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.

• Affectionate Nickname: She is called Tessa by most everyone, Tessie by her brother, and Tess by Will.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys / Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Will and Jem respectively.
• Arranged Marriage: Tessa was going to be forced to marry the Magister had she not been rescued by Will. She was obviously not very happy about it.
• Brainy Brunette: She is a wide reader and quotes poetry quite often. She has the potential to lapse into Badass Bookworm territory.
• Chekhov's Gun: Will's mention of Boadicea gives Tessa the strength to fool the Magister.
• Chekhov's Gift: The clockwork angel. Also, Tessa's dislike of chocolate and the gift Nate gives Aunt Harriet...
• Conveniently an Orphan
• Driven to Suicide: Subverted. She makes the Magister think she killed herself so that he wouldn't get his hands on her power, but in reality she Changed into a woman who'd died by a gunshot wound seconds before the wound would prove fatal.
• Expy: Critics argue that Tessa is a less snarky version of Clary from the sequel series, The Mortal Instruments.
• Faking the Dead: See Driven to Suicide.
• First Kiss: William Herondale in the attic.
• Genre Savvy: Because she's so wide-read.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: Played with by having Jem and Will be Tessa's angels, respectively. It doesn't hurt that they're both part angel.
• Gray Eyes
• Half-Human Hybrid: She's a warlock. Her father was a demon who fooled Tessa's mother into thinking he was human.
• The Hero: Of the Five-Man Band
• Love Triangle: Will-->Tessa<--Jem
• Meaningful Name: Word of God says to look up on why Tessa's surname name is so similar to Clary's fake last one (Fray), and there's also the matter of the Gray Book.
• Morality Pet: For Will.
• Parental Abandonment: Her parents died when she was three.
• Plucky Girl
• Shape Shifter: This starts off the whole story because of her ability to change into anyone, even possessing some of their memories and personality (she just has to touch one of their items to do it the first time).
  • Dead Person Impersonation: She can do this.
  • Humanshifting: This is the whole basis of her powers.
  • Not Quite Back to Normal: She worries that this would happen eventually.
  • Shapeshifter Default Form: Her normal body, of course.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: After she learns to control her powers.
• Spirited Young Lady
• Trailers Always Spoil: The fact that Will and Tessa kiss is revealed in the trailer.
• Two Guys and a Girl: With Jem and Will.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Tessa always compares her adventures to what she's read and hopes for the best of all situations.

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.

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Will constantly says he's always out drinking and gambling, and that there are a dozen girls who've claimed that he'd compromised their virtue. Jem, however, thinks he's lying to make himself look bad.
• Blue Eyes
• British Accents
• Byronic Hero
• Cartwright Curse: A variation that just doesn't cover Love Interests. When he was younger, Will opened a Pyxis and ended up being cursed such that anybody who cares for him will die. Or at least, that's what the demon told him.
• Cassandra Truth: The existence of demon pox.
• The Charmer
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: According to Jessamine, Will thinks he's Galahad. And it's true.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Or at least, he alludes to one quite often.
• Dead Older Sister
• Deadpan Snarker: Oh, Will.

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.

• Emo Teen: According to fans.
• Estrogen Brigade Bait: Big time. Will's good looks are given a lot of attention.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Magnus and de Quincey both hint this about will. Can't blame 'em, though.
• Expy: One can sum up Will by saying he's a ruder, snarkier, British, different-colored version of Jace from the previous series. Maybe it's the Herondale blood.
• First Kiss: He was Tessa's.
• Foil: To Jem.
• The Gambling Addict
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Jem. He and Will are parabatai, basically meaning they stick to one another and cover each other in a fight.
• Hollywood Atheist: Pulvis et umbra sumus. For those who don't read Horace, that means "we are dust and shadows," pretty much said by Will to be what he believes in.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Pulls this for both Tessa and Jem when they announce their engagement.
• I See Dead People: Confirmed in the first chapter of Clockwork Prince to be one of the few Shadowhunters that can.
• Insecure Love Interest
• Jade-Colored Glasses: He alludes to a traumatic childhood quite often.
• Jerkass: He occasionally strays into Jerk with a Heart of Gold territory, but as of now, he isn't.
  • Jerkass Facade: It's to stop people from caring about him too much - because of his curse, they'll wind up dead eventually. After he finds out that there is no curse, he mellows down.
• The Lancer of the Five-Man Band
• Mood Swinger
• Morality Pet: Jem, who seems to be the only person whose well-being Will actually seems to give a damn about. Tessa looks like she's becoming one.
• Odd Friendship / Opposites Attract: With Jem - Will is a rude asshole and Jem is a kindhearted nice guy. They even look absolutely different: Jem is all white and silver and Will is all dark colors.
• Playing Drunk: Jem says it's to make himself look bad. It is revealed in Clockwork Prince why.
• Running Gag: There is no such thing as demon pox. Turns out that there is, and Benedict Lightwood suffers from it.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Jem. No points for guessing which one he is.
• Stock Foreign Name
• Tall, Dark and Handsome and Tall, Dark and Snarky: Mmmhm.
• Troubled but Cute

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?

