Students • Otto Malpense – The main character of the series, a white-haired English boy who was raised in an orphanage. At H.I.V.E., he has the ability to interface telepathically with computer networks due to a supercomputer implanted in his brain by Overlord to make him a perfect replacement body. Although this ability is useful to search for information, it leaves him vulnerable to possession by Overlord and other artificial intelligences such as Animus. In
Aftershock, Otto is expelled from H.I.V.E. because he was unknowingly part of a plan which led to the murder of fifteen Alpha students and the kidnapping of the rest of them. • Wing Fanchu – A tall Asian boy who is Otto's best friend. His parents, Wu Zhang and Xiu Mei Chen, were G.L.O.V.E. operatives in hiding after the failure of the Overlord project. After his mother's death, he enrolls at H.I.V.E. at his father's request. Loyal to and protective of his friends, he is often teased for his humourlessness. Wing refuses to kill his enemies because he promised his mother he would never take a life. He had a difficult relationship with his father (who became the villain Cypher in
The Overlord Protocol), and believes him dead more than once. In
The Overlord Protocol, Cypher falls from a high walkway and Wing thinks he killed him. His father reappears in
Rogue, and an angry Wing kills him after he tries to kill Otto. • Laura Brand – A Scottish girl who is an expert computer hacker. She was sent to H.I.V.E. after hacking into a military airbase to spy on a school friend's conversations. Laura is close friends with her roommate Shelby, and enjoys discussing computers with Otto (to whom she is romantically attracted). In
Aftershock, she is forced by Chief Dekker (a member of the Disciples) to find the location of the Hunt. Fifteen Alpha students are killed, and the rest (except Otto, Wing, Shelby and Franz) are kidnapped. Laura joins the kidnapped Alpha students in the Glasshouse. • Shelby Trinity – A wealthy American girl who joined H.I.V.E. after becoming a jewel thief known as the Wraith. Good at martial arts, her main area of expertise is stealth and lock-picking. Shelby is the most talkative and adventurous of the group, and begins a romance with Wing in
Zero Hour. She is sarcastic, and tries to make light of whatever situation in which the group find themselves. Her greatest fear is being locked up. • Nigel Darkdoom – Son of Diabolus Darkdoom who is reluctant to follow in his father's footsteps, since he believes he is dead until the events of
Escape Velocity. He excels at
hydroponics, and inadvertently creates a monster plant (Violet) which attacks the school. Sometimes considered weak, he insists on helping the others in times of danger. He is best friends with Franz, and they are often bullied by Block and Tackle. • Franz Argentblum – Son of a German chocolate magnate and villain. English is not his first language, and his grammar is often odd. Overweight, he constantly thinks about food. Franz is close friends with Nigel. He reminds his friends of his heroics in saving the school in
The Overlord Protocol, where he apprehends Colonel Francisco before a bomb attached to the energy generator blows up. In
Aftershock, he unintentionally surprised his friends and Raven for successfully shooting down a helicopter in a distance that wasn't in a good range for his friend, Nigel, getting shot by it. That led for the following books of him being a great sniper. • Tom Ransom – Arriving at the beginning of
Aftershock, he is a fellow orphan at Otto's orphanage. After Otto leaves the orphanage, he and his friend Penny begin a wealth-redistribution program (nicknamed the Hoods, after
Robin Hood) until they come to H.I.V.E. and joined the Alpha stream. He and Penny are captured by the Disciples and brought to the Glasshouse. To create a diversion so Laura can send a distress signal, Tom gets into a fight with Nigel and Anastasia kills him. • Penny Richards – Tom's death turns her against Otto and his friends. • Viscontessa Lucia Sinestre, Lucy Dexter – Arrives at the beginning of
Dreadnought and placed in the Alpha stream. Lucy quickly befriends the group, particularly Laura and Shelby, but initially sceptical about their tales of past adventures. The Contessa's granddaughter, she shares the ability to control others with her voice but can only control a few people at once. In
Zero Hour, she begins a romantic relationship with Otto. Lucy is shot by Furan (controlled by Overlord) and presumably eaten by the Animus nanites with Furan and Overlord. Otto refuses to leave her to die, but she uses her voice to force him to save himself. • Block and Tackle - Two students from the Henchman stream who bully the Alphas, particularly Otto and Wing • Cole Harrington – A fifth-year Politics and Finance-stream student who tries to seize H.I.V.E.mind's source code from Otto (minutes after Otto steals it himself) to sell on the black market. Otto frames Harrington for stealing the code, and he is locked in the H.I.V.E.
