List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters

This is a list of characters of His Dark Materials trilogy of novels by the fantasy fiction author Philip Pullman.

Lyra Belacqua

See Lyra Belacqua

Lyra Belacqua (also known as Lyra Silvertongue) is a young girl who inhabits a parallel universe to our own. Brought up in the cloistered world of Jordan College, Oxford, she finds herself embroiled in a cosmic war between angels and a false deity called The Authority.

Will Parry

See Will Parry

Will Parry is son of John Parry, an explorer, and of Elaine Parry, a woman who suffers from apparent mental problems including obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoia. Will fails to remember his father, a former Royal Marine, who has not been heard of since he vanished on an expedition to the Arctic, and who we later learn has wandered into another world and is unable to find his way back.

Lord Asriel

See Lord Asriel

Lord Asriel is a member of the English aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by an oppressive version of the Christian Church. He is described as being "a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seem to flash and glitter with savage laughter." Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and commands great respect in both the political and academic spheres, being a military leader and a fellow of Jordan College in his world's version of Oxford.

Mrs. Coulter

See Mrs. Coulter

Marissa Coulter is the head of a particular faction of the Church known as the General Oblation Board (also known as "The Gobblers" among gyptians and street urchins). Under Mrs Coulter's guidance, The Oblation Board has been secretly kidnapping children from Lyra's world, and then proceeding to use them as "lab rats" for their experiments at their laboratory in Bolvangar. The Oblation Board thinks that by cutting away the child's dæmon, they can prevent the child from knowing sin.

Iorek Byrnison

Iorek Byrnison is a Panserbjørn (armoured bear in Danish and Norwegian). Like all Panserbjørne, Iorek follows a very strict code of contract, and will in no situation betray a promise he has made. He possesses incredible strength, and like many of his kind is an expert smith. He is a great friend and comrade to both Lyra Belacqua and Lee Scoresby.

During the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights, Iorek Byrnison is found shaping metal for humans in an Arctic port town. These humans had deceived Iorek by giving him alcohol, then stolen his "sky-iron" armour while he was intoxicated. This left him no choice but to work for the humans. He tells Lyra Belacqua that if he had his armour, he would kill the humans that stole it, but that without it he would simply be gunned down attempting to get it back. Upon hearing this, Lyra decides to use her Alethiometer to find the location of his armour, so that he can break free and help the group she is travelling with.

Using the Alethiometer, Lyra discovers that the humans have his armour hidden in the cellar of the local priest's house. Almost immediately upon hearing this, Iorek rushes off to find his armour, waiting only to finish his work hours. The humans, suddenly realizing his intent, try to kill him. Iorek is about to crush one of the attackers' heads when Lyra reminds him that he promised her he wouldn't hurt anyone if she told him where his armour was.

Later in the story, Pullman reveals that by bloodline, Iorek would have become King of the bears in his homeland, Svalbard, had it not been for his exile. This exile was mainly the fault of Iofur Raknison, Iorek's successor as King, who was suspected, but never explicitly proven to have used drugs on another bear in order to make him act unusually. This befuddled bear went up against Iorek Byrnison in a ritual of dominance to win over a female bear. In his drugged state, however, the bear went against normal procedures and would not back down when any bear would normally have done. This situation ended in Iorek killing the bear, which is strictly forbidden and condemmed him to exile. When he returns to Svalbard, Iorek fights and kills Iofur Rakinson reclaiming his rightful place. This ends his role in the first book.

In the third book (The Amber Spyglass), he is forced to take his bears on a voyage down to the Himalayas because the climate in his home country of Svalbard has become inhospitable due to Lord Asriel's unintentional changing of the climate by opening a rift between two worlds.

He later uses his blacksmithing skills to repair the Subtle Knife with the help of Lyra and Will.

He and a regiment of his subjects fight on Lord Asriel's side in the battle on the plains. He takes Lyra and Will to find their lost dæmons.

John Faa

John Faa, sometimes known as Lord Faa, is the King of the Gyptians. When the Oblation Board starts kidnapping children, he leads 170 of his men to save them from a terrible fate. His dæmon is a black raven which often sits on his shoulder.

He is a brave warrior, respected by all his followers, open to advice, and considerate of all. He is a good friend of the elderly Farder Coram.

Though initially against the idea, John Faa eventually decides to take Lyra to Bolvangar, to rescue the missing gyptian children. He is wounded in an ambush where many of his Gyptians are killed, despite the action of Iorek Byrnison, his hired panserbjørne. However, he carries out his mission successfully, retrieving the children Lyra helped rescue, and taking them back to England.

