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The Redferns
The oldest and most powerful lamia family, directly descended from Maya, the first vampire, and her son, Red Fern, the first lamia. They are regarded as royalty by the vampires (and a few of them actually do possess royal titles).Warning: Contains some unmarked spoilers for the series
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In General
In General
- Arranged Marriage: The less progressive Redferns seem fond of these, particularly for their daughters, to keep their bloodlines 'pure'.
- Baby Factory: How women are more or less viewed in the family. Hunter pretty much states the only reason he married Maeve (besides solidifying their alliance with the witches) was to get heirs from her.
- Badass Family: As messed up as they are, the family is still pretty badass (generally a given if you're all vampires). Notably, two of their family members are Wild Powers, some of the most powerful people in the world.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Dear God. The family was screwed up starting right back with its progenitor, Maya, a megalomaniac who fought her twin sister to the death, sacrificed four babies, forcibly turned dozens of people into vampires and started a war with the witches that lasted several thousand years. This seems to run in the family, though there are some more well-adjusted members. There have also been several cases of Abusive Parents and family members trying (and sometimes succeeding) to kill each other. Becomes Royally Screwed Up in regards to the Dark Kingdom Redferns.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette / Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Besides red hair, black hair and pale skin also seems to be semi-common amongst the family. Being lamia, they're both eerie and beautiful.
- Evil Red Head / Fiery Red Head: "Blood-red" hair is a common trait, inherited from the family's founder, Red Fern.
- Family Eye Resemblance:
- A defining trait of the family is golden eyes.
- Jez, her uncle Bracken and presumably her father Brook all have silvery-blue eyes.
- Maya and Ash Redfern's eyes are Living Mood Rings.
- Feuding Families: With the Harmans in the past, but they resolved it via a 'blood-tie' and some Altar Diplomacy.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: The majority of the modern Redferns who are descended from Garnet Redfern have witch ancestry. Rowan, Kestrel and Jade state their father blames their rebellious ways on their "witch genes".
- Heir Club for Men: The Redferns are patriarchal and prize having male heirs. This lead to a Succession Crisis when Hunter Redfern's only son ran off and Hunter and his wife Maeve only had daughters.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Played with. Because they're patriarchal, ideally sons would be the heirs, but Hunter Redfern ran into a problem a few hundred years back due to only having daughters. He skirted around this by legally allowing the children of his eldest daughter to keep the Redfern surname.
- Nom de Mom: Hunter Redfern shuffled the laws around so that the children of his daughter Garnet could legally call themselves Redfern to carry on his name. Unless they're a woman who marries out of the family, all of Garnet's descendants go by the surname of Redfern.
- Shout-Out: The trio of Redfern sisters in Daughters of Darkness are a potential Shout-Out to the brides of Dracula. They're both a trio of beautiful vampire ladies who are described as sisters (it's not clear if Dracula's vampiresses are truly sisters, while the Redfern sisters are confirmed to be biologically related). Dracula's brides consist of two dark-haired women and a blonde, who is the 'ringleader', while the Redfern sisters consist of two blondes (Jade and Kestrel) and a brunette (Rowan) who is the de facto 'leader'. Overall, the Redfern sisters and their relationship with Mary-Lynette and Mark can be seen as more benevolent versions of Dracula's brides and their encounters with Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray.
- Villainous Lineage: Many family members seem to share the traits of egomania, Fantastic Racism and tendency towards genocide and casual murder.
- The Weird Sisters: Sisters Rowan, Kestrel and Jade (the title characters of the second book Daughters of Darkness). They're not seen as particularly weird on the lamia enclave where they were raised, save for the fact they're a bit more independent and free-thinking than their family would like, but they definitely stand out in rural small-town Oregon, where they're some of the only Night People for miles.
Jade Redfern
Jade Redfern
Appears in: Daughters of Darkness
The youngest of the Redfern sisters in Daughters of Darkness. She falls in love with Mark Carter.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not made entirely if she and Mark are actually soulmates. They are instantly attracted to each other (on both a physical and emotional level) and Jade is initially convinced they're soulmates, but after hearing a description of the soulmate bond and how it is for Mary-Lynette and Ash, she wonders if she and Mark are truly soulmates after all because it doesn't sound much like the bond they have. Then again, this could be because Jade and Mark are both quite different people to Ash and Mary-Lynette and have a far more easy-going, less combative relationship. Either way, she definitely cares for him and is happy to be his girlfriend.
- The Baby of the Bunch: She's the youngest out of her four siblings, having just turned sixteen, and they tend to be rather protective of her.
- Beta Couple: With Mark in Daughters of Darkness.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Has shades of this; within minutes of arriving at Aunt Opal's house, she manages to pull a wooden gate off its hinges and whack her own leg with it, and later puts her foot through the front porch. She's also depicted as very attractive with an almost childlike enthusiasm for just about everything.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Her father would not be impressed by her choosing a human as her boyfriend.
- First Love: She's the first girlfriend Mark has ever had; he never really clicked with any of the other girls in his town and is instantly attracted to newcomer Jade (who is also possibly his soulmate).
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: With her siblings in Daughters of Darkness . She's Sanguine, being optimistic and excitable, but also reckless and scatter-brained.
- Freudian Trio: With her sisters. Jade is arguably The McCoy, being very prone to act on her emotions and more impulsive.
- Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire: She's a vampire...who loves kittens, dances and sings along to commercials and immediately falls head over heels for one of the first human boys she meets.
- Genki Girl: She's prone to hyperactiveness no matter the situation and states she almost always feels "either madly excited or madly anxious and confused". See also Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
- Hiding Behind Your Bangs: She mentions sometimes using her long hair to "veil" herself when she's feeling shy.
- I Just Want to Be Free: Like her sisters, she wants to be free to live her life on her terms more than anything.
