The Dresden Files/Characters/The Vampires
The Black Court
The classic vampire, the Black Court are animated corpses who drink the blood of the living. They are the most innately powerful of the vampire courts, and the most straightforwardly malevolent, but because they have all the traditional vampire weaknesses (Dracula was commissioned by their rivals in the White Court as an expose on them) they are also currently the rarest.
- Exclusively Evil: Big time. The Black Court usually attack first and ask questions never, though Mavra at least can be more subtle when she needs to be.
- A short story implies this is inherent in their condition, with two security guards brutally and painfully turned being loyal to the woman who killed them only minutes prior.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: They can induce a couple of levels of this, from an easy-to-reverse charm all the way towards turning the victim into a permanently-unhinged mook.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Classic undead ones. Black Court Mooks are basically blood-drinking zombies, while more powerful ones like Mavra are more like Dracula (and Dracula himself is Black Court, though he's never shown up in person).
- The Renfield: Accepted terminology for their Brainwashed and Crazy minions.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Thoroughly averted; at best, Blacks are Uncanny Valley-tastic, and at worst, they're visibly decomposing corpses.
Mavra
A very old, very nasty Black Court vampire with a grudge against Harry. So far, she seems to have succeeded fairly well at using him as a pawn in her schemes, and has yet to get her comeuppance; we don't even know what her long-term goal is.
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: Which is why she's responsible for crispy-frying Harry's hand.
- A Father to His Men: She does love her children.
- Frozen Fashion Sense: Wears ancient clothing, though at least some of it is modern clothing made in an old style.
- Karma Houdini: So far, but it's probably just a matter of time.
- Lightning Bruiser: Fast, strong, smart, stealthy. Her only problem is she's a rotting corpse.
- Master of Illusion: Veils are her specialty.
- Mind Rape: Another specialty of hers, for quick, easy mooks.
- Xanatos Gambit: We don't find out until the next book, but her actions in Blood Rites qualify. No one interferes, and she has a strong, growing power base. She guessed (correctly) that this wouldn't be the case, as well as who the most likely party-crasher would be (namely, Harry) and prepared countermeasures against him specifically. So if he tried to go in alone, he'd die. If he brought a whole group, they might still die, and if they didn't, she had a decoy downstairs to make them think they'd killed her; if it hadn't been for Kincaid, Harry might have fallen for it. In addition to that, she took pictures of the group when they were fighting her Renfields; this gave her blackmail material on one of Harry's friends so she could force him to do what she wanted in future. No matter how it turned out, she'd be ahead.
- In fact, the only way to have actually defeated Mavra in that instance would have been to go with Kincaid's earlier suggestion: blowing up the whole building, even with the hostages inside.
- Which means the only person who knew how to outwit the most powerful Black Court vampire we've seen was the guy given his nickname by Vlad "Father of Dracula" Drakul himself.
- In fact, the only way to have actually defeated Mavra in that instance would have been to go with Kincaid's earlier suggestion: blowing up the whole building, even with the hostages inside.
Red Court
These vampires are demons who can change themselves into (superficially) human forms; like Blacks, Reds feed on blood, but are less supernatural, meaning that both their powers and Weaksauce Weaknesses are less. Because they masterminded a war between the vampire courts and the wizards, they are some of the most visible villains in the series. As of Changes, the Red Court is effectively extinct.
- Affably Evil: Moreso than Black, less so than White.
- Exclusively Evil: Unlike Blacks, Reds can at least put on a show of humanity, and are capable of loyalty towards each other, but they're completely consumed by bloodlust and have absolutely no regard for human life, the Order of St. Giles excepted.
- Cannon Fodder: The esclavos de sangre, aka "blood slaves." They are Red Court vampires who have given in entirely to their blood thirst, going completely feral and thus are unable to form flesh masks or behave in any civilized manner. They are considered scum by the rest of the Court and are used as disposable troops. By the reckoning of the Red Court, letting the blood slaves get killed in combat is no waste, as they're just a strain on the Court's food supply.
