List of Mortal Engines Quartet characters
This is a list of characters from Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet.
Main characters in the series
- Tom Natsworthy, a 15-year-old apprentice Historian at the beginning of the series, he eventually has diverse adventures across the world.
- Hester Shaw, a fierce young woman with a horrible scar across her face.
- Wren Natsworthy, Tom and Hester's daughter who is kidnapped from their home and, as a result, finds herself experiencing the same sort of adventures as her parents had.
- Nimrod Pennyroyal, a supposed historian and author who is actually a fraud. He is selfish, narcissistic and cowardly, but has a knack for surviving dangerous experiences, and often shares adventures with the Natsworthy family.
- Anna Fang, an Asian pilot and former owner of the Jenny Haniver, she is also a leading member of the Anti-Traction League. She is killed at the end of Mortal Engines but is resurrected as a Stalker who overthrows the rulers of the League and installs herself as a military dictator.
- Shrike, an ancient Stalker who raised Hester after her parents were killed. In the American release of the series he is called Grike.
- Theo Ngoni, an African aviator who runs away from his home to join the Green Storm, and later becomes very close to Wren.
- Fever Crumb, a member of the Engineers. She is the main character of the prequel series.
Major recurring characters in the series
- Freya Rasmussen, the young Margravine of Anchorage. Originally she is determined to stick to her family's traditions, but gradually realises that these traditions are pointless. She accompanies Tom and Hester on their mission to Grimsby at the beginning of Infernal Devices, but then returns to Anchorage with Caul.
- Caul, a Lost Boy with wavering loyalty. He betrays his people and joins those of Anchorage, only to switch allegiance again to Uncle when he, Tom, Hester and Freya visit Grimsby. Eventually he rejoins the people of Anchorage for good, and returns there with Freya to marry her.
- Fishcake, a young Lost Boy who crewed with Gargle. He betrays Grimsby to Brighton, and is exiled by the other Lost Boys as a result. After Tom and Hester abandon him he finds the remains of the Stalker Fang and tries to rebuild her, desperately looking for a mother-figure. At the climax of the series he coldly abandons Hester the same way she abandoned him, and goes to Zhan Shan to live with Sathya.
- General Naga, a soldier of the Green Storm with a mechanical exoskeleton to replace limbs lost in battle. Following the apparent death of the Stalker Fang at the end of Infernal Devices, he is proclaimed the new leader of the Green Storm, and takes Oenone Zero as his wife. He is killed at the end of A Darkling Plain in a kamikaze attack on Harrowbarrow.
- Dr. Oenone Zero; then Lady Naga; later Widow Naga, a gifted member of the Green Storm's Resurrection Corps. At a young age she is appointed the personal surgeon-mechanic to the Stalker Fang, and uses this position to assassinate her. After the Stalker's apparent death, General Naga takes her in as his wife. In A Darkling Plain he briefly has her wrongly imprisoned for treason. However, she is released after the Storm realize that she is innocent. She assumes command after Naga's death.
- Cynthia Twite, a Green Storm spy, and unquestionably loyal to the Stalker Fang. She is originally posted to Brighton to keep tabs on Pennyroyal, but uses this position to steal the Tin Book. Later she is part of the internal plot to assassinate Oenone Zero, and blows up her airship over the Sahara Desert. She then tries to kill Naga when he finds out about her plot, just as the Stalker Fang fires ODIN upon Tienjing. She is incinerated in the attack.
- Dr Popjoy, a London engineer who survived the city's destruction and later works for the Green Storm. He creates the Stalker Fang from the frozen corpse of Anna Fang, and is her personal surgeon-mechanic until Dr. Zero takes over when he retires. The Stalker Fang eventually returns and kills him when he cannot explain why she is defective.
- Uncle (real name Stilton Kael), the elderly leader of the Lost Boys. He founded Grimsby after being disowned by his family and banished from Arkangel (where he was a slave master who owned Anna Fang). He is killed when Tom, Hester, Freya and Caul return to Grimsby to find Wren.
Minor recurring characters in the series
- Sathya, an Indian Anti-Tractionist and one of the founding members of the Green Storm. Later, after losing her hand to the Stalker Fang, she retires to a hermitage on the slopes of Zhan Shan. Eventually she becomes Fishcake's foster-mother.
- Captain Khora, an African soldier of the Anti-Traction League, and captain of the gunship Mokele Mbembe. Later he becomes Air Marshal Khora and commander of the Zagwan Flying Corps.
- Chudleigh Pomeroy, a member of the Historian's Guild. He helps Katherine by giving her a place to hide Bevis Pod, and fighting off Crome's Engineers when they attempt to kidnap her. After the destruction of London, he is Lord Mayor of the surviving Londoners but passes away before New London is complete.
