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Heroes aren't always the ones who win. They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes.

–Clary to Emma

Clary Fairchild
TMI101 Clary01
Biographical Information
Full name: Clarissa Adele Fairchild-Morgenstern
Clarissa Adele Fray
Born: August 23, 1993;
Manhattan, New York City
Age: 16 (as of 2009)
22 (as of 2015)
Status: Alive
Also known as: Clary Fray
Mary Morgenstern (by George Lovelace)
Affiliation
Species: Shadowhunter
Residence: Brooklyn, New York City
Relationships
Family: Valentine Morgenstern † (father)
Luke Garroway (stepfather)
Jocelyn Fray (mother)
Jonathan Morgenstern † (brother)
Maddox King (adoptive brother)
Valentina Graymark (illusionary sister)
Fairchild family
Morgenstern family
Physical Description
Gender: Female
Hair color: Red
Eye color: Green
Height: Around 5'2"

Clarissa Adele "Clary" Fairchild, also known as Clary Fray, is the Shadowhunter daughter of Jocelyn Fray and notorious Circle leader Valentine Morgenstern. For years, Clary lived a mundane life with Jocelyn, until the return of her father and her brother, Jonathan, threatened her new world, throwing their lives out of balance as Clary found herself in a journey with fellow Shadowhunters to stop them.

Subject to her father's experiments, Clary was unwittingly given extra angel blood and, through this, the ability to recall powerful, ancient runes not written in the Gray Book.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Clarissa Adele Morgenstern was born to Valentine and Jocelyn Morgenstern on August 23, 1991, roughly a year after her older brother, Jonathan.

Jocelyn had turned against her father's ideals months before her conception. During the time after her mother's first child was born, she was suffering depression because of her strange feelings of rejection towards her son. Hoping to help Jocelyn, Valentine secretly gave her doses of the angel Ithuriel's blood, hoping to "cure" her depression, unaware that she was pregnant with Clary, therefore making his daughter an "accidental" experiment.

Eventually, Jocelyn plotted the Uprising with Lucian Graymark against Valentine. She would have just left him, but realized that he would come after them, so she hoped to kill Valentine to protect her unborn child. During the Uprising, Valentine told Jocelyn that she would pay for what she had done. Jocelyn raced to her house, with Lucian, only to find it burned to the ground, with her parents', son's, and Valentine's bones. Jocelyn cried and mourned her lost son, but knew that Valentine was really alive. She then ran from the Shadowhunter world and culture, claiming that Valentine had turned her first child into a monster and wouldn't let him do the same to her other, and fled to New York to raise Clary away from her past, where Luke later followed them.

Jocelyn hoped that Clary would have a blind Inner Eye since some Shadowhunters need to be trained to see the Shadow World. However, Clary saw the Shadow World perfectly fine, and when she was three, Clary even played with faeries in the park. This prompted her mother to approach Magnus Bane and ask him to remove her Inner Eye. Unable to do so without putting Clary at risk, Magnus instead created a glamour in her mind that would make Clary forget what she saw of the Shadow World even as she saw it, with a complicated spell that needed to be recast every two years.

Along with Magnus on the day Jocelyn approached him was Tessa Gray, who volunteered to perform the ritual that would place the necessary protection spells on her, typically performed on Shadowhunter children by an Iron Sister and a Silent BrotherBrother Zachariah in her case. Clary and Jocelyn then took the surname "Fray". Jocelyn claims to have chosen that particular surname because of Tessa - it was a portmanteau of Fairchild and Gray.

Clary was five when Luke finally found her and Jocelyn. Seeing how well Clary got along with him, Jocelyn allowed Luke to stay and become a staple part of their lives. In fact, he became so intermixed with Clary's life that they began to share an almost paternal relationship, with Clary admitting that she has always seen Luke as her father. When Clary was six years old, she met Simon Lewis and the two grew to be inseparable. Simon was so much a part of her life that he went to Luke's farmhouse with her in the summers on vacation. He regularly spent the night at her house and her at his where they'd stay up all night talking. However, Simon eventually fell in love with Clary, and he hid it poorly from everyone except her, who was rather oblivious to his feelings for her. Clary never knew of his feelings and simply thought of him as her best friend, and confidante. The brother that she never had.

Growing up, she was led to believe that her father was a deceased soldier named Jonathan Clark, and that the box in her mother's room with the initials J.C. were his, when it was really her brother's (Jonathan Christopher).

