List of Terra Ignota characters

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Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota quartet features a large cast of characters and an intricate social system. The series consists of Too Like the Lightning (2016), Seven Surrenders (2017), The Will to Battle (2017), and Perhaps the Stars (2021). After three centuries of a global near-utopia, a minor crime and a miracle child begin to unravel the social system and lead the world to technologically-advanced total war. The first three books cover the events leading up to the war and the final book covers the war itself. The series is science-fiction, but is written as a history and memoir, with significant sections of philosophical, religious, and political treatise.

The primary, and unreliable, narrator of the series is Mycroft Canner, a member of the Servicer program for convicted but paroled criminals. There are occasional "interludes" by other characters and sections which have been added by later in-universe editors and revisers, such as Sniper's chapter in Seven Surrenders. Beginning in the third book, Mycroft's grasp of reality significantly loosens and he begins to relay dialogue between himself, his imagined reader, and historical or fictional persons.

Following the invention of flying cars and a series of religious wars known as the Church Wars, the 22nd century saw the end of the geographic nation state. Replacing this was a series of Universal Laws and a group of Hives, non-geographical nations with voluntary, values-based citizenship. Each Hive has its own legal system, government, language, manner of dress, and capital city. By the year 2454, there are seven Hives, as well as three groups of Hiveless. All minors (including youth, elders, intelligent animals, and artificial intelligence) are Graylaw Hiveless until they pass their Adult Competency Exam and declare a choice of law and culture to be accountable to. Families are no longer nuclear, but are organized into co-housing collectives called bash'houses (from the Japanese i-basho, meaning 'home' but stronger). Bash'houses can include people from singular, multiple, or no Hives.

Gendered language

By default, almost all characters publicly use gender-neutral language, with 'they/them' the predominant pronoun used. Mycroft, the primary narrator, finds his world's obsession with gender-neutrality oppressive, so often uses gendered pronouns to refer to other characters, assigning genders based on the characters' personalities and roles, rather than sex characteristics. For instance, Chagatai is a male referred to using 'she' pronouns because of their fierce, lioness-like strength when protecting their nephew from attack. The author has explained that Mycroft, an unreliable narrator, frequently "misuses" gendered pronouns, just as people in real life often make mistakes when using gender-neutral pronouns. Also, in its chapter at the start of Seven Surrenders, Sniper advises the reader to not "trust the gendered pronouns Mycroft gives people, they all come from Madame". Mycroft sometimes varies the gendered pronouns he gives characters. For instance, Carlyle is mostly referred to using she/her pronouns starting with Seven Surrenders, whereas in the first book Carlyle is referred to with 'he' pronouns.

(This article uses the pronouns that Mycroft uses, changing when he changes.)

Bridger's guardians

• Mycroft Canner: a brilliant polymath and infamous convicted criminal. He serves his sentence as a Servicer, works for many of the most powerful world leaders, and secretly protects Bridger. He is thin and stooped, with curly overgrown hair, reconstructed limbs, distinctive scars, and slightly dark skin. Wears a round, shapeless hat. Thirty-one years old. Of Greek descent.
• Bridger: a 13-year-old boy who can "miracle" toys or representational objects to become real. Bears narrative similarity to the Greek mythical character Asclepius. Fair skin with blondish brown hair, very beautiful.
• The Major a.k.a. Achilles Mojave: the leader of toy soldiers brought to life by Bridger.
• Lieutenant Aimer a.k.a. Patroclus: the Major's lieutenant and second in command of the toy soldiers.
• Croucher: a toy soldier who consistently disagrees and questions those around him.
• Other toy soldiers: Private Pointer, Looker, Crawler, Medic, Stander Yellow, Stander Green, Nogun, and Nostand.
• Mommadoll: an animated doll who cooks and cares for Bridger and the soldiers.

Cousins Hive

• Carlyle Foster: a sensayer (spiritual counselor). Becomes a spiritual and ethical guide for Bridger. Blonde, blue-eyed, and gaunt, thirty-one years old, of European descent. A male assigned he/him and she/her pronouns in different periods of the narrative.
• Bryar Kosala: Chair of the Cousins Hive. Looks tall and imperious, but is deeply kind. Spouse of Vivien Ancelet. Of Indian descent.
• Lorelai "Cookie" Cook: Romanova's Minister of Education. A Nuturist faction leader, opposing the creation of set-sets. A male assigned 'she' pronouns.
• Darcy Sok: Cousins' Feedback Bureau Chief.

