Mortal Instruments/Characters

A listing of characters that appear in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. Beware of unmarked spoilers!

Clare is also publishing a prequel series, The Infernal Devices. Check out that character sheet, too.

Clarissa "Clary" Fray

Clary's was perfectly content with living life with her overprotective mother and geeky best friend. But her normal life is turned upside down she starts seeing things other people can't. When she comes home one evening to find her apartment sacked, her mother missing, and a demon in the room, she is thrust into the world of the Shadowhunters. Which sucks, considering she was totally unprepared for it. And if that wasn't enough, she might be the only one who can stop the impending war.

Tropes that apply to Clary:

• Action Girl: She has her moments.
  • Faux Action Girl: More often than not, although this is because of her Naive Newcomer status.
• Angel Unaware: Unintentional, as Valentine didn't know Jocelyn was pregnant when he experimented on her with angel's blood.
• Betty and Veronica: Simon and Jace respectively.
• Bio Augmentation: Valentine unknowingly added angel's blood to her before she was born.
• Brother-Sister Incest: Jace and Clary, when it is revealed that they were both Valentine and Jocelyn's children.
  • Subverted when it turns out that they aren't even related.
    • Played straight with Sebastian Verlac/Jonathan.

Simon: "So, Jace isn't your brother, but you HAVE kissed your brother."

• Cartwright Curse: The trope doesn't apply to her, although when she meets Sebastian/ Jonathan for the first time she describes him as looking like a character from her manga who was this.
• Demon Slaying
• Damsel in Distress: So many times.
• Fiery Redhead: Definitely.
• Fish Out of Water: Clary is not a hardened Shadowhunter or a Downworlder like the rest of the cast, at least at first. She jumps right on the mundie racism bandwagon rather disturbingly fast, though.
• Green Eyed Red Head
• I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Some shades of this for Jace, although it isn't very blatant.
• Idiot Ball: At the end of City Of Glass, Clary decides to wish Jace back to life. Which is great except she seems to have forgotten about all the other Shadowhunters that died. Real considerate there, Clary.
  • She usually grabs the Idiot Ball and runs with it whenever Jace is involved, like when possessed!Jace is able to trick her into mind-control just by batting his eyelashes at her and playing on her hormones.
• I'm Not Pretty
• Incest Is Relative: Subverted with Jace when it turns out that they're Not Blood Siblings. Played horribly straight with Sebastian.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Jocelyn brought Clary to Magnus Bane every two years to have her memories of the Shadowhunter world wiped.
• Like Brother and Sister: Simon and Clary come off as this at first, until Simon gains the status of Unlucky Childhood Friend before moving rather briefly into Victorious Childhood Friend and then going back to Just Friends.
• Little Miss Snarker: Drifts into this sometimes.
• Long-Lost Relative:Valentine, her father, and Jonathan Christopher, her full brother who was posing as Sebastian Verlac.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Jonathan Clark, the man her mother told her was her father, was just a mere acquaintance. Her real father is Valentine.
• Morality Pet: For Jace - The reason he didn't go with Valentine through the Portal in City of Bones was because he was thinking of Clary.
• Not Blood Siblings: Her and Jace.
• Official Couple: With Jace.
• Pettanko: Not as pronounced as some examples, but Clary feels insecure when she compares herself to the more traditionally beautiful, busty/curvy Isabelle.
• Redheaded Heroine
• Slashed Throat: Comes very close to this in City of Fallen Angels, courtesy of Jace (to be fair, he was under Lilith's Mind Rape at the time).
• Strong Family Resemblance: Like Maryse and Isabelle Lightwood, Jocelyn Fray greatly resembles her daughter, only with sharper features.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Clary isn't exactly a tomboy, but fits the role in her relationship with Isabelle.
• Will They or Won't They?: With Jace. Nothing much ever seems to happen until they figure out they aren't related.

Jace Wayland

Sarcastic, cynical, and a ladies' man, Jace seems like the archetypal Byronic Hero. But it's not like that arrogance is unfounded - Jace is widely renowned as one of the best - if not the best - Shadowhunters of his age. He lives with the Lightwoods at the Institute, and is, for some reason, incredibly attracted to Clary.

