Will Parry (His Dark Materials)

William Parry
First appearance	The Subtle Knife
Last appearance	The Amber Spyglass
Created by	Philip Pullman
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Schoolboy who becomes a doctor in a postscript to the trilogy
Family	John Parry (father) Elaine Parry (mother)

John Parry (father)

William Parry is one of the protagonists in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, along with Lyra Belacqua. He first appears in the series at the start of the second novel, The Subtle Knife, and continues through to the final book, The Amber Spyglass. Introduced as a 12-year-old boy, he meets and befriends Lyra in the world of Cittàgazze and teams up with her in order to uncover the mysteries of Dust and the disappearance of his own father many years previously. He later takes possession of the Subtle Knife which he uses to aid Lord Asriel in his bid to destroy the Authority.

Will is described as having straight black eyebrows, dark hair with a strong, jutting jaw. He is quite stocky and has a muscular build (for his age) and dark, fierce eyes into which most characters in the trilogy avoid looking directly. Although he is supposed to have dark hair, he can be seen on the cover of the US edition with fair, brown hair, and in the Spanish edition with reddish hair. Often during the course of the books Will is compared to Lord Asriel in looks and personality.

Contrastingly to Lyra, Will is quiet, serious and courteous. Also unlike Lyra, he has a strong sense of morality (even paying for food and clothes taken from the empty city of Cittàgazze) and is very assertive, always standing up for himself and his friends and refusing to be spoken down to. He demonstrates great bravery several times in the novels, though he dislikes fighting, and other characters often find him fierce and intimidating. Will is exceptionally independent for a child of his age, due to having to care for his mother, and has shown his ability to cook and generally look after himself.

During Will’s journey into the Land of the Dead in The Amber Spyglass, he is forced to separate from part of his soul. This turned out to be his dæmon, who had previously lived inside him and had not been seen. As Will was still a child when this happened, his dæmon had not yet settled into one particular form. However towards the end of the novel, his dæmon is touched (described as a very intimate and usually forbidden action) by Lyra and she settles as a large cat with lustrous and subtle-coloured fur. She is named Kirjava by the witch Serafina Pekkala (Kirjava means mottled in Finnish)

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