Character Profile: Mercy Thompson

I’m starting a new feature here on All Things Urban Fantasy: Character Profiles. I hope to add at least one a month.  Of course there was no contest of who would be first.  My favorite urban fantasy heroine…Mercy Thompson! Please feel free to suggest characters you’d like to see profiled, but keep in mind that they can’t all be this detailed. *Note this material was obtained primarily via Wikipedia and Hurog.com Forums*

 

Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson

Mercy is a fictional character and the protagonist of The Mercedes Thompson Series, written by Patricia Briggs. The series, which currently consists of the novels Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, and Bone Crossed, is narrated from Mercy's point of view. And you’re about to find out everything you ever wanted to know about her.  Please read carefully if you haven’t read the series as there are inevitable spoilers below.

In the novels, Mercy Thompson is the daughter of a Blackfoot Indian and a white teenage mother. She is a "Walker" (a Native American shapeshifter not linked to the moon) who turns into a coyote, a gift she inherited from her father. A rodeo man, he died a few days after consummating his relationship with her mother.

One day, not too long after Mercy was born, her mother went to her crib only to find a small coyote pup in her place. Afraid and unsure how to raise her, her mother took her to the only place she knew was capable -- relatives of a great-great grandfather, who had been a werewolf. This is how she came to be raised with the pack of Bran, the Marrok of the werewolves.

 

Mercedes Athena Thompson

Physical appearance

Mercy is described in the novels as being of average height, around 5'6", and average weight with long, straight, dark brunette hair (often kept in braids). Tanned skin. She has a tattoo of a coyote paw print on her belly, below her navel. Has buckshot scars on her behind. In coyote form, she weighs 32 lbs.

 

 

Personality traits, abilities, and interests

  Mercy is described as being stubborn, headstrong, independent, hardworking, thoughtful, and caring. She can change between human and coyote form easily. In coyote form, she is capable of running at fast speeds and has increased sight in the dark. In both human and coyote form, she has an increased sense of smell and a resistance to some forms of magic. It has been shown that she has the ability to see ghosts. It is explained that this is the reason Walkers are so rare. Vampires have hunted them down to prevent them from being "Vampire Hunters".

Name: Mercedes Athena Thompson, Mercy, Little Wolf^BC-82
Gender: Female

Classification: Walker | Coyote

• Stands just over two feet at the shoulder^IK-72
• 32 pounds^BB-15

 

 

Age: 32 years old
DOB: November 20^IK-233
POB: N/A
Father: See Joe Old Coyote
Mother: See Margi
Siblings: [Half Sister]See Nan, [Half Sister] Name Unknown
Children: No
Other Relatives: [Step Father] See Curt [Foster Father] See Bryan [Foster Mother] See Evelyn
Significant Other: [Mate] See Adam Hauptman

Pets: [Manx Cat]Medea^MC-10 came to Mercy as a stray^{MC-11 ,} has rabbitlike fur^MC-09, big green-gold eyes^BC-196, most cats don't like werewolves-or walkers; Medea likes everyone^MC-10, has done a bit of damage to the back of Mercy's couch^BB-23

Residency:
Finley, Washington | See Tri-Cities, Washington | See Blueprints and Property Descriptions

Neighbors:

See Dennis & Anna Cather

Occupation:

  [Present] | Owner/Operator Car mechanic See Mercy's Garage | Blueprints and Property Descriptions
[Previous] | Worked a couple of years at the Aspen Creek Motel^MC-83 [Previous] | Worked in a Tri-Cities Burger King^{Chat 2009-11-03}

        
Employees:

See Tad | employed prior to the start of MC^MC-04
See Mac | employed from the Friday before Thanksgiving to the Monday night before
See Gabriel | part-time tool rustler/receptionist^BB-48
Gabriel's sisters - do cleaning on the weekends

 

 

Vehicle:
Vanagon Syncro;

an old diesel Rabbit^MC-09

 

 