Jocelyn's disappearance[]

Two years after her last session with Magnus Bane, Clary encountered a group of Shadowhunters while at the Pandemonium Club with Simon. She saw them kill a boy, who turned out to be actually an Eidolon demon. When Clary called security, no one else could see the Shadowhunters, but her. It then became clear that Clary's sight was returning. The next day, Clary was told by Jocelyn and Luke that they will be taking a sudden trip to Luke's farmhouse upstate, therefore ruining her plans for the summer. Infuriated, Clary did not listen to their reason and left with Simon, who was mustering the courage to tell Clary about his feelings. Clary was also stalked by one of the Shadowhunters, Jace Wayland, sent by his mentor, Hodge Starkweather.

Later that evening, during a confrontation with Jace, Clary received constant calls from her mother. Although she managed to take her last call, it seemed too late as Jocelyn was telling her to stay away from their apartment. Against her mother's wishes, Clary frantically rushed over to their brownstone, nervous about the panic in her mother's voice and the strange noises she heard while on the phone with Jocelyn. Their home trashed and her mom gone, Clary was then attacked by a Ravener demon. With the Sensor she "borrowed" from Jace and mistook for a phone, Clary killed it but was poisoned in the process. To protect her from demons lurking outside their house, Clary was Marked and brought to the New York Institute to heal, as Jace, still uncertain about what Clary was, feared what the rune might do to Clary.

At the Institute, Clary was introduced to its inhabitants: Hodge, and the other Shadowhunters that were with Jace at the Pandemonium Club, Isabelle and Alec Lightwood. With Hodge's confirmation, it was revealed that Clary was a Shadowhunter.

Clary demanded to be taken to her house to get her things. While she and Jace were there, they were attacked by a Forsaken at the brownstone. Since Madame Dorothea, who claims to be a psychic, lived on the floor below them, Clary gave her a visit to interrogate her about the night her mother disappeared. Madame Dorothea tried to "read" Clary, but couldn't and told them that there was a block in her mind. Clary also learned that her mother was indeed kidnapped and could have fled through the Portal in her apartment, but refused to do so without Clary.

Clary reached out to Luke, who she found out to be a werewolf and former Shadowhunter Lucian Graymark. While he briefly turned her away, it was revealed that he did so to protect her from the Circle members tailing him. Luke took leadership of the local lycanthrope pack to help look after Clary and search for her mother.

With further investigation, which involved a meeting with Silent Brothers at the Silent City, it was revealed that Clary's mind memories of the Shadow World was being filtered and blocked from her mind every two years by the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane. Now aware of her background, Clary learned more about the Shadow World. She was also told more about her family, particularly her parents: Jocelyn Fairchild and her husband Valentine Morgenstern, who plotted against the Clave and was believed to have been dead for years.

While confronting Magnus Bane at a party, they found out that the block cannot be removed, but that it would gradually fade away.

Along the way, Clary fell in love with her new companion Jace. On her birthday, Jace gave Clary her first witchlight, and the pair shared their first kiss in the Institute's greenhouse. They were unable to pursue a relationship due to their other friendships, particularly with Simon and Jace's parabatai Alec, thus complicating things.

Eventually, they discovered that Valentine was after the Mortal Cup, which Jocelyn hid when she ran away from the Shadow World. When Clary discovered that she could hide physical objects in drawings, she realized that her mother may have done the same with the cup. Remembering the Ace of Cups card in the tarot deck Jocelyn made for Madame Dorothea, the group paid the charlatan a visit. Although they retrieved the Cup, Dorothea was possessed by Abbadon and battled the group, gravely injuring Alec, who was later saved by the warlock they met earlier, Magnus Bane.

To their surprise, Hodge, desperate to break his curse, betrayed them by summoning Valentine to the Institute and giving him the Cup and Jace. Luke defended her when he threatened to kill her, and, together with his pack, head over to Renwick's to rescue Jace and Jocelyn. During the confrontation, Valentine revealed that Jace was in fact his and Jocelyn's first child, Jonathan. Jace confirmed this as it was actually Valentine that raised him and made him believe that they were the Waylands. In the confusion, Valentine escaped through the ruin's Portal, taking the Cup with him. Clary managed to convince Jace, who wanted to go after Valentine, to turn his back on their father.

Fortunately, they were able to keep Jocelyn, albeit in her comatose state. Jocelyn was confined to Beth Israel Hospital, where Catarina Loss worked. Clary and Luke visited her every day.

Gift with Marks[]

Now led to believe that they were siblings, Clary and Jace distanced themselves from one another. Clary began seeing Simon, who finally managed to tell her how he feels. However, Clary and Jace evidently still harbored feelings for each other, despite the recent revelation.

Meanwhile, Clary's mother still hadn't woken up, and Jace was being kicked out of his home by Maryse Lightwood. He went to a bar and picked a fight with a werewolf pack, and was saved by Luke Garroway who called Clary.

