Complete Guide to 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' Faeries

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Physical Appearance: They look human but share High Fae traits, featuring rounded ears. Illyrians have tan to golden-brown skin and dark hair. Bat-like wings sprout from their backs, and they often have tattoos.

Abilities: Illyrians are warrior faeries. Males undergo tough, harsh training from youth. They fight hard and fly, an ability that helps them in battle. Some, like Cassian and Azriel, have Siphons, jewels that let them focus their magic better.

Lore: Illyrians usually live in war camps in Illyria, which falls under the Night Court. They practice many harsh, misogynistic customs. Females were traditionally not trained; they were seen as breeders, and their wings got clipped to stop them from flying. Rhysand's rule changes some customs, but this shift moves slowly. Illyrians refuse to answer to High Fae and are not seen as lesser fae; they form their own distinct group.

The final training step for young Illyrians is the Blood Rite. This is a harsh test that strands them, binds their wings, and leaves them without magic or weapons in the wilderness. They must fight toward Illyrian Mountain, Ramiel. How far they reach (if they survive) sets their warrior rank.

Notable Appearances: Rhysand (half-Illyrian, half High Fae), Azriel, and Cassian all entered the Blood Rite. They found each other and reached the top of Ramiel. Though they are Illyrians, each harbors resentment toward their people because of the abuse they or their loved ones suffered as bastards or hybrids.

In ACOSF, Nesta Archeron, Gwyn, and Emerie were kidnapped. Illyrian males forced them into the Blood Rite because they disliked women training as warriors.

Historical Roots: Illyrians were an Indo-EuropeanPeople inhabited Illyria (in the Balkan Peninsula) starting in the 10th Century BCE. They were known for their military strength.

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Physical Appearance: Male bodies have dark scales and serpentine facial features (amber, almond-shaped eyes, a silvery forked tongue). They have strong arms ending in black, 'flesh-shredding' talons.

Abilities: The Suriel describes the nagaas faeries “made of shadow and hate and rot.” They are muscular and fast. They hunt humans (and other faeries) in packs, ripping them apart with claws, slowly bleeding their prey out.

Lore: The naga inspire some nightmarish legends about faeries in the mortal world. Most faeries worship the “Mother,” but the naga believe in the "Dark Mother."

Notable Appearances: Four naga pursue Feyre in A Court of Thorns and RosesAfter trapping the Suriel, she smelled her mortal blood. She killed two of them but Tamlin saved her before she was overpowered.

Mythological Roots:Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism define the naga as a mythical half-serpent, half-human being. In Sanskrit, "Naga"Means snake, serpent, or cobra.

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Physical Appearance:High Fae look human-like with delicately-arched ears and longer limbs. Many High Fae show increased, other-worldly beauty, sometimes scary or terrifying.

Abilities:Some High Fae possess extra powers beyond basic magic, like Daemati, who enters another's mind, or Seers, who see future visions. Most High Fae can glamour humans or winnow, instantly moving through the air to distant places. Each Prythian court has a high lord (and sometimes a high lady) with court-specific powers. For example, the Summer Court High Lord controls water, and the Autumn Court High Lord controls fire.

Lore:High Fae rule Prythian faerie; they are nobility serving 'lesser faerie' species. Humans once served as slaves to High Fae, though some faeries, including High Fae, fought with humans for freedom. A treaty later built The Wall separating mortal lands from faerie kingdoms. Still, deep resentment remains. Humans often see High Fae as the most dangerous, cruel faerie. A human group called the Children of the Blessed worship High Fae as gods.

Notable Appearances:Most central characters inA Court of Thorns and Rosesand the following books are High Fae. This includes Tamlin (High Lord), Lucien, Rhysand (High Lord, half-Illyrian), Amarantha, and Mor. At the end ofACOTAR, Feyre becomes High Fae after seven High Lords give her a drop of their magic to revive her. At the end ofA Court of Mist and Fury, Feyre's human sisters, Elain and Nesta, become High Fae, and Feyre becomes High Lady of the Night Court.

Mythological Roots:Many High Fae names come from mythology. Tamlin, for instance, isinspiredbyTam Lin, a Scottish ballad about a woman saving her faerie lover from a queen, andthe Morrigan, a Celtic goddess connected to war and death.

Physical Appearance:The Suriel is tall and thin with a hunched back and bony spine.the SurielThe Suriel wears a dark veil and tattered robes over solid, dried veins and bones. It has baldness and "spindly, scabby gray arms" and "yellow, cracked fingernails." The Suriel Feyre encounters has a face made of bone, lacking skin, with slits for nostrils, a mouth without lips but black gums and long teeth, and swirling, milky-white eyes.

Abilities: The Suriel knows everything; it answers any question you ask.

Lore: Suriels can be trapped by answering questions with a chicken carcass. Someone can also give them a new robe. The Suriel states it does not belong to any court, because it is older than Prythian itself. People say they are wicked and dangerous, but the Suriel Feyre encounters in the series is helpful and kind.

