their subtle magical abilities include their propensity to be {{seers}} who are immune to the normal obfuscation of Divination magic, the increased potency of their curses, and their ability to freely travel the Demiplane of Dread and beyond.

* MagicalEye: The most overtly magical trait of the Vistani is their "EvilEye", which allows them to invoke assorted baleful effects on others by simply looking into their eyes. The EvilEye of female Vistani is stronger in 2nd and 3rd editions. All Vistani can choose to either induce paralysis (which can potentially cause heart attacks), cause unnatural terror, or inflict one of two CharmPerson effects -- a ''Suggestion'' or a ''Domination''.
* MagicalRomani: The Vistani are deeply rooted in the archetype of the Romani as traveling mystics possessing strange magical powers, predominantly the ability to use an EvilEye and their tendency to be {{Seers}}.

** This is the "hat" of the Corvara, who seem to be almost cursed to be AlwaysSecondBest at anything legitimate. So, instead, they make their living as purveyors of vice and debauchery, offering gambling, strong liquor, drugs and blood sports to lure giorgio into their camps, before using con artistry and outright pickpocketing to fleece as much money as they can. Essentially, they live down to every negative stereotype of the Vistani as a bunch of lying, cheating, swindling con-artists.

* {{Necromancy}}: In 2nd edition, half-Vistani have an affinity for necromancy that allows half-Vistani and Giamarga wizards to take the "Arcanist" specialization, which is forbidden to Mortu Vistani. For half-Visani, it's the ''only'' specialist wizard class they can take, whilst Giamarga are also capable of becoming Conjurers, Enchanters, Illusionists and, if female, Diviners.

* BrainsAndBrawn: Both girls are smart, but Laurie's a warrior specialized in the rapier, whilst Gennifer is a budding wizard[[note]]in 5E, her magic takes a more naturalist bent and she is a druid instead, likely to represtent studying under Dr. Van Richten to learn medicine and alchemy. . . two things wizards aren't usually capable of, but druids are ''very'' good at[[/note]].

* BrainsAndBrawn: Both girls are smart, but Laurie's a warrior specialized in the rapier, whilst Gennifer is a budding wizard[[note]]in 5E, her magic takes a more naturalist bent and she is a druid instead... for some reason[[/note]].

* EvilVersusEvil: Against Gabrielle Aderre.
* {{Expy}}:
** Of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.
** Her stealth techniques, backstory, and mission to destroy evil bring to mind a villainous version of ComicBook/{{Batman}}, as well.

* AGodAmI: Perhaps not a god, but he does think of himself as superior to everyone with only a single body.

* AGodAmI: Part of Senmet's plan to usurp Anhktepot in ''Touch of Death'' was to use Isu Rehkotep's position in the Cult of Osiris to subtly shift the worship of Mudar's people to Set instead. With them worshipping a god aligned to him and an army of desert zombies, he was certain he could ascend to the position of Pharaoh (thus godhood).

* WhipItGood: Pre-5e, Larissa wielded a whip gifted to her by Anton Misroi. It turns into a snake when used, but requires a bit of her blood to activate.

[[folder:Ahmi Vanjuko]]
A ranger from [[{{TabletopGame/Greyhawk}} Oerth]]; he ran afoul of Easan the Mad and wound up trapped in the body of a mechanical golem.

** 5th edition has the least unusual interpretation, presenting dhampirs as a "lineage". This largely works identically to a standard race, but there are mechanical supports to let the dhampir possess some minor traits from a different race, representing their hybrid ancestry or their having originally been a non-dhampir that was then turned ''into'' a dhampir.

* AnAxeToGrind: One of the twins [[DualWielding uses two axes]] as her weapons of choice in the 5e retcon.

* HornyDevils: One of the ''confirmed'' facts we have about him is that he is indeed an incubus.

* KnifeNut: Comes with the [[JackTheRipoff territory]].

* PromotedToPlayable: Inverted. Old ''Ravenloft'' lore establishes the existence of the ''Giamarga'', an Elf/Vistani hybrid, but it's never been playable in any official capacity, due to being "too special" to let players have. Fans generally regard this idea with contempt, and there are assorted fan rules.
* PutOnABus: Was removed from 4th edition, which made the Vistani a culture rather than a distinct race and also playable by taking feats, and completely leeft out of all mention of 5th edition materials.

* {{Expy}}: Of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Abraham Van Helsing]]. His art emphasizes a resemblance to Creator/PeterCushing, who famously played Van Helsing in the Film/HammerHorror films opposite Christopher Lee's Dracula.

* {{Expy}}: Of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Abraham Van Helsing]].

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClasses Character Classes by Edition]]:'' 1st to 3rd ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFirstToThirdEditionCoreClasses Core]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesOtherPreThirdEditionClasses Pre-3rd]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesOtherThirdEditionClasses 3rd Other]]) | 3rd & 3.5 ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesThirdEditionPrestigeClasses Prestige Classes]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesThreePointFiveEditionNPCClasses NPC Classes]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFourthEditionClasses 4th]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFifthEditionClasses 5th]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA A]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesB B]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesC C]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesD D]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesE E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesF F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesG G]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesH H]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesIToL I to L]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesM M]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesNtoQ N to Q]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesR R]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesS S]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesT T]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesUToZ U to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Demons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDevils Devils]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsYugoloths Yugoloths]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeities Deities]]'': Real-World Deities ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRealWorldDeitiesAtoF A to F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRealWorldDeitiesGtoZ G to Z ]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsLiteraryDeities Literary Deities]] | Non-human Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDemihumanDeities Demihuman Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGiantDeities Giant Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGoblinoidDeities Goblinoid Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsScalykindDeities Scalykind Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUnderdarkDeities Underdark Deities]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsElderEvils Elder Evils]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces Playable Races]]''\\

* DoomMagnet: Van Richten lost ''many'' of his adventuring friends throughout his career. In his Guide to the Vistani, he recounts learning that he had been cursed by the Raunie he had slain to always bring doom, death, and suffering

As a people, the Vistani are divided into three ''Tasques'', which might be thought of as nations; the ''Kaldresh'', the ''Boem'' and the ''Manusa''. Each Tasque has a broad specialty they offer to the Vistani as a whole and the people they trade with -- the Kaldresh are purveyors of arts and crafts, the Boem are entertainers, and the Manusa are the mystics. Each Tasque also has an unknown number of tribes, though currently seven are confirmed to exist; the Kamii (metalworkers), Equaar (animal breeders) and Vatraska (healers and herbsalists) of the Kaldresh, the Naiat (performing beasts) and Corvara (rogues and illict pleasure providers) of the Boem, and the Canjar and Zarovan of the Manusa.

** In third edition, it exists as a monster template, being a set of racial abilities and modifiers that are applieds to a base creature.

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Hexblood's skincolor tend to be influenced by their fae progenitors, but the most common are green, grey, blue and purple.

* DoomMagnet: Van Richten lost ''many'' of his adventuring friends throughout his career. In his Guide to the Vistani, he recounts learning that he had been cursed by the Raunie he had slain to always bring doom, death and suffering

* DirtyCoward: If ''[[TabletopGame/BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus Descent Into Avernus]]'' is to be believed, he followed Zariel on her crusade into hell, but he and a few others panicked and fled, sealing the portal behind them and condemning their fellows. This was later retconed as a clone created by the Apparatus, and the real Jander remains noble.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: When he realized that he was tool of the Dark Powers against Strahd, he tried to commit SuicideBySunlight as an act of defiance, but they put a stop to this. After his survival, he swore to fight against evil in this plane and view this as a crusade against the ''the Dark Powers themselves''.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: His last canon apparence has him crucified in Hell for his treachery of Zariel.

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Apart from the specifics of how he escaped his domain, the book leaves it unclear whether or not, or to which extend he is aware that he ''himself'' is Azalin Rex. His profile has him call his genius "immortal", he alludes to his nobility, hates Darkon (which would have been his own IronicHell), has a personal animosity towards Strahd [[HatedByAll (not that that's anything special...)]] and he has taken up what is presumably his old surname. However, he claims that he ''could '' have been a king and obsesses over an "escapee", which would be himself. Although this escapee could also be another Darklord who has managed to flee Ravenloft altogether, possibly [[Ravenloft/FormerDarklords Vecna.]]]] This is probably left intentionally vage for a Dungeon Master to decide on.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: The Apparatus is mentioned multiple times in the 5e ''Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft'', usually as plothooks and a possibly backstory for players of the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Reborn]] lineage, but Rastinon himself is only mentioned in the fluff for Mordent.

* GenderFlip: Downplayed. In 5th edition, Succubi and Incubi are the same creature, [[OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous only presenting different genders]]. As such, the Caller's gender goes unmentioned (assuming they aren't outright agender), and they are referred to by genderneutral pronounts, but they could still present as male depending on the DM's wishes.

The most mysterious and enigmatic of all the peoples of the Demiplane of Dread, the Vistani are a race of humans who travel the demiplane in brightly colored caravans, called ''vardos''. They possess unusually advanced knowledge of the true nature of the world around them, but keep this knowledge secret to themselves, for unknown reasons. Regarded with equal parts fear, distrust, curiosity and loathing by the settled peoples of the Demiplane, the Vistani are eternal outsiders, condemned to wander without rest. As a people, the Vistani are divided into three ''Tasques'', which might be thought of as nations; the ''Kaldresh'', the ''Boem'' and the ''Manusa''. Each Tasque has a broad specialty they offer to the Vistani as a whole and the people they trade with -- the Kaldresh are purveyors of arts and crafts, the Boem are entertainers, and the Manusa are the mystics. Each Tasque also has an unknown number of tribes, though currently seven are confirmed to exist; the Kamii (metalworkers), Equaar (animal breeders) and Vatraska (healers and herbsalists) of the Kaldresh, the Naiat (performing beasts) and Corvara (rogues and illict pleasure providers) of the Boem, and the Canjar and Zarovan of the Manusa.

4th edition presents an alternative interpretation of the Vistani, where they are not a singular race but rather a culture of planes traveling nomads comprised of many races.

[[folder:Dhampir]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_d1694ca082c0fe7c8bddcdaf4d1c5db1_d8631a0b_1280.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Dhampir battles her progenitor]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}''

People who have somehow been afflicted with a weaker strain of vampirism without turning undead.

