STORY AS A WHOLE
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MAIN 5
In General
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits/School Forced Us Together
Empathic Healer (all of them are, to some extent, at some point)
Absurdly Sharp Blade: Damselfly.
The Ace: Her lackluster academic performance not withstanding, Page is athletic, attractive, popular, gregarious, and brave.
Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Invoked; hidden emotional depths that she's notably terrified to explore.
Book Dumb: While not totally academically incompetent, schoolwork is not Page’s strong suit: her GPA at the end of high school was in the C+ to B- range.
The Charmer: She has some aspects of The Casanova (for instance, her issues with romantic commitment), but ultimately, she respects the women she hooks up with as much as she respects anyone.
Chick Magnet: Her confidence and "androgynous charm" have won her many female admirers.
The Chosen One: "…A stranger, who is close and dear, will earn our gratitude. A grander woodland daughter will the armor cuff employ."
Cutting the Knot: Defaults to brute force when solving problems that might have more elegant solutions.
Extreme Libido: Clearly hooks up with random women to cope sometimes, though she won't admit that that's the reason.
The Hero: The brave, chivalrous, lovable leader. Incidentally, the only member of the main cast who isn't depressed, and even she has her moments.
Heroic BSoD: When she realizes her total lack of agency (having been coerced into coming to Ames, thrust into the role of the Chosen One, and lied to even by her father), she fully breaks down for the first time.
Inconvenient Attraction: Towards Darcy. While she's no stranger to mere attraction, she's taken aback and a little scared when she realizes she's in love with Darcy.
Innocently Insensitive: She can be inadvertently blunt, and has a few Funny Aneurysm moments.
It Was a Gift: Damselfly was given to her by Elder.
The Insomniac: Page periodically suffers from bouts of insomnia, especially when under immense stress.
Knight in Shining Armor: Invoked. She arguably becomes a more literal example when she wields the Cuff.
Ladykiller in Love: With Darcy.
Lesbian Jock: Track star, and considerably gay.
The Kirk: To August's Spock and Jesse's McCoy.
Nerves of Steel: She is relatively fearless (if not frustrated) in the face of what is a pretty perilous quest for someone with her minimal level of experience with things of this nature.
Nice Girl: Page is generally good-natured and kind.
Outdoorsy Gal: In addition to enjoying running, hiking, and other outdoor activities, Page is literally half dryad.
Statuesque Stunner: Half an inch shy of six feet, very hot.
Unkempt Beauty: She puts a minimal amount of effort into her appearance, rarely wearing makeup and keeping her hair in a "low-maintenance" bob, but she still draws attention for her looks.
Aloof Ally: She starts out as one, but eventually her cold facade starts to slip.
Badass Bookworm: Darcy has poured over books regularly from a young age, both magical and otherwise. However, her devotion to her magical craft (which itself has tied into her reading habit) means she’s great in a fight.
Broken Bird: She copes with her severe emotional trauma by being sarcastic, defensive, and distant.
Deadpan Snarker: Partly to shield herself, partly because she just really likes dishing it out.
Defrosting Ice Queen: While she is initially cold to the rest of the class, she grows to care about them deeply and consider them her dearest friends, eventually sobbing openly over Page's Only Mostly Dead body after the Battle of Maplewood.
Fiery Redhead: With a little bit of Heroes Want Redheads.
Good Is Not Nice: She tends to make snap judgments about people, and is surly and rude towards anyone she's initially judged as unworthy of her time. Downplayed, since she's a lot more affable when she warms up to you (albeit still snarky).
Goth Girls Know Magic: She's a gifted mage, and she went through a hell of a Tim Burton DeviantArt phase. She also chooses on her own accord to practice Wicca and paganism, making her an even more suitable example of the trope.
Hot Witch: Again, she's a gifted mage, and she's considered to be very pretty (especially by Page).
Insufferable Genius: She can be insanely arrogant sometimes.
Kitsch Collection: Her old photographs are this.
Not So Stoic: Despite her tough exterior, Darcy is (supernaturally) empathetic, and this grows more apparent as the others get to know her better
Safety in Indifference: Willful emotional absence is her primary defense mechanism.
Sleeps with Everyone but You: She senses Page acting this way towards her, and gets insecure when she she starts to think that even though she's already fallen in love, maybe she misread Page's behavior. In reality, Page is just intimidated by the prospect of jumping into things with Darcy in a way that she isn't with most women.
