List of The Seventh Tower characters
This is a detailed list of characters and their individual stories found in Garth Nix's The Seventh Tower book series.
Tal
- "He could not believe how far he'd come, and how far he had to go... Could he possibly be the same boy who'd live all his days in the Castle — all his days not knowing what existed outside? No, he was not the same. He would never be the same again.
- — excerpt from The Fall, p. 195
- "With Tal, I knew he was rather naive, deeply committed to his family, and that he had more courage than he knew."
A thirteen-year-old Chosen boy residing in the Orange tower, Tal is described as having scraggly hair and shorter than most boys his age. During the beginning of the series, he is said to form a curle when he smile. Tal is abashed by this, believing it makes him look slow (which in truth, no one else believes so). His father is Rerem, guardian of the Orange Keystone; his mother is Graile; his little brother and sister is Gref and Kusi respectively. His aunts, Lallek and Korrek, both hate him rather exceptionally. He has an eccentric great-uncle named Ebbitt whom he is fond of and usually plays games of Beastmaker with.
At some point in time, Tal's mother is poisoned assumingly by Sharakkor with water spider venom. At that time however, it was still believed by the family to be a mysterious illness, and they believe they would find a cure in the dream world Aenir, where the Chosen all visit during an appointed time called the Day of Ascension. As they wait eagerly for this, Tal's father suddenly disappears. Tal at the time has yet no clue as to what nature his father's work was, but was told he was appointed a special mission from the Empress. With his father missing, Tal's family have no way of entering Aenir on the Day of Ascension. A Sunstone is required, and seeing the their mother's has weakened and faded as her illness grew worse, the family was relying much on their father's. Tal attempts several ways to obtain a new Sunstone. One of them was asking one from his aunts, who carry multiple Sunstones around their necks. They wickedly refuse, but it was upon asking them that Tal met a stranger who seemed to equal his aunts' dislike towards him. This puzzles Tal, making him wonder why a complete stranger would hate him. Tal would find out much later that that stranger was actually the evil Spiritshadow Sharakkor possessing Shadowmaster Sushin's body.
When he was left with no other way to hold possession of a new Sunstone, Ebbitt advises him to climb the Red Tower to steal one of the Sunstones hanging on the the top reaches above the Veil. He is thrown off by the Keeper, and with the aid of his shadowguard, lands a far distance from the Castle to the Ice that envelopes the rest of the world. It is here he makes the acquaintance of Milla and the Icecarls. Having been taught all his life there was nothing living outside the Castle, he is bewildered at first. Eventually, the Icecarls allowed him to return to the Castle only if he would bring back a Sunstone for them (much to Tal's distress). Milla, a young Icecarl girl around his age, is forced to accompany him on his quest and to ensure his safety.
Tal forms a rocky yet (eventually) loyal friendship with Milla as their quest progresses. Their journeys would lead to them each acquiring half of the Violet Keystone and each of them getting a Storm Shepherd bound to them for Spiritshadows. They come across the Freefolk, whom they promised to help with their fight for freedom. Slowly too, they uncover the evil plan of Sharrakor to destroy the Veil. In the end, Tal was able to cure his mother and rescue his dad, who had been imprisoned in the Orange Keystone he protected by Sharrakor. Tal and Milla also succeeded in more or less affiliating the world of the Chosen and the Icecarls together.
Tal, having never had encountered grave danger in his life, has had to, time and again, call and rely upon hidden bravery. He's also much advanced in terms of Mastery of Light magic, more so even than some adults. His tendency to classify everyone he meets as either Chosen or Underfolk servants has led him on numerous occassions to trouble, especially with the Icecarls and the Freefolk. It is not entirely his fault however, as he, just like all Chosen, were raised this way. All his actions, however, only aim to help and protect his family and friends.
Milla
- The girl slid back her mask to reveal a pale, oval-shaped face and striking green eyes. But there was a spark there of extreme anger, and her cheeks were flushed with emotion.
- — excerpt from The Fall, p. 112
- "I'd like Milla at my side if I walked into a dangerous place."
