Sophia Mendoza
A 14-year-old girl with an independent, rebellious personality. She grew up not knowing about Unicorn Academy- or that her beloved father attended it- but enrolls there to distance herself from her overprotective mother.
- Character Development: Over the first season, she learns that she doesn’t need to do everything by herself – and there are some things she can't do alone - and to place more value on friendship and teamwork. Notably, in the first episode she insists she’s not at Unicorn Academy to make friends, while in the last episode she says that without her friends she has nothing.
- Cosmic Motifs: She's associated with stars. Her clothing has star motifs, including star patterns on her pants and stars on her belt. She always wears a necklace with a star pendant her father gave to her and he affectionately referred to her as "my shining star". Appropriately, her unicorn is named Wildstar and also has a star motif.
- Daddy's Girl: She was close to her father when he was alive; they often went riding together, they had a lot in common, and Sophia looked up to him. Understandably, she took it hard when he died, becoming socially withdrawn. Sophia still often thinks about her father and wants to live up to his legacy by becoming a great unicorn rider like him, with her connection to her father informing a lot of her actions and motives.
- Fatal Flaw: Excessive independence. Sophia is determined to prove her capability and she isn’t used to having close friends to rely upon. Consequently, she tends to insist on doing everything by herself, no matter how dangerous, and pushes people away even when they’re trying to help. At her worst, she can be selfish and not consider others' needs and feelings because she’s so focused on her own goals. This leads to conflict with her friends and puts her in danger when she overestimates her abilities.
- Heroic Lineage: Her father was also a Unicorn Rider and the one who imprisoned Ravenzella. She's eager to follow in his footsteps, outright stating at one point she wants to stop Ravenzella because otherwise her father's sacrifice will be for nothing.
- Pursuing Parental Perils: Her decision to become a Unicorn Rider is more about coping with her father's disappearance than protecting magic - the Riders' actual goal. This is why she's enraged by the rule that freshmen like her aren't permitted to fight- she sees it as separating her from her father's memory.
- Rainbow Motif: Matching her unicorn's rainbow colouring and powers, Sophia has rainbow-streaked hair.
- Tragic Keepsake: She constantly wears a necklace with a star pendant, which is the last gift her father gave her before he died. It's revealed in the first episode it's also the key to Ravenzella's magical prison, with her minions seeking to steal it to free her.
Wildstar
A maternal unicorn struggling with the loss of her previous rider. Her personal magic projects light, with which she can create solid, rainbow-colored paths.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Has a rainbow-colored mane and has rainbow powers.
- Barrier Warrior: She can make Hard Light shields.
- Gender Flip: Her counterpart in the novels was a stallion named Rainbow.
- Hard Light: Wildstar's magic creates rainbows solid enough to form a bridge and stop projectiles.
- Light 'em Up: She wields light magic.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She is increasingly unhappy with Sophia's decisions throughout the last half of the series, but enables them until they get Sophia's foot turned to stone. Then she charges off with Sophia, completely ignoring the girl's orders.
- Rainbows and Unicorns: Naturally, the lead unicorn has rainbow powers.
- Ride the Rainbow: She can make rainbow paths to run on.
Ava Banji
A quirky, extroverted girl who always sees the best in people.
- Genki Girl: She's very energetic and excitable.
- The Lancer: A social butterfly who often clashes with the reckless loner Sophia, but is always ready to pull her out of danger (literally).
- What the Hell, Hero?: She calls out Sophia for endangering herself and breaking their promise to do things together.
Leaf
A sensible, affectionate unicorn with strong intuition. Her personal magic creates plants.
- Green Thumb: She has plant magic.
Layla Fletcher
An anxious intellectual who's new to riding. She enrolled in Unicorn Academy because she thought it was a cover for a government conspiracy.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: She realizes that a door the heroes are trying to destroy is made of stone, and therefore susceptible to being frozen (with Glacier's ice magic) and shattered.
