Vampire Academy

Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir is Rose’s best friend and an occasional third-person narrator in the text. Even so, her perspective of events is always mediated through Rose’s first-person narration because the two share a psychic bond that allows Rose to be fully aware of whatever Lissa is directly experiencing. Lissa is highly empathic, and this trait is implied to be connected to her “spirit” powers, which allow her to compel others to follow her will. Additionally, she can heal injured creatures and even resurrect those who have died. As the novel progresses, Lissa and Rose learn that Lissa once unknowingly resurrected Rose after a car crash, and this act forged their psychic bond. Lissa often feels compelled to use her magical powers to help injured creatures or to influence others, and she finds herself unable to curb this tendency even though her powers negatively affect her mental health.

As a result of these stresses and traumas in her life, Lissa struggles with self-harm. This tendency is eventually ameliorated when she begins taking antidepressants at the end of the novel, though she laments that this medication makes her unable to access her magical powers. As a royal Moroi, Lissa is often at the center of St. Vladimir’s Academy social life; she sometimes uses this situation for personal gain and then shifts toward a more prudent course of action, maintaining a low profile. At the end of the novel, Lissa chooses to spend more time with Christian, her genuine love interest, and she also commits to spending more time with Rose as well. She also chooses to avoid engaging in the politicking of the school’s popular crowd, a decision that makes her happier than her efforts at social networking ever did.

Dimitri Belikov is Rose’s mentor and illicit love interest. He is an experienced guardian who has killed six Strigoi, and Rose finds this track record impressive. Dimitri is observant and intelligent enough to immediately recognize that Rose and Lissa have a psychic bond, despite the fact that such things are more legendary than commonplace. He is also a focused and determined instructor, drilling Rose relentlessly in the fundamentals of her training rather than allowing her to tackle more exciting combat techniques. Although Rose initially dislikes this approach and assumes that it is a punishment for her two years on the run with Lissa, she eventually comes to accept and understand Dimitri’s teachings, which causes her feelings for him to grow.

Dimitri and Rose increasingly bond over their perspective on the importance of guardianship work and the emotional struggle of killing Strigoi, especially since Strigoi were once human, Moroi, or dhampir. Dimitri is conflicted about his feelings for Rose, which he views as inappropriate (due to their age gap) and dangerous (due to their mutual goal to protect Lissa from harm).

Victor Dashkov is Lissa’s distant uncle and the primary antagonist in the novel. For much of the text, he presents himself as a benevolent, fatherly figure, though his decision to show greater attention to the higher-ranked and more powerful Lissa than to his own daughter, Natalie, foreshadows his nefarious intent. Victor suffers from Sandovsky’s Syndrome, a degenerative disease that afflicts Moroi. This condition has made him unable to pursue the Moroi throne, a role for which he sees himself as the best candidate. Victor is ambitious and selfish, urging Others (such as Lissa and Natalie) to sacrifice themselves on his behalf, though he argues that his approach is intended to honor the greater good of the Moroi. At the end of the novel, Victor is kidnapped by vampire authorities, but he insists that his bid for power is not over.

Natalie Dashkov is Lissa’s roommate and distant cousin. She is a secondary antagonist in the novel. Despite her connections to royalty, Natalie has low social status at St. Vladimir’s Academy, which Rose speculates is due to her annoying chatter and her lack of intelligence. Rose encourages Lissa to pursue a social connection to Natalie, due to her assumption that this will protect Lissa from becoming a target of the school gossips. At the end of the novel, Natalie is revealed to have been working for her father, Victor. Throughout the novel, she acts on his orders and leaves numerous dead or injured animals for Lissa to find; this is intended to be an enticement for Lissa to use her healing powers. Natalie becomes a Strigoi at her father’s behest and is killed by Dimitri shortly thereafter.