- Disc One Final Boss: In light of Changes the whole Red Court would seem to have been this.
- Fantastic Drug: Their saliva is highly addictive narcotic.
- One-Winged Angel: Most of them spend most of their time in human form, but almost always shift to demonic bat-thing to fight or feed.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Formerly-human batlike demons who can assume human form, they're burned by sunlight and repelled by sacred objects.
- Vampire Refugee: The Order of St. Giles are humans who were turned into Red vampires, but never fully gave into vampiric nature- they oppose the Red Court proper wherever they can, and are allies of the White Council. Harry's girlfriend Susan is one.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Deconstructed. They're only superficially this way, and it takes their narcotic saliva to cement it. When they take off their flesh masks, to humans they're pure Fetish Retardant.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: All Reds (except for those who've been completely consumed by their bloodlust) can assume a human "fleshmask". The most powerful can create fleshmasks with a variety of appearances, rather than just based on what they looked like as humans.
Kukulcan, the Red King
"A god does not converse or bargain with cattle. He uses and dispenses with them as he sees fit."
Absolute lord of the Red Court, his extreme age and the devotion of both his mortal and vampiric minions have allowed him to ascend to a state approximating godhood (and indeed, he was venerated as a god by the Mayans). In Changes, he makes the big mistake of both deceiving Harry and trying to sacrifice his daughter; this gets the King and his Court wiped out when his own bloodline curse is turned back on him.
- A God Am I: Views himself as a god, having effectively replaced an Aztec one (see Did Not Do the Research, below).
- Bigger Bad: Arianna is the primary antagonist in Changes, but Big Red takes over once Harry takes Arianna down.
- The Caligula: As Harry describes him, he's basically a junkie with blood as his fix, and his behavior can be somewhat erratic as a result. All or part of this may be part of his Obfuscating Stupidity, however- we don't see enough of him to really tell for sure.
- Completely Unnecessary Translator: He speaks Mayan with Harry during their first meeting but later reveals that he can actually speak perfect English.
- Did Not Do the Research: On the character's part. Surviving texts suggest Kukulcan was a pretty benign deity, and his Captain Ersatz equivalent in the Aztec religion, Quetzalcoatl, refused human sacrifice. When Susan uses both a veil and Amoracchius' light to protect Maggie, Harry theorizes that the Red King's hesitation and fear may be because he believes that the deity whose name he stole is back and pissed at the perversion.
- Enemy Mine: Briefly with Harry in order to take down Arianna. It doesn't last long.
- Evil Overlord
- Exact Words: When Harry demands the right to challenge Arianna for the life of a soon-to-be-sacrificed hostage, the Red King guarantees the safety of said hostage during the duel. Surprise, surprise: no one said anything about after the duel.
- Eye Scream: During his final battle with Harry he's beaten when Harry impales his eyes and then sets them on fire.
- False Reassurance: Uses this along with his Loophole Abuse and Completely Unnecessary Translator to double cross Harry.
- Fantastic Racism: Only vampires of original Mayan ancestry can rise to the highest levels of the Red Court under his rule. He also views all humans in general as cattle.
- Hoist by His Own Petard
- Karmic Death
- Loophole Abuse: Harry weasels a promise out of him to let him take his daughter away after killing Arianna for him. However, since the Red King was going through a translator to make that promise, he technically didn't promise Harry anything....
- He also used this to HELP Harry believe it or not. The Eebs say that he cannot interfere in a blood feud; but because Harry has what also amounts to a blood feud, he does have a legitimate right to challenge Arianna. The Red King does have the power to accept Harry's petition (since allowing Arianna to go ahead would ALSO count as interfering with a blood debt), which he uses to allow Harry to fight Arianna.
