The Keys to the Kingdom is a fantasy-adventure book series, written by Garth Nix, started in 2003 with Mister Monday. The series follows the story of Arthur Penhaligon and his charge as the Rightful Heir of the Architect to claim the Seven Keys to the Kingdom and the seven demesnes of the House.
Arthur, a 12-year-old boy, has recently moved to a town and wants to fit into it. After suffering an asthma attack, he is saved by a mysterious metal object, called a Key, given by an even stranger character, Mister Monday, whose servants bring an incurable plague to Arthur's town. Arthur hurries to the House, a mysterious structure that only he can see. Shortly after arriving in the House, Arthur discovers the structure of the house is a complete universe and is informed of his duty to unseat the seven Trustees who run the House, claim their Keys, and rule all of Creation. Arthur cannot live an ordinary life unless he overthrows all of the Trustees, who are also known as the Morrow Days. To do this, however, he must use the Keys, which infect him with sorcery and make him a Denizen of the House; and whenever Denizens appear in the Secondary Realms (everything in Creation that is not in the House, including Earth), they are inimical to mortal life. This dilemma is a constant theme in the books: as Arthur does not wish to turn into a Denizen; he often resists using the Keys, and only does when it is absolutely necessary.
Arthur's current title as the Rightful Heir of the Architect is "Lord Arthur Penhaligon, Rightful Heir to the House, the Keys of the Kingdom and the Architect, Master of the Lower House, Lord of the Far Reaches, Duke of the Border Sea, Overlord of the Great Maze, Commander in Chief of the Glorious Army of the Architect, Master of the Middle House, Ruler of the Upper House, Lord of the Incomparable Gardens, the House and the Secondary Realms".
In chapter one of Superior Saturday, it is implied that Arthur's use of the Fifth Key at the end of Lady Friday has completed his permanent transformation into a Denizen of the House: he grew taller and grew longer hair, looked better, and got stronger. Leaf and Arthur are returned to Friday's temporary hospital on Earth. Where Arthur starts to look at the crocodile ring on his right hand, which measures his metamorphosis from mortal to Denizen, he stops himself at the last moment, as "In his heart, he knew the answer without looking at the ring".[1] This is confirmed when Arthur is now shown to have golden blood, and when he endures many physical attacks that a mortal would not survive as well as self-healing powers. His transformation also came with a negative side effect: his mind is sometimes plagued by thoughts normally associated with a superior Denizen (i.e. arrogance, contempt for those weaker than himself, anger, etc.), and he exerts great mental effort to suppress these thoughts. By the end of Superior Saturday, it is indicated that Arthur is at least 75% immortal, though it is hinted earlier that he is not necessarily a Denizen but may be something else.
During Lord Sunday, it is revealed that Arthur has been completely transformed by the Keys, but not into a Denizen. He takes the form of the New Architect during the closing chapters, suggesting that the Architect is not a Denizen. Another, mortal part of Arthur (created by the New Architect and thus a part of him in a similar manner to how the Old One was created by the first Architect) is created, who has Arthur's mind, memories, and emotions, goes back to Earth with Leaf, satisfying his need for 'a normal life'. This Arthur is referred to as 'Arthur' after this part of the story, while the 'other Arthur' is called the 'New Architect'. Notably the New Architect is said to be 'lying, for his own good' when he tells 'Arthur' he is now mortal, showing that the human Arthur may still have some sort of power or immortality similar to a Denizen.
In the epilogue, it is shown that the New Architect has recreated Suzy Turquoise Blue (memories, emotions and accent intact) and is offering her the position of the new Sunday. Notably it is shown that the New Architect can change his appearance here; while talking to Suzy he takes the form of Arthur as he would at age twenty-one and in clothes from his original home. Suzy accepts the post, taking the title 'Lady Sunday' and also expresses a wish to 'grow up a bit', as she has been a child for at least two thousand years. The New Architect complies, and shows Suzy she has been recreated in an adult body, possibly a beautiful one, as Suzy is very impressed by her new countenance. The New Architect tells her that they need to recreate the House and re-populate it with Denizens. Suzy agrees and proposes the recreation of her friends Giac, Fred Initial Numbers Gold and Dr. Scamandros. The New Architect agrees and says they can help with the reconstruction.
Suzy is a Piper's Child (children brought to the House by the Piper) and, until the story has begun, an Ink-Filler, Sixth Class. She was later promoted by Arthur to a higher position: Monday's Tierce, assistant to Monday's Noon who had previously been Monday's Dusk. She is a Reservist for the Glorious Army of the Architect, and in Superior Saturday has given herself the title of General. She is one of Arthur's most loyal helpers, and friend, constantly assisting him whenever she can. She often disobeys the orders of authority, specifically those of Dame Primus.
Suzy is reckless, adventurous, and tomboyish. She does not like to be kept away from action and will often bend or break the rules in order to find some. She is described as a ragamuffin, acting rambunctious and often using English slang. Although in Drowned Wednesday she is forced to act as a proper lady as long as she is on the Border Sea as a condition to being allowed to join Arthur — causing Arthur to believe that she had been washed between the ears (brainwashed) — she circumvents this problem by acting her normal self once underneath the water (since she agreed to be polite and proper on the Sea but not under it).
Suzy's real name is Suzanna Dyer. She was born and raised in England during the Black Death, as detailed by events in Mister Monday. Her father is Jack Dyer, and she mentions her mother and a brother in Superior Saturday.
Suzy is very loyal, especially to Arthur. She is brave, always facing challenges that come her way and making sure she helps her friends. She has the mind of a child (probably due to the process of washing between the ears) despite being centuries old, and will sometimes act immature like one.
Towards the end of Sir Thursday, Suzy disappears when the Piper kidnaps her, Fred (Arthur's friend from the Army) and several other Piper's Children with his Pipes. At the end of Sir Thursday, the whereabouts of the two children are unknown. Shortly into Lady Friday, the two reappear, but are constrained via a sorcerous tattoo that chokes them if they disobey a direct order, or discuss doing so. Although reluctant to use the Keys, Arthur uses the Fourth Key to release them from the Piper's bonds.In Superior Saturday Arthur and Suzy grow closer. Suzy has shown to be jealous of Leaf, expressing this when Arthur gave Leaf the Mariner's medallion.