Tropes that apply to Jace:

• Abusive Parents: Valentine, who was posing as Michael Wayland.
• Action Hero
• Angel Unaware: The angel's blood that Valentine used to experiment on him with gave him certain characteristics (such as the ability to jump supernaturally high).
• Anguished Declaration of Love: To Clary.
• Back From the Dead
• Betty and Veronica: For Clary. He's the Veronica.
• Bio Augmentation: Valentine added angel's blood to him before he was born, through the naivete of his birth mother Celine Herondale.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In City of Fallen Angels, courtesy of Lilith.
• Brother-Sister Incest: With Clary, when it turns out they're full siblings. Subverted when it turns out they aren't. It's complicated.
• Byronic Hero
• Calling the Old Man Out: A difficult feat for Jace, even after years of having been abandoned by Valentine.
• Casanova
• Cassandra Truth: His outright dislike and suspicion of Sebastian raises a lot of eyebrows despite the fact that he was right all along.
• Cat Smile
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Especially when the end result will end up benefiting Clary.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Does have a tendency to lapse into this, especially when it concerns Clary and another guy.
• Cunning Linguist
• Curtains Match the Window
  • Hair of Gold: His hair is described as being like tawny like a lion's, and during scenes set in moonlight it's almost always described as turning nearly silver.
  • Eyes of Gold: As with his hair, they have a tendency to turn silver due to moonlight.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He saw his father, Michael Wayland, murdered in a pool of his own blood. That was staged, of course. And Michael Wayland was never his father.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Demon Slaying
• Disney Death: Twice. He gets better the second time.
• Distinguishing Mark: The star-shaped mark on his shoulder which is a birthmark of the Herondale family.
• Does Not Like Shoes
• Driven to Suicide: His real mother, Celine Herondale, who killed herself due to the death of her husband Stephen. Valentine cut Jace out from her body and raised him as his own.
• Hollywood Atheist: He believes that there is a God, just not that God cares, after seeing his father murdered in front of him.
• Ho Yay: With Simon and Alec. YMMV.
• Idiot Ball: Grabs it with a bloody deathgrip when he refuses to tell anyone about the possible prophetic dreams he's having about murdering Clary until it's almost too late, nearly starves himself to death, doesn't sleep... oh, and ends up getting himself possessed by Sebastian. What an IDIOT.
• Incest Is Relative: Subverted when it turns out he and Clary were Not Blood Siblings after all.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Jump Physics: He has the ability to jump supernaturally high, thanks to the angel's blood.
• Ladykiller in Love: With Clary, naturally.
• Lie Back and Think of England: Jace tells Clary to do this before they kiss in front the fairy court. More like "Close your eyes and think of England."
• Like Brother and Sister: Arguably with Isabelle, with whom he has a purely platonic relationship.
• Lightning Bruiser: Jace is very fast, very strong, and very enduring, thanks to Valentine's training.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Michael Wayland was never Jace's father. Valentine is. Only Valentine isn't. Stephen Herondale was.
• Not Blood Siblings: Him and the Lightwoods, him and Clary after all.
• Official Couple: With Clary.
• Omniglot: Jace can speak a lot of languages, thanks to all the training his father put him to.
  • An example is when he speaks to Sebastian in Romanian in City of Glass.

Jace: "De ce crezi ca va ascultam conversatia?"/"Why do you think I was listening to your conversation?"
Sebastian: "M-ai urmarit de când ai ajuns aici. Nu-mi dau seama daca nu ma placi ori daca esti atât de banuitor cu toata lumea.” / "You've been watching me since you got here. I can't tell if you don't like me or you're just this suspicious of everyone."

• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A horribly serious example. He gives Clary one in the beginning of City of Glass.
• Secret Other Family: He was being raised alongside Jonathan Christopher/Sebastian without ever knowing it.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly man to Alec's sensitive guy.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Amatis tells Jace that he looks exactly like Stephen Herondale did save for his mother (Celine)'s eyes.
• Troubled but Cute
• Two Guys and a Girl: With Alec and Isabelle.
• What the Hell, Hero?: His treatment of Clary when they're not snogging.
• Will They or Won't They?: Again, with Clary.
• Winged Humanoid: In Clary's dream and sketch.
• You Killed My Father: To Valentine which is of course followed by a (false) Luke, I Am Your Father.

Simon Lewis

Clary's best (and probably only) friend, Simon, along with her, inevitably discovers the world of the Shadowhunters - something he then becomes a part of when he gets turned into a vampire.

