Ethan Lawson Wate
Ethan is a sixteen year old boy who has grown up in Gatlin, a town in the southern United States. He dreams about leaving Gatlin and travelling the world. His father is a shut in, locked in his room writing novels and is never seen. He has been like that since Ethan’s mother died a year before the story begins. Ethan’s nanny, Amma, takes care of him and he is very close to her. Ethan plays on the basketball team with his best friend Link. Link is dating Lena’s cousin Ridley. He would do anything to protect Lena and save her from whatever is trying to harm her. Ethan is described as having dark brown hair and blue eyes. He is very brave and the narrator in Beautiful Creatures.
Lena Duchannes
Lena is one of the two main protagonists in Beautiful Creatures. At fifteen years old, she is a type of Caster known as a Natural, and she has many more powers and abilities that regular Casters are missing. On her sixteenth birthday, she will be claimed to one side of the Caster world: Light or Dark. In the Duchannes family, there is a curse set long ago that prevents a Caster from choosing how they will be claimed. After moving in with her uncle at Ravenwood, Lena begins school at Gatlin High. Other kids harass and bully her daily. She quickly meets and befriends Ethan, eventually falling in love with him. Ethan and Lena can communicate telepathically. For Lena, the inevitable is approaching: her sixteenth birthday and her Claiming. She is a perseverant, and always makes the best out of situations.
Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood
The Ravenwoods have been a part of Gatlin since its creation. Macon is an Incubus, a creature which feeds on blood to survive and often leads to pointless killing. Being a kind hearted person, he instead chose an alternate way to subsist, in which he feeds off the dreams of mortals. He is good friends with Amma and Marian, the librarian. Macon was chosen to watch over his niece Lena until her sixteenth birthday, and she came to live with him at Ravenwood Manor. He would do anything for Lena. Macon is quite intelligent and sophisticated. He is known as the town shut-in and has not been seen by the townsfolk in Gatlin for years. People around town enjoy mysterious stories about “Old Man Ravenwood”. Macon will go to great lengths to protect those whom he cares about, even if defending them costs him his life. Other characters often compare him to Boo Radley.
Ridley Duchannes
Ridley is Lena’s cousin as well as her former best friend. She is also Link, Ethan’s best friend’s, on-again/off-again girlfriend. She became Dark on her 16th birthday and is a Siren, a Caster who can control and attain information from human mind at will. She was unable to control her dark urges and ruins her relationship with her cousin. Ridley can also make people feel infatuated with her. The author describes her as being a tall blond with pink streaks in her hair who wears provocative clothing. Ridley is quite flirtatious and hits on almost every boy she sees, which is ultimately to use them to her advantage. When she and Lena were children, and she was still learning to use her Siren abilities, she would influence the other students to do her homework and get her out of situations. Ridley has proven to be awfully conceited and uncontrollable and scheming. She is also extremely opportunistic and arrogant. She often uses others to advance her agenda and gives the impression that she is rather heartless.