Legendborn

Sel is “tall, dark-haired” (16), “unsettlingly beautiful” (17); he looks like a bad boy with his all-black wardrobe, “gauged ears bearing small rubber plugs,” and a large number of tattoos, including a magical symbol on his forearm: “a bold black circle divided by five lines into five equal segments” (276). He is moody, often aether-drunk, and well-read in occult philosophy. As a descendant of Merlin, Sel is a “cambion [...] part human and part demon” (244). Merlin’s bloodline gave Sel the powers of a sex demon (incubus), and he was raised to be a sorcerer for the Order from a young age after the Order betrayed his mother. Sel is Oathed to Nick as Kingsmage (25).

In terms of Arthurian archetypes, Sel fills both the roles of Merlin and Guinevere. While learning to become a Merlin (sorcerer) for Nick, Sel developed a crush on Nick. Sel also becomes enamored with Bree over the course of the novel. They have a magical connection from their first meeting when Sel’s “gaze sends tiny, invisible sparks of electricity dancing across [Bree’s] cheek” (17). In the final chapters, Sel says to Bree: “‘You are my king now, cariad.’ His voice carries all the intimacy of a caress, and his eyes are a melted gold” (487). Because Nick is the heir of Lancelot and Bree is the heir of Arthur, Sel’s part in the triangle is the person in love with both Arthur and Lancelot.

Nick, a 17-year-old built like an “Olympic gymnast” (49) with “tousled straw-blond hair” (48) and blue eyes, is Bree’s love interest. He is taller than Bree and is “as smart as he is good-looking” (71). His role is not only as a potential significant other; he is Bree’s Early College peer mentor, sponsors her to join the Order as his Page, and asks her to be his Squire. For most of the novel, Nick—and all the other characters—believe he is the heir of King Arthur: a Legendborn whose Scion is only awakened if Camlann (the final war) arrives.

However, it turns out Nick’s ancestor had an affair with a different Legendborn: a man named Reynolds who actually made Nick the heir of Lancelot. During their first kiss, Bree says she feels “the two sides of our familiar dance. The call and response of trust and loyalty, intermingling until they become a melody” (215). After Nick’s true ancestry comes to light and Bree is Awakened by Arthur, she wonders “how much was me and Nick and how much was Arthur and Lancelot. Call and response [...] tied together by the deep bonds of loyalty and betrayal” (483).

Alice Chen is Bree’s best friend: They enter Early College at UNC as roommates after growing up in Bentonville together. Alice is a short, wiry, lesbian Taiwanese American, who “pushes her round glasses up her nose” (12) and has the energy of a “fierce evil librarian” (67). Her relationship with Bree starts out as “sleepovers and skinned knees and first crushes and always making sure our lockers are side by side” (149). They come into conflict when Bree hides information about the Order. While Bree is trying to keep Alice away from demons, Alice tells Bree’s dad that Bree is staying out late and coming home messy and injured. When Bree protests, her dad says, “Don’t get mad at Alice now! That’s a good friend you got there” (156).

The young women reconcile as Alice helps Bree get ready for the Selection Gala, and events there cause Alice to get pulled into the secret world of the Order and magic. After Isaac (Davis’s Kingsmage) kidnaps and mesmers Alice, Bree’s ancestor Jessie takes over Bree’s body and heals Alice. William is the first member of the Order to accept Alice, saying she’s “catching on fast, all right” (484). When Bree tells Alice everything about her powers, Rootcraft, and the Order, Alice takes her place at Bree’s side, saying: “If this is your fight, then it’s mine too” (431).

William is the Scion of Gawain, a textually important knight due to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a romance story by an unknown author simply known as the Gawain poet. This work includes many specific powers, which results in William’s Bloodcrafter abilities being more specific (and literary) than the other Scions. His formal regalia is all green (in reference to the romance), his strength grows as the time grows closer to noon or midnight, and he has dramatic powers of healing that are critically important throughout the novel. Bree is knocked out seven times throughout the novel and awakens in William’s care four times, with him saving her from death at least twice. When Bree thanks him for these efforts, and questions why he would do this, William responds that “none of us have a choice” (140), alluding to Gawain facing death for no reason but honor in the medieval romance.

