List of secondary characters in Skulduggery Pleasant

This list comprises information on minor characters who exist in the fantasy novel, Skulduggery Pleasant and its sequel by Derek Landy. The premise of the novel is that magic is real and those with the ability to wield it live among us. Many years ago an evil sorcerer named Mevolent attempted to conquer the world and was opposed by a resistance movement led by a powerful magician named Skulduggery Pleasant who was later killed by Mevolent's forces but came back to life as a living skeleton and then defeated Mevolent. In the book Skulduggery meets a strong-willed girl named Stephanie Edgely whose uncle, an old friend of Skulduggery has died under mysterious circumstances and together the two of them must defend the world from various evil beings who seek to destroy to it. Stephanie subsequently adopts the name Valkyrie Cain which she retains for the rest of the series. She and Skulduggery have a "love/hate" relationship.

Recurring characters

Tanith Low

A master swords-woman who is first introduced battling a troll in the first book, she works for the Elders who are the leaders of the magical population of Europe. Tanith Low's job is to apprehend or otherwise kill criminals and evil creatures who threaten national security. She befriends Valkyrie later in the novel. During a conversation with Stephanie Tanith expresses a desire for a little sister and she and Stephanie develop an affectionate sisterly relationship. Tanith is also known to have an elder brother whom she states she "loves to bits." Despite her softer, warmer side, Tanith is a ruthlessly efficient agent for the magical government and an excellent fighter who takes on Serpine's White Cleaver in combat and almost wins in the first novel and assists Skulduggery in defeating the Torment in the second book. She is an adept who can run on walls and unlock locks by touching them.

In "Playing With Fire" she comments that Stephanie/Valkyrie should spend more time with people her age.

Mr. Bliss

The strongest man on Earth, Mr. Bliss is a sinister and enigmatic man who works for the Elders. He later betrays them in favour of Serpine who he believes is too powerful to defeat. He is later revealed to be a double-agent for the Elders and assists in defeating Serpine. He is China Sorrow's brother. He and China were brought up to worship the Faceless Ones but neither worship them anymore although they continue to believe in their existence and so assist Skulduggery in preventing Serpine from resurrecting them in Book 1 and Baron Vengeous from doing so in Book 2. Both he and China mistrust and apparently despise each other.

China Sorrows

An enchantingly beautiful but dangerous sorceress who has the ability to make anyone who sees her fall in love with her. China Sorrows owns a library of rare magical devices which she collects by ruthless and somewhat corrupt means. As mysterious as her brother, Mr Bliss, she is a cunning and insidious character whom Skulduggery does not trust. The two of them do know each other well however and appear to have a mutual respect. It is also implied that they had a romantic relationship in the past. China attempts to control Stephanie using her name in the first book but after Stephanie adopts a new name (Valkyrie Cain) China loses this power over her. In the second book, Stephanie seems to still be in love with China after seeing her for the first time. It is also revealed that China, along with Nefarian Serpine and Baron Vengeous, was once part of a cult that worshipped the Faceless Ones. Vengeous attempts to convince her to join him in "Playing With Fire" but when she rejects his offer, he vows to destroy her. She is also a formidable sorceress and quite a skilled fighter through the use of magical "Symbols" which appear in the form of tattoos on her body.

On an amusing sidenote China also states that she has attempted to kill her brother several times and failed.

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For characters who as of yet have only appeared in the first book.

Ghastly Bespoke

An immensely strong tailor who was born with hideous facial nose deformities but is nevertheless a perfectly pleasant and sociable individual who is an old friend of Skulduggery and expresses concern for Stephanie's safety much to her chagrin. He is apt at boxing which he learned from his mother and sewing which he learned from his father. Reasoning that he was ugly enough already without having to get his face damaged in a boxing ring, Ghastly went into sewing and became a tailor. His considerable physical strength and boxing skills come in handy when he assists Stephanie and Tanith in taking on Serpine. He is not seen in the second book as he harnessed the power of earth in the first book to turn himself into stone, thus protecting himself from being killed.

