Vorkosigan Saga/Characters

Characters for the Vorkosigan Saga. Beware of copious spoilers!

Barrayar
Isolated from the rest of known space for centuries by an accident that stripped its colonists of both a lot of their needed tech, supplies, and personnel, not to mention contact with the rest of humanity, Barrayar survived by reverting to a feudal system (along with sheer bloody-mindedness and a habit of winning all their wars, often by being too crazy to give up), and is now struggling to adjust to a galaxy that views its social model as anything from quaintly anachronistic to dangerously primitive. Ruled by the Vor warrior caste, with The Emperor at their head. The homeworld of Miles, who has to deal with Barrayar's nasty prejudice against mutants like him, and the focus (and often the setting) of the Vorkosigan series.


 * Battle Butler: Armsmen. Each count is allowed twenty bodyguards, and they tend to pick the cream of the crop.
 * The Clan: Every Vor house
 * Deadly Decadent Court: Somewhat tamed by now. Miles' father Aral actually survived being Regent to Gregor until his majority, and since then Gregor has been applying his foster-father's lessons, toning down both the decadence and the deadliness.
 * Fantastic Racism: Against mutants, disabled people and all genetic strangeness. It was only recently that infanticide was banned, and it still goes on in quiet in parts of the back country. The prejudice is both understandable (mutations were historically a gigantic problem for the isolated Barrayan colonists) and spurs much of Miles Vorkosigan's actions (viewed as a "mutie" by Barrayan society, he struggles to prove himself in the face of unreasoning hatred). A more minor prejudice is between the speakers of various Earth-decended languages, but it can be dangerous as well; it's mentioned that riots along linguistic divisions are political points to take into consideration.
 * Feudal Future
 * Honor Before Reason
 * I Gave My Word: An important part of the Vor code. Very important.
 * Imperial Russia Recycled in Space
 * The Kingdom: Calls itself The Empire, but Barrayar is really a medium-sized power compared to others in the galaxy, and is more like The Kingdom.
 * La Résistance: During the Cetagandan occupation.
 * Noble Bigot: Add Honor Before Reason to Fantastic Racism and this is roughly what you get. They are getting a bit better about it, though.
 * Proud Warrior Race
 * Rising Empire: Just recently conquered Komarr and founded a colony at Sergyar. Does not seem to have any more interest in expansionism at the moment.
 * Ruritania
 * Screw You Cetaganda: And sometimes kill you.
 * Secret Police: Imp Sec
 * We ARE Struggling Together!: Until recently, mostly during the latter part of Gregor's reign.

Komarr
A dome-covered planet whose considerable merchant wealth came through their prime planetary position at the nexus of several strategically important wormhole jumps, Komarr once made the mistake of allowing the Cetagandan Empire passage through their wormholes (for a fee of course) on their way to conquer the backwater world of Barrayar. The Komarrans responsible may not have lived to regret their decision, but their descendants certainly did when Barrayar came back with a conquering fleet to prevent a repeat performance. Once home to a strong La Résistance against the Barrayarans, but this is losing popularity as Komarr and Barrayar become more integrated (including.


 * Les Collaborateurs: Komarrans in Barrayaran service. More sympathetic than most, particularly Duv Galeni. Also, the Komarrans to the Cetagandans during the Barrayan Occupation, at least in Barrayar's view.
 * Neutral No Longer: The original Komarran shareholders voted to let the Cetagandans through in the awareness they were likely not going to give Barrayar a fruit basket. They still viewed themselves as neutral. A generation or two later, the Barrayans dropped in, with armed ships, to let them know they felt differently, and still haven't left.
 * Proud Merchant Race
 * Puppet State
 * The Remnant:  certainly was.
 * You Will Be Assimilated: Present Barrayaran policy is to do this to Komarr. Since they've chosen to play the long game, this takes the form of things like Barrayans paying for an expansion of Komarr's artificial solar array (to help with their terraforming), and also

Beta Colony
Home of Cordelia, mother of Miles, before she switched allegiance to Aral (and Barrayar). The most technologically and socially progressive society in known space, or a degenerate planet full of unspeakable perversions, madness, and mutations, depending on where you stand. Beta does produce a lot of Science Heroes...just don't run afoul of their therapists.


 * Alternate Character Interpretation: Utopia or Dystopia? Depends on where you stand on their more interesting social practices. Even the Betans themselves can't agree.
 * Free-Love Future
 * Political Correctness Gone Mad: Certainly in the view of a lot of terminally old-fashioned Barrayans. The rest of the galaxy seems to view the Betans as kind of out there but with enough strong points to overlook the sarongs and the scarily overpowered role of therapy.

Cetaganda
An empire of interconnected planets ruled by a caste dedicated to raising themselves to transhuman status by genetic manipulation, Cetaganda once invaded and unsuccessfully occupied Barrayar. In many ways, it remains the main opponent of the Vorkosigan series as, unlike Barrayar, Cetaganda generally favours expansion,


 * Can't Argue with Elves: While sort of. Humans who are deliberately evolving into Space Elves, and not humble about it either.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Haut sound like the Bene Geserit
 * Fantastic Caste System: The haut geneticist caste ruling over the ghem warrior caste with the workers below both.
 * Scary Dogmatic Humans
 * Perhaps more Starfishy then Scary Dogmatic. Still...
 * Secret War: With Barrayar. Constantly.
 * Transhuman Aliens: Perhaps not quite, but if the Haut breeding program continues on schedule... Soon.

Jackson's Whole
Planet ruled by criminal houses where you can get anything for enough money. And that does mean anything.


