Scarlet

Scarlet Benoit is the titular character in Scarlet as well as one of the main protagonists in the series. Scarlet is an 18-year-old French girl whose grandmother has been missing for over two weeks. Scarlet is fiery, passionate, and determined to find her grandmother no matter what. When Wolf warns her that going after her grandmother will be dangerous, Scarlet declares that she “[doesn’t] care how dangerous [the Wolves] are—that’s just one more reason [she] need[s] to find them” (126). Scarlet is brave, stubborn, and fiercely protective of the people she loves, often to the point of recklessness.

When Wolf first meets Scarlet, she defends the Lunar cyborg Linh Cinder to an unruly crowd in the Rieux Tavern. Scarlet says that “people are just so quick to accuse and criticize, but they don’t know what she’s been through or what led her to do the things she did” (164). She adds that she doesn’t believe in judging people “without trying to understand them first” (165). When Wolf points out that most people wouldn’t agree with her, Scarlet retorts that she “[tries] to think for [her]self once in a while, rather than buy in to the ridiculous propaganda the media would have [them] believe” (164), just like her grandmother.

Scarlet used to live in Paris with her father, and as a child, she “used to throw fits and tantrums, break things and make up stories [...] just to get [her father’s] attention” (206). However, when she came to live with her grandmother in Rieux, she calmed down. Scarlet is close to her grandmother because, unlike her father, Grand-mere listened to Scarlet and empowered her. Because Grand-mere and her father were the most prominent adult influences in her life, Scarlet often compares herself to them. She is disgusted with herself for behaving like her father on the train to Paris because “her father [is] weak. Weak for women. Weak for booze. A weak father, a weak man” (302). As much as she admires her grandmother, Scarlet wants to form her own thoughts and opinions. Her grandmother was wracked with paranoia, and Scarlet doesn’t want to live in fear of the world around her.

Wolf, or Alpha Ze’ev Kesley, is a Lunar Special Operative disguised as an ordinary Earthen street fighter. His role in the novel fluctuates between hero and conflicted villain, and Scarlet spends most of the novel trying to figure out if Wolf can be trusted or not. Although Wolf is a ferocious fighter who is capable of great violence, he is a surprisingly sensitive, soft-spoken person, and when they first meet, Scarlet “sense[s] a connection between them” because they are “both outcasts. Unwanted. Crazy” (21). When Scarlet first sees Wolf, she notices “an array of scars and bruises on his olive skin” (13) and “a fresh bruise swelling around one eye” (13). He is full of anxious energy, and he is constantly fidgeting. She notices an “almost child-like fascination” (159) in him, and when she learns that he has never eaten a tomato before, she becomes intrigued by this handsome stranger with a gentle spirit. Still, Scarlet is unsure if she can trust Wolf, and when he offers to help her find her grandmother, Scarlet only agrees out of desperation.

Although Wolf tells Scarlet that he was “hardly more than an errand boy” to the Wolves and he “wasn’t let in on any executive plans” (125), Scarlet becomes suspicious when she hears Ran refer to him as an “alpha.” Throughout their time together, Wolf hints that Scarlet shouldn’t trust him, and he tries to stop her from going to Paris. He begins to feel conflicted about his loyalty to the pack and his growing feelings for Scarlet. By the time he delivers her to Master Jael, Wolf is full of remorse and worry for the woman he loves. When he returns to the pack’s headquarters, Wolf “[feels] like [he’s] awoken from a dream” and returned to “a reality much darker” (306). He is forced to remember that he isn’t supposed to be a lovestruck Earthen but a genetically engineered killing machine.

Still, Scarlet never gives up on Wolf. Even when he has her cornered and is about to kill her, Scarlet reaches out and appeals to the man behind the beast. She reminds him that this isn’t his fault and he is a victim of the Lunars just as much as anyone else. Scarlet’s faith in Wolf brings him back from the brink of madness, and he clings to her as a steady source of love and hope. Scarlet shows Wolf that he can be a good man and can join the fight against Queen Levana.

Emperor Kaito (or Kai) is the ruler of the Eastern Commonwealth and Cinder’s estranged love interest in Scarlet. In Cinder, Kai developed a crush on Cinder and invited her to the Eastern Commonwealth ball. Although the two shared a connection, everything changed when Kai learned that Cinder is Lunar. In Scarlet, Kai grapples with his complicated feelings for Cinder while also struggling to accept his new role as Emperor after his father’s death. As the pressure to find Cinder and agree to Levana’s demands intensifies, Kai feels less in control of his life than ever as he fights to achieve peace for his country and the rest of the planet.

At the novel’s beginning, Kai sits in his father’s office, and he notes that “nothing [has] changed since his father’s death, except the room’s owner” (64). Kai is thrust into the role of Emperor at 19 after his father dies from the letumosis plague. As he struggles to figure out what to do about Cinder, he knows that his father would be “doing everything he could to find the girl and apprehend her because that’s what would be best for the Commonwealth” (70). Kai, however, “[isn’t] that selfless” (70), and he doesn’t feel “strong enough or smart enough to fill his father’s shoes” (146). Kai spends most of Scarlet in a constant state of exhaustion, overwhelmed by the emotional burdens that come with his position. Although he doesn’t think he will ever be as good an Emperor as his father, Kai carries a deep love for his people and avoids agreeing to a marriage alliance with Levana because “he [is] determined to never subject his people to life beneath such a heartless empress” (66-67).

However, Kai soon begins to buckle under the pressures of his title as emperor. He has feelings for Cinder despite her status as a Lunar fugitive, but he knows that Levana will punish his people if he can’t apprehend Cinder and turn her over to the Lunar queen. Kai decides that “Cinder [has] to be found, and soon, before millions [are] murdered in her place” (147). Similarly, at the novel’s end, Kai realizes that he must agree to marry Levana if he wants to stop the vicious attacks on Earth. He thinks back to Cinder’s warning at the ball, and although he knows that “Levana [won’t] hesitate to dispose of him as soon as [he’s] served his purpose,” he is still willing to give in to her demands “to stop this war” (418). Kai may not believe that he is a good Emperor, but he is willing to lay his life on the line for the good of his people.