Tortall Universe/Characters

More information back here.

Watch out for spoilers.

First appearing in Song of the Lioness
Alanna of Trebond (and Olau)
 * Absurdly Sharp Blade - Lightning
 * Abusive Parents - Her father neglected her and Thom after his wife had died giving birth to the twins.
 * Action Girl - Later upgraded to Action Mom.
 * Animal Talk - With Faithful
 * Asskicking Equals Authority - As the wife of a baron and a regular knight she's relatively low in the noble hierarchy (although the Trebond family is very old and noble.) As the King's Champion of Tortall, she speaks with the authority of the crown when neither the king nor queen is near.
 * Better As Friends - . They both marry other people.
 * Bling of War - She has gold-washed mail picked out with amethysts for fancy occasions, but she can fight in it if she has to.
 * Bully Hunter - Alanna is small and weak but she learns the skill to make Ralon leave her alone for good.
 * The Champion -"King's Champion" is the position given to the best knight in the realm. Post-Lioness Rampant, Alanna has held this position as Tortall's first female Champion.
 * Combat Medic - In In The Hand Of The Goddess
 * Cool Horse - Moonlight, then later Darkmoon.
 * Cosmic Plaything - For the Mother Goddess. She doesn't mind as the missions are for Tortall's good.
 * Custom Heraldry - A lioness rampant on a red field.
 * Fiery Redhead - She has flaming red hair, a wicked temper and, strangely, Purple Eyes.
 * God Was My Co Pilot
 * Happily Adopted - Myles adopted her in the third book.
 * Happily Married - With  and their daughter sees them as Sickeningly Sweethearts
 * Heroes Want Redheads - Alanna, being a hero herself, was romantically pursued by the three greatest heroes in the story, namely, her Warrior Prince (Jonathan), The King of Thieves (George) and The Shang Dragon (Liam).
 * Hot Mom
 * I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship - She even says this to George.
 * Knight in Shining Armor - Seen best when Alana and her apprentices have to defend the Bloody Hawk tribe from being attacked.
 * Knight Errant - Alanna starts in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man to escape court and find adventure.
 * Lady of War
 * Magic Knight - Though she fears her magical abilitys in the beginning.
 * The Magnificent - Lioness
 * Mighty Whitey - She becomes a respected shaman to the Bloody Hawk Tribe in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man.
 * Never Mess With Granny - As of the end of Daughter of the Lioness.
 * One of the Boys - Considering that she spent the better part of a decade posing as a boy this was perhaps inevitable, and even once the cat's out of the bag she still has many masculine and aggressive mannerisms. It could also be that these traits actually helped her maintain the illusion for as long as she did.
 * Parental Abandonment - Her mother died giving birth to her and her father went into a deep depression as a result, neglecting his children until he sent them away when they were ten.
 * Parental Substitute - Myles looked after her during her training years and they become close friends. He would eventually adopt Alanna.
 * Redheaded Heroine
 * Self Proclaimed Knight - In the first half she pretends to be a boy so that she can train for knighthood.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely - In Lioness Rampant. Jon doesn't recognize her in a dress.
 * Snarky Non Human Sidekick - Faithful.
 * Sweet Polly Oliver - As a ten-year old she starts dressing as a boy in order to train for knighthood.
 * Throwing Down the Gauntlet - Alanna was actually forbidden by Jon to challenge men to duels on personal grounds, simply because if she kept doing so every time she was insulted, Tortall's population would drop. Rapidly.
 * You Kill It You Bought It - Killed a bazhir shaman and so has to replace him.
 * You Say Girl Like a Bad Thing - The Shang Dragon found it distasteful when he saw The Lioness in a dress.
 * The Paragon - In The Woman Who Rides Like a Man according to Bazhir law she must be the tribe's shaman until she trains a new one to replace her or someone kills her and takes her place so Alanna selects three Gifted children of the tribe, Ishak, Kara, and Kourrem, and begins to train them in magic.