 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * The Clan: Each criminal house.
 * Expendable Clone: One of the chief industries of the planet is making clone slaves-including clones to transplant the brains of rich men into at the price of killing the original personality. No other planet allows such things so if you want this service you must go here.
 * The Mafia
 * Wretched Hive

The Vorkosigans
Tropes that apply to the whole Vorkosigan clan:


 * Badass Family: When you're Vor, it's almost a given, but when even your supposedly-cuddly, pacifist Betan mother has a reputation for bringing home the heads of your enemies in a shopping bag...
 * Deadpan Snarker: All of them.
 * High Vor Who Actually Do Something

Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Only son and heir to the Vorkosigan countship, victim of a soltoxin attack while still in utero, the antitoxin to which left him with an abnormally stunted stature and frighteningly brittle bones, Miles grew up military-mad in a culture that despised him for a mutie. When he fails his qualifying physical for the Barrayan military at seventeen, the death of his grandfather and a "breather" trip to Beta Colony with his friend Elena Bothari and her father Sergeant Constantin Bothari, followed by a chance meeting with a drunk-and-suicidal jump pilot, changes the course of his life, ending in him becoming the admiral of a mercenary fleet at seventeen and launching a career beyond his wildest adolescent imaginings.

Not that Miles doesn't pay for his victories in blood, sweat, and tears...


 * Almighty Janitor: Despite commanding his own mercenary fleet as Admiral Naismith, Miles never manages to rise past the rank of Lieutenant  in the Barrayaran service.
 * Badass: All four foot eleven of him.
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Batman Gambit: His frequent modus operandi. He gets it from both his parents.
 * Bavarian Fire Drill: Another tool in his tactical repertoire.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Miles is a deeply caring soul and almost compulsively determined to do right by everyone he can, from helping a miserable drunken jump pilot keep his beloved ship from being repossessed to  ("Daring Rescues our specialty!" Granted, if he'd stuck to his original objectives, the mission would have been pointless as the one POW he'd gone in to get was not in a fit state to be helpful). Cross him, or worse yet mess with his loved ones, and you will be very, very sorry.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Miles loves doing this, even when it puts his life on the line.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: He may be crazy (Even his own mother thinks so), but he's very, very good at what he does.
 * Busman's Holiday: Miles can't go anywhere but that something gigantic and political comes down on his head.
 * Chick Magnet: Despite the loss of his first love Elena, Miles doesn't seem to have any trouble attracting strong, capable, badass women (and hermaphrodites; even if Bel Thorne's interest was unrequited, they still worked well together), and has remarkably successful relationships with them, to the point where
 * Deadpan Snarker: Miles' snark is weapons-grade.
 * Disabled Snarker
 * Determinator: He takes this to frightening levels. A minor but telling example: when Ekaterin is hanging over the railing about to go into the Serifosa ornamental pond (long story), Miles grabs onto her wrists despite having no support and being considerably smaller than her, realizes this, and gets pulled into the pond with her anyway because he refuses to let go. This late leads both Miles and Ekaterin to an epiphany: Miles to the fact that, and Ekaterin to the realization that   simply because in spite of the above, he would not have let go.
 * Admiral Naismith has to win. Miles Vorkosigan cannot lose.
 * Fragile Speedster: The speed is mostly spiritual, but for the better part of his life a simple fall could shatter his bones like glass.
 * Genius Cripple
 * Guile Hero: He has to be, because of his frail physique. Even after his bones are replaced with more durable synthetics, he's still five foot zilch.
 * Hot Amazon: Seems to collect them; see Chick Magnet above.
 * Insistent Terminology: Miles would like you to know that his physical issues are teratogenic in nature, and the Vor in general are a military caste, not an aristocracy. Also,  Later in his life, Miles is much more flexible on the first issue, taking the more relaxed view that if Barrayar sees him as a mutant, his success might make things easier for actual mutants after him. It may help that he marries Ekaterin around this time, but the attitude shift had at least mostly happened before he met her.
 * Knight Errant: Sees himself as one, according to his mother's amateur psychoanalysis.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Ivan several times notes that whenever they have a conversation it ends with Miles getting his way.
 * The Messiah: At times, particularly during "Borders of Infinity" when he started out pretending to be a real one and grew into the role. The madman who came up with the idea even points out that Miles thinks he's faking, but he's not.
 * Military Maverick: Despite working within Barrayan Imperial Security for all intents and purposes, Miles got his rank and position by going totally AWOL, scamming an entire mercenary fleet into following him, and single-handedly ending a major interplanetary war. He also has a habit of driving superiors batty; it isn't until many years later that he realizes Simon Illyan's parting wish for Miles have "subordinates just like himself" was not a compliment but a very emphatic curse.
 * The Napoleon: A very sympathetic example, but he's still pretty insecure about his height.
 * Nepotism: He's sensitive about it and does everything he can to earn rank and respect on his own merits...but isn't above throwing his weight around as a Vor scion if it helps cut through obnoxious Barrayan red tape or, more frequently, help somebody else out.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * High Vor Who Actually Do Something
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right
 * Secret Identity Identity: The conflict between Admiral Miles Naismith and Lord Miles Vorkosigan fuels a lot of the character development in the later books, and is one of the central themes of Memory.
 * The Judge: in Mountains of Mourning.
 * Too Clever by Half
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Elena.
 * Warrior Therapist: Learnt it from his mother.
 * Well Done Grandson Guy: To Piotr, at first. He gets over it. Is a tiny bit this towards Aral, but unlike most examples of this trope, Aral is never stingy with his love and affection for Miles, nor does he make a secret of it.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess: though sometimes, especially early on in his career, Miles's tendency to go off half-cocked can lead to a Gambit Pileup all by himself.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess: though sometimes, especially early on in his career, Miles's tendency to go off half-cocked can lead to a Gambit Pileup all by himself.

Cordelia Naismith (Countess Vorkosigan)

"The Admiral's Captain": Former Betan Astronomical Survey Captain, retired Science Hero, certified Badass, wife of Aral and mother of Miles.


