Main character page can be found here.
Witches
Witches are very similar to humans, save for one big difference: they have an innate ability to use magic and can pass it on genetically. Witch culture is also matriarchal, meaning lineage is passed down through women and women tend to hold positions of power (partly due to the fact there's a shortage of male witches). Their culture and traditions bears many similarities to Wicca, neo-Paganism and New Age religions. Some witches become disconnected from the Night World for one reason and another and become 'lost witches' or 'psychics' - they still have powers, but are unaware of their true heritage.Note: Witch characters who belong to the Harman family can be found under the Harman page.
Warning: Contains some unmarked spoilers for the series
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Gisele
Gisele
Appears in: Secret Vampire
A witch James consults about a magical cure for Poppy's cancer.
- I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: She tells James she'll "forget about" their conversation, out of concern he broke the laws of the Night World by falling in love with Poppy.
- Playing with Fire: Lights a candlewick by making a quick motion with her hands.
- Ship Tease: She's quite flirty with James, remarking that he "can't need a love spell" when he asks for her help and saying he's "as gorgeous as ever", though James doesn't seem to reciprocate.
Phil North
Phillip 'Phil' North
Appears in: Secret Vampire
Poppy’s twin brother and one of the supporting protagonists of Secret Vampire.
- Academic Athlete: Phil is on several sports teams and is also a top student academically.
- Affectionate Nickname / In-Universe Nickname: Phil, which he generally goes by in lieu of Phillip.
- Big Brother Instinct: Trying to hurt his sister in any shape or form is a surefire way to piss him off. He'll take on vampires with nothing but his bare hands to protect her.
- Fantastic Racism: He doesn’t think much of vampires, when he finds out they exist. However, he gradually warms up to James, and even after she tried to attack him, he still loves Poppy.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Downplayed with Poppy, he being the 'Responsible' sibling. Phil is a model student and belongs to several school teams and clubs, whilst Poppy prefers shopping and hanging out with her friends and often uses what smarts she has to worm her way out of trouble with her teachers.
- Freak Out: Has one after his sister dies, desperately trying to wake her up, screaming her name, smashing the room up and trying to attack James when he intervenes. James manages to calm him down by reminding him that Poppy isn't permanently dead, but is turning into a vampire and Phil cannot disrupt the process under any circumstances.
- Gut Feeling: He often gets “hunches” about things that turn out to be right; in particular he always sensed there was something 'off' about James. It foreshadows that he’s actually a lost witch.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: He doesn’t handle the supernatural very well and is less than impressed to find out he himself is a witch. He firmly states he wants nothing to do with the Night World and intends to carry on living as a normal human. However, he seems to have changed his mind, as in the preview of Strange Fate, he comes to help Poppy and James fight a dragon using his powers.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Becomes this towards Poppy when James is involved; Poppy states that he "always overdid the protective brother bit" around James. He outright attacks him when he thinks he was trying to seduce her.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Played with. Phil is pretty much the exact opposite of his dad - who is rather scatterbrained and a conspiracy theorist - more closely resembling his rational and level-headed mother and stepfather. As it turns out, however, he inherited his latent witch powers from his dad.
- Lovable Jock: He's a popular student who belongs to a few sports teams, and is also a nice enough guy who loves his family dearly.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: He makes it very clear to James he doesn’t want him anywhere near Poppy. He eventually grudgingly accepts their relationship however, when he sees that James truly cares about her.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In an attempt to protect his dying sister from being hurt by what he sees as a selfish playboy, he convinces Poppy that James is just using her after catching them exchanging blood and mistaking it for...something else. As a result, Poppy (who is irrational due to the transformation process) refuses to see or speak to James, putting her in danger of dying more quickly before the transformation is completed…or worse, becoming a ghoul.
- Polar Opposite Twins: He’s tall and Viking blond, and tends to be very logical and “strait-laced”, whilst his sister is a short redhead and very hyper and carefree.
- Secret-Keeper: Becomes one for Poppy and James when he finds out James is trying to turn her into a vampire to save her life.