Tropes that apply to Simon:

• Adorkable
• Adrenaline Makeover: After getting Turned into a vampire and everything, Isabelle notes he's gotten more attractive.
• The Archer: Simon is a fantastic shot, thanks to years at camp training. He uses it to slay the Greater Demon Abbadon and saves Alec's life while he's at it.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: To Clary before the sunlight hits his body and he realizes that he can walk in daylight.
• Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Jace's Veronica.
• Birds of a Feather: Seemingly with Maia.
• Blood Lust: After he becomes a vampire, he needs blood. Badly. After he is imprisoned by Inquisitor Aldertree, the latter tries to starve him to death to find out the secret of his being able to walk in daylight.
• Boy Next Door
• Deadpan Snarker: One of the snarkiest in the books. And that's saying something.
• Distinguishing Mark: The ability to walk in sunlight, nicknaming him "Daylighter" and the Mark of Cain, though he later loses the latter.
• Fish Out of Water: Clary and Simon are not hardened Shadowhunters or Downworlders like the rest of the cast. In Simon's case, however, he does get turned into the latter.
• Geek: Big time.
• In-Series Nickname: Daylighter for that unique, annoying detail about being a vampire that can walk around in sunlight. Thanks, Jace's angel blood.
• Jewish and Nerdy
• Mark of the Beast: The Mark of Cain, which dates way back to the book of Genesis. Subverted in that Clary puts it on him to save his life. It actually comes in handy several times during the fourth book, as anybody who tries to lay hands on him gets punishment laid down on them sevenfold. In book five, the angel Raziel removes the Mark of Cain when Simon summons him, in exchange for a heavenly sword to sever the bond beyond Jace and Johnathan/Sebastian.
• Megane: Although he doesn't need his glasses after he gets Turned.
• Muggle Best Friend: To Clary after she finds out she's a Shadowhunter. Eventually subverted when he gets turned into a vampire.
• Nice Jewish Boy: He has to be in order to be the Betty.
• Not Growing Up Sucks: He is dismayed at being sixteen forever, saying that it's one thing to be frozen at twenty-five but looking how he is he is never going to grow into his features. Or get a drink. And there's the fact that he's going to far outlive his friends.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?
• Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Often pulls this on Clary when she's daydreaming.
• Operation: Jealousy: He hangs around Isabelle to make Clary jealous.
• Only Friend: Possibly to Clary.
• Only Sane Man: Recognized that loving Clary was a dead end, and had enough self-respect to let her go and move on to Isabelle and Maia. Yes, at the same time. Yes, they find out. He seems to be together with Isabelle at the end of the fourth book, though.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Thanks to him drinking Jace's blood (which contained angel blood) he can walk in sunlight.
• Plot Armor: You didn't really think that whole vampire fiasco would kill him off, did you?
• Post-Kiss Catatonia
• Romantic Runner-Up
• Ship Tease: With Isabelle and Maia.
• Slashed Throat: In City of Ashes, Valentine does this to collect Simon's blood.he gets better.
• Token Minority: He's Jewish. This is especially hard for him once he becomes a vampire.
• Too Dumb to Live: The incident with the vampires in City of Ashes may count. After ingesting a tiny bit of Raphael's blood, he believes he is turning into a vampire and goes there at night, alone, to be sure. Naturally they nearly rip him to shreds, but Raphael keeps him alive for Clary's sake. Then he gets turned into a vampire.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: For Clary.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: For a few days in City of Ashes, at which point he and Clary decide it's never going to work out.
• Walking the Earth: He's scared he's going to end up doing this, with the Mark of Cain and everything. Good for him the angel Raziel removes it

Isabelle "Izzy" Lightwood

Alec's younger sister, Isabelle is beautiful, confident, and dangerous - she is an accomplished Shadowhunter, after all. Being the middle child, Isabelle is rebellious and attention-seeking. The snobbish, Fantastic Racism she seems to hold against non-Shadowhunters, as well as the Ice Queen persona she upholds, starts to crumble once she meets Clary and Simon.

