Violet Sorrengail is the novel’s protagonist and narrator. She is petite, with hair that starts brown but fades to silver in a natural ombre. While Violet is still in the womb, her mother suffers a fever that results in Violet being born with an unnamed disability. Violet is prone to injury, often breaking bones or spraining joints; she has a weakness in her ligaments that must be addressed through specific training, and she has chronic pain. Her frailty results in her childhood training to become a scribe. However, after her father’s death, her mother, the general of the war college, forces Violet to conscript into the Rider’s Quadrant, where her intellect becomes her main asset as she trains. Although Violet remains physically weaker than most of her peers, she ultimately bonds with two dragons and receives the rare, powerful ability of channeling lightning.

Violet’s journey is one of self-acceptance and self-worth. At the beginning of the novel, she is looked down upon for her physical weaknesses and only infrequently complimented on her intellect, which is seen as less of a boon than strength or viciousness. She shares this negative outlook, believing herself to be physically incapable of achieving what stronger candidates can.