- The Napoleon: The Lords of Outer Night and other high-ranking Reds are of superhuman stature, but the king is only a little over five feet. Though he presumably has shapeshifting abilities like the rest of the powerful Red Courtiers, so he may not have to be.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's still got more raw power than almost any other villain in the series.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: He's much more on-the-ball than he seems; he plays Harry and Arianna against each other quite well.
- he also demonstrates that he had to have understood Harry before Alamaya actually talked to him; as such he may have been faking entirely.
- Older Than They Look: looks to be middle aged but is more than 4000 years old
- Physical God: Roughly on par with Odin, no less. His chief minions, the Lords of Outer Night, are also godlike.
- Smug Snake
- Tactful Translation: Amusingly averted. While holding up the charade of not understanding English, a flunkie of the King's tries to take Harry's statement of This Means War and relate it tactfully. The King slaps the flunkie, and Harry can tell that he's telling the mook "Translate it the way he said it, damn it."
- Time Abyss: His true age is unknown-- because humans on his continent of origin haven't had a written language for that long.
- Really 700 Years Old
- Villainous Breakdown: After Harry beats the crap out of him he goes from confident and intelligent Smug Snake to a thrashing screaming lunatic who summons his soldiers (despite knowing that they will kill him for being defeated by a mortal) without caring about the consequences. And he cuts one of his own deputies in half.
Paolo Ortega
Born in Spain at the end of the 15th century and one of Cortez's conquistadors. During his time in South America, he fell in love with a local princess and married her. She turned out to be a Red Court vampire, and turned Paolo into a vampire. Paolo's abilites allowed him to rise through the ranks, and he was a Warlord of the Red Court.
- Affably Evil
- All Love Is Unrequited: Paolo seems to be quite devoted to Arianna. Arianna is equally devoted to making his life miserable.
- Genius Bruiser: Paolo is definitely no slouch in hand-to-hand combat, and a highly skilled strategist, as one would expect from a Red Court Warlord, and someone who is implied to be the Red Courts counterpart to the Blackstaff. He is also officially employed as a professor of mythology
- Jerkass
- Pet the Dog: Does seem to care for his child Bianca.
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Paolo was one of Cortez's conquistadors.
- Unholy Matrimony: To Arianna, see All Love Is Unrequited above.
Arianna Ortega
Wife of Paolo, highly placed in the Red Court, and a sorceress.
- Achilles' Heel: Loses her final battle with Harry because she was unable to adapt to the artificial handicap placed on both individuals. Harry actually implies that if she had been allowed to use Hand to Hand combat she would have won whether or not he had powers.
- Big Bad: Of Changes
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: during her first meeting with Harry she pretends to be compassionate telling him she knows exactly how much pain he's feeling (since she had his daughter kidnapped)
- Break the Haughty: After Harry kicks her ass all she can do is stammer in shock. Needless to say it was VERY satisfying.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Mentioned in passing in Proven Guilty as one of the bidders in Madrigal Raith's auction of one Harry Dresden, slightly used.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The entire plot of Changes happens because Ebeneezer killed Paolo.
- Evil Is Petty
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
- Karmic Death: VERY.
- Kill It with Water: Uses it defensively to counter Harry's Fuego spells,and serve as a scalding smokescreen, naturally this backfires when Harry switches elements
- Master of the Mixed Message: Oh yes. Arianna's entire marriage to Paolo was for the sole purpose of punishing Paolo through the use of mixed messages for what the conquistadors did to the people of South America.
- The Starscream: To her "father", the Red King, though it's implied she was genuinely loyal previously but now feels he's losing his touch.
- Shock and Awe: Uses lightning spells as her offensive choice during the duel, one hit is enough to send Harry flying and land dazed.
- Smug Snake
- Time Abyss: She is implied to have been a few thousand years old when she met Paolo in 1519. Is also implied to be the biological daughter of the Red King.
- Unholy Matrimony: To Paolo Ortega, as part of her mission to screw up his life as much as possible.
