Species: Human (deceased) Description: Former Sergeant, previously Lieutenant, in the Chicago PD assigned to Special Investigations; leader of the Paranet as per Ghost Story Karrin Murphy is a major character who was introduced in the first book of the series, Storm Front.
By the events of Ghost Story, he is Bob the skull's new owner, and in Skin Game, he becomes a Knight of the Cross and takes up the hilt of the broken sword Fidelacchius, which manifests a lightsaber-like blade of holy energy when he wields it.
He has crossed paths with and shares a mutual enmity with Harry's mentor Ebenezar "Blackstaff" McCoy; the precise reason for the feud is unclear, although it dates to an incident in Istanbul about a century before the time frame of the books.
Despite this, he's an exceptionally skilled combatant in multiple fields: during Fool Moon he throws a knife with enough precision and force to cut one of the ropes holding him suspended over a pit, and in Death Masks he fires several bursts from an AK-47 that hit Nicodemus perfectly without touching the Shroud of Turin that he was wearing, all while on top a moving train.
During the events of Death Masks, Marcone planned to steal the Shroud of Turin, in order to use its legendary healing powers on a young Jane Doe he has sequestered in a hospital care facility in Wisconsin.
Species: Human (wizard, deceased) Description: Field Commander, Warden of the White Council Morgan had long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a craggy face with a perpetually grim, often sour expression.
After Mouse exhibits further supernatural abilities in White Night, Bob describes additional powers the dog has, such as a warning bark that awoke an entire building full of people during a fire when the actual alarm could not be activated.
Susan was a half-vampire (and remained so until she was overwhelmed by her emotions and urges resulting in the death of a human), with enhanced strength, speed, recovery abilities, night vision, and narcotic saliva (a Red Court vampire's self-titled 'Kiss').
Maggie, now eight years old, has been kidnapped by the Red Court to be sacrificed in a powerful blood curse that will kill every living member of her bloodline, including Ebenezar McCoy (Harry's grandfather).
As the ritual is about to begin, Susan's colleague Martin apparently reveals himself as a traitor to the Order and causes her to lose control of her vampiric nature, as part of his secret plan to strike at the Red Court.
It is implied in the episode "Things that Go Bump" that the television version of Ancient Mai is really a renegade dragon who, for yet unrevealed reasons, has abandoned or been forced out of her race's realm, and "she" forms or at least monitors the magical beings in the Chicago area as the de facto leading member of the High Council.
As a side effect of said murder, the staff oozes suspicious black tendrils or veins that wrap around McCoy's arm, but are stopped by his will; a possible suggestion that "Blackstaff" is indeed an entity, and either takes an additional toll on (or seeks to control) its wielder.
In Cold Days it is revealed that the Rashid's title of Gatekeeper is due to his role as guardian of the Outer Gates, enormous crystalline-looking structures the size of apartment buildings that keep out hordes of Outsiders.
Lea tells Harry that he nears the brink of death due to starvation and frostbite, but Mab "tortures him with kindness" by healing his wounds, restoring his sight, feeding him, and allowing him to sleep in her bed (sex is also implied).
Titania is never actually met face-to face until Cold Days, but appears twice in Summer Knight when viewed by Harry with his Wizard's Sight as she and Mab prepared for battle, and later as she reclaims Aurora's body from the battlefield.
Unlike some among his order, he is in full collaboration with his demon; he often appears to be more in control of his actions and comes off as civil and reasonable, a trait he shares with the more powerful mortals amongst the Black Knights, like Rosanna and Tessa.
Though Nicodemus is ultimately successful in claiming the Grail, he was required to kill his own daughter, Deirdre, the act of which pains him greatly and drives him furious to the point of insanity when Harry Dresden taunts him with the fact.
Her allegiance is revealed towards the end of the novel; after the climax of Changes, when the bloodline curse at Chichen Itza eliminates Red Court vampires including those in the Fellowship, Hannah was left alone and joined up with Nicodemus, swearing vengeance on Dresden.
Species: Naagloshii-human hybrid Description: Mercenary; shape-changer Goodman Grey appears in Skin Game is a member of the Underworld-raiding party assembled by Nicodemus Archleone in order to steal the real Holy Grail.
When his guilt over Harry's death causes him to slip into self-destructive behaviors in Ghost Story, Justine willingly abandons the protection afforded her by his true love by having sex with her friend Mara, at which point Thomas is free to feed on her again.
By the time of the books, however, his abilities appear to have severely atrophied, leaving him trying to earn money as a medium, although his sensitivity is now sufficiently low that in most cases he fails to contact any spirit and must resort to playacting in order to satisfy his clients, essentially a con-artist.
The barroom is intentionally laid out in such a manner as to disrupt the flow of magical energies, with the aim of preventing any unexpected manifestations that might be caused by a large assemblage of potentially drunk, inexperienced, or angry wizards.
Described as being highly unmemorable in appearance and bland in character, he accompanies Susan back to Chicago with the aim of preventing Don Paolo Ortega from killing Dresden in a duel and taking out the vampire if possible in order to prolong the war between the Red Court and the White Council.
Mavra remains out of sight until Battle Ground, in which she and a group of other surviving Black Court vampires attempt to take advantage of the supernatural chaos raging throughout Chicago by performing a necromancy ritual.
During the events of Death Masks, he arrived in Chicago to challenge Dresden to a duel, the idea being that, with the instigator of the war between the Red Court and the White Council dead, an end to the conflict would become considerably more likely.
Ortega's widow Arianna later tried twice to get revenge on Harry: first by bidding on him when Madrigal Raith was auctioning him off on eBay (Proven Guilty), then by kidnapping his daughter Maggie for a sacrifice and curse that would have wiped out his entire bloodline (Changes).
Species: Human Description: Police Officer (formerly Detective Sergeant, now Lieutenant and Head of Special Investigations) Introduced in Grave Peril, John Stallings is an older black man who knew Murphy's father well, and has the temerity to address her by nicknames.
Toot-Toot is intelligent but often behaves innocent of danger and tends to act very childishly even while being serious, such as writing "pizza or death" on his box knife and imitating Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket.
Toot, like all little folk, has a relatively short memory, watches a great deal of events concerning mortals as entertainment, is insane about pizza, and has a higher emotional state due to his size.
An elderly janitor comes by to talk to him about God's true nature and suggests that an archangel was helping in their work, then vanishes, leaving behind a copy of Tolkien's "The Two Towers" with the line "The burned hand teaches best" underlined.