* {{Dhampyr}}: Obviously, they are the result of vampirism afflicting living beings.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Mostly averted. Being the child of a vampire is a possible way a dhampir may have come about, but not the only one.
* IHateYouVampireDad: The sample dhampire, Savra Sunstar, really hates her dad, the vampire Jander Sunstar.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The dhampir has technically never been a "traditional" D&D race, from a mechanical perspective.
** In third edition, it exists as a monster template, being a set of racial abilities and modifiers that are applieds to a base creature.
** In 4th edition, it is a "Bloodline", a sub-race that is applied to a base race by purchasing a chain of feats and optionally taking a racial paragon path.
** 5th edition has the least unusual interpretation, presenting dhampirs as a "lineage". This largely works identically to a standard race, but there are mechanical supports to let the dhampir possess some minor traits from a different race, representing their hybrid ancestry or their having originally been a non-dhampir that was then turned ''into'' a dhampir.
* PromotedToPlayable: The original TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons dhampyr debuted as a monster in the ''TabletopGame/MasqueOfTheRedDeath'' setting. It became a racial monster template in ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' in 3rd edition, but level adjustment made it quite hard to play -- Magazine/{{Dragon}} #313 offered a slightly more playable-friendly version called the ''Khatane''. 4th edition featured dhampyrs as a "bloodline" accessible through feats in an issue of Magazine/{{Dragon}}, and eventually offered an equivalent but separate race called the Vryloka. Finaly, 5th edition saw them become an official playable race and tied them to ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' once more.

[[folder:Reborn]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/art_van_richtens_guide_to_ravenloft0.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From the Apparatus of Mordent, a reborn stumbles forth]]

Among the domains of dread, death is rarely the end. Be it through vile magic, cruel curses or strange experiments, the Reborn are living beings made from the nonliving.

* {{Cyborg}}: A potential origin suggested for the Reborn is as a corpse reanimated by mechanical components.
* DamagedSoul: A more serious version of the resurrection sickness. Reborn may occasionally find that they despise things that they remember loving in their previous lives, and similar changes.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: Dhampires, Reborn and Hexblood are not actually races, but lineages, which are applied instead of a usual race. While they mostly work the same, players who take a lineage may have their character be from any base stock, and they gain a trait that lets them have some of the traits from their base race.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Reborn may be baseline zombies, only sapient and technically living.
* ResurrectionSickness: At best, all Reborn suffer this. They're back from the dead in some way, but have only a loose grasp on who they were before, rarely remembering exact details.
* TakenForGranite: A Reborn may have come to be as a result of being petrified for centuries before being freed, with a rather tenuous grasp on their old life.
* TheUndead: Averted. Reborn do not have the Undead type. This is solely for mechanics reasons, however (most healing spells don't work on undead, so an undead player race would almost certainly be the greatest handicap in the game), and they can still be flavored as undead if your table allows it.

[[folder:Hexblood]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hexblood_5e_1_552x1024.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hexblood of night hag stock]]

Hags delight in meddling in the affairs of mortals, and from time to time this meddling results in the creation of Hexblood, either from a child affected by fae meddling, or from mortals who made ill-adviced bargains. Hexblood resemble humans, but have skin colors appropriate to their feyish progenitors, and a strange crown growing from their temples.

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Hexblood's skincolor tend to be influenced by their fae progenitors, but the most common are green, grey, blue and purple.
* ChangelingTale: Hexblood are frequently created by hags at the request of hopeful parents that can't have their own children. Or created to replace children taken by the fae.
* DealWithTheDevil: A possible origin for Hexblood is that they made a deal with a hag, and this is the consequence.
* FriendshipTrinket: Hexblood has a mechanic that can be used like this. They can remove a small trinket from their body, such as a teeth, some hair or a nail, and use it to telepathically communicate with whoever they gave it to.
* MageSpecies: Being part fae, hexblood get some spells innately, and make excellent spellcasters.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: Dhampires, Reborn and Hexblood are not actually races, but lineages, which are applied instead of a usual race. While they mostly work the same, players who take a lineage may have their character be from any base stock, and they gain a trait that lets them have some of the traits from their base race. Hexblood in particular have the Fey creature type.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Some hexblood are created by hag covens who have lost a member to serve as a replacement.

[[folder:Caliban]]

Invented in the third edition remake of ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' as a thematic reskin for the half-orc, calibans are a race of deformed humans corrupted in the womb by the dark energies of the Demiplane of Dread, resulting in them being born with hideous appearances and freakish strength. Because of their horrible appearances, their power, and their tendency to be born as a result of exposure to corruption or immoral acts, they are treated with fear and suspicion by the normal humans of the Demiplane, and rejected from society. Fans expanded the rather bland initial treatment in issue #8 of the "Quoth the Raven" netbook series, presenting alternative rules for calibans to mechanically represent their mutations and creating five distinct caliban strains; the Banshee, the Bestial, the Brute, the Cannibal and the Witchspawn.

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: The "Banshee" strain of calibans are always mutated, but never in ways that technically detract from their mutation; a female Brute might have a hunched back and be covered in warts, a female Cannibal might have a maw full of fangs and [[OverlyLongTongue a slimy black tongue that dangles down to her bellybutton]], but a Banshee is more likely to have things like marble-white skin, BlackEyes, or an unnaturally cold body temperature. Despite this, they are just as hated as their more visually deformed cousins, since either their otherwise beautiful appearance accentuates their mutations, or else they are so unnaturally beautiful they hit the in-universe UncannyValley.

* BlueBlood: He is quick to bring up his noble ancestry, and claims he could have ruled as a [[BenevolentMageRuler wizard-king]], "in another life." [[spoiler: [[TheNecrocracy Which he did do.]] [[SorcerousOverlord Although not very good, by any measures...]]]]

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeities Deities]]'': Non-human Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDemihumanDeities Demihuman Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGiantDeities Giant Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGoblinoidDeities Goblinoid Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsScalykindDeities Scalykind Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUnderdarkDeities Underdark Deities]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsElderEvils Elder Evils]]\\

''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} ([[Characters/EberronDragonmarkedHouses Dragonmarked Houses]] | [[Characters/EberronFaiths Religions]] | [[Characters/EberronNations Nations]]) | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | [[Characters/ForgottenRealmsFactions Factions]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | '''Ravenloft''' ([[Characters/RavenloftDarklords Darklords]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

!!Other Characters
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Dr. Rudolph Van Richten]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dnd___rudolph_van_richten_by_miles_johnston_d5hl6xr_fullview.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Vampire hunter extraordinaire]]

Once a humble doctor in Darkon, who lived happily with his wife and son. That all came to a crashing the night that a Vistani tribe, the Radanavichs, burst into his home and demanded he treat a badly wounded member of theirs. Van Richten worked on him with all his skills, but it wasn't enough and the boy died on the operating table. Terrified of the (justifiably) infamous temper, mercurial nature and dark magic of the Vistani, he begged them to take whatever they wanted from his home but leave him unharmed. To his horror, they did so by kidnapping his son. Desperately he raced out into the night, where he encountered Azalin; for his own amusement, the Lich not only shielded him from the monsters, but allowed him to command an army of zombies. With their help, he caught the Vistani and demanded his son back... only to find he had been sold to Baron Metis, a vampire nobleman. Commanding the zombies to feast upon the Vistani, he went to the vampire and tried to get his son back, but was rebuked. His son escaped before morning, but it was too late; he had already become a "bride", a vampire created by another of its kind as a lover and soulmate. He staked his son, after spending the last hours of his human self together, and then returned home -- only to find that the vengeful Metis had slain his wife in kind. This set him upon the road to become the greatest monster hunter, and authority on slaying monsters, in the Demiplane of Dread.

* BadassNormal: He never wanted to be a monster hunter, but he adapted quite well.
* BarrierWarrior: In the 5e remake of ''Ravenloft'', Van Richten can cast spells as a cleric, and he seems to prefer magic which wards off the undead as opposed to direct damage.
* DirectLineToTheAuthor: The Van Richten Guide sourcebooks are framed as being the exact same texts that he wrote InUniverse as guides to other aspiring monster hunters.
* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Van Richten's demise is the centerpiece of the adventure module "Bleak House", in which there are three endings where he dies and one ending where he is de-aged to childhood and forced to stay in Richten Haus, where the house's incarnate spirit promises to raise him to become a great hero once again.]]
* DoomMagnet: Van Richten lost ''many'' of his adventuring friends throughout his career. In his Guide to the Vistani, he recounts learning that he had been cursed by the Raunie he had slain to always bring doom, death and suffering
* DramaticIrony: As of 5th edition, Erasmus van Richten is still 'alive', but in spirit form, hanging around and helping his father out. Unfortunately, Van Richten cannot perceive him.
* {{Expy}}: Of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Abraham Van Helsing]].
* FamilyOfChoice: ''Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft'' opens with a series of letters from his students; Ez d'Avenir, the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins, Alanik Ray and Arthur Sedgwick asking for his assistance and expressing the utmost admiration for him. In his response, he tells them how proud he is of them, that he truly considers them his family, and they are free to call themselves van Richtens if it would please them.
* FantasticRacism: Held a rather justified abhorrence of the Vistani for years as a monster-hunter. He eventually got over this.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Averted. He always took great pains to avoid becoming as bad as the creatures he fought against, wrote often in his guidebooks of the dangers of relying on just blindly attacking the most likely subject, and is known to have a great deal of contempt for Wyan of Viktal, whose own attempt to publish a Fey Hunting Guide resulted in a work that is more likely to result in the users killing innocent people than dark fae.
* HunterOfMonsters: The most famous InUniverse example of this, having ''literally'' written the book on hunting monsters. Several books, in fact; the Ravenloft monster {{sourcebook}}s, The Van Richten's Guides, are based off of (and written as, in the player's sections) InUniverse texts that Van Richten wrote to help others take up hunting creatures. Vampires, werebeasts, liches, ancient dead, ghosts, hags and Vistani are all covered by Van Richten himself. His successors, the Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins, would later add to the library with texts on the walking dead, fae and the general spawn of the Mists.
* LawfulGood: Official alignment.[[invoked]]
* MasterOfDisguise: In ''Curse of Strahd'', Van Richten has a hat that lets him cast Disguise Self at will. It is possible to go throughout the campaign without ever realizing he's in it.
* MentorArchetype: While he already mentored his honorary nieses, 5th edition expanded this trait to the point where he has canonically mentored five monster hunters across the demiplane; the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins, Ez d'Avenir and the detectives Alanik Ray and Arthur Sedgwick, all of whom he considers his FamilyOfChoice. The book even suggests that he may have mentored player characters too, making this number even higher.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Averted when it comes to his murdering an entire tribe of Vistani; he doesn't shed a tear (and few readers would) over killing them in the first place, and even when he does learn that all Vistani are not evil, he doesn't regret killing them all so much as he admits that it was an immoral act.
* OverratedAndUnderLeveled: In spite of having hunted numerous vampires and other evil monsters, he's somehow no higher than third level.
** Dr. Van Richten has been given stats across several game editions. His original stats in 2nd edition had to bend the rules because the character generation system at the time could not account for an elderly scholar with some interesting skills and he was a mid-level thief with an emphasis on reading language skills. His stats fluctuated from sourcebook to sourcebook, often with the explanation that his constant fights with undead had exposed him to permanent level drain (a very real danger fighting vampires under the rules at the time). In 3rd edition, with the advent of NPC non-combat classes that could account for much of his adult life as a doctor and not an adventurer, he was rewritten with a much more believable stat block for his status.
** Thankfully {{Averted}} in the ''Curse of Strahd'' module. He isn't strong enough to fight Strahd head on, but he's a powerful ally with a good arsenal of tools and spells at his disposal. As an ally, he practically is required to defeat Strahd due to his usefulness.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: When he caught the Vistani who had kidnapped his son and sold him to the vampire Metis, he set a horde of zombies on them, killing every last one of them. Considering they took van Richten's son and sold him to be a vampire's undead child paramour, and the fact they only took van Richten's son because their first target was defended well enough to repulse them with violence, it is ''very'' hard to see them as not [[KarmicDeath getting what was coming to them]].
* StakingTheLovedOne: He had to kill his own son who had been turned into a vampire. This is, along with the murder of his wife by the same vampire that turned his son, what set off his monster hunting career.
* SwordCane: In ''Curse of Strahd'', he has one. The sword is silvered.
* VampireHunter: Though he also hunts ghosts, werebeasts and anything else that goes bump in the night, vampires are his specialty.

