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Characters / Terra Ignota

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This wiki lists the characters in the "Terra Ignota" series and their respective tropes. There may be unmarked spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.

  • This wiki uses the pronouns Mycroft assigns each character, which may or may not align with their biological sex. Gender is complicated in this book. (Sniper will be referred to as "they" instead of "it" for comprehension's sake.)

  • In this world, family units are called bashes. Bashes are composed of people who live together by choice. The people in a bash' can be lovers, friends, coworkers, blood relatives, or all of the above. Ethnicity and Hive membership can vary within a home.

  • Rather than nations, the world is divided into seven Hives, each having their own government and culture. When someone becomes an adult, they choose the Hive they want to live in.
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Main Characters

The protagonists of the novels.
    Mycroft Canner 
The Unreliable Narrator. He is a Servicer — a former convict who pays his dues to society by serving anyone who asks him for help in exchange for food. He serves many masters and keeps many secrets, loyal to everyone but honest with none.
  • Actual Pacifist: Mycroft is such a completely non-violent person by the time of the series that he wears special brush-sandals so that he doesn't accidentally kill insects. At the end of the first book, Martin implies that J.E.D.D. Mason made it so that he can't kill any more even if he wanted to.
  • Almighty Janitor: Though just a Servicer, Mycroft knows everyone who's anyone, including the heads of six of the Hives and important people in the seventh, as well as the Censor of Romanova, who frequently bicker over who gets to make use of Mycroft's services first. There is a scene where the Censor literally has to personally drag Mycroft away from cleaning sewage so that he can help analyze top-secret data. He is also the unofficial head of the Servicers despite not wanting to be.
  • Child Prodigy: Although his birth bash' was only the one responsible for maintaining the premises of the bash'es chosen as an experiment to raise especially bright and capable young people, Cornel MASON reveals that he was the one to choose Mycroft's bash' because the children therein showed promise despite being only the children of 'janitors'. He turned out to be right and before his crime spree, Mycroft was being groomed to become a high-ranking government official based on his intellect. He also was the first to deduce the current Anonymous's real identity while he was still a teenager.
  • Covered with Scars: There are few places on Mycroft's body that aren't marked in some way, stemming from when his bash'house exploded in an accident when he was eight years old.
  • Cultural Posturing: At one point, Mycroft, who is Greek, claims that the entirety of civilization, reaching all the way to Mars, sprang from the ancient Greeks.
  • The Dreaded: His crime spree set the entire world in panic for the duration of the two weeks in which he was free. Even after that, the name Mycroft Canner alone remains enough to scare people. Most can only breathe in peace in the belief that he was executed by Cornel MASON without even so much as a trial. When he finds out that Mycroft's full name is Mycroft Canner, even the usually sensible and calm Carlyle Foster has a raging, screaming BSOD and when it becomes public that Mycroft Canner is still alive, it's enough to spark worldwide riots.
  • Ear Notch: People can easily determine Mycroft's identity if they see the telltale, coin-sized notch in his ear, which doesn't seem to mesh well with him being both an Actual Pacifist and a convicted criminal. But then it's revealed what his crime was and how the Ear Notch came to be: He's a serial killer and was scarred when he and his lover and co-killer experimented with cannibalism. On each other.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Mycroft comments early on that while his own first name used to be one of the most common (first presumably due to Sherlock Holmes fans, then due to the in-universe fame of Mycroft MASON), his past conduct made it so that it lost popularity and people named Mycroft are inclined to go by other names in public. Once the reader learns that Mycroft's a serial killer, this makes a lot of sense.
  • For the Evulz: Subverted. Mycroft claims that he brutally killed the entire Mardi bash' of seventeen people to prove that someone could be evil for evil's sake, solving that philosophical debate once and for all. However, Mycroft's true motives were a little more complicated and included preventing a world war.
  • Freudian Excuse: Discussed In-Universe. Many people, including many Cousins, justified Mycroft's crimes by the fact that he was an orphan and had a deprived childhood. This enrages Mycroft, as it obscures the very detailed, pivotal (to him) reasons he did what he did.
  • Happiness in Slavery: Mycroft is generally content with life as a Servicer, feeling that he deserves his status as a way to atone for his crimes. He even speculates about what other times in history he would have enjoyed being a slave.
  • King of the Homeless: He doesn't hold any official title, but the Servicers follow his instructions anyway. Mycroft has protected them and fed them and campaigned for more little luxuries for them, so they deeply respect him in spite of his reputation.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: In a flashback, Mycroft has a breakdown when he is wheeled into Madame's parlor and realizes he didn't have to kill Apollo and the Mardis to prevent a world war, as there were already mechanisms being put in place to prevent it. This leads him to become the Actual Pacifist he is by the time of Too Like the Lightning and devote his life to making up for what the world lost due to his actions.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: In-universe, it's often assumed that Mycroft is named after Mycroft MASON, the founder of the Masonic Hive. The truth is that they are both named after Mycroft Holmes.
  • Omniglot: Mycroft speaks around seven languages despite that being frowned upon, so he's often recruited for translation work. Being a Child Prodigy verging on Teen Genius, he actually learned them all on his own.
  • Supporting Protagonist: While Mycroft is the POV character and plays an important role in nearly every plot, he insists that Bridger is the protagonist.
    I am the window through which you watch the coming storm. He is the lightning.
  • Unreliable Narrator: Justified and exploited In-Universe. Book three, The Will to Battle, reveals that Mycroft's chronicle as presented in the first two books has been redacted to remove any signs of his growing madness, though the person responsible for that admits at the end of The Will to Battle to have refrained from doing so in the third book due to said madness having become too intertwined with the text itself; which explains how Mycroft can see people who have been dead for over a decade and have side conversations with his presumed future reader and argue with Thomas Hobbes. In-Universe, Mycroft's madness is actually used by the heads of the Hives as a crowd control method by releasing said chronicle to the public. It contains the whole, true story of the events leading up to the war, but since Mycroft is assumed to be insane by most people it means everyone is entitled to pick and choose which parts of the chronicle they believe and which parts they dismiss as fabrication.

