61 pages • 2-hour read
Fall of Ruin and Wrath
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Character Analysis
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use, graphic violence, sexual content, and death.
Calista “Lis”
Lis is the protagonist and point-of-view character in Fall of Ruin and Wrath. In the Prologue, she is a child living in an orphanage with her only friend, Grady. However, when the main narrative begins over a decade later, she is 22 years old and has been living in Archwood with Grady for six years. Though she grows up believing herself to be a lowborn mortal, the novel eventually reveals that she is a starborn and caelestia meant to teach Thorne compassion, a twist that underscores the danger she faces as the series continues.
An ability that Lis calls her “intuition” is central to both her characterization and the novel’s exploration of Compassion as Vulnerability and Strength. This “intuition” gives her the power to read other people’s minds and see their future when she touches them. Occasionally, it also gives her a feeling of what she should do—even if she does not fully understand it. She uses her intuition to gain favor with Archwood’s baron, Claude, who gives her a comfortable life in exchange for information she gleans through reading other people. Despite its practical utility, however, Lis also finds her intuition burdensome, as she often finds others’ thoughts encroaching on her own—a literalization of how heightened empathy can make maintaining personal boundaries challenging.
Another of Lis’s primary characteristics is her resilience and ability to survive. For years after leaving the orphanage, she and Grady moved from place to place, struggling to find food and work. Now, living among the elites of Archwood, she sees her history as a positive, as it has shown her how difficult it is to survive and how brutal the world can be—something that the Hyhborn class does not fully understand. With that understanding, she is willing to do many things to retain her place in Archwood; for instance, she uses her body as a tool, visiting Claude’s guests at night to gain information for him.
Lis has a complicated relationship with autonomy that develops the theme of The Struggle for Autonomy. Throughout the first part of the text, she believes that she has some autonomy, choosing to use her intuition and her body to help Claude in exchange for her home in Archwood. However, when she is given to Thorne at dinner without her consent, she recognizes how truly precarious her position in Archwood is. She responds with growing determination to carve her own path in life. This shift becomes evident during the attack on Archwood. First, she uses her ability to see the future to help Naomi escape, taking action to save her (though potentially misunderstanding her vision). Then, she uses the lunea dagger to kill a ni’mere and stands up to the Hyhborn Lords, saving Grady’s life in exchange for her own. Although Lis has always been self-reliant, she is increasingly proactive as the novel ends.
Prince Thorne of Vytrus
Thorne is Lis’s love interest and the prince of Vytrus, the most dangerous realm in the kingdom of Caelum. He has a reputation for being violent and ruthless, referred to as the “King’s Wrath” as he carries out his justice, even destroying entire cities throughout history. He is also extremely powerful as a Deminyen, an immortal being who was born from the earth fully formed and with ancient knowledge of the world. Like other Hyhborn Lords, he can control objects around him and even the minds of others, compelling them to do whatever he wishes. He feeds off the emotions of others, gaining strength from their pleasure and their suffering.
Thorne’s relationship with Lis is central to the novel, developing into something both physical and emotional as the story progresses. The revelation that Lis is starborn invites the reader to question how much of their relationship is love, how much is destiny, and how much control they actually have. To further complicate matters, Thorn is bound by his heritage to support other Hyhborn rulers, believing that he needs to preserve the Deminyens’ power and support King Euros. Thorne thus struggles with his own internal conflict; his relationship with Lis, though “destined” in some sense, defies both social class and his fate as a Deminyen. Though he chooses to defy King Euros in fighting to save Archwood after Lis shows him the value of lowborn citizens, his allegiances remain unsettled and ambiguous. The end of the novel brings his character arc to a crisis point, presenting Thorne with a clear choice between his relationship with Lis and his loyalty to other Deminyens. The novel has repeatedly portrayed him as a “predator,” and the significance of this metaphor becomes clear in the final lines of the text as he captures Lis when she tries to escape. However, it is unclear whether he is going to kill Lis, thereby killing his connection to humanity, or continue his romantic relationship with her. As a result, the reader is left unsure just how much Thorne has changed throughout the text.
Baron Claude Huntington
Claude is a complex antagonist in Fall of Ruin and Wrath. He is the ruler of Archwood, one of the major cities in the kingdom of Caelum. Because he has both mortal and Hyhborn heritage, he is a caelestia, meaning he is mortal but ages differently. His birth status gives him power, aligning him with the ruling class in the kingdom. However, the novel largely portrays him as an inept ruler who spends much of his time drinking and using drugs while failing to pay his tithing to the king and putting Archwood deeply into debt.
Claude’s relationship with Lis is complicated, as he has used her intuition over the last six years to get information from his enemies. Despite this, Lis has a good relationship with him, helping him in exchange for a comfortable life in Archwood. At times, Claude shows a lack of regard for Lis’s wishes and autonomy, sending her to the bedchambers of his visitors and forcing her to stay with Thorne without her consent. However, Lis holds no ill will toward him, as he also demonstrates concern for her happiness and values her opinion in his court. In their last meeting, Claude apologizes to Lis for taking advantage of her, surprising Lis as he acknowledges his manipulation but insists that keeping her in Archwood protected her from the dangers of the wider kingdom. Claude disappears near the end of the novel, leaving his status in the series uncertain.
Grady
Grady is Lis’s closest friend, having grown up with her in the orphanage and come with her to Archwood. He serves as one of Claude’s guards. He is also a skilled blacksmith, such that Lis urges him to speak with Claude about becoming his personal blacksmith. However, Grady has little regard for Claude or the rest of the Hyhborn rulers. Instead, he repeatedly tries to get Lis to leave Archwood and join the lowborn rebels. His character is therefore central to the theme of The Clash Between Survival and Rebellion, providing a point of contrast to Lis. While Lis is grateful for Claude’s protection and the comfortable life that she lives, Grady is adamant that he would rather risk his safety and even life for the betterment of other lowborn citizens.
Hymel
Hymel is the primary antagonist. He is Claude’s cousin and serves as the leader of his guard. The first time Lis interacts with him, she explains that he “[takes] care of the more unsavory tasks of running a city [as he] enjoy[s] being sent to collect rent, especially if payments couldn’t be made” (23). He constantly goads Lis, insisting that she is of no use to Claude and threatening both her and Grady. As he plots behind Claude’s back to work with the Hyhborn to take over Archwood, he becomes more openly aggressive toward Lis, even grabbing her arm and severely bruising her when she won’t reveal a conversation with Claude.
Hymel is a flat, one-dimensional villain. Because he is jealous of Claude’s power and believes that he is a poor ruler, he works with Lords Arion and Rohan to kidnap Lis in exchange for their help in taking over Archwood. After he fulfills his side of the bargain, Arion quickly betrays and murders him in a moment of poetic justice that denies Hymel the chance at redemption.
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