Farder Coram

Farder Coram is an important member of the Gyptians. He seems to take the role of second-in-command or adviser for the Gyptian King John Faa. British actor Tom Courtenay will portray him in the upcoming film adaptation of 'Northern Lights'.

He once travelled to the north, where he witnessed a witch, Serafina Pekkala, being attacked by another witch's dæmon. Farder Coram shot the rogue dæmon and rescued Serafina. They fell in love and had a son. Their son was killed in his youth by a disease from the east forty years prior to the events of the trilogy. With a broken heart, Serafina Pekkala returned to her people as the clan-queen, and Coram stayed with the gyptians. Later Coram was shot in the leg with a poison arrow by Skraelings. Although Serafina Pekkala never saw him again, she did send herbs and spells to help him recover. Unfortunately he remained crippled.

He accompanies Lyra, Lord Faa, Iorek Byrnison, Lee Scoresby and 170 Gyptians to Bolvangar to rescue the captured children there.

Lyra grows to love Coram, as he, more than any other Gyptian, respects her and sees her potential. He guides her in mastering the alethiometer, encouraging her and soon realizing her amazing talent. Lyra accompanies him in Trollesund, a northern town, when he runs errands in it.

His dæmon, Sophonax, is a larger than average, "autumn-coloured" cat.

Serafina Pekkala

Serafina Pekkala is a witch queen. She rules over certain clans in the district of Lake Enara, which is an alternate name Pullman created for Lake Inari in northern Finland. Serafina appears throughout the fantasy trilogy and is closely associated with the journey of Lyra Belacqua and her companions. Serafina Pekkala's dæmon is Kaisa, a large grey goose who is capable of being separated from Pekkala by long distances, as is normal with the dæmons of witches (although Serafina Pekkala's dæmon is male, the name Kaisa is in fact a Finnish female name). She assists Lyra in her journey to find out about Dust.

She once had a child with the Gyptian Farder Coram who saved her life as she was attacked by a large red bird, possibly another witch's dæmon. For witches to fall in love with men appears common. There are men within the witch society who serve the witches, or who can be taken for lovers or husbands. Witches are said to be capable of appreciating men for their beauty, intelligence, and bravery; but due to the witches long life-span, the men appear to grow old and die almost at once. This is said to cause the witches great emotional pain. When witches give birth, if the child is female it is a witch, whereas if male it is human. In the case of the latter, he is likely to be outlived by his mother.

According to Serafina, witches live for many hundreds of years. Serafina claims to be three hundred or more, and states that her clans oldest witch mother is nearly a thousand. Witches own nothing, and so have no means of exchange save mutual aid. They have no notions of honor, so insults mean nothing to them. Temperature extremes appear not to harm witches. Although they feel the cold, wrapping up against it would prevent them from experiencing other things that the humans of the text may not feel, such as "the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the Aurora". Witches fly on branches of Cloud-Pine, and equate flying to living, as Serafina states: "A witch would no sooner give up flying than give up breathing. To fly is to be perfectly ourselves." Witches see themselves as subject to fate, yet they feel they must act as if they are not, or "die of despair". They believe that when they die Yambe-Akka, the goddess of the dead, comes kindly to collect them.

Her name apparently originated from Pullman's browsing of a Finnish telephone directory.

In His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, the forthcoming movie adaptation of the first book in the trilogy, Northern Lights (The Golden Compass was the American title of the book), the part is to be played by Eva Green.

Lee Scoresby

File:Coram.jpg

Lee Scoresby portrayed by Sam Elliott.

Lee Scoresby is a skilled "aeronaut" balloonist from the country of Texas. In regards to Scoresby's name, Phillip Pullman says: "Lee Scoresby comes from two sources. One is the actor Lee Van Cleef, who looks just like the character. And the other is the name of an Arctic explorer, William Scoresby.

His exact age can only be approximated, as no precise reference is given, but makes an observation when suddenly faced by his mother's ring: "I ain't seen that ring in forty years!"

Lee is an old Arctic hand, and extremely skilled with his balloons. He is sharp with a gun, though nonviolent. He is intelligent, and a bit of a mercenary, though with consistent ethics. His dream is to sell his balloons and buy a ranch back in Texas.

American cowboy icon Sam Elliott will play Lee Scoresby opposite Nicole Kidman in the upcoming New Line production. Pullman has, as with all of the actors in the film, expressed satisfaction with Elliot's casting.