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For characters who as of yet have only appeared in the second book.

Vaurien Scapegrace

An incompetent aspiring serial-killer, Scapegrace seeks to make a name for himself in the world by becoming the greatest murderer of all time however he proves to be utterly inept at killing people. He is easily apprehended by Valkyrie and Skulduggery at the start of Book Two and imprisoned in the Sanctuary. He is later called upon by Skulduggery and Valkyrie who force him to assist in their investigation. Scapegrace appears to be emotionally immature. He is easily frightened and has a tendency to cry when he is hurt. He despises Skulduggery and Valkyrie for capturing him, the latter in particular but is more of a nuisance that a threat.

The Torment

An ancient and enigmatic sorcerer, the Torment is a misanthropic recluse who lives in an underground building beneath the sordid village of Roarhaven. The building itself was intended to be a new Sanctuary by a group of dissenters in Roarhaven who attempted to overthrow the Elders. The plan failed and the building itself sank in decay. The Torment believes that sorcerers should rule over mortals and believes that his kind are weak to hide from humans when they should be conquering them. He fought against Mevolent in the war however as he reasoned that if the Faceless Ones came back, no-one would be safe, even him. He claims to despise the Ancients as much as the Faceless Ones however and because Valkyrie is a descendant of the Ancients he demands that Skulduggery destroy her in exchange for information on the whereabouts of the grotesquery. Skulduggery pretends to kill her and when the Torment learns that Skulduggery tricked him he comes after the undead magician for revenge but is defeated by Skulduggery and Tanith Low.

The Torment is a Shapeshifter with an affinity for spiders and is capable of transforming into a giant spider himself. He fights the Grotesquery as a spider, but is defeated.

pringheeled Jack

A demon of some description with an obsession with killing and named after the legendary London monster of the same name, Springheeled Jack is a hideous humanoid creature who is capable of leaping over great distances and haunts the roofs and streets of London at night looking for people to murder. He is apprehended by Tanith Low and imprisoned but is later freed by Billy-Ray Sanguine who asks him to kill an man workingfor the Sanctuary in London. Jack later learns that Sanguine was working for Vengeous who wanted to bring back the Faceless Ones. Knowing how dangerous the Faceless Ones are, Jack does not want them free and is furious at having been tricked. He then defeats Dusk, unknowingly aidding Tanith.

Billy-Ray Sanguine

A Texan assassin with the ability melt into the ground and travel under it, Sanguine dresses like a stereotypical cowboy, giving him similarities to the Stephen King character, Randall Flagg. He has no eyes but is capable of sight. He covers his empty eye-sockets with a pair of shades. Skulduggery and Tanith Low speculate that he may be a clinical psychopath however he appears to be somewhat cowardly in contrast to the reckless fearlesness of most clinically diagnosed psychopaths (However, as demonstrated near the end of the climax, this could be simply an act). Nervertheless, Sanguine himself admits to being psychopathic and also exhibits misogynistic tendencies. He has an obsession with his razor which he uses to commit his murders and becomes enraged when it is taken from him by Valkerie Cain. Sanguine, like Springheeled Jack has an obsession with killing people and like Scapegrace, despises Valkyrie though for different reasons. Sanguine was the one who freed Baron Vengeous from prison although he is actually working for the person who is manipulating Vengeous and the events of the story.

The Grotesquery

"See also Grotesque"

An immensely powerful mutant creature made from the remains of a Faceless One by Baron Vengeous who gave it the name Grotesquery. Because it was made from the remnants of a Faceless One along with various other monsters the Grotesquery is effectively part-god and Baron Vengeous worships it as such. It resembles a stereotypical Egyptian mummy and is similar to the Chimera of Greek mythology. The Grotesquery has powers of teleportation as well as unfathomable strength. A punch from Mr Bliss, the single strongest man on Earth did not phase it in the slightest yet it was able to incapacitate Bliss with a single blow. It does not seem particularly intelligent however. Given the fact that it was made from part of a Faceless One it is presumably immortal however it is not indestructible as it was overpowered and almost killed by a group of Cleavers. It eventually meets its demise after Valkyrie Cain stabs it through the heart with Tanith Low's sword.

