Character Profiling: A World Reborn

Back for another round of character profiles, this time with the basic protagonists of the second trilogy. As some of you may know, I started out this series with the goal of simply writing a finished book. A series isn't always a planned thing. Once I resolved the main plot, each time I had more questions. Could I just write short stories to answer them? Perhaps, but each one seemed to bloom well beyond that word count, each needing a bigger problem to lead them to another resolution. How often in reality do we look at the big goal, seeing little more than a victory or a happily ever after, but even achieved, we see hills beyond it and more journeys ahead? I was tying up the end of the Heroes trilogy and I didn't see an ending. There were aspects of this growing world that made me wonder even further back into their history, even more into the mysterious people and cultures and pockets of the world only briefly explored.

A World Reborn begin where I planted the seed for continuity. Again, without getting too much into spoiler territory, it's just not the same world and with the passage of time, the truth is just not coming to light and people forget. It's a hard legacy to carry. So who's dragged into the party kicking and screaming this time?

EDEN

Hair: White

Eyes: Grey

Short Intro: From the time she was 4 years old, she came into a power that came with an awful cost, one that forced her family to look for answers, mostly getting none, and leading to a life growing up isolated and protected. She misses her mother and uncle and teenage impulses make her sure she can find what others cannot. Forced to flee her childhood home, she convinces her guardian to return to the north.

First appears: her home on the edge of the Ersenais kingdom

SOLIS

Hair: Black

Eyes: Golden Yellow

Short Intro: Crown prince of Abundance, his father mysteriously disappears and his mother becomes despondent until she takes her own life. When his double-edged gifts surface, he nearly kills his twin sisters. When the Council tries to detain him, he flees in terror. Not sure of where to go, he simply heads north, but the 'gifts' assure not only the farthest thing from a normal life, but also a path of destruction. When his mother's ex-lover, a man whispered to be an assassin, shows up, he thinks it's all over.

First appears: the Palace in Abundance

CONOR

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Short Intro: Conor and his twin sister are nearly inseparable, living their carefree lives in Skyloft, a city their parents founded. Having a Reishefolk parent, he and his sister were born with wings, but they never fully developed. Their uncle seemed obsessed with trying to find out why, but his quest is cut short when another problem arises.

First appears: Skyloft

CALYRA

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Short Intro: Fraternal twin sister of Conor. When her and her brother come into their powers, they feel an urgency to leave, looking for a lead their uncle had started on. On the insistence of their father, the blacksmith Arred is asked to go with them, a move that Calyra and her mother are not happy with.

First appears: Skyloft

ARRED

Hair: Sandy brown

Eyes: Spring Green

Short Intro: A young and talented blacksmith, a gorgeous beast of a man that seemed to be shorted on brains, but is unfailingly loyal to the 'Boss', the twins' father. He and Conor are thick as thieves, but everything about him seems to irritate Calyra, a fact that doesn't seem to deter his friendliness and loyalty towards her. One thing is certain, this guy doesn't believe in giving up.

First appears: Skyloft

TREMBLE

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Short Intro: a mysterious kid that seems to know Rienna, Eden's mother, and is anxious to find others like him and warn them to reach a meeting place. He appears to be forgetful, socially awkward and simple, but haste and responsibility doesn't leave too much room for pleasantries either.

First appears: outside of Skyloft

HOPE

Hair: White

Eyes: Red-Violet

Short Intro: A young Bryfolk girl born mute but bright and determined to correct this hurdle. After inventing a voice box, she begs her parents to let her go to an Inventor's Expo, which they agree to do as long as her older brother Reese chaperones. When separated, she discovered her own ill-timed powers and flees in a panic.

First appears: South of Ersenais in her parent's home

REESE

Hair: Sandy

Eyes: Golden Brown

Short Intro: The older brother to Hope and triplet brothers, he is a combination of responsibility and inexperience. After being separated from his sister, he hurries home to tell his parents he is going after her. When 'Tia' makes it clear she can help him find her, he begrudgingly takes her along.

First appears: In his parents family home south of Ersenais

GALATEA

Hair: Fiery red

Eyes: brown-violet

Short Intro: A slightly bratty teenager who keeps her powers secret; a power that leads her to anything her heart desires. When a family friend goes missing, she leaps at the challenge to put it to use, even though her overprotective father isn't wild about sending her off with his friend's handsome teenage son.

First appears: South of Ersenais

REYLON

Hair: Black

Eyes: Yellow

Short Intro: A panther Felisfolk (cat hybrid) who spends his days hunting, learning how to hold his breath underwater and chasing after the tribal chief's daughter. When he wanders too far and gets attacked by two lion Felisfolk. In an attempt to hide, he ends up being caught by fishermen and dragged off to the main continent.

First appears: in his tribal territory on Wheryf

FENEC

Hair: orange and white

Eyes: Blue

Short Intro: After the disappearance of his overachieving twin brother Cerdec, the warrior-trained Kitfolk (fox hybrid) Fenec declines into a life of drunken debauchery and thievery. On one shady mission, he is caught by slavers that ship him off to Ogre Island. In his terror, his powers awaken and he breaks his bonds and flees to the main continent, a place his isolated existence has never prepared him for.

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Pretty sure that covers the basic protagonists; again, there are other pivotal characters, but they seem to branch out from the main set here. It would probably be more accurate to think of them as character trees. There are sort of cameo appearances of characters from the last trilogy, but it's not campy or super emphasized.

I'm scheduling the next character profiling post for some time later since those books aren't yet released and I'm leery of accidentally spoiling anything for the early adopters. It's also a bit more difficult for me to pick the basic protagonists in that one since there are different factions that pop up along the way. I think I'll stick to the first ones introduced to avoid spoiling the importance of that discovery.

Big casts of characters have always fascinated me, how you could keep track of them more naturally when it's organic to how we build relationships in real life yet at the bird's eye view of a narrator that swoops in and out of different perspectives. On the surface, a lot of characters seemed like a dilution of depth, but it's quite the opposite. Interactions aren't exactly more shallow in a larger social setting. At parties, you probably do a good mix of joining group conversations or wandering off with a friend for a one-on-one all throughout the evening. The rarity of adult get-togethers in the busy reality of life often compacts and enhances the value of those moments. The same goes for the development of characters in a series. Rather than figuring out how to stretch out the adventures of a couple of people, it becomes a matter of prioritizing their appearance and not overstaying their welcome.

Stay tuned for the next one!