- Properly Paranoid: Some half-eaten books lead her to believe that the unicorns, a near-uniformly benevolent and heroic species, are censoring an ancient secret. And she's right, as Glacier's actions show when she's out of sight.
- The Smart Girl: She's very intellectual, often spouting off various facts and consulting books to find solutions; she also tends to insist on forming strategies and plans rather than blindly charging in.
Glacier
A brash, athletic unicorn who's confident in her strength. Her personal magic creates ice.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: A white unicorn who uses ice.
- An Ice Person: She has ice magic.
Rory Carmichael
A warmhearted prankster with a bad habit of saying whatever comes to mind. His only experience of riding is dirtbikes, but he eagerly accepts the adventures that come with being a Unicorn Rider.
- Birds of a Feather: A platonic example with his unicorn. Most bondmates contrast each other, but Rory and Storm are both brave, extroverted pranksters.
- Innocently Insensitive: He truly believed impersonating Ravenzella was a harmless prank- humor is how he deals with fear. The other people Ravenzella almost killed don't see it that way.
- The One Guy: The only boy among the main cast.
Storm
A mischievous unicorn who fears little. Her personal magic creates thunder and lightning.
- Shock and Awe: She has lightning magic.
Isabel Armstrong
An energetic athlete whose diligence is matched only by her desire to succeed.
- The Big Girl: She's very athletic and physically the strongest of the group.
- My God, What Have I Done?: She is horrified upon realizing that her relentless training of River has left him too exhausted to move.
- Spirited Competitor: She truly enjoys competing with Valentina, despite the other girl's aloofness, and befriends her by challenging her to a race.
River
A meek, clumsy unicorn with a lot of patience. His personal magic creates water.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: A blue unicorn who uses water.
- Making a Splash: He has water magic.
- Positive Friend Influence: He encourages Isabel to enjoy things she considers useless, like pancakes and sleeping past 5 am.
Valentina Furi
An arrogant bully who is nonetheless willing to protect her peers. Her ancestors founded Unicorn Academy, so she has a big legacy to live up to.
- The Cavalry: She rescues Sophia from shadow monsters in the first episode's finale. It's the first indication that she isn't completely awful.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: She is introduced strutting around the academy like she owns the place and looking down on pretty much everyone who isn’t staff. And yet, she doesn’t let it get in the way of helping when the need arises.
Cinder
A temperamental, victory-obsessed unicorn whose ego isolates him from others. His personal magic creates fire.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: An orange unicorn who uses fire.
- Mundane Utility: When his rider isn't looking, he uses his magic to toast marshmallows at a party.
- Playing with Fire: He has fire magic.
Miles Mendoza
Sophia's father and Wildstar's previous bondmate. He's a famous Unicorn Rider whose accomplishments include sealing Ravenzella away, but he disappeared mysteriously several years before the beginning of the story.
- Never Found the Body: From the way everyone talks about him and reacts to his disappearance, it's widely believed he was killed fighting Ravenzella. However, no one actually saw his body and later events - particularly Sophia and Wildstar's visions of him at a magical waterfall - imply that he could still be alive, but trapped somewhere beyond Unicorn Island.
- Precursor Hero: A famous and highly accomplished Unicorn Rider who sealed Ravenzella away.
Ravenzella
The evil sorceress-queen of Grimoria, a world the Unicorn Riders destroyed. They defeated Ravenzella and sealed her in a magical prison, which she escapes in the pilot episode.
- Big Bad: The main villain of the series.
- The Needless: Ravenzella has nothing in her cell- not even the magic that Unicorn Riders use to conjure things- but she's lived in it just fine for years. Her clothes aren't even dirty. Of course, her biology is probably different from that of a human's.
- Our Elves Are Different: She has bluish skin, pointy ears, and pale hair like those of dark elves. Her magic is noted as being unusual in the setting.
Evelyn Primrose
The kindly headmistress of Unicorn Academy.
Ms. Furi
Unicorn Academy's stern, emotionally restrained vice-principal. She is Valentina's aunt and one of many legacy students from their family.
