Keeper of the Lost Cities / Characters - TV Tropes (2024)

Sophie Elizabeth Foster

The heroine of the story. Sophie was created by the Black Swan as part of Project Moonlark. She was implanted into a human woman, and was subsequently raised as a human in the Forbidden Cities. It wasn't until she was found by Fitz that she learned she was an elf.

• Afraid of Doctors: Her hospital stays as a kid left her with a fear of doctors. When she learns that she's being taken to get a physical in the first book, she freezes in place and trembles.
• Agony Beam: Sophie's inflicting ability allows her to inflict both negative and positive emotions. However, she is not very good at controlling it, usually taking down everyone around her. Mr. Forkle explains that this was a dysfunction of her powers. Once it's reset by the Black Swan, her inflicting works as it was intended to: a literal beam of red light that targets the heart instead of the head.

• Child of Two Worlds: Sophie is an elf who was raised as a human before joining elven society.

  A girl from both worlds, who'd seen the follies and triumphs of each side.

• Crush Blush: She frequently blushes in front of her crush, Fitz.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Sophie is described as overwhelmingly clumsy in the first book, while all her friends have superhuman coordination. This is mostly used for comedic effect, her kluztiness disappearing during serious situations.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: She isn't happy about being special in ways that make her stick out.
• Kissing Cousins: When Dex reveals his feelings for Sophie in Nightfall, she points out that they're adoptive cousins.

• Meaningful Appearance: Unlike the other blue-eyed elves, Sophie's eyes are brown.
• Nervous Tics: She has a nervous habit of tugging out loose or itchy eyelashes.
• Omniglot: Her Polyglot ability allows her to quickly understand and speak all languages.

• Power Incontinence:
  • Before she learned to block thoughts, she couldn't turn off her mind-reading around humans.
  • Her enhancing is always on, so she has to wear gloves to prevent herself from enhancing whomever she touches.
• Psychic Block Defense: Her mind blocks attempts to read it.
• Super-Empowering: In Lodestar, she becomes an Enhancer, meaning she can charge other people's abilities by touching them.

• Teleportation with Drawbacks: Inherits the ability to teleport because of her alicorn-based DNA. However, she needs to be falling fast enough to activate it (which typically involves finding a nearby cliff to jump off of) and cannot teleport through solid objects.

Dexter "Dex" Alvin Dizznee

One of the first friends Sophie makes after moving to the Lost Cities.

• Alliterative Name: Dex Dizznee. In the annotated version of the first book, the author says she made his last name start with a "D" because she loves alliteration.

• Kissing Cousins: Played with/invoked. When Dex accidentally reveals his feelings for Sophie in Book 6, she points out that they're adoptive cousins.

Biana Amberly Vacker

Fitz's younger sister.

• Invisibility: Like her mother and oldest brother.

Wylie Endal

Prentice's son. He was adopted by Tiergan after Prentice's memory break.

• Light 'em Up: As a Flasher, Wylie is able to create and manipulate light.

Stina Destry Heks

An Empath.

• Power Stereotype Flip: Stina is an Empath who is decidedly unempathetic to Sophie's situation.

Fitzroy "Fitz" Avery Vacker

The elf who finds Sophie and brings her to the Lost Cities.

• The Ace: You don't get a nickname like "Wonder Boy" for nothing. Fitz is handsome, a strong Telepath even at his young age, gets good grades, and is Foxfire's reigning Sploching Champion.

Keefe Sencen

A certified mischief maker and Fitz's best friend.

• Amnesia Missed a Spot: In Book 7, Sophie and Fitz trigger a hidden memory of Keefe’s that his mother and the Neverseen hoped he would never recover.

• Determinator: This becomes a major part of Keefe's character. From Book 4 onwards, he is shown to be determined to fix the mess his mother has made with the Neverseen.
• Dirty Business: Downplayed. Keefe joins the Neverseen as a Double Agent in Book 5. He never really does anything evil or morally grey during his time with them — the worst thing he does is not leaving the Neverseen when had a chance thanks to his Determinator qualities — but still feels guilty for the pain he put his friends through with his FakeDefector stunt.

• Fake Defector: How Keefe cons the Neverseen into allowing him to join their ranks at the end of Book 4.
• Grade Skipper: He skipped Level One.

• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Lady Gisela had many of Keefe's memories erased so he would not know about her involvement with the Neverseen.
• Living Lie Detector: Part of his ability as an empath. Keefe cannot tell for certain if someone is lying, but can detect the emotions behind a lie.

• The Nicknamer: He calls Silveny "Glitter Butt", Sandor "Gigantor", Tam "Bangs Boy", and Mr. Forkle "the Forklenator".

• Sad Clown: He covers up his insecurities by joking and annoying others. In Flashback, he openly admits that it's a coping mechanism.
• Shirtless Scene: He takes his shirt off while fighting King Dimitar in Nightfall.
• Unkempt Beauty: His purposefully disheveled hair is described as making him even better-looking.
• Voice Changeling: Like his mother, Keefe is very adept at mimicking people’s voices.

The children of Quan and Mai Song, Linh was exiled from the Lost Cities after she accidentally caused a flood in Atlantis, and Tam chose to go with her because he was disgusted that her parents didn't stand up for her to the Council.

• Brother–Sister Team: Tam and his twin sister Linh tend to fight together as a team.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Tam is aloof and cautious, while his twin sister Linh is naive and gentle. Sophie refers to Linh as a "baby bird" in contrast to Tam's bitterness and disillusionment with Elven society.
• Half-Identical Twins: Tam and Linh look identical, with the exception of their genders.

Tam Dai Song

A Shade and Linh's twin brother.

• Big Brother Instinct: Tam is extremely protective of his sister, Linh, even choosing to go with her into exile rather than letting her be alone.
• Casting a Shadow: He can manipulate darkness and shadowvapor as a Shade. He later gains the ability to use the mysterious sixth element, shadowflux, which allows him to interfere with other Shade's powers and curse people with the remnants.
• Character Tics: He has a habit of tugging his bangs over his eyes.
• Forced into Evil: The Neverseen force Tam to join their cause at the end of Book 7 by threatening Linh's life.

Linh Hai Song

A Hydrokinetic and Tam's twin sister.

• Half-Identical Twins: Tam and Linh look identical, with the exception of their genders.
• Making a Splash: As a Hydrokinetic, she can summon and manipulate water.
• Water Is Womanly: A peaceful, compassionate Hydrokinetic, while her brother Tam is a Shade.

Lady Gisela Minette Sencen

Keefe's mother and leader of the Neverseen.

Evil Matriarch: She abuses Keefe, her son, and manipulates him into doing what she wants. She is also the head of the Neverseen and later blackmails Keefe into joining.

Amy Foster/Natalie Freeman

Sophie's younger sister. She's the only human who knows about the Lost Cities.

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Amy often got on Sophie's nerves during the time they grew up together.