Milla is a young Icecarl close to Tal's age belonging to the clan of the Far-Raiders. While out in the Ice driving her sleigh, she discovers Tal, who she believes is a thief. Her attempts to kill him was stopped by her Crone. She knocks Tal unconscious instead and she grudgingly helps bring him back to the Far-Raiders' ship. There, she makes many attempts to get her to fight him, including provoking Tal numerous times. When the Crones hears of Tal's story and how he was stranded in the Ice, they decide that he is not a thief, and they will allow him to return to his Castle. However, there was a condition. The Sunstone that illuminated the clan's ship was aged and close to burning out. They ask Tal to bring them back another Sunstone, and instructs Milla to acompany him in this journay. Milla protests, still quite unconvinced that Tal is to be trusted, not to mention her longing to engage in a battle with him. The Crone inform her that this could help Milla in her dream of becoming a Shield Maiden. She eventually agrees, and she and Tal sets out towards the Castle.
Along the trip, Milla shows no signs of being any nicer to Tal, only concerned of what she has been told to do, and that is to keep Tal alive and bring back a Sunstone for her clan. They encounter a large horned creature called a Merwin. Milla shows reckless bravery as she viciously fights at it. She manages to kill it, with some help from Tal, yet sustains a massive gash across her side. Tal's shadowguard heals the wound partially before a group of Shield Maidens discovers and rescues the pair. They take them to the Ruin Ship, the central most important ship of the Icecarls, and heals her completely. After a few days, Milla and Tal sets off again.
Overtime, Milla begins treating Tal a little more kinder. The pair come across a skeleton with a Sunstone ring. To Tal's pleadings, she allows to let him keep the Sunstone first and help him a bit more with his journey. In the Castle, she gets captured by the guards and they send her to the Hall of Nightmares. Because all Icecarls were taught how to drive away nightmares, she becomes the first person to endure the nightmares of Fashnek and emerge unaffected. Later, Ebbitt splits the Sunstone Tal had so they now both had one.
Her relationship with Tal suffers significantly when Tal is forced to bind them both Spiritshadows in Aenir to save bothe their lives. The Icecarls curse shadow creatures, and Milla would have rather she died than be bound to one, but as she was knocked unconscious, she had no choice. She wakes up furios at Tal and the two separate, having for companions were their new Spiritshadows. Milla eventually forgives (or at least partially) Tal when she realized Tal did what he had to do. They team up again to gain the Codex. She and Tal later on also uncovers a sinister plot to destroy the Veil. They make alliances with the Freefolk before she decides it was time for her to go back.
By this time, she assures herself that once she returns to her clan to give the Sunstone and to pass down what she has learned from her exploits in the Castle, she will commit suicide by giving herself to the Ice, not willing to bear the shame of having a shadow bound to her. However, when she does return, the Crones judge her differently and instead makes her a War-Chief, assigned to lead the Icecarls' battle with the Castle to protect the Veil.
She meets up with Tal again and, together with the Freefolk leader Crow, the young Crone Malen, her Spiritshadow Odris and Tal's Spiritshadow Adras, they return to Aenir to finally defeat the evil Sharrakor, who nearly succeeds in destroying the Veil. Afterwards, Milla returns among the Icecarls to help them recover from the brief battle against the Chosen, as did Tal with his people. Milla also returns her half of the Sunstone to Tal. The Sunstone had turned out to be the Violet Keystone. Possessing it would have made her Empress of the Chosen, which she had no intention of being.
Adras and Odris
Two Storm Shepherd siblings originally bound to a hill in Aenir. They are bound in a hill, where they, when called upon, will give a gift in exchange for a life. When Tal and Milla inadvertently called upon them with blood, they agreed to be bound to them instead, making them their Spiritshadows (Adras to Tal and Odris to Milla).
They appear as clouds that can shape-shift to anything. They usually take the form of humans. Adras, the male, is powerful but rather dumb and inattentive, while Odris, the female, is brighter but weaker.
Ebbitt
- "Great-Uncle Ebbitt is a bit like an erratic comet that careers across the sky every now and then. Bright, fascinating and completely unpredictable."
Tal's great-uncle Ebbitt is an eccentric Chosen living in Red One, the lowest level of the Chosen. He was once from the high ranks of the Indigo Order, but something went terribly wrong and he was demoted all the way to Red. He lives at the end of a rough tunnel filled with his collection of furniture.
