In the Bartimaeus Trilogy, the ruling class in modern times are Magicians, who run the Government of England almost exclusively. As such, many of the characters in the series are Magicians. The following is a list of those appearing:
Major Characters
Rupert Devereaux
The Prime Minister of England for the duration of the trilogy, Devereaux's power came not from his magical ability, which was implied to be not as great as some of his colleagues, but rather from his charisma and eloquence of speech. After the events of The Golem's Eye, he became increasingly paranoid, and rather than name a replacement for Duvall as Chief of Police, gave himself the position, although he left the actual running of the department to Jane Farrar. As the series progresses, Devereaux's priorities begin to shift as the British Empire's power begins to wane. He becomes loathe to deal with his responsibilities and attempts to delay or even ignore the multiplying problems facing his government. This leads to his escalating indulgences and declining tolerance for opposing views, which leads in the second book to his befriending the playwrite Quentin Makepeace, taking him on as his sole confidant. During the events of Ptolemy's Gate, Devereaux requires that all first-order magicians partake in his love of the theatre as well, allowing Makepeace to stage a coup d'etat. Devereaux is subsequently possessed by a Demon during the spirit uprising until his body is destroyed by Nathaniel and Bartimaeus.
Henry Duvall
Henry Duvall was the Chief of Police during the first two books, a role which he was forced to relinquish at the end of The Golem's Eye, when his part in the Golem Affair was revealed. As the leader of the Night Police, Duvall was a werewolf who no small power on the Magician's Council, which he had been building up for years by sidelining his peers (such as Lovelace). It was thought until fairly late on in Ptolemy's Gate, that Duvall was the ringleader of the Golem conspiracy, but this was later revealed to be Quentin Makepeace through the playwrite's associate, Clem Hopkins. Nevertheless, Duvall was the most apparent antagonist of The Golem's Eye. Several days into his imprisonment, he attempted escape or suicide by leaping from a five storey window and died.
Simon Lovelace
The main antagonist of The Amulet of Samarkand, Simon Lovelace was a fairly powerful magician whose frustrated ambition led to him attempt a coup against the cabinet of Rupert Devereaux. Under advisement from Makepeace and his master, Shyler, Lovelace concocted a plan to lure the upper echelons of the British government to a conference where he would entrap and assassinate them. To achieve this, he hired the mercenary Verroq to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from government protection, and use it to protect himself whilst summoning the greater spirit, Ramuthra, to slaughter the imprisoned government leaders. His plot was foiled by Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, who managed to regain possession of the Amulet, allowing Ramuthra to devour him before Nathaniel was able to dismiss the spirit back to the Other Place. It is shown later in the trilogy that, similarly to Duvall in The Golem's Eye, Quentin Makepeace was the true mastermind behind the plot, having contributed creatively to the trap.
Simon Lovelace was considered handsome, though he had a tendency to preen, a trait which Bartimaeus later drew a parallel with in Nathaniel, to his master's considerable displeasure.
Quentin Makepeace
Makepeace is a playwright in the Magician British Empire. Although he appears in every book, his true colours are not revealed until the end of Ptolemy's Gate, where following the successful kidnap of the first order of the government, he reveals to John Mandrake that he had a significant roll in the primary conspiracies of the first two books, having contributed creatively to Lovelace's plot, and used Clem Hopkins to push Duvall to use the Golem to incite chaos and thus gain advantage
Makepeace possessed a mercurial and vain personality, his mannerisms playful and energetic as though performing on stage. His temper could be easily roused by questioning his creativity, a trait he regarded highly in others as well as himself. This vain desire for innovation and creativity leads him to believe that magicians can summon spirits into themselves in order to gain demonic powers, after seeing the Afrit, Honorious, animating the corpse of William Gladstone. He subsequently summons the greater spirit, Nouda, into himself, and is killed as the spirit devours his mind.
John Mandrake/Nathaniel
One of the three main protagonists of the Trilogy, Nathaniel (who’s chosen name is John Mandrake) is first introduced as a young, precociously intelligent boy who was the apprentice of the low level magician, Arthur Underwood. Subsequent to Nathaniel's mocking at the hands of a powerful magician known as Simon Lovelace, he seeks revenge; and in doing so, uncovers a plot to endanger the Government of England. With the help of the djinni Bartimaeus, he manages to foil the plot and earn himself a reputation at the young age of 12.
By age 14, Nathaniel becomes a part of the Department of Internal Affairs, where he is given the task of investigating and exposing a revolutionary group know only as the Resistance. His young age and accomplishments earn him respect from some elder magicians, but jealousy and resentment from his peers and those under him. He is indirectly responsible for the destruction of Duvall's Golem, and after the events shown in The Golem's Eye, he is promoted to Head of Internal Affairs, and later Information Minister.
A major sub-plot of the trilogy is the exploration of Nathaniel's character arc: How he begins the trilogy as a young boy with decent morals and relatively unsullied motivations; how he becomes more morally ambiguous and his motivations less pure throughout the second and third books, and how he finally returns to the state he was in during the first book - by the end, his motives and morals are relatively pure again. This is represented in the way in which he is referred to as Nathaniel by the narrative voice for the first and second books, and John Mandrake for a large part of the third book, before beginning again to be referred to as Nathaniel toward the end.
