Dexter Alvin Dizznee (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

Dexter "Dex" Alvin Dizznee is a member of the Black Swan and Team Valiant. He is a Level Four prodigy at Foxfire.

Dex is one of the Lost Cities' most powerful and creative Technopaths. He is also Sophie Foster's adoptive cousin and best friend. He was one of the very first elves Sophie met after she moved into the Lost Cities.

Before Sophie arrived, Dex had no friends. He ate lunch in his alchemy session (revealed in Lodestar) and got ignored/bullied by the other kids at Foxfire, including Fitz and Biana Vacker because his parents were a bad match.

In Latin, the name "Dexter" means "right-handed", "fortunate", "skilful", or "the one who dyes." His last name Dizznee sounds a lot like the human company Disney, which made Dex think that he had his own land when Sophie showed him pictures from her scrapbook of her at Disneyland.

## Appearance

Dex has strawberry blonde hair, periwinkle eyes, and prominent dimples that show up when he smiles. He is described as short and skinny up until his growth spurt in *Neverseen*. His growth spurt continues in *Nightfall*, growing to be the same height as Keefe. As of *Exile*, it is revealed that he has a burn scar below his ribs, the size and shape of a thumbprint, a souvenir from his and Sophie's kidnapping in *Keeper of the Lost Cities*. This was given to him by Brant, who tortured him while they were held hostage.

## Personality

Dex’s personality fluctuates often, ranging from pushy and competitive to kind and gentle. For example, in *Nightfall*, Sophie describes him as both pouty and pushy on the occasion, but also hilarious and brilliant. It seems that when he was younger and wanted something, such as attention, he’d become obviously jealous and would try to worm his way into things. However, as he got older, this trait changed a bit, and he became better at hiding it. Throughout the book series, he has also been an amazing friend to Sophie and the others, proving his loyalty to them time and time again, even going as far as to ignore threats directed at himself if it means keeping one of them safe.

In addition, it can be noted that he cares deeply for his family despite acting annoyed or upset with them on the occasion. Dex has two little brothers named Lex and Rex and a little sister named Bex. They are triplets, which are extremely rare and frowned upon in the Lost Cities. Dex's parents were ruled a bad match because Kesler is talentless, while Juline is a Froster, and no talentless may be matched as matching relies significantly on abilities. Dex is picked on by people like Stina because of this, though he is always ready and willing to defend each member of his family.

## Abilities/Skills

Dex is a Technopath, which he describes as being able to ask mechanical and electric devices how to do what he wants and have them respond. He has been shown to be able to break through the security of a human ATM, human locks, and an Elvin lock. He wanted to keep this ability a secret so he could stay in his ability detecting class, in hope of activating a "better" ability. He thought that being a Technopath was a weak power and others would think he got the ability as a result of his parent's bad match. In *Everblaze*, Sandor informs Dame Alina, who was principal at the time, of Dex's ability and she places him with the tutor Lady Iskra. Although frustrated at first, Dex comes to love and appreciate the ability.

Dex is very talented, and he has created several gadgets, such as the panic switch Sophie wears if she needs reinforcements in case of an emergency, the Sucker Punch bracelets he made for him and his friends to enhance a punch, and the ability-restricting circlet he made complying with the Council's request, without knowing that it would be used to restrict Sophie's abilities. In *Neverseen*, he created two important gadgets, the Twiggler and the Evader.

His gadgets sometimes cause trouble, such as the ability-restricting circlet. Dex created this circlet after the Councillors asked him to make weapons. However, when Sophie used her abilities for actions related to the Black Swan, they were considered treasonous against the Council. The Council ended up using the circlet to take away Sophie's abilities, with only three Councillors on her side. The circlet caused her to have numerous headaches and abrasions and also caused her to stay in at Havenfield and sleep for three days.

Dex is very good at alchemy and elixir brewing. He helps out in his father's apothecary, Slurps and Burps. He is mostly shown making prank elixirs, but his father lets him help with serious medical elixirs, including Sophie's Limbium-free Fade Fuel. In *Lodestar*, he displays his skills as an alchemist to make Sophie a bottle of Panakes perfume using the petals from Calla's Panakes.