As of Superior Saturday, Suzy begins addressing herself as General Turquoise Blue, having her own troop of Piper's Children in the Army (named Suzy's Raiders).
At the end of Lord Sunday, she claims the position of the new Lady Sunday, as well as requesting to "grow up a bit, I'm nearly two thousand years old!", which results in her becoming older and possibly more beautiful (certainly passable by her own standards, judging by her reaction).
Leaf is a friend of Arthur's from Earth. She was introduced in Mister Monday as one of the people who helped him during his asthma attack. She can also see the Fetchers. She aids Arthur in Grim Tuesday by helping him banish a Scoucher, a monster with razor sharp tentacles.
From and during Drowned Wednesday, she begins to play a larger role in the series. She is visiting Arthur in the hospital when they are taken to the House via the Border Sea. One of Drowned Wednesday's ships rescues Leaf instead of Arthur, whom they were ordered to find; Leaf spends the bulk of the book on this ship, which is called the Flying Mantis. This changes when the ship is captured by the pirate Elishar Feverfew (who once was a mortal but has been affected by Nothing). She becomes an unwilling informant to Feverfew, only to later kick his detached head into a Nothing-contaminated lake of mud, thus destroying him.
In Sir Thursday, Leaf returns to Earth, and aids Arthur by banishing the Skinless Boy. She succeeds, allowing Arthur to return to Earth, should he choose to do so. At the end of the book Leaf is told that she is at a hospital run by Lady Friday.
In Lady Friday, Friday kidnaps Leaf, hoping to use her as collateral, a hostage, or bargaining counter in case Friday's plan went awry. Leaf works to escape Friday's retreat in the Secondary Realms, but is not successful until the arrival of Arthur and the Mariner, who find her only due to her attempts to contact Dr. Scamandros.
In Superior Saturday, Leaf returns with Arthur to the Hospital, helping to deliver the sleeping patients back to their beds. They meet Martine, the cleaner whom Leaf met in Lady Friday. When Arthur discovers that the area is going to be bombed by the army (under the command of General Pravuil, who is a spy for the morrow days and also appears in Mister Monday and Sir Thursday), he freezes time within the hospital, using the Fifth Key, and returns to the house, leaving Leaf, Martine and the sleepers frozen. Leaf and Martine awaken as time begins to slowly return to normal. It is only a few minutes to midnight, but time has not completely unfrozen and is going very slowly. Leaf asks Martine if there are any shelters where they can stay safe during the bombing, and discovers that there is an old building at the back which contains an Operating Theatre which used to be a World War II bomb shelter, large enough to hold most of the sleepers. Leaf and Martine struggle to move as many sleepers to the Operating Theatre as possible before the bomb hits. At the end of the book, as they carry the last of the sleepers they have managed to rescue (although there are still some outside) into the theatre, insulation falls down from the roof, indicating that the bomb has struck.
During Lord Sunday, Leaf finds the area outside the hospital is devastated and possibly radioactive. She dons a set of clothing covering every inch of her body (so as not to come in contact with any radioactive particles) and goes to a military encampment that is supposed to cater for those in the bombed area and give them radiation suits, food and anti-radiation drugs. When she asks for supplies for the all of the surviving sleepers, herself, and Martine she discovers that the hospital is not on the army's maps and is not thought to exist. Leaf protests that it does exist, eliciting some cheers from the surrounding queue, and meets Arthur's older brother, Erazmuz, who is part of the rescue operations. Erazmuz says they need to see if the hospital is there to verify its existence, in case it is all a hoax. Leaf is then given an anti-radiation drug and decontaminated before leading Erazmuz and some of his troops to the hospital. Martine rushes out, crying about a creature inside the building. Erazmuz has her taken away to be decontaminated, while he, Leaf and a female soldier named Chen explore the building. While they are in the building, Leaf is captured by Sunday's Dusk, also known as the Reaper, who threatens to unleash a plant-like creature called a Beastwort (the creature Martine saw) on her human friends if she does not come with him. Leaf goes with him, telling Erazmuz and Chen to take care of the sleepers as she goes. The Reaper leaves the Beastwort behind, to remind Leaf not to cause trouble on the way to and in the Incomparable Gardens, as the Beastwort will then attack. On the way to the Incomparable Gardens, Leaf and the Reaper pass through the Front Door to aid the Lieutenant Keeper. As the Keeper dies, he gives his sword, and his duties as Lieutenant Keeper, to Leaf, who is forced to hold the Front Door against attacking Nithlings.
Leaf is forced to protect the Front door. She finds that she can now identify portals into the Secondary Realms using the sword. She manages to partially force her way through the earth portal, but is stopped from venturing very far by the sword, which seems to have a connection to the Front Door. She manages to grab the Beastwort's lead, binding it to her will, and goes back into the Front Door, telling Erazmuz and Chen to take care of the sleepers. Inside the front Door, she manages to get through a portal into the Middle House with the Beastwort (which she names Daisy) but finds the sword stuck again. Dame Primus uses her power to allow Leaf to move the sword, but cannot (or will not) remove the post of Lieutenant Keeper from Leaf. She instead charges Leaf to accompany an army to the Incomparable Gardens to attack Lord Sunday. While battling Newniths on Saturday's Tower when trying to restore enough elevators to fit in the army, Leaf loses the sword. It is instead picked up by Fred Initial Numbers Gold, who then becomes Lieutenant Keeper in her place. Leaf still has Daisy (who, it is proved, is now loyal to her even without her holding its leash) and the two are carried up to the Incomparable Gardens in a transport sling by a fleet of Borderers. However, in the Gardens, the sling falls apart and Leaf is separated from Daisy (who falls in a lake but is said to probably survive). Suzy takes her to the Elysium, where Arthur takes the seventh Key and frees Part Seven of the will. Then Dame Primus combines with the Will, and Nothing breaks in.
Arthur then becomes the New Architect. He also separates part of himself to live out the normal life he wanted to have while the original Arthur fulfills the duties of the New Architect. The New Architect then saves (or recreates) Leaf, and she returns to Earth with the human Arthur. It is also important to mention that Leaf may have feeling for Arthur, as hinted in the closing chapters of "Lord Sunday", and Suzy Blue guesses on the Improbable Stairs in "Mister Monday".