Thom of Trebond
 * Break the Haughty
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me
 * Ineffectual Loner
 * Lonely At the Top
 * Obfuscating Stupidity
 * Parental Abandonment - His mother died giving birth to him and his father went into a deep depression as a result, neglecting his children until he sent them away when they were ten.
 * Squishy Wizard - He was glad to not have to learn how to be a knight as he'd be completely unfit for it.
 * What the Hell Hero - He's called out on his shenanigans multiple times. It never seems to stick.
 * Word of Gay - In the original draft of the story, it was to be explicitly stated that he was in a relationship with, but when the story was re-marketed as a Young Adult title Pierce was forced to remove this, though there's still subtext if you squint.

George Cooper
 * Gentleman Thief
 * Heroes Want Redheads - He romantically pursued Alanna.
 * Knife Nut
 * Loveable Rogue
 * The Spymaster
 * The Spymaster

Jonathan of Conté
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning
 * The Beautiful Elite
 * Better As Friends - with
 * Big Brother Instinct - When he found out that the new page "Alan" was being bullied, he was quick to help out "him" and was severe against the one who bullied her.
 * Blue Eyes
 * A Man Is Not a Virgin
 * Mighty Whitey - He becomes the Voice of the People to the Bazhir Tribesmen in The Woman Who Rides Like A Man.
 * Prince Charming - Ultimately subverted with Alanna, but played very straight with almost every other female.
 * Prince Incognito
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Tall Dark and Handsome
 * The Good King - He wanted to be this since the beginning as at the end of the first book he says that people will think twice before they take on a prince-or a king-who can defeat demonds.
 * The Wise Prince - Seen best in The Woman Who Rides Like a Man when he becomes the Voice Of The People.
 * Warrior Prince - After he becomes a knight and Tortall goes to war in In the Hand of the Goddess.

Gareth of Naxen
 * Big Brother Instinct - Towards Alanna when she first started her training.
 * The Good Chancellor
 * Honorary Uncle - To Alanna and George's kids.
 * The Smart Guy

Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak
 * The Alcoholic - strongly implied to be the case when he was a young man, but by Squire he no longer drinks.
 * Ascended Extra - In Squire he becomes Kel's mentor and one of the most important characters in the book.
 * Badass Army - The King's Own
 * Big Brother Instinct - Towards Alanna. When he found out that Ralon was bullying and hurting her, he gave Ralon his own beatings in retiliation.
 * The Big Guy
 * A Father to His Men
 * Four Star Badass
 * Honorary Uncle - To Alanna and George's kids.
 * Huge Guy Tiny Girl - With Buri.
 * Knight in Shining Armor
 * Large and In Charge
 * The Magnificent/Names to Run Away From Really Fast - Giantkiller
 * Nice Guy: Kel considers him one of the nicest people she knows, second only to her father.
 * One Man Army - Takes down a giant all by himself.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure - For Kel

Miles of Olau
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Cool Teacher
 * December December Romance - With Eleni Cooper. They become Happily Married.
 * Parental Substitute - To Alanna. He eventually makes it official, becoming a case of Happily Adopted.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * The Spymaster

Duke Roger of Conté "As for later, I don’t think of him as evil so much as I think of him as apocalyptically crazy., and even when he was, he felt his people could have made it happen sooner. He decided to punish everyone involved in his trial  and if the world was destroyed with them, he really didn’t care. Like I said, nuts. He was always self-centered. This just took it to the extreme. He’d have to acknowledge his wants and desires were evil, and he never did."
 * Affably Evil
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Big Bad
 * The Chessmaster
 * Devil in Plain Sight
 * Evil Is Stylish
 * Evil Plan - First a subtle usurpation by bumbing off those ahead of them. This covers the first half of the quartet. Then in the final book he and tried to destroy the place instead.
 * Evil Sorcerer
 * Evil Uncle
 * Genre Savvy
 * Nay Theist - He believes in the gods, but he doesn't like them. The feeling is mutual.
 * Obviously Evil
 * Tall Dark and Handsome
 * Word of God - Tammy has something to say about his Start of Darkness and what happened later.
 * Word of God - Tammy has something to say about his Start of Darkness and what happened later.

