Mercy Thompson/Characters

Mercedes Thompson
The protagonist and narrator of the main series. Mercy is a walker - a Native American shapeshifter. She can turn into a coyote at will, and has a few other abilities, such as enhanced senses even in human form.
 * Action Girl
 * A Degree in Useless: Has a degree in history...which she does not use.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played with. Mercy isn't particularly attracted to dangerous men, but she finds it adds to Adam's appeal.
 * Bad Liar: But a decent rules lawyer, thanks to growing up around a bunch of werewolves who can smell lies.
 * Berserk Button: Doesn't really have one, but she is one for a bunch of people - Adam, Samuel, Bran, Zee, and Stefan. Hurt her, and you will soon meet a messy and painful death.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: The number of people who have underestimated Mercy and lived to tell the tale is a very, very short list.
 * Chaotic Good
 * Combat Pragmatist: When you fight above your weight class as often as she does…
 * Companion Cube: Acquires a fae-crafted walking stick that follows her around like a puppy and shows up at opportune times.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Especially to werewolves and people who give her orders.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu: Has a tendency to dramatically shorten the life expectancies of very powerful, very old monsters.
 * Determinator
 * Human Mom Nonhuman Dad:
 * Indy Ploy: Favors these, though she does know how to plan.
 * I See Dead People
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Occasionally plays this card on the villains, doesn't usually bother with people she knows and likes.
 * Odd Couple: With Adam. She's the messy, carefree, rules-bending one.
 * Raised By Wolves: Well. Werewolves, anyway.
 * Rebellious Spirit: Might be a side effect of being the daughter of
 * Secret Legacy:
 * She Cleans Up Nicely
 * Single Woman Seeks Good Man
 * Those Wily Coyotes: Turns into a coyote, of course.
 * Useless Superpowers: Not exactly, but her magic resistance never seems to kick in on the really dangerous stuff, and compared to the werewolves she lives around, shifting into a normal coyote isn't exactly jaw-dropping.
 * Wicked Stepmother: Averted. Jesse loves Mercy.
 * Will They or Won't They: With Adam.
 * Wrench Wench: Fixes cars for a living.
 * Wrench Wench: Fixes cars for a living.

Adam Hauptmann
Mercy's neighbor and Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. There is romantic tension between the two over the first three books. He became a werewolf during the Vietnam War, and now runs a private security firm.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Successfully defended his position while suffering from unhealed third-degree burns on his feet and hands.
 * Badass in A Nice Suit: Frequently, because of his job.
 * Berserk Button: Has several, specifically Mercy and his daughter Jesse. Do not punch them.
 * Big Badass Wolf
 * Compelling Voice: Comes with being an Alpha.
 * Control Freak: Comes part and parcel with being an Alpha werewolf.
 * Doting Parent: He really does love his daughter more than life itself.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck: Grew up in the 50's, and does not appreciate swearing. From him, profanity is always a Precision F Strike.
 * Hair Trigger Temper: Notoriously, especially where his family or pack is concerned. It took half the pack to keep him from killing some kids who bullied Jesse.
 * Hollywood Atheist: Averted. Much like Richard B. Riddick, he absolutely believes in God…and absolutely hates him for some of the things he's been through.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Has accepted his werewolf nature…but still considers himself a monster. Mercy disagrees.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Especially in early books. He's not above punching Mercy's buttons to get the reaction he wants.
 * Neat Freak: To the point where Mercy used to yank his chain by taking tires off the parts car in her backyard.
 * Odd Couple: With Mercy. He's the control-freak, neat-freak member of the pair.
 * Overprotective Dad: He's working on it. Slowly. Very slowly.
 * Papa Wolf: Literally.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Did we mention that getting him angry is semi-suicidal?
 * Last Guy Wins : He's the second guy for Mercy, Sam is the first.
 * Last Guy Wins : He's the second guy for Mercy, Sam is the first.

Jessica "Jesse" Hauptman
Adam's daughter and one of Mercy's best friends. Regularly seen with hair colors that shouldn't occur in real life thanks to her fondness for hair dye.
 * Badass Adorable: Let's just say she's got her father's backbone, to the point where she was willing to walk into a Faery Queen's home to help save her boyfriend.
 * Daddys Girl
 * Human Mom Nonhuman Dad
 * Little Miss Snarker: Especially around Mercy.
 * Plucky Girl
 * The Pollyanna

Samuel Cornick
The Marrok's son and the pack doctor. He and Mercy were once an item, when Mercy was a teenager. He's the other third of the love triangle between her and Adam, and becomes her roommate. He's also much older than he appears.
 * Deadly Doctor: He prefers saving life to taking it. Doesn't mean he's not very good at taking it.
 * Driven to Suicide: Not quite, thanks to Mercy and Adam. But way too close for comfort.
 * I Have Many Names: Samuel Branson, Samuel Marrokson, Samuel Avenger, Samuel Whitewolf…
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Older Than They Look: He's nearly as old as his father…who is very old indeed.
 * Walk the Earth: Did this for a time, while pining for
 * Who Wants to Live Forever: Suffers from this up until

Darryl
Adam's second, with a day job as a professor at the local college.
 * Ambiguously Brown: His parents are African-American and Chinese respectively. Mercy labels him as "exotic."
 * Genius Bruiser: Has a Ph.D in Chemistry, teaches at the local college, and is one of the people in the pack that nobody wants to piss off.
 * Happily Married
 * Not That Kind of Doctor
 * Real Men Cook: Breakfasts cooked by Darryl are considered a pack treat. He fresh-squeezes his own orange juice, and gets very testy if you say you don't like it.