 

Physical Description:

• Doesn't look Pureblood Native American; features too Anglo; skin looks tanned even in November; straight hair is as dark as her eyes^MC-41
• Not beautiful; has her mother's features, which look a little wrong in the brown and darker brown color scheme of her father^IK-130
• 5'6" tall^{Chat 2008-11-03}
• dark brown or black eyes
• black hair
• Is right-handed^MC-278
• [Tattoos] | Coyote pawprint just below her naval^MC-199, has a couple on her arms[inferred celtic armbands]^MC-199
• [Scars] buckshot scars on her backside^BB-02

 

Character Traits & Facts:

From Moon Called:

---

• goes to Church every Sunday^MC-14
• doesn't like crosses; wears a stylized lamb as a symbol of her faith-The Lamb of God-^MC-158
• switched her major from engineering to history^MC-199
• History Degree^MC-162
• took chemistry in her freshman year^MC-115
• German was her required two years of a foreign language course^MC-161
• five years of study in the martial arts^MC-178;purple belt from the dojo just over the railroad track from her garage^MC-09
• her style of karate Shi Kei Kai Kan; designed for soliders who would be encountering multiple opponents^MC-221
• doesn't like piano music; took four years of piano lessons in Aspen Creek^MC-169
• her foster father insisted she learn how to shoot and make bullets^MC-58
• Mercy lived on her own from the ages of fourteen to sixteen in Aspen Creek, Montana^MC-96
• sleeps with the radio on; keeps the music on low to block the normal sounds of night^MC-57

From Blood Bound:

---

• one of the names of the coyote is the Prairie Songbird^BB-159
• can change shape wearing a collar; her collar is bright purple with pink flowers embroidered on it^BB-07
• singing voice has pitch and volume, but no real talent^BB-158
• nervousness makes her claustrophobic^BB-192

From Iron Kissed:

 

---

• her collar lists Adam's phone number and address as her home^IK-69
• finding out who Zee had been was a bit of a hobby of hers^IK-08
• cell phone ringtone is "The Baby Elephant Walk"^IK-05
• has a bad habit of putting her cell phone in her back pocket(destroyed two phones so far by doing that)^IK-53
• Sam taught her how to pick locks when she was fourteen^IK-69
• has had panic attacks since the events of Blood Bound^IK-60

From Bone Crossed:

---

• quit drinking alcohol after a trip to Portland where she admitted being raised by weres and could see ghosts^BC-19
• studied European history^BC-128
• considers pack environment as 'claustrophobic and violent'^BC-59
• on a dare, she once stole then wrecked the Marrok's Porsche;was taught to drive by Charles^BC-106
• hauled out the Rabbit parts car into the field that obscures Adam's bedroom window view when he warned her not to walk from the dojo to her shop alone at night^BC-59

From Chat Transcripts:

---

• Actually Zee was very unhappy when his nine year old son hired Mercy^{Chat 2008-11-03}
• He fired her three times the first month^{Chat 2008-11-03}
• And repented when he found her working at the local Burger King^{Chat 2008-11-03} 
• Tad was nine and she needed a fanbelt for her Jetta^{Chat 2008-11-03}
• She doesn't do paperwork. Neither does Zee. That was Tad's job and he had angry customers. He needed help^{Chat 2008-11-03}
• His father was in a funk -- his wife(Tad's mother) had just died^{Chat 2008-11-03}

 

The following are Questions/Answers pertaining specifically to Mercy.
Species | Walker
ID Card:
Mercedes Thompson
Mating/Children

• Mercy Having Babies thread: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=869.0
• Science and Magic thread: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=729.0
• Mercy and Adam children- Quote from a past chat transcript with Patty: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1148.0
• Babies are hard to write fantasy novels around -- they should be better protected than adventuring people can make them. ^{Chat 2007-05-20}
• The possibility of a werewolf and walker baby: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=469.0