Notable Appearances: Feyre first traps a Suriel with a dead chicken in ACOTAR. She frees it when the naga attack, which earns her the Suriel's respect. It also helps her in ACOMAF and ACOWAR before it is killed, and tells Feyre that Rhysand is her mate.

Mythological Roots: In Judaic mythology, Sariel/Suriel means “prince of God.” According to some texts it is an archangel, or a prince of demons and servant of Lilith.

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Physical Appearance: Slender, it has grey, iridescent skin like a frog's, long, ink-black hair, and still, wholly black eyes. Water-wraiths wear no clothing. They possess razor-sharp, jagged teeth (like a pike's) and sharp features on delicate, pointed faces. They have full lips but slits for a nose, plus gills behind their ears. They have spindly, webbed fingers and webbed, clawed feet.

Abilities: Water-wraiths live in water and swim well; Feyre describes them as having unnatural smoothness.

Lore: Their voice is a strange hiss, and they are cursed with a hunger that makes others fear them. They feed first on fish, but their endless hunger makes them turn to other prey if no fish exist. Though Alis describes them as "slippery," they do not forget anything and always pay their debts.

Notable Appearances: Water-wraiths rescue Feyre and Amren from drowning in A Court of Mist and Fury, after Feyre goes against Tamlin and gives one jewel to buy food.

Mythological Roots: Wraiths are spiritsin Scottish folklore closely tied to the dead.

Physical Appearance: Unknown, as it is shapeless until directly acknowledged, appearing only as a faint glimmer.

Abilities: The Bogge attacks potential prey with a cold chill and can kill once the prey looks at it. Only the power of a high lord or lady can slay it; ash arrows (which harm and kill other faeries) will not affect it.

Lore: Amarantha released the Bogge among other dark faerie creatures during her time. The Bogge becomes real only when someone looks at it, so it urges and tempts humans and faeries to look.

Notable Appearances: Feyre and Lucien first meet the Bogge in.A Court of Thorns and Roses, Tamlin later removes it. They meet the Bogge again in.A Court of Wings and Ruin, they track it down to avenge the King of Hybern's niece and nephew, who murdered three humans.

Mythological Roots: The Bogge may relate tothe bogeyman, a monster that takes many shapes and fills children with fear.

Physical Appearance: Similar to High Fae, but skin has the texture of tree bark. They have long, spindly fingers.

Abilities: Unknown

Lore: Like High Fae, urisks can have mates but struggle to have offspring. This makes their children highly valued. They reach adulthood after 75 years.

Notable Appearances: Alis, the servant who cares for Feyre and later befriends her inACOTAR, an urisk who came to Spring Court with her nephews as refugees.

Mythological Roots: Urisks are mythical household spiritsfrom English and Scottish folklore (sometimes called “brownies”). People widely know them as friendly and helpful at home, especially at night, though some show them living in mushrooms. Other times, they are water spirits living in the wild.

Physical Appearance: Similar to High Fae, they look beautiful and human-like, but they aretaller and leaner, they have cruel, “pitch-black, depthless eyes,” slightly pointed teeth, pale skin, and sharp features.

Abilities: Little is known about their abilities, but the Picts easily defeat Feyre as a mortal and try to pull her into the forest with violent intent.

Lore: Picts are lesser faeries and fear Rhysand, a high lord.

Notable Appearances: After sneaking out in ACOTARfor Calanmai, the Spring Court celebration, Feyre meets three picts who try to drag her into the woods. Rhysand stops them. This happens during his first meeting with Feyre. Seeing the picts' plan for Feyre, Rhysand brings them back to Under the Mountain where Amarantha tortures and kills them.

Historical Roots: The pictswere an ancient people of Scotland, though it's unclear how they might be related to the faeries.

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Physical Appearance: Humanoid with ultra-white skin and long, jet-black, silken hair. Kelpies move on land on all fours. Kelpies have sharp cheeks, huge, entirely black eyes, long and narrow noses, and big, wide mouths with rotted, jagged teeth and long black tongues. Their bodies are long and bony, especially their limbs and extremities; Nesta seesa kelpie's fingers“as long as her forearm… Fingers that dug into the grass, revealing four joints and dagger-sharp nails.”

Abilities: Kelpies change shape, breathe underwater, and see without light. Their long fingers and claws let them drag themselves onto land and tear prey apart. They possess immense physical strength, enabling them to easily pull a trained High Fae like Nesta underwater.

Lore: Kelpies are ancient creatures. They were one of the first true monsters among faeries. Human legends call them water-horses or nixies. Historically, they lived in lakes and rivers. Kelpies changed shape—into horses or men, for instance—to lure people in, drown them, and eat them. Only the victim's insides returned to shore. Kelpies play with and torture their prey, breathing a kiss into them to keep them alive longer and dependent.

Kelpies are male faeries that eat both humans and faeries. Ancient times saw fae and humans sacrifice living victims to kelpies to control deaths instead of snatching children. Hunters hunted them nearly to extinction; they cannot reproduce. At the time of the ACOTARIn the series, kelpies only live in the Bog of Oorid.