 * Badass: After days of struggling through hostile terrain with a brain-damaged subordinate to care for and very few supplies, she still manages to thwart a mutiny against Aral and escape. And that's before her shopping trip...
 * Blithe Spirit: To her husband, and the entire planet, to a certain extent.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: A lot of Barrayans seem to perceive her as such for her attitudes to sex and gender...not that they'd ever say that to the face of the woman who  The feeling's a bit mutual, and she's spent thirty years gently and quietly starting to turn the tables.
 * Cool Old Lady: By "A Civil Campaign", she's well into her sixties, and Kareen admits she'd be more comfortable talking to Cordelia about her sex life than to her own mother. Oh, and her part in the War of Vordarian's Pretendership has elevated her to Memetic Badass status. Though, since Betans live longer than most people, she's more like a Cool Middle-Aged Lady by the standards of her own planet.
 * Fish Out of Water: Initially, Cordelia on Barrayar. After thirty plus years, it's slowly starting to swing the other way.
 * Going Native: Averted; she remains stubbornly unassimilated. When Miles is in danger though, she can bring home the vilain's head in a basket, thus proving that in this way she has lived up to Barrayaran standards Up to Eleven.
 * Good Parents: With Aral. They compliment each other as she is the nurturer while Aral is the teacher and role-model.
 * Happily Married: to Aral, of course.
 * Mama Bear: After what she goes through in "Barrayar" to rescue Miles' uterine replicator, don't you dare doubt it.
 * Memetic Badass: In-universe, at least among the High Vor. Her public image is much lower profile: historian Duv Galeni even refers to her as "the most invisible of political wives." Miles jokes when someone asks him to come shopping with them that "There's an offer seldom made of my mother's son."
 * The Messiah: Even moreso than her  son.
 * The Social Expert: Probably the best example in a whole family full of examples.
 * Talking The Heroic Sociopath Into Slitting The Complete Monster's Throat
 * Tomboy A bit old for the designation, but very much so by Barayaran standards. Aral calls her "my dear Captain" for a reason. Miles observes that she wears a Barayaran matron's skirts like a child playing dressup.
 * Warrior Therapist: Effectively appointed herself warrior therapist to an entire planet by vowing to make Barrayar a safe place for Miles, Gregor and Elena to grow up. Taught it to her son.

Count Aral Vorkosigan


 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Badass Grandpa: He's older by Barrayan standards when he marries for the second time, and thirty years later is still serving Barrayar.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Aral is reasonable, kind, intelligent, level-headed, and a good father and husband. He also strangled a subordinate to death with his bare hands once for murdering civilians.
 * Bi the Way: Aral has had at least one male lover in the past. To the confusion of the Barrayans, Cordelia really doesn't care. She even openly muses at one point that Aral tends to lean more towards men than women.
 * Blue Blood
 * The Butcher Of Komarr: One of his officers ordered the massacre of a group of unarmed Komarrans during the course of a planetary conquest that Aral had worked hard to make as bloodless as possible; Aral killed the man personally in a fit of rage, then got stuck with the blame for his actions.
 * Cincinnatus: Despite his wife's efforts, Barrayar and the High Vor just won't let him have a peaceful retirement.
 * Depraved Bisexual: Subverted. Aral is perceived as this by some of his enemies, but is in fact a thoroughly honourable man and a devoted husband and father.
 * Determinator: Miles gets it from both his parents: just witness the hell Aral puts himself through during his first appearance, trekking across hostile Sergyar with a couple of Betan PO Ws, one of whom was the victim of a nerve disruptor attack to the head and is thus a drooling vegetable.
 * Feudal Overlord: Of the Dendarii mountains.
 * The Good Chancellor
 * Good Parents: With Cordelia
 * Happily Married: To Cordelia
 * Officer and a Gentleman
 * Old Soldier
 * The Patriarch
 * Proud Vorrior Guy
 * High Vor Who Actually Do Something
 * So Proud of You: Unlike his own father, doesn't withhold or hide his love from his son.
 * Tranquil Fury: At one point Cordelia thinks that she doesn't have to worry about others overhearing his part of their argument: when he gets angry, he starts whispering.
 * When He Smiles: Another shared trait with his son; he's not unattractive, but Cordelia only starts to become attracted to him the first time he really smiles with pleasure.

Count Piotr Vorkosigan

Aral's father, the former Count Vorkosigan, a hard man and a veteran of the Cetagandan occupation of Barrayar.


 * Badass Grandpa: Say what you will about his personality, Piotr's fighting credentials are well-established. Even more impressive when one considers that within Piotr's command career, the nature of war changed from regressive semi-medieval cavalry maneuvers all the way to the space age. And he came out on top in both. Against Cetaganda, no less - already a ruthless multiple-star-system empire - for the latter. And that was just the warmup for leading the civil war that deposed Mad Emperor Yuri and set Ezar on the throne
 * Defrosting Ice Count: He mellows out to his grandson eventually, mostly due to a truckload of effort on Miles' part.
 * Fair for Its Day : Most of the Jerkass aspects of his personnality are due to the Values Dissonance between him and the "new generation", but in fact considering his background he's pretty progressive ; he himself recognize the need for Barrayar to go forward, and Miles, after having seen a glimpse of what was the planet's past in one of his mission, realize and make a lecture about how he wasn't "one of the last ancient" but "one of the first modern".
 * Jerkass: He's nice enough to his daughter-in-law, right up until it turns out she still wants to preserve her son in the aftermath of the soltoxin attack; then Piotr proceeds to treat Cordelia like garbage, belittle her, and use every advantage accorded him by blood and Barrayan law to "dump" the still-in-utero Miles. When Aral blocks him, he picks a fight with his son and the resulting estrangement lasts for five years.
 * The Patriarch
 * That Thing Is Not My Grandchild: At first.
 * You Should Have Died Instead: He almost says this to Aral in a moment of anger, but even the beginning of the sentiment is enough to freeze his relations with his only living son solid right away.

Mark Pierre Vorkosigan

Miles's clone-brother and the results of a plot by a psychotic Komarran, Mark was conditioned to be Miles, right down to imitating his physical tics and having his height and skeleton surgically (and painfully) altered to replicate the effects of the soltoxin attack. Needless to say, Mark is a hugely screwed-up individual.