Liam Ironarm, the Shang Dragon
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
 * The Magnificent/Names to Run Away From Really Fast - The Shang Dragon.
 * One Last Fling - Liam is Alanna's
 * One Man Army
 * Real Men Get Shot
 * Technicolor Eyes
 * Warrior Monk - Kinda sorta.
 * Why Did It Have To Be Magic
 * Why Did It Have To Be Magic

Thayet jian Wilima
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Lady of War
 * The Magnificent - Thayet the Peerless.
 * Modest Royalty
 * Pimped Out Dress - In one notable story Thayet utterly ruined a very expensive pink tissue dress when she went to the aid of the Queen's Riders in the middle of a dinner party. She didn't consider it a loss.
 * Raven Hair Ivory Skin - Which disappointed Alana because cute was the best she could hope for.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something - And how. Not only does she found the Queen's riders, she's its first leader.
 * Silk Hiding Steel - A model court lady who could insult and frustrate her would-be suitor (and future husband) John while remaining imbeccably polite. she's also the founder of the Queen's Riders, a branch of Tortall's military.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl - Thayet's the girly-girl, Buri's the tomboy.
 * Princess in Rags - Thayet is a runaway princess from a country at war.
 * Worlds Most Beautiful Woman - Hailed as the "most beautiful woman in the world."
 * Badass Princess - She was first seen holding a crossbow like she knew how to use it.
 * Badass Princess - She was first seen holding a crossbow like she knew how to use it.

Buriram Tourakom 
 * Action Girl - Upgraded to Lady of War after she marries Raoul.
 * Battle Butler - Thayet's.
 * Badass Army - The Queen's Riders.
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty
 * Huge Guy Tiny Girl - With Raoul.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl - Thayet's the girly-girl, Buri's the tomboy.

First appearing in The Immortals
Veralidaine "Daine" Sarrasri 
 * Animal Talk - Played with: Daine can talk to all animals because of her magic, and all the animals could talk to each other with relative ease, but it is implied that each species has its own distinct dialect.
 * - An unusual subversion example: The gods offer a choice between this and remaining human, but Daine chooses the latter.
 * The Archer - One skills that kept her alive before she learned how to master her magic.
 * The Beast Master - One aspect of her wild magic involves this ability, but Daine is something of an aversion in that it's the power she least likes to call on, and more often than not only does so to keep animals out of the fighting.
 * Berserk Button - Whatever you do, just... don't try to kill Numair. It's for your own health, really.
 * Beware the Nice Ones - And how! Besides this being part of her back story when she was literally Raised By Wolves, just look what she does if she 'loses her temper.'
 * Big No -
 * Carnivore Confusion - Because of her Voluntary Shapeshifting, Daine knows what it's like for game animals to be hunted and killed, which turns her off from eating them as a human. Before she started to learn about her magic, she grew up eating meat like anybody else, and continued to hunt and eat meat for a long time after discovering it — she says at one point that she doesn't see why this would surprise anybody, since animals kill and eat each other all the time, and it's not as if she kills for sport or uses her magic to lure prey towards her. This changes, however, after a bad experience or two when she herself is pursued in animal form by hunters — game meat becomes Nausea Fuel for her, and she can't stand to eat it anymore, having felt what the animal went through. She doesn't object to it in principle or try to stop other people; she just literally can't stomach it herself. It's mentioned that she gets by okay with domesticated meat by never bonding mentally with any farm animals, and how she feels about fish or insects isn't mentioned.
 * Cosmic Plaything - In Emperor Mage only, thanks to a Carthaki goddess named the Graveyard Hag claiming her as her 'vessel.' Otherwise, Daine is entirely her own woman.
 * Friend to All Living Things - Justified: Daine's magic allows her to communicate with animals, i.e. explain to them that she isn't a cold-blooded killer, heal them, and animals gravitate to her because of this.
 * Full Frontal Assault -
 * Heroic Bastard -.
 * According to Word of God, it's also what
 * Hot for Teacher - Guess who.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills - Lands a fatal hit on a fast-moving spidren in the dark--even Alanna is impressed. Later explicitly named as part of her magical ability,
 * Just Friends - See Numair's entry below.
 * The Magnificent - The Wildmage.
 * Merlin and Nimue - The magic, age difference, and sexual tension are present, but not the betrayal.
 * Nature Heroine
 * The Nicknamer
 * Not Good With People - Type 1.
 * Odd Friendship - With Rikash
 * Raised By Wolves - Literally, but only for a little while after her mother died.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge - At the end of Emperor Mage, when she thought a certain friend of hers had been executed. Sadly, the person her revenge was supposed to be directed at - the executor - turned into a Stormwing, and his innocent nephew had to pay the damages.
 * Semi Divine - She's the daughter of a minor god (of the hunt) and a mortal woman (who becomes a minor goddess when she dies).
 * She Cleans Up Nicely
 * Student and Master Team
 * Understatement - Emperor Mage, chapter nine: "Daine Loses Her Temper."
 * Unstoppable Rage - The aforementioned explosion.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting - She can take on the form of pretty much any vertebrate.
 * Wild Child - For a little while.
 * Wild Child - For a little while.

