Infernal Devices/Characters

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A listing of characters that appear in The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare.

This series is a prequel to her other series, The Mortal Instruments. Check out that character sheet, too.

The Institute

Theresa "Tessa" Gray

Tessa has spent the first sixteen years of her life being overprotected by her aunt after the death of her parents in a carriage accident. She lives almost all her life in books, dreaming of having the kind of adventures the heroines she reads about do—until she is forced to travel from New York to London when her brother Nathaniel goes missing and only a pair of mysterious—and sinister—women called the Dark Sisters seem to know where he might have gone. The Shadowhunters of the London Institute may be Tessa's only hope of finding Nate, but their mysterious world of demons and Downworlders holds many dangers for her—especially when she realizes she might be more a part of it than she'd thought.

William "Will" Herondale

Seventeen-year-old Will is the sort of young man nice Victorian girls were warned against. He drinks, gambles, and enjoys the company of ladies of questionable virtue—at least, as much as he enjoys anything. Will hates everyone and everything, with the possible exception of Jem, and even that's in some doubt. Charlotte despairs of keeping him alive past the age of nineteen. When he finds himself oddly drawn to Tessa, his friends begin to hope that the Downworlder girl will prove Will's unlikely salvation—but as Tessa grows closer to the bleak secret that makes his life a prison, danger threatens to destroy them both if she ever finds out the truth.

Gabriel: You know, there was a time when I thought we could be friends.
Will: There was a time when I thought I was a ferret, but that turned out to be the opium haze. Did you know it had that effect? 'Cause I didn't.

    • And there's this scene from Clockwork Prince:

“They’re not hideous,” said Tessa.
Will blinked at her. “What?”
“Gideon and Gabriel,” said Tessa. “They’re really quite good-looking, not hideous at all.”
“I spoke,” said Will, in sepulchral tones, “of the pitch-black inner depths of their souls.”
Tessa snorted. “And what color do you suppose the inner depths of your soul are, Will Herondale?”
“Mauve,” said Will.

James "Jem" Carstairs

Brought up in the Institute in Shanghai, Jem's parents were killed by a demon who allowed Jem to live—but with a terrible price to be paid. Frail and silver-haired, Jem seems an unlikely demon-killer, but his skills and swift intelligence make him a formidable foe. He finds a kindred spirit in Tessa as both of them feel they are torn between two worlds, neither belonging completely to one or to the other. As Jem's affection for her grows, will Will have to hurt the only person in his life he's ever seemed to care about?

Charlotte Branwell (nee Fairchild)

Twenty-three-year-old Charlotte runs the entire Institute with a capable hand. Kind and loving, she does her best to care for the orphaned Shadowhunters who live under her roof while hiding her loneliness from the absent-minded husband she loves. It seems as if there's nothing Charlotte can't manage—until Tessa's search for her missing brother begins to uncover a web of corruption and deceit in London's Downworld that threatens to tear London's Conclave of Shadowhunters apart.

Henry Branwell

Absent-minded and brilliant, Henry spends his waking hours in the crypt of the Institute, inventing fabulous machines and weapons out of cogs cams and gears. Unfortunately just as many of Henry's inventions don't work as the ones that do, and Henry is as likely to set himself on fire as he is to invent something new and amazing. When Tessa finds herself followed by a silent band of assassins who turn out to be automata—human beings made from clockwork parts—it is Henry who must decipher how they work in order to find the demonic mechanical genius at the heart of the most evil plan London's supernatural world has ever seen.

Jessamine Lovelace

Jessamine's parents, like Will's were Shadowhunters who left the Clave. Their deaths in a fire orphaned her, leaving her to be brought up in the Institute by Charlotte and Henry. Jessamine hates everything about being a Shadowhunter, from the training to the danger to the existence of demons, which she sees as "smelly and disgusting." Armed with a razor-edged parasol and an equally sharp tongue, Jessamine can be dangerous if she wants to be—to herself as much as to the supernatural creatures she's sometimes forced to encounter.

Other Shadowhunters

Benedict Lightwood

One of the older members of London's Enclave and Gabriel's father. Benedict questions Charlotte's ability to run the Institute.

Gabriel Lightwood

Benedict's younger son and Will's apparent rival.

  • Big Brother Instinct: Will says the reason Gabriel hates him so much is because he compromised the latter's sister's virtue. But then again, it's Will, so we don't know if that's true or not. As of the second book, it's apparently because Will rejected his little sister's advances (in his defense, she was a lovesick twelve-year-old) and broke Gabriel's arm in public.
  • Green Eyes
  • Jerkass: Quite blatantly.
  • The Rival: Presumably to Will.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: With Gideon.
  • Sitcom Arch Nemesis: From what we've seen, he is this to Will.
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome

Gideon Lightwood

Gabriel's older brother, who returns from Spain in the second book.

Other Downworlders

Lady Camille Belcourt

Alexei de Quincey

Magnus Bane

  • Bi the Way: Although you'd only know it by reading the sequel series. He's certainly still quite campy even in this series.
  • Call Back: Magnus tells Tessa he has a thing for people with blue eyes and black hair. Who has blue eyes and black hair? Alec from Mortal Instruments! Though, since this is the prequel trilogy, it's really more of a call forward...
  • Even the Guys Want Him: It's said that de Quincey is interested in him as "more than friends".
  • Interspecies Romance: With Camille.
  • Love Martyr: Has shades of this for Camille.
  • Token Minority: Like Jem, he's part Asian.

The Dark Sisters

Ragnor Fell

A warlock whose help Charlotte enlists to keep tabs on the Herondale family.

Woolsey Scott

Head of London's werewolf pack.

Mundanes

Sophie Collins

One of the servants at the Institute.

  • Deadpan Snarker: Oh, so much.
  • Girl Friday: To Tessa.
  • Hazel Eyes
  • If I Can't Have You: The reason for her scar - the son of her previous employer wanted her and when she refused his advances, took a knife to her face so that nobody could have her beauty.
  • I See Them, Too: She has a touch of the Sight, which is how Charlotte let her work for them.
  • Meido
  • Oblivious to Love: Likewise, she had no idea that Thomas was sweet on her.
  • Scars Are Forever: She has a huge one running down the left side of her face that distorts her beauty. She seems to be more or less okay with it, though, saying that whoever would love her now wouldn't love her just for her looks.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With Gideon.
  • When She Smiles: According to Tessa, Sophie has a downright amazing smile that makes her beautiful despite her scar.

Thomas Tanner

Another of the servants at the Institute.

Agatha

The cook at the Institute.

Nathaniel "Nate" Gray

Tessa's brother, who has gone missing at the start of the series.

  • Bastard Bastard: Was actually the son of Aunt Harriet and her fiance (who would end up dead before their marriage), making him Tessa's cousin. And he is very, very bitter about it.
  • Chekhov's Gift: The chocolates he gives Aunt Harriet, knowing his sister wouldn't eat them...
  • Consummate Liar: The guy is really good at improvising tall tales, you have to give him that.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: What's with the constant brother-sister betrayals in Clare books?
  • Killed Off for Real: In the second book.
  • The Mole
  • Pretty Boy: According to Tessa and Jessamine.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Poisons Aunt Harriet out of spite.
  • Smug Snake: Especially in the second book.
  • The Unfavorite: Subverted with his biological parents, but with if Aunt Harriet was ever supposed to pick which one of her sister's children would become more successful, it would be Tessa.

Axel Mortmain

Cyril Tanner

Thomas's older brother.

Bridget Daly

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