[[folder:The Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e2gpq8iuyai8_ns_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The hunter's students (Left to right: Laurie and Gennifer)]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see their original design]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d3k88xr_5ed4c003_82fb_498e_bc4b_735041d5cffd.jpg [[/labelnote]] ]]
Nieces of George Weathermay of Mordent through his sister, the twins Laurie and Gennifer were enamored of their monster-hunting uncle and his dear friend Van Richten from a young age. Even when they were caught up in the machinations of one of Van Richten's old enemies, a female werewolf named Natalie who seduced their uncle and took Gennifer hostage, it failed to dampen their enthusiasm. Ultimately, after Van Richten disappeared, they took up his legacy and appointed themselves his heirs.

* AnAxeToGrind: One of the twins [[DualWielding uses two axes]] as her weapons of choice in the 5e retcon.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In ''Van Richten's Guide to the Mists'', it's noted that Gennifer firmly disbelieves the idea that Outlanders could be {{Dimensional Traveler}}s, in contrast to her sister Laurie, despite being ''well aware'' she lives in a world full of magic and monsters and where it is a known fact of life that certain countries have physically moved in relation to each other, or literally sprung up from nowhere.
* AscendedExtra: The twins originally extremely minor roles; they weren't introduced until the ''Domains of Dread'' setting boxed set, which stated that they had taken over their HonoraryUncle Van Richten's shop[[note]]Van Richten had been killed in the earlier adventure ''Bleak House''[[/note]], and then made them the authors of the ''Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium'' {{sourcebook}}s, a trilogy containing reprints of the original five "Van Richten's Guide to (insert monster here)" {{sourcebook}}s, plus the new "Van Richten's Guide to Witches". In 3rd edition, they became more prominent, becoming the brains behind three new monster-hunting Guidebooks[[note]]Walking Dead, Shadow Fey and the Mists, although only the former two saw print[[/note]] and making appearances in other sourcebooks, even receiving official writeups for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition''.
* BrainsAndBrawn: Both girls are smart, but Laurie's a warrior specialized in the rapier, whilst Gennifer is a budding wizard[[note]]in 5E, her magic takes a more naturalist bent and she is a druid instead... for some reason[[/note]].
* HunterOfMonsters: They don't just study monsters and keep Van Richten's Guides in print, they actively go out and slay monsters as well.
* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Downplayed. In 3rd edition's artwork, they are depicted wearing practical, but still very upperclass clothing, with Gennifer wearing a dress and Laurie wearing a tailored suit and pants. In 5th edition's artwork, they wear much simpler, plainer-looking clothing.
* PrimalFear: In ''Van Richten's Guide to the Mists'', it's noted that Gennifer's deepest personal fear is of losing her mind and going mad, a very real threat in her line of work.
* RaceLift: In classic lore, they are of pureblooded Mordentish stock, an ethnicity based on Gothic British/Scottish Highlander stock with pale skin, blue eyes, and dark hair. In 5th edition, their artwork depicts them as an African ethnicity instead.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: In the original lore, their creamy white skin, blue eyes and deep, black hair are part of what makes them regarded as so beautiful by their admirers.
* SwordAndGun: In their 3rd edition statblock, Gennifer is said to wield a silvered dagger and pistol, whilst Gennifer alternates between a rapier and a musket.
* StayInTheKitchen: Some of their immediate family believe their monster-hunting to be a passing fancy, and that they will eventually settle down and take their roles as heirs to Mordentshire seriously. Similarly, several young Mordentish noblemen seek to be the first to "tame" one of the twins and secure rulership of Mordent by marriage. [[AvertedTrope The twins themselves are having none of this nonsense.]]
* ZombieInfectee: InUniverse, George Weathermay believes that Gennifer is an afflicted werewolf, as a result of a bite she took from Natalie during that childhood attack. Where she is or isn't is left to the choice of the individual Dungeon Master.

[[folder:Arturi Radanavich]]
The last member of the Radanavich, a tribe of Corvara Vistani who damned themselves to destruction when they stole Erasmus van Richten to become the plaything of the vampire Baron Metus, and thus brought the wrath of his father Rudolph on their heads. Miraculously surviving the slaughter, Arturi spent decades running from Van Richten's curse before finally desperation persuaded him to seek out Rudolph van Richten and beg for an end to his curse, offering to end his own family's retaliatory curse on Van Richten in exchange. This led to Van Richten writing his Guide to the Vistani, an experience that ended with the two men coming to understand and forgive each other, breaking their mutual curses.

* BackToBackBadasses: To end his and Rudolph van Richten's curses, the two fought together back to back against a sizable horde of undead humans [[RaisingTheSteaks and animals]] over the course of a night whilst burning the remains of the Radanavich vardos to ashes.
* BloodBrothers: Arturi and Rudolph became this to cement that they had truly forgiven each other, thus allowing their respective curses to be broken.
* FlyingDutchman: All Vistani are cursed to wander, but Arturi was doubly cursed in that he was constantly pursued by murderous undead creatures until he broke the curse by getting Van Richten to forgive the Vistani and lift it.
* RetCon: Removed from canon in 5th edition, which replaced him with Ez d'Avenir.
* SoleSurvivor: He was the only member of the Radanavich clan to survive Van Richten's wrath.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ez d'Avenir]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ezmereldapng_19d6ab_765w.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The vistana hunter]]
A vistana (by adoption, if not birth) monster hunter who studied under Rudolph van Richten. Ezmerelda Radanavich was with her mother the night she kidnapped van Richten's son while disguised as a vistana, but over the short time they were together grew to know the boy and realize her mother's evil. Ez was unable to save Erasmus, but when Richten came to kill her mother, she stood silently by and let it happen without objection. Richten spared her, and she went on to join a Vistani caravan, changing her surname to d'Avenir to distance herself from her mother. Eventually, she sought out van Richten to learn from him the trade of monster hunting, and was surprised to find that the old man was unknowingly followed by the spirit of his son.

* AntagonisticOffspring: She doesn't directly fight her mother, but there is no love between them. Ez even [[AccompliceByInaction stood by while her family was devoured by a zombie horde]].
* FamilyOfChoice: Ez' backstory is all about this trope. The Radanavichs were evil manipulators, which Ez came to realize while befriending Erasmus. The vistani became her family for a while, but she didn't quite find the belonging she wanted, so she went to study with van Richten. She's currently out in the world to make her own family.
* GoodProstheticEvilProsthetic: Ez lost her right leg in a werewolf attack, but replaced it with a prosthetic.
* ProstheticLimbReveal: In her first appearance in ''TabletopGame/CurseOfStrahd'', Ez hid her prosthetic. This was changed in later prints, where she displays her prosthetic proudly.
* RetCon:
** Firstly, she exists to retcon Arturi Radanavich, the original SoleSurvivor of the Radanavich Vistani who kidnapped Rudolph van Richten's sun.
** Secondly, after being a Vistani when introduced in ''Curse of Strahd'', ''Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft'' instead retconned her and the rest of the Radanaviches as non-Vistani criminals, who merely ''pretended'' to be Vistani to exploit the fearsome reputation of the Vistani.

[[folder:Jander Sunstar]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/01_004savra_sunstar.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The unlucky Vampire]]

An elven vampire who originally lived in the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms, he fell in love with a woman in an insane asylum who was actually a plane-lost reincarnation of Tatyana. When the Mists stole her back to Ravenloft, he followed her, and found himself in the role of teaching Strahd what it meant to be a vampire before turning on him for his evil ways. He tried to commit suicide under the sun after failing to kill Strahd, but the Mists stole him away, so he failed.

