Editing His Dark Materials (section)

==Characters==
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{{main|List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters}}

All humans in Lyra's world, including witches, have a [[Dæmon (His Dark Materials)|dæmon]]. It is the physical manifestation of a person's 'inner being', soul or spirit. It takes the form of a creature (moth, bird, dog, monkey, snake, etc.) and is usually the opposite sex to its human counterpart. The dæmons of children have the ability to change form - from one creature to another - but during a child's puberty, their dæmon "settles" into a permanent form, which reflects the person's personality. When a person dies, the dæmon dies too. Armoured bears, cliff ghasts, and other creatures do not have dæmons. An armoured bear's armour is his soul.

*[[Lyra Belacqua]], a wild 12-year-old girl, has grown up in the fictional [[Jordan College, Oxford]]. She prides herself on her capacity for mischief, especially her ability to lie, earning her the [[epithet]] "Silvertongue" from Iorek Byrnison. Lyra has a natural ability to use the alethiometer, which is capable of answering any question when properly manipulated and read.
*[[Lyra Belacqua#Pantalaimon|Pantalaimon]] is Lyra's dæmon. Like all children's dæmons, he  changes form from one creature to another frequently. When Lyra reaches puberty, he assumes the permanent form of a [[European pine marten|pine marten]]. 
*[[Will Parry (His Dark Materials)|Will Parry]], a sensible, morally conscious, assertive 12-year-old boy from our world. He becomes the bearer of the subtle knife. Will is independent and responsible for his age, having looked after his mentally ill mother for several years. Will's dæmon is Kirjava.
*The [[Authority (His Dark Materials)|Authority]] is the first angel to have emerged from Dust. He told the later-arriving angels that he created them and the universe, but this is a lie. Although he is the overarching antagonist of the series, the Authority remains in the background; he makes his only appearance late in ''The Amber Spyglass.'' The Authority has grown weak and transferred most of his powers to his regent, [[Metatron]]. 
*[[Lord Asriel]], ostensibly Lyra's uncle, is actually her father. He opens a rift between the worlds in his pursuit of Dust. His dream of establishing a Republic of Heaven leads him to use his power to raise a grand army from across the multiverse to rise up in rebellion against the forces of the Church.
*[[Marisa Coulter]] is the beautiful and manipulative mother of Lyra, and the former lover of Lord Asriel. She serves the Church by kidnapping children for research into the nature of Dust, in the course of which she separates them from their dæmons - a procedure known as intercision. Initially hostile to Lyra, she realises that she loves her daughter and seeks to protect her from agents of the Church who want to kill Lyra. Her dæmon is a golden monkey with a cruel streak.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Metatron|Metatron]], Asriel's principal adversary, was a human, [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]], in biblical times, but was later transfigured into an angel. The Authority, his health declining, appointed Metatron his Regent. As Regent, Metatron has implanted the monotheistic religions across the universes. 
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Lord Boreal|Lord Carlo Boreal]] - or Sir Charles Latrom, CBE, as he is known as in Will Parry's world-is a minor character in ''Northern Lights'', but the main antagonist in ''The Subtle Knife''. He is an old Englishman, appearing to be in his sixties.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Dr Mary Malone|Mary Malone]], is a physicist and former nun from Will's world. She meets Lyra during Lyra's first visit to Will's world. Lyra provides Mary with insight into the nature of Dust. Agents of the Church force Mary to flee to the world of the [[Mulefa]]. There she constructs the amber spyglass, which enables her to see the otherwise invisible Dust. Her purpose is to learn why Dust, which Mulefa civilisation depends on, is flowing out of the universe. 
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Iorek Byrnison|Iorek Byrnison]] is a massive armoured bear. An armoured bear's armour is his soul. Iorek's armour is stolen, so he becomes despondent. With Lyra's help he regains his armour, his dignity, and his kingship over the armoured bears. In gratitude, and impressed by her cunning, he dubs her "Lyra Silvertongue". A powerful warrior and blacksmith, Iorek repairs the Subtle Knife when it shatters. He later goes to war against The Authority and Metatron.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Lee Scoresby|Lee Scoresby]], a rangy Texan, is a balloonist. He helps Lyra in an early quest to reach Asriel's residence in the North, and he later helps John Parry reunite with his son Will.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Serafina Pekkala|Serafina Pekkala]] is the beautiful queen of a clan of Northern [[Races and creatures in His Dark Materials#Witches|witches]]. Her [[snow goose|snow-goose]] dæmon Kaisa, like all witches' dæmons, can travel much farther apart from her than the dæmons of humans, without feeling the pain of separation.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#The Master of Jordan College|The Master of Jordan]] heads Jordan College, part of Oxford University in Lyra's world. Helped by other Jordan College employees, he is raising the supposedly orphaned Lyra. Faced with difficult choices that only later become apparent, he tries unsuccessfully to poison Lord Asriel.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Roger Parslow|Roger Parslow]] is the kitchen boy at Jordan College and Lyra's best friend.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#John Parry|John Parry]] is Will's father. He is an explorer from our world who discovered a portal to Lyra's world and became the [[shaman]] known as Stanislaus Grumman or Jopari, a variation of his original name.
*The [[Races and creatures in His Dark Materials#Gallivespians|Four Gallivespians]]—Lord Roke, Madame Oxentiel, Chevalier Tialys, and Lady Salmakia—are tiny people (a hand-span tall) with poisonous heel spurs.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Ma Costa|Ma Costa]]: A Gyptian woman whose son, Billy Costa, is abducted by the Gobblers. She rescues Lyra from Mrs Coulter and takes her to John Faa. Ma Costa nursed Lyra when she was a baby.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#John Faa|John Faa]]: The King of all the [[Races and creatures in His Dark Materials#Gyptians|Gyptians]]. He journeys with Lyra to the North with his companion [[Farder Coram]]. Faa and Costa rescue Lyra when she runs away from Mrs Coulter. Then they take her to Iorek Byrnison.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Father Gomez|Father Gomez]] is a priest sent by the Church to assassinate Lyra. 
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Fra Pavel|Fra Pavel Rašek]] is an alethiometrist of the Consistorial Court of Discipline, but a sluggish reader of the device.
*[[List of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust characters#Balthamos and Baruch|Balthamos]] is a rebel angel who, with his lover Baruch, join in Will's journey to find the captured Lyra. Near the end of the story, he saves their lives by killing Father Gomez.
*[[Races and creatures in His Dark Materials#Mulefa|Mulefa]] are four-legged wheeled animals; they have one leg in front, one in back, and one on each side. Their "wheels" are large, round, hard seed-pods from trees; an axle-like claw at the end of each leg grips a seed-pod.