Cast – Anathema

Note: This overview is an attempt to minimize spoilers and still a work in progress. Some minor characters are still missing, and important figures that appear later on have been excluded to avoid giving too much away.

To quickly find a particular character, press control + f to do a page search for their name.

 

Main characters

 

Christina Jia Chung (Mascot)

An 18 year old Chinese-American teenager with a complicated relationship to her family. She has trouble connecting with other teenagers, and her interest in soccer, boxing and Parkour has resulted in mostly guy friends. She is very close to her sister Helen’s boyfriend, Ryan, who used to be her BFF for years before he and Helen got hooked up. Chris feels inferior to her sister ever since they reached puberty.

Mascot projects forcefields of variable strength onto herself and others, moves at hyperspeed and has a danger sense that may be triggered by other people.

Sarina Baumann (Dancer)

A 17 year old Swiss girl whose life has taken a turn for the better since she was adopted by the Baumann family two and a half years ago. Sarina has been dancing hip hop for two years as a means to help her get over her coke addiction. She’s not a shy girl, but suffers from insecurity and anxiety despite her popularity.

Dancer’s power is unlike any other than has ever been observed and does not seem to respond directly to her will. It can have a number of strange effects that the UN failed to classify.

Jasper Davis (DJ)

A 21 year old British music composer who found Sarina through an online forum and has taken a liking to her. His calm, level-headed personality helps him overcome most challenges. Jasper’s parents are divorced, he lived in London with his father and his sister Hannah before his transition.

DJ’s powered music tracks can be customized to give other Evolved a boost of some sort to their powers. Little else is known about his abilities.

Andrey Luvkov (Radiant)

A Russian architect in his early thirties who overcame severe depression after the death of his wife Natalya. He started losing his faith in God at about this time, but still wore a silver cross about his neck when he accepted the invitation to the Covenant. In his new role as one of the world’s most well-known heroes, he developed strong friendships with Paladin and Athena and was soon elected to a position of leadership, despite his rivalry with Samael.

As a Lightshaper, Radiant extends luminescent wings that may have a blinding effect, shoot himself across the sky as a beam of light, is resistant to injuries and can release laser beams of variable strength from his hands. He is considered the world’s second most powerful hero after Samael.

 

POV character families and closest friends

 

Chung family

Christina’s family consists of her Chinese mother, her American father who works as a police officer, and her twenty year old sister Helen. Other extended family includes aunt Claire, a gentle elderly woman, and the family dog. Her parents live in Averton, a coastal town northwest of Seattle. A younger brother, Dylan, died a couple of years ago when he was still a baby.

Ryan

Christina’s former BFF is twenty years old and has left Averton to study at Harvard University, where he fell in love with Christina’s sister Helen. He used to be, or perhaps still is, the one person she felt closest to. He seemed more capable of connecting to her than anyone else.

Baumann family

Sarina’s adoptive parents and her older adoptive brother David live in Switzerland, near the city of Bern. They are caring and supportive, the first family who managed to change her life for the better. There is also an uncle Ben who lives in New Zealand.

Luvkov family

Andrey’s father Ivan Luvkov passed away when he was a teenager. His mother now lives in Moscow, but prefers to spend the warmer months in her house in the small town of Trubino near Russia’s capital. Andrey’s younger brother Stepan works and lives in Moscow. He is married to Alena and has an eight year old son, Denis. The boy is his uncle’s most avid fan.

 

The heroes

 

The Covenant

 

In addition to Radiant, there are:

 

Alexandra Latsis (Athena)

This 27 year old Greek woman joined the Covenant as the most skilled Technician the United Nations were able to recruit. She specializes in drones, powered equipment and communications technology and is a well-respected member of the team who has worked hard to fulfill the International Community’s expectations. Athena makes no secret of her love for Radiant. She’s classified as a Technician, the only one in the world with three distinct specializations.

Katsuro Sakai (Paladin)

30 year old Katsuro became known as the second Evolved in world history and the very first hero, having transitioned during a hostage situation in a Japanese office building. Formerly known as Ronin, Katsuro struggles with some regrets concerning the past and takes his duty very seriously. Paladin is classified as a power disabling Revoker who can erect nearly invisible energy walls that withstand most forms of assault; he uses them to strategically set up any battlefield. Paladin swings his oversized, Athena-powered sword with superhuman efficiency.

Jordan Steyn (Samael)

South Africa’s most well-known hero is a hard man in his late twenties with solitary tendencies. He strives for fast, permanent solutions and has no love for compromise. Samael’s disagreements with Radiant have threatened the Covenant’s unity on more than one occasion. Some suspect his position near the top of the list of potentially apocalyptic threats is the very reason he was invited to the Covenant and placed under UN observation. Samael commands the element of air including the ability to vacuumize entire areas and change air pressure at will.