Ebbitt is seldom serious, and he often makes makes jokes with his strange humor. He helps the Freefolk with their fight for freedom. Ebbitt knows a great deal about Sunstone magic, and he is wise in several ways. His Spiritshadow was a large maned cat with ridges along its back. He set it free later one with the help of a Crone.
Sharrakor
A creature from Aenir which can shapeshisft to a certain extent. Sharrakor plans to destory the Veil to let the Aenirians enter the Dark World and resume the war between them. He is believed to be the Spiritshadow of the Empress, but is actually a free shadow. He takes over the body of Shadowmaster Sushin to help accomplish his plans. One of his first plans was to steal the Codex, a magical object that can answer any informational question, and to hide it under a mountain-like creature in Aenir.
In Sushin's body, he makes himself the Dark Vizier, a sort of right-hand man to the Empress, to be able to order the royal guards to help him in his plot.
His ultimate goal was to unseal all the Keystones to shut down the Veil, allowing a forming army of Aenirians to attack the Dark World. He was foiled by Tal, Milla and their band, and was killed by Crow.
Shadowmaster Sushin
Sushin is a high-ranking obese Chosen of the Orange Order. He is taken over by the Aenirian Sharrakor, making him invincible. Throughout the series, he is under the control of Sharrakor, and only appears as his real self towards the end when Sharrakor leaves his wounded body. He is healed to some extent by Ebbitt, and he mutters that his last memory was having breakfast with someone thirty years ago. Due to the seriousness of his wounds, it is unclear whether Sushin live or dies at the end of the series.
Crow
An Underfolk leading the renegade Freefolk. He is a few years older than Tal, and is experienced in fighting. Although an Underfolk, he possesses a Sunstone which he stole. Crow bitterly resents Chosen for the abuses to his people. He first meets Tal and Milla when he and his group of Freefolk discovers their unconscious bodies in the heatways. He wanted strongly to kill them, especially Tal, who he recognized as a Chosen. His group overruled him however, and they decided to leave their bodies in the halls of the Castle.
Crow becomes properly acquainted to them both when he, again along with some Freefolk, meets them one of the underground lakes. Tal and Milla asked him if he could take them to Ebbitt, and he agreed. He led first though through a trap used to screen out suspicious strangers. Once Crow is somewhat convinced they're on his side, he agrees to help Tal obtain the Red Keystone. Once he and Tal had been successful though, he betrays Tal and makes off with the Red Keystone for himself, hoping it could help him and his fellow Underfolk fight for their freedom. Tal attacked him, resulting in a serious injury on Crow's head.
He was healed later by Malen. Having a complete change of heart, he decides after that to help Tal, Milla and the others faithfully and truthfully. He ultimately proves this when he sacrifices his life to kill Sharrakor.
Fashnek
A Chosen with long hair tied at the back and a prominent nose. Sharrakor severly disfigured him by biting off a great portion of the left side of his torso from shoulder to hip. Sharrakor offered him life, and Fashnek readily took it. His Spiritshadow then conjoined with his body to fill up the missing flesh. Unfortunately, his Spiritshadow resembles anything but a human: it is a hideous insectoid with six limbs, dark pincers and a head with a leech-like tube for a mouth.
With this monstrous appearance, Fashnek may never attend any public affairs or celebration of any kind. He has found his place however in the Hall of Nightmares, where he can enter the dreams of a victim Chosen and turn it into a nightmare — a nightmare he or she cannot wake out of. Once Fashnek lets them go, many are never the same again. They would twitch uncontrollably, or they would find it difficult to smile or laugh again. This easily makes Fashnek one of the most feared Chosen in the Castle.
Malen
Malen is a young Crone, not much older than Milla. She is the daughter of the Shield Maiden Arla. Upon being brought into the Castle by Milla, she has healed Crow, who at that time was suffering sever head injuries. Malen also unbound Tal, Milla and Ebbitt from their Spiritshadows in Aenir. Twice she had tried tried to recite the Prayer of Aestyr as a means to fight Sharrakor. Though not thorougly successful, she had helped in slowing him down.
Tal's Shadowguard
- "I wouldn't mind Tal’s shadowguard... I have always liked the idea of useful magical companions."
Before Tal bound Adras the Storm Shepherd as his Spiritshadow, he lived for thirteen years with his spiritshadow. Once a mouse-like Dattu in Aenir, itwas bound to Tal when he was born and it has since then helped him in numerous occassions, from shielding his eyes from the sun to literally saving his life by turning into a parachute when Tal falls off the Red Tower.