- Villainous Breakdown: After Harry defeats her, she just stammers incoherently saying: "Cattle. You are C-Cattle." To which Harry has only one thing to say before he kills her: "Moo."
- Would Hurt a Child: She planned to sacrifice Maggie personally. Only Harry's arrival and the fact that he had an equally legitimate claim (meaning that her dad had the perfect excuse to delay her until after Harry's claim was settled) as well as her death at Harry's hands in the resulting duel prevented her from doing so.
- Your Head Asplode: after Harry finishes with her all that is left is a smoking headless corpse, since his final blow causes her head to blow up
The Eebs
Esteban and Esmerelda, referred to disparagingly as the "Eebs" by Harry, are a pair of highly-skilled Red Court assassins dispatched by the Red King to either kill or capture Harry. They generally pose as a married couple, and have something resembling love and affection for one another.
- Affably Evil
- Axe Crazy
- Battle Couple
- Blue and Orange Morality: They are genuinely surprised by the concept of the Red King simply telling Arianna to not do her ritual.
- Boat Lights: Esmerelda's eyes are mismatched.
- Boring but Practical: Described their entire methodology. The Eebs prefer to hunt their prey using constant, low-risk pressure, such as sending mortal hitmen, doing drive-by shootings, firebombing buildings, and so on. Though individual hits have a low chance of success, they can keep up the pressure on their target until it sticks.
- Combat Pragmatist
- Dirty Coward: The Eebs do not expose themselves to danger if they can avoid it. Most famously, when Esteban first meets Harry face-to-face, his (admittedly warranted) response is to scream and run for his life.
- Fate Worse Than Death: Implied, when they lose the trial by combat in the Erlking's lair
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Esteban is about height with Harry,while Esmeralda is even shorter than Butters.
- The Vamp: Esmerelda, who all but ravishes Harry there and then.
- Unholy Matrimony
"The Ik'k'uox"
A Mayan devourer demon under the Eeb's command that's used as their heavy-hitter when normal tactics aren't effective. Harry calls it the Ick due to pronunciation problems.
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Seems to be able to rotate its whole body if necessary
- Black Eyes of Evil: Its whole body is black but shares its eye color with the Red Court
- Bullfight Boss: In addition to being the size of one, this is the best tactic for fighting it.
- Combat by Champion: Serves as one for the Reds during the Erlking's trial.
- The Dreaded: Susan has a major freak out in the FBI building after hearing its heartbeat.
- Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better: Can switch between them if necessary
- Game-Breaking Injury: Gains one from Mouse,slowing it down enough to be defeated.
- Implacable Man: Takes Harry dropping a city bus sized stalactite on top it to put it down.
- Lightning Bruiser
- Meaningful Name: It's Mayan for Dark and Eater respectively.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: It has the pitch-black combined facial features of a human, jaguar, wild boar and crocodile.
- The Unpronounceable
- Signature Sound Effect: Its drum-like heartbeat.
"Bianca St. Claire"
A minor character in the book Storm Front. After Harry's actions indirectly caused her to kill her lover, Bianca enacted a roaring rampage of revenge that ultimately started the first magical war in centuries. She's also the daughter of Paolo Ortega, and the great-granddaughter (in vampire terms anyway) to the Red king.
- Blue Blood: Considering that her grandmother's the Red king's daughter she's practically royalty.
- Evil Is Petty: The reason she hates Thomas and Justine is because Thomas got Justine to be his sex partner instead of one of her whores. Also vamps Susan as a screw you to Harry. This turns out to be a very bad idea.
- Lesbian Vampire
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge
- Vampires Are Rich
White Court
The most human of the vampires, the White Court feed on emotional energy, rather than blood. White Court vampires are born, not made, and they look like eerily beautiful humans. They're immune to most of the traditional vampire weaknesses, but are literally allergic to the opposite emotion they feed off of. (Lust-Love; Fear-Courage; Despair-Hope). Also notable for their cultural Complexity Addiction and the fact that Thomas, Harry's half-brother, is one.
