Stephanie Edgley/Valkyrie Cain


Stephanie Edgley is introduced at the start of the book when her wealthy uncle, Gordon Edgley, a writer of horror fiction, dies under mysterious circumstances. He leaves Stephanie (whom he was especially fond of) his mansion and his fortune in his will. Stephanie is depicted as an exceptionally mature and independent girl who possesses great confidence and self-esteem. Skulduggery says that she is much like her uncle whom he describes as "strong-willed, intelligent, sharp-tongued, doesn't suffer fools gladly." Stephanie proves herself to possess all these qualities in spades and she and Skulduggery frequently exchange witty banter. Although the two annoy each other considerably they do have a great respect and affection for one another. She is told by Solomon Wreath that she would have great potential as a necromancer at the end of the third book, and in the fourth book he says that she may even surpass Lord Vile, once the most powerful of the Necromancers.



Stephanie is extremely brave to the point of being fearless and possesses a great desire for adventure and discovering the unknown. She does not have many friends her age and laments the boredom of her dull ordinary life in the village in which she lives. Stephanie appears to possess considerable physical strength for a twelve year-old girl and exhibits aptitude in swimming, running and fighting. At the end of the first book she also displays magical powers, confirming that she is part of the ancient race of mages that banished the faceless ones. Stephanie is the last person to look inside the book of names before it was destroyed, and thus the only person who knows her own true name, which is Darquesse . In the second book of the series, Stephanie's fighting skills have improved but she seems somewhat more insecure than before. She is also much more passive. Throughout the book numerous adults ignore and patronise her and various characters (including her cousins) refer to her as a child, something which Valkyrie was established in the first book as hating. She says nothing however and does not even complain. She kills the Grotesquery (a hybrid form made by Baron Vengeous from the remains of a Faceless One) with Tanith Low's sword, and when she's surprised she and Skulduggery haven't died, Skulduggery says, "Of course not. I'm too clever to die and you're too pretty." In the third book she uses the Sceptre of the Ancients to kill a Faceless One and another Faceless One dies by destroying it. In the fourth book she travels into what Skulduggery calls hell, the dimension in which the Faceless Ones were trapped, in order to rescue Skulduggery. As of the fourth book she is in a relationship with teleporter Fletcher Renn.In the third book valkrie and Fletcher become friends but as soon as he see's Tanith he develops a chrush on her,but,Fletcher see's through the corse of the third book that Tanith hates him(it's ovious see'ed go out wiht me)and he tirns back to Valkrie and they share there first kiss befor she go to save Skulduggery.Then at the end of the forth book Valkrie can't help but snog him and tell everyone that they are now a couple(I wish I was with her). At the end of the fourth book a "Dream Whisperer" that Cassandra Pharos gave her is seen whispering a dream that reveals Valkyrie's true name is Darquesse, someone who is said to destroy the world.