The Dresden Files/Characters/The Fae

The Fae

Exactly as the name implies, these guys are The Fair Folk. They're mostly divided into the warring Summer and Winter Courts, with those outside the Courts known as "wyldfae." The Fae are ruled by a Byzantine series of laws and restrictions that govern how various members of each Court can act, but they have become masters at working within these restrictions. For example, as a rule they Can Not Tell a Lie, but they're absolutely ruthless rules lawyers about Exact Words, and being in debt to a faerie is... bad, to say the least. They range in power from the relatively harmless (pixies) to the greater-than-godlike (Mother Summer and Mother Winter). Luckily for the Puny Earthlings, all Fae have an Achilles Heel: iron and steel will burn them and cut through their magic instantly.

• Achilles Heel: Iron and steel in general, which is considered the equivalent of toxic waste. Leaving iron objects in Faerie is considered a dire insult.
• Can Not Tell a Lie: No faerie can lie. As in not being able to tell an outright falsehood. Under no circumstances, however, should that be taken to mean that they're not capable of deception by any variety of other means, including Exact Words, careful omission of important details, or phrasing that can be easily misinterpreted. Nemesis is a game-changer, giving infected faeries the ability to lie outright. It doesn't necessarily make them good at it, but since no one familiar with the fae expects them to be able to tell an outright untruth, that doesn't matter much.

• The Dragon: Both of the Courts have a Knight who serve as agents for the Queens to carry out their will in the mortal world, as the Queens are unable to directly harm or kill any mortal who does not first either attack them or otherwise represent the opposing Court. The Knights are mortals given some of the power of their Queen, making them far tougher, stronger, and swifter, as well as giving them powers related to their Court, i.e. the Summer Knight gaining power related to flame, while the Winter Knight gains power related to ice.
• Equivalent Exchange: Fundamental to their nature. If you harm a faerie, they must harm you back. Obtain power from them, and they must gain power from you in return. If you make a deal based on something you provide then and there, you're not going to have a problem. But if you make an open-ended trade, then you're going to regret it. This is also why they don't like charity, as an act of kindness obligates them to return the favor.
• Exact Words: The Fae are bound by the exact letter of their word. As long as those words are fulfilled, nothing else matters.
• The Fair Folk: With the Seelie and Unseelie courts ruling half the year each, the Fae of the Dresden-verse can range from kind and considerate to murderous monsters who take great pleasure in the kill. One should always be on edge near any of them, even if they appear to be your friend and want to help you.

• From a Certain Point of View: One of the many ways they get around a straight answer.

• Part of their nature, as when Harry demands a straight answer from Maeve and Lily, they both give him looks of deep irritation and disgust, and it takes an obvious effort for them to reply.

• I Know Your True Name: Because faeries never change their essential nature, unlike humans, their true names will stay the same and always have power over them.
• Light Is Not Good: The Summer (or Seelie) Court tends towards powers of growth, warmth, and light, and are often considered the "nicer" of the two. This does not mean they're "good."

Queen Mab

Mortal brute. Whatever your past, whatever your future, know this: I am Mab, and I keep my bargains. Question my given word again, ape, and I will finish freezing the water in your eyes.

The Queen - IE Central ruler, more powerful than the Lady but less so than the Mother, as well as most visible face - of the Winter Court of Faerie. More so than any other high-ranking fae (except perhaps for the Leanandsidhe) she has a tendency to pop up in Harry's life at the very moments he doesn't want her around. Which is pretty much all the time. Her daughter Maeve is the Winter Lady.

• Affably Evil: For a very weighted term of "affable." She will be quite calm and polite as she freezes the water in your eyes.
• An Ice Person: As part of her core power.
• Asskicking Equals Authority/Authority Equals Asskicking: It's rather unclear which way it works, and may be a combination, but it's clear that Mab is powerful as Jim Butcher put it, there's a reason why when Mab wrote the accords and told the various supernatural nations to abide by them, they listened.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: What many of the mortals (and some of the other Fae) suspect has happened to her in the later books after she takes the Black Athame from Lea.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Literally, being the Winter Queen, and she is a master of inflicting agonies upon people, such as what she did to Lloyd Slate. In her own words:

"To be sure, the White Christ never suffered so long or terribly as did this traitor. Three days on a tree. Hardly enough time for a prelude. When it came to visiting agony, the Romans were hobbyists."