- Clytie Potts, a member of the Historians' Guild who helps in the fight against the Engineers. After the destruction of London, she takes on the alias of Cruwys Morchard to ferry in supplies to the London survivors.
- Gargle, a Lost Boy who (when he was very young), was a member of Caul's Anchorage crew . He later becomes the de facto leader of the Lost Boys, but when he comes to Anchorage-in-Vineland for the Tin Book, he is shot by Hester as she tries to rescue Wren.
- Smew, a dwarf retainer of the Rasmussen family.
- Windolene Pye, an old member of Anchorage's Steering Committee who marries Søren Scabious, Anchorage's Engine Master.
Major characters in Mortal Engines
- Thaddeus Valentine, a dashing and handsome Historian often idolised by younger Historians - though his less public image involves murder and thievery as an agent of London. He was killed in the destruction of London by MEDUSA. He is in fact Hester's biological father.
- Magnus Crome, the megalomaniacal mayor of London. Killed when it is destroyed.
- Katherine Valentine, Thaddeus Valentine's daughter. After uncovering her father's dark secret, she attempts to stop him, with help through Bevis Pod and the Historians guild; however, he accidentally kills her with his sword just before MEDUSA destroys London.
- Bevis Pod, a young apprentice Engineer. He works with Katherine to uncover Valentine's plans and falls in love with her. Killed when the 13th Floor Elevator crashes on London's top tier after being shot down by Tom. Estranged son of Dr. Lavinia Childermass.
- Chrysler Peavy, the pirate mayor of Tunbridge Wheels. He takes Tom and Hester to the Black Island, expecting Tom (because he is a Londoner) to teach him how to be civilised. He is betrayed and shot by the remainder of his crew shortly before they themselves are killed by the Stalker Shrike.
Minor characters in Mortal Engines
- Nils Lindstrom, a gloomy aviator of the Garden Aeroplane Trap.
- Yasmina Rashid, an Arabian privateer on the Zainab.
- Moira Plym, a member of the Historian's Guild who helps in the fight against the Engineers. Killed in the destruction of London.
- Dr Arkengarth, the curator of ceramics in the Historian's Guild. Killed in the attack by the Engineers.
- Dr. Twix, a researcher in the Guild of Engineers who creates many Stalkers for Magnus Crome.
- Orme Wreyland, the mayor of a small town who rescues Tom and Hester and then drugs them in the hope of selling them into slavery.
- Mr Ames, a former schoolteacher who is now a pirate in Peavy's band. Killed by Shrike.
- Mungo, of Peavy's pirates. Killed by Shrike.
- Maggs, one of Peavy's pirates. Killed by Shrike.
- Pewsey and Gench, two reformed air pirates who are the sole crew of Valentine's airship, the 13th Floor Elevator. Killed by Tom when he shoots them down over London from the Jenny Haniver.
Major characters in Predator's Gold
- Mr. Scabious, chief engineer of Anchorage. He considers Tom similar to his late son, and often tries to help him. He dies sometime before Infernal Devices.
- Piotr Masgard, chief of Arkangel's Huntsmen: bands of warriors who capture cities by airship and then steer them into Arkangel's jaws. Actually he is a coward and unused to a fair fight. He is violently killed by Hester during the attack on Anchorage.
- Skewer, one of Caul's crew. He takes command when he considers Caul unfit, and is reprimanded by Uncle.
Minor characters in Predator's Gold
- Mr. and Mrs. Aakiuq, Anchorage's harbour officers.
- Wrasse, Uncle's deputy among the Lost Boys. He is killed by the Stalker Fang during the raid on Rogue's Roost.
- Widgery Blinkoe, a resident of Arkangel who kidnaps Hester and sells her to the Green Storm. In return they kill him, so he won't tell anyone their secrets. His body is converted into a stalker.
Major characters in Infernal Devices
- Boo-Boo Pennyroyal , the wife of Nimrod Pennyroyal and Mayoress of Brighton. She does little except shop and attend operas, but encourages Wren and Theo's non-existent secret romance.
- Nabisco Shkin, the man behind the Shkin Coperation (a slave dealer in Brighton). He is killed while attempting to escape Brighton during the Green Storm's attack on the city.
Minor characters in Infernal Devices
- Mr Plovery , an antiques dealer in Brighton with an expensive elderly mother to look after. He is killed by a Stalker Bird when he tries to steal the Tin Book, however his death is mistakenly attributed to Pennyroyal's security system.
- Remora, a Lost Girl and Gargle's girlfriend. She is killed by Hester.
