Vorkosigan Saga/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== Political Powers ==

=== 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 [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|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 [[Badass|Miles]], who has to deal with Barrayar's nasty prejudice against [[Genius Cripple|mutants like him]], and the focus (and often the setting) of the Vorkosigan series.

 

* [[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 [[The Wise Prince|Gregor]] has been applying his foster-father's lessons, toning down both the decadence and the deadliness.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Yes it was a brutal, chaotic society and has not quite grown out of that. However it does have a sense of honor, and does not permit slavery.

* [[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.

 

=== 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 {{spoiler|a prominent Komarran heiress becoming the [[Happily Married]] Empress of Barrayar}}.

 

 

=== 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 Hero|Science Heroes]]...just don't run afoul of their [[Hollywood Psych|therapists]].

 

 

=== 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. [[Forever War|In many ways, it remains the main opponent of the Vorkosigan series as, unlike Barrayar, Cetaganda generally favours expansion]], {{spoiler|although by the end of the series it appears that Miles' sustained efforts have bought Barrayar some goodwill with its once and future enemy...not that it means much, but by ''Diplomatic Immunity'' he can actually ''talk'' the Cetagandans out of starting another war with Barrayar.}}

 

 

=== Jackson's Whole ===

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

 

 

== Vorkosigan House ==

=== The Vorkosigans ===

Tropes that apply to the whole Vorkosigan clan:

 

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|High Vor Who Actually Do Something]]

 

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 [[Fantastic Racism|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 [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|his friend Elena Bothari]] and [[Heroic Sociopath|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.

 

* [[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.

 

"The Admiral's Captain": Former Betan Astronomical Survey Captain, retired [[Science Hero]], certified [[Badass]], wife of Aral and mother of Miles {{spoiler|and later Mark}}.

 

* [[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 {{spoiler|eldest}} son.

* [[The Social Expert]]: Probably the best example in a whole family full of examples.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: When Cordelia is surprised that she is welcomed having been on the other side during the war, she is told that a good soldier is appreciated on Barrayar. Barrayarans often take their militarism so seriously that they take it to it's logical extent and do nothing so absurdly civilian as to be unsporting about the matter when the shooting is over.

 

* [[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. {{spoiler|After Miles' marriage, becomes this very literally.}}

* [[Good Parents]]: With Cordelia

* [[Happily Married]]: To Cordelia

* [[Officer and a Gentleman]]

* [[Old Soldier]]

* [[When She Smiles|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.

 

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

 

* [[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.

 

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. {{spoiler|Then he meets his original, who manages to change his mind in more ways than one.}} Needless to say, Mark is a hugely screwed-up individual.

 

 

=== Servants & Retainers ===

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.

 

* [[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 {{spoiler|making his death a bizarre turnabout.}}

 

 

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

 

Quiet, good with horses.

 

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. {{spoiler|Also, between the aforementioned heroism and him and Sergeant Taura derailing a plot to assassinate Ekaterin ''on the day of her wedding to Miles,'' a thing that would surely have broken Miles beyond the ability of even Betan therapy to fix, there's no doubting Roic's bravery ''or'' loyalty.}} ''Cryoburn'' mentions briefly that he's courting Armsman Commander Pym's daughter Aurie.

 

* [[Tiny Guy, Huge Girl]]: His brief romance with Taura, one of the few people in the universe who could render him the 'tiny guy'.

 

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.

 

** By the time of ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'', even Emperor Gregor is wistfully considering the idea of poaching her.

 

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

 

* [[When He Smiles]]: As if he weren't already good-looking enough, {{spoiler|the woman he finally marries}} feels this applies, too.

 

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."

 

* [[My Beloved Smother]]: Ivan thinks so, but [[I Want Grandkids|she just wants grandkids,]] and backs off once {{spoiler|Simon Illyan is in the picture.}}

* [[Politically-Active Princess|Politically Active Vor Lady:]] Especially in ''A Civil Campaign''.

* [[Silk Hiding Steel]]

 

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''.

 

* [[The Spymaster]]

 

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.

 

* [[The White Prince]]: Appears as this toward the beginning of The Vor Game. Turns out to be smarter than he appears though.

 

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

 

* [[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.

 

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]]

* [[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 [[Off with His Head|re-purposed]] later.

 

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

 

* [[Happily Married]]: To Kou, {{spoiler|though that doesn't mean she doesn't want her daughters to have happier, saner courtships than she did.}}

* [[Retired Badass]]

 

 

Kou and Drou's four daughters, Delia {{spoiler|Galeni}}, Olivia,{{spoiler|Countess Vorrutyer}}, Martya {{spoiler|Borgos}} and Kareen {{spoiler|who becomes Lady Kareen Vorkosigan in all but name}}.

* [[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," and are said to be unsuccessfully trying to surrender to them.

