Will Parry (His Dark Materials)

Did You Know?

• In the unabridged audio books, Will's role is read by Steven Webb in The Subtle Knife and by Peter England in The Amber Spyglass.
• In the BBC's dramatisation he was played by Daniel Anthony, and in the National Theatre's 2003 production by Dominic Cooper.
• In the BBC adaptation of His Dark Materials, Will is portrayed by Amir Wilson.

Description

Will is the only child of John Parry, an explorer and former Royal Marine, and Elaine Parry, who suffers from mental health problems. He has cared for his mother since he was young and lives with her and their cat Moxie in Winchester. His father vanished on an Arctic expedition when Will was a baby, later revealed to have wandered into another world. Will has straight black eyebrows, dark hair, a strong jutting jaw, a stocky and muscular build, and dark fierce eyes that most characters avoid looking into directly.

Depictions vary: the US edition cover shows fair brown hair, while the Spanish edition gives him reddish hair. He is quieter than Lyra, serious, courteous, and possesses a strong moral sense, even paying for items taken from the empty city of Cittàgazze. Will is self-assured, stands up for himself and friends, and demonstrates bravery despite disliking fighting. Other characters often find him fierce and intimidating, and he is exceptionally independent for his age.

Dæmon

In The Amber Spyglass, Will is forced to separate from part of his soul during his journey into the Land of the Dead, which proves to be his dæmon, previously living unseen inside him. Near the novel's end, Lyra touches the dæmon—an intimate and usually forbidden act—and it settles as a large cat with lustrous, subtle-coloured fur. The witch Serafina Pekkala names the dæmon Kirjava, meaning 'mottled' in Finnish. Unusually, Kirjava can move far from Will, farther than normal dæmon limits. This ability allows her and Pantalaimon to run away from Will and Lyra after being rescued, punishing the children for abandoning them when entering the Land of the Dead. During their absence they travel through many worlds, eventually reconciling, but they agree to keep their experiences secret until they deem the time right.

Role

At the start of The Subtle Knife, Will seeks the truth about his father's disappearance and searches his house for a box of his mother's letters containing clues. Government agents break in early morning, also searching for the letters. Will finds them, flees, and accidentally kills one of the men. He goes to Oxford to speak to his father's lawyer and, while looking for a place to sleep, discovers an interdimensional window to Cittàgazze.

There he meets Lyra, a girl from another world. Lyra learns Will's world has an Oxford and decides to visit physicists there to discuss Dust. Will returns with her but learns little about his father from the solicitor or library. Reading his mother's letters, he discovers his father disappeared while exploring an 'anomaly' in Alaska—a window to Cittàgazze like the one Will found.

Lyra's alethiometer is stolen by Sir Charles Latrom in Oxford. Will confronts Sir Charles, who offers to return it only in exchange for the Subtle Knife, located in the Torre degli Angeli in Cittàgazze. Sir Charles cannot retrieve it due to Spectres that feed on adult consciousness. Will and Lyra search the tower but are attacked by another man wanting the knife.

They overcome him and win the knife, but Will loses the little and ring fingers of his left hand. The knife's original owner explains this injury is the knife's 'mark', indicating the knife must pass to Will, and instructs him in its use before encouraging them to leave, intending suicide to avoid the Spectres.