- Supporting the Monster Loved One: When he finds out what James is trying to do to save Poppy, he agrees to help them and does what he can to support Poppy, despite finding the idea of being a vampire repulsive. He nearly gets bitten by Poppy when she first wakes up post-transformation, though luckily James is there to stop her. After she's calmed down, he finds that she's still his sister even though she drinks blood now.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Subverted. He grudgingly works with James, whom he has a low opinion of and views with revulsion after learning he's a vampire, to save his sister. However, they become friendlier to each other in the process.
- Thicker Than Water: Phil finds that he loves and will stand by Poppy no matter what even when she becomes a vampire, which he initially finds repulsive and unnatural.
Jesse North
Jesse North
Appears in: Secret Vampire
A supporting character in Secret Vampire; the father of Poppy and Phil.
- Agent Mulder: The supernatural really does exist, as he believes. Ironically, he himself is unknowingly a supernatural being.
- All There in the Manual: His first name is only mentioned in the fanguide and family tree.
- Bumbling Dad: To Poppy and Phil. He clearly loves them, but isn’t very good at staying in touch with them, switches jobs a lot, is behind on child support and moves constantly. Heartbreakingly, he gets the message that his daughter is dying of cancer only after she’s already passed away (or technically, faked her death to become a vampire) and is obviously devastated. After Poppy’s funeral, he makes a point of leaving his new address and contact details with Phil in order to stay in touch with him.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: He’s a bit of a Conspiracy Theorist and claims to hear voices or have psychic dreams. As it turns out, he’s actually a lost witch and has latent powers, without realising it.
- Conspiracy Theorist: It’s implied he’s one, collecting articles and other ‘evidence’ of UFO’s and the supernatural. Though considering there’s a secret society of vampires, witches and other such creatures living right under humankind’s noses, he’s actually not that far off.
- Like Father, Like Son: Averted. Phil takes after his mom more in personality and appearance; on the other hand, Jesse’s daughter Poppy apparently takes after him. And as it’s later revealed, they both inherited their witch genes from him.
- Nice Guy: He seems to be a friendly and well-meaning guy, even if he does seem to be living on an entirely different planet at times.
- Opposites Attract: Seemingly with his ex-wife, she being a far more grounded and rational person. It didn't work out very well.
Dani Abforth
Dani Naete Mella Abforth
Appears in: Spellbinder
A supporting character in Spellbinder. She is a member of Circle Twilight who befriends Thea Harman when she moves to Las Vegas.
- Commonality Connection: Her friendship with Thea is kickstarted by them both being members of Circle Twilight (before Thea and Blaise moved in, Dani was the only Circle Twilight witch her age in the school).
- The Cutie: She's shy and sweet-natured, with Thea quickly developing a liking for her and regarding her as a friend within a matter of days.
- Everyone Has Standards: Though she doesn't think much of humans, she balks at the idea of using magic to toy with them like Blaise does and is shown to be completely horrified when she sees first-hand the fall-out of one of Blaise's love spells. She doesn't seem to think much of Circle Midnight, either, they being witches who tend to use darker magic and have no issue hurting or killing humans.
- Fantastic Racism: Besides her dislike of humans, she shows distaste at the idea of witches and vampires being intimate when Thea explains how her ancestor Maeve wed and had children with Hunter Redfern (though this could be because vampires have been known to prey on witches).
- Humans Are Bastards: She has this opinion, citing their racism towards people based on skin color/ethnicity as just one example.
- Hypocrite: She dislikes humans for being judgmental and ignorant...and assumes they're all like this without ever trying to get to know any humans better. She's at least a bit self-aware, saying she knows she's prejudiced towards humans "but they're so prejudiced themselves".
- Nice Girl: She's usually a friendly and compassionate girl, though she has a low opinion of humans. She doesn't agree with intentionally harming them for fun, however and is upset when she finds out a human classmate has been murdered (which is a lot nicer than many other Night People's attitudes towards humans).
