Will Parry

**William 'Will' Parry** is a young boy from England. Although not born in Lyra's world, after he visited the land of the dead his soul became a dæmon named Kirjava. Not long afterwards, she settled as a cat at the touch of his first love, Lyra Belacqua.

## Personality

Will is responsible and mature, behaving more like an adult than a child for a large portion of his youth. Will has a strong sense of morality, which he exemplified in paying for goods an abandoned city. He felt it was his obligation and duty to look after his mother, and often sacrifices his own enjoyment or well-being for her sake. Will is also practical and sensible, able to competently deal with problems, and he seems to posses good foresight and troubleshooting ability. He is generally quiet, serious and courteous - but, in extreme situations, he is capable of intense anger.

Secretive and cautious by nature, Will is not one to look for trouble and his fierce independence often made him reluctant to both seek and accept help from others. However, he is also a confident child and, although he dislikes fighting, is always willing to stand up for himself and what is important to him. Many grown-ups find themselves feeling uncomfortable at the thought of looking him in the eye, owing to his imposing and unchildish demeanor, and he is quite able to dominate in a situation involving those older than him.

As a result of his morality and sense of duty, he is prone to guilt, frequently concerning both his perceived murder of one of the agents sent to retrieve the writing case and leaving his mother to live without his protection. Furthermore, despite being outwardly controlled and strong, he is prone to worrying about the well-being of those he loves and felt uncomfortable with the idea that he can kill for a long period of time.

## History

Will is the sole child of John Parry, an explorer, and Elaine Parry. During the first months of his life, Will's father left on an expedition to the Arctic known as the Nuniatak dig, from which he never returned. Will grew up in their family house in Winchester with his mother.

As he was growing up, Will questioned his mother often about his father. She was unable to provide a lot of information, but told him that John Parry had been a handsome and brave officer in the Royal Marines who left the army to become an explorer. After learning this, he grew up playing many games where he explored with an invisible companion that represented his father.

At age six, Will and his mother dressed smartly to visit an elderly couple in a large house. Their cold attitude and contempt made his mother cry, and it was only when he was older that he realised they were his paternal grandparents. At age seven Will realised that his mother had mental health problems. They were playing a game in the supermarket where they could only place something in the cart when no one was looking. It was fun for Will to be the lookout, but when they finally reached the checkout, his mother began to panic because she was convinced the enemies had stolen her purse. This prompted her to go back around the supermarket and place everything back, and she was convinced that the enemies would track them down by her card number. It was after this incident that Will became more aware of his mother's condition - the enemies she spoke of were only in her mind - and made it his mission to take care of her.

Will's mother would often have times of clarity where her disease seemed to disappear, but these moments were always short-lived. Will would take advantage of these moments and learn how to shop, cook, and clean. He was determined to take care of his mother, because he feared the authorities would take her away and send him to live with strangers. He recognised that his mother was so kind, sweet and loving even when she was having an episode, and he did not want her to be taken away from him.

## Physical Appearance

Will has dark hair and straight black eyebrows. His eyes are notably fierce and wide, whilst the rest of his face is well-defined by a jutting jaw and broad cheekbones.

## Relationships

### `Family`

**Elaine Parry (Mother)**

Will loves his mother so much he would die to protect her.

**John Parry (Father)**

**Unknown Maternal Grandmother**

**Unknown Maternal Grandfather**

**Graham Parry (Paternal Grandfather)**

**Annabel Parry (Paternal Grandmother)**

#### `Friends`

**Lyra Belacqua** **(Best Friend)**

**Tony Costa (Friend)**

**The Witches (Close Friends)**

#### `Allies`

**Teddy Coulter** **(Ally)**

**Lee Scoresby (Ally)**

**Asrya Belacqua (Close Ally)**

## Dæmon

**Kirjava**

Will's dæmon, when found and formed, took the shape of a large queen cat named Kirjava.

Not much is known of Kirjava's distinctive personality, other than she most probably takes on board qualities such as independence, common to cat-dæmons.