The Subtle Knife

Lyra, the protagonist in The Golden Compass, is also a primary character in The Subtle Knife. Like Will, she is 12. Lyra comes from a parallel universe version of Oxford, England, where she grew up as an orphan under the care of scholars at Jordan College. Her birth parents are Mrs. Coulter, the series’ primary antagonist, and Lord Asriel, who in The Subtle Knife is busy in the north building a gigantic army.

Lyra is independent and headstrong, sometimes to her detriment. She is a foil to Will, or a character who illuminates another character through contrasting qualities. Will is adept at fading into the background. Lyra stands out. Will is protective and gentle, and Lyra more defiant. When the altheiometer tells her to help Will, she disobeys, which ultimately gives Charles the chance to steal the instrument. She is able to talk her way through many situations, such as when she convinces the porter to let her into Mary’s lab.

Lyra, like all people from her world, is always accompanied by a daemon, an external soul in animal form. Since Lyra is still a child, her daemon Pantalaimon regularly shape shifts, to everything from a leopard to a moth, to match her mood or current needs.

Serafina is the queen of the Lake Enara witch clan. She and the other witches in The Subtle Knife are committed to helping Lyra achieve her destiny and keep her status as the new Eve a secret from Mrs. Coulter.

Through Serafina and other witches, Pullman subverts the trope that witches are ugly, evil, and haglike. Like all witches, Serafina is depicted as exquisitely beautiful. She has a gentle personality, especially compared to fellow clan queen Ruta Skadi.

Despite her motherly demeanor, Serafina takes charge when needed. In one of her first scenes, she kills a young witch who is being tortured by Mrs. Coulter, primarily out of mercy but also to prevent the young witch from revealing Lyra’s true identity. Serafina’s daemon is a goose, Kaisa.

Ruta Skadi is the Croatian witch queen, and a friend and ally of Serafina Pekkala. Ruta is known as a ruthless and vengeful witch, but she is loyal to those around her. As a former lover of Lord Asriel, she is called upon to gain access to his inner chamber at his castle. Ruta is the most highly sexualized character in The Subtle Knife, although it is suggested that most witches use their seductive powers to their advantage. Ruta’s ruthlessness makes her a foil to the gentle Serafina.

Lord Asriel never appears directly in The Subtle Knife but is regularly referred to by multiple characters. Prior to the events of the book, he performs an experiment which opens a gap to another world. This causes Lyra, his daughter, to fall through into Cittàgazze. During the events of The Subtle Knife, Lord Asriel is in the north assembling a large army to fight the Authority, an angel who has declared himself God.

Asriel is a complex figure, with no clear loyalties to any other character. Ruta Skadi is the only character to directly encounter him in The Subtle Knife. She is his former lover, and she accompanies a band of angels to his fortress to inquire about his plans and offer the witches’ support. Descriptions of Asriel’s army and castle show his grandiose self-image.

Charles is a man who watches Lyra from the time she enters the museum in Oxford. His sickly, sweet smell reflects his superficially friendly appearance and true, malicious nature. He is the most straightforward villain of the book, manipulating the naturally mistrustful Lyra into getting into his car, stealing her alethiometer, and then planning a set up to steal the knife and turn both Lyra and Will into Mrs. Coulter. When at Charles’s house, Lyra realizes he is Lord Boreal, one of Mrs. Coulter’s associates. His daemon, which he keeps hidden in Oxford, is a snake, reflecting his slick, sinister nature.

Mrs. Coulter is the primary antagonist of His Dark Materials. Along with Charles, she is Will and Lyra’s main foe in The Subtle Knife. She is Lyra’s mother and is a staunch supporter of the Magisterium. In this book, she manipulates Charles in an attempt to get the subtle knife, the alethiometer, and both Will and Lyra. She later kills Charles to test her army of tame Specters, which she later uses to kill most of the witches. She is depicted as strikingly beautiful but ruthless. Her daemon is a monkey, who silently creeps around, often spotting spies or intruders while Mrs. Coulter schemes.

Stanislaus Grumman is a legendary character for most of The Subtle Knife, a figure who impacts people even in his absence. Lee vows to track him down, and upon landing in the Arctic finds that many people have seen or heard of him. When Lee finds him, it is revealed that he is John Parry, Will’s long-lost father.

John is depicted as a strong but sickly man. He appears to have some level of supernatural power, as evidenced by his ability to control the weather during the balloon chase. He acquired his osprey daemon during his time in Lyra’s world, and like the witches he is able to spend long periods far away from her. He is evocative of figures who have supernatural powers but are physically disabled, such as the Greek figure Tiresias, who is blind but has otherworldly vision and delivers prophecies.