• But Not Too Foreign: Half-Brit, half Chinese, which was unusual for the time period given the state of relations between Britain and China.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: According to Jessamine. Not as much as Will, though.
• Conveniently an Orphan
• Dark and Troubled Past: A demon who had a grudge against his mother tortured him in front of his parents, injecting him over and over with a drug that made him hallucinate vividly. See Soap Opera Disease.
• Deadpan Snarker: His snarkiness comes mostly from saying something, then adding "Not really" with something humorous. He can play the trope completely straight, though.
• Definitely Just a Cold: To Tessa when she asks about his health.
• Disease Bleach
• Elegant Classical Musician: He can play the violin, and quite well, too.
• Foil: To Will.
• Gentleman Snarker
• I Can't Believe A Girl Like You Would Notice Me!: To Tessa, after she accepts his proposal.
• Ill Boy
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Subverted. He had a very traumatic experience but seems to function perfectly normally outside his "illness".
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: When he adopts Church.
• Memento MacGuffin: His mother's family ring, which he uses to propose to Tessa.
• Morality Pet: For Will.
• Nice Guy
• The Not Love Interest: For Will.
• Oblivious to Love: Probably can't tell that Sophie's sweet on him.
• Odd Friendship / Opposites Attract: With Will.
• The Smart Guy of the Five-Man Band
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Will's Manly Man, Will's tendencies often making him look near-saintlike in comparison.
• Soap Opera Disease: It was caused by a demon drug that was used to torture him and his parents when he was younger. There is no known cure for it, and he has to keep taking a specific drug to keep on fighting - as Brother Enoch says, taking the drug means a slow death, but keeping him off the drug would mean a quick one.
• Stock Foreign Name
• Sword Cane: His Weapon of Choice is a jade-tipped one.
• Technicolor Eyes / Gray Eyes: Jem's eyes, like his hair, are silver.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: His hair is described as silver, and he has little of the aloofness (or the evil-ness), but he still fits the trope.
• Your Days Are Numbered

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.

• Brainy Brunette: Charlotte is very intelligent.
• The Chick of the Five-Man Band
• Deadly Disc: Uses two on the battle after Blackfriar Bridge.
• Happily Married: With Henry, more or less, despite his awkward Genius Ditz-ness.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Tiny girl to Henry's huge guy.
• Like a Son to Me: It's almost as if Will, Jem, and Jessamine were her own children, except, according to her, for the part where they were required to love her.
• In the Blood: It's mentioned in passing that her father was the previous caretaker of the Institute.
• Parental Substitute: Raised Will, Jem, and Jessie since they came to the institute. Will says that she would have been called a governess had she not been so intelligent and if she didn't have the ability to chop one into pieces.
• Pregnant Badass: As of the end of Clockwork Prince.
• Team Mom: Her main function is basically making sure everybody doesn't kill everybody.
• Younger Than They Look: Charlotte's small size is countered by the air of competence she exudes, and Tessa says she had assumed her to be much older than twenty-three.

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.

• Absent-Minded Professor: He would be...if he actually was a professor.
• The Big Guy of the Five-Man Band
• Bungling Inventor
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Gadgeteer Genius: His defining character trait.
• Genius Ditz: Big time - Henry is as absentminded as they come, but when it comes to mechanical stuff, he's your guy.
• Happily Married: To Charlotte, more or less.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Huge guy to Charlotte's tiny girl.
• Phlebotinum Breakdown: What most of his inventions end up doing.

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.

• British Accents
• Brown Eyes
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Well, Shadowhunter blood is dominant.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: In Clockwork Prince.
• Dumb Blonde: Subverted. While flouncy and just a tad spoiled, Jessamine is a perfectly capable Shadowhunter in her own right.
• English Rose: Tessa describes her as looking like one.
• The Fashionista: Jessamine is very concerned about how she looks, and it's she who takes Tessa out to buy new dresses.
• Hair of Gold
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Implied to be her motivations for her actions in the second book.
• Improbable Weapon User: She uses a parasol Henry made for her. The fabric is edged with electrum, though.
• The Load: Played straight and subverted with Jessamine. She doesn't want to do anything and makes herself into a load, but she also demonstrates that she's a very capable Shadowhunter.
• Love Freak / In Love with Love: She wants someone to take her away from the Institute.
• Love Martyr: For Nate - she continues to feed him information despite Tessa's repeated insistence that he loves no one but himself.
• The Mole: In the second book.
• Parasol of Prettiness: Aw, look at Jessamine's parasol! It's so pretty and pink and it even has flowers on it...
  • Parasol of Pain: ...and the edges are laced with electrum. Ouch.
• Proper Lady: Strives to be this. She fails because of her attitude.
• Razor Floss: Edges her parasol, turning it into an effective weapon.
• Reluctant Warrior: Although she's no Actual Pacifist. She just really, really hates the Shadowhunter world.
• Secret Relationship: With Nate in Clockwork Prince.
• The Sixth Ranger of the Five-Man Band: Due to her dislike of the Shadowhunter world.
• Spoiled Brat: More or less.