• Deal with the Devil: She keeps making offers to Harry. He keeps turning them down... and occasionally suffers for it. As of Changes, he took her offer.
• Eye Scream: When Harry got a little too smart-assed, she froze the water in his eyes. Ow?
• The Fair Folk: Queen of one half of the land.
• Fate Worse Than Death: What she does to her treasonous Winter Knight, Lloyd Slate.
• God Save Us From the Queen: Considering her Cold-Blooded Torture note and her ruthless actions for completing a deal, she has all the earmarks of this trope. This however isn't the full story as she must be this cold and ruthless in order to be able to fight the ancient force Nemesis and the Outsiders attempting to destroy all of reality.
• Lap Pillow: Played for creepy in Ghost Story, when Harry wakes up to find a "cadaverously-thin" Mab doing this.
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: If her name alone isn't enough, try on her titles for size: "The Queen of Air and Darkness" for starters. Incidentally, her name comes from a line in Romeo and Juliet and the title is from, appropriately enough, Celtic mythology.
• Out-Gambitted: Harry tried to escape his deal with Mab by setting up a Thanatos Gambit. But he never expected Mab to team up with Demonreach to bring him back to life.
• Speak of the Devil: Say her name three times, and she must appear.

Leanansidhe "Lea"

My godmother was what she was-a being of violence, deceit, and the thirst for power. Her attitudes and reactions could not fairly be called inhumane.

Harry's fairy godmother. The second most powerful being in the Winter Court, next only to Mab. Genuinely cares about Harry, and for a long while tried her best to keep him safe... by turning him into a hound. Is strongly suspected to be batshit insane.

• Axe Crazy: well, in many of her appearances, but not always. Other times she's nice enough.
• Blue and Orange Morality: She simply doesn't get human standards of morality.
• Can Not Tell a Lie
  • From a Certain Point of View
• Cat Smile
• Dissonant Laughter
• The Dragon: To Mab.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: implied.
• Enigmatic Minion: Hinted to be planning something. Whether or not the tendency has been "removed," we do not know.
• Evil Mentor: To Molly. Very much so.
• Evil Redhead
• Fairy Godmother: to Harry, obviously. Lea has a lot of fun with this in Changes, when she uses faerie magic to suit Harry up in Costume Porn protective armor before the final battle--against his protests (and much to Susan's amusement).

Susan: Wow. You...you really do have a fairy godmother. Leanansidhe: And I've never been able to indulge.

• It's Personal: as she reveals in Ghost Story, the amount of aid that she provided to Harry and company during the Storming the Castle scene in Changes was not just because of Mab's orders. She hadn't forgotten the Black Athame that Bianca gave to her, which subsequently drove her insane. As Harry had already taken down Bianca, she owed him a debt of justice--which she very happily paid by helping him take revenge upon the entire Red Court.
• Pet the Dog: Promising to give Susan a good burial. Genuine acts of kindness are rare from the fae, but as Harry remarks:

"Even in Winter, the cold isn’t always bitter, and not every day is cruel."

• Psychopathic Manchild: Has shades of this, some of her behaviors are noted by Harry to have "a childish glee" or similar.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: varies between this and straight-out Evil Mentor. Fortunately, she has a much more limited amount of influence over Harry than his other mentors. Unfortunately, Molly is a different story...
• Stealth Mentor: She claims that many of her efforts to attack Harry were actually this.
• Skunk Stripe: In Changes.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Suggested. In this case it's not her own power, but the power of the Black Athame that Bianca gave to her. She seems to have gotten better by Changes, but is still out for blood against the Red Court.

Toot-Toot

A fairy that Dresden used for information, and later recruited to his personal service by bribing him with pizza. Leader of the Za Lord's Guard.

