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A Court of Thorns and Roses Characters

Sarah J. Maas

A huntress kills a faerie wolf — and pays with her life in Prythian.

Who drives the story

Main characters

Feyre Archeron

A nineteen-year-old huntress keeping her crippled father and sisters fed with a bow and ash arrows. She kills a faerie, pays for it in Prythian, and ends the book remade as High Fae — the girl who hated faeries, now one of them.

Appears in:
Part 1: The Kill That Costs Everything
Part 2: Masks at the Manor
Part 3: Under the Mountain
Part 4: Love, Spelled in Blood
Themes:
Love as payment
Hate learned, hate unlearned
Masks and what they hide
Sacrifice as the only proof

Tamlin

High Lord of the Spring Court, cursed behind a mask, forbidden to tell Feyre the truth of the blight. He sends her home to save her, then has to watch her die to save him.

Appears in:
Part 1: The Kill That Costs Everything
Part 2: Masks at the Manor
Part 3: Under the Mountain
Part 4: Love, Spelled in Blood
Themes:
Love as payment
Hate learned, hate unlearned
Masks and what they hide
Sacrifice as the only proof

Rhysand

The Night Court's emissary — dangerous, unreadable, and fascinated by Feyre from Fire Night onward. He takes a piece of her hair, then buys her survival Under the Mountain at the price of her time, each year, forever.

Appears in:
Part 2: Masks at the Manor
Part 3: Under the Mountain
Part 4: Love, Spelled in Blood
Themes:
Love as payment
Masks and what they hide

Amarantha

The wicked faerie queen who cursed the Spring Court and rules from Under the Mountain. She sets the riddles and trials, rejects Feyre's claim of love, and dies at Tamlin's hand when the curse breaks.

Appears in:
Part 3: Under the Mountain
Part 4: Love, Spelled in Blood
Themes:
Masks and what they hide
Sacrifice as the only proof

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Lucien

Tamlin's friend and emissary, all contempt for the human girl at first. He's the one who finally tells Feyre what the curse demands.

Appears in:
Part 2: Masks at the Manor
Themes:
Hate learned, hate unlearned

Elain and Nesta

Feyre's older sisters, left behind in the mortal lands when she's taken as forfeit. Their survival is the reason she fires the arrow that starts everything.

Appears in:
Part 1: The Kill That Costs Everything

How they are connected

Key relationships

  • TamlinFeyre Archeron

    High Lord of the Spring Court, cursed behind a mask, forbidden to tell Feyre the truth of the blight.

  • RhysandFeyre Archeron

    The Night Court's emissary — dangerous, unreadable, and fascinated by Feyre from Fire Night onward.

  • AmaranthaFeyre Archeron

    She sets the riddles and trials, rejects Feyre's claim of love, and dies at Tamlin's hand when the curse breaks.

  • AmaranthaTamlin

    She sets the riddles and trials, rejects Feyre's claim of love, and dies at Tamlin's hand when the curse breaks.

  • LucienTamlin

    Tamlin's friend and emissary, all contempt for the human girl at first.

  • LucienFeyre Archeron

    He's the one who finally tells Feyre what the curse demands.

  • Elain and NestaFeyre Archeron

    Feyre's older sisters, left behind in the mortal lands when she's taken as forfeit.

Go deeper

A Court of Thorns and Roses themes & symbols

Love as payment · Hate learned, hate unlearned · Masks and what they hide · Sacrifice as the only proof

Themes explained

Read the full A Court of Thorns and Roses summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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