Numair Salmalin 
 * The Ace
 * Ace Lightning Syndrome
 * The Archmage
 * Awesome McCoolname - Which he picked out himself since Arram Draper is too plain. Of course, it also had to do with being on the run from his former friend, who was trying to kill him. Word Of God cites the reason for his choice as being because "geeky old Arram Draper would want a majorly cool mage name to announce to the world he was a mighty black robe, no longer the geek who fell off his horse and forgot to take spells down before he left the room."
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer - The most powerful mage in Tortal is almost the most vain mage in Tortal, and kinda lazy.
 * Cloudcuckoolander - When Tkaa and Numair first met, Tkaa described him as 'unusual,' putting it mildly.
 * Court Mage
 * Does Not Know His Own Strength - Numair recalls lighting his shirt on fire when he tried to dry it with his magic, and Duke Baird mentions to Neal that Numair has to get up to blow out candles; if he uses he Gift, the candle explodes. Also, while he was on hand at Haven in Lady Knight, Numair calls a massive pile of boulders from ten miles away, instead of carrying a few over a couple of miles, as Baird or Neal would have done.
 * Fan Nickname - Numy
 * Genius Ditz
 * Honorary Uncle - To Alanna and George's kids.
 * Hot for Student
 * Just Friends - Numair's situation is a sort of mash-up of the different subtypes: Over the course of time, he falls in love with Daine, but didn't realize ir for a long time, claiming that "she [was his] student, and "laughing it off" (Daine's words) if anyone suggested he was interested in her sexually. At the same time, he began warning anyone who might take an interest in her not to interfere with her, and is very protective of her; as to Daine, she gets jealous of Numair's ex. When Numair finally realizes he's in love with her, he decides not to tell Daine for fear of the reciprocation that would arise over various things.
 * Magic Music - In Lady Knight, to the chagrin of many normal people in the fort.
 * A Man Is Not a Virgin
 * Meaningful Rename
 * Merlin and Nimue
 * Obfuscating Stupidity - In Wolf-speaker
 * Older Sidekick
 * Relationship Ceiling - Inverted, but shown more on Numair's part than Daine's. After nearly ten years of being lovers, Numair seems to be more in love with Daine, not less.
 * Student and Master Team
 * Tall Dark and Handsome
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting - Hawk shape only, although not a true shapeshift, as the hawk shape he takes is too large and black to be a real hawk. He won't try other shapes since the first one already gives him migraines; he needs incredible amounts of power and the ability to control and hang onto it.