Sarah Williams (Queenie)

The youngest member of the Covenant originates from the UK and counts the Queen among her countless Facebook friends. Sarah is a bright-spirited, optimistic twenty year old Visionary whose ability to track and locate Evolved and their powers worldwide just might make her the single most important member of the Covenant. Thanks to Queenie’s power, amost every villain who ever emerged could be executed before they did much harm.

 

The Wardens (hero team for the USA and Canada)

 

Nato

A teenage Transmuter with the ability to alter the properties of materials (living or not) and change temperatures. The boy was forced to join the Wardens so he could be kept under constant observation and avoid an execution order by the Covenant. He passed away some time before the events of the story.

Emily Bell (Kid)

Everybody’s darling heroine is a nine year old Empath with the ability to imprint the minds of others – people as well as animals – and act as if she was them while the effect of her power lasts. She can also imitate voices and animal sounds with perfect accuracy. Emily is easily among the most popular heroes, thanks to her easy-going and sociable personality, and has countless fans in the USA in particular.

Nora Landry (Noire)

Eighteen year old Nora from New Orleans refers to herself as ‘Monster Momma’ to spite the various interest groups who consider her existence a threat to the United States. She projects a semi-sentient shadow, also known as Mr. Black, who passes through solid surfaces and attacks with brutal efficiency. Nora is strong-headed and impulsive, but does try to do good.

Peter Moore (Overdrive)

Peter is nineteen, a fairly normal teenager of his age with a strong interest in girls and his own popularity. He is very optimistic about his hero role, willing to grasp any opportunity to shine, but has had little experience in dealing with actual threats. His power affects electronic devices, resulting in a surge of overclocked hyper-performance that usually ends with a burnout or explosion.

Joshua Whitfield (the Counselor)

The Wardens are, in theory, led by this man in his forties who spends most of his time solving FBI murder cases. He is a Visionary with the power to detect connections between objects and people that are invisible to others.

 

The Southern and Central American Heroes

 

Calavera, Mexican team leader who uses a costume featuring a brightly painted mask, a white on black skeleton suit with neon colored buttons and a bone poncho that rattles in reaction to certain stimuli. Calavera manipulates dead matter. Notably, wood and bone.

Saint hails from Colombia and counts himself among the most popular heroes due to his rare Guardian ability. He draws the injuries from a select number of targets onto himself, feeling an echo of their pain without suffering any damage to his own body. Saint protects the entire Covenant among others, granting them a form of immortality.

There is a third member to the team who has not been mentioned in the story as of yet.

 

The EU team (European Evolved Union)

 

The team is led by Rune, a Swedish man in his twenties who wears a Viking costume featuring a large axe. His power manifests in the form of lines which he draws onto the ground, people or objects. If drawn on the ground, the runes may affect an entire area. Their effects vary.

Skyfire is a young woman who dresses up with a fire theme. She releases superheated homing missiles that may disintegrate living matter on contact.

Aura is a teenage Empath with the ability to predict people’s actions and understand their motivation. The exact range and limitations to her power are not publicly known.

Crashbang moves at dramatically increased speed and unleashes an area effect similar to a flashbang grenade if he touches a solid surface. As such, the effects include blindness, disorientation and stunning.

 

The Mukhtareen (Arab League heroes)

 

Their individual members have not yet been mentioned in the story.

 

The villains

 

The Conglomerate

 

Little is known about this rumored group of villains that could never quite be tracked down. They are supposedly led by Data, a powerful Technician who has gone undercover in 2011. If the group does exist, they are very subtle about their Evolved dealings and work much like a mundane criminal organization.

Gentleman is a former actor who places emphasis on theatrics, supported by what appears to be projected illusions. He dresses in old-fashioned garments, changing his appearance and accent on the fly.

 

Other villains

 

If they were known, they would most likely already be dead… or not?

 

Notable rogues

 

The Sun King’s court

 

The Sun King

Louis Zidane, originally from Algeria but now living in Paris, turned a Parisian house into his own version of Versailles. He dresses up in old-fashioned costumes inspired by Louis XIV, the late French Sun King. He possesses a compelling aura and changes the reflection of light to create a semblance of illusions.

The Princess

This little preschooler girl was an orphan named Odette before being taken in by the Sun King. She is a powerful Visionary or Empath, the exact nature of her powers could never be determined because she barely speaks.

Colosso

Ciro Colucci, a small man originally from Italy, migrated to Paris after his transition to escape the more restrictive Evolved policies at home. He’s a Revoker with the ability to create sphere-shaped, power negating zones.

 

The Nameless

 

Ace

Jacob Wilson, a 26 year old Australian, lived and worked in Germany with his wife for a few years before getting divorced and acquiring Wildcard powers. Little is known about him except for his potential to manipulate probabilities in his favor. He typically wears an Australian hat and now leads the rogue group known as the Nameless.