Relationships

• Family:
  • Mercy's Family: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=444.0
  • Surname: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=470.0

• The Love Triangle:
  • Patty's confirmation that Sam loves Mercy: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=593.0
  • Patty realizing why Mercy chose Adam: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=624.0
  • Moon Called- Patty clarifies what Adam and Sam said in the van in Moon Called: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=620.0

• Adam:
  • Explanation Adam's photograph of Mercy in his  room: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=813.0
  • Adam lives more in the here and now than Samuel is able to. He really loves Mercy and wants her for himself. He likes kids though, so another child wouldn't bother him. It's just not front and center, right now. He'll catch Mercy first, if he can. And then worry about the rest. ^{Chat 2008-10-11}
  • Adams original "mate" declaration: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1206.0;topicseen

• Aspen Creek Females: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=185.0  
  • When Mercy left Aspen Springs she was sixteen.  Leah (Bran's mate) hated her and all the females of the pack (at that time) followed suit.  Some just following Leah, some because Mercy was a Coyote not a wolf.  Most of the human spouses (remember they are not always mates) of the male wolves were unhappy with a young unmarried woman running with the wolves where they could not go.  And a number of them were currying favor with Leah.  Even so, not all the women disliked her, but the important ones, the ones she spent much time with after her foster parents died, did.

Education

• The reason why Patty/Mercy changed her major in college: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=340.0

Native Magic
We will see more of that with the Charles books and later with Mercy and how it works.

• If Mercy is immune to most magic and if the change from human to vampire or werewolf is magic, wouldn't that make her immune to a conversion or is it after the human converts they get the magic? ^{Chat 2008-02-09}
  • Mercy says her immunity is not total. The more likely the magic is likely to hurt her, the less likely her that her immunity will work. I think her being a walker would definitely impact a Change to werewolf or conversion to vampire. Vampire is unlikely anyway. Bran would never allow a vampire to hold her long enough for a conversion. Bran wouldn't let Stefan hold her either -- even if she wanted him to.
• With Mercy being only half of a walker, does that mean her immunity to magic is weakened. And if not, does it have to be trained. ^{Chat 2008-06-01}
  • I see walker being a thing you are or you are not. She's half Native American, but all walker. The immunity sort of comes with as an innate ability -- and not something she can affect (I'm pretty sure at this point).
• Am I right in assuming that most of the power pertains to the Native American legends and magic? ^{Chat 2007-11-03}
  • Right. Although the Indians I know tell me that division magic/not magic human/not human is the one that they really recognise.

Abilities/Supernatural

• Mercy heals slightly faster than a human- but no super abilities: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=523.0
• Infection from Were Bite/Would Mercy Change?:
  • Patty's answer via thread: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1106.0
  • More: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=114.0
• I think Mercy is half human and half walker (not Skinwalker, that's a little different thing . . . skinwalkers are EVIL) ^{Chat 2007-05-20}

Age

• Life Span:
  • Patty's Answer: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1792.0
  • Another Answer: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=529.0
  • Will Mercy ever become immortal so that she can happily end up with Adam or Sam? ^{Chat 2007-05-20}
    • I have a little problem with having Mercy be immortal. I don't know if she is -- and neither does she or Adam/Sam. I like to keep my characters underpowered when I can
• Aging
  • Won't Mercy Age? http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=109.0
  • Does Mercy age like a human? - ^{Chat 2007-05-20}
    • As far as Mercy knows (and me) yes, just like a human

Trauma

• Pre Iron Kissed:
  • Mercy's Emotional Health thread: http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=332.0

Miscellaneous

• I think Adam likes the bug. What do you say Patty? ^{Chat 2007-05-20}
  • I think Adam is ambivalent about the graffitied VW. He enjoys flirting with Mercy -- but he likes things neat and orderly
• Mercy's jewelery- Sheep Pendent:  http://hurog.com/forum/index.php?topic=490.0
• Mercy's Tattoos: See General | Books/Titles