Alec Lightwood

**Alexander "Alec" Lightwood** is a Shadowhunter, the brother of Isabelle and Max Lightwood, the parabatai of Isabelle Lightwood, and the adoptive brother of Jace Wayland.

Other Versions* Alt Alec

## Biography

Alec is the eldest child of Maryse and Robert Lightwood. He is the older brother of Isabelle and Max. He was born at the Lightwood Manor, in Alicante, on September 12th 1992.

Raised by a distant mother who placed a lot of expectations on her children, Alec grew up with a strong desire to prove himself worthy, to make his parents proud and bring honor to his family, and to follow rules and orders to the letter. He has had aspirations to be the head of the New York Institute since childhood. As a child, Alec used to sit at his father's desk and write memos in crayon, pretending to be the head of the Institute.

An experience from when he was ten years old stuck with him through adulthood. He trained with another Shadowhunter, Preston, but kept losing at kendo training despite his perfect form. Maryse pointed out that in his attempts to perfect his techniques, he became predictable, and thus needed to step outside of the rules and break form to surprise his opponent. Alec listened and broke the other child's nose. When chided by the boy's mother, he simply took it, knowing it would make his mother proud to see him accept consequences for his actions

When they were around eleven years old, Jace Wayland arrived at the Institute and was taken in by his parents after the death of the boy's father. The two almost immediately hit it off.

A couple years after, Alec and his sister Isabelle finally became parabatai, after talking about it for years.

At one point in his life, Alec lied to his sister about being involved with a girl named Jessica Hawkblue.

During the absence of his parents, Alec was often automatically appointed as the acting head of the Institute. For most of his life, he'd been groomed to be the political Head of the Lightwood family and one day take his father's place in the Clave.

#### Unsanctionned Missions

During a routine demon-hunting mission—one not sanctioned by the Clave, much to Alec's disapproval—the group encountered a girl at the Pandemonium. The girl was later revealed to be a Shadowhunter unaware of the Shadow World. After the girl's mother was kidnapped, Jace rescued her and took her back to the Institute—another decision Alec highly disapproved of. He saw her as a threat and a potential danger, and he thought of her as a bad distraction for Jace and Isabelle. He became even more livid when Clary insisted on taking her mundane best friend with them.

In order to help Clary, they had to help her regain her memory. Their first attempt was by taking her to the Silent Brothers at the City of Bones. Alec grew more impatient with the number of unsanctioned outings and contact with Downworlders they were having. While exiting the City of Bones, Clary's mundane friend was kidnapped by vampires, further frustrating Alec with the situation.

Alec continued to call out Jace for his recent impulsive decisions regarding Clary. He demanded that they contact the Clave for help in rescuing the kidnapped Simon Lewis—Clary's mundane friend—but was easily swayed when Jace insisted that they could take care of it on their own, though Alec was still skeptical. They ended up having to sneak out of the Institute without weapons and instead gathered them from a cache in a cemetery. When they found that the cache had no bow and arrows, Alec returned to the Institute to get his and was contacted by Izzy, who sent him the location of the entrance into the hotel. Together, they saved Simon.

Their next attempt to help Clary regain her memory involved reaching out to the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane. The connection between the pair since their first meeting was undeniable, and Alec was both pleased and baffled by the flirtatious comments Magnus kept sending in his direction. Alec pointedly did not respond to any of them, as not only was he still conflicted over his own feelings, particularly over Jace, but he was also not used to the attention and was still convinced that he should remain in the closet. When they summoned the demon Valak and were forced to relinquish a memory of the one they love most, the memory that was ripped from him was one of Jace. Alec claimed he had been tricked, struggling at the thought of having been outed, and, in a panic, broke from the summoning circle, inadvertently releasing the demon that almost took Jace.

#### Honor

When their mother, Maryse arrived at the Institute, she tasked Alec with keeping an eye on Clary, whom they both blamed for the trouble they were facing with the Clave for their recent unsanctioned mission. He trained with Clary, but when Magnus called to ask him out on a date, which he accepted, Clary asked him to go out. He accompanied her, if only to make sure she didn't get into any more trouble, and they were joined by Simon. While he was distracted, Clary and Simon were taken by the New York werewolf pack under Theo's leadership.

Jace arrived, and when they failed to track Clary's whereabouts even through Izzy and Alec's parabatai tracking, Jace angrily blamed him for not watching Clary. Isabelle stopped them from fighting any further, and moments later they get a call from Simon through Clary's phone and they figured out that they were being held by the werewolves at the pier, at the Jade Wolf. They went to rescue Simon and Clary and witnessed Luke Garroway become alpha, and get fatally wounded with Theo's poison.