Aside from these abilities, Dex has also been shown to have more skill training than his friends. He learned how to regulate his body temperature, and also mentions that he can regulate his breathing in *Neverseen*. He is also shown levitating effortlessly in later on in the book. It is likely that this is due to his father being talentless, and his early beliefs that he would end up the same way. People make fun of him for it, but it comes in handy throughout the books.

## Involvement

### Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities

Dex is introduced when Sophie and Edaline go to visit Slurps and Blurps in Mysterium. They talk about starting Foxfire and soon become friends, with Sophie inviting Dex to Havenfield. Dex helps Sophie get through her first days in Foxfire, even though he gets detention for the first couple of days for getting into an argument with Stina. He helped Sophie with their Universe assignment, which leads to him attending her Tribunal because of her finding the star, Elementine. However, when Sophie grows closer with Fitz and Biana, he, who doesn't like the Vacker family, treats her coldly and feels she prefers them over him. By the end of the book, when Sophie is upset at Biana for befriending her because of Alden and runs into a cave, Dex follows her to see if she is alright and gets captured by the Neverseen alongside her. Dex is believed to be dead by his family and friends, who plant a Wanderling for him, but is actually enduring ten days of being unconscious and drugged. However, he and Sophie are saved by Mr. Forkle, who leaves them in Paris with vague instructions of how to return to the Lost Cities. Sophie manifests new abilities and he realises he might be a Technopath. These abilities both help them getting back home, although Dex loses consciousness and has to be leaped back with Sophie, who begins to fade. They are both saved by Fitz and Keefe when they return. Dex is last seen in the book at Sophie's second Tribunal, where she is pardoned for going to the Lost Cities.

### Book 2: Exile

Dex is first seen in the book searching for a sasquatch with Sophie, until she finds an alicorn instead. Later in the book, during Alden’s planting, Sophie finds Dex crying when he saw his own tree. Sophie reassures him that she cried when she saw hers as well.

### Book 3: Everblaze

Dex is not at Kenrics funeral and apologizes about not being there because the council had an assignment for him. He later tells Sophie that the council wanted him to make an Ability Restrictor and Sophie and Fitzroy Avery Vacker, who are unsure about the idea. Later when the council uses it on Sophie, Dex feels awful. He later burns it after helping Sophie rescue Grady Ruewen and stop Brant. He also tells Sophie that he is going with her to the Black Swan.

### Book 4: Neverseen

Dex goes with the main group to the Black Swan. He meets the The Collective not knowing that his mother Juline Kalea Dizznee is apart of the Black Swan. He makes a device and it hurts Fitz causing him to feel guilty. He meets Linh Hai Song and Tam Dai Song as well and takes a liking to them. When he finds out that Alvar kidnapped him he is said to be trembling. When he finds that Keefe Sencen ran off to join them, he cries.

### Book 5: Lodestar

When he finds out that Sophie, Fitz, Tam and the others went to the place he was being held captive, he felt upset. He also finds out that his mother is Squall and is upset. Later he does forgive her, and he and Biana, Sophie, and Fitz look through scrolls bout Alvar. Other than that, he mainly takes the backseat throughout the book.

### Book 7: Flashback

Dex rescues Sophie, Fitz, Grizel, and Sandor when they are attacked by the Neverseen. He is also at Alvar 's trial, and makes the device around his ankle, The Warden, which later does not work. This is because of the Null on Sophie, so they could not stop him. He is present at the Battle of Everglen towards the end of the book.

### Book 8: Legacy

Dex is appointed a part of Team Valiant. He goes to meetings and is one of the first, and only, to know that Sophie is unmatchable. He also is in the final battle towards the end of the book.

### Book 8.5: Unlocked

Dex helps Keefe Sencen with his new abilities. He uses his little siblings as test devices, and says no to Keefe when he asks for a ability restrictor. He also discovers that Rex Dizznee, his little brother, is talentless, crushing him.

## Relationships

### Sophie Elizabeth Foster

* **Best friend / Adoptive cousin / Former crush/ First kiss**

Sophie is Dex's best friend and he first meets her when she visits Slurps and Burps with Edaline. Dex obviously has a crush on her and the two are quite close. It does not seem, however, that Sophie reciprocates his romantic feelings, although she certainly cares strongly for Dex as a best friend. At the end of *Keeper of the Lost Cities*, she nearly faded away in order to protect him when they leapt away from their kidnappers.