- Secret-Keeper: For Thea in regards to her accidentally releasing Suzanne's spirit. She promises not to tell anyone else and helps her look into ways to banish Suzanne.
- This Is Gonna Suck: She's quietly panicking when she, Thea and Blaise all get brought before the Inner Circle and accused of serious crimes. Luckily, Thea is quick to speak up for Dani, insisting she didn't know or take part in her own crimes, and the Inner Circle let her go.
Vivienne Morrigan
Vivienne Morrigan
Appears in: Spellbinder
A supporting character in Spellbinder. She is a member of Circle Midnight and a friend of Blaise’s.
- The Casanova: Implied to be a bit of one, though not at Blaise’s level.
- Meaningful Name: Her name means “life” or “lively”. It also happens to be one of names of the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend or alternatively, Nimue, Merlin’s treacherous student/lover.
- Pet the Dog: She kindly reassures Thea when Grandma Harman falls ill, insisting her mother’s magical chanting will help.
- Those Two Girls: With Selene. She’s noted to be quite vivacious and bold, in contrast to Selene’s more laid-back, even languid attitude.
Selene Lucna
Selene Lucna
Appears in: Spellbinder
A supporting character in Spellbinder. She is a member of Circle Midnight and a friend of Blaise’s.
- The Casanova: Implied to be a bit of one, though not at Blaise’s level.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She’s fond of wearing violet, when she isn’t wearing black.
- Meaningful Name: Selene is a Greek moon goddess; Selene Lucna has white blonde hair and occasionally wears silver.
- Mystical White Hair: Described as having platinum blonde hair.
- Those Two Girls: With Vivienne. She’s noted to be rather laid-back and unfazed by events around her, in contrast to Vivienne’s liveliness.
Aradia Crowley
Aradia Crowley
Appears in: Spellbinder | Black Dawn | Witchlight
A recurring character. Maiden of All the Witches, also known as 'the Blind Maiden', due to the fact she went blind as a child - in spite of this, she can still receive visions of the future, a rare and powerful gift.
- Affectionate Nickname: Maggie spends most of Black Dawn calling her Cady - short for Arcadia - after she mishears her name.
- All There in the Manual: Her surname is not actually mentioned in the novels.
- Aloof Darkhaired Girl: She is tall and attractive with black hair, usually composed, serene and greatly respected and looked up to by the witches.
- Badass in Distress: In Black Dawn. Though we haven't seen the full extent of her abilities, it's telling that she's still capable of performing impressive magical feats despite being gravely ill, though she relies on Maggie's help quite a bit until she's healed.
- Black Boss Lady: Her physical description strongly indicates she's black and she's one of the three leaders of the witches and holds a high-ranking position in Circle Daybreak too.
- Blind Seer: Went blind as a child, but can still ‘see’ visions of the future or of significant events occurring far away.
- From Bad to Worse: Whilst trekking across a mountain, she and her companions were caught up in an avalanche. Everyone but Aradia was killed and because she can't see, she was forced to stay put until someone came to help her. Unfortunately, that someone turned out to be Sylvia.
- The Load: In the first half of Black Dawn, in fact being a near literal example, as Maggie or one of the others has to physically support her to move her around. It's outright stated by a few characters that she'll only slow them down and she greatly hinders the slaves' efforts to escape, but Maggie refuses to abandon her and insists on getting her medical treatment. It's justified in that Aradia suffered a really bad reaction to a truth serum she was forcibly given. It's also downplayed to an extent, as she still helps the protagonists as best she can, such as using her Sight to detect bad guys and find them a tree to hide in. Her role as The Load ends once she's started to recover from her illness and she's integral to saving the day in the novel’s climax.
- Meaningful Name: She shares her first name with a goddess of magic and woodland. Her surname is likely a reference to English occultist Aleister Crowley.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: In the climax of Spellbinder, Aradia has a vision of Suzanne heading for the stone circle where Thea and Eric have laid a trap for her; though she doesn't fully understand the vision, she instantly senses that Eric is in danger and is clearly horrified.