• Berserk Button: He REALLY doesn't like being called a domovoi. As he tells Sanya, he's actually a polevoi (a field spirit, whereas domovoi are house spirits).
• Bigger Is Better: He's gotten noticably bigger as his power increases.
• Bishonen: Just as pretty as a fairy noble, just, tiny.
• The Cavalry: An especially odd version of one.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He is a fairy and has a very odd thought process.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Oh that silly little six inch fairy, what could- Good god! My arms!!!
  • Forget your arms. Look out for your eyes.
• Fairy Companion: He doesn't follow Harry around, but Harry is nevertheless his personal Jesus, what with saving his friends and giving them regular deliveries of pizza.
• G-Rated Drug: Pizza.

Sanya: You are a drug dealer. To tiny fairies. For shame.

• Hero Secret Service: The leader of the Pizza Lord's (Harry's) Guard.
• Hilarity Ensues: Instant funny, just add Toot-toot.
• Honor Before Reason: Toot-Toot refuses to run away, no matter how insanely outclassed he is.
  • This is important, as Harry knows he's in danger when Toot-Toot tells him to run, and even more importantly, to forget the donuts.
• Improbable Weapon User: A boxcutter and a nail. Of course, he's so small that these are about the right size, and since iron hurts fae, they're also surprisingly effective.
• Our Fairies Are Different: And obsessed with pizza.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse
• Power Glows: Well he does anyway.
• Punch Clock Hero: He and his people are mainly in it for the pizza and eventually personal loyalty to the "Za Lord".
• Reckless Sidekick: Proving that Tropes Are Not Bad, despite being hopelessly outclassed, Toot-Toot is the bravest character in this entire goddamn story. He goes up against gods, demons, wizards, vampire queens, and survives!
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Mostly played straight, but occasionally and awesomely averted.
• Small Annoying Creature: Averted. Toot-Toot is a total badass and fairy-ly amusing.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Pizza, if that wasn't clear by now.
• Took a Level In Badass: Over the books. He started as an informant and became a big damn hero. Per Word of God, Toot, like every other Sidhe, gains power by having more influence in the world around him, so he becomes more powerful through each act he performs to aid Harry.
• You Shall Not Pass: Buys Dresden time by attacking a demigod.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: He has white hair and is apparently quite attractive. But he's aligned with the heroes, if for no other reason than the frequent pizzas, and seems to be an affable guy, albeit with a cheerfully amoral bent and a strong mercenary streak.

The Billy Goats Gruff

Personal enforcers for the Queen Titania of the Summer Court, they appear to be goatlike humanoid faeries. Consist of a series of brothers who are not just powerful, but very intelligent. Based on the fairy tale of the same name.

• Bigger Is Better: The Gruffs come in waves, with each "older brother" bigger, stronger and tougher than the last. Then subverted: the Eldest Gruff is barely 5 feet tall and yet is orders of magnitude more dangerous than any of the others.
• Combat Pragmatist: Most other faeries hunt with swords or magic. The gruffs? Machineguns. The others aren't slackers at nasty fighting either; the youngest brothers ambush Harry with a feint and surprise attack.
  • The gruffs also won't shy away from bringing "temp agents" to help out; Thomas is hunted by faerie elves while masquerading as Harry, and later on the boat carrying Harry is attacked by kelpies: plant faeries apparently made of seaweed.
  • Tiny is actually very much a pragmatist as well. He won't attack Harry while he's inside MacAnally's, but he has no qualms about waiting right outside to crush him the moment he leaves. Also, when he storms the subway station, he does so under a huge combat veil; this doesn't generally get noticed because Harry triggered the fire sprinklers, which instantly grounded out the magic being used by the veil.
  • It is played straight in one instance. When Harry uses cold iron against them, even though they're way out of his league and would have easily killed him, they consider it Disproportionate Retribution.
• Friendly Enemy: The gruffs don't despise Harry; in fact, Tiny and Eldest express both respect for his ability and regret at having to fight him.
• Genius Bruiser: Tiny is a massive gruff who towers over twenty feet tall, but he's far from stupid.
• Hero Antagonist: The gruffs may be out to kill Harry, but they're actually pretty nice and friendly guys who are famous for fighting and slaying evil trolls. Harry even has a good long laugh with Eldest when they meet, as they both agree that normal, mortal women are impossible to understand, let alone Sidhe Queens.
• Hitman with a Heart: For Titania's personal assassins, they're actually pretty nice guys when they're not trying to murder your face off.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: The gruffs are disturbed at having to fight Harry, who is someone they deeply respect.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Eldest Gruff can swat fallen angels like uppity pixies and has killed three members of the Senior Council in duels over the years. He's five foot three, at most.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Each "wave" of gruffs is significantly smarter and tougher.