 * Abusive Parents: Ser Galen.
 * Berserk Button: The Jacksonian clone-body industry. It's Extremely Personal for Mark.
 * Cloning Blues: And how. Much of his development in later books is finding non-self-destructive ways to assert his non-Milesness.
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: What Ser Galen  put him through.
 * Deadpan Snarker: By "Civil Campaign", he's almost as acerbic as his clone-brother (and new favourite target).
 * Defusing the Tykebomb: Miles starts it in "Brothers In Arms" not long after discovering Mark's existence, then the whole Vorkosigan family gets in on the act.
 * Non-Idle Rich: What he winds up doing later,
 * Rape as Backstory: Mark's early life was truly appalling.
 * Self-Made Man: Mark takes the same approach to earning money that Miles does to advancing Barrayan security.
 * Split Personality:
 * That Thing Is Not My Child: Averted hard by Cordelia, who accepts a bewildered, wary Mark as her son as per her Betan upbringing, by Miles who thinks of him as a brother and refers to him as such, and by Aral.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Except for the wife part, Mark tends to feel this way about himself and Kareen, repeatedly comparing himself to a squat toad. Kareen feels otherwise, but most of her relatives (and puzzled bystanders) tend to side with Mark's assessment. Part of this may be in contrast to Miles, who, while just as short, has been noted to have a face that's both handsome and intensely, conspicuously animated

Servants & Retainers
Konstantin Bothari

A former subordinate of Aral's who had an extremely troubled history and career, he becomes a Vorkosigan Armsman after his discharge from the Imperial Service. Bothari eventually comes into Cordelia's orbit and responded to her belief in him with fierce, unquestioning devotion to her. Despite his transition from a normal soldier to a Vorkosigan armsman, his status as the family's resident and willing shooter of dogs remains unchanged.


 * Battle Butler: To the Vorkosigans, and particularly the young Miles,
 * Heroic Sociopath: Despite being a damaged killer with a violent, traumatic history, Bothari does his best to redeem himself through his loyalty to Cordelia and his Herculean efforts to be a good Da to his little daughter, Elena.
 * Dark and Troubled Past:  And that was before Ges Vorrutyer got his hands on him.
 * Overprotective Dad: And when his daughter finds out his past behavior, she's totally disgusted with him.
 * Rules Lawyer: Lord Aral Vorkosigan told him to honor his wife's commands as if they were his own. Aral probably meant that as Lord Vorkosigan. Bothari interpreted that as being from Lord Regent Vorkosigan, giving Cordelia the authority of the Emperor as far as Bothari is concerned. The order is never rescinded.
 * Shoot the Dog: In the service of Cordelia (and later Miles), Bothari often employs methods far more ruthless than either of them are comfortable with, but he gets results. He also views himself as Cordelia's dog
 * Shoot the Dog: In the service of Cordelia (and later Miles), Bothari often employs methods far more ruthless than either of them are comfortable with, but he gets results. He also views himself as Cordelia's dog
 * Shoot the Dog: In the service of Cordelia (and later Miles), Bothari often employs methods far more ruthless than either of them are comfortable with, but he gets results. He also views himself as Cordelia's dog

Armsman Pym

Imagine Jeeves as a former SAS commando.


 * Old Retainer: By the time of A Civil Campaign, but he starts out as The New Guy in Mountains Of Mourning.

Armsman Jankowski

Quiet, good with horses.

Armsman Roic

Tall, imposing, athletic and intelligent, Roic isn't former military like the other armsmen: he's a former police officer, taken into Count Aral's service after showing extreme heroism in a crisis. Rapidly becomes Miles right-hand man after Miles becomes Imperial Auditor since Miles finds his police experience useful.


 * The Big Guy: Steps up to the plate as this in the later novels.
 * Beleaguered Assistant: He is generally the armsman of choice to accompany the little git... er... Lord Vorkosigan on his off planet missions.
 * Mr. Fanservice: In-universe. When the Vorkosigan household's duties require a particularly decorative armsman, he's the one who inevitably gets dragooned into the job. When he responded to an emergency call mostly undressed -- it'd been his scheduled sleep time -- Martya Koudelka actually sighed at the sight.
 * Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: His brief romance with Taura, one of the few people in the universe who could render him the 'tiny guy'.

Ma Kosti

Miles' cook. He hires her after he discovers that the boxed lunches his ImpSec gate guard is getting from his mother are a lot better than the premade meals Miles has been buying and heating up for himself.


 * Supreme Chef: Miles is advised to double her salary, as soon as some of his Vor friends find out just how good a cook she is. His aunt Lady Alys Vorpatril, the paragon of style among Vorbarr Sultana's High Vor, has shown calculating looks regarding Ma Kosti's cooking, and Cordelia contemplated getting her son transferred to Sergyar so she could steal that culinary mastery for herself.

Other Barrayarans
Ivan Vorpatril

Miles' second cousin and agemate, a handsome and clever but rather lazy young officer who is exceptionally popular with the ladies. Often answers to "Ivan, you idiot!", and is forever getting dragged into Miles' wild schemes, or so he claims.

"Gregor: So, Lord Mark, what do you think of Vorbarr Sultana so far?
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Actually described as having a "sharp but lazy intellect" in Brothers in Arms. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance showed him as an efficient aide to the Chief of Operations of the entire Imperial Service.
 * Butt Monkey: Is often called an idiot by his friends and relatives and tends to be the victim of humorously embarrassing circumstances.
 * The Casanova: Shading into Chivalrous Pervert. He was offended when Byerly Vorrutyer made a remark implying that Ivan would only help a woman in danger if she were good-looking. Byerly then admitted that implication was unfair.
 * The Charmer: Has shades of this.
 * Deadpan Snarker: But of course.
 * Drives Like Crazy

Mark: It went by pretty fast.

Gregor: Dear God, don't tell me you let Ivan drive."

"Miles: Ivan, one of these days somebody is going to pull out a weapon and plug you, and you're going to die in bewilderment, crying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"
 * Foil: To his cousin Miles. Ivan is tall, healthy, handsome, and has girls falling all over him without his even trying. He's also preternaturally lazy and uninterested in any kind of responsibility (including marriage, until later on when the shortage of Vor women his age becomes pressing).
 * Handsome Lech
 * Hero of Another Story: While not involved in Miles' exploits Ivan has had a fairly successful military career, usually getting promotions ahead of Miles (who lost years of seniority in active service due to infirmary/hospital time, wounded in the line of duty). He got his own book eventually, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, in 2012.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yes, he can be thoughtless, inappropriate, and about as sensitive as a brick, but he does care for his family (including his height-challenged terror of a cousin) and will go to the wall to help them. Snarking all the way, of course.