* TheCameo: He made an appearance in ''[[TabletopGame/BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus Descent Into Avernus]]''... Crucified in hell, though a later {{Retcon}} made that version of him into a clone.
* CompositeCharacter: 5e gives him elements of the Alchemist Strahd, from ''House on Gryphon Hill''. Like the Alchemist Strahd, Jander tried to use the apparatus to free himself of his darker impulses (namely his vampirism), and like the Alchemist, parts of him were thrown across time and space (though Jander failed to cure his vampirism). One part of him ended up back on Toril, where he contributed to [[TabletopGame/BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus Zariel's damnation]].
* CrystalDragonJesus: Or his case "Crystal ''Vampire Elf'' Jesus", since he became the indirect inspiration for the Church of the Morninglord though his true nature as a vampire is a closely guarded secret.
* DaywalkingVampire: Prior to 5th edition, Jander actually was infected with the "Nosferatu" strain of vampirism, which is largely identical to a standard vampire, but is unharmed by sunlight.
* {{Determinator}}: His characterization in ''Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft'' focuses more on his increasing efforts to cure (his) vampirism.
* DirtyCoward: If ''[[TabletopGame/BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus Descent Into Avernus]]'' is to be believed, he followed Zariel on her crusade into hell, but he and a few others panicked and fled, sealing the portal behind them and condemning their fellows. This was later retconed as a clone created by the Apparatus, and the real Jander remains noble.
* FighterMageThief: Alongside his companions, the cleric Sasha and the thief Leisl. Jander is the fighter, due to his superhuman strength and abnormal powers as a vampire.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: He is perhaps the only nice vampire in the entire setting.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: After his survival, he has vowed to wipe out vampirism in whatever form it may come.
* IHateYouVampireDad: At one point he fathered the {{Dhampyr}} Savra Sunstar, who ''really'' doesn't like him.
* MistakenForGods: He is mistaken for the Sun god [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Lathander]] in ''Vampire of the Mists''. This even influences the artwork produced by the Church of the Morninglord in Ravenloft, as the Morninglord is depicted as looking like him.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the original 2nd edition lore, Jander actually ''taught'' Strahd many of the powers his vampire state gave him, as Strahd initially [[HowDoIShotWeb didn't fully understand what he'd become]]. In fairness, Strahd ''was'' a DeceptiveDisciple during this time period, and Jander turned on Strahd once he realized Strahd's true evil.
* NonHumanUndead: A vampire elf.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: He is a sun/gold elf to be exact.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Jander was classified as an "elf nosferatu" in 2nd edition, instead of being an "elf vampire". This meant that, outside of being a DaywalkingVampire, he had the standard suite of vampiric abilities and weaknesses, instead of the usual traits of most elven vampires. He did acquire the elfin vampire weakness of killing any plant he touched with his bare skin after some time in the Demiplane of Dread.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: When he realized that he was tool of the Dark Powers against Strahd, he tried to commit SuicideBySunlight as an act of defiance, but they put a stop to this. After his survival, he swore to fight against evil in this plane and view this as a crusade against the ''the Dark Powers themselves''.
* ReligiousVampire: He was a priest of Lathander in life and retained some of his faith after becoming a vampire, even taking refuge in a sacred grove.
* TheScourgeOfGod: His entire purpose to be in Ravenloft is to constantly torment Strahd for the Dark Powers.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: His last canon apparence has him crucified in Hell for his treachery of Zariel.
* SuicideBySunlight: Attempted to kill himself this manner, but the Mist aborted it.[[note]]It shouldn't have worked anyway because, as a Nosferatu, Jander is a DaywalkingVampire.[[/note]] ''[[TabletopGame/BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus Descent into Avernus]]'' implies that he might have succeeded in the end, but was condemned to Hell for his efforts. ''Van Richten's Guide'' retconned this version of him to be a clone.

[[folder:Firan Zal'honan]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03_038mysterious_research.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wayward Wizard]]

A powerful and brilliant wizard traveling the domains, Finan is ruthlessly determined to escape the mists of Ravenloft entirely. Not much is known as to how he came to believe that there are realities beyond the domains, but he has peerless knowledge about the nature of Ravenloft. He investigates ruins, ancient prophecies, temporal anomalies and hints of a certain entity he calls "the escapee." [[spoiler: It is all but spelled out that he is Azalin Rex, the elusive Darklord of Darkon, having regained his human form and being set free from his domain, but not Ravenloft itself, after completing the [[RitualMagic hour of ascension]].]]

* AllJustADream: How he's come to view the domains.
-->'''Firan:''' None of this is real.
* TheArchmage: His suggested statblock. This makes him an 18th-level wizard and thus one of the most powerful non-player characters outlined in Van Richten's Guide.
* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Apart from the specifics of how he escaped his domain, the book leaves it unclear whether or not, or to which extend he is aware that he ''himself'' is Azalin Rex. His profile has him call his genius "immortal", he alludes to his nobility, hates Darkon (which would have been his own IronicHell), has a personal animosity towards Strahd [[HatedByAll (not that that's anything special...)]] and he has taken up what is presumably his old surname. However, he claims that he ''could '' have been a king and obsesses over an "escapee", which would be himself. Although this escapee could also be another Darklord who has managed to flee Ravenloft altogether, possibly [[Ravenloft/FormerDarklords Vecna.]]]] This is probably left intentionally vage for a Dungeon Master to decide on.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Back from the ''Un''dead, to be precise. The hour of ascension seems to have [[SideEffectsInclude reversed]] his [[{{Lich}} lichdom]].]]
* BlueBlood: He is quick to bring up his noble ancestry, and claims he could have ruled as a [[BenevolentMageRuler wizard-king]], "in another life." [[spoiler: [[TheNecrocracy Which he did do.]] [[SorcerousOverlord Although not very good, by any measures...]]]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He has his eccentricities, such as absolutely loathing Darkon and Strahd, or being actually scared of the mists, but he is the foremost expert on Ravenloft itself and a powerful Spellcaster in his own right.
* EvilSorcerer: {{Downplayed}}. He is described as "amoral", although his goal is not a malevolent one and he is intended to be used as an allied non-player-character, [[QuestGiver handing out quests]] and the like. [[spoiler: Once you consider who he really is, and what is happening to his domain due to his absence, the tope is PlayedStraight.]]
* {{Familiar}}: An imp named Skeever. [[spoiler: Who happens to share his name and species with Azalin Rex's familiar...]]
* IJustWantToBeFree: Tries his best to escape Ravenloft. [[spoiler: He already managed to escape Darkon, for a start.]]
* InsufferableGenius: His main flaw is his own [[{{pride}} arrogance]].
-->'''Firan:''' My genius is immortal and has been tested like no other.
* TheUnfettered: His sole goal is to escape the mists.
-->'''Firan:''' I will endure this test. I will reap my reward. I will have my revenge.
* WalkingSpoiler: It is very difficult to write about him without alluding to the fact that he is [[spoiler: Azalin Rex, the elusive Darklord.]]
* VainSorceress: A gender-flipped example.

[[folder:Rastinon (The Alchemist Strahd)]]
An alchemist from Mordent who forged a mystical apparatus with mysterious powers over souls and spirits. He originally appeared in the poorly-received ''Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill'', where he was a sort of dr. Jekyll to Strahd's mr. Hyde, but was largely forgotten about after that. For 5th edition, TheBusCameBack, but any relation between him and Strahd was AdaptedOut, and he was renamed Rastinon.

* {{Retcon}}: A whole load of them for 5th edition, both bringing back the character in BroadStrokes, while making it fit better with the timeline.
** Rastinon is no longer an alternate version of Strahd, and the two characters are entirely unrelated.
** Rather than creating the apparatus to purge himself of his darker impulses (aka the Creature Strahd), Rastinon created the apparatus at the behest of Wilfred Godefroy, in an attempt to escape his curse.
** While the story of the alchemist creating an evil clone of someone who's shunted to another plane remains, the character in question is now Jander Sunstar, not Rastinon himself.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The Apparatus is mentioned multiple times in the 5e ''Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft'', usually as plothooks and a possibly backstory for players of the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Reborn]] lineage, but Rastinon himself is only mentioned in the fluff for Mordent.
* UncertainDoom: The first activation of the apparatus killed everyone in Mordent, leading to Godefroy's damnation, but it's unclear if Rastinon is included in that.

[[folder:The Gentleman Caller]]
An incubus, and the mortal nemesis of Isolde. Tricked her into following him into the forbidden Demiplane of Dread in an effort to destroy her, only to find that he too was trapped within. Now, he moves through the mists, always just ahead of Isolde, siring fiend-blooded children for his own evil purposes.

* ArchEnemy: To Isolde. In a twist, he is no longer a match for her in a fight, but her own curse and his constant efforts ensure nothing of the kind ever happens.
* ChaoticEvil: InUniverse. He is a demon, and demons are literally [[MadeOfEvil Made of Chaotic Evil]].
* CharmPerson: His incubus powers manifest this way. The Gentleman Caller is surrounded by a palpable aura of romantic allure, and he's managed to seduce both the experienced temptress Gabrielle Aderre and the iron-willed agent "S" simply by gazing at them. He also has access to an array of mind-affecting magic and may even be able to tap into the Demiplane itself to cast ''suggestion''.
* TheChessmaster: He's a skilled plotter. While his attempt to destroy Isolde backfired, and left him weakened and trapped on the Demiplane with an implacable enemy who can easily destroy him if she ever catches him, the original ''Carnival'' supplement features a clever plan to destroy her by infiltrating her troupe with his agents, and he may be playing the long game in his attempt to escape the place.
* TheCorrupter: He sows misery, evil, and corruption everywhere he travels in the Lands of Mists, which honestly don't need much help in that department.
* GenderFlip: Downplayed. In 5th edition, Succubi and Incubi are the same creature, [[OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous only presenting different genders]]. As such, the Caller's gender goes unmentioned (assuming they aren't outright agender), and they are referred to by genderneutral pronounts, but they could still present as male depending on the DM's wishes.
* GreaterScopeVillain: He sired Gabrielle Aderre's Dukkar son, turned the wicked nun Marla into a hideous penanggalan, and taught Madame Irena Radanavich many of the evil powers she used to torture van Richten.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Not all of his children are evil, but they ''are'' all affected by his demonic taint. Many are physically monstrous or have obvious physical deformities and strange powers, and those tend to be the ''kinder'' ones.
* HornyDevils: One of the ''confirmed'' facts we have about him is that he is indeed an incubus.
* IJustWantToBeFree: Subverted. His potential long-term goal ''is'' to escape the Demiplane of Dread, but he ''also'' [[ForTheEvulz enjoys the pain and sorrow he causes for their own sakes]].
* NoNameGiven: We never did learn what he's called beyond the name he gave.
* PowerPerversionPotential: Deconstructed. His abuse of his MindControl to seduce women has left a mile-wide trail of destruction and pain.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: One of the most vile characters in the setting, and it doesn't shy away from the horror women go through when he forces himself on them, even when he bothers using his powers first.
* ShroudedInMyth: Based on the official sources, anyway. The writers have shared many of the plans they had for him after the fact.
* SuperBreedingProgram: Has been engaging in one with Vistani and part-Vistani women, siring children with strange powers and appearances in an effort to escape the Demiplane and leave his nemesis there forever.