Sunny

Patrick Callahan, a now 13 year old Irish teenager, first founded the Nameless alongside his aunt Tess. His powers have never been reported in detail, but he has superior sight and hearing.

Tess

Teresa Mullen, age 25, left her Irish home for the sake of her nephew Patrick. She’s a Technician who enjoys working with cars and creates a number of gadgets. She also knows a number of highly skilled hackers who occasionally do favors for her.

Snow

This quiet, white-haired young woman was found by the Nameless and remains a mystery even to them. She looks to be of Asian origin and speaks English quite poorly. Snow reveals little to nothing about her past, but is obsessed with the color white to the point she refuses to wear any other color. Snow erases things including colors.

 

Other notable characters

 

Ashstorm – a Darkshaper who went on a rampage in a Canadian city and was executed by the Covenant. He didn’t kill anyone, but left many anxious and distrustful of powers. He provoked controversial discussions regarding Evolved and the danger they pose to society.

Carol Clarence – the psychological counselor of the Wardens team, in charge of their emotional stability and well being.

Eve – the first female Evolved to emerge was also the first to be considered a threat. Her tattoos come alive and may lash out at those who upset her. The snake tattoo is poisonous. Eve spent some time in custody and was only released after increasing political pressure from feminist activist groups.

Liquidate – a Transmuter who emerged soon after the Pulse. He accidentally turned dozens of people near him into water and was indirectly responsible for the UN’s formation of the Covenant. After Liquidate, the world demanded measures to deal with dangerous Evolved before they could do much harm.

Maelstrom – another dangerous Evolved who charged the very air around him until a kinetic maelstrom was created, with little control over his ability.

Monsoon – an African Evolved with the power to change the weather. He specialized in bringing rain to dry regions. After a power surge and accidentally drowning hundreds of people, he was executed by the Covenant.

Osmotic – Evolved with a poisonous aura. His death caused a chair reaction that rendered half of the city of Berlin uninhabitable.

Preacher – a man who claims to remember the Pulse and publishes statements that rever Evolved humans as Godkin who are destined to reshape the world in the absence of the Divine. It is unclear whether he himself has powers, but his fellowship – the Guides of Destiny – has hundreds of thousands of followers including a handful of Evolved.

Prophet – the first known Evolved to emerge after the Pulse. He’s a fourteen year old Turkish boy whose wise counseling and ability to speak any language and accent perfectly inspired a period of peace and stability in the Middle East.

Raven – a young rogue who has declared himself leader of a band of mercenaries called the Murder of Crows. Some of them have powers, some don’t. Thanks to Raven’s ability to share the gifts of flying and darkness vision, all of them can fly and navigate the clouds of absolute darkness he creates around himself.

Rose the Red – Paladin’s girlfriend originates from Hawaii and has scent based powers that trigger a variety of possible effects; sleep and hallucinations are some of them.

Sanctuary – an Israeli Evolved of the rare Guardian classification, capable of creating a strong protective field with a wide radius around himself. He has declared himself the Oracle’s bodyguard and refuses to leave her side.

Shadowslasher – a Transmuter with the power to slice through solid matter from a distance. He was executed by the Covenant after a power surge that greatly extended his range.

Shanti – the Healer, the only Evolved to ever have developed a restorative power without immediately noticeable harmful side effects. The former Bollywood actress is revered as a saint by many, especially after her power surge.

The Antithesis – according to some of the Oracle’s prophecies, the Antithesis will emerge as the opposite of the healer – a destroyer with devastating potential.

The Canadian – the most well known hero to emerge from Canada. Successfully worked alone for some time and is now considered for the leadership position of a new Wardens team.

The Historian – a bird researcher who was among the first people to experience a transition. He experienced vivid flashbacks of historic events that took place at his current location and eventually withdrew from society to live in a cabin in Canada. He disappeared without trace a few months later.

The Oracle – the world’s most powerful Visionary is an elderly, comatose Palestinian woman who occasionally whispers prophecies of immense significance. Her statements tend to address the Pulse, powers and the potential end of the world. She was eventually cut off from the media and moved to a secret location by the UN.

The Sleepwalker – a middle aged man who tried to commit suicide with sleeping pills at the time of his transition. It is suspected that his powers are distorted as a result; he walks aimlessly through the Eurasian continent, caught in a waking dream that prevents him from being affected by physical reality. No one has figured out how to kill or stop him. The Sleepwalker is considered the single biggest threat to the world after the Pulse. Any settlements in his path are evacuated ahead of time to prevent people from getting caught in his aura. Those who fail to be evacuated are caught in the same waking dream and follow behind the Sleepwalker until their bodies collapse. They never wake up again.

Overseer Vega – man in charge of the Covenant, one step above the team’s Evolved leader. He acts as their middle man to the United Nations, whose resolutions result in direct orders to the Covenant.