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.

• Heel Face Turn
• Jerkass
• The Unfair Sex: One of his claims against Charlotte's leadership is that women are incapable of running 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.

• Gratuitous Spanish
• Gray-Green Eyes: Gray for his calmness, green for his Shadowhunter powers.
• Informed Flaw: Is supposedly an even bigger Jerkass than his little brother, although he's shown himself to be nicer than Gabriel. Considering that was Will speaking, it's no wonder.
  • Character Development: He was possibly a bigger asshole than Gabriel, but he shaped up during his time in Spain.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: With Gabriel.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Him and Sophie.
• The Stoic

Other Downworlders

Lady Camille Belcourt

• The Beautiful Elite: Camille is a vampire, so naturally this would come into play.
• Dumb Blonde: Very much averted.
• Foregone Conclusion: We already know that her and Magnus's relationship isn't going to last long.
• Interspecies Romance: With Magnus Bane and, previously, a werewolf, which de Quincey frowned upon, because, you know, vampires and werewolves are supposed to loathe each other. Camille really started hating de Quincey after he murdered her werewolf lover.
• Lady of War: As a vampire, Camille can fight, but as a lady of high social standing she carries herself with a dignified manner. Tessa has difficulty imitating her during The Infiltration.
• Our Vampires Are Different
• Proper Lady: Behaves like this.
• Vampires Are Rich: Naturally.

Alexei de Quincey

• Evil Former Friend: To Camille. Apparently he still doesn't get the message that she doesn't see him as a friend - or anything else, for that matter - anymore, not after he killed her werewolf lover.
• Killed Off for Real
• Our Vampires Are Different
• The Scapegoat: In all honesty, de Quincey is not the poster boy for morality, but he is certainly not the Magister.
• Vampires Are Rich: Known to throw absolutely lavish parties where they abuse mundanes.

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

• Names to Run Away From Really Fast
• Sibling Team: A villainous example.
• Theme Naming: Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black. Gee.

Ragnor Fell

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

• Amazing Technicolor Population

Woolsey Scott

Head of London's werewolf pack.

• Camp Gay
• Dead Older Brother: His older brother was Camille's ex-lover who get executed by de Quincey. As such, he's more than willing to aid the Shadowhunters.
• Eccentric Millionaire
• Noodle Incident: Hamburg, anyone?

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.

• Alliterative Name: His surname is revealed to be "Tanner" as of the second book.
• The Big Guy: Which is rather ironic, considering he was a shrimp when he was younger.
• British Accents: He has a tendency to slip into his East End accent when outside the Institute.
• The Driver
• I See Them, Too
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
• It Has Been an Honor
• Killed Mid-Sentence
• Legacy of Service: He comes from a long line of people who've had a touch of the Sight, which is required for servants of the Nephilim. Needless to say, his family's been serving the Institute for a while.
• Last Request: He asks Will to take care of Sophie, because Sophie is...something.
• Stuffed in The Fridge

Agatha

The cook at the Institute.

• Stuffed in The Fridge
• Team Chef

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

• Arranged Marriage: To Tessa, mainly because he wants her power for himself.
• Big Bad: Of the first book, at least.
• Character Title: Guess who the resident Clockwork Prince is.
• Consummate Liar
• Gadgeteer Genius: It was he who created the Ridiculously Human Clockwork Creatures.
• Happily Adopted: When he was younger.
• Meaningful Name: Axel Mortmain makes mechanical devices. And don't forget that Mortmain means "Hand of Death."
• Out of Focus: In the second book.
• Take Over the World: He wants to do this, very very much.
• You Killed My Father: Supposedly has a grudge against Shadowhunters for the "unjustified" murder of his warlock parents.

Cyril Tanner

Thomas's older brother.

• I See Them, Too
• Legacy of Service
• Replacement Goldfish
• Strong Family Resemblance: Resembles Thomas very much, both in appearance and demeanor, although Tessa says he's more indifferent.
• Submissive Badass: Can stay on equal footing with Gabriel for a while, although Gabriel will always beat him due to being a Shadowhunter.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Is essentially an older Thomas, brought in to replace him after his death.

Bridget Daly

• I See Them, Too
• Legacy of Service: Her family's served the Nephilim for generations.
• Supreme Chef
• Suspiciously Apropos Music: Likes to sing weepy ballads that tend to get on the Shadowhunters' nerves, and they've fallen into this once or twice.