The Will was the document the Architect left behind, dictating what was to happen within the House. The Trustees broke the Will into seven pieces, each hiding a different piece. The First Part of the Will escaped, and focused on finding a suitable Heir, and guiding him on his task. Eventually, all of it may be freed and added to the Will's amorphous form, Dame Primus, whose name means "First Lady". In the beginning of Superior Saturday she (to her chagrin) has split into two smaller versions of herself (Dame Quarto and Dame Septum) to fix the bursts of Nothing in the House.
| Animal Form | Virtue | Imprisonment |
|---|---|---|
| Frog | Fortitude/Diligence | Fused in a crystal, locked in an unbreakable box, guarded by metal Sentinels, fused on a surface of a dead sun |
| Bear | Patience/Prudence | In a centre of a sun guarded by the Mariner |
| Carp | Faith | Trapped in Feverfew's worldlet |
| Snake | Justice | Wrapped around the Fourth Key |
| Beast | Temperance | Chained and guarded by The Winged Servants of the Night |
| Raven | Charity | Split into millions of pieces and hidden in droplets of rain |
| Apple Tree | Hope | Trapped in a cage that will kill everything that touches it, and can only be opened by The Seventh Key, or The Mariner (at the cost of his life) |
The First Part of the Will (paragraphs three to seven) was hidden by Mister Monday in a crystal, placed in box on the surface of a dead sun at the end of Time, guarded by twelve metal, sword-armed Guards. Monday's Dusk indirectly, but intentionally, freed the Will.
The Will then took control of Mister Monday's butler, Sneezer, and persuaded the sloth-afflicted Monday to give up the Minute Hand half of his Key to Arthur Penhaligon, a mortal. Sneezer convinced him that the Will would leave him alone if he relinquished his Key to a Rightful Heir. However, their plan hinged on the fact that the Heir would soon die, as Arthur would indeed have done but for being in possession of the Key. The Will left Sneezer, and took the form of a jade-coloured frog and leapt inside the throat of Suzy, forcing her to help Arthur in the Lower House and defeat Monday. The Frog then took the name and form of "Dame Primus", a tall, attractive, and imposing figure who became Steward of the Lower House and the First Key when Arthur returned to Earth. She is often exclusively focused on fixing the much-decayed bureaucratic situations within the House, even when Arthur wishes to do otherwise. With the addition of other Parts of the Will, Dame Primus grows taller, stronger and more knowledgeable, and her severe beauty becomes more apparent. The Frog embodies either Fortitude or Diligence as one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues being the opposite of the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Second Part of the Will (paragraphs eight to thirteen), also known as "Claws" (a play on "Clause" issued by Suzy), was hidden by Grim Tuesday within a worldlet in the heart of a sun in the Secondary Realms, in the form of a sun bear. The Mariner was charged with guarding it, but, as he is resentful of Tuesday's control over him, he helped Arthur rescue it. Unlike the First Part of the Will, the Bear would not recognize Arthur's claim until he was notified by Dame Primus. Instead, the bear ordered a contest of creation, using the Second Key, which were the gauntlets worn by Tuesday. Arthur won, and after he fixed a breach into the Void of Nothing, the Second Part of the Will merged with the First. Its virtue is either Prudence or Patience.
Known as the Carp, the Third Part of the Will was hidden within a worldlet commanded by Feverfew, hidden in Drowned Wednesday's stomach. Wednesday wished to execute her clause of the Will, but was stopped when Superior Saturday betrayed her. The Trustees (save Monday, who was afflicted with sloth) took Wednesday's portion of the Will and gave it to Feverfew to hide, additionally limiting Wednesday's use of the Key to keeping the shape of the enormous Leviathan she was to become.
Several of Feverfew's escaped slaves hid in a cave on a remote side of Feverfew's island with the Will, in the form of a carp. The Carp proclaimed itself a god, and has accumulated a cult following. The Carp is always preaching about the values of Faith, the virtue it embodies. Arthur was able to free the Third Part of the Will with the aid of Leaf and Suzy. The Carp is in fact a fish.
This part of the Will takes the form of a snake wrapped around the sword that is the Fourth Key, wielded by Sir Thursday. The Fourth Part of the Will is able to free itself, but first Sir Thursday must be distracted sufficiently; this was accomplished by invoking his wrath. After being freed, it is obsessed with bringing Thursday to justice, and is barely subdued by Arthur. When Arthur goes to meet the Piper, the Fourth Part of the Will joins him, and contrary to Arthur's wishes, spits corrosive acid into the Piper's mouth. The Will assures Arthur that as this acid was not "poison", it did not disobey his command to refrain from poisonously biting the Piper (being able to choose whether or not to be poisonous, and if so, to choose its type of poison). During Arthur's meeting with the Piper, the Piper notes that the Fourth Part of the Will speaks in a tone that is familiar to him. The Fourth Part of the Will embodies Justice or chastity.
At the beginning of Lady Friday the Fourth Part of the Will has joined Dame Primus. Dame Primus thereafter begins to pay attention to justice and to exhibit snakelike features. She orders all the Piper's Children in demesnes ruled by Arthur to be killed, as the Piper is their enemy; Arthur quickly overturns this order. The appearance of her snakelike fangs and forked tongue, possibly provoked by a moment of passion, is the second instance of suspicious behavior displayed by Dame Primus (the first being refusing a call from Leaf, who was then trying to help Arthur).
The Fifth Part of the Will appears as a large, half-reptile, half-bat monster or Wyvern, worshipped and feared by the Winged Servants of the Night. Arthur finds it, with help from a sliver of the original Will found in the Middle House, imprisoned by Lady Friday in the "Inner Darkness" of the cave system the Winged Servants of the Night use as their eyrie, on the Top Shelf of the Middle House. Known to the Servants as the "Beast", the Fifth Part of the Will is a pleasant and agreeable creature, unlike the other parts. It mentions that the "Key" Friday left is not the real Key, but a trap, and that she has not legally abdicated her rule of the Middle House. After being released, the Will accompanies Arthur, Suzy, Fred, Banneret Ugham, and a host of Dawn's Gilded Youths to Lady Friday's Scriptorium, where Friday claimed to have left the Fifth Key.