Despite Alec's objections about interfering with Downworlder business, Jace insisted on helping Luke for Clary. Alec and Isabelle returned to the Institute, in time for Robert and Max's return. Jace called him because Magnus apparently needed him to save Luke. Though struggling with deciding between following the rules and preventing any more dishonor from befalling their family, and doing what would be right, Alec eventually decided to go to Magnus's loft, where he lent Magnus his strength to be able to finish healing Luke. The pair shared drinks after the ordeal, and Alec ended up sleeping on Magnus's couch. Alec left in a rush the next morning.

#### Arrangement

After Maryse returned from Idris to tell Isabelle and Alec that the unsanctioned missions at the Institute had shamed the Lightwood name, Alec felt that it was his fault. Maryse wanted to arrange a wedding with a strong Shadowhunter family to help restore their name, and thought Alec would adapt and do as he was asked. Isabelle was against the idea, and insisted Alec tell their parents he would refuse.

Later, Lydia Branwell arrived at the Institute as the Clave's envoy. Although Alec did not trust her at first he began to understand her better after learning about the circumstances surrounding her late fiancé. Torn between duty to his family and his own budding feelings for Magnus, he told the warlock about his parents' decision to marry him off. Magnus encouraged Alec to do what was in his heart and to be himself. Alec, after running the Institute with Lydia, knew that a marriage between the Lightwood and Branwell names would not only restore faith in his family in the eyes of the Clave—and therefore provide Isabelle and Max a safer future—but it would also allow them both to run the Institute together.

At the same time, Alec discovered that his parents were members of the Circle years before and had kept that information from them. Angry at being lied to and realizing that his family's honor had in fact been tarnished by his parents in the first place, he took matters into his own hands and set off to fix what his parents had broken himself. Alec therefore proposed to Lydia, and she accepted.

On the day of his wedding, Alec, despite knowing he had feelings for Magnus, continued with the ceremony, thinking it was the right thing even after a last-minute confrontation between him and Magnus. However, Alec finally acknowledged that marrying Lydia when he would never love her was not the right thing for either of them, and faced his feelings for Magnus by kissing Magnus in front of his family, friends and envoys from the Clave, effectively calling off the wedding.

After the halted ceremony, the Mortal Cup was stolen by Hodge. Alec and Jace teamed up to find him, but was too late as their trainer had already handed the Cup over to Valentine. When they found him, Alec stopped Jace from killing him. While expressing his concern to Luke about Jace's state of mind since his discovery of his parentage, Jace escaped with Hodge, intent on going after Valentine.

Meanwhile, Isabelle and the others made an arrangement with Camille to get the Book of the White to wake Clary's mother.

When Alec and Isabelle went to Magnus' loft to meet with the others, they walked in just as Camille kissed Magnus. Camille teased them about Alec's mortality in an evident attempt to drive a wedge between them. After getting the draft of the Writ of Transmutation, Camille led the group to her apartment for the book.

While Magnus and Alec were kissing in a corridor, they were captured by Circle members. Isabelle was injured gravely, and Alec struggled not to go to her. Jace left with Valentine through a Portal, and when Clary rushed after him in hopes of stopping Jace, Alec grabbed her before she could risk killing herself by stepping through a Portal with no idea of its destination.

The group went back to the Institute in preparation to wake Clary's mother, and Alec took care of Izzy.

#### Hunt for Jace

After Jace left with Valentine, Alec started suffering from homophobic behavior from his coworkers. Alec's efforts to look for Valentine and rescue Jace were cut short when Lydia was replaced by Victor Aldertree as the head of the Institute. The homophobia and the powerlessness caused Alec to lash out at everyone around him; even those who were only looking out for him, including Magnus.

When Maryse insisted that Alec forget about Jace, he accused her of only wanting to protect herself and her deteriorating reputation by giving up on Jace so easily.

Alec apologized to Magnus for the way he'd acted, and the two had a heartfelt talk. Jace was located and Alec returned to the Institute, and he and Isabelle insisted on going out to find him, but they were blocked by Aldertree and the guards because of their closeness to Jace and the situation.

Clary approached Alec about her mother almost killing Jace, but he pushed her away because he believed everything that was going on had been her fault.

Magnus and Alec were together when Izzy told Jace to come find shelter at Magnus' apartment, much to Magnus' annoyance, as no one had asked for his opinion in the matter.

Alec and Magnus continued to argue.

Following his explanation with Izzy, Alec came to apologize to him for his behavior. Magnus then helped them save Jace, only for him to be arrested when he came back to the Institute.

He visited Jace at least once over the two weeks period where he tried to keep Izzy from feeling too guilty. Eventually, Magnus and him being better, they made plans to go on a date. Those plans were interrupted by a mission, a hunt on an unknown demon that had killed a mundane. He and Izzy took Clary with them to fill Jace's spot. He and Clary started bonding a little.