- The Ingenue: Often behaves like one. Due to being raised in an isolated enclave her whole life, she's rather naive. The effects range from endearing - she thinks it's wonderful that Aunt Opal's house is made of wood (enclave houses are usually made of stone) and dances to a radio commercial as if it's an actual song - to more problematic - she unwisely tried to smuggle some of her kittens in her suitcase and is distraught when they don't survive the journey, and nearly blurts out what she really is to Mark during a conversation, which would've resulted in an automatic death sentence for him. She also believes vampire hunters are just myths made up to scare little vampires into behaving (though she's not entirely convinced). She's also described as beautiful and serene-looking, with white-blonde hair, and appears to float rather than walk at times.
- Interspecies Romance: With Mark.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: She's mostly a Nice Girl who loves cats.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Has shades of this, especially when interacting with Mark. He literally states at one point he doesn't care if she's crazy, because "I think I love her", and he becomes a lot less reserved and uptight after meeting her.
- Meaningful Name: Has 'jade-green' eyes.
- Mystical White Hair: Has long, platinum blonde hair (possibly due to her Harman heritage).
- Nice Mean And In Between: Out of the three sisters, she’s the Nice one.
- The Runaway: She flees from her family’s enclave with her sisters to get away from her oppressive life.
- Sworn Brothers: She becomes blood sisters with Mary-Lynette. She did the blood tie with Mark as well, but her feelings for him are romantic, not familial.
Kestrel Redfern
Kestrel Redfern
Appears in: Daughters of Darkness
The middle sister of the Redfern sisters in Daughters of Darkness.
- Animal Motif: Birds of prey. She's often compared to a hawk or kestrel in her appearance and demeanour.
- Big Sister Bully: She can be a bit of one to Jade, though she does genuinely love her as well.
- Brutal Honesty: Kestrel tends not to sugar-coat things and can be quite blunt; she's also usually the one who states things the others are skirting around or trying to address more tactfully.
- Curtains Match the Window: Has golden hair and golden eyes.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Described as having hair the colour of "old gold" and is very beautiful.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: With her siblings in Daughters of Darkness . She's Melancholic, being practical and loyal, but also rude and cynical.
- Freudian Trio: With her sisters. Arguably The Spock, she being rather blunt, sarcastic and coldly logical.
- Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire: Played with. Kestrel's far from evil and doesn't actively wish harm upon humans...though she doesn't seem to be overly troubled by the prospect of killing if she has to.
- Good Is Not Nice: She can be pretty standoffish or aggressive, and is a little too eager to be allowed to hunt her own prey, but is not a bad person.
- I Just Want to Be Free: Like her sisters, she wants to be free to live her life on her terms more than anything.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all her teasing of Jade and aggressive behaviour, she genuinely loves her family including the Carter siblings after the blood tie and would do anything to protect them.
- Meaningful Name: Her name refers to a bird of prey. Kestrel is said to have golden, hawk-like eyes and a somewhat predatory air.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Out of the three sisters, she’s the Mean one.
- No Sympathy: Towards Jade, when she is distraught to learn that the two kittens she smuggled in her suitcase didn't survive. All Kestrel says is that of course they died, because "they need to breathe". She does, however, offer to take care of the bodies...for ten bucks (Jade then mistakenly thinks she plans on eating them).
- The Runaway: She flees from her family’s enclave with her sisters to get away from her oppressive life.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Has these eyes, like several other members of her family.
- Sworn Brothers: She becomes blood siblings with the Carter siblings after their blood tie.
Rowan Redfern
Rowan Redfern
Appears in: Daughters of Darkness
"It is nice, isn't it? It's the real world. And we have as much right to it as anybody else."
The eldest Redfern sister in Daughters of Darkness.
- Alliterative Name: Her first and last names both start with 'R' and end with 'N'.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Though she is friendly towards her sisters and people she trusts.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: After she sees that her great aunt Opal has been staked with a picket fence and dumped in the basement, the first thing she states is that Opal must've tripped, fallen and accidentally staked herself, when it's fairly obvious she was intentionally killed.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: With her siblings in Daughters of Darkness . She's Phlegmatic, being level-headed and diplomatic, but also naive and overly idealistic.
- Freudian Trio: With her sisters. She's arguably The Kirk, being the ringleader, mediator and appealing to reason.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Believes Todd and Vic to be two nice, trustworthy lads who want to give her and her sisters a ride on a dark, isolated road out of the goodness of their hearts. She’s shocked when she realizes their true intentions. She also dismisses the possibility that Jeremy could be Mrs Burdock’s killer on account of the fact she assumes all werewolves to be noble creatures who kill only to feed. This may be justified in that she’s lived most of her life on a lamia enclave, relatively isolated from the rest of the world.
- I Just Want to Be Free: Like her sisters, she wants to be free to live her life on her terms more than anything.
- Meaningful Name: Rowan is a type of tree. Rowan has brown hair and eyes and is at one point compared to a tree spirit. Names referring to trees or wood are also regarded as "powerful" for lamia, as wood is one of the few substances that can seriously harm and kill vampires.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Out of the three sisters, she’s the In-between one.
- Proper Lady: Often behaves in this manner, being very polite and refined, especially compared to Jade and Kestrel. She also orchestrates her and her sisters's escape from their oppressive lives on the enclave.
- The Runaway: She flees from her family’s enclave with her sisters to get away from her oppressive life.
- Silk Hiding Steel: For all her politeness and poise, she's still a vampire, and makes it plain to Ash she and her sisters aren't going back to the enclave without a fight.
- Sworn Brothers: She becomes blood siblings with the Carter siblings after their blood tie.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Besides the above mentioned case of Dramatically Missing the Point, Rowan insists that most werewolves are noble creatures that hunt only to feed, thus making it extremely unlikely that a werewolf is responsible for killing Opal and the animals around town and they should focus on someone else. Jeremy Lovett clearly didn't get that memo.
Alder Redfern
Alder Redfern
Ash Redfern: I've got three sisters and they all have regular old fashioned names. Rowan, Kestrel, Jade. My dad would burst a blood vessel if one of them suddenly wanted to call herself 'Susan'.
A minor character who is only alluded to. He's a Night World Elder, the father of Rowan, Ash, Kestrel and Jade, and brother to Madder Rasmussen, making him the uncle of James Rasmussen.