    Bridger 
A 13-year-old boy who lives in a tent outside the Saneer-Weeksbooth home. He has the ability to bring drawings and inanimate objects to life.
  • Comes Great Responsibility: Bridger has a lot of restraint for someone who is technically omnipotent.
  • The Maker: He is this for the army men.
  • The Power of Creation: Bridger can make ANYTHING. A teleportation gun, Excalibur, sentient life, etc.
  • Samaritan Syndrome: Double Subverted: The adults in his life stress that he is not obligated to solve all the world's problems and that attempting to do so would probably cause more harm than good. Bridger feels guilty anyway.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Bridger has an impressive knowledge of politics and literature considering he is only thirteen.

Humanists

A hive of athletes, performers, and celebrities. Their culture glorifies human excellence, competition, and individuality. Mycroft explains their government like so: "All may vote for anyone they please, and everyone who receives even a thousandth part of the voting pool receives in turn that portion of the power." The Hive language is Spanish, and their capital is Buenos Aires. Every member has custom boots.
    President Ganymede Jean-Louis de la Trémoïlle 
The charismatic president of the Humanist Hive. There is an entire art movement dedicated to his perfect body. He is Danaë's twin brother.
  • Attention Whore: He gets jealous when he's not the center of attention, even when his rival is an infant.
  • Born in the Wrong Century: Calls himself a duke, and generally acts like an 18th-century nobleman, from his clothing to his haughty expressions. In later books, he takes this to extremes by demanding fineries while in prison, and ultimately leading an army to preserve his honor.
  • Large Ham: His every gesture is larger than life.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Even though gender is taboo, he has an entire gallery of erotic art based on Greek mythology.
  • Twincest: Zigzagged.

    Ockham Prospero Saneer 
The head of the Saneer-Weeksbooth household. His bash controls most of the world's transportation system. He has the legal right to kill anyone that threatens the cars. He is Thisbe's brother, Lesley's husband, and the twelfth leader of OS.
  • Hypocrite: He asks his bash if they want to disobey Ganymede's order to assassinate a Cousin, a job that he fears would expose OS. One of the Typer twins points out that they killed their parents for having this very conversation.
  • Interrupted Intimacy: He's having a moment with Lesley when there's a "surprise security drill" of his house. He manages to give everyone orders while putting on his pants.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Killed his ba'parents when he overheard them contemplating treason. Treason, in this case, was deciding targets for themselves since their bosses were all incompetent.
  • The Extremist Was Right: He wasn't using the most ethical methods, but according to the Censor's computers, they were working. OS prevented war dozens of times, and the same day OS is disbanded, four out of seven hives experience coups.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: He won Lesley's heart instead of Sniper. He and Lesley are now married.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He leads an assassination group that kills off political change to protect the status quo and prevent war.

    Lesley Juniper Sniper Saneer 
Ockham's wife. She was adopted into the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash as a child after her own family died in a car crash.

    Thisbe Ottila Saneer 
A seductive, powerful woman who protects the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash. She is Ockham's sister and one of Bridger's guardians. Mycroft insists she’s a witch.
  • Fake Relationship: With Mycroft (which is already taboo due to him being a Servicer), to prevent questions about why Mycroft visits her so often, which could expose Bridger's existence.
  • Mama Bear: Do not threaten her family. Do not threaten Bridger. Don't threaten anyone she cares about if you want to live.
  • Never Suicide: Played With. Thanks to mind-altering chemicals and psychological tricks, she is able to coerce her victims into suicide.
  • Secret-Keeper: One could even say that she collects secrets.