Onua Chamtong of the K'miri Raadeh
 * Angry Guard Dog - Tahoi's supposed to be, but most of the time he's just a...
 * Big Friendly Dog
 * Badass Normal - although in Wild Magic Daine can see she has a touch of wild magic herself, and her Gift specializes in hiding things. Compared to Numair and Daine, though, she is quite normal.
 * Domestic Abuse - Her ex-husband abused her and left her in the street to die.
 * Living Lie Detector
 * Nature Heroine

Skysong (Kitten)
 * Happily Adopted
 * Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons
 * Muggle Foster Parents - Considering Kitten's birth parents were dragons, Daine and Numair are definitely muggles in comparison.
 * Only Known By Her Nickname
 * Our Dragons Are Different - If anyone's a Mary Sue in this series, it's Kitten.
 * Pet Baby Wild Animal

Rikash Moonsword
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Embarrassing Last Name - Lampshaded by Daine at one point.
 * Odd Friendship - With Daine.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy

Tristan Staghorn
 * Evil Counterpart - To Numair.
 * Evil Sorcerer
 * Jerkass
 * Muggle Power

Ozorne Muhassin Tasikhe
 * Bad Boss
 * Break the Haughty
 * Deadly Decadent Court
 * The Emperor
 * Evil Is Stylish - Gold and silver filigree on his hair?
 * Evil Sorcerer
 * A God Am I - This is his Evil Plan; to displace the worship of the gods by his citizens with worship of himself. The other gods, most prominently the Graveyard Hag, are not amused.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard
 * Its All About Me
 * I Want Them Alive
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Sorcerous Overlord
 * Villainous Breakdown

Kaddar Ghazanoi Iliniat
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something

Varice Kingsford
 * Hair of Gold
 * The Missus and The Ex - Played with: Daine and Numair aren't in a relationship--they aren't even aware of their feelings yet--but Varice showing up makes things awkward, and Daine gets jealous.

First appearing in Protector of the Small
Keladry of Mindelan
 * Action Girl
 * Badass Normal - The whole point of her character according to Word of God and the final book. She has no powers ''at all' but still kicks ass and leads others.
 * Blade On a Stick - Her preferred weapon.
 * Bully Hunter
 * Buxom Is Better - Inverted, Kel was not happy in the least bit when she started growing breasts.
 * The Chains of Commanding
 * Cosmic Plaything - For the Chamber of the Ordeal. He's the one who named her "Protector of the Small."
 * Cool Horse - Peachblossom
 * Determinator
 * Even Evil Has Standards - Inverted into Even Goodness Has Limits. Kel is just about the only Tortallan who will burn dead enemy soldiers and pray for them instead of leaving them for Stormwings, immortal semihuman scavengers who defile battlefield corpses. But she leaves Blayce the Gallan and the soldiers who guarded him for them.
 * Girls Need Role Models - A justified in-universe example, as Kel is the first girl to openly try for her shield after Alanna. Her success inspires a number of girls who might otherwise not have tried.
 * Good Parents - She has them - in fact, Kel's mother and father are easily the best biological parents Pierce has written to date (and possibly the best parents, full stop). They are exteremly supportive of her dream and are there to help her with others issues like periods.
 * Honor Before Reason - Though, considering that if she hadn't done this an enemy mage would have gone on to make two hundred children into monstrous killing devices, abandoning her post to save them wasn't entirely unreasonable.
 * Huge Schoolgirl - A running gag.
 * Knight in Shining Armor - Her dream is to be this.
 * Lady of War
 * Like Brother and Sister - Kel and Neal.
 * Mama Bear - Despite not actually being a mom she is this for Haven.
 * Parental Substitute - to her sidekick, Tobe, whom she more or less adopts.
 * Maybe Ever After - Hinted that she ends up with Dom at the end of Lady Knight but we never get any actual confirmation of this.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely - Done deliberately to remind everyone she's a girl.
 * The Stoic - She has a "Yamani face"
 * Well Done Son Guy - Out of everyone, Kel wants Wyldon's approval.
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes - With heights.
 * You Say Girl Like a Bad Thing