Dusk

An enigmatic and powerful vampire, Dusk is a freelancer who works for Vengeous. He is obviously highly treacherous as Vengeous was not surprised that he did not attempt to free him from prison and so did not take it upon himself to punish the vampire. Like all vampires Dusk is eerily elegant and graceful. Valkyrie describes him as "beautiful." He possesses immense physical strength and superhuman agility and speed. He curbs his vampire nature through the use of a syringe. When Valkyrie knocks the syringe from his hand when he is about to inject himself with it he looses control and transforms into his monstrous form, earning a slash across the face from Billy-Ray Sanguine's razor, a wound which never healed. Dusk dedicated himself to punishing Valkyrie for this and later captured her and threatened to turn her into a vampire and set her loose on her parents while in her bloodlust. As he was transforming however Valkyrie stabbed him in the leg with his syringe which she had kept, leaving him trapped between human and vampire. Springheeled Jack later defeated him and threw him into the sea which knocked him unconscious. He was later taken into custody by Mr Bliss.

Kenspeckle

The Sanctuary's top scientist, Kenspeckle is a paranoid genius with a neurotic phobia of vampires. He appears to be a perfectionist and is entrusted with the task of dismembering the Grotesquery once Skulduggery and Valkyrie steal it however the Grotesquery wakes up and kills two of Kenspeckle's assistants. Kenspeckle later bemoans their deaths saying "They were good lads."

The Elders

The Elders are the three democratic leaders of the Sanctuary, the Wizard Parliament. Every different country has a different Sanctuary which is hidden in an inconspicuous location. Sanctuaries usually have three elders. The main Elders seen in the series are based in Dublin and so are presumably the representatives of Ireland where the majority of the story takes place.Other known Sanctuaries exist in London, New York, Berlin and Tokyo, respectively.

Eachan Meritorious

The Chief Mage and leader of the Elders, Meritorious is one of the most powerful magicians in Europe. He is later killed along with Morwenna by Serpine with the Sceptre of the Ancients in Skulduggery Pleasant.

Morwenna Crow

A very beautiful sorceress, Morwenna is the wisest of the Elders and it is implied that she has a romantic relationship with Meritorious. She is killed along with Meritorious by Serpine in Book 1.

agacious Tome

Although a wise and powerful Elder himself, Sagacious Tome appears to have something of an inferiority complex and is somewhat paranoid believing that all the Magical Community believe him to be insignificant compared to Meritorious and Morwenna. Bitter at this, the very ambitious Sagacious joins forces with Serpine and tricks the other Elders enabling Serpine to destroy them in order to get the Great Book of Names. When the spell that Sagacious, Meritorious and Morwenna placed over the Book to protect it still doesn't disappear, Serpine destroys Sagacious as well, thereby enabling him to take the Book. Sagacious is a very haughty individual and is notable for being even more melodramatic than Serpine saying about the people who he believed were mocking him "The streets will run red with their blood" causing Serpine to wryly comment "How very dramatic."

Thurid Guild

Introduced in "Playing With Fire" as the new head of the Irish Council of Elders, he has yet to appoint any other Elders and so is by effect the dictator of the Wizard's Sanctuary of Ireland. He does not trust Skulduggery and holds Valkyrie in contempt. A somewhat grim and humourless character, Skulduggery speculates that he may be corrupt and thinks he was in league with the mastermind behind the conspiracy in Book. 2.

The Diablerie

A mysterious secret society, akin to a terrorist organisation, the Diablerie were the ones responsible for the manipulation of Baron Vengeous in "Playing With Fire". Sanguine was working for them and he meets their leader in secret in the penultimate chapter of the book. They seek the return of the Faceless Ones and it is unknown if they are connected to Mevolent or the cult which China Sorrows and Mr Bliss were members of. Their leader's plan was for the Grotesquery to die so that its dying scream would alert the Faceless Ones to the whereabouts of the Earth, meaning that all the Diablerie have to do now is let them in. The word "Diablerie" is an apparent derivation of the latin "diabolos" meaning "devil".

