Lyra Belacqua
Lyra is the protagonist of the His Dark Materials trilogy. She is a scrappy, intelligent, and intuitive young teenager who becomes involved in a battle between the religious Authority of her world and a group of rebels. Lyra learns in the first book that she is the daughter of Marisa Coulter and Lord Asriel, who had an affair before the events of the His Dark Materials series. Due to her parents' involvement in the Magesterium, Lyra distrusts both of them and operates independently of their plans.
Due to a witch's prophesy, both the Authority and Lord Asriel's rebels believe that Lyra is the "next Eve." They think that Lyra will reintroduce original sin into the world, forever destroying the Authority and the Magisterium. The war against the Authority hinges on a mysterious decision Lyra must make at the end of The Amber Spyglass, and consequently, both sides target her.
Lyra is a talented and intuitive liar. She’s able to make up stories on the spot. While this helps her in many difficult situations, it eventually becomes an issue in The Amber Spyglass, and throughout the novel, she is forced to tell the truth in a variety of situations. Lyra is also a skilled reader of the alethiometer, a compass-like instrument that reveals the truth about people and situations to those who can understand it.
Lyra is also adventurous, brave, and loyal. She embarks on a journey to the World of Dead, despite knowing that she may be killed or separated from her daemon. Her courage wins the respect of many characters, especially Iorek Byrinson and Lee Scoresby. She shows loyalty to Roger, Will, and Iorek, and puts her life in danger for them multiple times.
Pantalaimon
Pantalaimon is Lyra’s daemon. In the world of His Dark Materials, daemons are parts of humans’ inner selves that take the form of animal companions. As with all childrens' daemons, Pantalaimon is able to change shape throughout Lyra's childhood, but eventually settles as a pine marten. He is often more cautious than Lyra, though when she calls on him for help, he’s always willing. When Lyra travels to the World of the Dead in The Subtle Knife, the two must termporarily separate, as daemons cannot journey across the underworld's river. Being separated from each other causes both Lyra and Pantalaimon enormous pain.
Will Parry
Will is from a world that appears to be similar to ours (for example, people in his world don't have daemons). He first appears in the series’ second book, The Subtle Knife. Throughout the book, Will's main objective is to find his father, John Parry, an explorer who disappeared during Will's childhood.
Will accidentally finds a window to another world, Cittàgazze, while fleeing after killing a man who targeted his mother, likely due to his father's discoveries about Dust. In Cittàgazze, Will meets Lyra and becomes her ally.
Will is a fighter. He’s willing to be ruthless and cruel in order to protect his friends and family. He often acts in a more practical and mature way than other children his age, which earns him the respect of his traveling companions. Since his mother suffers from depression, it is likely that Will was forced to mature at young age from taking care of her.
Will posesses and is able to use the Subtle Knife, a unique instrument that creates openings between worlds. Will must focus his mind closely while using the knife, which is sometimes difficult given the struggles of his mother.
Will and Lyra have a close friendship, and he is fiercely loyal to her throughout the story.
Kirjava
Kirjava is Will’s daemon. Since Will is from our world, Kirjava is not visible unless Will is in Lyra's world or another world where people have daemons. In Lyra's world, Kirjava takes the form of a large cat.
Roger
Roger was Lyra’s childhood playmate in Oxford, where he worked as a kitchen boy. He was captured by Mrs. Coulter and killed at the end of The Golden Compass. Despite Lyra’s attempts to save Roger, Lord Asriel severed him from his daemon in order to unleash energy that will build a bridge to a different universe. At the beginning of The Amber Spyglass, Roger appears in Lyra’s dreams and pleads with her to save him from the World of the Dead. Lyra’s guilt over Roger’s death motivates her to travel to the World of the Dead and ultimately to free all of the children who are held there.
Marisa Coulter
Marisa Coulter is Lyra’s mother. She is beautiful, manipulative, and skilled at double-crossing. She uses her extraordinary looks and keen intelligence to control other characters. She is ruthless and does not care about the children harmed and killed by the Magesterium's experiments.
While Mrs. Coulter works for the Magisterium throughout The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, she balks at the Magisterium’s plans to kill Lyra in The Amber Spyglass and eventually joins forces with Lord Asriel. Marisa Coulter is ruthless and cruel. However, she is protective of Lyra, despite the fact that Lyra despises her.
Lord Asriel
Lord Asriel is Lyra’s father. He a wealthy and powerful aristocrat whom Lyra mistakenly believes to be her uncle for much of the first book. Lord Asriel aims to overthrow the Authority and create the Republic of Heaven. He detests the Magisterium in his world, but his bravery and determination lead him to seek to destroy its overall source: the Authority. In order to do so, he gathers allies from multiple universes, bringing them together in a huge fortress.
Like Marisa Coulter, Lord Asriel will stop at nothing to achieve his aims. He believes that his final goal will benefit every living creature, and consequently, breaks many moral laws to triumph over his enemies. Cold and distant, he is obsessed by his quest and pays little attention to those around them. His coldness towards Lyra eventually backfires, since he doesn’t believe her capable of contributing to his cause.
Serafina Pekkala
Serafina Pekkala is the leader of a witch clan and Lord Asriel’s ally. She is over three hundred years old. Like all witches, she is exceptionally beautiful and possesses extraordinary abilities. She can withstand any weather, make herself unnoticeable, and communicate through telepathy. Serafina Pekkala comes to Lyra and Will's aid many times throughout their journey.
