First mentioned: Vol. I

Description:

Not given. The character was deceased prior to the start of the series, and appears only by reference.

Explanation:

Adelaide was the elder, unmarried sister of Grace Quatermain, Elizabeth's mother. When Grace died in childbirth, Allan made arrangements for Adelaide to raise the infant girl at her home in Devonshire. Adelaide was the one who taught Elizabeth about the properties and usage of various herbs, and was responsible for facilitating the tenuous bond between father and daughter as the child grew up. Elizabeth loved her dearly. She died of pneumonia when her niece was fifteen, resulting in Elizabeth's relocation to Solomon Manor in London.

First mentioned: Vol. I

Description:

Elizabeth's only encounter with him takes place in a darkened warehouse after she herself suffered a nasty head injury, so her observational skills were not at their sharpest. She mainly registered him as tall and thin with filthy dark hair and a leering, evil expression.

Explanation:

The son of a prostitute who died when he was very young, de Gaulle grew up on the streets of Paris. He turned to a life of crime at an early age, specializing in all manner of violent behavior. At some point, he developed an obsession with Allan Quatermain, the legendary hunter, and for reasons unclear to us decided that Allan had been his natural father. (There, for everyone who has wondered this since they read the first volume, I finally make it publicly known: No, he was not Allan's son.) How exactly he met Professor Moriarty is not quite made plain, but he claims to have been instrumental in saving Moriarty's life. In exchange for this, he wanted Allan Quatermain and his daughter dead. The bargain was half-fulfilled at the time of Moriarty's demise, but one of his henchmen stole the invisibility serum from the lab in Mongolia and stowed away on the Nautilus to try and fulfill the rest of it. (See below.) de Gaulle made the fatal mistake of drawing a revolver on Skinner and Tom during the rescue at the warehouse, and Elizabeth -- in what has been thus far her only real act of bravado -- shot him in the head.

First mentioned: Vol. I

Description: Invisible.

Explanation:

We don't know much about him, not even his name. He was the only one of Moriarty's henchmen known to have survived the liberation at the outpost in Mongolia. He stole some of the invisibility serum which had been manufactured by the imprisoned scientists and, thus undetected, stowed away on the Nautilus. The fact that he apparently knew of Moriarty's connection to de Gaulle indicates that he must have been somewhat high-ranking. In any case, he endeavored to fulfill the remaining terms of Moriarty's agreement with de Gaulle by attempting to kill Elizabeth once she was on board the submarine; when various circumstances prevented his success, he amused himself by invisibly stalking her at moments when she believed herself alone. He finally lured her away from the Nautilus, knocked her senseless and brought her to de Gaulle. Elizabeth's virtue was to have been sacrificed to a number of de Gaulle's associates before she was killed outright; the invisible assassin claimed the privilege of having her first, having developed an...interest in her during those private moments. Before the assault got very far, however, Skinner intervened and the nameless, faceless attacker was shot by Tom.

First mentioned: Vol. II

Description:

A beautiful young Egyptian woman, with thick black hair and a deeply tanned complexion. She wears ancient garments which must have once been extremely fine, and she walks with a proud, regal bearing. Oh, and she has long sharp canine teeth, because she's a vampire.

Explanation:

The daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh's adviser, Kiya became a vampire when she was in her late teens. To protect their civilization, the Egyptian nobility sealed her in a tomb from which she could not escape so long as a certain guardian statue remained bound in linen. To encourage her complicity, she was told that when she awakened, her own true love would be there to spend eternity with her. When Dr. Howard Carter unearthed the tomb and removed the wrappings from the statue, the enchantment which held her was broken. She awoke and immediately began searching for the perfect mate she had been promised, initially choosing Dr. Carter and then abandoning him in favor of Tom. While Tom, Dr. Carter, and Skinner all languished after having been bitten, Mina, Mr. Hyde, and Nemo slaughtered Kiya in her sleep and then burned her body to prevent any possibility of resurrection.

First mentioned: Vol. III

Description:

A young Indian man, beardless and smooth-complected.