- Abusive Parent: It’s implied he’s very controlling of his daughters, not allowing them to leave the enclave or speak their minds, and intending to force marriages on them. It’s also implied he can even be quite cold to his son, Ash, which may have a bit (or a lot) to do with the way he acts now.
- All There in the Manual / No Name Given: His name is first mentioned in the family tree.
- Evil Uncle: A downplayed one to James. 'Evil' may be laying it on a bit thick, but's at the very least he's a Jerkass, while James is quite a benevolent vampire who's views on humans are the complete opposite to his uncle's.
- Fantastic Racism: Thinks vampires are the superior race and looks down on werewolves and shapeshifters. He berates his son for hanging out with ‘lesser’ Night People; he’s also not keen on witches apparently, scoffing at their matriarchal culture and blaming his daughters’ witch genes for their ‘rebellious’ ways. And don’t even get started on his attitude towards humans.
- The Ghost: He’s mentioned once in Secret Vampire and several times in Daughters of Darkness, but never actually appears.
- Irony: The vampire patriarch who despises humans ends up with two kids who fall in love with humans and one who joined Circle Daybreak, an organisation dedicated to peace and unity between humans and Night People.
- Jerkass: Considering his Fantastic Racism, sexist views and controlling behaviour of his daughters, it’s safe to say he’s not an especially pleasant man.
- Parental Favoritism: It’s implied he likes Ash best out of all his children, giving him far more freedom and leeway than his daughters. It’s probably because Ash is his only son.
- Parental Obliviousness: Despite the fact they've been gone for a few days at least, he still hasn't twigged that his daughters have run away from home by the time they reach Briar Creek.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Sneaky enough that Rowan was able to contact his estranged aunt Opal and run away to Oregon with her sisters right under his nose.
- Why Couldn't You Be Different?: He wishes his daughters would Stay in the Kitchen, do as they're told and marry whoever he wants, and wishes his son would stop hanging out with riff-raff like shapeshifters and werewolves.
Madder Redfern
Madder Rasmussen (née Redfern)
See her entry under Lamia. Opal Redfern
Opal Burdock (née Redfern)
See her entry under Lamia. Hunter Redfern
Hunter Redfern
Appears in: The Chosen | Black Dawn
Patriarch of the Redfern family and member of the Night World Council. Most modern Redferns are descended directly from him.
- Altar Diplomacy: Had an Arranged Marriage with Maeve Harman, to unite their Feuding Families and produce a male heir. It turned out to be a major disappointment, as the couple only had girls and hated each other so much Maeve went off by herself, taking their youngest daughter with her. He did succeed in uniting the Night World into a single society, though.
- Bait the Dog: From everything that we've heard about Hunter up until The Chosen, he seems to be something of a Noble Demon or Well-Intentioned Extremist, who only takes hardline measures against humans due to having lived through the Burning Times and lost a loved one namely, his kindhearted daughter Dove as a result of Van Helsing Hate Crimes. He outlawed things like slavery and blood feasts, insisting Night People have as little contact with humans as possible, and is described as being a stern but honourable man. Even Rashel Jordan, who despises vampires, describes him as being an old-fashioned New England gentleman. Then, in the fifth book, his true nature is finally revealed and it's made very clear that Hunter is a murderous, cold-hearted egomaniac and hypocrite, who simply keeps up appearances until he has an opportunity to overthrow humans and establish vampire dominance; he only keeps his own rules when it suits him and has been known to hunt children simply because he can.
- Big Bad: Of The Chosen and Black Dawn.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He apparently doesn't remember killing Rashel's mother and aunt Corrine, and trying to kill her, even though for Rashel these events changed her life forever. However, as he and his fellow vampires are closing in on Rashel and Quinn, he uses telepathy to send Rashel a single statement: "I told you I would see you later", revealing he does remember.
- The Corrupter: Implied to have been this to Quinn and Timmy. He tries being this to Delos and Sylvia but ultimately fails on both counts, especially with Delos.
- Corruption of a Minor: To Timmy; after turning him into a vampire, he encouraged him to think of humans as nothing but prey and convinced him that Rashel hated and abandoned him.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: His luring of Timmy into a dark tent at a funfair and attempt to lure Rashel to him by offering her ice cream. Rashel even manages to draw attention to them by screaming to onlookers that he “tried to touch [her]”.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: It's not made explicit, but he seems to genuinely love his daughters (Lily in particular), though to what degree is unclear.
- Evil Redhead: Has blood-red hair and is pretty darn evil.
- Identical Grandfather: His grandson Tormentil (Delos' father) looked so much like him, that Maggie momentarily mistook Hunter for him.
- Karma Houdini: He gets off scot free (or at the least very lightly for all his crimes and atrocities. Until the end of Black Dawn, that is.
- Manipulative Bastard: He's got the entire Night World Council eating out of the palm of his hand. See also Corruption of a Minor and The Corrupter.
- Offing the Offspring: Although Quinn is not his biological son, he is his adopted son in all but name and he attempts to kill him after he turns against him.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Hunter apparently outlived three of his four daughters (Dove had a rather untimely death, it's not entirely clear what happened to Garnet and Roseclear, being a witch not a vampire, died of natural causes centuries ago). It's also revealed he outlived his son Chervil and his grandson Tormentil (who he didn't even know existed until after his death), and by Black Dawn Lily is dead too.
- Parental Substitute: To Quinn, all but adopting him after he made him a vampire and Timmy.
- The Patriarch: Of the Redferns.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He makes no secret of the fact he sees vampires as the 'master race', thinks of humans as little but cattle and doesn't think much of witches either, despite marrying and having children with one (he dismisses this as being a 'necessity' due to the circumstances). He also sees women as being inferior heirs to men; his family is very patriarchal and when he finds out his estranged son Chervil has male descendents, he quickly latches onto his great grandson Delos as his new heir, though this could be out of practicality as all his daughters are dead at this point.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: On a less serious note, he worms his way out of not having a male heir by legally allowing his daughter's children to inherit the Redfern surname. On a more serious note, he is revealed to be behind the blood feast, despite such events being outlawed.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Has them, like many in his family.