Tropes that apply to Isabelle:

• Action Girl: Most definitely.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: She has some shades of this.
• The Confidant: To Maryse.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Jace says it's to get attention. It works, in the wrong way.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Like her brother, she is not very fond of Clary at first. Later, though, she begins to open up to her.
• Demon Slaying
• Does Not Like Men: While she is not averse to dating them, she distrusts men in general (in contrast to Jace and Alec, who wear their hearts on their sleeves) because she was The Confidant to her mother, who told her how her marriage to Robert was breaking apart.
• Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Busty, fashionable Tall, Dark and Bishoujo Action Girl, often described as being barefoot who has a whip as her primary weapon? Bring it.
• Foil: Probably Clary, arguably Aline.
• It's All My Fault: Believes Max's death to be her fault, as she was in charge of him at the time. To be fair, though, she had absolutely zero reason to suspect Sebastian.
• Jerkass Facade
• Kuudere
• Les Yay: With Clary and Maia.
• Lethal Chef: Boy howdy.
• Like Brother and Sister: Her and Jace, who have a purely platonic relationship.
• Middle Child Syndrome: Isabelle is always raring to go into fights, not to mention she consistently dates boys her parents would hate. Jace says she does it to get attention, as she is not only the only girl but also the middle child.
• The Proud Elite: She has Raven Hair, Ivory Skin, is extremely cold and proud, and actively partakes in Shadowhunters' Fantastic Racism. She defrosts rather quickly, though.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Isabelle is very beautiful, with pale, clear skin and long dark hair.
• Razor Floss: Edges her whip. She uses it to take off Sebastian's hand in City of Glass.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Alec. Isabelle is not averse to showing off her beauty, is generally nicer, and like Jace, always rushing headfirst into demon-slaying. It's implied that Isabelle is the way she is in part because she wants to draw attention from her brother's homosexuality, as she does not want her parents to find out when he wasn't ready.
• Statuesque Stunner: According to Jace, Isabelle hates being taller than most boys her age and would rather be dainty and petite.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Like Clary and her mother, Maryse Lightwood greatly resembles her daughter.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Oh so much.
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky
• Tap on the Head: Sebastian renders her unconscious in City of Glass with a hammer after he finishes with Max.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly girl to Maia (and to a lesser extent Clary)'s tomboy.
• Two Guys and a Girl: With Jace and Alec.
• Whip It Good: Her weapon of choice is a long, silver-gold whip.

Alexander "Alec" Lightwood

The eldest Lightwood sibling, who is shyer, snarkier, and generally less welcoming, but his Ice Lord persona crumbles faster.

Tropes that apply to Alec:

• Anguished Declaration of Love: Courtesy of Magnus Bane.
• The Archer
• Battle Couple: With Magnus Bane in the final battle. Isabelle, too.
• Beta Couple: With Magnus.
• Big Brother Instinct: He takes his job as the eldest Lightwood sibling very seriously. And he's also the only one of them to be at least eighteen, making him legally an 'adult'.
• Blue Eyes: Clary describes them as being dark blue, like a bottle.
• Coming Out Story: He comes out of the closet rather nicely in the third book.
• Demon Slaying: He's Nephilim. However, it's noted that up until late in the story he's never killed a demon because he's always looking out for Isabelle and Jace, who tend to do most of the dirty work.
• Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Occasionally.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: He and Jace are parabatai.
• Incompatible Orientation: Him and Jace.
• Interspecies Romance: With Magnus Bane.
• Literal-Minded: He has a tendency to misinterpret sarcasm.
• Nice Guy
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive guy to Jace's manly man.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Isabelle. Unlike her, Clary notes that he is shyer, easier to guilt, and tries everything he can to downplay the good looks he shares with his sister.
• Invisible to Gaydar
• Tall, Dark and Handsome: He shares his mother's good looks.
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky

Valentine Morgenstern

The Big Bad of the first three books.

Tropes that apply to Valentine:

• Abusive Parents: Of the emotionally abusive variety.
  • He also beat Jace on alternate Thursdays.
• Affably Evil
• Be My Valentine: A villainous example.
• Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Luke's Betty.
• Big Bad: Of the first three books.
• Cradling Your Kill: Holds Jace like a child after stabbing him through the heart

Valentine: My son. My boy.