European Hive

• Isabel Carlos a.k.a. Spain: Former Prime Minister of the European Hive. King of Spain. 59 years old, with nearly black hair. Of Spanish and Chinese descent.
• Casimir Perry: the unpopular, "second-choice" Prime Minister of the European Hive.
• Leonor Valentín: Crown Prince of Spain and Isabel Carlos' son. Appeared on the false Black Sakura Seven-Ten list. Allied with Perry.
• Julia Doria-Pamphili: Head of the Sensayers' Conclave a.k.a. Pontifex Maxima (high priestess). A vocateur specializing in intense one-shot sessions and Mycroft's court-appointed sensayer. Expresses a distinctly feminine gender. Of Italian descent.
• Ektor Carlyle 'Papa' Papadelias: Romanovan Commissioner General. Obsessed with the details of Mycroft's case. One hundred and two years old. Of Greek descent. A female assigned 'he' pronouns.

Gordian Hive

• Felix Faust: Headmaster of the Brillist Institute & Gordian Hive. Seventy-eight years old with a voyeuristic, playful, and sarcastic nature. Of European descent.
• Jin Im-Jin (Gordian): Speaker of the Universal Free Alliance Senate in Romanova, whom Mycroft calls its Grandpa. At least 150 years old. Of Korean descent.

Hiveless

People who, either by choice or by youth, are not part of any Hive.

• Jehovah Epicurus Donatien D'Arouet "J.E.D.D." Mason: Strange but brilliant. A Graylaw Tribune, Familiaris Candidus, and shadow co-leader of every Hive. Wears all black, unfrilly 18th century clothing. Other names/titles used by various Hives include: Jed, Tai-Kun, Xiao Hei Wang, Jagmohan, T.M., Mike, Porphyrogene, '`Aναξ (Anax). Twenty-one years old.
• Dominic Seneschal a.k.a. Canis Domini, Hound of the Lord: A polylaw investigator, sensayer, and J.E.D.D. Mason's abrasive personal valet. A Blacklaw with aggressive, anachronistic style: brown hair in a ribboned ponytail, all-black 18th century European clothes, and a rapier. A female assigned 'he' pronouns; intensely masculine in gender expression.
• Vivien Ancelet: Appointed for life as the Censor (master of the census) of Romanova and secretly the Anonymous. Spouse of Bryar Kosala. Wears slim, shoulder-length dreadlocks. Of French and African descent.
• The Anonymous a.k.a. the Comte Déguisé: An extremely well-respected political commentator. A role, not an individual, and therefore not a member of any Hive. Elected Vice President of the Humanist Hive by proxy.
• "Madame" Joyce Faust D'Arouet: J.E.D.D. Mason's biological mother and madam of the Gendered Sex Club. Blacklaw. Wears a large white wig, elaborate gowns, many gems, and doll-like makeup.
• Saladin: Mycroft's foster sibling, lover, and secret accomplice. Thought dead since childhood by all but Mycroft. Wears Apollo Mojave's Utopian coat, full of weapons. Of Greek descent.
• Gibraltar Euphrates Chagatai: J.E.D.D. Mason's cook. She is large, strong, and bearded. Blacklaw. Of Mongolian descent.
• Jung Su-Hyeon Ancelet-Kosala: Deputy Censor. Tiny, with black hair. Appeared on the false Black Sakura Seven-Ten list. A female assigned 'he' pronouns to match Vivien Ancelet's. Graylaw. Of Asian descent.
• Heloïse D'Arouet: a nun who lives at Madame's, devoted to J.E.D.D. Mason.
• Castel Natekari: The Rumormonger of Hobbestown and Blacklaw Tribune. Retired leader of the Algheni Group. Has black hair and a scar on her left cheek. Of Indian descent.
• Outis: A Servicer, Mycroft's protégé, (fictional) editor of the series, and the Ninth Anonymous (9A). Their crime was murdering the murderers of their ba'sib. Formerly Humanist. Of Greek descent. Their alias means 'no one' in Greek, a reference to the Odyssey.

