Throne of Glass characters

Appears from the start

The protagonist, an eighteen-year-old woman infamous as Adarlan's most feared and celebrated assassin. As the book opens she has spent a year enslaved in the brutal salt mines of Endovier, a death sentence in all but name. Proud, vain, ferociously skilled, and far better read and more cultured than anyone expects, she is offered a chance at freedom: compete to become the King's Champion, the crown's own assassin. Beneath the arrogance lie an iron will to survive and a guarded, painful past.

Appears from the start

The young Captain of the Royal Guard, disciplined, honorable, and deeply loyal to the crown. Assigned to oversee and train Celaena, he watches her warily, distrustful of an assassin yet increasingly unable to dismiss her. Serious and dutiful, he keeps his feelings tightly reined.

First appears in chapter 2

The Crown Prince of Adarlan, charming, well-read, and privately restless under his father's harsh rule. He is the one who has Celaena pulled from the mines to sponsor her in the competition. Witty and idealistic beneath a careless royal manner, he finds himself drawn to his unusual champion.

First appears in chapter 5

The ruthless conqueror who rules Adarlan and has subjugated much of the continent, Dorian's father. Cold and merciless, he has outlawed magic and crushed rebellion across his empire. He devised the deadly competition to name his personal Champion and looms over the court as a figure of dread.

First appears in chapter 5

A powerful, brutish duke and one of the King's closest and most ambitious supporters. Domineering and cruel, he sponsors his own competitor in the contest and schemes for greater influence at a treacherous court.

Also known as Nox

First appears in chapter 10

A charming, quick-witted thief among the competitors vying to become the King's Champion. Easygoing where the others are hostile, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Celaena and becomes one of the few rivals she comes to trust.

First appears in chapter 10

A hulking, brutal soldier competing for the title of King's Champion, sponsored by Duke Perrington. Physically overpowering and openly contemptuous of Celaena, he becomes her most dangerous rival, growing stranger and more powerful as the contest wears on.

First appears in chapter 13

A princess of the conquered kingdom of Eyllwe, staying at the glass castle. Regal, intelligent, and quietly defiant of Adarlan's rule, she becomes Celaena's close friend and one of the rare true allies at a court full of enemies.

First appears in chapter 18

The spirit of the first queen of Adarlan, long dead, who appears to Celaena with cryptic warnings. She reveals that an ancient evil stirs within the glass castle and presses Celaena to confront it, guiding her toward hidden dangers no one else can see.

First appears in chapter 20

An ambitious court lady set on winning Prince Dorian and a crown. Vain and calculating, she resents Celaena's closeness to the prince and becomes entangled in Duke Perrington's schemes at court.