brig. He is killed by Chief Dekker (working for the Disciples), who tries to make his death look like a suicide.
Staff • Maximilian Nero - Headmaster of H.I.V.E., who became leader of G.L.O.V.E. at the end of
Rogue. He is a careful villain and, despite his reputation for heartlessness, cares about H.I.V.E. and its students. Nero treats Raven as a friend, and is protective of her. He has run H.I.V.E. since the 1960s, although he only appears to be in his 30s. Nero was involved in the Overlord project, and was nearly killed. • Contessa Maria Sinistre - Originally one of Nero's most-trusted teachers, she is bribed by Cypher to help him in
The Overlord Protocol. She can make anybody do what she wants, although the strong-willed can resist her. In
Escape Velocity, she becomes headmistress of H.I.V.E. after Nero's kidnapping and was involved in a plan to attack the school; she changes sides, sacrifices herself to save the students, and is remembered as a hero. She has a daughter (who died) and a granddaughter, Lucy Dexter. • Natalya/Raven, used as a code name, is H.I.V.E.'s most-feared assassin. She is trained by the Furans during her childhood at their castle, the Glasshouse. After seeing her best friend, Dimitri, killed by Anastasia Furan and after being forced by the Furans to kill her other friend Tolya, Raven swears to kill them. She has a long, curved scar running down one cheek, a pale face, and cold blue eyes. Her main weapons are a pair of
katanas, replacements created by Professor Pike in
The Overlord Protocol. • Colonel Francisco – The head of tactical education at H.I.V.E., considered one of the school's toughest teachers by its students. He has an artificial metal hand. • Professor William Pike – Head of the technology department and a creator of H.I.V.E.mind. Apparently disorganized and distracted, he has a brilliant, shrewd, cunning mind. • Tabitha Leon – The head of stealth and evasion, whose consciousness is transferred to her pet cat after a failed experiment by Professor Pike. Although she dislikes being a cat, she finds enhanced hearing and claws useful. • Ms. Gonzales – The head of the biotechnology department, who is an expert on plants. Genetic manipulation of plant life to produce dangerous and deadly results is her specialty. • H.I.V.E.mind - The school's
AI, created by Professor Pike. In the battle with Overlord in
Escape Velocity, H.I.V.E.mind sacrifices its life to destroy Overlord by telling Otto to delete Overlord and himself from his mind. H.I.V.E.mind regenerates in
Rogue; in
Zero Hour, it is downloaded to the device in Otto's head and helps to destroy Overlord. Although it must leave Otto's head at the end of
Zero Hour, it was readmitted at the end of
Aftershock to help him track down the Disciples. • Chief Lewis – The former head of H.I.V.E.’s security teams, who plays a secondary role; in
Dreadnought, the head of security is Chief Monroe. Trustworthy, he is competent or lucky. His luck runs out in
Zero Hour, when he is killed by Raven while she is infected with Animus and controlled by Overlord and the Disciples. • Chief Dekker – The new head of security in
Aftershock, after Chief Lewis’ death in
Zero Hour. A member of the Disciples, she forces Laura to find out the location of the Hunt in
Aftershock. Nero and Raven learn that Dekker is a Disciple, and she is tortured until she tells Raven where Laura's parents are. • Mrs. McTavish – H.I.V.E.'s librarian, mentioned in
Escape Velocity when she pulls Otto out of his virtual world and back into the real one. • Ms. Tennenbaum – The German head of the finance and corruption department, who is usually one of the school's most emotionless teachers. • Mr. Rictor – The teacher of logistics and operations. Otto does considers him a boring speaker, but his information is fascinating. • Dr. Scott – H.I.V.E.’s chief medical officer, the only person (until
Rogue) other than Nero who knew that Cypher survives his attempt to destroy H.I.V.E. in
The Overlord Protocol. Scott helps cure Diabolus Darkdoom when he is shot in
Rogue, and Nero when he is stabbed in
Zero Hour.