The three of them went to the Institute and confronted Maryse, who said that the Inquisitor was coming to talk with Jace and she was trying to spare him. When the Inquisitor arrived, she had him locked in the Silent City for his attitude. Clary, Isabelle and Alec went to save Jace and found that Valentine had come in the night and killed Silent Brothers in order to take the Mortal Sword. Clary used an Open rune that blowed Jace's cell door off its hinges and with Alec half-carrying Jace, who could barely stand, they made their way out. When they emerged, the Inquisitor agreed to let Jace stay with Magnus Bane while he recovered. Clary, Jace, Isabelle and Simon went to the Faerie Realm and Clary was supposed to stay because she took Faerie food through a trick. To escape, she kissed Jace passionately making Simon storm off when they got out of the realm. They were at the Institute when Raphael showed up with an almost dead Simon saying he either would be a vampire or he would die. They buried his dead body and Simon was reborn.

After Simon's transformation, Clary came to the hospital, where Jocelyn was, in a search of a comfort. There she met Luke, whilst telling her unconscious mom all that had happened. He dropped her home and drove away, and there was Simon waiting for her, sitting on the porch. Later, Luke came back with, injured by a demon attack, Maia Roberts. Simon and Clary called Jace, and eventually, he came by with Alec and Mangus to help and heal the werewolf girl. Magnus stayed the night to heal Luke and Maia, and Jace did not have any other choice as he had to be where Magnus was.

Simon and Maia were kidnapped by Valentine for a ritual, as he needed blood of a werewolf and a vampire. Alec and Isabelle stayed to warn the Clave, and Clary and Jace went on a rescuing mission with Luke and Magnus. At the river, Clary drew the Fearless rune on Jace. While making their way to Valentine's boat with Luke and Magnus, she was taken by a Demon on the boat. Clary inscribed an Open rune (the one she used on Jace's cell) on the boat which made the it fall apart. At the end as they made their escape it was already sunrise, and they learned that Simon was then able to walk in the sunlight (because of the angel blood in Jace's blood).

Mortal War[]

Madeleine Bellefleur showed up to Clary and told her that her mother can be woken up from her "coma" by a warlock named Ragnor Fell, who lived in Idris. Apparently, the coma was self-induced by a potion from the Book of the White. Clary planned to leave with the members of the New York Institute. Jace called Simon, who was now a Daylighter, to lie and say that Clary cannot come. During their chat, they were attacked by Forsaken and forced to go into the Portal without Clary, but with Simon.

Clary later arrived at the institute and was told by Magnus Bane what happened (leaving out Simon) and that she could no longer go to Idris. Upset, Clary walked off to the side of the institute, where a rune to make a portal popped up in her head. She drew it on the wall and went to Idris, taking Luke with her. They ended up in Lake Lyn, where Clary got sick, as the lake, ever since the angel Raziel was raised in it, was poisonous to Nephilim. Luke then took her to his sister's house, Amatis, where Clary was cured.

When she woke up, she found out that Luke left, because Downworlders aren't allowed in Idris without special permission. Clary then went, disobeying Amatis, to the Penhallow's house, where the Lightwoods were staying. When she knocked on the door, Isebelle opened it and was very surprised. Clary came in, demanding to see Jace, and saw Alec, Max Lightwood, and Sebastian Verlac. They were all equally surprised and tell Clary that Jace was upstairs. Clary walked in and found Jace kissing Aline Penhallow. Jace then screamed at Clary, telling her that she is reckless and never think about her actions.

Clary ran out and Sebastian followed. He walked her to Amatis' house. She told him she was looking for Ragnor Fell and Sebastian said he would help her out. The next day, Clary was woken up by rocks being thrown at her window by Sebastian. She then went with him, on a horse, to Ragnor Fell's house. When they arrived, Clary found Magnus Bane at the house, who froze Sebastian. He told her that Ragnor was dead and that he didn't trust Sebastian. He also said that the Book of White was hidden in the Wayland manor. Magnus then unfroze Sebastian and pretended to be upset and told them nothing.

They left and Sebastian took Clary to the Fairchild manor ruins, where her family had lived. Sebastian then kissed Clary, who decided that it felt wrong and broke away. Sebastian got mad at her all of a sudden, before calming down and telling her that he was sorry. He then revealed that Simon is in prison in the Gard. Sebastian then took Clary back to Amatis' house, where she found Jace. Upset, Clary started throwing plates at him. He calmed her down, and then they used a portal to get to the Wayland manor, to find the Book of White, which Jace, having lived there for ten years, knew just where to find it.

Jocelyn had hidden it in 'Simple Recipes for Housewives', a book she knew that her husband would never open. They discovered the remains of an experiment Valentine had been running on a half-dead angel, called Ithuriel. They then learned through the angel that Jace had demon blood. Jace, after the angel showed them the visions, pulled out a dagger and handed it to the angel. The angel killed himself. The two barely made it out of the house alive when it began to explode and while lying on the ground they shared a brief moment of passionate romance. Clary stopped the two of them when things began to go too far, accusing Jace of using her so he could hate himself when he said he blamed his demon blood for his incestuous feelings for her. The two returned to Alicante and find it in flames. Clary gave the spellbook to Magnus so he could wake up her mother.