Humanist Hive

• Ganymede Jean-Louis de la Trémouïlle: Duke President of the Humanist Hive. Twin brother of Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémouïlle. He wears ostentatious 18th century garb to complement his blue eyes and golden shoulder-length hair. He is so beautiful that an entire "Ganymedist" style of art is based on representations of him. Of French descent.
• Brody DeLupa: Proxy Vice President for the Anonymous.
• Aesop Quarriman: The one unelected Humanist Senator chosen annually by heroics. Originator of the bull's eye symbol. Born in Antarctica. Her Humanist boots are fitted polymer for protection and mobility, with many Olympic medal stripes.

The Saneer-Weeksbooth bash'house (family)

A dynastic Humanist bash' which invented the global flying-car system and has run it for almost 400 years. Their home and headquarters is in the "Spectacle City" of Cielo de Pájaros, Chile. The current members' parents and predecessors all recently died in a white-water rafting accident.

• Ockham Prospero Saneer: the leader of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash'. Quite muscular and knightly, Ockham possesses the extremely rare right to use lethal force. His Humanist boots are steel and leather. Of Indian and possibly Mestizo descent.
• Thisbe Ottila Saneer: another of Bridger's secret protectors and a witch. Besides helping her bash' run the cars, Thisbe is an award-winning "smelltrack" creator for movies. Black-haired, dark-skinned, and confident. Her Humanist boots depict a mountainous brush-pen landscape. Of Indian and possibly Mestizo descent.
• Ojiro Cardigan Sniper: Second in command of the Saneer-Weeksbooths, a world-famous athlete, performance artist, model, and professional living doll. Sniper is genderfluid and intersex but Mycroft assigns 'he' pronouns to parallel with rivals, Ockham and Ganymede; 'it' pronouns from Seven Surrenders onwards. Sniper's Humanist boots are leather rimmed with metallic stripes representing Olympic medals. Of Japanese, European, and South American descent.
• Lesley Juniper Sniper Saneer: adopted by the Saneer-Weeksbooths after her own bash' was killed in a flying-car accident. A compulsive doodler. Ockham's spouse. Energetic, with curly black hair. Her Humanist boots are made of screen cloth, on which doodles change every day. Of Chinese and African ancestry.
• Cato Weeksbooth: a brilliant but unstable science teacher. Volunteers at the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), teaching children. His Humanist boots are made of Utopian Griffincloth and display various internal anatomy of feet. Of Chinese descent.
• Eureka Weeksbooth: a Cartesian set-set who directly interfaces with the car-system data via sight, sound, smell, touch, temperature, and taste. Female and assigned 'they' pronouns. Of Chinese descent.
• Sidney Koons: a Cartesian set-set who directly interfaces with the car system data. Was not born in the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash', but chose it.
• Kat Typer: One of the identical, interchangeable twins who hate each other. Fascinated with the pseudo-scientific spiritualist double-think of the 19th century.
• Robin Typer: One of the identical, interchangeable twins who hate each other. Likes bikes.

Masonic Hive

• Cornel Semaphoros MASON: Emperor. Black-haired and bronze-skinned, he wears a square-breasted suit in an exclusive shade of iron gray. His black right sleeve indicates his sole right to order execution. His left foot is prosthetic, the original having been removed during the Masonic Testing of the Successor. A male assigned 'he' pronouns.
• Mycroft 'Martin' Guildbreaker: A polylaw investigator for Romanova and Minister to J.E.D.D. Mason. A Familiaris Regni, the first member of Ordo Vitae Dialogorum, and Nepos: one of the Emperor's inner circle and absolute subject of his will. Thirty-two years old. Of Persian descent.
• Xiaoliu Guildbreaker: Martin's spouse. Born Mitsubishi, he is the first non-Mason to join the Guildbreaker bash' in generations. The Masonic judge in Ockham Saneer's terra ignota trial. A Familiaris Regni and member of Ordo Vitae Dialogorum. A female assigned 'he' pronouns.

• Charlemagne Guildbreaker, Sr.: A well-respected Alliance Senator, whom Mycroft calls the Senate's Grandma. A Familiaris Regni. Martin's grandparent. Bearded. Of Persian descent. A male assigned 'she' pronouns.

Mitsubishi Hive

• Hotaka Andō Mitsubishi: Chief Director of the Mitsubishi Executive Directorate, husband of Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémouïlle. Of Japanese descent.
• Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémouïlle Mitsubishi: A world-famous beauty, incredibly adept at social manipulation and gentle interrogation. Named for the Danaë of Greek mythology. Twin sister of Ganymede Jean-Louis de la Trémouïlle. Blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Intensely and expressively feminine. Of French descent.
• Tsuneo Sugiyama: Retired reporter for the Black Sakura newspaper; writer of the original Seven-Ten list. Eighty-nine years old. Of Japanese descent.