There, they find that a battle between the Piper and Superior Saturday's forces has left Saturday's Dusk dead, and the Piper's Children unconscious. Despite Arthur's and the Will's warning of a possible trap, the Piper orders Ugham to take the fake Key from its pedestal, activating the trap and breaching the Void of Nothing. This kills Ugham and quickly consumes the Scriptorium and most of the Top Shelf. The Piper uses his Pipes to enter the Improbable Stair, in order to escape, while the Will manages to save Arthur and his allies with a sweep of its tail. The Will then tells Arthur to use the Keys to close the rift into the Void of Nothing; after summoning all four Keys to help him, he successfully closes the Void. Using the Keys, Arthur takes the Improbable Stair to Monday's Dayroom, where Sneezer sends them to Lady Friday's sanctuary in the Secondary Realms. There, with the aid of the Will, Arthur defeats Friday.
After defeating Lady Friday in her sanctuary, Arthur gives the first four Keys to the Fifth Part, to return them to Dame Primus. Before leaving, the Will apologizes for the behavior of the other Parts of the Will, speculating that Dame Primus will be easier to work with once it has joined her; this is later shown to be incorrect, as she acts even more rebellious than before. It represents the virtue of Temperance.
The Sixth Part of the Will appears as a raven and is also capable of transforming into a variety of other things. The Sixth Part of the Will was able to communicate with Arthur whenever he was drenched in rain, because Superior Saturday had hidden the Will in the rain by scattering its type in every raindrop, the most complicated method of hiding the Will seen so far. To free the Will, Arthur had to go to the Midtower Rain Booster Tank, because that was where the rainwater was collected. The Will then instructed Arthur to swim out to the middle of the Tank and call for the Will with his mind, so it could resume its form.
It likely represents the virtue of Charity, showing more kindness to others than the other parts of the Will, evident when it shows a willingness to save Suzy from the Artful Loungers. Suzy later expresses regret when it has been absorbed, saying "it was the best part, if you ask me," and hopes that it will have some effect on Dame Primus, but, like in the case of Part five, this does not prove to be the case. It appears to be the most intelligent part of the Will, as it denies the rumours that if the House is destroyed, then the Secondary Realms are also destroyed. The Will instead says that the whole of creation will only cease to exist if the Incomparable Gardens are destroyed, as they came from the Void first and are the true epicenter of the Universe.
Interestingly, Part Six is the only part of the Will to have a main part outside of its respective book, as with Superior Saturday, who had a main part in other books in "The Keys To The Kingdom" series.
The Seventh part of the Will appears as an apple tree. It is able to communicate with Arthur with restrictions and its capabilities to do so improve as Arthur gets closer. The Seventh part of the Will is locked up in a cage, that the Will explains brings death to all that touch it and that only the Seventh Key or the Mariner's Harpoon can open (which subsequently kills the Mariner).
It represents the virtue of Hope and is likely a reference to the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. It uses its roots and branches to snare Lord Sunday giving Arthur time to claim the Seventh Key.
The Will is in fact the embodiment of a part of the Architect. The Architect wished to go beyond and leave the realms she had created, but in the beginning she had wrought the Old One from herself which chained her to this universe. She could not free the Old One from his bonds without first destroying all of her creations, so she made the Will.
When Dame Primus finally joined up with the Seventh Part of the Will, words written in flame appeared reading " Let the Will be done " and Arthur unknowingly uses the power of the keys to conjure a gout of Nothing that destroyed the rest of the Incomparable Gardens and then the Elysium. The Old One then appeared and became one with the Architect once more. She tells Arthur the true story of the creation of the Will and the House. She then lets herself return to Nothing, in a way similar to going to sleep.
The Will was not so much made to choose an "heir" but a New Architect who would create a new universe.
The seven Trustees of the Architect, named after the seven days of the week, are superior Denizens who disobeyed the Will and chose to keep the Keys and their demesnes instead of giving them to the Rightful Heir, and causing their own demise. They broke the Will into seven pieces, then separated and concealed each of the pieces. However they could not entirely resist the Will's destructive influence, so in time each of the Trustee's nature changed and each became afflicted with one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Drowned Wednesday is the only Trustee who, after breaking it, changed her mind and wished to follow the Will, but was stopped by all Trustees, with the exception of Monday. Minus the power given to them by the Architect's Keys, they are ordinary, but extremely strong and resilient Denizens, though they can be killed (the exception being Saturday, who as well as being a key holder, is also a skilled sorceror).
| Morrow Day | Domain | Sin | Key | Command centre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mister Monday | The Lower House | Sloth | A sword with resemblance to the hands of a clock, it can be split into two separate keys, the Lesser (minute hand) and the Greater (hour hand). | Monday's Dayroom |
| Grim Tuesday | The Far Reaches | Greed | A pair of shining gauntlets, transformed into gloves by Dame Primus when she is wearing them | Tuesday's Pyramid |
| Drowned Wednesday | The Border Sea | Gluttony | A fork-like trident (changes size depending on danger or user's mood) | Wednesday's Lookout, now Port Wednesday (Originally Wednesday's Lighthouse before Wednesday's transformation into a Leviathan) |
| Sir Thursday | The Great Maze | Wrath | A military baton (when danger is present, it manifests as a broadsword for Sir Thursday, and a rapier for Arthur) | Thursday's Citadel |
| Lady Friday | The Middle House | Lust | A silver mirror | Friday's Scriptorium |
| Superior Saturday | The Upper House | Envy | A Peacock quill pen | Saturday's Tower |
| Lord Sunday | The Incomparable Gardens | Pride | A very small golden key | Sunday's Elysium |
Mister Monday was the first Trustee Arthur met and was always pushed around in a wheelchair by one of his servants. When Arthur first meets him, he was being pushed by Sneezer, his butler. Mister Monday was granted control of the Lower House. His Key can be split into two halves; an Hour Hand and a Minute Hand. The two hands, when combined, take the form of a sword. Monday's command centre is Monday's Dayroom.
Monday's sloth left him mostly incapacitated, whereupon he left most of the affairs of the Lower House to his Dawn, Noon, and Dusk. When Arthur reached Monday's Dayroom, a great battle was fought between the two, but Arthur wins the First Key, and uses it to heal Monday of his Sloth. Subsequently, Monday accepted Arthur as his master, thanking him for his new life. In Sir Thursday, it is revealed that he was assassinated and it was suspected to be Superior Saturday's men. Dame Primus sets sorcerors to work, searching for assassins, while she herself was Monday's murderer. Monday is described as being a tall man with blond hair and circles under his eyes.