- Vampire Monarch: He's the closest thing the vampires have to a monarch (his official title is 'Elder'). After most of the witches secede to Circle Daybreak those that remain loyal to the Night World answer to Hunter as well, along with other kinds of Night People.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He's initially viewed with great respect in the Night World, seen as being an upstanding member of the vampire community, the forefather of their society and a role model for living in a civilised and secretive manner. Until it becomes public knowledge he tried to organise a Blood Feast behind the Council's back, that is, though he still has plenty of supporters.
- Wanted a Son Instead: This happened to him four times.
- Would Hit a Girl: And that's putting it mildly.
- Would Hurt a Child: He fed on Timmy and turned him into a vampire when he was just four years old and attempted to kill Rashel when she was five. He also turns out to be behind the kidnapping of human girls for a blood feast, some of whom are as young as twelve.
Lily Redfern
Lily Redfern
Appears in: The Chosen | Huntress
Hunter's second eldest daughter and apparently the only one still living.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's tall, very beautiful and black-haired, with a noticeably cold and composed demeanour. She's actually nicknamed 'Ice Princess' for her coldness. She's also technically royalty, given her status as a Redfern (the closest thing to royalty that vampires have). The girls from the Crypt club seem to look up to her, unaware of how monstrous she is beneath the surface.
- Aristocrats Are Evil / Rich Bitch: She's a condescending, elitist snob who looks down on others with barely disguised contempt...at best. She also has a sadistic streak, actively enjoys the thought of killing humans left and right, has little respect for the laws of the Night World and never shows any remorse or empathy towards her victims. She's also a racist who looks down on 'lesser' Night People and "half-breeds", calling them freaks and mongrels, and believing they don't deserve to live even when said half-breed is a member of her own family.
- The Baroness: Fits several aspects of this trope. She could be considered a Sexpot, given she's very beautiful and youthful-looking. She's cold to the point of being nicknamed 'Ice Princess', devoted to vampire superiority and related goals, is cruel, domineering and certainly enjoys the pain and suffering she wroughts.
- Beauty Is Bad: She's very beautiful, but Quinn outright states he could tell just by looking that she was "evil". Her characterisation throughout the series generally supports this.
- Big Bad: Subverted in The Chosen, where it turns out she's The Dragon to her dad. Played straight in Huntress.
- Daddy's Little Villain: She's practically a spitting image of her father (and his ideals...) and serves as his right-hand woman. However, she is willing to go behind his back to illegally traffic humans as slaves or not, as it turns out her dad was secretly in on it all along and she's just happily following his orders.
- Dark Action Girl: Mostly in Huntress.
- The Dragon: To Hunter Redfern.
- Evil Aunt: Well, evil great-great-great-great aunt to Jez Redfern.
- The Heavy: Turns out to be this in The Chosen; she takes a direct role in overseeing the human slave ring, letting no one, including her own right-hand man, Quinn, know that her father is the real mastermind behind the operation.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Lily wanted the Wild Power and she got it.
- Hypocrite: She despises Jez Redfern, her own flesh and blood for being a hybrid, when she herself is technically half-lamia, half-witch (though it's likely she hates Jez specifically for being half-human.
- Ironic Name: Who'd have thought someone with a sweet, flowery name like 'Lily' would be a bloodthirsty psychopath with Fantastic Racism tendencies?
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Though her mother was a witch, she was born with dominant lamia genes. She very much considers herself a lamia and a Redfern through and through, and fully embraces the Night World creed of superiority over humans (while witches tend to be more tolerant).
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The mean one out of Hunter's lamia daughters.
- Not Enough to Bury: After Jez blasts her with blue fire, she is completely immolated, leaving no trace behind.
- Older Than They Look / Really 700 Years Old: She was born in the 1600's and yet looks young enough to be referred to as a "girl" (presumably late teens/early twenties).
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Well, she is a vampire, after all. an overlap with Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette as well.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Inherited from her father.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Although not commented on or made explicit, Lily has several similarities to her ancestress Maya - they're both pale, dark-haired beauties with a severe Lack of Empathy for others and goals revolving around vampire superiority. Funnily enough, they also both die within a few months of each other; Maya is killed at the end of Soulmate, while Lily dies at the end of the next book, Huntress.
- Would Hurt a Child: Most of the girls she is kidnapping and enslaving to be used in a blood feast are teenagers; some are no older than twelve.
Jez Redfern
Jezebel 'Jez' Redfern
Appears in: Jez and Morgead's Night Out | Huntress
"It's a family affair. Hunter's my great-great-great-great-great grandfather. It's only right that I stop him. And if anything happens to me – well, one less Redfern is probably a blessing to the world."
The main protagonist of Huntress. She is actually half-human, half-lamia and becomes a Daybreaker, searching for the first Wild Power. Which actually turns out to be her. Her soulmate is Morgead Blackthorn.
- Action Girl: She's a very capable fighter, even when she's not using her vampire abilities.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: In regards to Morgead eventually...though she's hardly a saint herself.
- The Atoner: After finding out she’s actually a Half-Human Hybrid, Jez is horrified by her crimes against humans and joins Circle Daybreak to redeem herself.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Morgead.
- Berserk Button:
- She hates being called by her full name, to the point where she actually comes back from the dead to tell Morgead not to call her it.
Jez: I told you never call me Jezebel.- She also didn't react well to a skinhead shooting her in the arm - not so much because of the bullet wound, which heals quickly, but because it put a hole through her leather jacket; it prompts her to grab the skinhead by the throat and throw him several feet.
Jez: Do you know how much leather costs? - Birds of a Feather / Bonding over Missing Parents: With Morgead.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Eventually with Morgead.
- Child of Forbidden Love: She was the result of a union between a human woman and a lamia man, which is forbidden by Night World law. Her parents were actually murdered because of this and they nearly killed Jez too.
- The Chosen One: Turns out to be one of the four Wild Powers, prophesied to save the world.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her parents were murdered by vampire hunters when she was only four. Of course, then it turns out that her mother was human and they were in fact killed by other vampires for breaking Night World law, and Jez herself was a target because she's a hybrid.