Balthamos
Balthamos is a rebel angel and Lord Asriel’s ally. His short temper and air of superiority make him a reluctant helper to Will, whose stubborn independence angers Balthamos even further.
He only truly loves his partner Baruch, whom he views as purely innocent, a bright spot in an otherwise cold and cruel world. When Baruch dies while defending Will, Balthamos is disconsolate. His love for Baruch motivates his final sacrifice, which involves stopping Father Gomez before he can kill Lyra.
Baruch
Baruch is an angel who rebels against the Authority. He is the brother of Metatron, the main villain of His Dark Materials. His goal is to bring Will Parry and the subtle knife to Lord Asriel. He is fatally wounded after a fight with Metraton. His true love is Balthamos, and his last words are Balathamos’s name.
Father Gomez
Father Gomez is an assassin sent by the Magisterium to kill Dr. Mary Malone. Father Gomez is a fervent believer who follows his church superiors’ orders without question. He believes that by killing Dr. Malone he will prevent a new version of the fall of man, saving the world and the church in the process. He sees Dr. Malone as a tempter who will lead Lyra to recreate the biblical Eve’s sin.
Father Gomez lacks compassion, and he views other creatures with suspicion. For example, he sees the Mulefa, an intelligent and wise species, as uneducated and barbaric. Unlike Mary Malone, who works hard to communicate with the Mulefa and learn from them, Father Gomez only thinks of ways to intimidate and manipulate the gentle Mulefa. He’s more interested in the tualapi, the villains of the mulefa’s world, who wantonly destroy their villages and ransack their seedpod stores. Father Gomez views these creatures’ cruelty as intelligence while disregarding the gentle wisdom of the Mulefa.
Father Gomez believes in preemptive penance. He believes that by punishing himself for a long time, he has made his soul clean enough to kill Mary Malone. According to this thinking, the assassination will not be a sin.
Dr. Mary Malone
Dr. Malone is a scientist from Will's world. Dr. Malone was once a Catholic nun, but rejected her role when she fell in love. Though this love didn’t last, she found her true calling as a physicist. Her investigations in physics lead her a rudimentary understanding of Dust. In The Subtle Knife, Lyra consults her about Dust during a short visit to Will's world, which leads her into the conflict between Lord Asriel and the Authority.
Mary Malone is a passionate and curious observer. Her travels throughout the universes lead her to the world of the mulefa, a species of intelligent four-legged creatures. She learns the Mulefa’s language and pledges to help them fix their broken world. She creates the amber spyglass, a device that allows her to observe and analyze the flow of Dust. She discovers that Dust is leaking out of the world of the Mulefa, and, together with Lyra, figures out a solution which is innately tied to Lyra's role as Eve in the prophesy.
Iorek Byrnison
Iorek Byrnison is the leader of the Panserbjørne, the armored bears. To most humans, he appears gruff and frightening. His concerns as the king of the armored bears are inscrutable to most. However, as the conflict between Lord Asriel and the Church intensifies, he becomes one of Lord Asriel’s strongest allies.
Iorek's relationship with Lyra is cemented when Lyra helps him to win back his throne through one-on-one combat with the bear that exiled him from the Panserbjørne. Though Iorek holds few connections to the human world, he forms an unwavering loyalty to Lyra. He feels genuine concern for her safety, even though her survival has little impact on the future of the armored bears.
Like all Panserbjørne, Iorek does not have a daemon. Instead, his soul resides in his special armor.
Salmakia and Tialys
Tialys and Salmakia are Gallevespian spies who are allied with Lord Asriel. The Gallevespians are no taller than an average human’s hand. Their short lifespan only lasts several months. In their world, they face oppression from regular-sized humans, who, under the influence of the Church, view them as unnatural demons. This leads them to join Lord Asriel’s side and fight the Authority. Despite their small size, the Gallivespians demand respect, in part because they carry an incapacitating poison in their heel spurs. They also have lodestone receptors capable of transmitting messages between worlds, as well as dragonflies for transportation.
They are sent to spy on Lyra and Will and eventually guide the children to Lord Asriel. Though they initially strongly dislike the children due to their stubbornness and disrespectful attitude, they become allies to Lyra and Will.
Metatron
Metatron is the antagonist of The Amber Spyglass. Metraton was once Enoch, an actual character in the Old Testament.
Metatron was a servant of the Authority but eventually gained power over the Authority, trapping him in a crystal prison. Since he was once a human, he is subject to human desires and failings. This helps Marisa Coulter defeat him through deception and manipulation.
The Authority
The Authority is an angel. The Magisterium worships him as their supreme god, but according to Lord Asriel’s forces, he is not the ultimate creator of universes. His extreme old age and weakness make it easy for his Regent, Metatron, to control him and commit horrific acts in his name. At the end of The Amber Spyglass, he is so feeble that he dissolves into thin air when Will and Lyra liberate him from his crystal prison.
Xaphania
Xaphania is a high-ranking rebel angel who is allied with Lord Asriel in the war against Metatron. She was expelled from the Clouded Mountain after discovering that the Authority was not actually the original creator of the universes. Xaphania leads the other rebel angels and advises Will on the use of the subtle knife.
