Charity More

Charity More is an antagonistic character in the Evernight series. She is a vampire and the younger sister of Balthazar More, as well as the sire of Lucas Ross. Charity once attended Evernight Academy and is now the leader of a tribe of vampires; she is a sometime member of Redgrave's tribe as well.

Physical Appearance
Charity looks permanently fourteen, this being her age when she became a vampire. She looks very sweet and innocent, with wide dark brown eyes, a petite bone structure, a heart-shaped face with slight baby-fat and curly, light blonde hair. One of Charity's most distinguishing features is a a port-wine birthmark on her throat. She often wears dirty, mismatched or ill-fitting clothing, due to her life on the streets.

Background
Charity was probably born in the year 1626. Her devoutly Christian family emigrated to America, with Charity being born during the voyage, which the superstitious colonists later claimed made her "unsteady" as she wasn't "rooted to the earth". Balthazar mentions that Charity was a month old before she set foot on dry land.

Charity grew up in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was close to her older brother, Balthazar. Unfortunately, when Charity was only fourteen, her family was attacked by a tribe of vampires under the command of John Redgrave, in the year 1640. Her parents were killed and Balthazar was turned into a vampire by Redgrave. The elder vampire offered Balthazar a choice; turn Charity into a vampire or turn his love interest, Jane, into a vampire. Balthazar reluctantly chose Charity, believing Jane would be spared (however, Redgrave proceeded to murder her). Balthazar drained Charity's blood and turned her into a vampire too, leaving her stuck permanently in the body of a fourteen year old. This proved to be a terrible mistake; already traumatised from the brutal murder of their parents, Charity felt betrayed by Balthazar and was permanently mentally unhinged by her ordeal.

Charity and Balthazar reluctantly joined Redgrave's tribe and its implied Charity became his lover - whether this was her own choice or she was coerced into it is unknown, though its implied it was latter, at least initially. Charity, following Redgrave's example, indiscriminately murdered humans for their blood and eventually, she lost all sense of right or wrong, coming to believe that vampires should treat humans merely as prey. It's also implied her traumatic experiences severely unbalanced her mind. After about a century, Balthazar attempted to persuade Charity to leave Redgrave and come away with him. Charity was angry and upset by this, refusing, screaming at her brother and threatening to kill him. At some point however, Charity did leave Redgrave to join her brother and enrolled at Evernight Academy.

Charity hated Evernight and grew to despise Mrs Bethany - the feeling of which was mutual. She eventually couldn't bear it any longer and ran away. By 1978, she was living with Redgrave again and prevented Balthazar from killing him at a disco by starting a fire. Charity didn't see Balthazar for many years and eventually founded her own tribe, travelling around the United States, hunting, torturing and killing any humans unfortunate enough to cross paths with them. By the events of Stargazer, she and Balthazar haven't been together for 35 years.

Stargazer
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Hourglass
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Afterlife
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Balthazar
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Personality
Charity is a deeply disturbed and mentally unstable individual. She is obsessed with her brother, Balthazar, believing only she can be allowed to love him and becomes insanely jealous of anyone else he cares for. She thinks of humans as little more than food or playthings, seeing nothing wrong with torturing and killing them. She is sadistic, selfish and extremely deluded. It is implied that much of her mental instability stems from the trauma of having her family killed by vampires, then having her own brother attack her and turn her into one too, trapping her permanently in the body of a fourteen year old. Charity is shown to have a great deal of resentment towards Balthazar for this, and believes he should be punished for it, despite her obsessive love for him. Her relationship with Balthazar and her treatment towards him clearly demonstrate what a twisted, deranged person she is.

As a human, Charity was noted as being an innocent and carefree girl. She was energetic and playful, having little patience for "meticulous" tasks such as sewing which were expected of her. Charity always had a rebellious streak and seemed to enjoy testing the boundaries set by her parents and culture. Balthazar always felt that Charity was too headstrong and eccentric to suit Puritanical life, where she was seen as being immodest at best, heretical at worst. He also sensed from the beginning that she was emotionally vulnerable and would always need someone to look out for her.

Charity herself states that she is lonely and desires a family above all. Her desire to win her brother over to her way of thinking, her staying with Redgrave's tribe in spite of Redgrave's crimes against her and creation of her own tribe certainly back this up. In many ways, Charity still resembles a young girl, often behaving and speaking in a childish manner - though some of this could be for show, playing up her 'innocent' act - and even throwing temper tantrums when she cannot get her own way.

That being said, after drinking Skye's blood in Balthazar, the human memories it triggers seem to have a profound effect on Charity. She ends up turning on Redgrave to protect her brother and spares him, despite having ample opportunity to kill him, as well as his new human friends. Apparently remembering how happy she and her brother had been temporarily stabilises Charity, with her remaining reasonably sane and even benevolent for some time. This would suggest that Charity is neither completely psychopathic, nor beyond redemption, though Balthazar cannot be certain if this a temporary state of mind, or if the change in Charity will be permanent. Charity also shows some level of charisma and leadership skills, having managed to form her own tribe and maintain power over it.

Balthazar More
Charity adored her older brother as a human and felt comfortable to be herself around him, not having to monitor her behaviour and speech the way she did around anyone else. She knew her brother well, being able to deduce quite quickly that the reason he liked market days was because he got to see Jane. However, their relationship was changed forever when they became vampires. Charity was deeply traumatised by Balthazar turning her into a vampire; the incident completely shook her trust in him and she has resented him ever since, feeling he should've let her die or done a better job of protecting her. Part of her even fears her brother and repeatedly tells him she hates him and threatens to kill him.