* [[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 chose to have all girls after noticing that everyone else was using gender-choice technology to select for boys; their daughters are now about the hottest commodities on the Vorbarra Sultana dating scene. The Commodore remarks that he'd expected to someday have a substantial portion of the general staff as sons-in-law. Mark notes that with the mates the girls seem to have chosen, Kou will instead have significant power not just in the military ({{spoiler|Duv Galeni}}), but in the political ({{spoiler|Count Dono}}), scientific ({{spoiler|Enrique Borgos}}), and economic ({{spoiler|Mark himself}}) spheres. "It wasn't just the general staff Kou looked to own in his old age, it was the world."

* [[Nice Girl]]: "Everyone liked Kareen, because Kareen liked everyone."

 

{{quote|"Drat."|'''Ekaterin Nile Vorvayne Vorsoisson''', ''Komarr'', after more than a decade of being married to Etienne Vorsoisson}}

 

* [[Silk Hiding Steel]]

 

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.

 

* [[Happily Married]]

 

Town Clown, impoverished, imprudent, and impervious to put-downs, but very witty. {{spoiler|Also an ImpSec informer, thought by some to be reporting to Lady Alys Vorpatril.}}

 

* [[Upper Class Wit]]

 

Former Oseran mercenary; devastatingly beautiful because after her face got burned off by plasma fire in one of his first battles, Miles bought her a very nice new one. Since then she's used it, plus superlative competence and a hilariously twisted personality, to spectacular effect in the Dendarii. {{spoiler|Also sleeping with Miles, at least until the events of ''Memory''.}}

 

* [[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.

 

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. {{spoiler|Marries Baz Jesek (despite an [[Anguished Declaration of Love]] from Miles...bad timing, son) after her father's death.}}

 

* [[Missing Mom]]: Well, she ''was'' missing, right up until {{spoiler|she walked in and shot Elena's father, Sergeant Bothari, to death right in front of her. Mother and daughter do eventually manage to reconcile, despite the circumstances surrounding both Elena's conception and their deadly first meeting.}}

 

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, {{spoiler|married Miles' childhood friend and crush Elena (after being Baba'd by Miles himself, no less), and later retired with Elena to start a family.}}

 

* [[Mr. Fixit]]

 

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

 

* [[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 usage as it does on certain other planets.

 

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.

 

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: To Miles in "The Warrior's Apprentice", before they became allies.

 

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 {{spoiler|until ''Cryoburn'', when Sergeant Taura passes away aged thirty.}}

 

* [[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.

 

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.

 

* [[Becoming the Mask]]: Though a [[Fish Out of Water|Betan]], he learns to behave like a devoted Armsman when Miles is around. Including {{spoiler|'''ramming''' his precious ship into an enemy vessel}}, because "it didn't seem to me that a, a right and proper Armsman ought to be sitting on his ass" while his lord got killed. Sergeant Bothari actually smiled and said, "Welcome to my lord's service -- Armsman."

 

* [[Domestic Abuse]]: Hinted at in the behaviour of his widow Princess Kareen.

* [[Glory Hound]]: Unlike Miles, very much ''not'' a positive example.

 

* [[Depraved Bisexual]]: {{spoiler|Unlike his ex-boyfriend (and ex-brother in law) Aral,}} Ges plays this deadly straight. He even starts referencing the Marquis de Sade.

* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|Breaking Bothari and then turning him loose on Cordelia while armed was the last, if not the worst, mistake Ges ever made.}}

* [[Smug Snake]]: Is entirely too convinced he has [[Warrior Therapist|Cordelia Naismith]] at his mercy because she's tied down and naked.

 

 

* [[Blondes Are Evil]]

{{quote|"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."}}

 

 

* [[Body Horror]]: His House's stock in trade.

* [[Torture Technician]]: Has a whole stable full of them, and indulges from time to time for his own amusement.

 

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]: To Mark, despite Mark being a clone. He didn't leave his biological son Duv Galeni many happy memories either, if their interactions are anything to go by.

* [[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, {{spoiler|and the fact that his idea of "training" includes sodomizing Mark with a shock stick for the unforgivable crime of trying to sneak out for a date with a girl... Galen's own subordinates thought '''that''' was going too far, and begged him to stop.}}

 

 

* [[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.

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]

 

 

* [[Babies Ever After]]: {{spoiler|What he was trying to do with Janine, and what eventually ended up happening in spite of her death.}}

* [[Telepathy]]: An unusual case: his is chemically generated.

 

 

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Stop Helping Me!]] Again to Miles {{spoiler|after Miles, having accidentally sabotaged his chances with Laisa Toscane by introducing her to Gregor, offers to assist Duv in his courtship of Delia Koudelka.}}

 

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.

 

* [[Truly Single Parent]] Lily Durona

 

Mark's Escobaran business partner and creator of the Butterbug

 

* [[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!"

 

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.

 

* [[Transhuman Aliens|Transhuman Alien]]: Genetically engineered for free fall.