[[folder:Stelios, Glyptar of Demise]]
An NPC introduced to the canon in the netbook ''Quoth the Raven 21'', a preview of material for the fan-netbook on the Sea of Sorrows. Althea's husband in life, his treatment of her led to his death and her damnation to the Demiplane of Dread. He escaped death by binding his soul to an amethyst and becoming a glyptar, using his powers over Demise's rock and soil to torment his former wife and protect his heir, Leftheris.

* AssholeVictim: His existence sucks almost as much as his widow's, and he deserves every bit of it.
* DeathByWomanScorned: Murdered by Althea for the emotional abuse he put her through. Overlaps with KarmicDeath.
* DeathOfPersonality: As the caldera cools, Stelios's sapience and powers are cooling with it. Soon, there'll be nothing left of him but the mindless desire to torture his widow and protect his son.
* DishingOutDirt: As a glyptar, he has the ability to manipulate earth and stone. His powers have been enhanced by the fact Demise is still an active volcano, and possibly some subtle boosts from the Dark Powers, but his enhanced powers are slowly dwindling as the volcano cools, and eventually he will be reduced to the level of an ordinary glyptar.
* DomesticAbuse: As mentioned above, he was a cruel and callous spouse to Althea. In undeath, he dedicates himself to tormenting his wife, and has tried his hardest to terrorize his son Leftheris into hating his mother so much that he will continue doing so once Stelios' powers are nullified.
* EntitledToHaveYou: He took Althea to wife simply because she was a rebellious soul and he was convinced that he could "tame" her and make her a "proper" wife.
* FantasticRacism: He sneers at the idea of breeding with "cattle," a category into which he places all other sapients besides medusae and maedar.
* {{Golem}}: Interacts with the world around him by using an animated stone statue, functioning as this. His body is becoming increasingly unreliable as his powers wane, however.
* MasterOfIllusion: In life he was a master illusionist, but his magical skills are fading in his undead state.
* {{Medusa}}: In life, he was a male variant called a maedar, which appears as a bald human who is immune to medusa venom and petrification and which can undo the TakenForGranite effect of a medusa's gaze attack. In undeath, he has become a glyptar, an undead maedar whose existence is bound into a gemstone, giving him powers of nearby rock and metal.
* NeverMyFault: Refuses to accept any responsibility in his fate; as far as he's concerned, his wife was a blasphemous heretic and a madwoman who deserves his constant tormenting of her for her "profane" attitude.
* OffingTheOffspring: Not directly, but, he refused to use his powers to transform any of his petrified human children back to flesh and blood, even as his wife was devastated by this. It's also implied that part of Althea's misfortune in having new children by her human "paramours" is that Stelios frequently intervenes to kill his wife's captive lover, her latest egg, or both.
* PapaWolf: Only when it comes to Leftheris, but he's truly dedicated to it, to the point he clings to undeath out of two goals; to gaslight his former wife, and to keep his son alive.
* PowerIncontinence: A symptom of his approaching DeathOfPersonality. Sometimes, his illusions short out and go on the fritz.
* RuleAbidingRebel: He was something of an iconoclast in life for choosing to study illusion rather than the traditional warrior path. But he was still faithful to the general rules and beliefs of his culture, which was why he refused to ever change any of his human children back even as it drove his wife mad.

[[folder:Leftheris]]
Althea and Stelios's maedar son, born into one of the most dysfunctional families ever. Raised by his undead earth-elemental father after his mother tried to murder him, he has long since come to the eminently reasonable conclusion that both his parents are jerks who deserved what they got and presently just want to leave Demise for good.

* AbusiveParents: He hasn't had a good upbringing from either of them. Althea hates maedar too much to ever ''not'' try to kill him, and his dad mostly keeps him alive to protect his "legacy" and to spite her rather than out of any real affection.
* DirectionlessDriver: When he runs into visitors, he offers his services as a guide, only to lead them aimlessly through the island, feeding his starved need for conversation, before attempting to kill and eat them.
* FantasticRacism: His father's teachings include the belief that all other sapients are little better than livestock for their superior kind.
* FriendlessBackground: Raised in almost total isolation, with only his DysfunctionalFamily for company. He's not ''crazy'', but he ''is'' absolutely ''desperate'' for someone to talk to.
* LawfulEvil: InUniverse, as his official write-up reveals. He ''is'' after all, a maedar.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Doesn't know much about his father's condition, including his fading mind.
* MasterOfIllusion: Years of training under his father have made him similarly talented. It's noted that he's both smarter and less physical than most maedar as a result.
* UngratefulBastard: Averted. He's a rational being that ''can'' be reasoned with and willingly lets people go who offer things he wants.
* WhiteSheep: Downplayed. Leftheris ''is'' a racist who sees most sapients as nothing but cattle to use and feed upon... but it's entirely a product of his upbringing. The netbook notes he would happily let any human go who offers something besides a meal... such as a way off the island.

[[folder:Jacqueline Montarri]]
Once a beautiful thief, when the signs of aging began to show up on her face, she became desperate for some way to stay young forever. One dead Vistani matriarch and failed attempt on Castle Ravenloft later, she's not doing ''too'' badly for herself in this regard, though having to change out her head every so often is a bit inconvenient.

* CoolSword: Ironfang, her +2 vorpal sword. She prefers to use this to sever heads because of its clean cut, but it's by no means necessary. Even when she's wearing the head of a class that can't use swords, she's capable of using this one.
* CraniumChase: Her original head has apparently been all over The Land of Mists, even passing into the hands of at least two darklords (who apparently had no idea what it was) on occasion, with her in hot pursuit.
* CursedWithAwesome: Her ageless body [[GradualRegeneration slowly regenerates]] even from death, and actually being headless imposes no penalty upon her vision or hearing, nor her abilities as a thief. She also gets all powers, skills, feats, save throws, and class abilities of any head she dons, is highly resistant to magic thanks to the powerful magic that created her, has no need to eat or sleep, and cannot be poisoned, paralyzed, induced to sleep, or infected with illness. The downside? The heads age quickly while she wears them, she gets migraines if she wears a particular head more than three days in a row, and in 3rd edition she accrues negative levels for every day without a head (which immediately vanish when she puts a new one on). Did we mention that she has anywhere from dozens to hundreds of heads on hand at any point, as of 3rd edition runs a large trading/criminal organization that can get her heads anytime she needs them, and has no issues going and [[MurderIsTheBestSolution getting one herself]] if she has to?
* EvilIsPetty: Had no reason to kill Madame Eva.
* {{Expy}}: Of [[{{Literature/LandOfOz}} Princess Langwidere]].
* TheFashionista: Dresses to perfectly accentuate whichever head she's wearing.
* TheFogOfAges: It's been so long since she's seen her old head, she can't even remember what she used to look like.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: According to her backstory, she's an expert thief, but in her first writeup she didn't have a single thief skill. 3rd edition fixed that.
* GypsyCurse: Her nature is the result of a Vistani curse.
* HaveWeMetYet: Madame Eva likes to pop up and [[{{Troll}} mock her once in a while]], thanks to being sort of UnstuckInTime and precognitively aware of her death.
* ImmortalitySeeker: What started her on her dark path to begin with. If she can find and put on her original head, she'll have the eternal youth she's always wanted.
* LegoBodyParts: She can wear any female human's head, as long as she attaches it with her red ribbon.
* LosingYourHead: The heads she wears remain alive, fully aware of their former existence, and unable to age or die naturally once she takes them off. This means that she has a basement with hundreds of screaming, sobbing, babbling heads that are slowly succumbing to insanity in the darkness. [[NightmareFuel Pleasant dreams!]]
* MadeOfIndestructium: The crimson velvet ribbon she uses to attach heads to her body cannot be destroyed by any means.
* MagicAIsMagicA: She can only wear female human heads. No demihuman race, even if it has partially human heritage, will do.
* {{Narcissist}}: Absolutely refuses to wear anything but the most beautiful of heads, no matter what useful talents they may have. Fortunately, thanks to the sheer number of heads she keeps, this doesn't really hamper her, as she's sure to find ''something'' of use in her massive collection.
* NeutralEvil: In-universe.
* OffWithHerHead: Suffered from this, and now inflicts it on others.
* {{Omniglot}}: Can speak the languages of any head she's wearing.
* PhantomThief: Once one of the best thieves in Barovia.
* PowerCopying: Jacqueline uses the abilities of the former owner of whichever head she puts on.
* ProperlyParanoid: Her profile notes that if someone should turn up in possession of her original head, she'll immediately regard them as a dangerous enemy -- after all, they're literally holding her life in their hands.
* RapidAging: Her stolen heads age a year for every day she wears them.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: She's been seeking her old head for centuries now.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Incinerating her original head is the only thing that will kill her off for good.
* ShootTheMessenger: Slashed Madame Eva's throat after the elderly Vistani told her to search Castle Ravenloft for the secret to eternal youth.
* ShoutOut: Her name is so similar to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Murrieta Joaquin Murrieta's]] that it's unlikely to be a coincidence.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Oh, she was a pretty darned good thief. That's why she decided she could take on ''Castle freaking Ravenloft''.
* StealthPun: She lost her head and can't find it? I guess she's...'''stumped!'''
* SwissArmyAppendage: Her collection of heads grants her a vast array of potential abilities.
* {{Unishment}}: Yes, the best way to punish an immortality-seeking murderer is to give them immortality and an incredibly versatile superpower based entirely around murder. For a race known for their skill in casting curses, the Vistani seem to have seriously dropped the ball here.
* WhoNeedsTheirWholeBody: Even without a head on, Jacqueline can still see, hear, and get around perfectly well. Heck, in Third Edition, she ''has'' to be headless in order to use her own 8th level thief skills.