Lady Aurora

The first Summer Lady, who appeared in Summer Knight. Was the one behind the murder of the Summer Knight, in an effort to give his power to Winter to disrupt the balance between the Courts.

• Can Not Tell a Lie: Which leads us to...
• Care Bear Stare: Uses this to distract Harry.
• Dark Messiah: Her goal is to make a world where nobody will ever be hurt again ... and she'll do whatever it takes to achieve it.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Mobbed by iron-wielding pixies. Harry even uses that phrase to describe it later.
• Fertile Feet: More because she's one of the most powerful of the Summer fae than because of her personality.
• God Save Us From the Queen: Her goal was to have Winter win the endless war. This would have caused a new ice age over most of the planet, killing much of humanity.
• Knight Templar: Because of Nemesis, she is driven in her quest to "save the world" from the endless war of the Fae. She will save it even if it means destroying it.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Totally willing to kill off billions of innocent mortals to create a better world for the survivors.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She tries to start a war which would destroy the faerie courts, specifically so she can put things back together in a way which would be better for humanity. Unfortunately, she's a little crazy and the collateral damage involved in such a plan is unacceptably high.

The Erlking

If I did not release you now, how should I ever have the pleasure of hunting you myself some fine, bright evening?

A powerful Fae and one of the Kings of Summer, who leads The Wild Hunt. First encountered in Dead Beat, where, as a result of the plot, he became one of Harry's mortal enemies.

• Affably Evil: In Changes, treats Harry and Susan courteously when they land in his hall, even warning Harry not to Speak of the Devil.
• Badass: He is the leader of the goblins. Given his size, towering over even Harry, and demeanor, he earned this through combat.
• Bigger Is Better: He's nine feet tall.
• One-Scene Wonder: Well, two scene wonder. He pops up again in Changes, and is similarly cool.
• Our Goblins Are Different: In the Dresdenverse, Goblins are supernatural huntsmen with asymmetric faces and unusually cruel hunting implements. When mentioned that Harry and Susan were supposed to be able to handle a million of the without trouble, Harry mentions that the real Goblins are like ninjas from Krypton. The Erlking himself is an honorable entity who will honor his word, even if he regrets doing so, and is much more concerned with "kingly" pursuits like hunting and fighting than sneaking or tinkering.
• Worthy Opponent: Genuinely respects and likes Harry, and even spared his life because the dinosaur thing was just that cool. Still plans to hunt him down one of these days.

Fix

A changeling - a scion of a human and one of the Sidhe - who was friends with the former Summer Knight. Characterized by his meek demeanor and worrisome nature, and doesn't want to get involved in the upcoming war between the Summer and Winter courts in Summer Knight. Becomes the new Summer Knight afterward.

• Combat Pragmatist: As illustrated in Small Favor, Fix isn't afraid to preemptively put a gun to your head if he isn't sure he can take you fairly.
• Fireballs: Is able to launch one the size of a peanut m&m that instantly consumed a winter troll hit by it
• Flaming Sword: Carries one as Summer Knight and is quite skilled with it, to the point that in the RPG his initiative jumps from Good to Epic while using it.
• Kavorka Man: Harry notes that Fix is not a particularly good-looking man, but by the events of Proven Guilty, his status as the Summer Knight has ensured he has the confidence and presence to get many more women. However, as his heart belongs to Lily, Fix (probably) doesn't really care.
• Mr. Fixit: Craftsmanship has the highest rating in RPG of all his skills.
• Took a Level In Badass: Goes from scrawny, scared changeling to the Summer Knight. So really, its more like several levels.
• Unstoppable Rage: When Lloyd Slate, the Winter Knight, kills his best friend, he goes berserk and takes the man down singlehandedly. With a wrench.