• Deadpan Snarker
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He does seem to care for Jace, in a way, as well as Clary, Jocelyn, Sebastian / Jonathan and even Luke in his own twisted way.
• Dead Person Impersonation: He killed Michael Wayland and his infant son (using that baby to make Jocelyn believe her son Jonathan was dead) and took over Michael Wayland's identity while raising Jace (who was Stephen Herondale's son. It's complicated.
• Faking the Dead: While posing as Michael Wayland he faked his own death to strengthen Jace.
• Happily Married: Surprisingly, to Jocelyn, for a few years before everything starts getting worse.
• Hannibal Lecture: Is irritatingly fond of this.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: In the third book, he actually uses a rune to avoid this - ie. he can monologue without interruption. Clary manages to foil him by writing in the dirt.
• Hunting Accident: Kind of. He never intended to murder Lucian, just get him bitten by a werewolf. Then he hands him a dagger and asks him to kill himself.
• Killed Off for Real: Thank you, Raziel.
• Jace I Am Your Father: It's a lie, although to be fair he did raise Jace while under the guise of Michael Wayland.
• Magnificent Bastard
• Meaningful Name: "Morgenstern" means "morning star" - signifying, of course, Lucifer.
• Never Found the Body: After his ship is destroyed - which naturally means that he's still up and kicking. That is, until he gets stabbed by the angel Raziel in the City of Glass, is cremated and has a funeral. He is dead for good. Unlike his other son.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Oh my god, Valentine gives so many of these during the series.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Unfortunately, his plan to reform the Clave to protect against demonic threats involves raising a massive demon army and slaughtering them all.

Luke Garroway / Lucian Graymark

A close friend of Jocelyn's and Honorary Uncle to Clary, Luke might be more part of the Shadowhunters' world than he lets on.

Tropes associated with Luke:

• Anguished Declaration of Love: To Jocelyn in City of Glass.
• Battle Couple: With Jocelyn.
• Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Valentine's Veronica.
• Death Seeker: He was one for a time, after Valentine set him up to be bitten by a werewolf.
• Honorary Uncle: To Clary.
• Hooked Up Afterwards: With Clary's mother.
• Meaningful Name: Luke Garroway sounds like loup-garou, French for werewolf.
• Megane
• Mysterious Animal Senses: His lycanthropy enables him to have heightened senses.
• Parental Substitute: Helped raise Clary along with Jocelyn. In a way, he was sort of a father figure to Simon, too, as the latter's father died when he was younger.
• The Runaway
• Second Love: For Jocelyn.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Clary sees him and her mother as this.

Clary: Disgustingly in love.

• The Starscream: Valentine saw him as this, although he really wasn't.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: For Jocelyn. After all, she was married to Valentine.
  • Although as of City of Fallen Angels, it turns into Victorious Childhood Friend as Jocelyn seems to reciprocate his feelings and they plan to get married, although it's postponed.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gives Clary a nice talking-to in the beginning of the third book.
• Wolf Man
• You Kill It, You Bought It: How he becomes leader a wolf pack. Twice.

Jocelyn Fray (née Fairchild)

Clary's overprotective mother.

Tropes associated with Jocelyn:

• Action Mom
• Convenient Coma: Jocelyn induces a coma on herself to avoid anyone squeezing information out of her about the whereabouts of the Mortal Cup. The only person who knew how to revive her aside from the warlock that cast the spell was an old acquaintance, who gets killed early on in the third book.
• Comatose Canary
• Fiery Redhead
• Hidden Badass: Under the Overprotective Mom stance, Jocelyn was a powerful, talented Shadowhunter who plotted to overthrow her husband during the Uprising. Not to mention she ran away from Valentine to prevent his turning Clary into a "monster" like he did Jonathan.
• Green Eyed Red Head
• Hooked Up Afterwards: With Luke. They planned to get married in City of Fallen Angels but the marriage was postponed indefinitely, with Jace's possession by Lilith and subsequent disappearence.
• Hot Mom: Jocelyn is said to be beautiful: tall and willowy, with sharp features.
• It Was a Gift: The tarot cards she gave Dorothea which contained the Mortal Cup.
• Overprotective Mom
• The Runaway

Maryse Lightwood (née Trueblood), Robert Lightwood, and Max Lightwood:

The Lightwoods run the New York Institute, where Clave meets are frequently held. Max is Isabelle and Alec's younger brother.