- Krill, a Lost Boy captured by Brighton's WOPCART scheme. Hester frees him to create a diversion while rescuing Wren.
Major characters in A Darkling Plain
- Kriegsmarshal Von Kobold, the leader of Marnau, and Wolf Kobold's father. He wants peace for his city and has a soft spot for certain members of the Green Storm.
- Wolf Kobold, the German commander of a small harvester suburb called Harrowbarrow. He resents his parents and their high position. He leads Tom and Wren to the wreckage of London on a somewhat false pretext, and escapes with the knowledge of New London, intending to return and devour it with Harrowbarrow. He is killed accidentally by Wren during a sword fight atop his suburb, in which he is impaled and falls under the tracks.
- Napster Varley, an aspiring trader who buys Lady Naga and tries to sell her to the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft. He has a wife (bought at an auction) that he frequently beats up; and son, Napster Varley, Jr. He is shot by the hand of his own spouse as Hester and Theo attempt to rescue Lady Naga.
- Dr. Lavinia Childermass, an elderly Engineer who survived the MEDUSA incident because she was locked in prison, having rebelled against the insane Magnus Crome. She was head of the Engineer's Magnetic levitation Research Division, and was made Deputy Mayor of the Londoners that survived in the city's wreck. She personally built the Mag-Lev engines that operated New London (known as the Childermass Engines). After the death of Chudleigh Pomeroy, she is denied the mayorship of New London, and then helps Wren and Theo escape the insane clutches of the new Lord Mayor, Mr. Garamond. It is revealed that she had a son, but due to Magnus Crome's new laws for the Guild of Engineers, the boy was taken away as a baby. She named him Bevis, alluring to the fact that she was the mother of Bevis Pod, who helped Katherine Valentine destroy MEDUSA in Mortal Engines.
Minor characters in A Darkling Plain
- The Ngonis, Theo's family back in Zagwa which consists of his Mother, Father and sisters, Kaelo and Miriam.
- Mr Pondicherry, an Old-Tech auctioneer in Peripatetiapolis who tells Tom and Wren Natsworthy what he knows about Clytie Potts.
- Grandma Gravy, an old 'witch' of Cutler's Gulp, who temporarily enslaves both Theo Ngoni and Lady Naga.
- Mr Garamond, New London's paranoid head of security. He distrusts Wren and Theo, when they arrive in new London, and has them imprisoned for a short time.
- Brittlestar, one of the Lost Boy warlords of the now anarchic Brighton. He is killed by Anna Fang/Stalker Fang when his warriors attempt to apprehend Fishcake.
- Will Hallsworh and Jake Henson, School Children from London, who are both killed during the Greenstorm/Harrowbarrow Attack. Named after real people from a school in Crediton, Devon.
- Mrs. Varley The wife of Napster Varley, who his beaten by him. She saves Hester by shooting her husband.
Characters in Fever Crumb
- Fever Crumb The protagonist of the book, she is part human, part scriven.
- Dr Crumb, Fever's adoptive father. It is later revealed that he is actually her biological father as well.
- Quercus, a Northern Nomad. After he fights Ted Swiney he becomes mayor of London. At the end it is hinted that he is the great "Quirke" who is revered in the Mortal Engines Quartet.
- Charley Shallow, a boy who worked in Ted's tavern, until Bagman Creech came and told him he could help him slay Scrivens.
- Ruan Solent, Kit's son.
- Fern Solent, Kit's daughter.
- Wavey Godshawk Daughter of Auric Godshawk and Fever's mother.
- Auric Godshawk Deceased leader of the Scriven.
Fever Crumb only
- Kit Solent, a kind archaeologist who Fever Crumb is sent to work with. He is shot by rioters in London and dies from his wound while fleeing from the city in a hot air balloon. Afterwards he is turned into Shrike.
- Ted Swiney, an unpleasant Cockney tavern owner who later becomes mayor of London. During a fight with Quercus he is crushed by a giant barrel.
- Bagman Creech, a renowned "skinner" (Scriven killer) from the uprising in London. He is shot and killed by Kit Solent.
- Master Wormtimber master of devices. Killed when Godshawk's Head collapses onto him.
A Web of Air only
- Arlo Thursday, a young orphan and inventor working on flight.
- Edgar Saraband
- Jago Belkin
- Thirza Belkin
Scrivenr's Moon only
- Cluny Morvish, a you Arkangelsk woman with strange dreams.
- Martin Morvish, Clunys' younger brother, a skilled hunter.
- Tharp, the head Technomancer of the Arkangelsk.
- Gwen Natsworthy, a young London woman opposed to its transformation to a traction city.
See also