- Mysterious Waif: In Black Dawn, combined with Mystical Waif. There are hints dropped about her true identity for the reader, but Maggie didn’t even know about the Night World until a few hours ago and so has no idea who she is – Aradia can’t explain who she is due to her illness. Maggie spends a lot of time trying to help and protect her and senses there’s something more to her due to her powers, with Aradia’s real identity being confirmed around the middle of the story.
- Near-Death Experience: After suffering a severe allergic reaction to a truth potion.
- Nice Girl: She's generally very kind and gentle, and surprisingly tolerant of humans for a Night Person.
- Odd Name, Normal Nickname: Maggie nicknames her Cady because her full name is a mouthful and Maggie couldn't make it out well due to Cady being seriously ill and slurring her words. It turns out that Maggie misheard her name as Arcadia when it's actually the similar-sounding Aradia.
- The Ojou: Though not royalty exactly, she's Maiden of the witches and is generally treated in a respectful and deferential manner. She's of the Proper Lady variety, being a polite and refined girl with a quiet authority, but never haughty or bratty.
- Prophet Eyes: Her eyes are described as being clouded and unfocused, but she can still ‘see’.
- Protectorate: For Maggie in Black Dawn.
- The Quiet One: She usually says very little. If she does speak up, everyone generally shuts up to listen to her, because she probably has something important to say.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She's a benevolent and levelheaded leader and tries to help the protagonists of Spellbinder and Witchlight, usually within the rules and traditions of the witches, though she'll occasionally bend them, too.
- Secret-Keeper: At the end of Spellbinder it's revealed she knows Thea and Eric didn't really drink from the Cup of Lethe to erase their memories of the Night World, but she doesn't reveal it to others and even gives Thea and Blaise an opportunity to say goodbye to each other.
- Supporting Leader: Of the witches and Circle Daybreak in Spellbinder and Witchlight. She has a more central role in Black Dawn.
- Undying Loyalty: To the witches and Circle Daybreak. She successfully resists torture, including a potion that forces her to tell the truth (which almost kills her) to protect them.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: A lot of attention gets drawn to her eyes, which are described as large, pretty and somewhat otherworldly.
- Willing Channeler: In the climax of Black Dawn, she channels the spirit of Hellewise and even briefly seems to take on her appearance in an attempt to appeal to Sylvia to help them. It works.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: She's technically not a child, being in her late teens, but is still far wiser and more worldly than most people her age.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Towards Sylvia in the climax of Black Dawn. She’s able to convince her to have a Heel–Face Turn that saves the protagonists’ lives.
- Young and in Charge: She's about 18 years old, but holds one of the highest ranking positions amongst the witches. Justified in that she's the Maiden of the Witches, representing young witches. That, and she's implied to be incredibly powerful and her visions come in very handy.
Melusine
Melusine
Appears in: Dark Angel
A witch who owns a magic supply store in Pennsylvania near Gillian Lennox's hometown and a supporting character in Dark Angel.
- Aloof Darkhaired Girl: Initially comes across as one; Gillian's odd behaviour when they first meet (on account of Gillian's ignorance about witch culture) raises her suspicions, while she becomes cool towards her when she believes she's part of Circle Midnight. However, she becomes friendlier towards Gillian after she tells her the truth about herself. Gillian also looks up to her as a Cool Big Sis and Reasonable Authority Figure.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not confirmed if Melusine is a member of Circle Daybreak, though she knows of the organization and appears sympathetic towards them, telling Gillian to seek them out. She also seems to have a low opinion of Circle Midnight, who are the antithesis of Circle Daybreak.
- Big Brother Mentor: She eventually becomes a Big Sister Mentor towards Gillian. She's a few years older than Gillian, knows a lot about spells and potions, and freely offers guidance and emotional support to Gillian. The younger witch quickly turns to her for help when she feels she can no longer trust Angel; Melusine also directs her to other Night People who will be sympathetic towards her and help her namely Circle Daybreak.
- Brainy Brunette: She knows a lot about spells and magic, and is described as having dark brown hair. She's also immediately suspicious of Gillian when they first meet, as she knows nothing about the Night World and is being instructed on how to act by Angel.