Explanation:

He was promoted to the rank of first mate after Nemo's trusted compatriot, Ishmael, was murdered by Dorian Gray (in the movie). Note of interest: he is the only character in the series to be named after a person I know in real life. Jaya is the middle name of my stepfather, who comes from India.

First mentioned: Vol. III, but not seen until Vol. V

Description:

Alex is a tall, comely creature, with a strong, healthy build, fiery hazel eyes, and long red hair.

Explanation:

As Skinner explained to Elizabeth in volume III, his parents died when he was a child, and he was brought up by his older brother Robert and his wife, Beatrice. They had one child, Alexandra, who was only two when her father died unexpectedly. Shortly after that, Beatrice (who never liked her brother-in-law very much) threw Rodney out, and he never saw his niece again. When the League stopped in London after their American trip, however, Skinner decided that he wanted his only living relative present when he got married, and looked up the now-grown Alex. With Nemo's permission, he brought his niece back to the Nautilus. Alex and Elizabeth being very close in age, and equally fond of books, the two young women struck up a strong rapport and became close friends. (Alex has the distinction, as I mentioned in author's notes on volume V, of being the only character in the entire series based on an actual person -- she was directly inspired by my best friend Jessica.)

First mentioned: Vol. I, but not by name until Vol. III

Description:

They're not described, but Constance is the same age as Elizabeth; Robert, quite a few years older. He is tall and good-looking, with curly black hair and green eyes. She is small and delicately formed, brown-eyed and blonde-haired.

Explanation:

Constance was Elizabeth's closest girl friend during her late teenaged years in London. Both were interested in Robert Stuart, the dashing older man; Elizabeth refers to him, in conversation with Tom, as the bridegroom she would have chosen for herself. Unfortunately, Constance's family was wealthy, while Elizabeth had little to cash in on besides the Quatermain name. With Allan out of the country and the family fortune somewhat uncertain, Robert decided it would be in his own best interests to marry the girl with a definite inheritance coming. The rejection only increased Elizabeth's solitary disposition, but she considered herself "very well revenged" a few years later, when the Stuarts believed her married to the young, handsome Tom Sawyer.

First mentioned: Vol. IV

Description:

The only description offered of him is that he is a young man -- in his mid to late twenties, really -- with light brown hair. As I "see" him, he has a somewhat ruddy complexion, and is tall and thin with a bit of a long nose.

Explanation:

Richard is a tour guide in the White House when the League meets him. As they come to the end of their tour of the historic building, it comes to the attention of the security personnel that some spoons have been stolen from a valuable set of silverware in the State Dining Room. Because Skinner's monogrammed handkerchief is found at the scene, he is arrested, and his friends must run around Washington and try to clear his name. This involves a few more tours of the White House, usually led by Richard, who puts on a bit of a flirtation with Elizabeth. When they finally catch a break in the case, Tom puts a few clues together, and tricks the tour guide into confessing that he was the real thief.

First mentioned: Vol. IV

Description:

Fully as tall as Tom, with thick brown hair and brown eyes. He has an intelligent, inquisitive expression most of the time, although during later meetings with Elizabeth, she detects in his eyes and smile "a hint of mania."

Explanation:

When the League visited St. Petersburg, Missouri, Tom Sawyer's hometown, they met deputy mayor Ben Everett. He confused Elizabeth (and irritated her companions) by paying court to her at the hotel where they're staying, a fact which initially annoyed her but gradually flattered her. After a public ball, however, she tried to break off the courtship only to learn that he had an ulterior motive: to marry Elizabeth and use the papers she inherited from her father to rediscover King Solomon's mine. When she rejected the proposal, he resorted to blackmail, threatening to frame Skinner for Tom's murder. Terrified at the prospect, and unable to raise the alarm, she consented, and chaos ensued. After Everett had Skinner held hostage in an abandoned mine shaft, Tom overheard him gloating to his reluctant bride, and the League set in motion a desperate plan to save both of Everett's victims.