Jace, Clary, and Alec left to break Simon out of jail where Simon was kept and broke both him and Samuel, Simon's roommate, out, only to discover that Samuel was actually Hodge Starkweather. He informed them that the mirror, the last of the Mortal Instruments, was actually the Lake Lyn. Hodge was then killed by Sebastian, who claimed that he did it to keep them out of danger. This caused the four to realize that Sebastian was a spy for Valentine, who fled after a difficult battle with them. They returned to the Hall, only to discover that Sebastian had killed Max. After Max's funeral, Jace sneaked into Clary's bedroom and told her he loved her and always will. The two then fell asleep holding hands. The following morning, Jace left a note behind and sneaked off to find Sebastian.

Clary managed to convince the Clave to fight with the Downworlders and taught them a binding rune that the dying angel showed her. It was during this time that she discovered after talking with her mother, who had finally awaken from her coma by Magnus through the spell book, that she had received angel’s blood while in the womb and that Jace was actually the son of Stephen Herondale, son of the last Inquisitor, who had also received angel's blood during his own experiment while he was in his mother's womb. That meant that Jace and Clary were not siblings, and further revealed that Sebastian was actually Clary's brother.

Clary then marked Simon with the Mark of Cain, a powerful protection spell, with the intent of saving him from Raphael, who said that vampires will only fight with Shadowhunters against Valentine if they gave him Simon. The exchange caused the vampires to fight with the Clave. Clary portaled to Lake Lyn to stop Valentine from summoning Raziel, but he used runes to paralyze her body and voice. He then revealed to her his intent of using her as a sacrifice. When Jace arrived to rescue her Valentine used Jace's blood for the sacrifice by stabbing him in the chest, and successfully summoned Raziel. However, Clary managed to put her own mark on the pentagram, which made her the one summoning the angel. Raziel was able to bring Valentine to justice and killed him. When Raziel offered to grant Clary one wish, Clary asked for Jace. Once he was brought back, the town celebrated their victory over Valentine's army. During the celebration, The Seelie Queen asked Clary for a favor but she turned the Queen down stating she had everything she wanted.

Sebastian's return[]

Jace had been having dreams in which he murdered Clary by stabbing her or choking her which had led to stress between the two of them, leading Jace to avoid her. This of course, led Clary to worry what was going on between them. Clary and her mother also discovered that someone was trying to make more children like Jonathan, which again Jocelyn had trouble coming to terms with.

Clary then went to the Church of Talto only to find herself fighting a Hydra demon and was later helped out by Isabelle. Jace and Clary had an intimate moment in one of the spare rooms in the Institute. At the moment of taking a further step in their relationship, Jace injured Clary with a knife. Disturbed by his recent nightmares, Jace broke down and admitted that he'd been having nightmares and that was the reason why he was avoiding Clary. Clary then offered to take him to the Silent City to get help from the Silent Brothers. There, the Silent Brothers said that the nightmares Jace was having was due to his vulnerability to demonic influence, which occurred after Jace was resurrected by the Angel Raziel. All Shadowhunters are subject to a ritual to protect them as infants. As Jace died, it was like he had been reborn without the protection. The Brothers wanted to perform the ritual again to give him the protection performed. Clary wanted to stay with Jace, but the Silent Brothers said that she would be a distraction. Jace told Clary that he would get better for her and Clary promised to see him very soon. Clary and Jace said their goodbyes and Clary left for the night.

Jocelyn and Luke, now engaged, attended an engagement party organized by Luke's werewolf pack, in which Simon disappeared. Clary also disappeared after being secretly kidnapped by Jace, who was under Lilith's influence, and what no one else knew about yet. He had lied to Clary about leaving the Silent Brothers early. Jace told her about a rune that binds them to one another forever. Clary accepted and handed him her stele. He began to draws a rune, but Clary found out too late that this was not the rune he told her about as she began to lose consciousness with Jace catching her and carrying her away. Jace brought Clary to LIlith and she ordered him to kill her if Simon did not resurrect Sebastian.

Clary tricked Jace by saying she did not wish to watch and he embraced her. She then grabbed Jace's knife and cut the rune that Lilith was using to possess him on his chest, causing Jace to be freed from Lilith's control. Jace told Clary to run away, and believed that she did, but then Lilith revealed that Clary stayed and started torturing her with a whip. The third time that she went to hit Clary, Simon killed Lilith by throwing himself between Lilith and Clary (Mark of Cain). Clary was severely injured. Later, Alec gave his stele to Jace to help heal Clary's wounds.