Ivan: What did I say?"

"...he was anxious for his mother's lover's dignity, then? And not just for how it reflected on his mother, it seemed. He seemed anxious for Simon Illyan in his own right."
 * When Miles got the temporary Auditor appointment and asked for Ivan as his aide, Ivan said something about Miles wanting a "donkey to carry his luggage." Miles replied he wanted a donkey he could "rely on absolutely." Then he mentioned they were looking into what'd happened to Simon Illyan, and Ivan immediately stopped complaining.
 * was intrigued to realize that, before introducing her to Simon, Ivan was evidently concerned to explain Simon's not-quite-disability to her and ask her to make allowances:


 * The Loins Sleep Tonight: happens to him in Cetaganda as a result of a drink spiked with an "anti-aphrodisiac". He is in a threesome with two Cetagandan ghem-ladies when the effects take hold, but manages to avoid embarrassment thanks to some almost Miles-worthy bluffing about Barrayan sexual customs and a couple of handy bedroom tricks taught to him by an old flame. Amusingly, in spite of his fears, once word of his performance gets around Ivan finds himself deluged with invitations by very interested ghem-ladies.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: It's a matter of self-preservation, when you're theoretically third in line for the Imperium.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * When He Smiles: As if he weren't already good-looking enough, feels this applies, too.

Lady Alys Vorpatril

Miles' aunt (really a first cousin by marriage, once removed), Ivan's long-suffering mother, and a grand dame of the High Vor. Possibly more deadly than the male. (Emperor Gregor calls her "General Alys" and defies anyone to upset her social plans, if they dare.) In Captain Vorpatril's Alliance her title is now "Social Secretary to the Imperial Residence." "First assistant to Empress Laisa," too, and still "one of the most powerful women in the capital."


 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents:
 * Cool Old Lady: In "Civil Campaign", it's hinted that
 * My Beloved Smother: Ivan thinks so, but she just wants grandkids, and backs off once
 * Politically Active Vor Lady: Especially in A Civil Campaign.
 * Silk Hiding Steel

Simon Illyan

Miles' boss, the seemingly omniscient and implacable head of ImpSec. His mere name is enough to invoke dread in most people. Has a memory chip implanted in his head that lets him remember everything.


 * Expy: Word of God states that Illyan's name, appearance and profession are somewhat inspired by Ilya Kuriakin of The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
 * Photographic Memory
 * Neural Implanting:
 * The Nondescript: A useful thing for a junior ImpSec officer, which is how he began his career.
 * Note To Emperor Ezar
 * The Spymaster
 * Note To Emperor Ezar
 * The Spymaster

Emperor Gregor Vorbarra

Emperor of Barrayar, Komarr, and Sergyar, a soft-spoken, highly intelligent man and just the sort of person you'd want running your feudal militarized space empire.


 * Awesomeness By Analysis: Gregor does his homework. God help you if you don't.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: "Did you think you were dealing with an amateur?"
 * Catch Phrase: "Let's see what happens."
 * Character Development: Over the course of the series, goes from being used by various Barrayan counts and politicians to out-playing them all and securing his own happiness, without losing his essential humanity or compromising his honour.
 * Guile Hero: Particularly in The Vor Game.
 * Happily Adopted: By the Vorkosigans, after being orphaned during Vordarian's Pretendership.
 * Happily Married:
 * Hazel Eyes: Of the "hidden potential" type.
 * Heroic BSOD: During the events of "Vor Game",
 * In the Blood: Given his ancestral history, he's terrified of this happening to himself or his offspring, and vetoes a lot of potential Vor brides on the basis that inbreeding would bring out the crazy. As Miles puts it, "Gregor has a well-founded paranoia about, well, paranoia."
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Gregor just loves dispensing this. He even hired Miles to focus the beam.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Tranquil Fury: The quieter he gets, the angrier he generally is.
 * The Wise Prince: In private life, Gregor is a kind, complex man, but his public persona makes him come across as The Stoic.
 * Warrior Therapist: Learned it at Cordelia's knee. He's even better at it than Miles, eventually a match for Cordelia herself.
 * Warrior Prince: Well, sort of. At least he does warlike things once in awhile.
 * When He Smiles: thinks Gregor has "one of those wildly unfair male face-transforming smiles ... even more so than ."
 * The White Prince: Appears as this toward the beginning of The Vor Game. Turns out to be smarter then he appears though.

Emperor Ezar Vorbarra

Gregor's grandfather, Serg's father, a highly subtle and dangerous old bastard.


 * The Chessmaster
 * Lesser of Two Evils: See below. In this case even the "lesser" was pretty extravegently evil.
 * Murder In A Stack Of Deaths: See below.
 * Shoot the Dog: This and a Kick the Dog, all rolled up in one: see above.
 * Thanatos Gambit: Sets Aral up for the Regency of Barrayar with one of these.
 * The Extremist Was Right: Or else he was really lucky. In any case his plan did work as he wanted it to.
 * The Extremist Was Right: Or else he was really lucky. In any case his plan did work as he wanted it to.

Clement "Kou" Koudelka

Aral's subordinate and later personal secretary; wounded during the Escobar War, he uses a swordstick to get around. Happily married to Drou, he is the proud if slightly apprehensive father of four daughters. Eventually rises to the rank of Commodore.


 * Handicapped Badass
 * Overprotective Dad: Morphs into one of these when  He gets over it; helps that one of his other daughters   during the same time period.
 * Sword Cane: Cordelia gives him one in "Barrayar" to try and help alleviate his feelings of being "crippled" and "useless" (after a disruptor shot completely screws his nervous system and leaves him with trouble getting around and excruciating pain). It gets borrowed back and re-purposed later.