- Dark Action Girl: Initially one, but becomes a straight-up heroic Action Girl following her Heel–Face Turn.
- Deadpan Snarker: She can be very sarcastic at times. Frequently engages in Snark-to-Snark Combat with Morgead.
- Deceptive Legacy: She knows that her parents were murdered when she was four years old and that her father managed to bring her to her uncle before dying. However, she was under the impression that her parents were both lamia who were killed by vampire hunters just for existing. Over a decade later she finally learns that while her father was lamia her mother was in fact human. They were killed not by vampire hunters but by vampires for breaking the Night World law against falling in love with humans. Jez herself is also half-human, with her uncle letting everyone - including herself - believe she was fully lamia in order to protect her. Oh, and she's got a whole other human family - her mother's brother, sister-in-law and their kids - that she never knew about. Considering that Jez has spent most of her life looking down on humans and has killed many of them, sometimes purely for sport, finding out the truth about her family leaves her utterly horrified and leads her to become The Atoner.
- Delinquent: Starts out as one before her Heel Realization. She still comes across as one, often lying to her family about where she's been, sneaking out, ditching school and staying out at all hours, but this is because she's helping Circle Daybreak.
- Dhampyr: Turns out to be one. She can live either as a lamia, or a human, depending on whether she consumes blood. In an unusual twist, Jez initially believed herself to be fully lamia and didn't find out she was actually half human until she was in her teens.
- Elemental Motifs: She's associated with fire. She has red hair which is compared to flames and is fierce and dangerous, yet is also seen as beautiful and compassionate. And that's before it's revealed she can use Blue Fire.
- Embarrassing First Name: She seems to regard her full name of Jezebel as this.
- Fire and Ice Love Triangle: With Hugh and Morgead. Hugh is warm, friendly and compassionate (Fire); Morgead is cold and snarky with a Hidden Heart of Gold (Ice). She picks Morgead after realizing they're soulmates.
- Fire-Forged Friends: She and her cousin Claire start out having a rather antagonistic relationship, but become good friends after being forced to work together to find the Wild Power.
- Fiery Redhead: Has “flaming” red hair and a temper to match.
- Freudian Excuse: It's implied she partly despises humans due to believing her parents were murdered by vampire hunters. When she learns her parents were actually killed by fellow vampires (and that her mother was human), it prompts a Heel Realization.
- Friendly Rivalry: With Morgead. Although they're often quite hostile to each other, they still respect and care about each other. Becomes very friendly indeed by the end of Huntress.
- The Gentleman or the Scoundrel: Jez's two love interests are the kind, noble and dependable Hugh (the Gentleman) and wild, rebellious, aggressive Morgead (the Scoundrel). Unusually, Morgead is the Childhood Friend, not Hugh. Initially, Jez prefers Hugh, but then starts developing strong feelings for Morgead. It's eventually revealed she and Morgead are soulmates, so of course, she picks him. It helps that she and Morgead are actually quite similar in personality, whilst Hugh never really indicates he loves her as anything more than a friend.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Fond of wearing leather jackets.
- Heritage Face Turn: She starts out very much ingrained in the Night World culture of superiorty over humans, viewing them as vermin and even hunting human criminals for sport, only to eventually find out she's actually a dhampyr. She was never told this because her parents' marriage is against Night World law; they were killed because of this and Jez herself would've been killed too if her uncle hadn't let her believe she was a full vampire. Jez is utterly horrified and chooses to give up drinking blood and to live among humans, also becoming a vampire hunter to protect humans from dangerous Night People.
- Hero with Bad Publicity / Reformed, but Rejected: Downplayed. Circle Daybreak eventually accepted her into their ranks, but most of them make it plain they don't like or trust her, due to her previous attitude towards humans. Hugh often speaks up for her and at the least, they give her a chance to prove herself by assigning her the mission to find the Wild Power. After it turns out she's the Wild Power, she is fully accepted by Circle Daybreak, to the point where she finds it irritating that people are constantly fussing over her.
- Hunter of His Own Kind / Vampire Hunter: Becomes one (though only hunting evil vampires) after joining Circle Daybreak.
- Hybrid Power: Of a sort. After being staked by Lily, the combination of her human and lamia genes allow her to effectively cancel the effect of the stake; as she’s half human, wood isn’t poisonous to her the way it is to a vampire, allowing her vampire healing factor to kick in and protect her against an injury that would otherwise be fatal to an ordinary human.
- Icy Blue Eyes: In contrast to her personality, she's got pale, silvery-blue eyes that become even more silvery when she utilises her vampiric abilities.
- Internalized Categorism: Upon first discovering she's half-human, she's mortified, referring to herself as "vermin".
- Interspecies Romance: Downplayed with Morgead. He's a full lamia, while she is a human-lamia hybrid. When she admits this to him, he tells her he doesn't care what she is, even affectionately referring to her a "human".
- Ironic Name: Her full name of Jezebel likely means "un-exalted" in Hebrew; the name's most famous bearer is probably the Biblical Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab who is mostly depicted as being a corrupt and hedonistic tyrant. Jez Redfern is a flawed but ultimately heroic girl and is revealed to be one of The Chosen Many who is held in awe.
- Near-Death Experience: In the climax, she is staked by Lily in an attempt to force the protagonists to give up the Wild Power. This prompts Jez to unleash blue fire on Lily and her Mooks, revealing she has been the Wild Power all along. She almost dies from her wounds but her Hybrid Power allows her to survive long enough to get medical attention. Well, that and her soulmate threatening to follow her over to the other side and kill her if she dies on him.
- Nephewism: She was raised by her paternal uncle Bracken since she was four. She later goes to live with her maternal uncle and aunt, Jim and Nanami.