Teen Genius: And a former Child Prodigy.
Adorkable: Knows a lot about medicine and the human body, and gets very excited talking about these things. Also has a tendency to correct hospital dramas when watching them.
The B Grade: August panics when his grades are anything short of perfect. Somewhat justified, since he doesn't have the funds for all the schooling he needs to become a doctor without merit scholarship money.
Big Brother Instinct: And an actual protective big brother to Christelle and Maria.
Gentle Giant: 6'2" and fit, August is still one of the more approachable members of the group.
Gentleman and a Scholar: He is a dedicated aspiring doctor, but also a generally likable and well-mannered person.
Hot Scientist: Hot pre-med molecular biology major.
Only Sane Man: Typically the realist of the group, as opposed to the ceaselessly optimistic Page, or Darcy, Jesse, and Silas, who are all pessimistic in their own ways.
The Perfectionist: Beyond his practical reasons for being a high achiever, August's self-worth is closely linked with his tangible accomplishments and perceived level of intelligence.
Princely Young Man: Despite coming from a humble background, he is handsome, poised, polite, and well-liked, and as such, tends to attract romantic attention.
Pursue the Dream Job: He's determined to become a doctor, and his lower-income background won't deter him (in fact, it only serves as further motivation for him, as he wants to help people in underrepresented communities like the one he came from, and gain respect in a field where his mother was forced to the sidelines).
The Reliable One: The "Dad Friend."
Scholarship Student: While Page is also one by category, August fits the trope more completely.
The Spock: To Page's Kirk and Jesse's McCoy.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He is somewhat introverted and suffers fools poorly, but is also very nurturing and devoted to the people and things he values.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: 6'2, dark hair/eyes/skin, and considered remarkably attractive by his peers.
Absurdly Sharp Blade: His pocket knife Ophelia becomes this with the assistance of the Eldermaidens. (Unfortunately, this enables him to later use it for more than just combat.)
Attention Whore: He likes being praised and feeling special.
The Charmer: A sweeter, more self-deprecating variety than Page, but a charmer nonetheless.
Fallen Prince: The story begins with him having descended from the "top" of the social hierarchy.
Foil: To Rex. They both grew up with wealthy and negligent parents, but where Rex is haughty, cold, and proud of his family's status, Jesse is self-loathing, empathetic, and disdainful towards his parents.
Gayngst: Despite having known he's bi for some time and having hooked up with multiple men, the strength of his feelings for Silas scares him, since he knows being in an actual same-sex relationship will make him even more the subject of vitriol from his father.
I Just Want To Be Loved: The rationale behind most of his actions.
The McCoy: To Page's Kirk and August's Spock.
Misery Trigger: Dwell on his family life or what the Eta boys are up to, and you'll hit it. Doubles as a Berserk Button, if you're doing this maliciously (which Rex often is).
Nervous Wreck: Even before the incident with Brad, he was an extremely anxious person. Afterward, just going near the spot where it happened during the first MoA lab has him seriously on edge.
Parental Neglect: While Jesse's parents provide for him financially and perform most of the technical duties of parenting, they were emotionally absent throughout his whole life, and more so with him than with any of his siblings.
Pretty Boy: Often directly referred to as "pretty" (especially in Silas's POV). He is slight-framed with "gorgeous hair" and a very "expressive" beauty to his face.
Prone to Tears: Depending on his mood and his surroundings, he can get choked up at the slightest provocation. Manifests more and more frequently as Tender Tears as the story progresses.
Sad Clown: While he's quick to make jokes and even laugh at himself under the right circumstances (in addition to having an embarrassingly active and popular TikTok page), a lot of his mannerisms have been shaped by his trauma.
Screw The Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The reason he reported Eta.
Swiss Army Weapon: Downplayed/parodied. "Don't worry, Ophelia is part bottle-opener."
Badass Adorable: Silas is sweet, gentle, and introverted, but he also survived two nights in the woods alone while being actively hunted. And he did it by befriending a stag who guided him to safety.
Cool Pet/Empathy Pet: Clover.
The Ditherer: Of the Empathetic Fence-Sitter variety.
Extreme Doormat: Silas has a hard time saying no or standing up for himself; once in high school, he let someone French-kiss him because he didn't want to hurt her feelings.
Friend to All Living Things: He has an innate (and in fact, magical) connection with animals.
