Emma Carstairs

Emma Carstairs
Biographical information
Full name:	Emma Cordelia Carstairs
Born:	1995
Age:	12 (as of 2007) 17 (as of 2013)
Residence:	Los Angeles Institute
Known relatives
Family:	Jem Carstairs (distant relative) John Carstairs † (father) Cordelia Townsend † (mother)
Affiliation
Parabatai:	Julian Blackthorn
Allegiance:	The Clave
Status
Status:	Alive
Physical description
Gender:	Female
Hair color:	Blond
Eye color:	Brown

Emma Carstairs is a Shadowhunter that has lived most of her life in the Los Angeles Institute.

Biography

Early life

Emma was born in 1995 to Cordelia and John Carstairs. Living in Los Angeles, the Carstairs family maintained good relations with the Blackthorns. Not only did she spend most of her time at the local Institute to train, but Emma also became good friends with the children residing in the Institute, the children of the head, Andrew Blackthorn.

Emma became particularly close with Julian Blackthorn, whom she has known since they were both young and has since grown up with.

Dark War

In December 2007, Emma was dropped off by her parents at the Institute to train with her friends, the Blackthorn children. Shortly afterwards, Sebastian Morgenstern arrived and wreaked havoc. Eventually, Emma and the other children escaped through Portal and arrived at Idris.

There, she was told that her parents died the same evening. Good friends and now both orphans, Emma and Jules mourned and helped each other through the ordeal. During the investigation afterwards, Emma and the others were all brought in front of the Clave, all of them questioned with the Mortal Sword, inciting her fury. To help ease her pain, she was approached by Clary Fray, and both took a liking to each other.

At one point, Emma stole her parents' file from the Consul. With it, she realized that her parents in fact died under strange circumstances, though because of the situation, the Clave decided to blame the deaths on the Dark Shadowhunters. Her resolve was since formed, and Emma made it a goal to find out the truth behind her parents' deaths. After the Dark War, the Clave planned to either send Emma to distant relatives in different countries, or the Shadowhunter Academy in Idris. Realizing that she needed to stay in Los Angeles, she accepted Jules' offer to become parabatai, and the Clave had no choice but to send her back to los Angeles with the Blackthorns.

Before leaving Alicante with the Blackthorns via Portal, Jace Herondale, a famous Shadowhunter whom she idolized, gave her his first stele.

Later life

During the battle, a former Silent Brother called Zachariah went to great lengths to protect Emma and the Blackthorn children. Unbeknownst to her, Zachariah is in fact a distant relative—Jem Carstairs. While he did not tell her who he was, he hinted at it by referring to her by her full name. After the war, it was not only her new friend Clary who worried about her, but also Jem and Tessa Gray, both of whom decided to return to Los Angeles to keep an eye on Emma.

Emma attended Jem and Tessa's wedding on Blackfriars Bridge in 2009, where she was seen hugging Jem, whom she may or may not already know is a Carstairs.

Being exposed to violence at a young age caused Emma to dedicate her life not only to hunt down those responsible for killing her parents, but also to ridding the world of demons and striving to become the fastest, fiercest, most determined Shadowhunter since Jace Herondale.

Living at the Institute as a ward, Emma became great friends with the newcomer Cristina Rosales. Her feelings for her parabatai Jules also unfortunately developed further, though she knows that she cannot act upon it as it is forbidden to be with him by Shadowhunter Law. Over the course of five years, Emma continued to harbor these secret feelings for him; however, Emma chose to divert her attention elsewhere and has been with several, apparently even dozens of, Shadowhunter boyfriends during that time. As of 2013, Emma had already lost her virginity, and is still with a certain red-haired boyfriend.

Personality and traits

“	Oh dear, did I just drop that giant broadsword on your head? I guess I did! Must be because I'm blonde.	”
–Emma, Cassandra Clare on Tumblr

Emma likes to fight, train and kill things—it's her passion. She is a fierce warrior and is very skilled for someone her age, attaining her aptitude by striving hard towards a purpose. She is also said to be sarcastic but is easily offended and has a temper; for instance, telling blonde jokes in front of her is a good way to find yourself at the hospital. She fights left handed and is especially caring towards the Blackthorns.

Physical description

Emma has brown eyes, pale blond hair, usually braided back or up in a bun for efficiency's sake but keeps it long for sentimental reasons, and pale skin. As an effect of working extraordinarily hard at her training, her body is strong and tough. She has a bad scar up her right arm, which she got when she was young for hugging her sword Cortana, that she's both proud of yet a little self conscious about.

Abilities

• Nephilim Physiology: Being Nephilim, Emma possesses a variety of enhanced physical and mental abilities granted to her by the blood of Raziel in her veins and also by the angelic Marks of the Gray Book. She also has power to perform tasks unique to their species, such as the ability to use and call on the power of angels for their seraph blades. This includes enhanced strength, agility, stamina, and coordination, which only improves over time and practice—something which Emma has enough of, given that she is pretty determined to become the best Shadowhunter of her time.
• Runic Magic: Due to the angel blood in their veins, all Shadowhunters are able to apply runes on their skin without any real danger. These Marks, in turn, give varied effects that serve to benefit the wearer.

Possessions

• Stele: On of the many standard Shadowhunter gear; used to apply runes.
• Cortana: A sword that has been passed down through the Carstairs family for generations. A shortsword with a simple bare blade, save for the inscription down the blade, describing its forging, which reads, "I am Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durendal."
• Others: Emma apparently favors the repeating crossbow and wind-and-fire wheels as her primary weapons.

Appearances

• City of Heavenly Fire (first appearance)
• Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (set to appear)
  • The Fiery Trial (set to appear)
• Lady Midnight

Gallery

Main page: Emma Carstairs/Gallery

Official illustrations

• Emma & Jules

1/5

Etymology

Emma's middle name, Cordelia, was either derived from her own mother's name, or the name of a distant Carstairs ancestor, Cordelia Carstairs, or both.

Trivia

• Emma and Jules are set to have their parabatai ritual around the time when they are both fifteen, two years before Lady Midnight. Best friends Clary Fray and Simon Lewis, who intend to become parabatai themselves, are set to witness the ritual, upon Emma's request.
• She keeps knives in her boots and likes to drive fast.
• Because of the nature of her parent's death, Emma has become petrified of the ocean; specifically, Emma "has nightmares about being pinned down at the bottom of the ocean with thousands of tons of black water on top of her."
• Emma, unlike her ancestors, is a terrible violin player.
• She was initially meant to have dark blue eyes before it was changed to brown.