Lord Wyldon of Cavall
 * Badass Normal
 * Four Star Badass: A general who much prefers fighting at the border and protecting people than living at the capital training kids. Kel realizes this in Lady Knight.
 * Nice to The Waiter
 * Old Soldier
 * Pet the Dog - One of the first clues that Wyldon isn't that bad a guy is his kindness toward Kel's technically disallowed terrier mix Jump. Later on it's revealed that he actually breeds hunting dogs, and that Cavall produces some of the finest in Tortall.
 * Real Men Get Shot - Wyldon is a firm believer that suffering makes you a real man. Unless it's absolutely necessary to survive or stay in the field, he won't accept a magic healing.
 * Happily Married - To Lady Vivenne, via Word of God.
 * In Series Nickname: Neal refers to him as 'The Stump' because he's stocky and stubborn.
 * Stay in The Kitchen - His attitude at first, though it gradually changes as Kel proves herself more worthy than most men.
 * Stern Teacher: To pages. He's famous among them for his rule that if a page is late to the year-end ceremony, even if its just a minute, they have to repeat the entire four years of page trainning. His reason is "Tardiness in knights causes fatalities."
 * What Could Have Been - Originally he was slated to be an outright villain.

Nealan "Neal" of Queenscove
 * Combat Medic - He's a knight and a healer.
 * Deadpan Snarker - Kel is his favorite target though The Stump (Wyldon) had the first honor.
 * Embarrassing Nickname - His family calls him "meathead."
 * The Lancer - To Kel. He's comical and snarky and doesn't take anything seriously.
 * In Love With Love - Discussed by his friends after seeing him fall in love time after time with the same type of women.
 * The Medic
 * The Snark Knight
 * Like Brother and Sister - Kel and Neal.
 * Weak but Skilled - Compared to mages like Numair, he and his father don't have a lot of power; they can, however, use it with much more precision.

Joren of Stone Mountain
 * Jerkass - Oh, so much.
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon - Or at least, that's how he sees it.
 * White Haired Pretty Boy
 * White Haired Pretty Boy

Lalasa
 * Does Not Like Men - And with good reason.
 * Scullery Maid - Started this way before becoming Kel's personal maid.
 * Shrinking Violet - Starts out as one
 * Word of Gay - Though with plenty of subtext.
 * Took a Level In Badass - Not a major level, but as she served under Kel she became more confident, and on one occasion held off a squire - a "strong, brawny fighter". In Squire, Kel is told that she teaches the self-defense Kel taught her to other girls in the city.

Domitan of Masbolle
 * Badass Normal
 * Blue Eyes
 * Bow and Sword In Accord - he primarily uses the sword, but is more than capable with a bow as well.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Lancer - to Raoul in a similar vain to Neal/Kel.
 * Maybe Ever After - Implied with Kel at the end of Lady Knight.
 * Non Idle Rich - Member of the noble house of Masbolle (related to Queenscove, Neal's family) but serves in the King's Own.
 * Officer and A Gentleman
 * Sergeant Badass - he's a squad leader (one rank below commander of the Company) who can and will take you to school.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension - with Kel
 * Up to Eleven: Kel had a small schoolgirl crush on Neal early on. Then she met his cousin who is actually described (more or less) as "Neal but better." That was the end of the first crush.