Left alone up on the roof, while the Clave took note of what had happened, Jace and Clary shared an intimate moment. Jace was ashamed of his actions despite literally having no control over himself. Clary told him that she loves him no matter what happens and the two shared a kiss. She then went down to the lobby to meet her mother, Luke, Simon, Maia, Alec, Magnus, and Isabelle, promising to come back in five minutes. However, she did not know that Jace would not be there when she would come back, and then resurrected Sebastian had taken Jace with him.

Spying on Sebastian[]

It had been two weeks after the incident on the rooftop. Jace and Sebastian were still missing, and the Clave used the Mortal Sword to drag any kind of information from Clary, but without success. After being cleared from any wrongdoing, Clary, Alec, Isabelle and Simon went to the Seelie Queen to find any kind of help. For information about Jace, the Seelie Queen requested two faerie rings kept in the New York Institute. Desperate, Clary agreed to the terms and while searching for the rings in a Shadowhunter library, accidentally observed Jace enter the library and speak in friendly terms with Sebastian- which confused Clary, who had been hiding during the conversation. After they left the library, undiscovered Clary went on to tell about what had happened to others.

That night Clary woke to find Jace lying in bed with her, asking her to come with him. Shortly after this, Sebastian entered the room - which was discovered by Jocelyn, who screamed and alerted Luke. Just before the two left, Sebastian managed to stab Luke with silver dagger, but they promised to return for Clary. Clary and her mother, Jocelyn, decided to stay over at Magnus' apartment and soon, Alec, Simon and Isabelle were staying at the apartment too.

She eventually decided to join the two men as a spy while using the Faerie rings to communicate with Simon. During the time spend in Sebastian's hideaway Clary realized that Jace has been possessed by Sebastian, as he acts more like Sebastian than himself. While boys were away, Clary had an opportunity to search Sebastian's room, where she discovered her lost faerie ring. She managed to alert Simon of most of Sebastian's plan and told him to come to the Seventh Sacred Site, but was caught midway through by Sebastian and was forced to destroy the Faerie ring. The two then fought and Sebastian unsuccessfully tried to rape Clary, who managed to escape. She ended up going to the Seventh Site, where Simon gave Clary Raziel's sword, which she used to hunt Sebastian. Unable to reach Sebastian, Clary used the Angel blade to stab Jace, believing that it wouldn't kill him as his heart was more good than evil. Jace was set alight, leading the others to believe that he was dead. However, his heart was still beating and he was taken into the Institute to be cured by Brother Zachariah.

When she was finally allowed to visit Jace, she learned that stabbing him with Glorious had filled him with "sacred fire", which would burn anything he touched whenever Jace got an adrenaline rush.

The Dark War[]

It had been weeks since Sebastian disappeared. Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon and Alec were hanging out in the Central Park and discussing the following events. Especially, how the Clave did not want to admit that Sebastian and his Endarkened army could be a real threat. Isabelle got a call from her mother, instructing her and Alec to return to the Institute; she then convinced Jace to go to Magnus' apartment to talk to him about Alec (as the two broke up, and Alec was pretty upset about it), while Clary and Simon went Christmas shopping. While shopping, Clary and Simon discussed the state of Simon's relationship with Isabelle, and she encouraged Simon to make things official with her. The two were later found by Jocelyn and Luke, who interrupted their shopping date to inform Clary that they received a call for an emergency meeting at the Institute, and they both insisted that she join them.

Once in Idris, Clary, Jocelyn, and Luke arrived to Amatis' old house, where they planned to stay while they were there on Clave and Council business. Exhausted, Clary made her way to the spare bedroom to put away her things. She decided to look through Amatis' trunk of old clothes, where she eventually stumbled upon a white mourning dress and jacket, with runes of mourning and herons (to honor Stephen Herondale's death) on the cuffs. Jocelyn joined her and encouraged Clary to wear Amatis' mourning jacket to the Clave meeting the next morning, as a show of solidarity to all of the Nephilim whose family members were killed or Turned in the Institute attacks. She awoke in the middle of the night and got up for a glass of water, only to stop in the hallway when she heard Jocelyn and Luke's whispered voices. She eavesdropped as Jocelyn explained to Luke that she found something in the cupboard, something she hadn't seen since Valentine stole all of their belongings. Jocelyn admitted she assumed it had been blown up in the explosion in Valentine's old apartment, and after Clary listened a little longer, she eventually realized that Jocelyn was talking about the box with photos of Sebastian, which she took out and cried over every year on his birthday.

Clary met up with Jace before the meeting began, taking note that Maryse and Robert Lightwood were not seen together. She informed Jace about what she overheard, and Jace replied that he thought Sebastian left the box as a message to the Clave and to Jocelyn and Clary that even the wards couldn't keep him out.