[[folder:Desmond [=LaRouche=] ]]
Once a handsome, kindly young assistant to Sir Edmond Hiregaard, his decision to investigate a SerialKiller of prostitutes changed his life irrevocably.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Thanks to his hideous appearance.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: His mind has two wildly different thought patterns, torn between life and death, and inflicts madness checks upon those who try to read it.
* BlessedWithSuck: Desmond only needs to eat once a day, sleep for an hour each night, is unaffected by the temperature, regenerates rapidly, can't be paralyzed, charmed or induced to sleep magically, and his left side has all the benefits of a flesh golem. On the other hand, his face induces horror in all who look upon him, and he's prone to berserk rages.
* BrownNote: His appearance is such that even looking at him can cause terror. (As in, a Fear Check.) Even if his appearance is described to someone, that person may still be frightened. However, in this case, succeeding a Fear Check gives one a bonus for next time. (Not as scary when seen twice.)
* ChaoticEvil: In-universe, although it probably just refers to his golem half. At least one source lists him as TrueNeutral.
* ContinuitySnarl: His entire backstory hinges upon Sir Hiregaard's [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness original Jekyll/Hyde/Jack The Ripper characterization]].
* CoolSword: Phantom, a +1 silver rapier.
* CruelMercy: Once in a while, Desmond thinks about going back to Kantora and finishing off Hiregaard. However, he recognizes that the good he does as a doctor balances out the evil he does as Malken--and it's much more painful for him to live with his curse.
* EmergencyTransformation: When Desmond was hurled into a [[HollywoodAcid rack of chemicals and beakers]] by Malken, Hiregaard was at a loss to save him until he realized that he could raid cadavers in order to restore the damaged parts. Unfortunately this inspiration [[GollumMadeMeDoIt came from Malken]]...
* {{Expy}}: Of [[{{ComicBook/Batman}} Two-Face]]. WordOfGod has stated The Mudman of Bergovitsa (mentioned in ''Gazetteer V'') was intended to be his 3rd edition incarnation, in which case he'd be a loose {{Expy}} of Clayface.
* TheHermit: The revulsion he inspires in others has led to this, though he occasionally helps out those in need.
* HollywoodCyborg: He's a Half-Golem, the D&D "fantasy" equivalent, where a human has various body parts replaced with magically animated construct parts. Specifically, he's a Half-Flesh Golem, due to having his damaged flesh replaced with magically animated corpse flesh.
* LightningCanDoAnything: Exposing his left side to electricity heals him, even after death.
* MoodSwinger: Depending on which half of him is ascendant.
* NightmareFace: So horrible it induces a horror check even in people who have been warned about it.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: All he wanted to do was stop a murderer--now his life has been destroyed, and he's a monster.
* SplitPersonality: One side is the decent young man he used to be (although now rather embittered), the other half is a violent [[TheBerserker berserker]].
* SuperStrength: His left arm has this.
* TwoFaced: His human and golem halves are split down the middle.
* VigilanteMan: After the local authorities showed no interest in finding out who was killing fallen women in Kantora, Desmond decided to hit the streets and track down the madman himself.

[[folder:The Midnight Slasher]]
A serial killer who stalks the streets of the city of Karina, in Invidia.

* CallingCard: Writes short poems in her victims' blood.
* ChaoticEvil: In-universe.
* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Wears a magical cloak and boots that make her invisible in shadows and inaudible.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Her entire technique is based around surprising a lone person and killing them quickly. If this fails, she usually has to [[DirtyCoward leg it]].
* DirtyCoward: Won't attack anyone who looks like they can put up a fight or who is part of a group, and usually won't attack if she can't get the element of surprise.
* EnigmaticMinion: Operates as this in ''The Evil Eye'', occasionally helping the heroes out so she can stop the Dog Fights and get close to Gabrielle Aderre.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: A subplot in ''The Evil Eye'' involves her efforts to break up the Dog Fights, a sadistic event in which vicious attack dogs are set upon defenseless humans. She even helps the prisoners escape.
* EvilVersusEvil: Against Gabrielle Aderre.
* {{Expy}}:
** Of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.
** Her stealth techniques, backstory, and mission to destroy evil bring to mind a villainous version of ComicBook/{{Batman}}, as well.
* KnifeNut: Comes with the [[JackTheRipoff territory]].
* KnightTemplar: Ostensibly, she limits her killings to those who she perceives as harming children or disrupting families. Being insane, however...
* TheNavigator: Her knowledge of the city's darkest corners is unmatched, making her an excellent stalker and hit-and-run killer.
* {{Retcon}}: The ''Monstrous Compendium'' implies that she only kills once a month, but according to ''The Evil Eye'' she's ''much'' more active. Her actions also seem a lot bolder and broader in scope in ''The Evil Eye'', having killed a number of soldiers in the Falkovnian quarter of Karina and gone after their leader in the past as well as having a subplot involving stopping the [[BloodSport Dog Fights]].
* SamusIsAGirl: Her wide-brimmed hat and cloak hide this well.
* SerialKiller: Unlike her inspiration, she doesn't restrict herself to prostitutes, and seems willing to kill anyone foolish enough to walk the streets at midnight.
* ShrinkingViolet: When not in Midnight Slasher mode, she's a very retiring sneak thief.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: Chooses her victims very carefully, waiting until they're vulnerable to strike. She's also been stalking Gabrielle Aderre.
* StartOfDarkness: When she was five, Gabrielle Aderre seduced her father and turned her parents against each other ForTheEvulz, until they brutally killed each other in front of her. Gabrielle then gave the near-catatonic child a kiss on the forehead, [[DrivenToMadness utterly destroying her sanity]].
* StreetUrchin: Her life when she's not killing.
* YouKilledMyFather: Cries out "For Mother and Father!" when she attacks Gabrielle Aderre in ''The Evil Eye''.

[[folder:Jugo Hesketh]]
Yagno Petrovna's first friend in G'Henna, he helped to establish the cult of Zhakata, and then seemingly met his end at the hands of the mongrelmen he'd spent his life abusing. To Yagno's horror, however, he turned up as a ghast, leading a group of ghouls in a series of attacks and grave robberies. Yagno drove him away from G'Henna, but he and his pack of ghouls now roam Tepest.

* AscendedExtra: His connection to Yagno was enough to warrant his own writeup, but apart from that he's a bog-standard ghast in every way. Whee.
* CameBackWrong: Whether due to his own cannibalistic tendencies or a curse from his victims, he rose as a ghast, an advanced form of ghoul.
* ChaoticEvil: In-universe.
* ColdIron: Does double damage to him, and ''protection from evil'' spells need to include cold iron in order to repel him.
* EliteMook: As a ghast, compared to ghouls.
* ImAHumanitarian: In life he secretly cannibalized the corpses of those he tortured and sacrificed in the name of Zhakata, killing and devouring untold numbers of G'Henna's mongrelmen and unbelievers. Now, he's not human any more, so it doesn't count.
* MookMaker: Any human or demihuman killed by him will raise as a ghoul, if the body isn't blessed or destroyed.
* TheParalyzer: Like all ghouls, he has a paralyzing touch.
* StinkBomb: As a ghast he gives off a stench of rotting flesh that can make people violently ill.
* VillainousFriendship: With Yagno Petrovna, in life.
* WolfPackBoss: Runs with a pack of ghouls which he made himself.

[[folder:Nostalia Romaine]]
Ivana Boritsi's dearest friend and advisor, and the first of her ermordenung. Ivana set her to kill Camille Dilisnya, her mother, so that she could ascend to rulership of Borca.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: The only toxin that can affect her is the touch of an ermordenung.
* TheBeautifulElite: The ermordenung are part of the aristocracy of Borca, and she's the head of them all.
* CantHaveSexEver: Will kill any partner she touches, and [[MutualKill ermordenung are vulnerable to each other's poisons]].
* CharmPerson: Her deep, husky voice acts like a ''charm'' spell.
* TheDragon: She's this to Ivana, pretty much.
* FemaleMisogynist: She cannot abide the touch of other women, and shuns them, other than Ivana. Mostly this is due to nightmares she has had her whole life where she is tormented by Camille Dilisnya - the woman she betrayed. Thus, while she'll gladly use her KissOfDeath to slay men, she always uses her dagger on female targets and foes.
* HoneyTrap: All ermordenung are beautiful assassins.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: The intimacy denied her as an ermordenung gnaws at her soul.
* KissOfDeath: How she killed Camille Dilisnya.
* LawfulEvil: In-universe.
* MonsterProgenitor: Although as an ermordenung, she cannot breed, she is the first of Ivana Boritsi's ermordenung and their leader. She has a power other ermordenung lack (her ''charm''ing voice), which may be the result of her [[SuperPrototype experimental]] nature.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Each new moon, she uses an elixir of her own devising (which is said to require the harvest of at least three young men), to stay young. Otherwise, she'll [[RapidAging age at an accelerated rate]].
* PainfulTransformation: The transformation process is so agonizing that only the most robust individuals survive becoming an ermordenung.
* PoisonedWeapons: Her dagger is filled with a solution made from her own blood.
* PoisonousPerson: As an ermordenung, her slightest touch is a deadly poison.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Like all ermordenung.
* {{Retcon}}: The assassination of Camille and Nostalia's role in it weren't detailed upon until the ''Monstrous Compendium''.
* StartOfDarkness: Was a perfectly ordinary young lady until Ivana asked her to kill her mother and infused her body with poison. These days she [[ItGetsEasier feels no remorse for killing]] and has come to enjoy the misery she sows.
* SuperSoldier: Particularly in 3rd edition, where the ermordenung transformation process acts as an overall enhancement, increasing all the subject's stats, with an emphasis on strength.
* SuperStrength: As a female ermordenung, in 2nd edition she has 18/50 strength--that is, borderline superhuman, ''especially'' for a woman.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Had no particular dislike of Camille, but her devotion to Ivana overwhelmed any qualms she may have had about killing her.
* VillainousFriendship: With Ivana Boritsi.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Is still haunted by the feeling of Camille Dilisnya's lips upon hers as she died, and is horrified and disgusted by the thought of touching a woman. [[FalseReassurance That's what the dagger's for.]]