Tropes associated with the Lightwood family:

• Action Mom: Maryse.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Max, who has no real purpose except to hang around and look cute and eventually die.
• Battle Couple: Robert and Maryse, although they're not given a lot of screentime as such.
• Everyone Went to School Together
• Happily Married: Robert and Maryse. Or not. See Your Cheating Heart.
  • Happy Marriage Charade
• Hot Dad: Robert.
• Hot Mom: Maryse.
• Infant Immortality: Horribly, brutally subverted.
• Sacrificial Lion: Max, who is Killed Off for Real in the third book.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Maryse resembles her two elder children.
• Supreme Chef: Maryse.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Maryse.
• Your Cheating Heart: "City of Fallen Angels" reveals that all wasn't fine and dandy for the Lightwoods after the Circle broke up. Robert blamed their wrecked lives on Maryse, and it seems they were on the verge of separation/divorce but decided to stay together for the sake of Alec and their unborn daughter. Unfortunately, a few years later, Maryse found out about his having an affair with somebody, and confided in Isabelle about it. Still, they stayed together, even if Robert was spending more and more time away.

Hodge Starkweather

The tutor at the Institute, who taught Alec, Jace, and Isabelle everything they needed to know about Shadowhunting.

Tropes associated with Hodge:

• Everyone Went to School Together: Was school friends with Clary's, Jace's, and the Lightwood siblings' parents.
• Killed Off for Real
• The Mole
• Mr. Exposition: In the first book.

Magnus Bane

The campy, effeminate High Warlock of Brooklyn.

Tropes associated with Magnus:

• Animorphism: He can morph into a cat.
• Anything That Moves: He's been with men, women, warlocks, vampires, humans, fey, and the occasional djinn, which does show that he does go for anything. Except mermaids. They smell like seaweed.
• Beta Couple: With Alec. Doubles as Battle Couple.
• Bi the Way: He appears to be homosexual at first glance, but later books reveal that he dated Camille Belcourt and probably several other women.
• The Dandy
• Deadpan Snarker
• Eccentric Millionaire: He's the High Warlock of Brooklyn, darlings.
• Interspecies Romance: With Camille Belcourt and Alec.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: He can induce it, such as his work on Clary. However, he can't undo it.
• Let's Get Dangerous / Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: When shit hits the fan, you find how he ended up as the High Warlock of Brooklyn.
• Noodle Incident: How exactly did he get himself banned from Peru?
• Only in It For the Money: Until he falls for Alec.
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: He looks around nineteen, but is around eight hundred.

Maia Roberts

A member of the downtown werewolf pack, Maia's had a rough life. Her brother abused her, and her ex-boyfriend hit her and eventually turned her into a werewolf. She seems to be getting along fine though.

Tropes associated with Maia:

• Cassandra Truth: Her parents never believed her when she told them her brother was abusive.
• Birds of a Feather: With Simon.
• Fur Against Fang: Dislikes Simon at first. Very much. Until they both end up being captured by Valentine.
• Token Minority: She's biracial.
• Tsundere: Towards Simon and Jordan. in City of Fallen Angels.
• Why Did It Have To Be Beautiful Men: She has a fear of guys that look like her deceased brother, who abused her as a child. There's also her possessive ex-boyfriend Jordan, who was mentioned as the reason she was turned into a werewolf.
• Wolf Girl

Raphael Santiago

Current leader of the New York vampire clan (although he asserts that he's merely leading in someone ^[1]'s stead.)

Tropes associated with Raphael:

• Badass Mexican: He has his moments.
• Consummate Liar
• Irony: It's said that he puts on a cross and visits his family every Sunday.
• Number Two: To Camille.
• Older Than They Look: He is stated to look around fourteen years old. But then again, he's a vampire.
• Our Vampires Are Different
• The Starscream: According to Camille, he was the reason she left - he killed mundanes and blamed them on her, causing her to flee. When she did so, he seized her position and told the rest of the New York vampire clan that she was struck with wanderlust and a desire to travel (something that was not unheard of in vampires.)
• Super Empowering: Like other vampires, he is capable of turning other people into vampires.

Aline Penhallow

A family friend of the Lightwoods.

