In The Forests of The Night - Character List

Character List

Risika: The main protagonist and story teller of the novel. Born as Rachel Waetere in 1684, she was transformed against her will into a vampire, when she was seventeen, by Ather in 1701 and lives in the fictional version of Concord, Massachusetts, three hundred years later. She has a strong understanding and friendship with a Bengal tiger she named Tora. Risika can transform into a hawk, as she enjoys flying over the power of mental teleportation, which is most commonly used by other vampires. She has a long rivalry with her blood-brother, Aubrey. After her battle with Aubrey and taking his blood, she becomes stronger and is open to his mind. She also is able to transform into a second form, that of a Bengal tiger. Risika has golden blonde hair and gold eyes that went completely black after she was transformed but she later regained them after she transformed into the tiger. She also changed her hair to contain the strips of Tora, after the tiger was killed by Aubrey, so that Tora would be with her always. Her original hair and eye color were inherited from her mother. Atwater-Rhodes later revealed that Risika and her twin brother's mother was originally a witch of the Light Line.

Alexander: Twin brother to Rachel/Risika. The last of the Light Line and trained Triste witch, Alexander originally loathed his powers until a Triste witch by the name of Pandora heard him praying and explained to him what he truly is. Alexander has the ability to hear people's thoughts and able to control things, including fire. For the longest time it was unknown to Risika that he was not dead, prior to her contrary belief, though he was looking for her knowing that she was alive and that she was a vampire, and upon the death of Tora and saddened by his sister's lost he sent her a note which he had cried upon with her birthname written upon it. After Risika's battle with Aubrey he reveals himself to her.

Ather: The blood-mother of Aubrey and Risika. Ather is vampire and a fledgling of the Silver Lines and after Risika's brother, Alexander, interrupts her feeding the high-priding vampire decides to change Rachel against her will to get back at Alexander. After Risika awakens, Ather takes Risika to the original Mayhem to make her feed. After this she only mentioned one other time in the book, apparently she was looking for Risika and had sent Aubrey to retrieve her but Risika refused to see her. According to Risika, though she loathes her blood-mother for her transformation and will not defend her, she herself would never raise a hand to her or kill her.

Aubrey: The main antagonist of the story and longtime rival, as well as blood-brother, to Risika. Aubrey despised Risika from day one and even tried to convince Ather not to change her into a vampire. Aubrey has been described as having a knife with him at all times that he had taken from a vampire hunter, the knife has magical qualities in the blade that, if it hits the target properly, can kill a vampire. Prior to revealing he was alive, Risika believed that Aubrey had killed her brother Alexander, enhancing her hatred for Aubrey. Aubrey presumably lives in New Mayhem and has territory in New York City. In 1701, he was sent as a deliverer of the black rose to Rachel.

Lynette: Half-sister of Rachel and Alexander. After the death of their biological mother, their father re-married and they bore Lynette. Her mother died shortly afterwards.

Tora: A Bengal tiger that lives in an unnamed zoo in New York. Risika has a close bond with the tiger and cares about her deeply. According to Risika, the two have a strong understanding of each other and they keep each other company. Tora is later killed by Aubrey, to hurt Risika. When Risika had discovered the body she noticed Aubrey had tied the tiger up before stabbing her with a knife.