Grim Tuesday was the second trustee Arthur met, and suffered from the deadly sin of Greed. He was given control of the Far Reaches. Tuesday is described as being a tall man without eyebrows. He has a strongly built body and black hair. His Key takes the shape of flexible silver gauntlets bound with gold, which let him work with deposits of Nothing, from which all things can be made. Tuesday's command center is Tuesday's Pyramid.
Tuesday could not make anything original with his Key; thus he was limited to plagiarizing things from the Secondary Realms. He delved down into the depths of his domain in search of workable deposits of Nothing. This created the Pit, which came very close to breaching totally into the Void, and thus destroying the whole House. Tuesday also changed his Dawn, Noon and Dusk, into the seven Grotesques (Yan, Tan, Tethera, Methera, Pits, Sethera and Azer), which were less powerful. This existence makes them miserable. Towards the end of Grim Tuesday, one of the Grotesques is stabbed by Saturday's Dusk, which kills them all as a result of their common origin. Arthur deposed Tuesday of his role and allowed him to live; but it is later revealed in Sir Thursday that he was assassinated; Arthur immediately suspects Superior Saturday. He was pushed or thrown off the top of the Pit, being sorcerously controlled to not cry out or resist falling, whereupon he died in a pool of Nothing at the bottom. As with Mister Monday, Dame Primus is revealed as his killer.
Drowned Wednesday (also known as ", "Duchess Wednesday", "Lady Wednesday", or "Whale Wednesday") is the Duchess of the Border Sea and the third trustee Arthur meets, who suffers from the deadly sin of Gluttony. This sin caused her to eat both her Dusk and Noon, leaving her Dawn to do all the work. She was given control of the Border Sea. Wednesday is the only Morrow Day who does not take a human form, but a large whale, which is 126 miles long due to her constant hunger. Her Key takes on the shape of a small fork (which she uses when she inhabits human form) which can expand into a large trident. Wednesday's command center is Wednesday's Lookout (Port Wednesday).
Wednesday originally used to be a tall, beautiful woman with brown hair. She controlled the Border Sea as decreed by the Will, but refused to forsake dominion of it when the Will demanded. She ruled for a few hundred years, eating tons of food a day. When she realised that her gluttonous affliction was based on having broken the Will, Wednesday tried to fix this by freeing her part of the Will. She spoke to Superior Saturday about going against the other Morrow Days, but was betrayed by Saturday when they, save Monday (incapacitated due to his sloth), called her to a meeting and attacked her and revoked most of her powers over the Third Key. They took the memory of where she kept her part of the Will and gave it to a pirate named Feverfew to steal and hide it. She was cast into the Border Sea; hence her title of "Drowned" Wednesday. She became a Leviathan, because she could not use the Key to keep her shape, and she was only able to use the Key to keep herself from growing any larger. She also used it to direct fish into her path for her to eat, as seen when the heroes venture into her stomach in a submersible. With great effort on her part, she is able to take the human form for a short time.
Arthur released the Will and claimed the Third Key when it was relinquished by Wednesday. Though he attempts to cure Wednesday of her afflictions using the Key and succeeded, but she had been poisoned by Nothing from within and could not be saved. Wednesday can be regarded as the most noble of the Trustees, having been the only one to willingly give dominion of the Border Sea to the Rightful Heir and free the Will as she had promised (albeit delayed).
Sir Thursday was the Commander of the Glorious Army of the Architect, and Overlord of the Great Maze. He is a very powerful, volatile, and excessively violent Denizen. He is afflicted with Anger/Wrath, one of the seven deadly sins. His obedience is to Superior Saturday and Lord Sunday, whose orders he is obeying when he retains the Will against its demands.
Sir Thursday might not be particularly handsome or tall, unlike other superior Denizens; but his orders were absolute. He beats his subordinates, including the Marshals Dawn, Noon and Dusk when angry, and killed two Piper's Children in a fit of rage.
Arthur distracted him by exciting his anger, thereby releasing the Fourth Part of the Will, and claimed the Fourth Key, which chose to take the form of a baton or a rapier when in his grasp, as opposed to the broadsword wielded by Sir Thursday. Arthur ordered that Thursday be put in safe keeping to avoid assassination; thus the former Trustee is currently under arrest in the Citadel and closely guarded. Marshal Dusk reveals that Sir Thursday was dissolved by Nothing, save for his boots and feet. Lord Sunday rightly blames Dame Primus for his assassination.
Lady Friday was Mistress of the Middle House, keeper of the Fifth Part of the Will and the Fifth Key. She is afflicted with Lust, which manifests in her insatiable desire to "experience" mortals: a vampiric practice of draining mortals of their emotional experiences, similar to Dementors in Harry Potter and the villain Spyder from Marvel Comics' New Mutants. She is briefly mentioned in Grim Tuesday when Tuesday refers to her as "that fool Friday". She masquerades as a doctor on Earth, calling herself "Doctor Friday", and uses this guise to steal mortals, whose memories she then drains to feed her addiction.
Lady Friday sent heralds to the Piper, Saturday, and Arthur, telling them that she had abdicated her rule of the Middle House and control of the Fifth Key; the first of the three to find and claim it may use it and control the Middle House. The Fifth Part of the Will remains incarcerated so it will not take the Fifth Key, but is no longer under the supervision of Friday. Though Lady Friday claimed she had extended this offer because she wished to abdicate from her role as Trustee and quietly pursue her own personal interests, her offer was actually a trap to dispose of the Piper, Saturday, and Arthur.
In truth, Friday has taken the Fifth Key (a mirror) with her to her mountain retreat in Avraxyn, a Secondary Realm in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud (ironically the planet where the mold symbiotic with the Spirit-Eater resides), in order to continue "experiencing". Arthur defeated her, claimed the Fifth Key, and placed her under arrest. Lord Sunday correctly accuses Dame Primus of murdering Lady Friday, although it is unknown how she died. As she was taken in the Advance Guard that fled from the dissolving Great Maze, she was probably abandoned or thrown into the many Nothing Leaks. It is also possible that she had never been actually evacuated but instead killed secretly by the Will in an unspecified way, since it is the Will who says she has been evacuated, but no one ever supports or confirms this.