Lee's best friend is the armored bear Iorek Byrnison. They fought together, and he once saved Iorek's life.

Lee (and his dæmon, Hester the hare) pledge their support to John Faa and the Gyptians on a mission to destroy Bolvangar and save its captive children. He is delighted to learn that Iorek has been hired too.

As the Gyptians finish destroying Bolvangar, Mrs. Coulter attacks with some Tartars to capture her daughter, Lyra. Lee rescues Iorek from another part of the battle, and is just in time to save Lyra and Roger Parslow from Mrs Coulter. The four, helped by witches, escape.

On this journey, Lee expresses his concern to Serafina Pekkala, the queen of the witches, about the whole situation. He is worried about the war which he is about to be caught up in, and unsure who he will side with - indeed, who are the sides. However, he promises loyalty to Lyra. He is disturbed by the witches' idea of destiny.

The party is attacked by cliff ghasts. Lyra falls out of the balloon, and Iorek and Roger go to rescue her as soon as the balloon can be put down. As Lee floats with the witches, Lord Asriel tears the path into another world open. Buffetted by winds, Lee and the witches are swept far away, but manage to regroup for a witch council. Lee is given the unique privilege of joining it.

Lee informs Serafina and the others that he has heard of an object which can protect the bearer. A mysterious professor called Grumman knows of its whereabouts. Lee intends to seek out Grumman and then take the object (the Subtle Knife) to Lyra.

On his mission, he is forced to kill a servant of the Church. He takes his ring, which can command some power and authority.

Lee and Hester find Grumman, and learn that he is really John Parry, from our own world. John has become a shaman and can command magic. He claims that he drew Lee with his mother's ring.

The pair set off to find the Bearer of the Subtle Knife, Grumman to inform him of his task and Lee to get Lyra under his protection. They use the Church's ring to regain Lee's confiscated balloons.

As the pair make their escape, they are pursued. The shaman's magic destroy three of the enemy four zeppelins, but Lee loses his balloon in the process. Escaping from the last one, they are pursued into a narrow gorge.

Lee holds the pass as Grumman escapes, killing all of the enemies and blowing up the zeppelin. He is killed in the process. His death is described in a very moving way, with him saying goodbye to his weeping dæmon (soul), embracing her tenderly for the last time until she disappears.

Lyra and Will Parry find him in the world of the dead, and he briefly returns to fight the Spectres before his particles scatter and set off to find Hester's. He also mentions searching for his mother's particles, and those of "his sweethearts".

Stanislaus Grumman

Dr. Stanislaus Grumman, aka Colonel John Parry, or Jopari, is the father of Will Parry and the husband of Elaine Parry.

John Parry was a famous English explorer and a colonel in the Royal Marines in Will's world. At one point, he went on an archaeological exploration of Alaska. There, he had high hopes of finding a mythological portal to a different realm. He was unsuccessful at first, but he and his companions eventually found and went through the portal by accident during a blizzard and were brought to the world of Cittàgazze. His two companions were killed by the Spectres shortly after.

He ventured through Cittàgazze and found a portal to the world of Lyra Belacqua. When he arrived, he met his very own dæmon Sayan Kötör, the Osprey. He eventually changed his name to Stanislaus Grumman, likely because he needed a name that seemed natural to the world. Some time after, he attended the Berlin Academy. He became both a famous and slightly infamous explorer, infamous for his strange curiosity towards the world and its elements.

He showed specific interest in Dust and its entities. Most of his studies of the strange substance are unknown. At one point, he even joined the Yenisei tribe and had trepanation done to his skull. He became a leader and shaman of the tribe and took the name Jopari, a slight differentia of John Parry.

Mystery enveloped the life of Grumman after that. Many believed he was dead, although there were many other rumours. The members of Jordan College believed he was dead after Lord Asriel showed them a frozen, severed head and tricked them into believing it was Grumman's. But Grumman remained away, in the village of the Yenisei tribe.

In The Subtle Knife, Lee Scoresby is sent to find Grumman. He eventually finds him, although Grumman explains that it was his calling that allowed Lee to find him. Lee takes Grumman to Cittàgazze at his wishing, as he wishes to find the bearer of the Æsahættr.

As they make their way to the bearer, they are chased by soldiers in four zeppelins. Stan uses his powers to create a storm to destroy one of them. During the night, Sayan Kötör commands the birds of the forest to destroy another. He destroys the third by making a Spectre attack its pilot. With all his strength sapped, he is unable to destroy the fourth zeppelin. Lee remains behind to fend off the men while Grumman escapes. Grumman promises to protect Lyra for him.

Grumman finds the bearer, Will, in a dark cave and fights with him after Will attacks him in the pitch darkness. Grumman uses some blood moss to heal Will's wound. He tells him of the great destiny that has been bestowed upon. He tells him that he must defeat the Authority, ignoring the oath he made to Lee Scoresby. When some light is shaded, he sees Will's face they both realize who the other is. But then an arrow shot by Juta Kamainen, a witch he scorned, pierces Grumman's heart and he dies.

Iofur Raknison

Iofur Raknison is a panserbjørn---an armor-wearing, intelligent polar bear. He appears prominently in the first book, Northern Lights.

Iofur Raknison is the king of all the panserbjørne and ruler of Svalbard, but wishes for more. He wants to be the equal of a human---to have a dæmon and be baptized a Christian. To this end, he has commanded the bears to build a palace of stone, and induced them to wear gold and silver ornaments---ornaments that they had traditionally despised as beneath them.

Iofur has a secret: the fact that he killed his own father---a fact that the other bears do not know. Lyra Belacqua divines this with the use of her alethiometer, while convincing Iofur that she is the daemon of Iorek Byrnison, an armored bear driven into exile for killing another bear. He did this in a battle over a she-bear. The other bear would not give the usual signs of surrender so Iorek became angry and killed him. Her knowledge convinces Iofur that she is telling the truth about being a daemon, and his will to believe that he, too, can have a daemon allows Lyra to manipulate him into a duel with Iorek. After his loss of the duel, and his life, Iorek is proclaimed the king, and his first command is that the bears discard their pseudo-human trinkets and tear down Iofur's palace.

In the 2007 movie adaptation of Northern Lights, the character Iofur Raknison's name was changed to Ragnar Sturlusson to prevent name confusion between him and Iorek Byrnison.

The Authority

The Authority is an angel believed by many to be God himself. The Authority was the first angel to come into existence. He, according to the angel Xaphania, seized power and claimed to be the creator of the multiverse. He formed from the substance known as Dust, identically to the other, younger angels, but used his cunning to convince them that he had created them and the worlds. His true name is unknown, though several names are ascribed to him, including "El", Adonai", and "The Almighty.

He ruled his various churches and organisations from the Clouded Mountain, a mobile city believed by many in that universe to be Heaven. As the Authority grew older and weaker, the Mountain became more and more obscured by cloud.

In his old age, the Authority appointed the tyrannical angel Metatron to act as regent of the Kingdom of Heaven. Eventually Metatron grew more powerful than his master. The two were opposed by Lord Asriel, who allied with "fallen" angels such as Xaphania in an attempt to overthrow the divine monarchy and replace it with a Republic of Heaven. During the final battle, the Authority is carried away from the Clouded Mountain on the orders of Metatron. He is imprisoned in a crystal box, which keeps him alive but trapped. Lyra and Will free him with the subtle knife, not knowing he is too weak to survive outside his box. He drifts apart and dies in a moment of happiness and peace. In Pullman's universe, 'death' signifies becoming part of everything (as did dæmons and the ghosts in The Amber Spyglass).

Balthamos

Balthamos and his lover, Baruch, are both angels in rebellion from the Kingdom of Heaven. They seek to become part of Lord Asriel's army of angels and overthrow Metatron, the acting Regent of The Authority.

Both angels find Will Parry at the end of The Subtle Knife; because Will is the bearer of the subtle knife, they hope to bring him to Lord Asriel. However, Will's companion Lyra Belacqua has been kidnapped and Will refuses to go to Asriel until Lyra is found. The angels agree to accompany Will without question until she is found.

This decision proves to be dangerous; both Baruch and Balthamos are aware the Regent is after them, especially now that they are being accompanied by Will. An unfortunate encounter leads to Baruch being fatally wounded. Balthamos and Will are separated from Baruch, who has gone to Lord Asriel in his wounded state. Baruch provides Asriel with all the information he and Balthamos have discovered about Will, Lyra, and the Regent before dying.

Baruch's death is immediately felt by Balthamos as a result of the strong bond of love they shared. Striken with grief, Balthamos promises to aid Will in every way possible to honour Baruch's sacrifice. When Balthamos is unable to do so, he runs away, grieving over Baruch's death and feeling guilty about abandoning Will. The angel does not appear again until the end of the book, when Balthamos confronts an assassin hoping to kill Lyra by tracking Dr Mary Malone.