G.L.O.V.E. members • Number One – The former commander of the G.L.O.V.E., controlled by Overlord since his attempt to destroy H.I.V.E.mind. He is killed in
Escape Velocity, but Overlord survives. Otto, Number One's clone, looks like a young Number One. • The Reapers – Number One's executioners, a death squad which leaves no one alive • The Phalanx – An elite team which protects Number One. A small Phalanx group comes to H.I.V.E. in
Escape Velocity to protect the Contessa when she becomes headmistress. • Diabolus Darkdoom - The leader of G.L.O.V.E. in
Dreadnought and
Rogue. Number One believes he knows too much about the Renaissance Initiative, and has him framed for treason. Diabolus fakes his death and lives on his submarine,
Megalodon, for several years. In
Escape Velocity, he helps Otto rescue Nero in the
Swiss Alps and destroy Overlord in
Zero Hour. His son, Nigel Darkdoom, is a student at H.I.V.E. • Cypher (Mao Fanchu/Wu Zhang) - The insane co-creator of Overlord, Cypher plans a failed revolt against Number One in
The Overlord Protocol. He is hidden in the H.I.V.E. vaults until
Rogue, when he tricks Nero and Professor Pike and escapes. Cypher is shot by his son, Wing, in
Rogue after trying to kill Otto and destroy Overlord. • Xiu Mei Chen – The creator of Overlord. Thought killed by her creation, she begins a new life in Japan as Wing's mother but learns about the Overlord Protocol codes. Xiu Mei Chen hides the codes in twin ying-yang amulets, gives one amulet to Wing and sends the other to Nero. Number One learns that she knows about the protocol, and orders her killed. • Joseph Wright – Former head of G.L.O.V.E.'s British operations. After Nero replaces the G.L.O.V.E. ruling council at the end of
Zero Hour, he unsuccessfully tries to kill him at the beginning of
Aftershock. Wright is contracted by the Disciples and joins them in a plan to destroy G.L.O.V.E. • Wade Jackson – Former head of G.L.O.V.E.'s North American operations, who was dismissed from the ruling council at the end of
Zero Hour. Joins the Disciples at the beginning of
Aftershock. • Luca Venturi – Former head of G.L.O.V.E.'s Southern European operations, who joins the Disciples at the beginning of
Aftershock. • Felicia Diaz – Former head of G.L.O.V.E.'s South American operations, who joins in
Zero Hour as the successor of Carlos Chavez. Joins the Disciples at the beginning of
Aftershock. • Baron Von Sturm – Former G.L.O.V.E. member who joins the Disciples at the beginning of
Aftershock. • Lin Feng – Former head of G.L.O.V.E.'s Chinese operations who works for the Disciples. At the end of
Rogue, he tries to leave because he is angry at Nero's decision to become the head of G.L.O.V.E.; the Disciples force him to beg Nero to reinstate him. In
Zero Hour, Feng is betrayed by the Disciples and killed by Raven while she is infected with Animus and controlled by them. • Carlos Chavez – Former chief of G.L.O.V.E.'s South American operations, whose career began in the
Rio de Janeiro slums. In
Rogue, he tries to kill Raven because he is angry at Diabolus Darkdoom for becoming head of G.L.O.V.E. (instead of himself). Raven learns that Chavez tried to kill her, and kills him. • The Lobos – Carlos Chavez's team of soldiers and assassins who trained under Chavez's office building in Rio. Most are killed in
Rogue when they attack Raven on
Corcovado. • Rafael – Carlos Chavez's most-trusted lieutenant and a member of the Lobos. Sent by Chavez to eliminate Raven in
Rogue, his mission fails and Raven cuts his throat. • Madam Mortis – A former member of G.L.O.V.E. who is killed by Otto at the beginning of
Rogue when he is infected by Animus and under H.O.P.E.'s control. In
