Shadow Kiss characters

Also known as Rosemarie Hathaway

Appears from the start

A dhampir novice in her final year at St. Vladimir's Academy, months away from graduating as a guardian. She is bonded to Lissa Dragomir and takes on the darkness Lissa's spirit magic produces, which has left her volatile and prone to rages she cannot always explain. Since a friend was killed in front of her over the winter she has been carrying a private guilt, refusing counselling, and beginning to see things that other people do not.

Also known as Vasilisa Dragomir

Appears from the start

The last of the royal Dragomir line and Rose's bondmate, a Moroi who wields spirit and is learning to control it with Adrian Ivashkov's help rather than with medication. Her healing and compulsion are growing stronger, and so is the cost, most of which Rose absorbs without telling her. She is with Christian Ozera and being groomed by the royal families for a political future she is not sure she wants.

Appears from the start

A Russian guardian at the Academy and Rose's combat instructor, widely regarded as one of the best fighters in Moroi society. Controlled and deliberate, he has admitted that he returns Rose's feelings and has held to the position that acting on them would compromise them both as Lissa's guardians. He is one of the few adults Rose trusts entirely.

Appears from the start

A dhampir novice and one of Rose's closest friends, killed by a Strigoi in Spokane during the winter break while trying to protect her. Rose blames herself for his death. As the new term begins she starts glimpsing him standing silently at the edge of crowds and outside windows, watching her and never speaking.

First appears in chapter 2

A Moroi long shunned for his parents' choice to become Strigoi, sharp-tongued, defensive, and one of the only Moroi at the school willing to use his fire magic in a fight. He is Lissa's boyfriend, and his friendship with Rose is built mostly on insults.

First appears in chapter 2

A dhampir novice who survived the Spokane captivity alongside Rose and came out of it quieter and harder. He is a careful, disciplined fighter and takes the final year's assignments more seriously than anyone.

First appears in chapter 3

A royal Moroi in his twenties, the queen's great-nephew, and a spirit user who reads auras and walks into other people's dreams. He is staying near the Academy to teach Lissa how to handle spirit, and he uses dream-walking to reach Rose whenever she will not talk to him awake. He drinks and smokes heavily, partly because it dulls spirit's effects on him.

First appears in chapter 3

A guardian who teaches combat theory at the Academy and has never had patience with Rose. Blunt and quick to assume the worst of her, he plays an aggressor in the novices' field assessments.

First appears in chapter 2

The captain of the Academy's guardians, who designs and oversees the novices' final field experience. Fair, unsentimental and willing to hear Rose out when other staff will not.

First appears in chapter 4

The headmistress of St. Vladimir's, rigid about procedure and still inclined to treat Rose as a discipline problem rather than a promising novice.

First appears in chapter 11

A Moroi prince who was arrested after kidnapping and exploiting Lissa for her healing magic, and who has spent the intervening months in custody awaiting trial. Dying of a wasting disease and utterly unrepentant, he still regards what he did as reasonable and still knows more about spirit than almost anyone alive.

First appears in chapter 11

A non-royal Moroi girl who was once Rose and Lissa's tormentor and became an ally after her mother was killed by Strigoi. She now lives at the Royal Court, trains constantly, and has taught herself to use water magic as a weapon.

First appears in chapter 14

A shy Moroi underclassman, tall and awkward for her age, who idolizes Lissa and Rose from a distance. She is one of the students who takes up Christian's offer to teach Moroi to use their magic offensively.