    Ojiro Cardigan Sniper 
A performance artist beloved by the world. Their androgynous, multi-racial looks make them an ideal model for Lifedolls. They become the thirteenth leader of OS after Ockham is arrested.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Sniper narrates the first chapter of book 2.
  • Ambiguous Gender: Sniper's gender is top secret, known only to a few people.
  • Captive Date: This is close to Sniper's ideal experience, due to their desire to be a doll.
  • Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite: Sniper is an androgynous celebrity who is able to pose as both a man and a woman and deliberately keeps their gender secret, selling sex dolls of themself of either sex. It goes so far that Sniper gets kidnapped occasionally by fans wanting more than just the doll. One character who does that during the story finds out that Sniper actually has both sexual organs and wonders if they were born like that or had had surgery to prevent disappointing fans, seeing as Sniper is not above engaging in the oldest profession for fun.
  • Friendly Sniper: Practically embodies this trope.
  • "It" Is Dehumanizing: Exploited in-universe, where celebrity performance artist Sniper prefers the pronoun "it" because it's spent years creating an image of a "living doll" (including purchasable life-like replica sex dolls of any sex) and catering to the fantasies of the entire world by presenting itself as every possible gender. Sniper wants to be dehumanized so that its fans will better be able to fantasize that their Sniper-doll is the real Sniper.
  • Large Ham: Their publicity stunts are legendary.
  • Non-Indicative Name: Sniper's introduction scene first looks like a terrorist attack, but it's actually harmless performance art. Subverted when it turns out that Sniper's name fits their true occupation perfectly.
  • The Oldest Profession: Sniper rents themselves out to clients as their "doll for a day". Sniper can be anything - a dinner date, a cuddle buddy, or something more intimate.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Sniper has a phobia of waking up one day to discover they’re actually one of their own Lifedolls, to the point of having a notch cut into the back of one of their teeth (which none of the dolls share) so they can always tongue it to make sure they’re the original. Perhaps the Stars adds that certain pieces of their standard Lifedoll packaging double as files, knives, etc. so they can always free themself if they ever wake up trapped inside it.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: Lesley is one of the few people Sniper has ever genuinely loved, but she chose Ockham instead.

    Cato Weeksbooth 
A troubled, neurotic man who teaches kids science at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
  • Driven to Suicide: He has tried to kill himself many times over the years, plagued by guilt due to causing deaths via OS.
  • Einstein Hair: He has long, wild, stand-up hair, as part of his deliberate attempts to look like a mad scientist.
  • Reluctant Mad Scientist: Cato desperately wishes he could be a "real" mad scientist instead of working with the cars, but his bash won't let him quit.
  • Trapped in Villainy: His bash foils his suicide attempts so that he can keep working for them to strategically murder people.

    Eureka Weeksbooth 
A set-set (human computer) who helps direct the world's cars. Most of her nervous system has been re-outfitted to process data.
  • Brain/Computer Interface: Her nervous system processes data instead of sensory input.
  • Naked First Impression: An asexual variant. She's wearing nothing but a helmet and an open bathrobe when Carlyle meets her. She's so disconnected from her body that she doesn't care who sees her, and Carlyle can't see her nudity as anything but awkward.
  • Transhuman: When Carlyle asks if she feels deprived by her digital upbringing, she adamantly refuses. On the contrary, she believes she's been freed from the restrictive senses of the flesh.

Masons

The Hive with the most members. Legend says that the Hive originates with the Freemasons, and an Ancient Conspiracy from even further in the past. The Emperor has absolute power, but there are many traditions which he is supposed to follow, such as the rule that his chosen successor may not be one of his children. The Hive language is Latin, and their capital is Alexandria, Egypt, due to its long history.
    Emperor Cornel MASON 
The absolute authority of the Mason hive. He's a serious man who rarely lowers his guard. He had to pass many difficult tests to become Emperor, some of which scarred his body for life. He is JEDD Mason's adoptive father and Madame's lover.
  • The Emperor: A surprisingly benevolent variety who takes his role to heart.
  • Hypochondria: Played for Drama. He starts limping whenever he feels stressed, due to psychosomatic trauma from when his foot was eviscerated as part of the trials he undertook to become Emperor. Future medicine grew it back just fine, but it never felt quite right to him again.
  • Not So Stoic: In addition to his emotions whenever Apollo is mentioned, he silently sits and cries when Utopia's space projects are threatened and it seems like there is nothing that can save them.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: He listens to others' advice and is willing to cooperate with his fellow leaders in the name of the greater good and is not above wading in and doing things if it can help the events, like personally holding a filibuster in front of the entire Senate in order to calm everyone down.
  • The Stoic: It is rare for him to display any expression beyond stern authority. But see Not So Stoic, above.
  • Team Dad: Mycroft jokes that he is the world's no-nonsense dad.
  • Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: He was desperately in love with Apollo Mojave…who already had a lover.

    Mycroft "Martin" Guildbreaker 
An officer with Undying Loyalty to JEDD Mason. He uncovers the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash's secret in the process of investigating the Seven-Ten list.
  • A Day in the Limelight: He narrates parts of Too Like the Lightning and The Will to Battle.
  • By-the-Book Cop: He goes to Papadelias with evidence of the OS conspiracy because he wants an objective second opinion. He doesn't make any moves until he has hard evidence for his suspicions.
  • Forgot About the Mind Reader: He allows JEDD Mason to observe his visual feed at any time. He didn't realize JEDD Mason was watching when he and Papadelias confirmed the OS conspiracy.
  • In-Series Nickname: Mycroft Guildbreaker was nicknamed Martin by J.E.D.D. Mason during their early acquaintance and the name caught on so much that everyone calls him Martin by the time of the series. For years, he himself and several other people wonder who the name refers to, considering Saint Martin, Martin Luther, and other various historical personalities. Mycroft Canner eventually figures out that it refers to Martin the Manichean and is based on Martin Guildbreaker's Manichean-like view of the world. He later apologizes to Martin for taking away his opportunity of figuring it out himself.
  • Named Like My Name: Martin's real name is Mycroft, which was already a fairly common name, but he was especially grateful to have a nickname after Mycroft Canner was revealed as the Mardi murderer.
    Ockham: Mycroft's not an easy name to live with anymore.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Though technically his name is Mycroft Guildbreaker, everyone calls him Martin Guildbreaker thanks to J.E.D.D. Mason giving him the nickname. For years, Martin and everyone he knows puzzles over what the nickname refers to, which turns out to be Martin the Manichean.
  • The Reliable One: He's a practical subordinate who has JEDD Mason and Cornel Mason's best interests at heart.

Mitsubishi

A hive that owns most of the world's land. Their government is run by corporate feudalism, where land is power. Mitsubishi clothes have nano-fibers that change their patterns with the seasons. The majority of its members are from East Asia. English is used in diplomatic contexts, but amongst themselves Mitsubishi typically speak Japanese, Chinese, or Korean depending on nationality. Their capital is Togenkyo, a planned city in the neutral location of Indonesia.
    Chief Director Hotaka Andō Mitsubishi 
The Japanese head of the Mitsubishi Hive. His adopted children hold key positions in almost every hive. He is Danaë's husband. He deliberately spread the rumor that he was JEDD Mason's biological father. This rumor was false.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: He genuinely believes that his actions were the best of many bad options.
  • On the Rebound: He proposed to Danaë after Merion Kraye left her pregnant and heartbroken.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the reasons why he maintains control of the Mitsubishi Hive. Also is more pragmatic than many of the other Hive leaders.
  • Token Minority: Falls into this role often at Madame's, due to being the only one not wearing European clothing.
  • Twin Threesome Fantasy: He's married to one twin and intimate with both.

    Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémoïlle Mitsubishi 
If she's not the most beautiful woman in the world, then she's a very close second. She is Ganymede's twin sister, Ando's wife, and Carlyle's mother.
  • The Baby Trap: Deconstructed. She stole Merion Kraye's sperm to impregnate herself with his child, knowing that if she became Defiled Forever, her price would become cheaper and Merion could afford to buy her hand in marriage. He assumed that the baby was someone else's and tried to kill her.

  • Femme Fatale: Justified. In a world without gender, few people have the ability to recognize her seduction, let alone resist it.
  • Give Him a Normal Life: She was forced to part with Carlyle after he was born.
  • Kimono Fanservice: Invoked.
  • Kimono Is Traditional: Even though she is European, she wears it partly as a symbol of loyalty to her husband's nation-strat.
  • Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Danaë invoked this trope to test her lover Merion's loyalty. Her plan backfired. Badly.
  • Twincest: Zigzagged.
  • The Vamp: Danaë is so seductively feminine that she is able to make anyone do what she wants basically just by being in the same room as them. It is eventually revealed that she was raised in a brothel and educated to undermine others by using her sex appeal, giving her a dark streak despite her innocent demeanor. Justified in that it's quite clear that any modern person would easily be able to resist her charms, but in the genderless world of the 25th century, the only experience anyone has with sexuality and sexual appeal outside the bedroom are historical videos and pornography. Mycroft describes this as giving people "the weakness but no resistance."
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Although she is European, she is the model of a traditional Japanese Lady, something that appeals to her Japanese husband and to her Hive. In a world where gender is taboo, her unabashed femininity is in itself very traditional. Danae is beautiful, demure, deferent to her husband, sexually modest, and always wears a kimono. However, she's also deeply loyal to her family, going out of her way to protect her children who she personally rescued from the Nurturists and place them in positions of power. She's also skilled at using her femininity to manipulate people in a very subtle manner.

    Director Jyothi Bandyopadhyay 
The one non-East Asian director. She is from India and leads Greenpeace, a sub-Hive of the Mitsubishi dedicated to environmental preservation.
  • The Smurfette Principle: Invoked by Unreliable Narrator Mycroft, who is assigning the pronouns "he" and "she" to the characters and decides to give Bandyopadhyay "she" to emphasize her difference from the other Mitsubishi directors, who are all given "he."

    Tsuneo Sugiyama 
The journalist who was supposed to publish this year's Seven-Ten list.
  • Brutal Honesty: Her Seven-Ten list was designed to deliver some hard truths to the hive leaders and shake up the status quo. Her editorials were so brutal that measures were taken to make sure they never saw the light of day.
  • Married to the Job: Even in a world of 20 hour work weeks, she spends more time at the office than at home. She sorely regrets this after her grandson attempts suicide, and this regret causes her to retire.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Tsuneo wanted to unnerve a few politicians. She did not plan to start a domino chain leading to global catastrophe.