Notable Appearances: While searching for an ancient magical object, the Mask, in A Court of Silver Flames, Nesta faces a kelpie in the Bog of Oorid. The kelpie drags her under the water, intending to assault and kill her. Nesta finds the Mask underwater and puts it on. This lets her raise the dead in the water to kill the kelpie.

Mythological Roots: The kelpie is a dangerous, shape-shifting water creatureThis creature comes from Scottish folklore. It appears as a horse or a man, luring people to a watery grave.

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Physical Appearance: A giant, pink-brown worm. Its front end holds an enormous mouth with endless rings of razor-sharp teeth.

Abilities: The wyrm is blind but has a heightened sense of smell. Besides its massive size and strength, it emits a foul stench that can incapacitate others.

Lore: Amarantha keeps it captive Under the Mountain. She appears to feed it, judging by the collection of bones.

Notable Appearances: For her first trial Under the Mountain, Feyre defeats the wyrm. She sets a trap using the bones of its past victims.

Mythological Roots: Norse mythology features the Jörmungandr or “Midgard Serpent,” a giant snake or worm that is also Loki's son.

Physical Appearance: Wraiths are not solid. They stay mostly wrapped in shadow. This shadow wraps around them, which Feyre describes as “a second skin.”

Abilities: Wraiths pass through solid objects and move through walls. This makes them skilled at sneaking and spying.

Lore: They are said to be made of shadow and mist. They can reproduce with other faerie species, like High Fae.

Notable Appearances: Twin sisters Nualla and Cerridwen serve as Rhysand's servants, dressing and painting Feyre Under the Mountain in ACOTAR.ACOTARThey later befriended Elain in ACOTAR.ACOWARThey are half wraiths.

Mythological Roots:Wraiths arespiritsScottish folklore associates them with the dead.

Physical Appearance:Similar to wraiths, they are slim, tall, and ethereal. Shadows cloak them, showing only eyes described as glowing coals. Rhysand described this.Rhysand's description, the rest came and went, like shadows parting to show a dark hand, a shoulder, a foot.

Abilities:All Tartera are master jewel smiths.

Lore:Tartera dwell in the deepest mines of the night court. They craft the finest jewels, including all heirlooms of the Night Court.

Notable Appearances:InA Court of Frost and Starlight, Rhysand bought jewels for Amren from a Tartera named Neve, his preferred jeweler. He mentioned Feyre's diamond cuffs came from Tartera.

Physical Appearance:They have a body as big as a bear and a head like a lion, featuring three rows of teeth.“sharper than a shark's.”sharper than a shark's.

Abilities:Martax appear as vicious predators. They hunt in packs and shred prey into ribbons.

Lore:They are meaner than a bear, lion, and shark combined. Prythian's borders weakened under Amarantha's control let them cross the wall and attack a human village.

Notable Appearances:Before Feyre crossed the wall in ACOTARACOTAR, she heard about Martax (and their recent actions) from a mercenary at the market.

Physical Appearance:True appearance is unknown; it changes based on the viewer.

Abilities:The puca shifts into one's greatest desire to lure prey to a distant spot.

Lore:According to Tamlin, the puca “belongs to the wind and weather and everything that changes.” It prowls at night. After luring prey, it devours them slowly.

Notable Appearances:A puca appears to Feyre in ACOTARACOTARto try and get her outside Tamlin's manor. It first shows as her father before shifting to a bow and arrow and then her sisters.

Mythological Roots:In Irish folklore,púcaare mischief-making shape shifters.

Physical Appearance:They have lithe bodies with pliant bones, large, sea-blue eyes, and webbed fingers.

Abilities:River-nymphs live in rivers. They possess heightened balance and movement.

Lore:They show seductive beauty. They have relationships with other faerie species but reject those who are not full river-nymphs.

Notable Appearances:In A Court of Silver FlamesA Court of Silver Flames, Gwyn reveals she is a quarter river-nymph. Her grandmother was a river-nymph who seduced a High Fae male from Autumn Court.

Mythological Roots:Nymphsof Greek mythology were inferior water divinities. They were known for their beauty and friendliness toward men.

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Physical Appearance: It has leathery wings, clawed feet, a forked tongue with many sharp teeth, needle-like nails, a long slender tail, grey skin, and silver blood.

Abilities: The Attor flies. It shows vicious, brute strength.

Lore: Lucien names the Attor as among certain faeries.These faeries inspired human legends. They call it “myth given flesh.”Feyre hears human screams split open in its hissing voice. Feyre also says it gives off a foul smell when it flaps its wings.

Only one Attor appears in the series. It seems a solitary being.ACOMAF, Velaris gets attacked by the Attor and several other similar-looking faeries. Feyre refers to them.as “his ilk.”Notable Appearances:

In ACOTAR, the Attor serves as Amarantha's number one henchman. It vanishes after her death. Feyre kills it during the attack on Velaris, after it was seen working for the King of Hybern.In ACOTARThe Attor is Amarantha's number one henchman. It vanishes after her death. Feyre kills it during the attack on Velaris; it was seen working for the King of Hybern before that.