Tal's spiritshadow shifts shape to suit the particular mood Tal is in. Most prominent from its shapes may be the form of its original body, a Dattu. It shift-shapes into this whenever it is in a situation which it does not like yet can do nothing to change it. Upon entering Aenir, Tal's spiritshadow is freed back to its homeland, somewhat upsetting Tal for its lack of a farewell.
The Keeper
A terrible Spiritshadow that guards the Red Tower, and can be found just above the Veil. It is a very large creature with a grotesque head bearing multiple eyes and a wide sharp-toothed mouth, attached to a long snake-like body. Unlike normal Spiritshadows, it speaks openly to any Chosen.
Tal encounters the Keeper twice. The first was when he was climbing the Red Tower alone to steal a Sunstone. It demanded of the Tal the Words to allow him to enter. Not knowing what Words to say, Tal was attacked by the Keeper, and this eventually led to Tal falling off the Red Tower. The second time, Tal was with Crow, and they were climbing to get to the Red Keystone. Crow had with him a certain magical bag that traps shadows inside. Using it, Tal and Cro were able to get rid of the Keeper.
Ethar
Ethar is a guard of the Empress and a Shadowmaster of the Violet Order. When Tal tries to see the Empress to ask for help in obtaining a Sunstone, Ethar decides to place a wager with him in a game of Beastmaker. If Tal wins, she lets him in. If he loses, he must give up his Sunstone to Ethar. Tal agrees. As they play the game, Tal tries to hide his skill, wishing Ethar to underestimate him. Ethar isn't fooled much, though. As their game progresses, Tal shifts as the winning player. However, just as Tal was about to win, Sharrakor appears and destroys the Beastmaker game. It frightens Ethar and the other guards, and she urges Tal to leave, saying she shouldn't have played with him.
Ethar later became one of the guards working for the Sharrakor-possessed Sushin. She was also one of the guards Sharrakor killed once he found he had no use for them any longer. Ethar and the other guards were never exactly following the path of Sharrakor's evil, but were most likely tricked like all the others to doing what Sharrakor wished.
Rerem
Tal's father, who never actually appears in the series. He is the guardian of the Orange Keystone.
Graile
Tal's mother, who for most of the series is ill with a mysterious disease (turning out to be water spider venom). She is healed by Tal before he was captured by Sushin. At that time, Graile pretended to still be ill so that she later on was able to follow Tal's instructions of finding Milla and the Icecarls.
Gref and Kusi
Upon the disappearance of their father amidst the illness of their mother, Tal's finds the situation worsened by his little brother and sister. Gref, a nine-year-old who not only caused trouble, but was just as good at evading responsibility for it, constantly bugs his older brother if he can do anything to help. Meanwhile, a much younger Kusi would often cry for her mom or dad, turning her back on Tal's attempts to cheer her up. When Tal climbs the Red Tower, Gref secretly follows him, but gets himself caught by one of Sharrakor's men. As his mother, Gref was poisoned with water spider venom and kept hidden, most likely to use as bait for Tal. With the disappearance of her two older brothers (Tal having fell off the tower at this point), Kusi is sen to live with her dreadful aunts.
Lallek and Korrek
Lallek and Rorrek are Tal's mother's cruel cousins. They rank pretty high within the Oranger Order, and many believe they would be ascending to Yellow soon. Each of them has acquired multiple Sunstones, and their love of gambling might be to thank. They do not care much for their cousin Graile, and they hold a particularly great dislike for Tal, possible due to a prank he pulled at them when he was young.
Lallek and Korrek both have the same Spiritshadow, which is a Dretch. Dretches, seven-foot spider-like creatures, are common inhabitants of Aenir.
Less than significant characters
A list of characters that have shown up in the series but have in no significant way contributed to the plot. This is arranged in the order than their names are mentioned.
- Lector Roum — one of Tal's teachers; the one who informed Tal of his father's disappearance
- Hudren — an Underfolk serving Tal's family
- Forkbeard— Icecarl who reluctantly offers to adopt Tal as his son
- Jorntil — an Icecarl hunter
- Breg — a Shield Maiden
- Libbe — a Shield Maiden
- Umen — a Shield Maiden
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |