Main Characters
Deryn "Dylan" Sharp: After her father is killed in a ballooning explosion, Deryn longs to be in the sky again with the freedom that came with it as her mother and aunts try to dress her up and force to her be a proper lady. Deryn spends the remainder of her inheritance to come to London and live with her brother, where she studies to take the Midshipman exams to get into the British Air Force like her brother, but the toughest part is acting the role of boy, which she'll have to pull off in order to be accepted. It's her lucky day when her airman test goes awry and she is scooped up by the Leviathan and finishes her tests up there in order to serve aboard as a Midshipman. She is able to best many of the Middies at learning the ropes because she went up so frequently with her father and because she pays attention during class. She does her best to hide that she is a girl from everyone on board, though the observant eye of Dr. Barlow has noticed the lack of a beard on her chin, though has attributed it to Deryn lying about her age rather than being a girl. As she gets to know Alek, she realizes that she owes him her life and, after he hugs her, that she may even have feelings for him, though she quickly tries to squelch that.
Prince Aleksandar of Hohenberg: As a boy who is in line for the throne of Hapsburg, Alek is in serious danger when his parents are killed. He spends the better part of this book on the run. He is intelligent, and capable of operating a Stormwalker. He is also fluent in various languages, such as English, French, Latin, and German. His hubris tends to get the better of him at times, and puts them in danger many times in the book. Note: This character is fictional. Archduke Ferdinand did not have a son named Aleksandar.
Wildcount Volger: A rather stingy man, Volger has done an excellent job of pretending to disdain Alek and his common birth, though in fact he knows that his father has altered his previously left-handed marriage to Alek's mother (a marriage where any children born cannot inherit) to a full marriage, making Alek heir to his uncle's throne. Volger is a schemer, and had prepared for such an event as the death of Alek's father and nearly always has a plan. He is quite shrewd and trains Alek in fencing and politics, never allowing the young Prince to better him.
Dr. Nora Darwin Barlow: A female boffin is rare according to Deryn's reaction upon meeting Dr. Barlow, proving just how exceptional the doctor is in her field as well as her family: she is the granddaughter of Charles Darwin, whom the Darwinists are named after. She is also quite clever in general, figuring out various secrets with her observational skills and abilities in speaking languages. She is the creator and caretaker of a number of mysterious eggs that will hatch into a creature of her making and a weapon to bear against the Clankers.
Otto Klopp: Aleksandar's "master of mechaniks." He is sometimes referred to as Alek's tutor. He is a commoner who uses a more aristocratic accent when talking to Alek and his family and can pilot the Stormwalker and other mechanical beasts with ease.
Hoffman:One of the helpers/storm walker gunners that helps Alek escape. Also he helps put the clanker engines on the Leviathan.
Braur:'One of the helpers/storm walker gunners that helps Alek escape. Also he helps put the clanker engines on the Leviathan.
Read more about this topic: Leviathan (Westerfeld Novel)
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