The Overlord Protocol, she suggests using computer-controlled sharks to kill G.L.O.V.E.'s enemies. • Jonas Steiner – A former G.L.O.V.E. member who is killed at the beginning of
Rogue when Otto (injected with Animus and controlled by H.O.P.E.) sabotages his private jet's navigation system and autopilot and it crashes in the
Bavarian Alps. • Gregori Leonov – A Russian man who is one of the longest-surviving members of G.L.O.V.E. and a good friend of Nero. The Reapers kill his family in
Escape Velocity when he discovers the Renaissance Initiative; when Leonov tries to warn Nero, he is killed by a H.O.P.E. assassin. • Yuri Leonov – Gregori Leonov's son, who attended H.I.V.E. and works for his father in
The Overlord Protocol. He is killed by the Reapers in
Escape Velocity with the rest of his family. • Agent One – A Japanese bodyguard who helps Raven protect Wing and Otto in Tokyo in
The Overlord Protocol. He is killed when Cypher's robots attack his safe house. • Agent Zero – An American bodyguard who helps Raven protect Wing and Otto in Tokyo in
The Overlord Protocol and is killed by Cypher. • Jason Drake – An American former G.L.O.V.E. member and owner of the multi-national Drake Industries, which developed much of G.L.O.V.E.'s advanced technology. He goes rogue in
Dreadnought and begins working for the Disciples, believing that Number One's death is a coup by Nero and Diabolus Darkdoom to seize control of G.L.O.V.E. He is further angered when his greatest project (the
Dreadnought) is taken by Darkdoom as his flagship, because he hopes to curry favor with Number One by giving it to him. Drake is killed by Pietor Furan when he says that the Disciples no longer need him. He also designs the Shroud dropships and the larger Leviathan ships.
The Disciples • Pietor Furan - An assassin who used to work for the Spetsnaz, Russia's elite special forces unit, and was recruited by the Disciples. He and his sister, Anastasia, created the Glasshouse: a castle in the Russian wilderness where they cruelly trained children to be assassins. The Furans trained Raven there; Raven swore that she would kill them after Anastasia shot her best friend, Dimitri, and forced her to kill her other friend Tolya. Pietor's right eye was blinded by Raven when she was 11 years old. He first appears in
Dreadnought and seems to be working for Jason Drake, but the Disciples order him to infect the
Dreadnought with Animus, kill Jason and escape. In
Zero Hour, Pietor is killed when Raven stabs him with a
katana. Overlord takes over his body seconds after his death, using his as a host before he is eaten alive by Animus nanites. • Anastasia Furan/Minerva - The leader of the Disciples in
Aftershock, who helped train Raven with her brother Pietor. Anastasia sends Raven to kill Nero, but she is captured and brought to the temporary H.I.V.E. when the new facility is under construction. Nero convinces Raven not to listen to Anastasia. A few months later, Nero, Diabolus Darkdoom and Raven attack the Glasshouse; when Anastasia is about to escape in a helicopter, Raven shoots the helicopter down and thinks Anastasia is dead. Pietor finds Anastasia alive but disfigured, and she gets revenge on Raven in
Aftershock by finding out the location of the Hunt, murdering fifteen Alpha students and kidnapping the rest of them (except for Otto, Wing, Shelby and Franz). • Duncan Cavendish/Disciple 9 – The British prime minister in
Zero Hour. Nero requests access to
GCHQ for Otto, Wing, Shelby, and Laura to allow H.I.V.E.mind to transmit the Zero Hour code. Cavendish works for the Disciples and, after granting them access, gives Pietor the students' location.