- Oblivious to Love: Jez in regards to Morgead. Jez had thought they were bitter rivals and fully expected Morgead to betray and kill her at the first opportunity. In reality, Morgead has been in love with her for years, and when he finds out everything she’s been hiding from him that she joined Circle Daybreak and is half-human, he’s more angry about the secrecy and not because of her actions.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She's primarily called by her nickname of Jez (even in the text itself) and dislikes people using her full name.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Prior to her Heel Realization, she was fond of targeting criminals such as skinheads who commit violent hate crimes or serial killers.
- Playing with Fire: As a Wild Power, she possesses the ability to use blue fire.
- Rebellious Spirit: One of her most prominent traits. She's a gang leader who hunts skinheads and other dangerous criminals in forests (considered very risky as wood is one of the materials lethal to vampires), rides a motorcycle and rarely listens to authority figures.
- Single Specimen Species: She is the only known vampire-human hybrid in existence, as it was previously believed to be impossible for lamia and humans to breed together (and the fact that forming a romantic relationship with a human is a death sentence for everyone involved meant people weren't exactly jumping to test that theory).
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She explicitly states that the reason she has feelings for Hugh is because of how kind and forgiving he is. However, her soulmate actually turns out to be bad boy Morgead.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's described as being tall and strikingly beautiful.
- Strong Girl, Smart Guy: The Strong Girl to Hugh's Smart Guy.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Morgead before their Relationship Upgrade.
Bracken Redfern
Bracken Redfern
Appears in: Huntress
A supporting character in Huntress. He is the paternal uncle of Jez, raising her ever since she was orphaned at the age of four.
- Berserk Button: Downplayed; when Jez calls herself vermin, implying that her human mother was also vermin, he becomes angry and snaps "Your mother was a good woman. Your father risked everything to be with her. She wasn't vermin."
- Cool Uncle: He's very understanding towards Jez and would do anything to help her...and then there's the fact he risked his own life to raise her and keep her safe from the Night World.
- Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire: He seems like a pretty decent guy, even if he lets his niece run around kidnapping and terrorising human gang-members for sport. However, he doesn't think of humans as vermin, actually calling out Jez when she indirectly calls her late mother vermin, and took her in and loved her despite knowing she was a Half-Human Hybrid.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Has silvery-blue eyes, like his niece.
- Parental Substitute: To Jez, he having raised her since she was four.
- Secret-Keeper: For over a decade, he kept Jez's true parentage and the circumstances of her parents's deaths a secret from everyone, including Jez herself, only revealing the truth when she begins having flashbacks at the age of sixteen and confronts him about it.
Brook Redfern
Brook Redfern
Appears in: Huntress note
Bracken Redfern's late brother and Jez's father. He was killed for falling in love with a human woman.
- All There in the Manual: His first name is only mentioned on the family tree.
- Determinator: Despite being gravely wounded from fighting off several vampires, he still managed to escape with Jez and carry her several miles to his brother's house, before finally succumbing to his injuries.
- Happily Married: Was apparently so to Jez's mother.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He was mortally wounded protecting his daughter from his killers.
- Interspecies Romance: With Jez's mother (a human).
- Papa Wolf: He fought off several vampires at once to protect Jez.
- Romantic Vampire Boy: To Jez's mother.
- Secret Relationship: With Jez's mother, due to her being human. His fellow vampires didn't react well when they found out.
- Take Care of the Kids: His final act was delivering his daughter to his brother, knowing he would keep her safe from the Night World.
Delos Redfern
Prince Delos Redfern
Appears in: Black Dawn | Witchlight note
"This is what I am. A hunting animal. Part of a world of darkness that you couldn't survive for a minute in. I've told you over and over to stay away from it, but you won't listen. You turn up in my own castle, and you just won't believe your danger. So now I'm going to show you."
Prince of the Dark Kingdom, a Wild Power and Maggie Neely's soulmate. He's the secondary protagonist of Black Dawn.
- Aristocrats Are Evil. Zig-zagged. When Maggie first sees him in a dream, he's gentle and loving. When she actually meets him in person, he's cold and standoffish and the slaves go on about how horrible and cruel he is. It soon becomes clear that he's actually just severely damaged from his abusive childhood and it's established early on that he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. With Maggie's help, he Took a Level in Kindness and in the end he saves everyone from Hunter Redfern and joins Circle Daybreak.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of the reason he warms up so quickly to Maggie (initial discomfort aside from the unfamiliarity) is because she’s one of the first people in years to show him unconditional kindness and treats him like a person instead of a weapon. He subsequently goes to to a lot of effort trying to protect her.
- Boy of My Dreams: Maggie first sees him in a dream before they meet in person. It later turns out he'd intentionally projected his consciousness back in time to try and warn Maggie to escape, to prevent her later capture. It fails, but the dream does let Maggie know that there's more to Delos than being a Jerkass.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: He is the Brooding Boy to Maggie's Gentle Girl.
- The Cameo: In Witchlight, Iliana watches a video of him using blue fire to smash apart boulders.
- The Chosen One: He's one of the four Wild Powers prophesised to either save or destroy the world, and is notable for being identified as a Wild Power at an early age.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His father essentially raised him to be a living weapon because of his powers and was abusive to him if he disappointed him. He once forced Delos to kill his tutor to demonstrate his power...when he was about five. He was such a horrible and unloving parent that when Maggie shows Delos images from her own loving, happy family, Delos is shocked. Needless to say, he's pretty messed up by it.
- Defector from Decadence: In the end, he defects from Hunter and the Dark Kingdom’s nobles after seeing their atrocities firsthand and allies with Circle Daybreak.
- The Dulcinea Effect: In regards to Maggie; the Soulmate Principle probably helps. The moment he lays eyes on her being threatened by the slave trader Bern, he immediately comes to her aid, despite generally thinking of humans as slaves and/or food.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: He has dark hair and very pale skin. He's also a vampire and generally behaves in a rather cold and emotionless manner.
- Elemental Motifs: He's associated with earth. He grew up surrounded by woods and mountains, and is noted to be stoic and unmovable (for both positive and negative - he can be stubborn and hard-hearted, yet also determined and resilient).
- Hidden Heart of Gold: It's established early on that he has one; upon first meeting her, he saves Maggie from a slaver by blasting him with blue fire, offering her water and helping her escape, calling her an idiot the whole time and insisting he simply killed the slaver for 'throwing a stick at him'.