Cousins

The hive that runs hospitals, orphanages, etc. Their government has no leader - it is run through a suggestion box where the most popular suggestions become policy. Their uniform is a loose garment known as a wrap. Their Hive language is simply English, to accommodate everyone, and their capital is Casablanca.
    Chair Bryar Kosala 
Leader of the charitable Cousins Hive. A warm, nurturing person who is good at keeping secrets. She is married to Censor Vivien Ancelet.
  • Fantastic Racism: She doesn't like set-sets. In fact, she's been working to disband any set-set facility she can (within legal means).
  • Happily Married: To Censor Vivien Ancelet, with an adopted child.
  • Puppet King: She doesn't have as much influence over her hive as she thought.
  • Team Mom: Mycroft refers to her as the world's mom.

    Carlyle Foster 
Carlyle is a spiritual counselor called a sensayer. He's been assigned to counsel the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash after the family's previous sensayer died. He is a gentle, soft-spoken soul, but he can be stubborn when his morals are on the line. He is the child of Danae Mitsubishi and Merion Kraye.
  • Bait-and-Switch: He acted like this for Julia Doria-Pamphili. He would act as a bash's sensayer, then recommend one of the bashmates visit Julia for the real session.
  • Blind Obedience: Played with. He knew on a subconscious level that Julia Doria-Pamphili was abusing her power, but he convinced himself that she knew best.
  • Break the Cutie: Over the course of Too Like the Lightning and Seven Surrenders, Carlyle experiences several horrifying realizations about his past and the way the world really works.
  • Engineered Public Confession: Carlyle uses this to catch Julia Doria-Pamphili.
  • Friend to All Children: He gets along with children because he doesn't talk down to them.
  • Heal the Cutie: Carlyle finds purpose again after solving the mystery of Sniper's kidnapping.
  • Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: He does this to Julia after she sells him to Dominic. He does this to Thisbe after she tries to murder him.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Carlyle isn't half as naïve as he pretends to be.
  • Recruited from the Gutter: Julia Doria-Pamphili saved him from suicide and gave him a purpose in life.
  • Secret Legacy: As a Gag-Gene, his genetic line is kept secret from him. He doesn't want to know the truth about his parents, since he knows it will be horrible, but fate has other plans…

Europeans

A hive of Europeans. They take ethnicity a little more seriously than the other hives. They are led by a Prime Minister, as their government is the 25th-century continuation of the European Union. Their Hive language is French, and their capital is Brussels.
    Prime Minister Casimir Perry 
The leader of the European Hive. He won his election after the King of Spain dropped out due to scandal. The other world leaders call him "The Outsider", while Mycroft calls him "Europe's Second Choice". He was Danae's lover and Carlyle's father.
  • Faking the Dead: He pretended to commit suicide so that he could reinvent his identity and get revenge. Then he does it again!
  • If I Can't Have You…: He attacks Danae because he believes she cheated on him.
  • Revenge Before Reason: He's willing to tear the whole world down if it means getting revenge on Madame and her bash'.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: How the other world leaders treat him. They call him "The Outsider."
  • 0% Approval Rating: Zigzagged. Mycroft claims no one likes Perry at all, but Vivien reminds him that Perry has support from some European nation-strats.

    King Isabel Carlos II of Spain 
A quiet, modest man who dropped out of the EU election after one of his aides was caught fixing the system. Despite losing the election, other world leaders still treat him as the de facto head of Europe. He becomes the legitimate head of Europe after Perry dies. Also, he is JEDD Mason's biological father.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Isabel Carlos, one female and one male name.note 
  • Honorable Marriage Proposal: As revealed in Seven Surrenders, he proposes to Madame after learning that JEDD Mason is his child, but she refuses. Later on, he proposes again and she accepts.
  • Honor Before Reason: He dropped out of the election even though he knew that Casimir Perry had engineered the cheating scandal.
  • Lord Country: King Isabel Carlos II of Spain is almost exclusively called just Spain by both the narrator and his fellow heads of state due to being the only one without any proper last name to fall back on.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Spanish monarchy has been involved in politics for many generations.
  • Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Has a very long list of titles, which is thankfully only recited in full once. (And the one time it is, the king gets bored and impatient and the text is divided into two columns as a result, one listing the titles, the other describing other things happening in the scene.) Truth in Television as many monarchies have other associated titles which are rarely used.
  • Turn the Other Cheek: He still vouched for Casimir Perry to be admitted to Madame's inner circle because he believed they could accomplish good by cooperating.

    Julia Doria-Pamphili 
Head of the sensayers. She specializes in a "tough-love" type of counseling.

    Commissioner General Ektor Carlyle Papadelias 
The police officer who arrested Mycroft, now head of the world's police force. Even thirteen years after the case, he still considers Mycroft to be the Moriarty to his Sherlock.
  • Engineered Public Confession: He's waiting in the wings when Carlyle engineers Julia Doria-Pamphili's confession.
  • Genre Refugee: He's a hard boiled cop with Da Chief aspects in a peaceful, futuristic world. The narrative gets a minor Genre Shift into a mystery/cop show whenever Papadelias is active.
  • Honor Before Reason: He's willing to pursue the OS conspiracy even though he knows chaos will follow.
  • Long-Lived: Is 102 years old.
  • Meaningful Name: Played with. Mycroft refers to Papadelias as "Papa," and cautions the reader not to read too much into the nickname because everyone uses it. However, being over a century old, he is very much A Father to His Men - and a bit of a parental figure to Mycroft (see Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist below). Unexpectedly in book 3, this becomes a bit of a Non-Indicative Name when we find out Papa is biologically female.
  • Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Over the thirteen years since Mycroft's crimes, he and Papadelias have developed this type of relationship, where Papadelias still continues to ask Mycroft questions about the crimes, but also compliments his cleverness and looks out for his physical and mental well-being. Their shared Greek nationality brings them together as well.
  • That One Case: Years after Mycroft's arrest, Papadelias still has an entire desk devoted to the murders. His obsession pays off later.
  • Worthy Opponent: Mycroft and Papadelias saw each other as this in the past, and are now friends as a result.

Gordian

A hive of academics and scientists, known as Brillists after Adolf Richter Brill who founded their methods. They seek to understand everything about the human mind and one day achieve immortality by digitizing the soul. Every member has a sweater that details their psychological profile (turtlenecks for introverts, long sleeves for mathematicians, etc.). Their Hive language is German, and their capital is Ingolstadt, the location of the Brillist Institute.
    Headmaster Felix Faust 
The elderly leader of the Gordian hive. His obsession with psychoanalysis and his blunt personality often cause him to rub people the wrong way. He is Madame's ba'sib and thus JEDD Mason's uncle.
  • The Chessmaster: Is implied to be this in certain scenes, such as when he and Sniper are walking "randomly" through Ingolstadt and just so happen to come across Tully Mardi.
  • Dirty Old Man: He likes to observe people in the Flesh Pit…for science!
  • The Gadfly: Enjoys ticking people off.
  • Herr Doktor: Speaks German and is the headmaster of a psychological institute.
  • Sherlock Scan: He can tell everything about someone's personality just by watching them for a few minutes.

    Speaker Jin Im-Jin 
The presiding officer of the Romanovan Senate.
  • Long-Lived: By far the oldest character we meet, at 165 years old.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to many of the Senators, who seem to make up a Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering. He encourages them to settle their disputes and present their proposals in a calm manner.
  • Sherlock Scan: A common trait for high-ranking Brillists, though they are also trained to find out more information by asking the recipient to answer a question, such as to name an animal larger than a turtle.
  • Suddenly Shouting: Resorts to this when all other methods of keeping order fail.

Utopians

A hive of scientists and explorers. They have a base on the moon, which includes their capital, Luna City, and they plan to reach Mars in 250 years. Each member has a coat made of Griffincloth, which is programmed to show the wearer's ideal world. They also wear visors which show them a constant to-do list of things that need to be improved in the world. Their Hive language is "U-speak," a dialect of English that includes a lot of words from sci-fi and fantasy stories.
    Apollo Mojave 
An ambassador who could communicate Utopia's obscure plans in a way outsiders could understand. He was greatly respected by Mycroft and the world leaders. His U-Beast was a cross between a cat and a caterpillar.
  • Character Shilling: Mycroft and MASON both talk extensively about how wonderful and visionary Apollo was, but he doesn't come across as all that he's said to be.
  • Face Death with Dignity: He and his lover Seine fought Mycroft and Saladin in individual combat, each side acting as a proxy for their ideology.
  • Giftedly Bad: He rewrote the Iliad with giant robots in space. Everyone who reads the new version in-universe cautiously comments that it's... not very good.
  • Not Afraid to Die: Subverted. Mycroft thought he was unafraid, but Cornel Mason revealed that Apollo truly feared death.
  • Posthumous Character: Died before the events of the book, as Mycroft murdered him before Mycroft was redeemed, but still shows up in flashbacks and hallucinations of Mycroft's.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: He will sacrifice anything to ensure humanity makes it to Mars.
  • Visionary Villain: He believes war is inevitable, and so he wants to start a world war now when the stakes are low rather than wait and risk losing Mars.

    Mushi Mojave 
Apollo's parent and Mars' first entomologist. Negotiated Utopia's surrender to Madame.

Hiveless

People who don't belong to any hive are called Hiveless. Minors are Hiveless by default until they pass their Adult Competency Exam. Blacklaw Hiveless are essentially anarchists. Graylaw Hiveless follow the most basic standard of law, considered respectable and neutral. Whitelaw Hiveless hold themselves to a high physical and moral standard of living.
    J.E.D.D. Mason 
An unusual young man with a talent for uncovering the truth, no matter how well hidden. All of the world leaders knew him as a child, so he has their unreserved trust. He is in charge of investigating the Seven-Ten List mystery. He is the son of Madame and the King of Spain.
  • A God Am I: Justified: He is surrounded by people who worship him as a god, and he has been raised to be as psychologically inhuman as possible. Then again, he was already showing unusual behavior in the womb, and he does have unique abilities, so he could turn out to be a god in the end.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: He has a superhuman ability to read people, making him a valuable investigator. As a child, he once observed two people having sex and quickly deduced that the one on top had suffered the death of a parent and was contemplating reincarnation.
  • Child Prodigy: He was able to deduce the identity of the Anonymous at the tender age of six.
  • Creepy Monotone: Even his speech patterns seem robotic.
  • De-power: JEDD says that he was once a solitary god of his own universe, but this universe's god brought him here and encased him in an impotent human shell.
  • God-Emperor: Madame wants him to rule the world, and many believe that he is a god.
  • God in Human Form: He claims to be a god from another universe trapped in a human body, although he doesn't hold it against anyone who disbelieves him.
  • I Have Many Names: This exact phrase is never used (the closest is when another character tells him "You have too many names"), but JEDD goes by many names to many people, as fitting a god. In addition to JEDD (occasionally spelled "Jed" to make it clear that people are pronouncing it that way), the names include his first names Jehovah, Epicurus, Donatien, The Porphyrogene (Masons), Micromegas, Mike (Utopia), Xiao Hei Wang, Tai-kun (Mitsubishi), The Prince D'Arouet, He Who Visits, The Alien...
  • Kirk Summation: As part of his Charles Atlas Superpower, JEDD demonstrates several times that he can break people with just a single, emotionally devastating sentence. He’s so good at it that Carlyle initially suspects he’s telepathic.
  • Omniglot: He speaks around seven languages. He has to concentrate in order to use just one language. He finds it easer to use the words that best fit his meaning, even if it means putting three languages in the same sentence.
  • Overly Long Name: Jehovah Epicurus Donatien D'Arouet Mason.
  • The Philosopher King: Deconstructed. JEDD was raised by Madame to have nearly perfect knowledge, a love of truth, and deeply ingrained ethics, and she clearly tried to raise him to be a perfect ruler. However, these traits make him seem weird and inhuman, and the conditions of his raising cause him to think of himself as a God. Virtuous though JEDD is, the idea of rule by one seemingly perfect man threatens many of the world's most basic principles and is alarming enough to many to trigger a world war to stop him.
  • The Stoic: Played with. At first glance he’s practically emotionless: he speaks in a complete monotone, never changes his expression, and treats everything with the same grave consideration, even rhetorical questions. According to Mycroft, however, J.E.D.D. is actually an extremely emotional person, it’s just that his tells are microscopic.
  • Thou Shall Not Kill: Death is a special evil in his eyes. Death of anything at all. In his childhood, he once crushed an insect by accident, and the shock of discovering he could kill something unintentionally left him almost comatose until he could be convinced that humans killed thousands of microscopic creatures every instant just by living and breathing. This stems from his belief that he’s a god, because if him, why not anyone or anything else? And if a god dies, will their infinite universe die with them?
  • Walking Spoiler: JEDD's true name, parentage, and self-identity spoils every major twist in the first book and ends up being key to the conflict in the rest of the books.

    Dominic Seneschal 
JEDD Mason's sensayer and a Blacklaw Hiveless. He dresses as an Eighteenth Century libertine and enjoys seducing women with his taboo masculinity.
  • Break Them by Talking: He learned how to verbally destroy people from Julia Doria-Pamphili.
  • Determinator: A consistent trait.
    • In Seven Surrenders, after Sniper assassinates JEDD Mason, a wounded Dominic grabs onto Sniper's Flying Car and holds on through 1000 MPH winds, which scientists had previously thought was impossible.
    • In Perhaps the Stars, he tries to cross all of Asia just to see JEDD again, and even after Dominic becomes essentially blind and deaf, he still gropes on to seek JEDD. This determination to grope forward through the dark gives JEDD new insight into humans and their place in the universe.
  • Freudian Excuse: He genuinely wanted to uphold his vow of chastity, but Madame tortured him until he broke his vows, at which point he reverted to his childhood training.
  • Meaningful Name: "Dominic" comes from "Domini canis," or "Hound of God," which describes his relationship to J.E.D.D. Mason, and a seneschal is a high-ranking official in a medieval manor house or a cathedral, which describes his position at Madame's, since it contains elements of both.
  • Scarily Competent Tracker: No hair goes unexamined.
  • Sinister Minister: He tries to seduce Lesley Saneer on a whim. He also eviscerates Bridger's imaginary friend in order to scare the child out of hiding.

    Madame D'Arouet 
A charming woman who runs a historical reenactment society. For someone who hardly ever leaves home, she has a remarkable influence on politics. She is a Blacklaw Hiveless (otherwise what she does would be illegal) and also the ba'sib of Felix Faust.
  • The Baby Trap: Reconstructed. She managed to snag four world leaders with one baby. All four men know she got pregnant on purpose, but they want to help raise the baby to gain brownie points with Madame.
  • Born in the Wrong Century: She fell in love with the Eighteenth Century and decided to create an entire secret society based on that era.
  • Den of Iniquity: She will get you addicted to vices you never knew existed.
  • Magnificent Bastard: She moved the world leaders like chess pieces until she essentially controlled the world...simply to prove that she could.
  • Miss Kitty: An older woman who runs a brothel with an iron fist.

    Heloise 
A young woman who lives a nun's life within Madame's 18th-century world, worshipping J.E.D.D. Mason as her God.
  • Born in the Wrong Century: Refers to Carlyle as "Father," which he is disgusted by.
  • Celibate Hero: Fittingly for a nun, though surprising given her surroundings.
  • Character Filibuster: Occasionally prone to these, in an intentional allusion to the style of the Marquis de Sade. It is stated that "no one can interrupt a nun."
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: She is devoted to her God and to care for the sick. Almost nothing can shake her from those duties.
  • The Ingenue: Subverted because Heloise, while having the sweet and gentle personality of this trope, is perfectly aware of the sexual activities going on around her; she simply chooses not to partake in them.
    Heloise (quoting Diderot): Celibacy is the most extreme of sexual perversions, after all.
  • Meaningful Name: Heloise was the name of a 12th-century woman who, after a somewhat scandalous love affair ended badly, was encouraged to become a nun by her lover Abelard (who was entering the priesthood). They continued to converse about philosophy, theology, and the roles of men and women in society, and they have become a symbol of Forbidden Love.

    Tully Mardi 
A political activist who makes speeches about global tensions. He is famous due to his status as the last survivor of the Mardi bash'; Mycroft and Saladin killed the rest of his family.
  • Arch-Enemy: Due to their past, Mycroft and Tully see each other this way. However, circumstances occasionally force them to work together.
  • Evil Cripple: Tully requires crutches due to growing up on the Moon when the Utopians took him there to save his life during the Mardi murders and Mycroft portrays him as a force of evil, for reasons of his own.
  • Genius Cripple: He is very intelligent, and also uses crutches.
  • Literal Soapbox Speech: Along with more figurative ones.
  • The Nondescript: Deliberately tries to cultivate this in order to be appealing to as many people as possible. He is a Graylaw Hiveless, the most "basic" or "default" affiliation, and has very generic clothes.
  • Prevent the War: He warns the world that war will come soon if the tensions continue to escalate, something that the world is largely unprepared for. Double subverted because Tully is actually trying to 'cause' the war, not prevent it, but this is only in order to prevent a larger war later on, and once the war actually starts, Tully makes several suggestions that end up considerably reducing the casualties.

    Censor Vivien Ancelet 
The man who decides how many Senators each hive has. He follows Censor tradition by remanining Graylaw Hiveless. He is married to Bryar Kosala.

    The Anonymous 
An anonymous political voice, whom everyone in the world respects.

    The Major 
The leader of the toy soldiers Bridger brought to life. Despite being a toy, he is a master tactician who can take down a grown man if necessary.
  • A Father to His Men: He is very much a "no man left behind" kind of guy.
  • Past-Life Memories: He gains these as Bridger matures.
  • Reincarnation: He is the reincarnation of a WWII-era soldier, a giant-robot pilot, and the original Achilles. He remembers all of his past lives equally, despite some of them being imaginary.
  • The Strategist: He is one of very few people in the modern era who has actually lived through war, so his insights in the coming conflict are especially valuable.

    Saladin 
Mycroft's secret lover and former (biologically unrelated) sibling. He survived the accident that killed Mycroft's bash but kept his survival a secret. He helped Mycroft commit the infamous murders of the Mardi bash.
  • Facial Horror: His eyebrows and hair were burned off in the explosion. He only has skin because Mycroft grew him some in a lab.
  • For the Evulz: Arguably, Saladin's motive for the Mardi murders, unlike Mycroft who had other motives.
  • Outlaw Couple: With Mycroft
  • Pet the Dog: He has one of these moments with Bridger.
  • Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: The explosion didn't kill him, but he isn't in a hurry to correct anyone's misconception.
  • Sadist: He views torture scenes the way other people view fine art.

     9 A 
The in-universe editor of the first two books and the Ninth Anonymous.
  • The Apprentice: 9A is a young Servicer and close friend to Mycroft, who will eventually take over some of Mycroft's responsibilities as the Anonymous.
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: 9A takes on this role to Mycroft, both in the narration and in real life, especially in book 3.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Due to Mycroft's increasingly fragile mental condition, 9A watches over him frequently. This trope is ultimately subverted when 9A incorrectly believes that Mycroft dies at the end of book 3 and in book 4, heartbreakingly inverted when 9A gives up their life to bring Mycroft back.
  • Red Herring Shirt: 9A appears as a minor character in several scenes before The Reveal, but their true importance is obscured due to being in the background and a Servicer.
  • The Un-Reveal: We never find out 9A's real name.
  • Walking Spoiler: 9A's true identity and backstory is not revealed until the end of the third book.

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