- Affably Evil: Most of them at least try to be this.
- Allergic to Love: It burns the Raiths, literally.
- Exclusively Evil: Subverted. Thomas proves that, unlike the other Courts, Whites can resist their darker urges. It's hard, though, and most don't really bother.
- The Beautiful Elite
- Complexity Addiction: Whites hate getting their hands dirty and prefer to work through catspaws, pawns, and fall guys- the more complex a scheme is, the more respect it gets from the rest of the Court.
- Deadly Decadent Court: Managing to combine this, Fetish Fuel, and Nightmare Fuel with their treatment of their sexually enslaved human servants.
- Dhampir: Averted, as offspring of humans and Whites are full vampires whose traits manifest at puberty.
- Emotion Bomb: They can inspire the emotion they use to feed.
- Emotion Eater
- Fantastic Drug: Being fed off of by a Raith (and possibly all Whites) is addictive.
- Their blood can inspire the same emotions that they feed on, as well.
- Heroic Host: Villainous host, rather. A well fed host has access to Super Strength, Super Speed, and a powerful Healing Factor.
- Horny Devils: The Raith family feeds on Lust, and have the ability to generate it in their victims.
- Horror Hunger: Known simply as 'the Hunger'.
- Immortality Begins At Twenty: Harry remarks that you could mistake the White King for Thomas.
- In the Blood: White Court vampires reproduce just like humans.
- Out with a Bang: Victims of the Raiths can die this way if they give too much.
- Raised by Humans: At least in the Raith family; Lord Raith makes very certain that none of his children know anything about their true nature or the supernatural world at large before they start to turn in late adolescence.
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old
- The Symbiote: The Hunger of a White Court vampire results from a spirit known as a Phage attaching itself to a human. It's possible to drive the Phage off before the host's first feeding, leaving them fully human.
- Uh-Oh Eyes: White Court Vamp eyes act as a handy barometer for their internal state. Blue eyes are the mark of a well-fed and happy vamp. They get paler as they get hungrier, and the demons get stronger. Silver eyes mean it's past time to run.
- Vampires Are Rich: The Raiths have an entire series of mansions. The lesser houses presumably also have substantial fortunes.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Thoroughly straight, especially for the Raith family, who literally feed on lust.
- Vampires Own Nightclubs: The Raiths do, at least.
Lord Raith, the White King
"I've taken thousands like you, lovely child. Taken them and broken them. There was nothing they could do. There is nothing you can do. You were made to feel desire. I was made to use it against you. It is the natural cycle. Life and death. Mating and death. Predator and prey."
- Abusive Parent: Rapes his daughters, using his vampiric abilities to turn them into his slaves by doing so. All his sons before Thomas have met with tragic accidents.
- Anti-Magic: He's protected apparently by one of the Outsiders so that magic doesn't affect him.
- Big Bad Wannabe: In a way. While he used to have the power to back up his reputation, after years of being unable to replenish his energies he's much less formidable than he was, and relies on bluffing his way out of conflict.
- Cain and Abel: Sent Madrigal and Madeline's father sky-diving without a parachute.
- Cool but Inefficient: His apparent insistence on using identical twins for servants may be nicely symmetrical, but doesn't exactly ensure the best quality of service.
- Decoy Leader: As of Blood Rites Lara is the real leader of the White Court, but pretends he's still in charge to avoid being challenged by the other houses.
- Engineered Public Confession: Public is stretching it, but Harry arranged that he talk about his weakness with Lara listening. And also that he didn't care about his family at all beyond their use as tools, but she already knew that.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Lara enslaves him as he did to all his daughters.
- Kiss of Death: Coined the phrase, according to Thomas.
- Offing the Offspring
- Parental Incest: How he treats his daughters.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He and Thomas appearantly look near-identical.