Ludmilla "Drou" Droushnakovi

Former bodyguard to Princess Kareen and then-heir to the throne Prince Gregor, Drou accompanied Cordelia on her shopping trip to the Capital. Now married to Clement Koudelka and the proud mother of four daughters.


 * Action Girl: she was a planetary martial arts champion and Emperor Gregor's childhood bodyguard.
 * Embarrassing First Name: She keeps Drou as a nickname after her marriage. Even her husband calls her Drou. Hell, even the Emperor calls her Drou. Of course he does. He's known "Droushie" since he was five years old. Possibly younger.
 * Happily Married: To Kou,
 * Retired Badass

The Koudelka Girls (AKA "Team Koudelka" AKA "Koudelka's All-Blonde Commando Team")

Kou and Drou's four daughters, Delia, Olivia,, Martya and Kareen.


 * Action Girl: All of them.
 * Delia is an essential part of Miles' notorious "Assault on Cockroach Central" (specifically the part that involves protecting the falsely accused Duv Galeni from catching a bad case of involuntary suicide).
 * Martya and Kareen engineer a food fight that would put Blake Edwards to shame to protect Enrique Borgos (and their shares in Mark's company) from Escobaran law enforcement.
 * Olivia personally beats down a couple of armed thugs  Barehanded. Dressed in a ball gown.
 * Amazon Brigade: The girls tend to go about in a herd by their own admission, and after watching Olivia clobber the thugs Ivan speculates that the mother-daughter wisdom passed down in the Koudelka clan extended to things a lot more dangerous than baking brownies. Junior officers at HQ refer to them as "Commodore Koudelka's all-blonde commando team."
 * Beware the Quiet Ones: Proved, to Ivan's horror, when super-quiet Olivia takes down a couple of armed thugs single-handed.
 * Dead Guy, Junior: Kareen, named after Gregor's mother, the deceased Empress Kareen.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Martya
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Kareen is sanguine, Martya is choleric, Delia is melancholic, and Olivia is phlegmatic.
 * Gender Rarity Value: The Koudelkas went for girls after noticing that everyone else was going for boys, making their daughters about the hottest commodities on the Vorbarra Sultana dating scene.
 * Nice Girl: "Everyone liked Kareen, because Kareen liked everyone."

Ekaterin Nile Vorvayne Vorsoisson 

""Drat.""

- Ekaterin Nile Vorvayne Vorsoisson, Komarr, after more than a decade of being married to Etienne Vorsoisson

""Miles, if you die on me, I will not be grieved, I will be pissed!""

- Ekaterin, Diplomatic Immunity,

Unhappily married to a mid-level bureaucrat on Komarr, Ekaterin is a woman of remarkable personal strength who has been socialized by a restrictive upbringing and a true Jerkass of a husband into a shadow of herself...until she gets caught up in a dangerous case that may have intergalactic consequences.

"Ekaterin: Yes, I expect it will cost him everything he has."
 * Beware the Nice Ones:
 * This over-socialized stay-at-home mom
 * In "Winterfair Gifts",


 * Catch Phrase: "Unpack, Miles." (referring to the way his brain runs five steps ahead of his mouth.)
 * Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments.
 * Domestic Abuse: Tien certainly emotionally abused her, and Miles considers it verging on abuse that Tien talked Ekaterin into having her s on Nikolai by body-birth when the much safer, painless uterine replicator was already widely available. (At the time Ekaterine saw it as a romantic adventure.) At one point, Ekaterin brings up in Tien's   defense that he had never hit her, and Miles prays to whatever god might be listening that his best beloved would have higher praise for him   than "he never hit me".
 * : Eventually. She has to wade through a lot of shit to get there.
 * Hot Mom: If the reaction of just about every unattached heterosexual Barrayan and Komarran male around her is to be trusted.
 * I Gave My Word: Takes this as seriously as Miles does, which leads to her putting up with mountains of garbage from her husband Tien.
 * Let's Get Dangerous
 * Oblivious to Love: She is blissfully unaware that Miles has a crush on her. Justified because she has been emotionally traumatized by marriage to Tien and is in no hurry to be tied down by anyone else.
 * Parenthetical Swearing: Coming from her, a single "Twit" has the force of a Cluster F-Bomb from less repressed characters.
 * Silk Hiding Steel

Lord Auditor Professor Georg Vorthys

One of the eight permanent Imperial Auditors and Ekatarin's uncle, Georg Vorthys is a Professor Emeritus of Engineering Failure Analysis at Vorbarr Sultana University and is generally regarded as the Empire's authority on the subject. He is Emperor Gregor's go-to Auditor for technical/scientific issues.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Genius' Sweet Tooth
 * Gentleman and a Scholar: Mildly subverted; he tends to prefer slightly oversized clothing with big pockets to more fashionable/appropriate garb. His wife the Professora is a better example on the Distaff side.
 * Happily Married

Byerly Vorrutyer

Town Clown, impoverished, imprudent, and impervious to put-downs, but very witty


 * Agent Provocateur: Manipulates his cousin Richers into prematurely sending goons to attack his other cousin Dono so as to sabotage his case against the other.
 * Ambiguously Gay
 * Continuity Nod: In Memory an exasperated Alys complains about a "certain nameless wit, or halfwit" suggesting she should start including boys in her bride search for Gregor. In A Civil Campaign we are introduced to Byerly.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Expy: considering A Civil Campaign is partially An Ideal Husband In Space, Byerly comes off very much as one to Oscar Wilde (or at least one of Wilde's stock characters)
 * Impoverished Patrician
 * Rich Idiot With No Day Job:
 * Upper Class Wit

The Dendarii Mercenaries
Commander  Elli Quinn

Devastatingly beautiful former Oseran mercenary; after her face got burned off by plasma fire in one of his first battles, Miles bought her a very nice new one, and since then she's used it, plus her superlative competence and hilariously twisted personality, to spectacular effect in the Dendarii.