[[folder:Elise]]
A graverobber who was foolish enough to develop a relationship with Viktra Mordenheim, a brilliant scientist who used corpseparts for her experiments. Elise and Viktra carried on a whirlwind romance until Elise fell sick. Unable to heal her using conventional means, Viktra committed many abominable deeds to construct the Unbreakable Heart, a mechanical marvel that would resurrect Elise. The experiment succeeded, but the two were claimed by the mists before Viktra could celebrate. Now, Elise flees her former lover, terrified of the scientist's obsession with the unbreakable heart.

* CompositeCharacter: Elise is a CaptainErsatz of Frankenstein's Monster, like Adam, but has the same narrative role as Mordenheim's diseased lover.
* FrankensteinsMonster: Inspired by the concept, a body sewn together and reanimated using science.
* GenderFlip: Is 5e's version of Adam, but has a different gender.
* TheLostLenore: She is Viktra's Lenore, although it's unclear if Viktra actually loves her or if she's just pursuing her for the Unbreakable Heart.
* ReincarnationRomance: 5e lists her as a potential reincarnation of Tatyana. Meaning that poor Elise would have to compete with not one, but two former lovers pursuing her.

[[folder:Ahmi Vanjuko]]
A ranger from [[{{TabletopGame/Greyhawk}} Oerth]]; he ran afoul of Easan the Mad and wound up trapped in the body of a mechanical golem.

* BlessedWithSuck: Has all the benefits (minus the immunity to mind spells) of a mechanical golem and is virtually immortal -- at the expense of everything he held dear.
* ChaoticNeutral: In-universe.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: As a ranger. These days, though, AnimalsHateHim, fleeing when he comes within fifty feet of them.
* {{Golem}}: A mechanical golem.
* TheHermit: Has isolated himself in a cave in the forest.
* MercyKill: Has devoted himself to wandering the forests of Vechor, ending the suffering of Easan's other experimental subjects.
* NatureHero: As a ranger. Although he's lost most of his powers, he still has a few nature-based spells left.
* NatureLover: One of the most tragic aspects of his new life is that he's lost his connection to the wildlife and beauty of the wilderness.
* TheNeedless: Doesn't need to eat, drink or sleep.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: A magical mechanical golem ranger.
* SenseLossSadness: No longer able to smell, taste, or touch, and so can no longer enjoy nature as he used to.
* ShockAndAwe: Can shock people he hits with his claws or who hit him with metal melee weapons, and can generate a powerful electrical aura that will hit any living thing within twenty feet.
* TheSpeechless: Utterly unable to talk.
* StarCrossedLovers: Fell in love with a Vistani woman, and tried to follow her group into the Mists, but wound up alone in Vechor.
* SuperStrength: As a golem.
* {{Transplant}}: From [[{{TabletopGame/Greyhawk}} Oerth]].
* UnwillingRoboticisation: Via BrainUploading.
* WolverineClaws: On his fingers.

[[folder:Andres Duvall]]
Ravenloft's first, last, and only Bardic Lich, Andres was an ordinary bard until his curiosity got the better of him and he ended up on Azalin's doorstep.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: He thought he'd gotten out of Castle Avernus alive and intact... right up until he realized his heart wasn't beating anymore. Within a week, his skin was dried and stretched upon his bones, and people were running away from him.
* ArchEnemy: Azalin is his, though the power disparity between them means that so far Andres's actions against him are limited to wandering around Ravenloft gathering allies and weapons.
* BlessedWithSuck: Has all the physical benefits of a lich, but is forever a horrific monster.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Discovered a fragmentary account of Azalin's rise and became so fascinated by the story that he ''had'' to visit Castle Avernus in person. As Azalin's guest, he was convinced that he wasn't getting the whole truth, so he investigated Azalin's inner sanctum, raising his captor's ire.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Azalin treated him as a guest as well as a prisoner, regaling him with his life story and demanding nothing save that Andres sing songs and tell tales for him.
* EmotionBomb: Generates an an aura of fear.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Half-elf, but such a charming person that he was spared the usual FantasticRacism. It's rather academic ''now'', of course.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: His knowledge of Azalin's secrets has made him one of the darklord's most hated enemies.
* ImprovisedArmor: When Azalin shot a lightning bolt at him, he grabbed one of the lich's most potent spellbooks to shield himself and escaped unscathed. [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie Or not.]]
* MagicEater: His only form of sustenance. He can absorb spells cast upon him, or touch a magic user and grab a spell from their minds.
* TheNeedless: He no longer has any need to eat, sleep, or breathe, although he does have to absorb magic once a day.
* NeutralGood: In-universe.
* NightmareFace: As a lich, his face is so terrifying that people flee from him.
* NoSell: Any magic cast upon him is absorbed, restoring his health and providing sustenance.
* OddFriendship: With Azalin, who seemed almost grateful for his company.
* OurLichesAreDifferent: The text repeatedly notes that he's not a "true" lich (for one thing, he doesn't have a phylactery), but that he's close enough to count.
* TheParalyzer: Has a chilling, paralyzing touch, like other liches, although his is less powerful.
* SingleSpecimenSpecies: Due to the fluke which created him.
* SpoonyBard: Although he's lost most of his abilities in that regard, he retains his ability to cast arcane spells, and to use thief skills and bardic lore.
* TechnicallyLivingZombie: Transformed into a lich without actually dying first.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He's sided with enemies of Darkon several times in his efforts to bring Azalin down, and might even be able to stomach working with a rival darklord like Strahd if he has to.

[[folder:Toben the Many]]
If Toben ever had a past as a human, he doesn't care about it. What he is now is far grander than any single life; as his title implies, Toben is not a single creature, but a single mind [[HiveMind that inhabits the bodies of all those killed]] by his [[PlagueMaster Grinning Sickness]] or anyone killed by one of his bodies. Either way, [[TheVirus the corpse develops a rictus grin and a fiendish intelligence]], capable of coordinating its actions with all of Toben's other bodies to a degree most necromancers would commit genocide for. Beyond that, though, he's not really a macro-scale threat like a darklord; he's far too self-centered and lazy for that. He is, however, a sadist; seeing as how he has nothing to do with his immortality, he enjoys [[ItAmusedMe making a game of it]]. A very cruel game of it.

* AGodAmI: Perhaps not a god, but he does think of himself as superior to everyone with only a single body.
* AxCrazy: Of a more subdued manner, but he's exactly as insane and sadistic as his [[SlasherSmile symptoms]] suggest.
* BreakThemByTalking: He ''loves'' tormenting people psychologically.
* CursedWithAwesome: The dominant theory as to his origins state he was a soldier who used a disguise to provoke a massacre of a Vistani caravan, and is now a HiveMind due to what was probably intended as an IronicHell of LossOfIdentity. He really doesn't mind.
* ForTheEvulz: A bored Toben is a terrifying thing.
* ItCanThink: Toben is what happens when you give a ZombieApocalypse the mind of a high-functioning and very clever SerialKiller.
* SlasherSmile: All of his bodies' lips shrink and their eyes bulge, leading to this as a permanent expression.
* ZombieApocalypse: He's not planning on taking over any time soon (it'd get lonely), but anyone facing Toben quickly faces this in short order.

[[folder:Professor Arcanus]]
Born Randal duPree to a modestly wealthy family in Port-a-Lucine, his fate changed forever when his family went to see a Vistani travelling show. Randal was instantly smitten with the granduer of the entertainer's lifestyle... and, more fatefully, with Nadja the seer. Drunk on too much wine, he couldn't resist speaking to her after the show and confessing his love to her; when she mockingly refused him, he tried to force himself upon her. The rest of the band promptly captured him, and cursed him for his deeds. Soon afterwards, Randal learned that rage or pain caused him to risk turning into a hulking beast, and so he reluctantly left his home to protect the people he cared for. A naturally extroverted person, he began travelling the world, searching for a cure and taking up the identity of Professor Arcanus, using the various artifacts he gathered -- real and fake -- to run a travelling curio show. He entered the Ravenloft canon in ''Children of the Night: Werebeasts'', and also starred in the fan netbook ''Quoth the Raven #3''.

* AndIMustScream: Not the Professor himself, but anyone whom he bites; those who succumb to his therianthropic curse are transformed into [[KillerGorilla Carnivorous Apes]] ''permanently''.
* BigFun: Professor Arcanus is a very round-looking individual, but also a highly personable and extroverted man who loves showmanship.
* ChaoticGood: His canonical in-universe alignment. He's a showman and a rogue, not averse to lying if it makes a story more interesting, but he's also a good man who just wants to entertain and amuse.
* CharmPerson: In 2nd edition, he can mimic the effects of a Mesmerism spell at-will if he has a focus. The large gem on his cane serves just fine.
* KillerGorilla: He turns into one when he transforms.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His attempted assault on Nadja was completely out of character for him, and he deeply regrets it. His appearance in Quoth the Raven has him admit that he still blames himself for assaulting her and believes he deserves his punishment.
* OurWereBeastsAreDifferent: Not only is he a maledictive werebeast, meaning he was created by magic, but he also breaks what Van Richten thought were the rules of therianthropy (only carnivores or scavengers) by turning into a ''KillerGorilla''. He only has human or beast forms, and completely loses control of himself when he transforms.
* StoutStrength: Most people take a look at the short, heavily-built man and his round face and assume he's overweight. In fact he's simply stocky and barrel-chested; all of that bulk is pure muscle.
* SuperStrength: Some of his gorilla-like strength leaks through even in his human form, making his strikes more dangerous.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Because some of the items in his collection are more dangerous than he realizes, he can serve as this. His tie-in adventure, ''Missing Bones'', is based on the fact that he learns his skeleton of Duke Gundar is real only ''after'' someone pulls out the stake and revives the dread vampire. In his named items, he also has a crawling claw (which would start attacking any living thing around it if released) that he presents as "the hand of Vecna", and his "soul blade" is actually the cursed weapon/pocket domain of Aggarath from ''The Forgotten Terror''.
* TheVirus: Like many lycanthropes, he's contagious. ''[[DownplayedTrope Unlike]]'' many lycanthropes, his infection turns people into a [[NonMaliciousMonster peaceable]] Carnivorous Ape, which is simply a very big, very smart omnivorous gorilla which is not contagious.
* WeaksauceWeakness: All werebeasts have some material that can harm them, even when mundane damage fails. Professor Arcanus' is ''wood''. That's right, you can theoretically beat him to death with a tree branch.