Andō and Danaë's adopted children, unfinished "Oniwaban" set-sets

• Harue Mitsubishi
• Hiroaki Mitsubishi: In training with the Cousins' Feedback Bureau, education section. Her sleeveless Brill sweater indicates her skill at math. Of Southeast Asian descent.
• Jun Mitsubishi: Rejected from Brill's Institute. Applied for secretary's post with Gordian's Brain 'bash. In Too Like the Lightning, described as European and freckled. In Seven Surrenders, described as classically Japanese.
• Masami Mitsubishi: An intern at the Black Sakura and writer of the fake stolen Seven-Ten list. Dark-skinned, of Japanese Ainu descent.
• Michi Mitsubishi: Interning with Europe's Parliament.
• Naō Mitsubishi
• Ran Mitsubishi: Attempted to work in Ganymede's offices but was rejected. Of Middle Eastern descent.
• Setsuna Mitsubishi
• Sora Mitsubishi: Personal secretary to the Humanist Praetor in Romanova.
• Toshi Mitsubishi: An analyst with the Censor's office and Graylaw Hiveless. Wears her hair in many small twists and a Japanese nation-strat insignia. Of African and European descent.

Utopian Hive

• Aldrin Bester: A Utopian investigator. A Familiaris Candidus, in the Emperor's inner circle but not subject to his capital powers. Named for astronaut Buzz Aldrin and science fiction author Alfred Bester. Wears a coat depicting a space city.
• Voltaire Seldon: A Utopian investigator. A Familiaris Candidus, in the Emperor's inner circle but not subject to his capital powers. Named for philosopher Voltaire and fictional psychohistorian Hari Seldon. Wears a coat depicting swampy ruins.
• Mushi Mojave: First entomologist on Mars. One of Apollo's ba'pas. Wears a coat depicting billions of ants.

• Huxley Mojave: Mycroft's Utopian guard. Voted to abandon Earth and lost, but was made ambassador anyway. Wears a coat of storms.

Mardi bash' (multi-hive)

A bash' of virtuosos obsessed with war, each brilliant in their respective fields. Neighbors of Mycroft's foster bash' and the victims of his murder spree. All but one are deceased at the beginning of the narrative, but are often mentioned.

• Apollo Mojave: Utopian. Named for the Greek god Apollo and the Mojave desert. Golden-haired. Fifteen years older than Mycroft.
• Aeneus Mardi: A Romanovan Senator. Stabbed to death on the Ides of March. Body left on the Altar of Peace.
• Chiasa Mardi: Historian. Mason.
• Geneva Mardi: Senator. Mason raised by Cousins. Crucified.
• Ibis Mardi: Had been in love with Mycroft. Would have become a Cousin. Beaten to death, raped, cooked and eaten alive. One year younger than Mycroft.
• Jie Mardi: Historian. Chinese water torture. Mitsubishi.
• Jules Mardi: Historian. Mason.
• Ken Mardi: A prodigy and would-be swordsman. Kohaku's biological child. Four years younger than Mycroft. Dismembered and left to freeze in the Arctic at thirteen years old.
• Kohaku Mardi: An analyst in the Censor's office. Poisoned, then seppuku'd himself and wrote the point-of-no-return statistics on a wall in their blood. A female assigned 'he' pronouns.
• Laurel Mardi: The golden boy of the bash's younger generation. Dismembered, guillotined, and fed to Mycroft's dog. Three years younger than Mycroft.
• Leigh Mardi: Cousin. Fed to lions in the Great African Reservation.
• Luther Mardigras: Professional party-thrower. Tully's father. Tortured and dismembered over the course of five days and finally burned in a wicker man.
• Mercer Mardi: A Gordian and Brillist Fellow. Tully's mother. Vivisected.
• Makenna Mardi: Historian. Jug-and-funnel water torture.
• Malory Mardi: Humanist.
• Seine Mardi: Apollo's lover. Humanist. Her beauty, romance with Apollo, and death in battle inspired a new subgenre of literature and art.
• Tully Mardi/Mojave: The last surviving Mardi, hidden by the Utopians in Luna City on the Moon for the thirteen years since the murder spree. Graylaw Hiveless. Tall and dependent on crutches from growing up in low gravity. Nine years younger than Mycroft.

References

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