 * Action Girl
 * Character Tic: She bites her nails when she's under serious stress.
 * The Faceless: For a period of time. Miles gets her a new one.
 * Hot Amazon
 * Lady of War: Certainly by the time she
 * Odd Friendship: With Athosian Non-Action Guy Ethan, eventually.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky: Has what Miles considers a vile sense of humour; at one point, while in Miles' company, she fends off a marauding suitor by informing him that Miles can do push-ups with his tongue.

Captain Elena Bothari-Jesek

Miles' childhood friend and crush, the daughter of Sergeant Bothari, an Action Girl constrained by Barrayan social norms...until she takes a role in Miles' new mercenary-ing endeavor and gets to spread her wings.


 * Action Girl
 * Happily Married
 * Hot Amazon
 * Missing Mom: Well, she was missing, right up until
 * Missing Mom: Well, she was missing, right up until

Commodore Baz Jesek

An honest, very competent Barrayan tech who deserted after a particularly harrowing combat experience gave him PTSD, Baz was scraping by in a Betan waste centre when Miles found him and took him under his wing for the mission that wound up launching Admiral Naismith and the Dendarii Mercenaries. Baz later rose high in the ranks of the Dendarii,


 * Happily Married
 * Dangerous Deserter: Averted. It's his Barrayan-bred Action Girl wife you want to watch out for.
 * Mr. Fixit

Captain Bel Thorne

A Betan hermaphrodite and highly competent mercenary who becomes captain of the Ariel as a result of Miles's conquest of the Oseran fleet.


 * Badass
 * Berserk Button: During "Labyrinth", develops one re: the powerful Jacksonian Houses that deal in the flesh trade (particularly Houses Bharaputra and Ryoval).
 * Bi the Way: in the most literal way possible
 * Chivalrous Pervert
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: Seems to have caught it off Miles by "Labyrinth",
 * Did Not Get The Cute Quaddie:
 * Happily Partnered:
 * Hermaphrodite
 * It's Personal: Any kind of Playing with Syringes behaviour, especially by the profit-hungry Jacksonian major houses. Bel's a member of a genetically-engineered minority and knows where that road can lead.
 * Pronoun Trouble: Bel (and other genetically-engineered Betan hermaphrodites) prefer the use of the pronoun "it"; during Diplomatic Immunity Bel explains that "it" doesn't have the same unfortunate connotations in Betan useage as it does on certain other planets.

Ky Tung

Formerly a captain in the Oseran mercenaries, Ky Tung hit it off much better with the young genius "Admiral Naismith" than with his pragmatic boss Oser, and took Miles under his wing.


 * Ascended Fanboy: Of Aral Vorkosigan's mad tactical skills.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Honour Before Reason: While more practical than Miles about it, Ky is a warrior and tactician first, a mercenary second; Proud Warrior Race Guy Miles appreciated this quality, Oser didn't. Guess who got to benefit from Ky's brains and experience, not to mention his loyalty?
 * Old Master: Takes on Miles as a tactical and military apprentice.
 * Passing the Torch: To Elli, after he decides to
 * Worthy Opponent: To Miles in "The Warrior's Apprentice", before they became allies.

Sergeant Taura

An eight-foot-tall genetically engineered super-soldier with fangs and claws, Taura was rescued from Jackson's Whole by Miles and joined up with the Dendarii, becoming a valued fleet member and also Miles' lover (well, one of them). Taura is both a highly competent soldier, and immensely strong and fast in addition to her sheer size. Unfortunately, this comes at a terrible price, as her extremely high metabolism and overall genetic design means that her natural lifespan was cut very short; by the time she and her batch mates from the super soldier group were in their mid-to-late teens, she was the only one who hadn't died of old age. Miles sets the Dendarii fleet medics to prolonging her life, and it works

Under the muscle, confidence, and competence is a woman described by Miles as something of a fairy princess at heart. If kept away from pink things, frills, and bows, Taura is strikingly attractive. By the end of "Winterfair Gifts", she partners up with kindred spirit Armsman Roic.

"Taura: The little man is mine. Hurt him one little bit, and I'll tear your head off and drink your blood."
 * Action Girl
 * Beastess
 * Beware the Nice Ones: In spite of the teeth, she's quite sweet. Unless someone threatens a loved one, in which case the "fairy princess" turns into a monster:


 * Big Eater: Her metabolism is stuck in permanent overdrive due to House Bharaputra's genetic tinkering.
 * Friends with Benefits: With Miles, though she's clearly more than a little sad to see him taken off the market in "Winterfair Gifts".
 * Game Face: She can make grown men wet themselves with hers.
 * Huge Girl Tiny Guy: A necessary consequence of being eight feet tall, particularly where Miles is concerned.
 * Intimate Psychotherapy: How Miles keeps her from acting on her suicidal impulses in "Labyrinth".
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
 * Pink Means Feminine: Taura's initial efforts to pretty up are informed by this, despite multiple people pointing out that hot though she is, pink frills don't do her any favours.
 * Rescue Romance: five words: "He came back for me."
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: With a bit of help from Lady Alys. Armsman Roic concurs.
 * Super Soldier: A genetically engineered soldier built by a committee with no actual soldiers on it. It would be hilarious, except...see below.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: With Ellie Quinn. Ironically, beautiful Ellie is the tomboy. Taura's the girly one.
 * Your Days Are Numbered: A built-in component of her Super Soldier status. It bothers her lover and C.O. Miles more than it does her: she's too busy living her life as hard as she can to waste time feeling sorry for herself.

Arde Mayhew

Pilot Officer Mayhew first appears near the end of the first Vokosigan Saga novel, Shards of Honor as a young, inexperienced cargo ship pilot, who Cordelia cons into giving her a lift, off the books, to Escobar when she has to escape from her home world of Beta Colony.

Eighteen years later a young Miles Vorkosigan, on Beta Colony to visit his grandmother, overhears some people talking about a down on his luck jump pilot who has taken his obsolete ship hostage, and is threatening to blow it up to save it from the wreckers, and then he recognizes the pilot's name, and decides to help him out.