Unseen characters

Gordon Edgely

Stephanie's uncle, Gordon was a wealthy author of horror fiction who based his bestselling novels on adventures he had had with Skulduggery. Skulduggery describes Gordon as "sharp-tongued, strong-willed, intelligent, doesn't suffer fools gladly" traits Stephanie herself possesses. Gordon was a cultured and sophisticated gentleman with a childish playful demeanour who had a great fondness for Stephanie although he didn't have children of his own. He and Stephanie's mother dated for a while until she met Gordon's brother who later became Stephanie's father. Gordon chivalrously stepped aside and allowed his girlfriend to marry his brother although he later complained that he had never had anything more than a peck on the cheek. He did however go on to have numerous torrid affairs with many beautiful women. Gordon died whilst putting the finishing touches to his novel "And the Darkness Rained Upon Them" before being killed by Nefarian Serpine. Secretly he had the Sceptre of the Ancients concealed in a maze of catacombs beneath his mansion and left the Key to it (disguised as a brooch) to his greedy brother Fergus and his grasping wife Beryl. He left his fortune and mansion to Stephanie. A living image or "ghost" of Gordon is seen in an Echo-Stone in "Playing With Fire". Stephanie found the stone in a secret room in Gordon's mansion and alter took it to the family reunion with her in a pocket. When taking refuge from her disagreeable cousins in an adjourning room, Stephanie took the Echo-Stone out of her pocket and had a conversation with the living memory of Gordon. While being a separate entity from the real Gordon, the living memory in the Echo-Stone was essentially a perfect copy of the real Gordon. After learning that Gordon was dead, the "Echo-Gordon" had something of an existential crisis but did not lose his sense of humour, dryly remarking that being taken to the family reunion with Stephanie reminded him that he didn't miss his family at all. Gordon was once genuinely in love with China Sorrows and liked to think that she reciprocated his feelings.

Mevolent

A powerful evil sorcerer and cult leader who was responsible for a great war many centuries ago and bears similarities to Lord Voldemort of "Harry Potter" and Morgoth from "The Silmarillion". When describing Mevolent to Stephanie Skulduggery says that he was "worse than all the others" implying that he was the most evil wizard in the history of the world. His right-hand man, Serpine was responsible for Skulduggery's death. He was defeated soon after Skulduggery came back to life but how he was defeated and what became of Mevolent afterward has yet to be revealed. In the book there are two different kinds of Magician; Elementals and Adepts. Mevolent, like Skulduggery is an Elemental. Skulduggery remarks that is is "rare for an Elemental to go so far down the dark path." Mevolent and his followers desired the return of the Faceless Ones and the main antagonists of all the books so far are former servants of Mevolent. They, like he, worship the Faceless Ones and seek their return.

Lord Vile

One of Mevolent's Three Generals, Vile was a powerful necromancer who also possessed the ability to manipulate darkness and shadows to suit his purposes. He had an impregnable armour that rendered him virtually invincible which is the object of Baron Vengous's desires in "Playing With Fire". Lord Vile died alone in a chamber, but it has not been reavealed how. China Sorrows says that Vile was "remarkable" and "could have changed the world" while Vengous "wouldn't know where to begin."

The Ancients

The first humans to learn magic, the Ancients were alive when the Faceless Ones ruled the Earth, thousands of years ago. They forged the Sceptre of the Ancients and used it to overthrow and banish the Faceless Ones but they subsequently turned against each other and began fighting over the Sceptre. They all killed each other and the last one standing cast the Sceptre into the Earth. As a result of the Ancients murdering each other over it, the Sceptre was filled with hatred and as such it derived its power from the hate of whoever wielded so when Skulduggery used it to destroy Serpine from a desire to save Stephanie it devoured its own hatred and was thus rendered impotent.