At the Clave meeting, Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs were harshly interrogated as to what they saw during an attack on Los Angeles Institute. Clary, feeling bad for what Emma had gone through, rushed back so she could talk to her. Emma quickly warmed up to her, and Clary told her that even heroes lose sometimes, but they keep fighting, because that's what heroes are meant to do. Jace stepped into the room and interrupted their conversation by letting them know the meeting ended. After he left, Emma gushed over Jace, and exclaimed that he was the best Shadowhunter in history. When Clary replied that he was her friend, Emma grinned and corrected her by saying that Jace was her ‘boyfriend’, because according to Emma, everyone knew Jace Lightwood's girlfriend was Clary Fairchild. Before Clary left, she promised Emma that she could come talk to her or Jace anytime she needed, and made sure she knew where they would be staying. Emma then told Clary that if she was going to be Jace's girlfriend, she needed a cooler sword, which made Clary laugh.

In Alicante, Jace and Clary took a nighttime walk around the city. The two ultimately ended up in an alley, where, despite Jace's hesitation, Clary succeeded in kissing him. Their kissing escalated so quickly that Jace lost control over the heavenly fire, which caused him to burn his hand prints into the brick wall he was leaning against. He became so panicked and fearful that he hurt Clary that he quickly pulled away.

The next day, Jace and Clary went to Diana Wrayburn's shop to look for a new sword for Clary. Diana offered a shortsword to Clary for free, which was eventually revealed to be Heosphoros, one of the two Morgenstern swords made by Wayland the Smith. She insisted that Clary should not let the sword have power over her because of its previous owner, and told her to use it to kill her brother and take back the honor of her family's name.

Just when Clary blessed Heosphoros in the Accords Hall fountain, the demon towers lit up to signal a battle was coming, and Jace with Clary raced to the Gard. There they found Robert Lightwood and Jia Penhallow sending Shadowhunters, some inexperienced and ill-equipped, to fight the Endarkened at the Adamant Citadel. Despite being ordered not to, they both escaped through the Portal to face Sebastian. At the battle, Sebastian stabbed Jace, and jerked back as he was burned by heavenly fire. Sebastian's forces disappeared into the ground, and Clary rushed to help Jace. Clary marked Jace with an iratze, she created using her skills to the fullest. It was powerful enough to somehow heal him.

Later they discovered that Sebastian had taken hostage of Downworlders' leaders: Raphael, Luke, Meliorn and Magnus, along with Jocelyn. He demanded Clary and Jace in return, and the Clave were given two days to came up with a decision. Secretly, Clary, Jace, Alec, Isabelle and Simon travelled to the other dimension, Edom.

Once in the other dimension, Clary trapped the heavenly fire in Heosphoros and used it to kill Sebastian. She pretended that she wanted to unite with her brother, and stabbed him when she got closer. To get out of Edom, they had to sacrifice Simon's immortality and memories of Shadow World and his friends. The Clave burnt Sebastian's body at Clary's request, and she and Jace scattered his ashes, which were kept in his silver box (the one that Jocelyn had), at Lake Lyn.

In New York, Clary, Isabelle and Magnus approached now not-knowing-anything-about-Shadow-World Simon, and offered him to become a Shadowhunter.

Personality and traits[]

Clary is incredibly stubborn and sarcastic, traits born out of her mother's over-protectiveness. She is also a very caring and compassionate person. For her friends and family, Clary is willing to go to extreme lengths, often recklessly, putting herself in danger, thus usually leaving the people who care for her extremely worried and exasperated. Jace has even stated that her stubbornness matches his, which he figures was the reason they could not stand each other when they had first met.

She is also an artist like her mother, Jocelyn. She keeps a notepad of paper where she often draws out her emotions and feelings through pictures, her version of a diary, just using pictures instead of words.

Physical description[]

She is often said to look almost exactly like Jocelyn—with their green eyes, curly red hair, slender figure, small chest and narrow hips—though she does not see it, nor does she see the beauty others often see in her. There was a time when Clary felt herself to be a smaller, less beautiful, and more childlike version of her mother, although most people disagree. She is quite short, just a little over five feet tall, has hair she considers carrot-colored, and "a face full of freckles."

It is mentioned a few times that she dresses in a boyish and unfashionable ensemble, wearing T-shirts, jeans and sneakers, which sometimes annoys Isabelle, who then picks out nicer clothes for her to wear. Through Isabelle's influence, she slowly shed her usually boyish fashion and began to put an effort into fixing herself up more often. She is told by a few guys to be cute or beautiful, despite what she personally thinks of herself. Jace (as seen in bonus material from his view) is also shown to find her beautiful as well as fierce and says that Clary, unlike other girls, just doesn't know it.