When Miles first meets Arde, he is an alcoholic (and possibly other drug addicted) washed up pilot who has been rendered technologically obsolete. His neural implants, necessary to guide a ship through a wormhole jump, are for an obsolete system, and the ship he's holding is the last of its kind, the only one he can pilot. He has been medically rejected for getting new implants, so Miles decides to buy his ship, and hire Arde to pilot it.

In order to get Arde out of his legal troubles, Miles swears him as an armsman, which lets him cover Arde under his own Class III diplomatic immunity (or at least keep the lawyers arguing about it long enough for them to get out of the system.)


 * The Alcoholic: When Miles first meets him, he's devolved to this.
 * Becoming the Mask: Though a Betan, he learns to behave like a devoted Armsman when Miles is around.

Enemies
Prince Serg Vorbarra


 * Domestic Abuse: Hinted at in the behaviour of his widow Princess Kareen.
 * Glory Hound: Unlike Miles, very much not a positive example.

Ges Vorrutyer


 * Depraved Bisexual:  Ges plays this deadly straight. He even starts referencing the Marquis de Sade.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * If I Can't Have You: Towards Aral.
 * Smug Snake: Is entirely too convinced he has Cordelia Naismith at his mercy because she's tied down and naked.

Cavilo

""The key of strategy, little Vor, is not to choose a path to victory, but to choose so that all paths lead to a victory.""
 * Blondes Are Evil
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: One of her defining traits.
 * Kick the Son of a Bitch:
 * Not So Different: From Miles, a fact that a number of his friends and allies are quick to hang a lampshade or five on. The only real difference is that Miles does what he does for other people, whereas Cavilo is really only out for herself.
 * The Vamp: And she's terribly effective at it,
 * Xanatos Gambit

Baron Ryoval


 * Body Horror: His House's stock in trade.
 * Circling Monologue
 * Cold-Blooded Torture
 * Grand Theft Me: Despite going well on a century, Ryoval looks like a young man...because, in the words of Mark, he's wearing the corpse of a clone.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: While he got pretty close to killing his entire family, he didn't quite succeed, and the survivors are his enemies, particularly his brother Baron Fell.
 * Mind Rape: His favourite kind, after having gotten bored with the more traditional sort.
 * Torture Technician: Has a whole stable full of them, and indulges from time to time for his own amusement.

Ser Galen


 * Abusive Parents: To Mark, despite Mark's being a clone. He didn't leave his biological son Duv Galeni many happy memories either, if their interactions are anything to go by.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * Jumping Off of the Slippery Slope: While his hatred of Barrayar in general and Aral Vorkosigan in particular is understandable, if somewhat misguided, his pursuit of his aims is totally despicable.
 * Revenge: His motivation.
 * Windmill Crusader: His sister died in the Solstice Massacre, an event widely attributed to Aral Vorkosigan's orders, and Ser Galen desperately wants to avenge both his personal loss and the Barrayan occupation of Komarr. Shame about his methods, and his grip on reality,

Others
Doctor Ethan Urquhart


 * Fish Out of Water: When he first gets to Kline Station. Ethan's from an all-male Planet of Hats that has no contact with women at all.
 * Odd Friendship: Between super-responsible, straight-laced Straight Gay Non-Action Guy Ethan and snarky badass Action Girl Elli Quinn. One's a strictly religious downsider, the other a spacer mercenary: together they take on agents of the Cetagandan Empire!
 * Nice Guy: First to his irresponsible nitwit of a foster brother/boyfriend Janos, then
 * Non-Action Guy: At first.
 * Straight Gay
 * Took a Level In Badass

Terrence Cee


 * Babies Ever After:
 * Bi the Way
 * Defusing the Tykebomb: The Cetagandans engineered him to be the perfect superagent, but with a little basic human kindness Doctor Urquhart almost manages to reduce him to tears.
 * Telepathy: An unusual case: his is chemically generated.

Duv Galeni

Son of Komarran terrorist, Ser Galen, Duv joined the Barrayaran army after getting his PHD in Barrayaran history. An ambitious political climber he hopes to rise in the ranks to better help his native Komar.


 * The Atoner
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Bureaucrat
 * Bait and Switch Tyrant: Milies initially thinks he's a deliberately obstructive superior plotting against him, but that turns out to not be the case and he and Miles end up (somewhat uneasy) friends.
 * Beware the Quiet Ones: Duv is highly educated, well-read, does everything by the book...and after a really bad week, took down a couple of Cetagandan ghem commandos with his bare hands.
 * Deadpan Snarker: As one of Miles' former commanding officers it comes naturally.
 * Did Not Get the Girl: Subverted; he loses Laisa Toscane
 * Foil To Miles
 * Stop Helping Me!! Again to Miles

The Durona Group.

A medical clinic and biological research and development firm run by a group of nearly 40 clones. Formally serfs to Jackson Whole's Baron Fell. Now set up at Escobar.


 * Intimate Healing: Rowan Durona practices this with Miles.
 * Theme Naming: All of the women are named after flowers, all of the men are named after birds.
 * Truly Single Parent Lily Durona

Enrique Borgos.

Mark's Escobaran business partner and creator of the Butterbug


 * The Absent Minded Professor: So VERY
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Obsessed with his Butterbugs, thinks customizing his butterbugs (which look like a giant cross between a cockroach and a termite) with his host's livery is a way to get on his good side, and writes poetry!
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Lovable Nerd: Well... Martya seems to like him.
 * Man Child: He doesn't need an assistant he needs a keeper.
 * Stupid Crooks: Before meeting Mark, Enrique had sold several hundred percent of Butterbug stock to his investors. Notably, he didn't even seem aware that this might be illegal. "I was going to pay them back!"

Nicol

Gifted Quaddie musician rescued from indentured servitude on Jackson's Whole by Miles and Bel. Has a second pair of arms instead of legs, which is a disability in gravity but gives her a huge advantage in free fall.


 * Distressed Damsel: The closest thing to a traditional one in the whole series
 * Rescue Romance: with Bel.
 * Transhuman Alien: Genetically engineered for free fall.