Queen Titania

The Summer Queen, who has not appeared in the story of yet, but has made her presence known mainly through a couple cameos, and manipulations through Lily and Fix.

• Can Not Tell a Lie: Part of the standard Fae package.
• Green Thumb: Not shown, but a safe assumption.
• Revenge Before Reason: Gave orders that no information about Summer's diplomacy, troop movements, etc, are to be given to Harry, mainly out of spite for him ganking Aurora.

Maeve

I think it might be wise for you to indulge me. I simply go mad when someone ruins a good party mood.

The Winter Lady, Mab's heir to the title of Queen of Air and Darkness. Kind of a bitch.

• An Ice Person: A sip of lemonade turns to ice in her mouth. Considering that she had tried to seduce Harry not even two minutes earlier, Harry realizes that it was probably a very good thing that he turned down sex.
• Anything That Moves: Implied.
• Bare Your Midriff: Her first appearence has her wearing a shirt that she cut in half to where.
• Combat Pragmatist: she justifies not coming to Harry's aid sooner with "If I had, it'd have been a fair fight. And I try to avoid those."
• Hair-Trigger Temper
• Jackass Genie/Literal Genie: A man in Summer Knight apparently said he would die to play music well. Maeve grants that literally.
• Jerkass: Oh Hell Yes.
• Humanity Is Infectious: Worries about this, due to what happened to Aurora, and also regarding Mab's apparent insanity.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Just because she acts like a psychotic dilettante nymphomaniac doesn't mean she isn't a dangerous and intelligent plotter.
• Older Than They Look: Maeve is consistently described as looking old enough to be tempting but young enough to make one feel guilty for thinking said thoughts. This is a facade, as she is easily centuries old and fully aware of the effect it has.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Woman of average height. One of the top ten fairies in existence.
• The Pornomancer: She's able to tempt damn near anyone out of their pants. The fact that Harry (a human) can resist her drives her into out-and-out shock.
• Unskilled but Strong: When Will is made nervous by the waves of cold pouring off of her as she does magic, Harry points out that isn't an indicator of power, it's a sign that she's not controlling her magic properly. Still the Winter Lady though. And it could have been an act.
• Walking Wasteland: Flowers wither in her prescense.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Her hair is in dreadlocks, and every lock is dyed a differnt color, mostly blues, greens, and purples, in order to look like a glacier.
  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: An Ice Person with glacier-hair? Textbook example.

Lily

A changeling who is friends with Fix, Ace, and Meryl during the events of Summer Knight. Briefly turned into the Summer Knight by Aurora in an effort to give power to Winter and break the seasonal cycle. After the events of Summer Knight, she becomes the Summer Lady - and is the first mortal to do so.

• Fertile Feet: Her mere presence causes plants to spring into existence, soemtimes from implaisuble, inanimate objects. For example, in Proven Guilty she causes a carved wooden flower in Mac's bar to turn into a real, living flower simply by passing it.
• Playing with Fire: As a Queen of Summer, Lily specializes in using heat-based magic, including giving Harry a deceptively-powferful fire enchantment to keep him and his comrades warm while entering Winter in Proven Guilty. Harry uses this special Summer fire against the Scarecrow and accidentally pumps it into the wellspring of Winter to boot. The rest of Winter is very unhappy.
• Kill It with Fire: Par the course but how many people sculpt their flames as a flaming butterfly?
• Rape as Backstory: Though not outright said, it is implied that Lloyd Slate raped her at some point for Maeve's amusement.
• Took a Level In Badass: Upon becoming the Summer Lady, Lily went from a weak-willed girl who barely had the wits to survive on her own to a conniving, trickey magic-weilder who can work within the intrigue and treachery-laden world of the Sidhe.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Becomes this one she becomes the Summer Lady.
• You Gotta Have Green Hair Her hair starts out a bright shade of green while she's still a changeling.