Skills and abilities[]

  • Nephilim physiology: Being Nephilim, Clary possesses a myriad 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. This includes enhanced strength, agility, stamina, coordination, and many others which improve over time and practice.
  • Runic magic: Due to the angel Raziel's 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.
  • Angelic blood empowerment: While all Shadowhunters have the angel Raziel's blood in them, Clary has more; particularly, she was given the blood of Ithuriel in her mother's womb due to Valentine's experiments. Because of this, she became partially linked to Ithuriel, who, when the need arose, sent her prophetic dreams and visions of the future, as well as images of long-forgotten runes, or runes not in the Gray Book and known only to angels, which she is able to recreate and use.

Possessions[]

File:Codex Faerie Bell.jpg

The Queen's bell that Clary temporarily possessed in 2007.

  • Heosphoros: A Morgenstern blade with a pattern of black stars that ran down the center ridge. Forged by Wayland the Smith, it is a shortsword and part of a matched set, the other being Phaesphoros.
  • Morgenstern family ring: Clary owns the Morgestern family ring given to her by Jace when he left to find Sebastian Verlac. She usually wore it as in a silver chain as a locket.
  • Queen's bell: Clary was once given a silver bell pendent by the Seelie Queen that she wore around her neck until she had to use it for being summoned in the Seelie Court.

Relationships[]

Love interests[]

Jace is the love of Clary's life.

Clary first met Jace at the Pandemonium club. Initially, they appeared to find each other's presence a nuisance, albeit drawn to one another. In their months together, however, they inevitably fell in love. The two share their first kiss at the Institute's greenhouse.

Several hardships and conflicts arise that complicate their relationship. Only shortly after they shared their first kiss, they were tricked by Clary's father into believing that they were siblings. Despite this, they found it hard to deny their feelings for each other. They even kissed on more than one occasion while still under the impression that they were siblings. Jace began to keep his distance and tried to divert his attention to another girl, however, as he was scared of his "incestuous" emotions, and Clary even dated Simon in their efforts to keep away from each other. They began arguing a lot and blaming one another for each other's problems. Even before they found out the truth, there were times when they had decided to be with one another as "more than siblings".

Once freed from the lies that tore them apart, they began officially dating and were even happy for a while—until Lilith began controlling Jace, giving him dreams of killing Clary. Fearing that he might harm her in real life, Jace closed himself off again. When Clary found out that Jace has become bound to Sebastian, she devised a plan and joined him and Sebastian in her desperate need to save Jace; while she spied on them to find out her brother's plans, their friends in New York searched for a way to split Jace and Sebastian. Their travels together gave her and Jace time to be together, during which they both try to sleep together on two separate occasions. Eventually, their bond was broken, and Jace and Clary are free to be together again.

Jace's freedom came with a price when he remained engulfed in heavenly fire for weeks, keeping them apart as Jace feared hurting her, though there were moments when they couldn't help their emotions and had some intimate moments. After Jace's fire was contained in Heosphoros while in Edom, the couple finally consummated their relationship.

At Luke and Jocelyn's wedding, months after the Dark War, the couple finally find their peace together.

Friends[]

You had Simon. He was your brother in all the ways that matter. He watched you grow up, defended you, fought with and for you, cared about you all your life. He was the brother you chose.

–Jace to Clary

Simon is Clary's childhood best and oldest friend. Best friends since they were six, while Clary saw Simon as nothing more than a good friend and a brother figure, Simon developed feelings for Clary and was never able to admit these to her until ten years later, spurred by jealousy of her budding romance with Jace.

They briefly dated after Clary's fallout with Jace. Eventually, Simon learned to accept that Clary did not feel the same way about him and moved on. They remained best friends and continued to care for one another.

Isabelle Lightwood initially disliked Clary intensely because she felt that Clary messed up the dynamics between the original trio, Alec, Jace and Izzy. Gradually though, their relationship improved as they set aside their differences and chose to form a sort of amity and camaraderie. They eventually became good friends who are there for each other and have opened up to one another on several occasions.

Alec Lightwood used to be hostile towards Clary. He did not think much about her personality and mainly focused on how fixated on her Jace seemed to be. He claimed to think that Clary may be affecting Jace in a negative way, but Clary saw through this and realized that Alec was in fact jealous because he was in love with Jace. His attitude towards her worsened after Clary decided to fight back.

Things began to get better when everyone, briefly, believed that Jace and Clary were siblings. Even after this was revealed to be false, Clary and Alec were already amicable as Alec had moved on from Jace. Without needing to acknowledge their argument, the two put the past behind them and became good friends and allies.

Clary and Magnus do not know each other that well, but Clary seems to care for Magnus as a friend and is concerned about his breakup with Alec. Magnus is fond of Clary when Jocelyn brings her for him to erase her memory, saying he enjoys watching her grow over the years.