- Thicker Than Water: He deliberately instilled this attitude in his family....because it makes them easier to handle.
- Ironic in that it makes his children loyal to each other rather than him..... and eventually leads to his downfall.
- You Killed My Father: Mother, actually. Raith used his entropy curse to make it appear Harry's mother had died in childbirth.
Thomas Raith
"One day, doubtless, the Hunger would gain the upper hand again, and feed and feed until it was the only thing inside and there was nothing left of me. But not today."
A White Court vampire who doesn't want to be. Thomas is one of the White King's youngest children, and the only male one still alive. As an incubus, he feeds on life force, and as a Raith, his preferred emotion is lust. While the vampirism means he can occasionally manage feats of enormous badassery, afterward he gets very hungry, and that can easily kill the food source. For years, his primary "meal" was Justine, but when he almost killed her he finally got fed up (so to speak) with the usually incubus order of business and decided to try to break out of it. He's also Harry's half-brother and a member of the Venatori.
- Agent Peacock
- Aloof Big Brother
- Angst Coma / Heroic BSOD: Enters one After Harry dies.
- Badass
- Beard of Sorrow: At the end of Ghost Story, he's grown one of these after he learned that Harry died.
- Berserk Button: If you value your life, don't even consider threatening Justine. After Shagnasty breaks him and forces him to acknowledge his White Court nature, Justine is the only thing Thomas really cares about.
- For that matter, don't try to hurt Harry either.
- Big Brother Instinct: According to Lara, he's extremely loyal to and protective of his siblings, especially Inari and Harry.
- Big Damn Heroes: With Dresden's coat and shotgun.
- Break the Cutie: In addition to getting broken after he breaks Justine, the naagloshii in Turn Coat tortures him into at least temporarily stopping his attempt at Friendly Neighborhood Vampires.
- Can't Have Sex Ever: With Justine, since they're in love. Irony's a bitch. As of Ghost Story, she's found a Girl-On-Girl Is Hot solution.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Destructo-Nookie
- Distracted by the Sexy: Does this without even trying. Harry describes him walking down the street as looking like "one of those silly cologne commercials."
- Dual-Wielding: Thomas most commonly uses a cavalry saber and a kukri as his melee weapons.
- Mr. Fanservice: Harry snarks that Thomas looks like "the forgotten Greek god of body cologne". Also deconstructed, since his Mr. Fanservice-ness is is a huge part of why he can't hold down a part time job.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Tends to prompt comments along the lines of "I'm not gay, but even I think he's hot."
- Evil Feels Good
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampires: The only one who could possibly be said to play this straight.
- Horny Devils
- Kukris Are Kool: The most distinctive Weapon of Choice Thomas has.
- The Lancer
- Long-Lost Relative
- Mate or Die: Thomas deliberately starves himself, since he doesn't want to hurt people.
- Mistaken for Gay: A deliberate case, since it was the best way he could come up with to keep women from constantly trying to seduce him.
- So you could say it's Played Straight?
- Obfuscating Stupidity: The only reason he survived his father is because he intentionally appeared to not be a threat. As a Raith, that means appearing incapable of plotting or higher level thought. This is most evident in his early interactions with Harry where he can best be described as "An embarrassment to his family". And, as later stories show, he may be continuing this, to a degree, with Harry himself so as to protect him.
- The Pornomancer: Deconstructed. As an Incubus, women literally throw themselves at him, but he can't hold a minimum-wage job because when he inevitably gets sexually assaulted, he gets blamed.
- Redemption Failure: After nearly killing Justine, he works really hard to become a Vegetarian Vampire. And then Shagnasty happens.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Recent Word of God reveals that he and Justine are like this in private.
"I know what the relationship is in my head like right now. They're actually happier now than they've been in ever. But it's all happening behind the scenes and nobody can see because Thomas has to have his bad ass vampire face on whenever he's in public. But when they are alone together, nothing else going on, they're like totally cute. Justine wears like these grownup version of footie pajamas so that she can snuggle up next to him on the couch and watch TV without actually burning him. They don't have like a normal relationship or anything like one, but they've kinda adjusted, they're fairly happy."