- Ice Queen: A gender flipped version; he's noted to be aloof and cold much of the time, and Maggie even thinks his features look as though he was carved from ice. Becomes a Defrosting Ice Queen over the course of Black Dawn.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Implied to be the case with Maggie. She's one of the few people who doesn't bow and scrape before him and tells him exactly what she thinks. He's also surprised and quietly impressed when they first meet and she tells him that while she while she does find him scary, she doesn't see the point panicking and refuses to be intimidated.
- Interclass Romance: With Maggie; she's an Ordinary High-School Student, he's a prince.
- Interspecies Romance: With Maggie (a human).
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: He was identified as a Wild Power early on, prompting his father to try and exploit his abilities, experimenting on him and effectively torturing him to gain control over his power, in the hopes of using him to establish dominance once the prophecy began to take hold. Hunter and the rest of the Dark Kingdom's nobles also try to exploit him for the same reason.
- Last of His Kind: On account of the Redfern family’s patriarchy, he could technically be regarded as the last ‘true’ Redfern following Hunter’s death and is the last ruler of the Dark Kingdom.
- Long-Lost Relative: He's Hunter Redfern's long lost great grandson.
- Missing Mom: His mother died when he was very young (leaving him stuck with his Jerkass father).
- Playing with Fire: As a Wild Power, he possesses the ability to use blue fire, although it's not exactly normal fire.
- Power Limiter / Power Nullifier: He’s forced to wear a magical arm brace that limits or outright prevents him from using his blue fire abilities, which only Sylvia can remove (and only on her boss’s orders). In the end, Aradia is able to convince Sylvia to remove the brace, after which there’s nothing stopping Delos from blasting the bad guys to ashes.
- Puppet King: Hunter tries to turn him into one; he's the rightful heir to the Dark Kingdom but he's quite young and sheltered, and used to having the other nobels controlling and making decisions for him. Hunter's attempt to rule the Kingdom through him ultimately fails when Delos stands up to him.
- Romantic Vampire Boy: For Maggie.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: He has little idea of how awful conditions are for the slaves in his kingdom. When Maggie shows him firsthand how the slaves are treated, he's horrified, prompting a Heel–Face Turn.
- The Stoic: Taken to creepy levels. He's a gender-flipped version of the Emotionless Girl at first, having spent his whole life suppressing his emotions due to years of abuse at his father's hands. Maggie, however, starts bringing out his emotional side once they meet.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: He has fierce golden eyes, on account of being a Redfern.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's described as being tall, dark-haired and strikingly handsome.
- Tyke-Bomb: His father tried to raise him as one and Hunter also tries to exploit this. Maggie manages to defuse him.
- Vampire Monarch: Although he's yet to be crowned and Hunter tries to subtly usurp his position, he is technically the rightful ruler of the Dark Kingdom following his father's demise three years ago; he's had nobles ruling for him given he was only fourteen when the previous king died.
- Warrior Prince: Downplayed, but he puts his blue fire abilities to good use by the end. He'll presumably be participating in the final battle against the 'coming darkness' as well.
Tormentil Redfern
King Tormentil Redfern
Appears in: Black Dawn note
King of the Dark Kingdom until his untimely death and father of Delos. He's mentioned several times in Black Dawn and appears in Delos's memories.
- Abusive Parent: To Delos; he treated his young son as a prized weapon rather than his child when he learned of his abilities. He forced Delos to train with his powers even if it hurt him, screaming at him that was a useless brat and weak if he didn't live up to his expectations. Tormentil also once forced Delos to test his powers on his own tutor (Delos was about five at the time). Tormentil has been dead for three years, but Delos is still disturbed by his memories of his father.
- Evil Overlord: Of the Dark Kingdom. He kept his slaves in awful conditions (the fact he has slaves at all is bad enough), killed his own subjects if they displeased him or simply to make a point, and was horribly abusive to his son, treating him like a living weapon and attempting to make him into a king who would be just like him.
- Evil Redhead: Had the classic Redfern look and was definitely NOT a model ruler.
- Identical Grandson: To Hunter Redfern. They look so much alike that Maggie initially mistook Hunter for Tormentil.
- Long-Lost Relative: He's Hunter's long lost grandson, though they apparently never met before his death.
- Meaningful Name: His name refers to a type of plant, which is keeping in with Redfern naming traditions. However, in a possible unintentional example, it also has the word 'torment' in it - something he would often do to his subjects and his son.
- Mood-Swinger: Was apparently one, going from infuriated to calm in a matter of moments once his subjects carried out his orders to his liking.
- Posthumous Character: He died several months or so before the events of Black Dawn; the circumstances aren't specified.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Another typical Redfern trait.
- Vampire Monarch: He ruled the Dark Kingdom.
Phaedra Redfern
Queen Phaedra Redfern (nee Oryx)
The mother of Delos, wife of Tormentil and former queen of the Dark Kingdom, who married into the Redfern family. She is deceased by the events of Black Dawn.- All There in the Manual / No Name Given: She's only referred to as 'the Queen' in the novel, whilst the family tree reveals her first name is Phaedra and her maiden name is Oryx.
- Bit Character: She's only mentioned once or twice and has little impact on the plot, save for Old Mender mentioning part of the Wild Power prophecies Phaedra told her of.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Possibly. Delos never mentions her, with he and Maggie focusing instead on his father's cruel treatment of him, and Old Mender never indicates there was anything untoward about her, so it's possible she was the nicer of Delos' parents.
- Missing Mom: Revealed to be one to poor Delos (as if his life didn't suck enough already).
- Posthumous Character: She died when Delos was very young; he doesn't even seem to have any conscious memories of her (or at least none that Maggie sees).
- Vampire Monarch: Held the title of queen, though it's unclear how much power or influence she actually had over the kingdom, especially given the Redferns' patriarchy.
Historical Redferns
Red Fern
Red Fern
The first lamia in existence; the son of Maya, the first vampire, and founder of the Redfern family (who take their surname from him).- Evil Nephew: Implied to have been one to Hellewise Hearth-Woman.