In *Nightfall,* after Dex gives her a pair of crush cuffs to block her Enhancing, Sophie kisses Dex and the two realize that there was no spark and that it would be best to remain as friends. The two feel awkward around each other for a long period of time throughout the book until Dex speaks to Sophie at Foxfire, confronting her about her "zombie state", and decide to stay away from one another sitting together. The two are still close friends, and even though they agreed to keep it this way. At first Dex had some adjustment issues, which involved isolation. But now he is closer than ever to Sophie, he is truly her best friend.

### Kesler Dizznee

* **Father**

Kesler is Dex's father and the owner of Slurps and Burps. Dex constantly helps Kesler make elixirs, including Fade Fuel without the limbium for Sophie. Kesler is Talentless and so people call him a 'bad match' for Juline, his wife. It's shown that Dex cares very much about Kesler.

When Juline was revealed to be Squall in *Lodestar*, both Kesler and Dex are upset that she had lied to them for so many years, though Kesler forgives Juline very quickly.

### Juline Dizznee

* **Mother**

Juline is Dex's mother and has triplets, a rare thing in the Elvin world. It is shown that they both care for each other a lot.

In *Lodestar* it is revealed that Juline is actually Squall, one of the members of the Black Swan's Collective, along with Mr. Forkle, Granite, Wraith, Blur, and is a Froster

Dex was extremely hurt when he discovered this because Juline did not tell him sooner but later forgives her. Dex is also extremely upset when he finds out about the Great Forkle Reappearance (as named by Keefe), because Dex knew that she already knew that he wasn't truly dead. His relationship with his mother had been a bit strained throughout the books, but it does show how much Dex still loved her and cares for her.

### Lex, Bex, and Rex

* **Younger siblings**

Dex's younger siblings are always noisily quarrelling and playing pranks, and Dex thinks they can be very annoying but others think they are great. The triplets love to embarrass Dex, but despite it all, he still cares for them very much as seen when he expresses his wish not to have the triplets experience the same shame he experienced as a child of a bad match. He also is known for giving them prank elixirs when he needs to "ditch Lovise".

### Lovise

* **Bodyguard**

Lovise is Dex's bodyguard. Sophie states in *Legacy* that the two are known for sticking together, most likely due to Dex's want for a bodyguard as he told Sophie in the second book.

Though they seem to have a good relationship, Dex did use the triplets once to distract her in order to sneak away with Mr. Forkle, who was taking him to meet Tinker (who is uncomfortable with goblins).

### Edaline Ruewen

* **Aunt**

Edaline is always nice to Dex. In *Neverseen*, Dex sniffles when he sees Edaline because she looks like his mother.

Edaline, after seeing Dex, pulls him in for a hug and comments that Juline will be jealous that she got to see Dex.

### Grady Ruewen

* **Uncle**

Grady likes Dex and he usually sees him when he goes over to Havenfield to see Sophie.

Grady always tries to push Sophie towards Dex (and away from Keefe), although after they kiss, Sophie figures she had better tell Grady what had happened, presumably to stop him from pushing anymore.

### Keefe Sencen

* **Close Friend/Possible love interest**

Keefe meets Dex through Sophie. In *Everblaze*, when it is revealed, Dex is a Technopath, Keefe begins planning various schemes with him. Keefe and Dex both like to tease Sophie and Fitz about being Cognates. Keefe often jokes with Dex about pranking Councillor Alina (when she had been the principal of Foxfire Academy) with elixirs and using his Technopathic skills to make elaborate schemes, which Dex always declines.

Dex and Keefe seem to become very good friends during *Neverseen,* sharing a Lufterator when fleeing to the Black Swan. The two both use the nickname "Wonderboy" for Fitz. This is most likely due to many girls liking Fitz, including Sophie. They have also grown closer as friends as Fitz and Keefe's friendship becomes more strained.

Keefe is always trying to tell Dex that being a Technopath is cool and that he doesn't need to keep it a secret.