Also known as Lady Saturday, or Superior Sorceress of the Upper House, Superior Saturday is the first denizen to have been made by the Architect, thus one of the first beings to exist in the Universe. Saturday is apparently afflicted with Envy, as she seems to envy Sunday's position in the House, believing it to be her right as the first being created by the Architect. She is the ruler of the Upper House, where House Sorcery is studied, and the Keeper of the Sixth Key and the Sixth Part of the Will. A powerful sorceress in her own right, her abilities are supplemented with the power of the Sixth Key, which takes the form of a quill. Until Superior Saturday, little is known about her appearance, though it is mentioned in Drowned Wednesday by Raised Rats that she was female. In her first appearance, Superior Saturday is described as a tall, beautiful woman with electric-blue hair, wearing a gold circlet upon her head and having "shapely legs". She has been the most active in resistance against Arthur, and is suspected to have ordered the assassinations of Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday; Dame Primus has suggested that this was to prevent them from sharing knowledge that might have aided Arthur.
In Sir Thursday, it is made known that she is Lord Sunday's deputy and that Thursday follows her commands. Throughout Lady Friday, Saturday disrupted travel and communications (though with less success, since the latter is under the authority of the Lower House and the Far Reaches) throughout the House and attempted to assert definitive control over the Middle House by using Lord Sunday's tacit approval and authority. It has recently been revealed that she is responsible for the brainwashing practice known as "washing between the ears", thus subtly explaining its regularity.
Her Noon and Dusk are suspected of committing many heinous deeds, such as the murder of both the former Trustees Mister Monday and Grim Tuesday (however, it was later revealed that Dame Primus was responsible), and Grim's Grotesques. Saturday was also behind the creation of the Skinless Boy in Sir Thursday. Her influence is seen through her manipulation of Sir Thursday and her attempts to coax Arthur to give her the Keys to the Kingdom. She is the first member of the Morrow Days to face Arthur and not speak to him, up until their encounter in Lord Sunday. After losing the Sixth Key to Arthur, she is forced to submit to the Piper and act as his subordinate. She is killed by the Piper with a black blade poisoned with Nothing after Lord Sunday explains that it was Saturday who threw the Piper into Nothing. Though Arthur manages to stop it, it dissolves Saturday's head, killing her.
Lord Sunday is the master of the Incomparable Gardens, Keeper of the Seventh Key and the Seventh Part of the Will. Sunday is afflicted with Pride, and does not attend to matters of the House, preferring to amuse himself within the Incomparable Gardens. The Piper accuses Sunday of being "too proud to fight to the end" when he surrenders after Arthur claims the Seventh Key. The letter at the end of Lady Friday shows his apparent pride and arrogance: he tells Saturday that he does not wish to intervene and that "it will make little difference in the end." Also, he signs with a single S, demonstrating his pride and arrogance. He is also shown to constantly taunt Saturday of her role as Keeper of the Sixth Key, by giving her glimpses of the Incomparable Gardens, the realm she believes she deserves. Merely mentioned by the Raised Rats, he is the eldest son of the Old One and the Architect. Sir Thursday believed Lord Sunday was in control of the House after the Architect's mysterious disappearance. Dr. Scamandros has stated that the Key Sunday wields retains its full powers in the Secondary Realms, and is paramount over the other Keys within the House. Arthur later meets him in the form of a Piper's Child, though he later resumes his normal form and incarcerates Arthur in a smaller replica of the Old One's prison. They meet again later when the Mariner's death releases Part Seven of the Will.
Lord Sunday also reveals that the Trustees all knew about the purpose of the Will (to destroy all of creation) and had decided to go against it in order to prevent their own demise. As part of this act the Will caused the Trustees to become afflicted by uncontrollable desires, thus showing that the Trustees own actions during the series was more the Architect's fault than their own. He is also among the only ones who survive the Nothing along with Arthur, his fate is not known but he is presumed deposed as Suzy now reigns as "Lady Sunday".
They are the lieutenants of the current owners of their respective Keys. There seem to be no special powers associated with these Denizens, although they tend to be taller and more powerful than most others. Each Trustee has or has had three of these servants, but Grim Tuesday split his into seven. They are limited to visiting the Secondary Realms only in their time period; i.e. Monday's Noon can only stay on Earth on Monday, between the hours of Noon and 1:00 p.m.. So far all Noons and Dusks have been male, and all Dawns have been female, save Friday's.
One of all the Dawns', Noons' and Dusks' attributes is that the Dawns all have golden tongues, the Noons have silver tongues, and the Dusks have black tongues. This trend implies that it was Saturday's Noon that attacked the Lieutenant Keeper in Sir Thursday.
A couple of things to observe about the two characters:
Denizens are the citizens of the House. They are all ranked in precedence within the House, and are often asked their precedence when being commanded by a superior Denizen. The ranks goes from 1 to an unknown number, presumably in the hundreds of millions or in the billions. The highest number recorded in the series was Pravuil as a Coal Collater, rank 9,665,785,553 (It is unknown whether this is his true precedence as he has been seen to serve Saturday/Sunday in Superior Saturday). The more important Denizens or Piper's Children have lower precedences. An example for this is in Mister Monday when Suzy Turquoise Blue is an Ink-Filler 6th class, her precedence is 182,367,542. In Sir Thursday Arthur's precedence is 6 (which confuses the recruiting officer who comes to collect Arthur, who "thought perhaps there were a large number of zeroes missing") after defeating Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday and Drowned Wednesday. This suggests that there is a higher-ranked being in the House, the architect would have been number 1, as she was the creator of the universe, followed by the 4 trustees that were remaining, and then Arthur at number 6. The Old One may be number 2.
The Architect is the Creator of everything, first to come out of Nothing. She ruled the House for a time, and tiring of eternal life, (it was revealed) chose to turn herself into the parts of the Will to ensure that Nothing would invade the House and result in Her death. The Architect first made the Incomparable Gardens and its Denizens, and then created the raw matter of the Secondary Realms. Subsequently, she made the Old One from herself to look over her creation. By the Old One's own words in Mister Monday, the Architect was the first to come out of Nothing, although he claimed to Arthur he was "hot on her heels" (though he did not mention that he was in fact part of her). When the events of the book take place she has been absent for a long time, having disappeared and left behind the Will to carry out her wishes. Her fate is unknown for most of the series. According to the Raised Rats in Drowned Wednesday, there was a rumor within the House that she was murdered by her Trustees. In Superior Saturday, the Old One suggests that whatever happened would have been partly her own choice.