Tropes associated with Aline:

• Lipstick Lesbian Heavily implied in the third book. Although she is seen kissing Jace, she tells Clary later it was merely a test to see if any guy was "her type". Confirmed in book five, where she appears with her girlfriend, Helen Blackthorn, and it's revealed she came out the closet, inspired by seeing Alec do so.
• Foil: To Isabelle.
• Rape as Drama: The poor girl was nearly raped by a demon.
• Romantic False Lead

Sebastian Verlac / Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern

Aline's cousin. Which, of course, is false.

Tropes associated with Sebastian:

• Affably Evil
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Brother-Sister Incest: Clary.
• Complete Monster
• Cunning Linguist
• Devil in Plain Sight
• Early-Bird Cameo: In Clary's dream in City of Ashes, she sees Jace standing with white wings (a reference to his angel blood) and, behind her, a dark-haired boy with blood-tipped wings - Sebastian.
• Long-Lost Relative: He is Clary's full brother.
• The Mole: He was the reason Valentine knew what Jace's group was about to do. He killed the real Sebastian Verlac and posed as the Penhallows' cousin in order to get information.
• Not Quite Dead: In the fourth book, it turns out that he isn't exactly dead because of Clary's wish at the end of City of Glass to bring Jace back to life, which screwed up the balance of life and death.
• Polyglot: Like Jace, he's also fluent in a variety of languages.
• Romantic False Lead: We all know who's going to win Clary in the end. Besides, he's her brother.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome
• Tap on the Head: How he kills Max and knocks Isabelle unconscious.
• Winged Humanoid: In Clary's dream in City of Ashes.
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Played absolutely straight.
• Would Hurt a Child: Would kill a child, too.

Imogen Herondale / The Inquisitor

Tropes associated with the Inquisitor:

• Cool Old Lady -> Badass Grandma: Jace's.
• Break the Haughty: When she realizes that her plan to trade Jace for the Mortal Instruments wasn't going to work and she realizes that Valentine might not care for his "son" as much as she cared for hers.
• Dead Son: She was deeply grieved over the loss of Stephen Herondale.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Pulls one to let Jace escape on the ship, knowing that he was Stephen Herondale's son.
• Manipulative Bitch
• Smug Snake

Amatis Herondale (née Graymark)

An ex-Shadowhunter residing in Idris, who turns out to be Luke's sister.

Tropes associated with Amatis:

• Happily Married: To Stephen Herondale, for like a few years, until...
  • Toilet Seat Divorce: Not played for laughs, and the divorce actually did happen. Valentine convinced Stephen to divorce her on the grounds that she had "undesirable family connections" - ie. her brother was turned into a Downworlder, and Valentine does not like Downworlders.
• Long-Lost Relative: To Luke, more or less, although it's more of the fact that they're estranged siblings and Luke's afraid that she'd blame him for her divorce.

Camille Belcourt

Magnus's vampire ex. No, really.

Tropes associated with Camille:

• Cuffs Off, Rub Wrists: After Simon frees her.
• Lady of War: Seemingly a trait carried over from the previous series.
• Green Eyes
• Knowledge Broker: Although she'll only share information with Magnus.
• Our Vampires Are Different
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Her hair is described as being the color of spun silver.

Jordan Kyle

The newest member of Simon's band, Kyle seems like your typical nice guy (although Clary describes him as superhot). He's a member of the local Wolf Guard as well as Maia's ex-boyfriend who turned her into a werewolf.

• The Atoner: He does seem to sincerely regret what he did to Maia, and only picked Simon as an assignment so he could get close to her.
• Chekhov MIA: He was mentioned back in City of Ashes as Maia's ex-boyfriend who turned her into a werewolf and disappeared for nearly two years.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: To Maia, as explained in the backstory.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Simon says that he grows weird plants on his balcony. He then follows it up by claiming they aren't drugs. The plants turn out to be wolfsbane.
• Ho Yay: With Simon.
• Nice Guy
• Only One Name: Simon asks why his name is listed as just Kyle even on his apartment door. It turns out Kyle is his surname and his first name is Jordan, which he hid so that Maia wouldn't find out.
• Our Werewolves Are Different
• Psycho Ex Boyfriend: To Maia, although he regretted it.
• Stalker with a Crush: Has some shades of this towards Maia Roberts.

Lilith

Yes, that Lilith. Big Bad of the second trilogy.

• Big Bad
• Chekhov's Gunman: Actually appears early in the fourth book as Satrina the band promoter.
• The Dark Side

1. ↑ Camille's