- Significant Birth Date: As discussed in It's My Birthday Too, he was born on Valentine's Day.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Justine.
- Tell Me About My Mother: It's subtle, but it's there.
- Thicker Than Water: As Lara says, he'd rather saw off his right arm than see any of his siblings hurt. Even the evil ones.
- The Unfavorite: His father tries to kill him, like he did the rest of his sons, and his mother abandoned him when he was five to give birth to his brother.
- Weapon of Choice: Thomas commonly carries both an old US Cavalry saber and a kurki, and packs either a sawed-off shotgun or a Desert Eagle. In Changes, he swaps the cavalry saber for a falcata.
Lara Raith
"At what point did you forget that I am a vampire, Dresden? A monster. A habitually neat, polite, civil, and efficient monster."
White Court vampire, older half-sister of Thomas Raith through their father the White King. As a succubus, she feeds on life force, and as a Raith, her preferred emotion is lust. After the events of Blood Rites, she unofficially became acting head of the Raith family; her father the White King is now merely her puppet. Also a member of the Venatori and a participant in the Oblivion War.
- Affably Evil: She actually calls herself an "affable monster." And then she eats the soul of a wounded security guard.
- Anti-Villain: She's not as anti as Marcone, but in any conflict with another villain, she's almost always the lesser evil (you've really got to root for her against both her father and the Skinwalker, for example). It's not that she's not evil, just that really blatant, destructive evil isn't her style, and doesn't suit her purposes.
- Badass: as demonstrated in White Night and Turn Coat, Lara Raith is an incredibly dangerous physical combatant when the situation calls for it.
- BigSisterInstinct: Is extremely protective of her little brother Thomas, and even baby sister Inari.... in her own twisted way.
- The Chessmaster: Goes with the territory, since she's a high-ranking White Court vampire.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: In Backup, Thomas notices that as she's giving him orders over the phone she's also having sex with at least two women.
- Cool Car: In Turn Coat, she loaned Harry a Rolls Royce Silver Wraith. It is so unspeakably awesome that most of the cast spends at least a couple of minutes worshiping at its shrine.
- Daddy's Little Villain: But considering this is Lord Raith we're talking about.....
- Depraved Bisexual: And how.
- Fan Disservice: "I've wanted to do this since we were kids..."
- Flash Step: When in a very bad place (like the climax of White Night), she shows she's capable of this.
- Friendly Enemy
- Lesser of Two Evils: Usually the reason Harry teams up with her.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Much more ruthless then Thomas or Harry and willing to end threats to her power in very brutal ways.
- Indeed, Harry wonders if helping her seize control of her House through her puppet-father made the White Court even deadlier than it was under the previous administration.
- Pet the Dog: She really cares about her family, and looks out for Justine when Thomas can't.
- The Plan and Gambit Roulette: She's White Court. It's what she does. And she's good at what she does.
- Pragmatic Villainy: She's a lot nicer to have as an enemy than her father was, but she's ultimately much more dangerous.
- Royal Rapier: Is seen using one in Blood Rites and Turn Coat,with the Blood Rites version carrying rubies in the shape of rose on the hilt.
- Shiny Midnight Black: Lara's hair is described as this in Harry's first encounter with her.
- Stupidity-Inducing Attack:Lara uses this to turn Lord Raith into her weak willed puppet,using the same methods he used against her and her sisters.
- The Vamp
- Verbal Tic: When speaking affectionately to others, she'll sometimes call them "(title) mine" i.e. calling Harry "wizard mine" or Thomas "brother mine."
- Weapon of Choice: Is normally described as wielding what Harry calls a "wavy-bladed sword" (probably a kris or kalis), or occasionally a rapier accompanied with some type of pistol.