Of the two angels, Balthamos is the more passive of the pair. He admits that Baruch is the courageous one and whenever Balthamos fails at something important, Baruch is the one to help him fix things. Balthamos has a sarcastic personality, and his relations with Will are conducted with an air of ironic contempt.

As angels of low rank, Balthamos and Baruch's abilities are limited. They appear as luminous humanlike forms, which are barely visible to human eyes even at night. The angels also possess the power to transform. They are capable of flight though their wings do not have a corporeal form.

Balthamos' gender has confused readers, with many believing that Balthamos was a female in his previous life, as he states in The Subtle Knife that he was not a man previously. However, this more than likely refers to Balthamos never actually existing as a human, the term "man" is used to refer to humankind rather than gender, meaning that Balthamos has likely only ever existed as an angel, as opposed to Baruch, who was a man before he became an angel.

Baruch

Baruch and his lover, Balthamos, are both angels in rebellion from the Kingdom of Heaven. They seek to become part of Lord Asriel's army of angels and overthrow Metatron, the acting Regent of The Authority.

He is the brother of Enoch, who has become the Regent, an angel known as Metatron. With Balthamos, Baruch escapes from the Regent of The Authority in hopes of joining Lord Asriel's army of angels. They seek to bring the bearer of the Subtle Knife, Will Parry to Asriel and accompany Will without question when Will agrees to go to Asriel only after finding Lyra Belacqua. Baruch's courageous and dedicated nature leads to a fight with the Regent. Fatally wounded and separated from Balthamos and Will, Baruch brings himself to Lord Asriel. After providing Asriel with critically important information, he dies. The last word he utters is "Balthamos", the name of his angelic lover. The name is possibly a reference to the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, who was estranged on religious grounds from his brother, Gabriel. Baruch also means blessed in hebrew and is very often as the first word used in Jewish prayers.

Mary Malone

Dr. Mary Malone is a physicist from Will's world (which is supposed to be the world in which the reader lives), who is investigating dark matter, known also as Dust, and is told she must play the part of the Serpent for the second Adam and Eve. She is a former nun, having became an atheist after an encounter with a man from Italy and the taste of marzipan reminded her of her first romantic encounter.

Lyra Belacqua, upon arriving in Will's world, meets Mary when she tries to find an "experimental theologian" (physicist) in hopes of discovering more about Dust. Mary is amazed by Lyra's knowledge of dark matter, especially after Lyra demonstrates her ability to speak of the unknown by use of the alethiometer.

Mary, inspired by Lyra's abilities, uses the supercomputer she and her colleague, Dr. Oliver Payne, designed to communicate with Dust. The Dust consequently tells Mary to travel from her own world, through the window that Will found at the beginning of The Subtle Knife. The Dust tells her through words on the computer screen that she is supposed to "play the Serpent". The Dust also tells her about the journey she is about to embark on and warns her to destroy the computer before she leaves. Mary travels through Cittàgazze to yet another world, where she will eventually become the Serpent. She spends most of The Amber Spyglass with creatures known as the Mulefa, trying to see the Dust, which the Mulefa can do naturally. This leads to the creation of her "Amber Spyglass".

At the end of the third novel, the witch Serafina Pekkala reveals to Mary both how to see her dæmon and also its form - that of an Alpine chough. She offers to help Will upon his return to his own world.

Lord Boreal

Lord Carlo Boreal, or Sir Charles Latrom, CBE as he is known as in Will Parry's world, serves as a minor character in Northern Lights, but is a main antagonist in The Subtle Knife. He is an old Englishman, appearing to be in his sixties. He normally wears pale suits and is described as smelling sweetly.

Lord Boreal is first seen in Lyra Belacqua's world at the cocktail party of Mrs. Coulter. He interacts shortly with Lyra.

Nothing is heard of Lord Boreal until The Subtle Knife. While Lyra is exploring a museum in Will's world and looking at the trepanned skulls, he watches her quietly. He then approaches her and appears to be a kindly old man who converses with her about the skulls. Lyra recognizes him (as she met him at the cocktail party) but can't place who he is. He asks her her name and she answers "Lizzie". He hands her his card and tells her if she wishes to learn more just contact him.

Later, when Lyra is being chased by the men who are after John Parry's notes, he is in a limo with a personal driver and offers her a lift. He takes her to Summertown. He hands her back her rucksack. Later she discovers that the Alethiometer has been stolen by him. She and Will find out the name he uses in Will's world is Sir Charles Latrom. They go to his home and ask to see him. Will accidentally reveals Lyra's real name. He also notices a serpent on Boreal's body and guesses correctly that is is his dæmon. Lord Boreal tells them that they must get the Subtle Knife for him from Cittàgazze and he will return to them the Alethiometer.