H.O.P.E. characters • Sebastian Trent - The former leader of H.O.P.E. who tells the world that he is trying to stop terrorism, but helps Overlord and the Disciples. He is killed in
Rogue by Animus with a tiny part of Overlord; although Overlord should have been destroyed, it survives with Trent's body as a host. • Dr. Creed – The scientist who injects Animus into Otto's body so H.O.P.E. can control him. He is killed at the end of
Rogue when he is infected by Animus with a tiny part of Overlord, making him the host for Overlord's rebirth. • Verity/Ghost – Originally one of the identical-twin assassins (the other is Constance) who work for H.O.P.E. in
Escape Velocity. When Constance is killed by Raven in
Escape Velocity by falling from a cable car on Raven's
katana, Verity is captured and freed by a H.O.P.E. member. She unsuccessfully tries to avenge her sister by killing Raven. She is brought back as a
cyborg and code-named Ghost; the scientists at H.O.P.E. fuse her flesh with cybernetic implants and make her armor that cannot be penetrated by Raven's
katanas. Verity is beheaded by Raven in
Rogue. • Constance – One of the twin assassins who work for H.O.P.E. in
Escape Velocity, she dies when Raven pushes her into a
katana held by Verity.
Other characters • Overlord – A murderous artificial intelligence who wants to take over the world. Created by Xiu Mei Chen in the Chinese mountains twenty years earlier, it is nearly destroyed by Number One before using Number One as a host. Otto apparently destroys Overlord when he tries to take over Otto's mind in
Escape Velocity, but a tiny part is rebuilt inside Otto's head in
Rogue. Laura shoots Otto with a neural-pulse device built by Cypher and Professor Pike; Overlord is forced out of Otto's head, but because Overlord has fused with the Animus inside Otto, it can move from body to body. Overlord is finally destroyed for good when Otto leaves it to be eaten by Animus nanites in
Zero Hour. • The Architect/Nathaniel – Designed buildings for a number of organizations (and, accidentally, the next Glasshouse), and revealed as Nero's father in
Deadlock. • Nazim Khan – An Arabic man who designed H.O.P.E.'s camouflaged facility in the Amazon rain forest in
Rogue. Although the Disciples and H.O.P.E. promise to protect him, they betray him in
Rogue and he is attacked by Raven. Khan tries to give Raven the details of Trent's facility, but is killed by a micro-explosive device implanted in his skull that was triggered remotely by H.O.P.E. • Dimitri – Young Raven's best friend at the Glasshouse. During a failed escape attempt, Dimitri is killed by Anastasia Furan after he tries to get survival suits for Raven, Tolya and himself. Raven describes him as the only person the Furans do not break in spirit, and who helped others remain strong as well. • Tolya – Young Raven's friend at the Glasshouse. He and Raven watch Anastasia kill Dimitri, their best friend. The Furans lock Tolya and Raven up for weeks; Tolya becomes insane, and Raven is forced to kill him. He regains his senses as he dies, which leaves Raven guilty. • Mary, Andrew, and Douglas Brand – Laura's parents and baby brother, who are kidnapped by the Disciples in
Aftershock and used to threaten Laura into finding the location of the Hunt. Although Laura gives the location of the Hunt to the Disciples, the Brands are going to be killed by them anyway before they are rescued by Raven. • Mrs. McReedy – The head of Otto's orphanage (St Sebastian's) before he comes to H.I.V.E. • Captain Sanders – Captain of the
Megalodon (Diabolus Darkdoom's submarine) in
Escape Velocity and
Zero Hour. • Dr. Charles Morley – Leader of the group of scientists who clone Number One to create baby Otto. When they finish the job, Morley and his team are killed by explosive devices hidden throughout the facility by Number One so they cannot reveal what they are doing. • Elena Furan – Anastasia and Pietor Furan's sister. In
Aftershock, Anastasia tells Raven to kill Nero because he killed someone she had loved; Nero wants Anastasia dead because she killed someone he had loved. That someone is Elena, whom Pietor accidentally kills. ==Organizations and facilities==