Throughout the books, specifically *Legacy,* the two can be seen hanging out with each other more and more as other friendships grow strained.

In Book 8.5: Unlocked, Dex helps Keefe when he manifests his ability by giving him different elixirs and gadgets. Dex is the only person as of Unlocked who knows that Keefe sensed the Dizznee triplets' abilities.

### Fitz Vacker

* **Friend/Former foe/Possible love interest**

Dex used to not like the Vackers because of them being one of the noblest families in the Lost Cities, while Dex is a child of a “bad match”. Evidently, also because Dex is well aware that Sophie could possibly have feelings for Fitz, and most likely does. When they are first in a situation together, although they seem to have met before, Dex says he knows Fitz, but Fitz says he doesn't know Dex, making the conversation extremely awkward. Dex was under the impression that Fitz thinks he is better than Dex and thus did not bother to remember his name or how to say it correctly, as Fitz had called him 'Deck' the first time they met.

Dex always referred to Fitz as "Wonderboy" because he hated that Fitz is seemingly "perfect." When Fitz and Sophie are splotching he cheers for Sophie. He is shown to be happy when Fitz got slammed into the wall much harder than Sophie. Dex also got upset when he found out she would be having telepathy training with Fitz because he feels that Fitz is hogging Sophie.

When Sophie found out about Biana being told to be her friend, Fitz sent Dex to go talk to her, as Dex has a strong relationship with Sophie. Dex was really upset when he found out that Sophie and Fitz have telepathy training together because he felt like Fitz was hogging Sophie.

However, in Book 4: *Neverseen*, Dex is the one who leaps Fitz back to Physic after they break Prentice out of Exile and blames himself for Fitz's injury. They have a conversation, get over their prejudices, and become friends.

### Biana Vacker

* **Friend/Former Foe/Possible love interest**

At the beginning of the series, Biana and Dex do not interact much. They do not hate each other, but they don't exactly like each other either.

In *Lodestar*, after being the only two left behind from another of Sophie's adventurers, Biana proposes that she and Dex create their own separate group. Later, during a stay at Dex's house, Biana gives him a makeover by doing his hair. Dex uses this new hairstyle throughout the sixth book.

Furthermore, the two can be seen cracking jokes with each other and becoming much closer friends in *Legacy*, and both are apart of Team Valiant.

### Linh Song

* **Friend/Possible love interest**

When Linh uses her hydrokinesis, both Dex and Fitz usually say, "Wow." It is unknown whether Dex said it because of her amazing powers, or if he is romantically interested in her. (Granted, Fitz exactly the same reaction when Linh uses her ability in amazing ways, and he's romantically interested in Sophie.)

### Tam Song

* **Friend/Possible love interest**

Dex and Tam have a mutual friendship and consider each other friends. While staying at Alluveterre in *Neverseen*, Dex offers to share his room with Tam before they head to Ravagog. In later books, there is slight teasing between the two, and they are both pulled into a hug by Alden in *Flashback* after saving Fitz and Sophie.

### Marella Redek

* **Friend/Possible love interest**

Dex and Marella are friendly towards each other and have not shown any dislike.

In *Lodestar*, Dex talks to Marella while he is back at Foxfire briefly, and Sophie sees them: according to her, it looks as if Marella is crying, while Dex comforts her.

### Stina Heks

* **Rival/Frenemy/Possible love interest**

Dex and Stina have a long-running battle of mean pranks on each other since Pre-Keeper. Dex made Stina bald, and in return, Stina put a muskog in Dex's locker. Dex also gave Stina a beard, which was added as an extra pranking feature for her in the hairoids.

Stina has constantly held the fact that Dex's parents are a bad match over his head, however, the two have begun to grow closer starting in *Legacy*.

They are both now a part of Team Valiant.

### Iggy

* **Pet/Test subject**

Starting from early in the series, Dex would dye Iggy different colors with different elixirs and give him different hairdos. These colors are pink, orange, purple, green, yellow, ice blue, and mermaid colors (blue, purple, and green).

He seems to be one of the most gifted characters with animals, besides Sophie and Keefe.

## Reference

Information sourced from the Keeper of the Lost Cities Wiki