[[folder:Larissa Snowmane]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3_49.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancer on the river]]
The captain of the riverboat ''River Dancer'', Larissa Snowmane traverses the rivers of the demiplane, giving aid to the helpless and passage to those who need it. As a child, her father was killed by the ''Dancer'''s previous captain, who took her in as his own child. When she eventually learned of this, Larissa fled into the swamps of Soraigne, where her druidic magic was awakened and she learend the mystical Dance of the Dead from the domain's darklord, which wards of undead but kills and reanimates any who witness it. Using the dance, Larissa killed her surrogate father, unintentionally slaying her lover in the process, and took the ''River Dancer''. Known by her icy white hair, beautiful singing voice, and breathtaking (literally) dancing, captain Snowmane has become a legend in her decades of travel. She fears not the undead that infest the rivers, warding them of using the Dance of the Dead. Larissa only avoids her rival captain Nathan Timothy and the domain of Soraigne, where she is still beholden to unpaid debts.

Larissa appears in the novel ''Dance of the Dead'' and later in 5th edition as an NPC, though her past is kept mysterious.

* BrownNote: Any living being who witnesses the Dance of the Dead are instantly slain and reanimated as a zombie.
* DealWithTheDevil: Larissa learned her powers from nefarious beings in Soraigne, namely the Lady of the Swamp and the darklord Anton Misroi, who consider her debts unpaid.
* TheFerryman: Larissa is a riverboat captain who's associated with death and who ferries people across countless rivers. She doesn't quite fit the traditional aesthetics, but nevertheless fulfills the trope.
* GoodSamaritan: Larissa has no reason to help people, she simply does so because it's the right thing to do.
-->"Everyone needs help from time to time. I'll help those who have no one else."
* MysteriousPast: In 5e, nothing is told of Larissa's past before becoming who she is today, only that she at one point learned her powers from nefarious beings in Soraigne. She views her past as the only evil she cannot overcome.
* OlderThanTheyLook: To the point where you'd think the artist had some miscommunication with the writer. In 5e, Larissa is explicitly in her late 60s, but looks the same as she did in her initial appearance, a woman half her age.
* WhipItGood: Pre-5e, Larissa wielded a whip gifted to her by Anton Misroi. It turns into a snake when used, but requires a bit of her blood to activate.

[[folder:Senmet]]
Centuries ago, before Pharaoh Anhktepot was drawn into Ravenloft, his high priest Senmet was mummified and entombed alive after his treasonous plans were uncovered. But Senmet would not rest forever...

* AGodAmI: Part of Senmet's plan to usurp Anhktepot in ''Touch of Death'' was to use Isu Rehkotep's position in the Cult of Osiris to subtly shift the worship of Mudar's people to Set instead. With them worshipping a god aligned to him and an army of desert zombies, he was certain he could ascend to the position of Pharaoh (thus godhood).
* AmbitionIsEvil: The reason he planned to engineer Anhktepot's downfall in the first place was because he wanted absolute power, and he hasn't changed in the interim, as anyone naive enough to seek his help in taking down the Darklord will find out.
* {{Archenemy}}: Anhktepot.
* BrownNote: Like all greater mummies, Senmet has a terrifying ''aura of fear''--in his case, however, it has twice the effect if it lands.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Senmet's body ''just happened'' to come to Ravenloft with Anhktepot, and centuries later a priestess named Isu Rehkotep ''just happened'' to come across a scroll that detailed how Anhktepot created greater mummies and the body she eventually decided to try it out on ''just happened'' to be Senmet. And then you remember the Dark Powers exist, and well...
* DealWithTheDevil: It's implied that the reason he can make and control desert zombies is because he either somehow made a deal with Set, or because of Isu Rekhotep being a worshipper of the dark god.
* DiscardAndDraw: Unlike other greater mummies, Senmet lacks the ability to cast clerical spells in favor of making and controlling desert zombies. In ''Touch of Death'' this was because he'd swapped those powers out for the ability to both make and control ''and'' assume partial control of Har'akir from Anhktepot. In ''Domains of Dread'', his control over the domain isn't mentioned and his zombie powers are implied to be due to some sort of deal he or Isu Rehkotep worked out with Set. These aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, however.
* DueToTheDead: Although he was a traitor, Anhktepot had him buried with full honors and claimed he was a martyr for his Pharaoh in order to create the illusion of an unchallenged reign.
* HolyBurnsEvil: Contact with non-evil religious symbols inflicts damage on him. Conversely, evil ones heal him.
* KryptoniteFactor: Lightning does half again its damage to him.
* LawfulEvil: In-universe.
* MakeThemRot: As a mummy, he has a powerful rotting touch. As a greater mummy, his is even ''more'' powerful.
* MindControl:
** The scroll Isu Rehkotep used to awaken him was incomplete, but she can still control him for a few minutes a day.
** Senmet himself can control his desert zombies and lesser mummies.
* MakerOfMonsters: Senmet can choose to transform those infected by his rotting disease into either desert zombies or ordinary mummies (by mummifying the latter alive), both of whom he can control.
* NoSell: Not having been created by Anhktepot, he cannot be controlled by the Darklord. In addition, cold, ice, and nonmagical fire have no effect on him, and he shares the undead immunity to ''sleep, charm'' and ''hold'' spells. Holy water also doesn't affect him.
* SuperStrength: Does a large amount of barehanded damage.

[[folder:Blackroot]]

In the forest of Tepest, on the border between G'Henna and Markovia, there is a eighteen-foot tall monster with spies everywhere, who can send the beasts of the forest to terrorize his foes, or animate the very trees themselves to strike them down. An evil treant is a formidable foe, but Blackroot puts others of his kind to shame.

* ChaoticEvil: In-universe.
* TheCorrupter: He's so evil the animals in his part of the forest have gone from TrueNeutral to NeutralEvil.
* {{Druid}}: Though he's not a real druid, he has a large array of druid spells at his command, and casts as though he were 12th level.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Like other treants. Since his animal friends are [[TheCorrupter evil now]], this means he has hundreds of innocuous-looking spies.
* SuperStrength: He can crush plate armor like cardboard.
* SuperToughness: He has a huge amount of hit dice and his (2nd edition) AC is 0.
* TheBeastmaster: His druid spells let him control animals, and he'll usually do this instead of directly confronting his foes. This is, remarkably, a ''good'' thing for the foes as Blackroot in person is ''way'' stronger than his animal thralls.
* {{Treants}}: Yup. Though he started out as a normal (if beautiful and stately) tree before the hags of Tepest spent a month pouring what amounts to liquified evil on his roots.
* WalkingWasteland: His very presence ruins the ground and the water and makes fruit trees give bitter issue.
* WeaksauceWeakness: He's not too keen on fire, and he'll send every animal in the forest after anyone who brings it into his realm.
* WhenTreesAttack: He can walk, he can control trees and make them walk. Oh, yes, and he's a ravenous carnivore.

[[folder:Reeva and Arijani Vasavadan]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03_021arijani_and_reeva.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Betrayer and Usurper]]

The sister and brother of Ramya Vasavadan, the darklord of Kalakeri. On the day of Ramya's coronation, Arijani tried to usurp her, leading to a civil war. Ramya won, but, at the urging of Reeva, spared her treasonous brother. Unbeknownst to her, however, her sister was just as treasonous, and secretly worked with nobles to build a rebel army loyal to Arijani. The rebels freed Arijani and defeated Ramya's armies after a long war, but as her corpse sunk to the bottom of the sea, she rose again as a death knight, bringing with her an army of the dead. Arijani and Reeva soon fell, but as the mists claimed Kalakeri, they rose again as demons, forever to carry on the civil war.

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Arijani is an InNameOnly version of an earlier edition darklord, but unlike that version, he was born a human, and only turned into a rakshasa after his death. %%InUniverse
* AmbitionIsEvil: Arijani's FatalFlaw. His ambition made him attempt to usurp Ramya's throne, which directly led to their damnation.
* AnimalMotifs: A bit. Arcanaloths are designed after the deceitful jackal, which fits Reeva rather well, while Rakshasa resemble noble but savage tigers, fitting the usurper Arijani.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Reeva played the role of a friendly and loyal sister, but secretly schemed against Ramya. By now, her outwards appearance fits her inwards.
* DemotedToExtra: Downplayed. Arijani used to be an outright darklord in earlier editions. Here, he's reduced to a character in another darklord's story - but he and Reeva are still so influential in Kalakeri it's impossible to avoid his influence, and he's still subjected to an IronicHell.
* FunnyAnimal: Except that they're not funny at all. Both are fiends that resemble humanoid animals. Reeva is an Arcanaloth, resembling the jackal, and Arijani is a Rakshasa, resembling a tiger.
* IronicHell: Despite not being darklords, they still suffer this of a kind. For attempting to usurp their sister's rightful inheritance, they have been forced into an unending civil war, where any victory is temporary. For added irony, they don't even get to be darklords, because Ramya has and always will be the rightful heir.
* KarmicTransformation: The Dark Powers turned them into fiends. As monstrous on the outside as they are on the inside.
* ManipulativeBastard: Reeva embodies the "playing both sides" archetype, working to play her sister and brother against each other while earning more power for herself.
* MythologyGag: Reeva is sometimes nicknamed "Inajira" in-universe, a play on how she is a "backwards Arijani". It also homages a powerful Arcanaloth who was present in the Demiplane of Dread in older editions of the setting.

''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} ([[Characters/EberronDragonmarkedHouses Dragonmarked Houses]] | [[Characters/EberronFaiths Religions]] | [[Characters/EberronNations Nations]]) | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | '''Ravenloft''' ([[Characters/RavenloftDarklords Darklords]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA A]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesB B]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesC C]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesD D]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesE E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesF F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesG G]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesH H]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesIToL I to L]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesM M]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesNtoQ N to Q]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesR R]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesS S]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesT T]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesUToZ U to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\

''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | '''Ravenloft''' ([[Characters/RavenloftDarklords Darklords]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesAToE A to E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesFToI F to I]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesJToO J to O]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesPToZ P to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\