Only in the last book is the truth revealed. The Architect created the Old One out of herself, as a part which could interact with her creation more freely. She has, in the course of an experiment (which was decried at the time by Superior Saturday), conceived three children with the Old One: Sunday, the Mariner, and the Piper. But as time wore on they began to grow separate and argue. She condemned the Old One to a cruel punishment for all eternity when she considered him to be "meddling" with the Secondary Realms, defying the Original Law. When her anger finally cooled, and she became tired of life, she realized that she could not destroy herself because she was not whole; in her anger she had made the Old One's bonds eternal. The only way she could die was to commit her entire Creation to Nothing. However, the Will was broken by the Morrow Days into seven pieces, separated, and hidden because the Trustees had grown disobedient, and refused to commit themselves to the Void. The Will warped them to her purposes, however, leading to their various excesses and eventually the fulfillment of the Will. The Seven Parts of the Will, once combined, created part of the Architect, while the Old One made up the rest. Once recombined the Architect destroyed the last part of the House before finally allowing herself to die.
Sometime associate and contemporary of the Architect, the Old One is the second entity to emerge from Nothing. The Old One displays considerable bitterness when speaking of the Architect, claiming that She refused to recognize his artistry in creation, despite their collaboration on at least three experiments. It is worth noting that of their three children, only the Mariner is referred to as the 'Adopted' son of the two; the Mariner has stated that the Old One sired the three of them on mortal women, who are later revealed to have been possessed by the Architect at the time of conception. The Old One's youngest son, the Piper, tried to free the Old One roughly seven hundred years before the events of the books, but was stopped when Saturday had him thrown into the Void of Nothing. If not for the chains with which the Old One was bound, his physical strength, gigantic stature, and self-claimed mastery of the magics that can manipulate Nothing would allow him to make "light work" of his tormentors, clockwork puppets who remove his eyes, and do so again every time they regrow. The burst of Nothing in the Lower House had by Superior Saturday weakened the clock enough that the Old One destroyed his tormentors and would be freed eventually.
The Old One seems to mirror Prometheus, one of the Titans from ancient Greek mythology; each meddles in the affairs of humans, and each was punished by being shackled and having one or more of their organs devoured and regrown each day.
Similar to the Architect, the Old One can be described as a type of Nithling, as a Nithling is described as a self-willed being from Nothing.
When, in Lord Sunday, Arthur reunites all parts of the Will, the Old One is finally freed as Nothing cascades through the leaks in the Middle House, the bulwark of the Upper House, and two huge rips in the ceiling of the Incomparable Gardens, destroying his chains and setting him free. He, being extremely powerful, forges his way into the Incomparable Gardens and joins up with the Will, effectively making the Architect whole and destroying the Universe as we know it.
The Mariner, known also as Tom Shelvocke, is the adopted second son of the Architect and the Old One. He is introduced when Arthur meets him in Grim Tuesday. He wields a harpoon made of the luminous trail of a narwhal's wake under the Aurora in an Arctic sea, created by his Mother, the Architect. It is painful to mortals and Piper's Children when used.
He owes a debt to Arthur for freeing him from Tuesday, and therefore gave him a whalebone disc that can summon the Mariner three times and obtains him aid from any sea-faring Denizen, as they all revere the Mariner. All three of the calls are used, once each in Drowned Wednesday, Lady Friday, and Lord Sunday. In Lady Friday it is Leaf who summons the Mariner.
The Mariner wishes to keep himself out of the House's political and other problems, and stated that when he had responded to Arthur's third and final call he would not help him again, except by his own choice. After being called for the third time in Lord Sunday, he sacrifices himself by using his harpoon, which turns into a wave of salt water, to open the cage containing part seven of the will, an apple tree.
He is possibly based upon the Ancient Mariner. This speculation is due to two references, the first one to his remarkedly ill-fated shooting of a bird, and the second in his name, Shelvocke. Additionally, like the Ancient Mariner, he wanders the world, unable to die.
The third son of the Architect and the Old One. He was cast into Nothing when he attempted to free the Old One. It is revealed in Superior Saturday that it was Saturday who had the Piper thrown into Nothing, though the Piper thinks it was Sunday. He used his powers to build an army of New Nithlings, Nithlings that are extremely organized and intelligent, described by the Piper as "almost denizen," but more like mortals. He notes that he probably made them too well, as (while they make excellent soldiers) their interests lie in agriculture. He intends to use them to claim the House. He claims that Sunday betrayed him, whereupon Part Four of the Will contradicts him, reminding him of his attempt to free the Old One.
In Sir Thursday, the Piper invades The Great Maze, retreating only when the combined forces of Lord Arthur and Dame Primus fight back. He survives but is wounded from the Will's acid spit. He claims that he should be the Rightful Heir as he is the most like the Architect, though the Will refuses to acknowledge him. It is worth mentioning here that his Mother, the Architect, clearly wrote in her Will that only a mortal could be the Heir.
It is the Piper who brought the Piper's Children and the Raised Rats to the House, and is able to control them with his Pipes. By the end of Sir Thursday, Suzy and Fred are put under his control during the disastrous raid on the Nothing Spike. The fact that he controls both Rats and Children with his Pipes quite obviously identifies him as the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In Lady Friday, he leads some of his warriors (Piper's Children) to Friday's Scriptorium in an attempt to get the Fifth Key before Saturday's forces or Arthur can reach it. He commands Ugham to take the "Fifth Key", which turns out to be a fraud. Ugham is destroyed, and the Piper barely escapes, entering the Improbable Stair with his Pipes as the necessary focus.
In the beginning of Superior Saturday, it is revealed that the Piper has withdrawn from the Great Maze, causing damage with bombs made of Nothing. His New Nithlings have moved aboard Raised Rats' steamships on the Border Sea and have reached the Upper House at the bottom. Toward the end of the novel, it is stated that the Piper intends to attack the Upper House.