Minor Characters
- Bess - was part of Makepeace's rebellion and died after becoming a hybrid.
- Harold Button - A scholar, book collector, teacher of Jones in Ptolemy's Gate and became part of the Interim Magicians Council as Home Minister at the end of the book. Button was a magician of no little power, able to summon many higher ranking spirits without assistance.
- Bruce Collins - The Home Secretary of the British Empire, until he was possessed by a demon in the Spirit Uprising of Ptolemy's Gate.
- Jane Farrar - In the second book, she attempted to charm and seduce Mandrake to get information for her master, Henry Duvall, though she was never associated with the conspiracy. In the third book, she is also shown as a brief romantic interest to Mandrake, although this connection quickly dwindles as Mandrake refuses to keep a dying Bartimaeus bound to this world, allowing him to go to the Other Place despite knowing what is presumed to be valuable information. At the end of the third book she attempts to rally her wolves against the hybrids and subsequently goes missing. It is assumed that she is dead.
- George Ffoukes - A member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in The Golem's Eye and a fourth-level magician. He was the master of the djinni Queezle.
- Marmeduke Fry - The Previous Minister of Foreign Affairs, until he was killed by an imp concealed in a pie when he attempted to negotiate peace with American revolutionaries.
- Harlequin - A British spy in Prague.
- Clive Jenkins - A fellow conspiracist along with Quentin Makepeace and Rufus lime. Together they plotted to take over the government.
- Rufus Lime - A conspirater to Lovelace.
- Helen Malbindi - Information Minister in the second book and Foreign Minister in the third book. She was killed when she became a hybrid.
- Carl Mortensen - The Home Secretary in the second book and Minister of War in the third book and was killed when he became a hybrid.
- Sholto Pinn - Shopkeeper and collector of magical items, he owns a shop and can be noted for his loyal (beyond most loyalites) servent, Simpkin.
- Rebecca Piper - The assistant to Mandrake in the third book and becomes the de facto Prime Minister of the Interim Magicians' Council at the end of the book.
- Julius Tallow - 3rd level Magician and Minister Of Internal Affairs, He is noted for his sharp nose and yellowish skin color. He was killed in the second book, after a mistaken word read from his summoning book.
- Arthur Underwood - Nathaniel's master, he is a low-level magician and can be noted for his apparently lack of care for Nathaniel. He is killed by Lovelace's djinni in the first book.
- Martha Underwood - Wife to Arthur Underwood, Nathaniel's master, she was one of the only people kind to him. She was killed in the first book by Simon Lovelace's djinni and Nathaniel vows revenge for her death. Throughout the rest of the book he shows guilt, remorse, and anger about her death.
- Jessica Whitwell - Nathaniel's second master, she is both powerful and has influence within the government. In the second book, she distanced herself from Mandake, and in the third book, they became open rivals.
Historical Magicians
Benjamin Disraeli
A former magician and Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was a chief rival of William Gladstone. In the Hall of Statues at Westminster, Disraeli's statue sits opposite Gladstone's. Gladstone had a duel with him that resulted in him winning, says Bartimaeus.
William Ewart Gladstone
The former Prime Minister of Great Britain, William Gladstone gained power during 'The night of the Long Council' where he convinced/forced the British Government to hand power over to him. It was later revealed in the books that he forced the ministers to give him power in a coup d'etat (obviously). He then gathered a large British army and invaded the Holy Roman Empire, which was the most powerful nation at the time.
Loew
A Jewish magician who lived in the ghetto at Prague. He was responsible for creating the first golem, in order to protect the Jews from the magicians and their demons. He dies when he smashes the second golem manuscript and because of it's power, unleashed a force, killing him.
Ptolemy
Ptolemy was the most noteable of Bartimaeus' old masters, being both fair and kind. He wanted peace between demons and magicians, rather then the slavery that existed between the two factions. To prove his loyalty, and his trust towards Bartimaeus, he created the Gate of Ptolemy which allowed him to visit Bartimaeus in the Other Place for once putting the power in a demon's hands. However, his trip to the Other Place weakened him giving his cousin, the heir to the Egyptian throne, room to manuever and kill him. His cousin thought, due to his popularity among the people and the power at which he controlled his demons, he was going to try and take over the throne. Ptolemy was killed by his assassins at the young age of 14.
Solomon
Solomon only appears in The Ring of Solomon.He has a ring that can summon an army of demons with a touch and can summon Uraziel, the spirit of the ring with a twist. In his court he has seventeen magicians and many wives. It is shown that he is wicked and unfair to other countries but in actual truth, his magicians are the ones that caused it. He is shown to be fair and wise but troubled, worrying what would happen if the Ring fell into the wrong hands.
Khaba
Khaba's full title was Khaba the Cruel. He summoned and punished Bartimaeus after he killed Ezekiel. Khaba is shown to be extremely harsh on his slaves. His preferred slave is the marid Ammet, who serves him willingly.