- Evil Redhead: He was known for his blood-red hair; as for the 'evil' part, it's said he and Maya were both driven into exile after Maya was defeated by Hellewise, implying he may have supported his mother's ambitions, and his family continued feuding with the Harmans for centuries afterwards.
- The Exile: Became this alongside his mother after her fateful duel with Hellewise.
- First Of Its Kind: Though not the first vampire in existence, he was the first lamia - those born as vampires, rather than being turned.
- Meaningful Name: You'll never guess what colour his hair was.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's only mentioned a handful of times and is a rather Flat Character, but without him there would be no Redfern family, or lamia at all for that matter.
- Uncertain Doom: He's never appeared in the series and is only mentioned in a historical context, suggesting he's deceased. How and when he died is unknown (though given the long war between the witches and vampires, that's certainly a possibility).
Chervil Redfern
King Chervil Redfern
Father of Tormentil and grandfather of Delos. He was the founder and first king of the Dark Kingdom and the only son of Hunter Redfern, who he became estranged from following a bitter argument.- Ambiguously Absent Parent: The identity and fate of his mother is unrevealed; all that is known for certain is that she was no longer with Chervil's father for whatever reason by the time he remarried Maeve Harman. The author's family tree (which is messy in places) makes mention of a "Centaury Redfern", who could potentially be Chervil's mother, but it's up in the air at this point.
- Daddy Issues: It's never made clear what happened, but he had a huge falling out with his dad and ran off, never contacting him again.
- Evil Overlord: We don't hear much about his reign, admittedly, but given the kind of place the Dark Kingdom is and the track record of both his father and son when it comes to leadership, it's not exactly promising.
- Founder of the Kingdom: Of the Dark Kingdom, specifically.
- Long Lost Sibling: To Garnet, Lily, Dove and Roseclear. They never met and it's not even clear if they were aware the other existed.
- Posthumous Character: He's long dead by the events of Black Dawn.
- The Runaway: Ran away as a teen with a group of friends and founded the Dark Kingdom.
- Small Role, Big Impact: If he hadn't done a runner in his teens, the Dark Kingdom would never have been founded, and Hunter would never have married Maeve Harman to get a new heir, meaning there would be no alliance with the witches and the Night World probably wouldn't even exist.
- Vampire Monarch: The first ruler of the Dark Kingdom.
Garnet Redfern
Garnet Redfern
Appears in: The Chosen note
The eldest daughter of Hunter Redfern, from whom most modern Redferns claim descent.
- Brainless Beauty: Implied. Quinn says that although she was very beautiful, she had a personality "about as interesting as a stick".
- Flat Character: Very little is known about her and she's only mentioned in detail in The Chosen. If Quinn's description is anything to go by, there's apparently not really much to her anyway.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Though her mother's a witch, Garnet inherited her father's dominant lamia genes, his red hair and his surname.
- Meaningful Name: She is said to have had "wine-coloured hair".
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Apparently the in-between one out of Hunter's lamia daughters.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Seeing how almost all the modern Redferns are descended from her.
- Uncertain Doom: Given that Lily is stated to be the only daughter of Hunter Redfern still living, it can be assumed Garnet is deceased, though no details are provided.
Dove Redfern
Dove Redfern
Appears in: The Chosen note
The third daughter of Hunter Redfern and the kindest of all his lamia daughters. Unfortunately, she met a tragic end many centuries ago, which is explored in The Chosen.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: In sharp contrast to her sister Lily, Dove was beautiful inside and out.
- By the Hair: Reverend Quinn grabbed her by the hair before staking her. She probably could've gotten away quite, being a vampire and all, but Dove didn't have it in her to harm a human, even in self-defense.
- Curtains Match the Window: She is described as being a brunette with brown eyes.
- Daddy's Girl: Possibly, given that Hunter quite happily agreed to let her marry Quinn even though he was human and promptly made him a vampire for that purpose, though it seems unlikely she requested the latter.
- Death by Origin Story: Her death played a large part in the creation of the lamia enclaves, as well as Quinn's Back Story.
- First Love: To John Quinn.
- Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire: Despite being a vampire (and a Redfern to boot) she was genuinely sweet and kind.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How she died.
- The Ingenue: Came across as this, being very kind, beautiful and purehearted, but also rather naive. It didn't turn out so well for her.
- Interspecies Romance: She fell in love with a human boy named John Quinn.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Although her mother was a witch, Dove was born a lamia like her father and is considered a Redfern. That being said, she seems to have more in common with witches - having more respect for living things and tolerance for humans.
- The Lost Lenore: To Quinn. He still mourns her death after three centuries and it's one of the main reasons he's so cold and heartless. He was never able to move on...until he meets Rashel Jordan, that is.
- Meaningful Name: Doves are birds often associated with peace and love; Dove was a very peaceful and gentle person who wouldn't even fight back to save her own life, while Quinn's love for her and subsequent loss of her is an integral part of his character.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: She's the nice one out of Hunter's lamia daughters.
- Pacifism Backfire: Her extreme reluctance to harm humans ended up contributing to her own demise, as she wouldn't or couldn't fight back when Quinn's father attacked her.
- Posthumous Character: She's deceased long before the main events of the series. The Chosen reveals why.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She's only significantly mentioned in the fifth book, but she was the inadvertent cause of Quinn becoming a vampire and the lamia enclaves being created, which has repercussions for the plots of a few Night World novels (in particular Daughters of Darkness and The Chosen).
- So Happy Together: Her father had just given her his blessing to marry the boy she loved before everything went to hell, ending with her tragic death.
- Stronger Than They Look: According to Quinn, she looked as though she "couldn't outrun a flower", but all vampires have preternatural strength and Dove is shown to be quite agile, easily keeping up with Quinn when he fled from the Redfern home after awakening as a vampire. Not that it did her much good in the end, though.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Hunter outright states she was "too gentle to live in a world full of humans".
- Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Was on the receiving end of this, courtesy of Quinn's father.
Roseclear Redfern-Harman