First appearing in Daughter of the Lioness
Alianne "Aly" of Pirate's Swoop
 * Anti Hero - Aly is a bit of a Jerkass. She starts the series as a spoiled rich girl who views war and spy work as fun. She enjoys stringing boys along. She gets better, though she still retains some Jerkass traits. See Magnificent Bitch.
 * Cosmic Plaything: For Kyprioth who engineered her abduction and enslavement. Unlike the rest of her family, she gives him as much grief as he does her.
 * Dead Guy Junior - Both herself and her kids, in roundabout ways.
 * Guile Hero: Unlike her mom, she's not much good in a fight. Her speciality is manipulations and plans.
 * Interspecies Romance: With Nawat the crow-man.
 * Knife Nut
 * Not in This For Your Revolution - She wasn't at first.
 * The Spymaster
 * Spy Glasses - Aly's Sight basically serves this purpose.
 * Teen Superspy

Kyprioth
 * Physical God
 * Obfuscating Stupidity - Krypioth has two sides: silly prankster and extremely bitter exiled king. Aly finds the latter unnerving.
 * What Measure is a NonGod - It's pointed out several times in the series that he sees humans, Aly included, as pets at best and pawns at worst.
 * Trickster Archetype - Proudly calls himself the trickster, ahead of all the others in the Tortallverse.
 * Big Good - At least to the raka.

Nawat
 * Dogged Nice Guy: He was after Aly early in book 1. She didn't reciporcate until book 2.
 * The Face: The Crows are a Cast Herd. They communicate with Aly primarily through him because, unlike them, he likes humans. He becomes their official spokesman in book 2.
 * Interspecies Romance
 * Raised By Crows: Justified because he is one and gets along pretty well with humans.
 * Single Target Sexuality - Alysexual
 * To Be Lawful or Good -

Sarai Balitang
 * Lady of War
 * Rebellious Princess - Well, rebellious duke's daughter, anyway.
 * Silk Hiding Steel - the most popular belle in the Copper Isles. One time she talked down a poorly planned noble revolt while making it seem like she was only interested in a date for the Summer Send ball. Also she's no slouch with a sword.

Dovasary Balitang
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Bookworm

The Rittevons
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: Excluding Dunevon, who's too young to be evil yet.
 * The Caligula: By the time King Oron died, he was showing signs of this.
 * A Child Shall Lead Them: Dunevon, the five-year-old king who succeeds his brother Hazarin.
 * Deadly Decadent Court
 * Incest Is Relative: Imajane and Rubinyan offer a marriage contract with Dunevon to Sarai . They didn't expect her to accept.
 * Puppet King: Poor.
 * Royally Screwed Up: Insanity sort of runs in the family.
 * Royal Mess

First appearing in Provost's Dog
Rebakah "Beka" Cooper
 * Always Gets Her Man
 * Animal Talk: Pounce, the pigeons
 * Berserk Button: Don't criticise Dogs or Lord Gershom. And don't hurt Pounce or Achoo.
 * Dating Catwoman: Her UST with Rosto.
 * Determinator
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Complete with a Death Glare. Her eyes are pale blue. When she gets pissed people say she has spooky Ghost Eyes.
 * Knife Nut: The Baton is seemingly her go to weapon. But try and count how many knives she carries hidden on her person. Clearly, favoring easily concealed, sharp, pointy things is a Cooper family trait.
 * My Girl Is Not a Slut: Subverted, as while she's not exactly promiscuous, she has been around the block a few times. No one really seems to care, though.
 * Shrinking Violet: She's incredibly shy and finds it nearly impossible to talk to people she doesn't know. It tends to go away when she's in uniform or on Dog business, though.
 * She Fights Crime

Tansy Lofts


 * Absurdly Youthful Mother: Is only 3 years older than Beka, but got married and had her first child around age 16. Truth in Television for the Real Life Dark Ages and Medieval periods of history.

Erskin Westover


 * Beware the Nice Ones: For all that he's a sweetheart, Erskin is a very good Dog.
 * Nice Guy

Clara "Clary" Goodwin


 * The Atoner: Was a "loose dog" at one point but came to her senses.
 * Character Tics: Paces around when thinking.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: It takes her a bit to warm up to Beka. Pounce helps.
 * Happily Married: Though it's noted that she and her husband Tom "had difficulties" at one point and she spent some time in Port Caynn, though she never actually cheated on him and just used the image that she was as part of her cover.