- Genius Cripple: She uses a wheelchair due to having a lost a leg in a boating accident, and is a talented and knowledgeable witch.
- Meaningful Name: She shares her name with a water spirit/mermaid from folklore.
- The Mentor: Serves as one to Gillian in regards to magic, after she realises Angel is up to no good.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When Gillian comes to her for help in regards to Angel and the curses she put on two classmates, Melusine never judges her, simply listens to her story, does what she can to help her fix it and then offers her advice and encouragement.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: She's implied to be in her late teens or early twenties, and comes across as being quite wise and mature for her age.
Sylvia Weald
Sylvia Weald
Appears in: Black Dawn
"I was a Harman. I was. But I had to stand there and watch my cousins be accepted instead of me. I had to watch half humans be accepted - be welcomed. They took my place - just because they were descended through the female line."
One of the main antagonists of Black Dawn. A witch related to the Harmans through her father, she turned against them after they wouldn't let her become one of them due to the matriarchal practices of the witches; she is now a noblewoman of the Dark Kingdom.
- Boomerang Bigot: She's a witch, but despises them and actively works against them for perceived slights against her. She even tells Hunter that although she's a "spellcaster", she doesn't consider herself a witch anymore. By the end, she changes her mind and embraces being a 'Daughter of Hellewise' once more before she dies.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Was apparently a bit of one towards Miles, seeing as she outright admits she was jealous of his own sister due to his obvious affection for her, and her reaction to him refusing to work with her.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Inflicted this on Aradia in an attempt to get information about Circle Daybreak.
- The Dragon: To Hunter Redfern in Black Dawn. She eventually turns against him.
- Emergency Transformation: Defied. After being mortally wounded helping the protagonists, she refuses Delos' offer to try and turn her into a vampire, stating that it probably wouldn't work anyway as the wood of the iron lance used to wound her would be toxic to her if she became a vampire.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
Alternate Character Interpretation is in play, but it's hinted she may have had genuine feelings for Miles. - Evil Sorceress: She's a powerful witch (I mean, spellcaster who uses her magic to limit Delos' powers so he can be controlled the Dark Kingdom's nobles, kidnap Miles and Maggie, torture people and so forth.
- Face–Heel Turn: In her backstory, she turned against the witches after they refused to let her join the Harman family (as the witches are matrilineal and Sylvia's mother was not a Harman) and is helping Hunter Redfern to defeat the witches and take over the world. She later turns on Hunter and helps the protagonists by removing Delos's magical arm brace after Aradia implores her to as a 'daughter of Hellewise' and seemingly channels Hellewise herself. Unfortunately for Sylvia, this leads to a Redemption Equals Death: Hunter has her impaled with an iron lance for defying him. She's declared a "true daughter of Hellewise" and passes with the "blessing of all the witches" for her sacrifice.
- Flaw Exploitation: Hunter exploits Sylvia's desire for recognition and respect to get her on his side and keep her loyal.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She is crazy green-eyed over the fact "half-humans" get to be accepted as Harmans because they're descended from female Harmans, whilst she, a 'pure' witch, is not counted as a Harman because her mother is from the Weald clan. She also admits she is very jealous of Miles and Maggie's close bond.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: It's hinted she has one. She's obsessed with her Harman lineage and looks down on 'half humans' who are welcomed into the family, indicating she herself is quite insecure and desperately wants to be seen as someone powerful and special. She later tells Maggie it always bothered her that no matter what she did to impress him, she couldn't come between Miles and his family.
- Insistent Terminology: She insists on calling herself a "spellcaster", no longer considering herself a witch and turning her back on them and what they believe in, while still practicing magic. She also insists to Hunter that she was a "real" Harman (despite this not really being the case under witch law).
- I Just Want to Be Special: She badly wanted to be counted as a Harman and have all the prestige that come with the name. She teams up with Hunter Redfern to get the respect and power she believes she deserves.