While every young-adult character in the novel texts, William’s use of notes—especially notes left attached to the subjects of his healing—outweighs them all. These notes demonstrate his personability and attentiveness even when he isn’t present. He occasionally uses these to provide romantic advice to Bree and operates as her closest friend in the Order.

While Bree is, at first, forced to attend counseling sessions with Dr. Patricia Hartwood, their relationship soon becomes a source of strength. Patricia acts as a connection to both Bree’s mother and the Black community Bree lacks in the Caucasian world of secret societies and hereditary wealth. Patricia respects Bree’s boundaries and supports her—even after Bree is revealed to be a Bloodcrafter.

As both a doctor and a practitioner of Rootcraft, Patricia subverts the classic magic/technology dichotomy, integrating her psychiatric training with her curative rituals. She identifies Persistent Complex Bereavement Syndrome—the source of Bree’s magical difficulties—which allows Bree to both connect with her ancestors and the ancestral power she needs to survive. Her acknowledgement of Bree’s pain with “You’re suffering right now, Bree. More than I realized” (314) leads to this resolution, and Bree’s triumph over the demons.

Like Bree, her father (Mr. Matthews) begins the book grieving for the death of his wife and Bree’s mother, which complicates their relationship. A call from the Dean provokes him into intervening by forcing a therapist, Patricia, on Bree. While intrusive, his actions do help Bree both in the long run, as well as in the short-term, when he arrives unbidden at Bree’s dorm and brings her to Waffle House. The conversation they have—as well as the magical bracelet he gives her—provides Bree with the information and strength to confront the forces arrayed against her.

Bree’s father acts as a foil to Nick’s father, Dr. Martin Davis. Bree’s father loves and cares about his daughter while Nick’s father sees him only as a tool to fulfill his desire to unleash Camlann. Bree’s father is worried about Bree’s isolation, and the trauma she will experience as a Black woman in a gentrified space, and asks if she’s “[m]et any Black kids yet?” (41), a question that is reiterated in the Waffle House when he describes his anger at the Dean.

Martin Davis, generally referred to as “Davis” or “Lord Davis,” is Nick’s father and the secret antagonist. He is extremely deliberate, making plans over decades, and typifies a Southern Gentleman; his accent is indicated in both the dialogue and the narration: “The steps are low and measured, but the older man’s heavy drawl holds barely contained fury” (104). Lord Davis is responsible for the inciting incident of the novel, as it was his orders that opened the Gate which made Bree’s mother the target of the Order’s surveillance. Despite this, he is superficially kind, accepting Bree and thanking her for returning Nick to the Order.

In the conclusion of the novel, this guise is abandoned in a way that reflects his traditionality. He says to Bree, “Malory tells us ‘the very purpose of a knight is to fight on behalf of a lady’! And now my son’s foolishness in choosing you, who sits at the crux of two faults” (423). Quoting Malory as he reveals how misogynistic and racist he really is reflects Davis’s introduction when he quoted Tennyson in defense of Nick and Bree.

“Evan” is the identity assumed by the goruchel Rhaz. Goruchel, like other demons in the world, feed on negative emotions and Evan/Rhaz does this from his introduction. His first line in the novel, “You’re the girl whose mom died, right?” (11) induces a “trickle of pain” (12) inside Bree, which blends in with Charlotte’s vague idioms about grief, but also showcases the similarity between bland human thoughtlessness and actual demonic malice.

When he is revealed to be a demon, his human appearance falls away: “[Rhaz] grins, his human teeth stretching in his mouth until they look like a boar’s canines. His ringers darken and elongate to crimson claws. The skin of his eyes recedes into deep hollows, and his blue eyes bleed to red” (455) shows Rhaz developing from an emotional threat to a physical one—a near-indestructible demon who went undetected due to his Caucasian guise. Bree is able to defeat Rhaz, but it is not clear when the real Evan died.