After retrieving the knife they go to steal the Alethiometer back. Will, using the Subtle Knife, breaks into Boreal's house. Lyra remains outside where she sees Mrs. Coulter arriving at the house. Here she remembers who Sir Charles really is. Will listens to a conversation between Coulter and Boreal, and then steals the Alethiometer. Lyra and Will escape as Boreal tries to shoot the intruders, unaware of who they really are.

Boreal next appears in the office of Mary Malone. He tells her and Dr. Payne that he will fund their studies further and prevent their shutting down if they specifically continue experimenting under his approval. Malone sees the deceit in his promises.

Later, Boreal is in a tent in the mountains of Cittàgazze and is talking to Mrs. Coulter. She drugs his drink and makes him tell her of the Subtle Knife. He dies shortly after from the drink. This is all seen by a witch who then is discovered by Mrs. Coulter and tortured into telling her Lyra's true name.

Boreal's body is later discovered in the tent by Will in The Amber Spyglass. Earlier, it had been seen by Baruch. This is the last time he appears.

Ruta Skadi

Ruta Skadi is the Latvian witch queen, and a lover of Lord Asriel.

She accompanies Serafina Pekkala and her companions on part of their journey. She leaves, first to see Asriel's empire he is building, then to rally witches to help him. She brings news of a mysterious weapon which turns out to be the Subtle Knife after overhearing tell of it from cliff ghasts. She is not mentioned for most of the final volume in the trilogy, the Amber Spyglass, but apparently survives. In the play adaptation, however, she commits suicide after killing John Parry, her estranged lover, in place of a more minor character who does not appear in the adaptation.

Xaphania

Xaphania is the leader of the rebel angels allied with Lord Asriel in the war against The Authority.

Xaphania first appears in the third book of the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, at a council of Asriel's commanders. Like all Pullman's angels, she appears naked, winged and luminous; due to her high rank and great age, she is clearly visible to corporeal beings. As is the norm with members of the angelic orders in the novels, there is a certain ambiguity surrounding Xaphania's exact appearance. She appears both ancient and young, compassionate and austere. Her simultaneous age and youth are remarked on by the witch Serafina Pekkala, who herself appears that way to shorter-lived people.

The angel Balthamos is the first character to refer explicitly to Xaphania. As he explains to Will Parry, she discovered that the Authority had lied to the other angels regarding his status as the original Creator and so was banished from the Clouded Mountain. This was the start of the first struggle against the Kingdom, Xaphania being the leader of the rebel angels who intervened in human evolution to give mankind consciousness some thirty thousand years ago.

Towards the end of trilogy, and after the defeat of the Authority's forces, it is Xaphania who explains to Will and Lyra Belacqua that all the windows between the worlds must be sealed to prevent Dust from leaking away into the abyss, and that the Æsahættr (the subtle knife) must be destroyed.

Roger Parslow

Roger Parslow, a young kitchen boy and youngest of the Parslow family that had long been employed as masons for Jordan College, was a close friend of Lyra Belacqua, during her early life in Jordan College. Like Lyra, Roger possessed a strong sense of adventure, though he was often the cautioning voice when Lyra got too ambitious, and he and Lyra had explored all over Jordan, from the roofs, over the grounds, to the cellars and crypts. Roger's dæmon is a terrier, named Salcilia.

Roger was kidnapped by the General Oblation Board ("the Gobblers") and taken to their experimental centre in Bolvangar. When Lyra arrived there he assisted her in helping the children escape, once more proving his loyalty, and going on with her to see Lord Asriel in Svalbard. However this was his downfall, for which Lyra later blamed herself, for Lord Asriel used Roger to create a hole between worlds by cutting him from his dæmon and killing him in the process.

Lyra later encountered Roger lost and scared, trapped in the Land of the Dead, but eventually she managed to set him free to merge with the Dust in the living worlds. She arranged for this to be a release for all the dead willing to obey the necessary guidelines, but Roger was the first to leave the World of the Dead.

Metatron

For other uses, see Metatron.

Metatron is the Regent of Heaven, and seeks to supplant God, destroy Lord Asriel and his army, and kill the heroine Lyra Belacqua. He is betrayed by Mrs Coulter, letting Asriel and Coulter pull him into the abyss.