Ben
A refugee from a British pack, who left after being accused of a string of brutal rapes. Initially something of a creepy misogynist, he mellows out a little under Adam and Mercy's care and prodding. Also serves as the pack's tech expert.
 * Country Matters: One of his favorite profanities, at first, until Adam makes him shut his mouth.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * He Man Woman Hater: Is initially extremely hostile to Mercy, including sexist profanity. Over the course of the books, he's toned it way down, and become one of Mercy's friends…but she still wouldn't trust him alone with her sisters.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Ben may be woman-hating, crude, and snarky…but he's thrown himself in front of bullets for Adam, and risked death and humiliation  He's also run into fire—literally—to try and save Mercy.
 * Rape As Backstory: Was accused of a series of rapes back in England that stopped when he left, but Adam vouches for the fact that he didn't do it.

Warren
Adam's third, one of Mercy's best friends, and former lone wolf until Adam took him under his wing and into his pack. One of the few gay werewolves alive, due to the nasty combination of prejudice with wolf instincts. Currently in a relationship with divorce lawyer Kyle.
 * Badass Gay
 * Beware the Nice Ones: He may very well be the nicest werewolf in the books outside of Anna. But don't mistake that for weakness…
 * Cold Blooded Torture Suffers this in Blood Bound, to the point where he looks more like meat than a person. He gets better.
 * Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Likes to play up the "dumb cowboy" angle…and survived over a hundred years of violent discrimination through sheer toughness and badassery.
 * Gay Cowboy: Very literally.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Adam, oddly enough.
 * Knight in a Shining Cowboy Hat: Mercy's first interaction with him is watching him help a battered wife escape from her husband…then using his werewolf nature to scare the ever-loving shit out of said abuser.
 * Manly Gay: Oh so very much.
 * Straight Gay: This too.
 * Team Dad

Stefan
Probably the least evil vampire around (vampires are always evil), and a friend of Mercy's. Has a van painted like Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine. A major character in Blood Bound and one of Mercy's only nearly normal friends.
 * Iron Woobie
 * Cold Blooded Torture: Suffers this at the hands of his seethe's Mistress, in order to test his loyalty.
 * The Fettered
 * Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Tries very hard to be this, complete with a van painted as the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.
 * Older Than They Look

Siebold "Zee" Adelbertsmiter
Some sort of German fae who has metalworking magic. Calls himself a gremlin, though he is older than the term. Taught Mercy most of what she knows about cars, then sold her his shop. Comes in and runs it for her when she has other business.
 * Awesome but Practical: His metalworking powers. Being one of the few fae who can handle cold iron is one hell of an edge.
 * Badass Grandpa: Appears to be an older man when the glamour is on, is very, very old, and has a grown son…and is given a great deal of respect even by the Grey Lords of the fae.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Cool Sword: Well, cool knife, really. It can change sizes and cut through pretty much anything, at the cost of growing hotter with each cut.
 * The Fair Folk
 * Meaningful Name: Well, we're pretty sure he killed Saint Adelbert, so...
 * Shrouded in Myth: Nobody's sure exactly what Zee's done…but it probably involved killing Saint Adelbert, and earning the title "The Dark Smith of Drontheim."
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast

Bran Cornick, aka the Marrok
Leader of all the werewolves in North America. Mercy was raised in his pack. Believed to be slightly psychic. Is something of a father figure to Mercy, including scolding her when she does something stupid.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * The Berserker
 * Big Badass Wolf: The ‘‘king’’ of the big, badass wolves.
 * False Innocence Trick: Loves to stuff all his power and dominance away, only to unleash it when he really needs it.
 * Immortal Immaturity: Averted. While he may look like a twenty-year-old, and pretend to act like one when it suits him, no one would knowingly accuse him of being less than mature.
 * Living Legend: Well, he did serve as the basis for Grendel...
 * Manipulative Bastard: In spades. Often crosses over with The Chessmaster.
 * Mysterious Past: Largely. We do know that he knew the real King Arthur, and inspired the character of Grendel in Beowulf.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast
 * Papa Wolf: As much so, if not more than Adam
 * Older Than They Look: Crossing over with Really Seven Hundred Years Old. Bran looks like he's a college student. In reality, nobody knows how old he is, even his sons…but they know he's old enough to know King Arthur.
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When he's feeling a particularly intense emotion, his accent tends to slip back to his native Welsh.
 * Unstoppable Rage: To the point where even fae lords are afraid of pissing him off.