- Manipulative Bitch: Told Miles's family he died in a climbing accident when she actually abducted him and had him turned into a shapeshifter when he rejected her and also abducts and tortures Aradia, under the pretense of helping her.
- Mystical White Hair: As per her Harman heritage.
- Not Good with Rejection: She was so angry over being rejected by the Harmans she actively works with their greatest enemies to destroy/overthrow them. She also didn't take Miles' rejection of her offer to be her consort well, either kidnapping him, forcibly making him a shapeshifter and telling his family he was dead.
- Teens Are Monsters: She's about seventeen during the events of Black Dawn and spends most of the book committing or being party to very immoral things (such as kidnapping, slavery, torture, attempted genocide and so on). She regrets her actions in the end though and makes amends.
- Technicolor Eyes: Has eyes the "exact colour of wood-violets", due to her Harman lineage.
- White Hair, Black Heart: She has silvery blonde hair and isn't the nicest person around though she makes a Heel–Face Turn by the end, so she's not all bad.
Winnie Arlin
Winfrith 'Winnie' Arlin
Appears in: Witchlight
One of the secondary protagonists of Witchlight and a member of Keller’s team, helping her track down and protect Iliana.
- Beware the Nice Ones: As friendly as she is most of the time, she’s a very powerful witch and has a temper. See also Fantastic Racism.
- Fantastic Racism: Surfaces briefly. When the Crone of the witches, Grandma Harman is murdered by shapeshifters, she goes off on a tirade against shapeshifters in general and basically condemns shapeshifters Keller and Galen as though they had a hand in the crime. But Iliana quickly puts her in her place and Winnie apologizes for her behavior.
- Fiery Red Head: A strawberry blonde, who is described as being a “small but fiery orange comet”.
- Heroic BSoD: She is completely distraught when she finds out Grandma Harman has been murdered, until Iliana snaps her out of it and comforts her.
- In-Universe Nickname: Winnie, which she usually goes by instead of her full name.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": She looks up to Grandma Harman a lot and is awe of Iliana.
- Meaningful Name: Her full name of Winfrith (also spelt as Wynfrith) means "friend of peace".
- Playing with Fire: She possesses the power of witchlight, which manifests as flames in varying colors.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Described as having “dancing” green eyes and strawberry blonde curls.
- The Smart Guy: Serves as this for the team. She’s not physically strong, but is a talented witch who knows a lot about spells, myths and legends and occasionally serves as Mr. Exposition.
- Squishy Wizard: She’s a formidable spellcaster, but lacks the superhuman strength and endurance of many of her teammates.
- Undying Loyalty: To Grandma Harman. She holds her in the highest esteem and looks ready to hit Iliana, the Witch Child, when she insults her.
Hecate Witch-Queen
Hecate Witch-Queen
The famous queen of the witches from prehistoric times and mother of Hellewise and Maya. Thousands of years ago, she united the witch tribes and defeated the dragons who had enslaved the world.- Benevolent Mage Ruler: She was the Queen of the Witches; her title is even right there in her name. By all accounts, she was a good and wise ruler, who is revered by witches to this very day.
- The Dragonslayer: Possibly, although at the end of the war, she and the other witches actually put the dragons into an enchanted sleep and buried them deep underground to be forgotten, rather than kill them all.
- The High Queen: She fought against the dragons to free both witches and humans, whom the dragons had enslaved, and continues to be revered by all witches thousands of years after her death. Many witches call upon her name when using spells and even during her daughters' rule (not long after she passed away) members of her tribe would pray to her.
- Meaningful Name: Hecate is the Greek goddess of magic/witchcraft.
- Posthumous Character: She's dead long before the events of the series, having lived during the Stone Age.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Led the witches in a war to defeat the tyrannical dragons and brought about a period of peace and harmony.
- Spirit Advisor: Implied in Witclight. After Iliana summons blue fire to destroy Azhdeha and heal her friends, she says she heard a voice telling her what to say, and it wasn't Winnie, who was trying to help her. The other characters wonder if it was Hecate herself helping her descendant from the other side.