Madrigal Raith
One of Thomas and Lara's cousins, Madrigal prefers to feed off fear instead of lust. He masquerades as the horror movie director Darby Crane, and has aspirations to join the Circle/Black Council. Harry first meets him in Proven Guilty, when he tries to sell Harry to his enemies on Ebay.
- Affably Evil: Less so than Lara or Papa Raith, but he can be charming, when he tries. That happens rarely, however; he prefers to simply use his vampire mojo.
- Anti-Magic: He has a pair of enchanted gauntlets that shed magic quite easily. Doesn't hold a candle to Luccio's work on the silver swords of the Wardens.
- Dirty Coward: Bolts when the Scarecrow shows up after he kidnaps Harry, and later on he tries to back out of the Duel to the Death in the Deeps when Harry and Ramirez show up.
- Emotion Eater: Prefers fear, saying it is more satisfying than lust.
- Red Herring: In Proven Guilty, Madrigal was meant to take the blame for the phage attacks on the convention.
- Weapon of Choice: Prefers to use a long spear.
Madeline Raith
Twin sister to Madrigal and cousin of Thomas and Lara. Vapid and not particularly bright, Madeline has little restraint and aggressive appetites. Also an agent of the Black Council.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Mentioned in passing a couple of times in Blood Rites, along with Madrigal. In White Night, it's mentioned that she is responsible for the one injured thrall on the path to the Raith Deeps. Harry doesn't meet her until Turn Coat.
- Emotion Eater: Lust. She takes great pleasure in it.
- Out with a Bang: Lara drains her dry.
- Rich Bitch
- Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: Binder has to explain to her that Harry can't afford to flee town.
- Vampires Own Nightclubs: She appears at the Raith-owned club 'Zero' to harass Thomas and Harry.
Felicia Raith
A member of the White Court acting as the contact between Murphy's group and the Court. She tries to get the two Swords in Murphy's possession and gets thoroughly rebuffed.
Vittorio Malvora
A scion of House Malvora, a White Court noble house that favors feeding off fear. Is part of a plot to kill a number of women with magical talent in an effort to set up a coup against the White King. In addition, a member of the Black Council.
- Axe Crazy: Hides it under a controlled and civilized veneer, but when he summons his army of uber-ghouls, he goes berserk.
- Emotion Eater: Favors fear.
- Emotion Bomb: Can create what's essentially a physic bullet combing fear,lust and despair, that required Lash's intervention,to stop it.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Or at least, he eats the flesh of other White Court vamps with equal aplomb as his ghoul minions.
- As the text only says he "feeds" without further specifics, he may have been dining on their fear while the super-ghouls ate them alive.
- Knife Nut: Specializes in throwing knives. While Harry points out that throwing knives are not terribly great for humans, a being with as much natural strength as Vittorio can chuck them at hundreds of miles per hour.
- Super Speed: Apparently outclasses both Lara and Thomas in this department.
- Quick Draw: For both guns and blades
Inari Raith
The baby sister of Lara and Thomas and the apple of Lord Raith's eye,who's been kept in the dark about her heritage. Luckily she falls in love before becoming a full White Court Vamp.
- Allergic to Love: Briefly as her powers hadn't kicked in yet.
- Cool Big Sis: Sees Lara as this and Lara feels the same way.
- Dhampyr: Same as with the rest of the Raiths,though her abilities kicked in during her twenties.
- Daddy's Girl: She seems to adore her father and he seems to be protective of her, though that may only have been becuase she hadn't developed her powers yet and he hadn't needed to establish "dominance".
- It Got Worse: It's impossible not to feel bad for the poor girl,as she gets attacked by Black Court Vamps and gets her arm broken,unconsciously tries feed off Harry and gets burned,shot at by her father's guards and find out her family is made of emotional vampires who've intentionally kept her in the dark her whole life.
- Youngest Child Wins: Luckily she gets a chance to walk away from all of it.