Matthias "Mattes" Tunstall


 * Beware the Nice Ones: As easy-going as he is, he didn't survive to be a Senior Dog on Evening Watch in the Lower City by being an ineffectual fighter..
 * The Big Guy
 * : In the third book.
 * Gentle Giant: Very tall, but generally an easy-going and friendly individual..
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Likes to grow miniature roses, which he learned from a Yamani friend.
 * : In the third book only.
 * : In the third book. There seems to be a pattern forming.

Rosto the Piper


 * A Man Is Not a Virgin
 * Gentleman Thief
 * Loveable Rogue
 * Slap Slap Kiss: With Beka, as he will, according to her, insult you as he's trying to tumble you.

Aniki Forfrysning


 * Bar Brawl: First meets Beka when she jumps into one.
 * Lady of War: As a rusher it's almost a prerequisite.

Koramin Ingensra
 * Not a Morning Person/Wake Up Fighting: If you wake her up early, be prepared to get a fireball to the face.
 * Weak but Skilled: As Kora will freely admit, she's just a simple hedgewitch -- but she's perfectly capable of using what power she does have to, say, force you walk into a Kennel and confess to murdering your own child. And never remember that it was her who did it.

Farmer Cape


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * Engaging Conversation: Once joked about wanting to marry Beka because she's so clever.
 * Fail O'Suckyname: His birth name was . Beka nearly dies laughing when he confesses this.
 * Farm Boy: Well, sort of.
 * Minored in Asskicking
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: He makes an art form of it.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Fond of shawls, and a talented seamster(?) and cook.
 * The Smart Guy
 * Weak but Skilled: Supplements his own Gift with heaps of studying and a talent for gathering and utilizing the leftover magic of other mages.
 * Weak but Skilled: Supplements his own Gift with heaps of studying and a talent for gathering and utilizing the leftover magic of other mages.
 * Weak but Skilled: Supplements his own Gift with heaps of studying and a talent for gathering and utilizing the leftover magic of other mages.

Deirdry Noll


 * Cool Old Lady
 * Cool Old Lady

Nestor Haryse


 * Dating Catwoman: Not a straight example, as Okha is emphatically a good guy. However, Okha does have some ties to the underworld of Port Caynn, which causes tension.
 * Happily Married: It's unknown if gay marriage is legal in Tortall, but he and Okha are included in Beka's annoyance with older couples showing affection like teenagers.
 * Hero of Another Story: Both Okha and Nestor are hinted at having deeper connections to Pearl Skinner than explored in the novel.
 * Nice Guy

Okha Soyan (Amber Orchid)


 * Guile Hero: While not the protagonist, Okha serves as this in the context of Bloodhound. She helps Beka primarily by gossiping and spying, and keeps several secrets from Nestor in order to protect him (at least until the time is right), in contrast to Nestor, Beka, and even Goodwin, who are much more direct.
 * Happily Married: To Nestor.
 * Magical Queer
 * Transsexual: Sex-reassignment surgery doesn't exist in-universe, so she could also count as a Drag Queen. Beka refers to her as "him", since it may have been confusing for the reader had Pierce switched mid-novel from calling Okha 'he' to 'she'. Alternatively, Beka may not have had a full understanding that just because Okha is physically male, she should not actually be referred to as male.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser

Pearl Skinner

First appearing in Short Stories
Kyalaia al Jmaa
 * Kick Chick: She doesn't just use kicks, but the first fighting technique she developed was based on ostriches' kicks.
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon - Her father says that "Even less than a bride possessed by a demon will a young man like a wife who can kick his ribs in".

Qiom


 * Green Thumb
 * What Happened to The Mouse: Averted.

Fadal
 * Samus Is a Girl