Thaddea Macleod

"*This, Morrigan remembered, was Thaddea Macleod. The girl who fought a full grown adult troll in the Show Trial and won.*"
―Morrigan meeting Thaddea for the first time[src]
**Thaddea Millicent Macleod** is a fighter and member of Unit 919. She attends the School of the Mundane Arts at Wunsoc.

## Biography

### Early Life

Before joining the Wundrous Society, Thaddea grew up in the Highlands with a strong sense of clan and family — particularly her maternal line.

### Wundrous Society Years

#### Trial Year

During the Show Trial, Thaddea fought a full-grown adult troll and won. Her performance earned her a spot in Unit 919.

#### Year One

Thaddea joined the rest of her unit for the inauguration ceremony at Proudfoot House. Following the ceremony, she learned (along with the rest of her unit members and their patrons) that Morrigan Crow was a Wundersmith, causing friction within Unit 919 for almost three quarters of the school year. Thaddea took a number of classes with other unit members including 'Decoding Nevermoor,' 'Recognizing Mesmerism,' as well as classes on her own, including one in roller derby.

As Thaddea (and the rest of the unit) started to slowly warm up to Morrigan, Unit 919 became victims of blackmail near the beginning of summer. She was the first member to receive a blackmail note and voted to ignore the notes and allow the blackmailers to tell their unit's secret, though lost by one vote. She was required to throw her next fight at the Combat Club where she had an unbeaten record. She begrudgingly agreed and lost to the weakest member of the club. She remained upset at Morrigan and blamed her for a number of months after.

Not long after she threw the fight, Thaddea and the rest of her unit witnessed Morrigan shoot a fireball from her mouth following an encounter with bully Heloise Redchurch. After the 'Decoding Nevermoor' exam ended as an automatic fail for the entire unit she and the majority of the Unit started to completely ignore Morrigan.

Following Hallowmas, Thaddea attended the Wunsoc assembly with Unit 919 where Morrigan would reveal she was a Wundersmith to the present Wunsoc members, though this and the blackmailing would be revealed to be part of the Unit's Loyalty Trial in which Unit 919 would pass. This would prove to be a turning point as the Unit was now on friendlier terms then they had been before, Thaddea remarking that the Loyalty Test was a "dirty trick" and that it was mean to make the unit go through it, but especially to Morrigan.

#### Year Two

Thaddea continues to thrive at the Wundrous society in her second year. She volunteers for the Scaly Sewer Beast hunt and enjoys the experience so much she asks to join the Beast Squad. The hunt co-incidentally puts her in the right place to save Morrigan after she has been attacked by Brutilus Brown.

Thaddea feels pressure to prove herself, both individually and as Unit 919. Ridiculously, she wants to steal a submarine as part of the Wunsoc's training. She is annoyed by Morrigan isolating herself with the Ghostly Hours, complaining about "Winky Binky" (Owain Binks).

Thaddea wants to go to a troll fight on the spare day, but finishes the day with a different perspective:

"*I’m going to be a librarian*"
―Thaddea declared rapturously[src]
## Physical Appearance

Thaddea is "at least a head taller than Morrigan", yet brawny with squared shoulders. She has described as being pink-faced, which becomes blotchy when she is angry. Her red hair falls halfway down her back and is described as tangled. With her thick Highlands accent, it's likely that she is based upon both Scottish and Irish genetics.

## Personality and Traits

Thaddea loves the fighting arts and has a strong sense of honor. She gets angry very easily, but does not use her fighting prowess to bully and has repeatedly followed the advice to not fight. She gets on well with Unit 919 despite not being shy about giving her opinion and being one of only two scholars in the unit with an athletic knack.

She has also demonstrated resourcefulness, going as far as to swipe an Elder's chair out from underneath them to break the kneecaps of a troll during her Show Trial.

She has a determined yet sometimes stubborn demeanour. This has sometimes led to her refusing help from others, such as when she hurt her forehead and didn't listen to Anah's offer of help.

Thaddea's instinct is to go into battle and use her skills to help. She is very good at fighting and proud of it. However, Thaddea is constantly having to face a choice between her instinct to fight and Miss Cheery and Unit 919's advice to wait. She had the first, and arguably most difficult, task in the loyalty test where she chose to abide by the vote of the Unit and to deliberately lose the fight against a pretentious opponent. She wanted to continue to fight the bugs in the library, but obeyed Miss Cheery and stayed inside the Riverglass vehicle. She heeds Lam's warning during the stealing exercise and hops on the brolly rail. At the riot at Proudfoot house she considers Lam's advice to not fight, even though she does eventually join Murgatroyd and the Society members swarming down the drive.

## Abilities and Skills

### Knack

Thaddea's knack is fighting. For her Show Trial, she fought an adult mountain troll in unarmed combat and won. This earned her eighth- or seventh, depending on the unknown performance of Lambeth- place on the leaderboard and a place in the Wundrous Society as part of Unit 919.

## Relationships

### Unit 919

Thaddea is a member of unit 919. She seems to be well-liked.

#### Morrigan Crow

Thaddea at first disliked Morrigan for being a Wundersmith. The two got closer, but after the blackmail note Thaddea was constantly upset with Morrigan. Morrigan seems to care for Thaddea, being motivated to find the blackmailer after this, In Hollowpox, Thaddea is much more comfortable around Morrigan and even jokes with her being a Wundersmith.

#### Anah Kahlo

Although Anah and Thaddea often argued, they seemed to be on generally good terms, discussing medicine together and going in the same Decoding Nevermoor group. Anah cared for Thaddea when she was hurt and wanted Thaddea to let her help. Thaddea in turn supported the tired and angry Anah by hugging her.

#### Francis Fitzwilliam

Thaddea and Francis often disagree, best seen in how they reacted to the blackmail. However, Francis will go to Thaddea when he really thinks he needs it as seen in the Decoding Nevermoor practical lesson.

## Etymology

**Thaddea** is a feminine form of the name *Thaddeus*, likely coming from **Θαδδαιος** (*Thaddaios*), the Greek form of the Aramaic name *Thaddai*, which is derived from a word meaning "heart." It is also possible that Thaddeus may be related to the name *Theodore* from the Greek name **Θεοδωρος** (*Theodoros*) ("gift of god").

 The English name **Millicent** has roots from the Germanic name *Amalasuintha*.  The is derived from *amal* "work, labour" and *swinth* "strong." Normans would have probably introduced this name to England in the form *Melisent* or *Melisende*.

**Macleod**, a variant of **McLeod**, is a Scottish surname from the Gaelic *Mac Leòid* meaning "son of Leod." The given name Leod is derived from Old Norse *ljótr* "ugly."

## Appearances

* *Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow* (First mentioned)
* *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow* (First appearance)
* *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow*

## Notes and References

1. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/thaddea/submitted
2. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/thaddeus
3. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/theodore
4. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/millicent
5. ↑ https://surnames.behindthename.com/name/mcleod

Anah Kahlo · Archan Tate · Cadence Blackburn · Francis Fitzwilliam · Hawthorne Swift · Lambeth Amara · Mahir Ibrahim · Morrigan Crow · **Thaddea Macleod**
Sumati Mishra · Arch's Patron · Baz Charlton · Hester Fitzwilliam · Nancy Dawson · Lambeth's Patron · Miss Mulryan · Jupiter North · Thaddea's Patron
Miss Cheery