That being said, Charity paradoxically seems to love Balthazar too, though her love is rather twisted and obsessive. By the the 21st century, Charity seems to want Balthazar to accept he's a 'monster' and join with her and becomes jealous of anyone else he is close to, indicating a desire to be reconciled with her brother. This, however, is complicated by her continued resentment of Balthazar and her own mental instability. She enjoys inflicting emotional pain on Balthazar, believing he deserves to suffer for what he did. However, after drinking Skye's blood, the memories it triggers seem to remind Charity of the close, healthy relationship she and Balthazar used to share, prompting her to turn on Redgrave and save Balthazar and his friends. Although Charity goes off by herself again and Balthazar does not know if this change in his sister is permanent, it seems at least possible that Charity may eventually forgive her brother for his mistakes and make a genuine effort to rebuild their relationship.

Redgrave
Charity found Redgrave attractive upon first meeting him, which is hardly surprising, given he was a handsome older man showing attention to a young girl living a highly sheltered life. Charity's innocent crush on Redgrave became horribly warped after she became a vampire; her mental trauma, combined with her fear of Redgrave and unwilling attraction to him, lead to her entering a sexual relationship with Redgrave. It's implied that Redgrave coerced or possibly even forced Charity into the relationship at first, with Balthazar stating she used to flinch at his touch, but she eventually came to accept it, even desiring Redgrave. It is hinted that this may have been the result of a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, rather than genuine affection.

Charity came to depend on Redgrave, seeing him as a source of affection and security, which she desperately craved. She was largely submissive to Redgrave, doing anything he asked and following him anywhere. Charity was one of Redgrave's most loyal followers for centuries and even saved his life on at least one occasion, starting a fire in a disco club to distract Balthazar from killing him. She also blamed Balthazar, rather than Redgrave for her predicament. That being said, it's implied that Charity subconsciously held resentment for Redgrave, knowing deep down that he was responsible for the destruction of her life and sanity, and suffering from centuries of abuse at his hands. This was brought to the forefront of her mind when she drank Skye's blood and Charity ended up killing Redgrave to protect her brother, finally breaking free of her abuser and directing her pent up grief and rage at the true culprit.

Mrs Bethany
Charity and Mrs Bethany share a mutual hatred of each other. Charity dislikes Mrs Bethany's attempts to control her and belies she's a fool for trying to get vampires to live peacefully alongside humans, believing that not hunting humans denies their natural instincts as predators and that vampires should embrace their true nature. She views Mrs Bethany as trying to 'pretend' she's still human and her hatred for her is such that she resolutely refuses to return to Evernight; it is implied that her dispute with Mrs Bethany is what prompted her to leave in the first place. Charity despises Mrs Bethany and everything she stands for the point that she deliberately tells Black Cross the vampires of Evernight are intending to massacre the human students, in the hopes the vampire hunters will destroy the school.

Bianca Olivier
Charity appears to be friendly with Bianca at first, seeking protection and comfort from her. She even attempts to 'save' Bianca from Lucas, due to him being Black Cross. She begins to distrust her due to her close relationship with Lucas and her attempts to persuade her to return to Evernight with Balthazar. Upon realising that Balthazar is in love with Bianca, Charity becomes increasingly obsessed with Bianca, seeing in her an opportunity to torment her brother or blackmail him. Charity actively searches for Bianca in Hourglass and attempts to make her into a vampire, in the hopes it will persuade Balthazar to join with her. She enjoys making Bianca grovel before her, psychologically torturing her by threatening Lucas. She also appears to be jealous of Bianca due to Balthazar's obvious affection for her and Bianca's close proximity to him, which further fuels her dislike of Bianca and enjoyment in hurting her.

Lucas Ross
Due to her obsession with her brother and Bianca, Charity becomes, by extent, obsessed with Lucas. She despises and fears him due to being Black Cross and attempting to kill her, which is understandable, but her delight in hurting him goes well beyond that, with her continuing to try and hurt him or bait him even after he attempted to help her or left her alone. Charity's main interest in Lucas is his relationship with Bianca, which she manipulates in an ultimate attempt to get Balthazar back. Charity turns Lucas into a vampire, mostly to torture Bianca, but also because she knows it will affect Lucas too. She also feels that this way, Lucas will 'belong' to her, and thus by extension, Bianca and Balthazar will be 'her's' as well. Charity's obsession is such that she enters Lucas' dreams every night to psychologically torture him, hoping to drive him mad or at least gain pleasure from hurting him; however, she stops after Balthazar enters her own dream and threatens her. After that, Charity doesn't bother Lucas again and the sire bond between them is likely severed after Lucas becomes human again.

Powers and Abilities
As a vampire, Charity has exceptional strength, speed and agility, as well as enhanced senses. She has advanced healing, being able to get up and walk around unaffected mere moments after being struck by a speeding car. Charity also demonstrates the ability to manipulate dreams, as in Afterlife, she repeatedly enters and manipulates the dreams of Lucas, whom she sired. She also demonstrates some level of skill with weapons such as knives. Charity is one of the few vampires who has knowledge of how to harm or repel wraiths.

Appearances

 * Stargazer
 * Hourglass
 * Afterlife
 * Balthazar

Quotes by Charity

 * "Nobody kills my brother but me!"

Quotes about Charity

 * "With Charity More, reason rarely enters into the equation." - Mrs Bethany