Son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, and the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the alternate history of the trilogy. After his parents are killed, he is forced into hiding while Clanker forces try to protect him. Alek is young, intelligent, stubborn, and inexperienced, but he gradually grows into a capable leader. His journey is largely about learning how to take responsibility for other people while dealing with the enormous expectations placed on him because of who he is. He’s also a Clanker, so he’s initially much more familiar with mechanical technology than the Darwinist technology he encounters aboard the Leviathan. He had green eyes and a redish tint to his brunette hair. He tries ro not act like he’s royal but it slips some times. He can fence and he speaks German, English, Greek and Latin.

Sharp is a young British girl who disguises herself as a boy named Dylan Sharp so she can join the British Air Service. She’s a skilled airman and becomes part of the crew of the Leviathan. Deryn is brave, adventurous, stubborn, quick-thinking, and fiercely loyal. She’s also much more comfortable around the Darwinists’ living technology than Alek is, having grown up around it as part of the British military. Her friendship with Alek becomes one of the most important relationships in the trilogy. Their completely different backgrounds—Alek, the Clanker prince, and Deryn, the Darwinist airman disguised as a boy—give them very different perspectives on the world. She had short cut blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s flat and this is what helps her keep up the lie that she’s a boy. She’s a more sarcastic character and has dark humor. She likes to draw in her spare time. She knows a few words in German but doesn’t speak fluently.

A brilliant Darwinist scientist and one of the senior figures aboard the Leviathan. She is highly knowledgeable about Darwinist science and is deeply involved in the development and use of genetically engineered creatures. She’s intelligent, eccentric, confident, curious, and extremely politically savvy. She can come across as intimidating because she tends to be several steps ahead of everyone else. She’s also particularly interested in Alek because of his position and because she recognizes the importance of bringing a Clanker perspective into the Darwinist world. She typically wears a bowler hat to show her status as a boffin. She has many fancy outfits and had a non fabricated beast as her traveling companion named Taza. Speaks both German and English

Count Volger is a Clanker nobleman and one of Alek’s closest protectors. After Alek’s parents are killed, Volger helps keep him safe and trains him to become a capable leader. He’s stern, disciplined, intelligent, practical, and fiercely protective of Alek, although he isn’t exactly the warm-and-fuzzy type. He’s also deeply loyal to the Clanker cause and initially distrustful of Darwinists and their living technology. As the story progresses, his relationship with Alek becomes more complicated as Alek begins developing his own ideas about leadership and the conflict. Speaks both German and English.