In Lord Sunday, The Piper launches an all-out attack on the Upper House, quickly overwhelming Saturday's forces and advancing up the Tower at an alarming rate. When Suzy, Leaf, and Doctor Scamandros arrive to stealthily activate the elevators, the Piper has pursued Saturday to the Apex of her tower, greatly aided by the withering of the Drasils. He launches his Newnith army against Saturday and Sunday, quickly allying with Saturday when his forces overwhelm hers. A joint army made up of Saturday's sorcerers and Newniths attack the Elysium but are turned back by Arthur using the Seventh Key to halt the battle.
When Arthur, Sunday, the Piper, and Saturday meet at the Elysium, he reveals he is nothing but a ghost of his former self, held together by his own willpower. When the Piper asks Sunday who cast him into the void, Lord Sunday reveals it was Saturday; in response the Piper stabs her with a sorcerous blade and kills her. Even after Arthur claims the Seventh Key, the Piper attempts to control Arthur using his pipes, but they are destroyed by Arthur. He then kills himself, leaving behind only his golden mask.
A Denizen that watches the Front Door of the House. He and either Saturday's Noon or Dusk are old adversaries (see Saturday's Dawn, Noon and Dusk). After the end of the Drowned Wednesday, he was slightly wounded, due to constant troubles at the Front Door. He wields a sword of blue fire, which is described in Sir Thursday, in his battle against Saturday's Noon to aid Suzy. In Lady Friday and Superior Saturday, the Front Door has been ordered shut to Arthur and his allies, and Dame Primus tells Arthur that the Lieutenant Keeper has appealed to the Court of Days for the Front Door to be reopened. He is a reference to St. Peter, the gatekeeper of Heaven in Christian tradition. Arthur wishes to promote him, but is unable to do so until the fate of the missing Captain Keeper of the Front Door is determined. In Lord Sunday he is heavily wounded from fights with Nithlings and, just before dying, passes his sword to Leaf, who becomes the new Lieutenant Keeper of the Front Door. Later on in Lord Sunday, Leaf accidentally gives her sword to Lieutenant Fred, making him the Lieutenant Keeper. It is unclear if Fred keeps this position after the destruction of the House.
Mister Monday's butler and factotum, who was once possessed by the First Part of the Will in order to persuade Mister Monday to acknowledge Arthur Penhaligon as the Rightful Heir. Under Monday's rule, he is ill-looking and sickly. At the end of Mister Monday, he remains useful and loyal to Arthur, Suzy Turquoise Blue, and Dame Primus as a butler and assistant in Monday's Dayroom. After becoming loyal to Arthur, he is no longer sickly, but immaculate and healthy. He serves drinks, often orange juice. He is also the only one seen in the series with the ability to operate the Seven Dials and has an unusual trait of seemingly appearing or reappearing out of nowhere.
The Raised Rats were mortal rats that were taken to the House by the Piper. They now live on the Border Sea, using Steamboats to work as trackers. They are apparently unreliable, but keep to their word. Drowned Wednesday once wanted them banned from the Sea, but due to political complication could not sustain this punishment. The rats are good friends with all Piper's Children, but will not share any secrets that have been washed from the children's heads. They aid Arthur in finding Part Three of the Will and are later threatened with execution by Superior Saturday, a sentence that no wise Denizen wishes to carry out. As of Superior Saturday, the Raised Rats have chosen to be noncombatants in the Piper's wars. The Rats often trade information for information, as seen in their interactions with Arthur.
A former Coal-Collator from the Deep Coal Cellar in the Lower House. Pravuil's loyalty has appeared to change hands many times. After betraying Arthur in Mister Monday, he flees using an elevator, later appearing in Sir Thursday as a Major in the Glorious Army of the Architect. On Saturday's orders, he issues the changes to the Ephemeris of Colonel Trabizond Nage, which begins the New Nithling invasion. Pravuil has likely been serving Superior Saturday since Grim Tuesday, meaning he resides in the Upper House. It is revealed that he works for Saturday because in Superior Saturday she tells her replacement Dusk to have Pravuil strike Arthur when Friday ends and Saturday begins. Erazmuz mentions that General Pravuil ordered the nuclear strike, meaning he may be one of Saturday's higher-ranked servants, which is also supported by the fact that Saturday asks for him by name. Pravuil is the name of an archangel mentioned in the Second Book of Enoch; the significance of this is unknown.
A fellow Recruit in the Glorious Army of the Architect recruited the day before Arthur; the cheerful, talkative, happy-go-lucky Fred quickly befriends Arthur. He is unusually optimistic about the Army and is looking forward to the change from his nitpicking job of applying gold leaf to the numbers in important House documents. Fred is an asset to Arthur in that Fred knows much of the military procedure, as well as being washed between the ears. At the end of Sir Thursday, Arthur is forced to abandon Fred, along with Suzy and the other Piper's children, when the Piper puts them under his control.
Fred and the other Piper's Children involved in the attack are all given tattoos around their necks that magically bind them to the Piper's will (though Arthur removes Fred and Suzy's ones later on). Fred and Arthur later meet up again when Arthur is accidentally transported to the Middle House by a Transfer Plate. Fred is similarly transported to the Middle House by a transfer plate that Lady Friday had meant as a trap for the Piper. They join up in a gold leaf processing plant on the grand canal where Arthur is found by Fred, Suzy, and a New Nithling named Banneret Ugham. In Lady Friday, it is revealed that Fred can understand the hand signs used by the Winged Servants of the Night, which leads to him becoming an interpreter for Arthur. Also, in Lady Friday, Arthur promotes Fred to the rank of Lieutenant. He later becomes the Lieutenant Keeper of the Front Door of the House.
They are the Denizens who wash between the ears of Piper's Children. They do this by first using an animate rope, which ties people up, then by putting a strange sort of "crown" that looks like it is sculpted from "ice" on the children's heads. Arthur was once washed between the ears in Sir Thursday. They wear long yellow robes and bronze masks. Their origin is the Upper House; therefore they serve Superior Saturday.
In Superior Saturday, the Sixth Part of the Will reveals that all Bathroom Attendants are Internal Auditors (but not all Internal Auditors are Bathroom Attendants) and that Piper's Children are washed between the ears in an attempt to delay the appearance of the Rightful Heir.
Includes minor or non-recurring characters who appear in the House.
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