Charles Cornick
Sam's brother and Bran's younger son. Native American, born to a magical mother  and thus has inherited some of her abilities. He's the also the Marrok’s accountant, second-in-command, and preferred hitman.
 * Beneath the Mask: With the mask on, he's a stone-cold killer who answers to no one but the Marrok. Under it, he's a talented musician and loving husband who deeply regrets the lives he has to take for the good of the packs.
 * Big Badass Wolf: He’s the wolf that gets sent to kill the wolves that go bad. You better believe he’s badass.
 * Cruel to Be Kind: Runs into this frequently. He's the one that the Marrok sends to hunt down and kill disobedient or out-of-control wolves…in order to save the packs and the mortal world from the dangers of an unrestrained werewolf.
 * The Dragon: For the Marrok.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: Two, from his grandfather: "He Who Must Run Into Trees" and "Running Eagle."
 * Genius Bruiser: When he's not out playing hit man, he's also his father's accountant and computer expert.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Have we mentioned that he's his father's enforcer? But the alternative is almost always much, much worse.
 * Happily Married
 * Hates Being Touched: Unless you're Anna. Then he can't get enough.
 * I Am What I Am: Eventually comes to terms with the fact that while he is a killer, he is also justice, and necessary for the wolf packs to function.
 * Insecure Love Interest: Worries constantly about whether or not his job makes him an unsuitable mate for Anna.
 * Lawful Good: By the laws of the Marrok, anyway.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Considered to be the fastest, toughest, and most skilled of all the wolves in combat, save maybe the Marrok.
 * Love At First Sight: With Anna, sort of. His wolf chose her instantly, and it didn't take the man long to follow.
 * Scarily Competent Tracker: It's implied that it's almost impossible to evade Charles when he's on the hunt.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: Subverted. While Samuel looks much Welsh like his father, Charles takes after his Native American mother.
 * The Stoic: Averted with Anna, who gets to see the much softer side under the hit-man mask. Played straight with pretty much everyone else; it's probably a bad idea for the Marrok's hatchet man to be anything else.
 * Zero Approval Gambit: Is willing to be near-universally feared and hated by other wolves in order to make his job as his father's hatchet man easier.

Anna Latham
Omega wolf who was set up to be turned by the local pack leader after his mate went Ax Crazy and killed all his group's female werewolves, needed someone to calm them down. She was abused for three years in the pack and was told very little, until Charles stepped in. Their inner wolves hit it off and they mated, and Anna moved to Montana.
 * Apologises a Lot: At first, due to her Rape As Drama backstory and Omega nature. Slowly gets better over the course of the books.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Let's put it this way—just because she's a genuinely good person and an Omega to boot, doesn't mean that she's not dangerous.
 * Compelling Voice: Borrowed from Charles.
 * Happily Married
 * The Heart
 * Killer Rabbit: Oh yes. Cute, gentle Anna…who is still very much a werewolf.
 * Morality Pet: Comes with being an Omega to a degree, but she definitely is one for Charles and Bran.
 * Silk Hiding Steel: On the surface, she's a slightly-underfed, sweet-natured girl completely overshadowed by her extremely intimidating husband. Dig a little deeper, and you find someone who  and regularly stands up to the Marrok at his angriest.
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway: Omegas are peacemakers, which sounds ridiculous in a werewolf…until you realize that she increases life expectancies just by being around, can calm full-on berserker rages, and doesn't have to obey orders.
 * The Woobie: Especially at first, when she's freshly brutalized by her first Alpha. By the third Alpha and Omega book, however, the trait is nearly gone.

Asil, A.K.A "The Moor"
An extremely old and dominant wolf living in Bran's pack. Originally wanted there because he wanted Bran to kill him for being old and crazy, and stayed around after the events of Cry Wolf because he likes yanking Charles' chain. Sometimes serves as a mentor to Charles, as his (deceased) mate was also an Omega.
 * The Atoner: Feels a great deal of guilt for having been traveling when his mate was killed.
 * Cynical Mentor: To Charles and Anna, sometimes, combined with Trickster Mentor.
 * Death Seeker: Originally. Anna helps him get better, by
 * I Kiss Your Hand: Does it to Anna, to yank Charles' chain. Gets much, much more than he bargained for.
 * Immortal Immaturity: Subverted. He acts like a crazy brat at first, but it's just a ploy to get Bran to kill him.
 * Living Legend: Let's put it this way: When Anna tells other werewolves that she knows Asil, the typical reaction is something along the lines of "The Moor? That Moor?"
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast
 * Older Than They Look: Like most very old werewolves. He's not quite as old as Bran, though.