Lloyd Slate

The Winter Knight. Slate is the Winter Queens' personal mortal hitman in Summer Knight. A drug addict, murderer, rapist, and general scumbag, Harry is unsure whether or not those were qualities that got him the job or if he got them from the job. In Summer Knight Slate joined forces with Aurora to get revenge on Maeve, who he has bad blood with. After the events of Summer Knight, Mab kept him prisoner and tortured him endlessly. In Changes, he is finally killed by Harry.

• An Ice Person: As the Winter Knight, he can use ice-base powers.
• Career Killer: His job is being the hitman for the three Winter Queens.
• The Dragon: To Aurora.
• Fate Worse Than Death: Let's just say that what Mab puts him through is...excessive.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Mostly averted; he has a sword that resembles a katana but it in Harry's opinion it just doesn't have the class to be called one.
• Mercy Kill: From Harry to end the pain and torment Mab put him through and so Harrycan become the Winter Knight, though Mab forces him to admit to himself that mercy isn't his primary motivation in doing so.

• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: though it took eight years before Harry finally killed him.
• The Sociopath: It is implied in Cold Days this is because he gave himself to the power of the Mantle and lost himself in it.

Scarecrow

One of Mab's retainers, the Scarecrow is an old and powerful faerie known as a fetch: a shapeshifting creature that feeds on fear and serves as Winter's enforcers, assassins, and messengers. Most fetches assume forms of creatures or people that their targets fear, i.e. movie horror monsters in the modern era, but these are simply illusionary forms or constructs made of ectoplasm. The Scarecrow, however, is old enough that he can shape his entire body to resemble his namesake: a massive, pumpkin-headed monster made out of old, supernaturally-powerful vines and roots covered in rags. The Scarecrow is behind the fetch attacks on the horror movie convention in Proven Guilty and kidnapped Molly, though not all is as it seems....

• Achilles Heel: Like all faeries, fetches are vulnerable to iron. As a Winter fae, Scarecrow is vulnerable to fire, too, particularly fire conjured by Summer. However, Scarecrow and his fetch minions are also vulnerable to those who are not afraid of them; they can neither sense them nor use their fear as a shield or source of power. A fearless Harry wielding Summer fire is enough to panic Scarecrow.
• Anti-Magic: Harry slaps him with a Hellfire-boosted force attack with enough power behind it to knock him over Lake Michigan. Scarecrow walks through it without flinching. Later on it is implied that this works through fear; as long as the one tossing magic is afraid, Scarecrow can block their attacks.
• Badass: Massive and powerful enough to take on Harry, Mouse, and Thomas and maintain the upper hand.
• The Dreaded: Deliberately invoked; like all fetches, he assumes horror movie monster forms to frighten his targets, giving him power over them.
• Emotion Eater: Feeds on fear, and also has a thing for magical power. This makes Molly an ideal target.
• Human Shield: Though Molly is far too small to be a shield for him, he does threaten to kill her if Harry or Charity attack him.
• Large and In Charge
• Oh Crap: When Scarecrow realizes that Harry is not afraid of it and is packing Summer fire.
• Primal Fear
• Unwitting Pawn: Madrigal Raith was his decoy pawn at the convention. Scarecrow himself appears to be such for Maeve as part of the plot between her and Lily to get Harry into Arctis Tor and drop fire into the Winter wellspring, drawing off Winter's armies from the border and letting Maeve trap them in a region of slowed time, allowing Summer to attack the Red Court and save the White Council. No one said those bloody faeries weren't complicated.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: With the Scarecrow as his Shapeshifter Default Form. He only changes shape once during the novel, when trying to escape from Harry as a flying creature. Harry, however, is great at anti-air fire.