Friendless Background: While he had a small group of acquaintances in high school, they treated him poorly, and he has never had any close friendships otherwise until Mysteries of Ames.
The Heart: He is the most selfless of the group, in addition to being the most insightful in matters of emotion.
Like Father, Unlike Son: His father is cold, brash, prone to violence, and lacking in self-awareness. Silas is sweet, modest, gentle, and painfully self-aware.
Lovable Coward: Silas is debilitatingly shy, athletically unremarkable, and inexperienced with magic despite his predisposition. While his fear of taking initiative is somewhat justified, it's clear that he's never been the most courageous soul. Defied throughout the quest for the Cuff, but most notably during his brief stint surviving in the woods by himself with only Clover by his side.
Peek-a-Boo Hair: His hair often falls in front of his face.
Shorter Means Smarter: Silas is the shortest boy in Mysteries of Ames, and the second shortest overall (taller only than Darcy). He is also the most introspective and soft-spoken student in the class, and one of the more academically inclined.
The Shrink: Shrink-in-training, anyway.
Shrinking Violet: He is incredibly shy, and hardly speaks except to introduce himself until the second lab.
Tender Tears: When he cries, it tends to be this.
Took a Level in Badass: After the quest, and after his brief solo trip in particular.
Unfazed Everyman: Despite not generally being a relaxed person, he is largelt unperturbed upon learning of the magical underworld, and later of his own powers.
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OTHER STUDENTS
Callie Smith
The Cutie: She's very sweet, and comes across as cheerful and easy to get along with, along with having a rather "cute" appearance and sense of style.
Extreme Doormat: She'll pretty much do anything Elizabeth or Katie ask her to do.
Girl Next Door: To August.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Not that she's ever been particularly lonely, but because of her learning disability and her artistic career goals, she is scared of being shunned or treated as strange.
Keisha Michaelson
Academic Athlete: In addition to being on the track team, she is an enthusiastic history major.
Unwitting Muggle Friend: She is Page's close friend, but is in the dark about the truth of Mysteries of Ames for a good while.
Elizabeth Ashley
Alpha Bitch: Of a sorority called Alpha Alpha Alpha.
Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!: And rich.
Katie Hart
Beta Bitch: To Elizabeth.
Horrible Judge of Character: Aside from her "little sister" Callie, Katie seems to gravitate exclusively towards people who manipulate and devalue her.
Stepford Smiler: And massively anxious behind the smile.
Jeb Branson
Idle Rich: Even in his own frat, he doesn't do much of any dirty work.
Brad Saxton
The Bully: To a greater extent than anyone else in Tri Eta.
No Sympathy: His own interests (and his own anger) are all that matters to him.
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DEVINE FAMILY
In General
Jules Devine
Not Good With Rejection: He killed three people because of it.
The Professor: He is literally the professor of Mysteries of Ames, and he initially seems like nothing more than an eccentric (if intense) old mage.
Sibling Murder: He 👏 Did 👏 That! 👏
Stern Teacher: Or so they think.
Phaedra Devine Harris
Deceased Parents Are The Best: She died when Darcy was 11, but they had a particularly strong bond.
Hot Witch: Darcy had to get it from someone.
Teddy Harris
Deceased Parents Are The Best: See Phaedra (though Darcy was closer with her mother).
Lachlan Harris
Spartan Sibling: He views Darcy as little besides competition, and doesn't seem to harbor any love for her.
Basil Devine
Black Sheep: He moves out of Devine Manor with his wife and daughter when he is no longer able to shoulder the guilt of Jules's behavior.
Cain and Abel and Seth: Basil is the Seth to Jules's Cain and Phaedra's Abel.
Rochelle Devine
Silk Hiding Steel: Though she is soft-spoken and shy, she is as powerful a mage as her husband Basil, who is from a very powerful family.
Cleo Devine
Child Prodigy: Despite her immediate family distancing themselves from their magical family, Cleo shows nearly as much promise as Darcy did at her age.
The Stoic: Has grown rather cold, but it might just be a tween-age phase.
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ADDISON AND AFFILIATES
Tanner Addison
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Banking on the goodwill that his father earned with the town of Ames, Tanner will do just about anything to make a profit.
Rex Reed Addison
Attention Whore: He grew up intermittently having his ego stroked by his mom and never being quite enough for his dad. He knows he likes attention, and the way to get it seems mostly arbitrary to him, but he knows that acting up is a surefire way to get it.