#### Possessed

With a Heat Vision rune, they were able to trace the demon signature back to a mundane, and Alec immediately realized that the mundane had been possessed by a demon.

Isabelle brought the victim's body to the Institute to study, unwittingly giving the demon access to the Institute. The demon-possessed Shadowhunters, and eventually possessed Alec, who still held ill feelings toward Jocelyn for her attempt on Jace's life. Alec, in his possessed state, killed Jocelyn, and when he regained consciousness, Alec was horrified and guilt-ridden when he realized what he had done.

He turned towards self-harming by shooting arrows too many times to try and get the guilt and shame out. Eventually, Alec went to Magnus to get away from the Institute for a while.

## Personality and Traits

As the eldest of Lightwood siblings, Alec has a very serious, cautious and by-the-book demeanor, answering to the Clave for reports and missions, following every law and every rule. His strict moral code, for a time, compelled him to follow the law to the letter. He has a habit of being blunt and is extremely distrustful of newcomers, and Simon once referenced that his bedside manner is 'abysmal'.

Despite this, he is loyal to his friends and is fiercely protective of them, going along with his friends' missions to keep them safe even though he disapproves. Alec takes his duty extremely seriously and often steps in front of others to keep them safe, instinctively putting others ahead of himself and taking responsibility for and of others, regardless of whether he finds them agreeable or not.

Alec is gay but was in denial and reluctant to admit this to himself for years due to the pressure on him. This made him a deeply conflicted individual, torn between being himself and not bringing shame to his family.

While Alec can be harsh, he's also a deeply caring and affectionate person who won't hesitate to reach out to his family and be at their side when they need him. He's observant, and will often notice when someone he cares about is going through something, usually expressing concern when he does. Alec has a tendency to take responsibility for things and blame himself, especially in regards to people he loves being hurt or upset, even if he had little to do with the situation in the first place. When something is wrong, there's little he wouldn't do to put things right.

## Physical Appearance

Alec is a tall, handsome, well-built man with dark hair and hazel eyes. He is always clean-shaven. He has a large Deflect rune on the left side of his neck. His clothing style is generally conservative, and he wears mostly black, sometimes incorporates neutral colors into his wardrobe. He mostly dresses in tactical clothing and clothing made for the field.

## Skills and Abilities

* **Nephilim physiology**: Being Nephilim, Alec possesses a variety of enhanced physical and mental abilities granted to him by the angel blood of Raziel in his veins and also by the angelic Marks of the Gray Book. This includes enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, and coordination, which continue to improve over time and practice.
	+ **The Sight**: As a Shadowhunter, Alec is naturally and easily able to see through most magical illusions and layers of glamour over reality.
	+ **Runic magic**: Due to the angel blood in their veins, all Shadowhunters are able to apply runes on their skin without any real danger. These Marks, in turn, give varied effects that serve to benefit the wearer.
	+ **Use of heavenly weapons**: As a Shadowhunter, Alec is also able to perform tasks unique to their species, such as the ability to use and call on the power of angels for their seraph blades, as well as to handle any heavenly weapons or objects with effect, which would normally not work for other species. In particular, these are tools made of adamas and forged by Iron Sisters.
* **Parabatai bond**: Due to his parabatai bond with Isabelle Lightwood, Alec is able to call on more strength in battle and is able to use certain runes or magic exclusive to parabatai. The runes drawn on him by, or shared with Izzy also have a considerably stronger effect.
* **Expert hand-to-hand combat**: Alec is highly skilled in armed and unarmed combat.
* **Expert archer and marksman**: Alec is highly skilled and proficient in marksmanship and archery.

## Possessions

* Basic **Shadowhunter gear**, including: a stele, seraph blades, and other weapons.
* **Alec's Bow and arrows**: Alec uses the bow and arrow as his primary weapon of choice in battle.

## Appearances

All Chapters of Shadowhunters 2.0. - Discovery

Shadowhunters 2.0 - Dive

* This Guilty Blood Part 1
* This Guilty Blood Part 2
* A Door Into the Dark Part 1
* Lover Lost Part 1
* Lover Lost Part 2
* Lover Lost Part 3
* Blood of the Covenant (flashback and current)
* Day of Wrath Part 1
* Day of Wrath Part 2
* Day of Wrath Part 3
* Dust and Shadows Part 1

## Trivia

* Alec's middle name, Gideon, was chosen after Gideon Lightwood, a Shadowhunter in the 1800s. Izzy's middle name Sophia was chosen after Sophia, Gideon's wife.
* Alec has some mental health issues from his upbringing, using physical exhaustion and overintensive training sessions as self-harm mechanisms.
* Alec is the heir to the Lightwood name. At Robert's death, he will officially possess the Lightwood Manor, the Lightwood heirlooms and the Lightwood family fortune.