Foil: To Jesse.
Fratbro: In a frat that his father helped him found (because not even his family friends in Tri Eta felt like dealing with him).
The Gadfly: He likes getting a rise out of people, especially the Mysteries of Ames class, and especially Jesse.
Jerkass: Despite being told to fly under the radar in MoA, he seems to go out of his way to be as rude and disdainful as possible towards the other students.
Lonely Rich Kid: Did he bring it on himself? A little bit. Does he have a Freudian Excuse for behaving the way he does? A little bit.
"Well Done, Son!" Guy: When your dad is busy running a Predatory Business, he doesn't always have much time for you.
Steven Saltzer
Professional Butt-Kisser: As Tanner's PR manager and right-hand man, he gets paid a handsome salary to be a sycophant.
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MAPLEWOOD AND FRIENDS
Maple
Earth Mother: And the only one still truly present in her locale.
Wise Tree: The oldest living Green Mountain dryad apart from Elder, and she has the magical and oracular abilities to prove it, even if she is on the decline.
Cherry Fitzroy
The Baby of the Bunch: Cherry was the youngest Maplewood Dryad before she died.
Happily Married: To Sean.
Plucky Girl: She was spirited, romantic, and "vivacious."
Sean Fitzroy
Give Her a Normal Life: What he wants for Page.
Good Dad: Though he can be spacey, he's been a ceaselessly kind and loving father to Page.
Interspecies Romance: With Cherry, who was a dryad. It could also have been considered a Muggle-Mage Romance.
Laurel
Reverse Mole: She's a dryad on the Ames board of trustees, benefitted by the fact that she was too young when Jules knew her for him to recognize her now.
Cottonwood
Shoot the Messenger: Jules would often blow up at Cottonwood for telling him news of Magnolia.
Llewelyn Thwaite
Earthy Barefoot Character: He chose to abandon civilization and live with his dryad wife in the woods, and he very rarely wears shoes.
Larkspur Thwaite
Earthy Barefoot Character: She takes after her father.
Cool Big Sis: Though she is technically Page's aunt, she becomes this to her.
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OTHER MAIN 5 FAMILY MEMBERS
Ruby Johnson
Happily Married: To Charlie.
Good Mom: Not only is she a tireless and caring mother, but she also instilled in August his passion for medicine.
Charlie Johnson
Happily Married: To Ruby.
Good Dad: Charlie works long hours to provide for his family, and still shows them love at home.
Christelle Johnson
Wise Beyond Her Years: Christelle is only 16, but is already laying the groundwork for her career as an ACLU lawyer.
Maria Johnson
The Baby of the Bunch: At twelve, she is the youngest in her family, and certainly takes on an annoying little sister persona to get away with things sometimes.
Amelia Marek
Education Mama: Amelia is not just obsessively concerned with her children's grades, but also where they go to school and what they choose to study. Cornell medical student Alex is by far her favorite son.
William Marek
Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Downplayed. It's more like Dad Who Watches ESPN, Son Who Watches Homoerotic Boarding School Films.
Real Men Hate Affection: He certainly acts like he does.
Alex Marek
Parental Favoritism: Alex is both Amelia and William's favorite son, and is the "highest-achieving" of all of their children.
Ben Marek
Annoying Younger Sibling: He is the only one of Jesse's younger siblings who fits this trope.
Big Brother Bully: He tends to ignore Alex, and is simply rude to Jesse, but is actively cruel to Sam and Emily.
Sam Marek
Tomboy: With shades of Tomboy Princess, since she is from a wealthy social-climbing family and is often made to dress and behave in a more feminine way than she'd like to.
Emily Marek
The Baby of the Bunch: Emily is only eight years old, and is the youngest in her family by more than five years. She tends to be treated as the baby, as well.
Maggie Abramowitz
Parents as People: She did her absolute best raising Silas, even opting to work from home after her divorce so that she could give him more of her time. However, she often complains about finances and family matters to Silas, failing to see how it might hurt him too.
Struggling Single Mother: Downplayed, since David still pays for Silas's education, but she lives in a small home and makes just enough to support herself and Silas.
David Vogel
Disappeared Dad: To Silas, but not to Jonah. He's very devoted to his second family.
Troubled Abuser: He was, anyway.
Sarah Vogel
Second Love: She is this to David.
Jonah Vogel
Spoiled Brat: Silas worries that Jonah is becoming one.