Family[]

Clary has a generally good and close relationship with her mother, Jocelyn. Despite the occasional arguments, they love each other dearly.

For over a decade, Jocelyn kept Clary away from the Shadow World for years, hoping to protect her. However, when she was unexpectedly taken by Valentine, Clary was unwittingly introduced into the world of the Shadowhunters, a necessary danger in Clary's desperate efforts to find and rescue her. Clary did everything in her power to rescue Jocelyn and when she was finally found, she visited talked to her in the hospital every day and went to great lengths to save her.

As Clary became more immersed in the Shadow World, however, she began to feel increasingly estranged from her mother as it became clear that the Jocelyn everyone remembered was nothing like the Jocelyn she knew as her mother, even more so when she found out about Jocelyn keeping her whole life and identity a secret from her. Nonetheless, Clary continued to fight vehemently to find her mother, refusing to believe that she is dead. Her anger about it was put on a backburner, however, as she continued to search for a cure—until Jocelyn was awakened and they reunited in Alicante. Clary released her pent-up anger towards her mother for lying to her and keeping her in the dark about her true self and abilities for years, though they quickly worked out their differences mended their relationship.

Despite their closeness and her mother's approval to finally let her train to become a Shadowhunter, she and her mother are still occasionally at odds. They often debate about what they think is best for Clary, with Clary often wanting to make her independence a point—which is typical for most mother-and-daughter relationships.

Despite being her biological father, Clary does not feel any sympathy or paternal love towards Valentine. She chose not to believe anything he said, knowing that Valentine was a good liar with only evil intentions. Clary even, to some extent, refused to so much as acknowledge him as her father, often referring to him by his name and annoying him when she does.

As Valentine did not know about her, he also cared very little for her and was even willing to kill Clary to get his victory, proving that she meant nothing to him; he even viewed her as the reason Jocelyn left him during the Uprising. Clary despised her biological father, for his narrow vision of the world, his desire for glory, and the evil acts he has done to achieve his ends.

After his death, she tried to forget about him but was constantly reminded of him; she is also visibly affected when people bring him and their connection up.

Clary's first encounter with her brother was while he was under the guise of Sebastian Verlac during her first trip to Idris. She immediately saw the resemblance between him and the Dark Prince with the tragic story from her dreams. While she was oblivious of her relation to him, he was completely aware yet continued to behave as if they were unrelated and had even kissed her.

In the months following the Mortal War and his death, Clary tried to forget about him and Valentine. When Lilith began the process to resurrect Sebastian, she, along with Jace and Simon, did what they could to prevent it from coming to pass. When Jace disappeared along with Sebastian's corpse, Clary began to hate Sebastian even more for taking Jace away.

Clary joined Jonathan and Jace when the two boys became bound to one another. During the time Clary got to know her brother, his motives and their lineage, Clary questioned her opinion of him, until Jace informed her of Jonathan's plans to create Endarkened Shadowhunters like him through an "Infernal Cup".

Despite being fully aware that he and Clary are related, Jonathan informed Clary that he wants to have her in all ways, saying that they are destined for each other as they are the last Morgensterns left. He wanted to burn the world and rule another one with Clary at his side. With no real perception of what love truly was, he desperately forced it in his own, twisted way with Clary and Jace.

Clary would have killed him on several occasions, if not for his connection to Jace until, ultimately, she got her chance and did just that. When the evil was removed from his body, the real, non-demonically influence Jonathan surfaced and, in his dying moments, apologized to Clary for his evil as Sebastian and did what he could to save them.

Clary was five when she first met Luke. Clary quickly got along with Luke, who then continued to care for and raise her, along with Jocelyn. Eventually, Clary grew to love Luke like a father and called him uncle until she was fifteen. Not only was Luke the only father figure to her growing up, but Clary also sees him more like her real father than Valentine could have ever been—this is something she has even said out loud; whereas Valentine was her biological father, Luke was the one who has been a father to her all those years, who took care of her and was a big part in raising her. When Luke proposed to Jocelyn, Clary supported the couple, and when they finally wed, Luke became her step-father.


Etymology[]

Clarissa is considered an English, Italian, and Portuguese name. It is derived from the German name Clarice, which was in turn from a medieval French form of Claritia, a derivative of Clara. Clara is the feminine form of the Late Latin name Clarus. It means "clear, bright, and famous".

Clary, her nickname, is typically a diminutive form of Clara. The name itself can be derived from the plant of the same name: salvia sclarea, wherein the Latin name sclarea is derived from the adjective clarus which means "clear". The plant is also called "Clear Eye" (from the fact that the seeds have been used for clearing the sight) and "See Bright". As a Swedish name, it was first introduced as a surname by Swedish 19th-century queen Desideria who was born Désirée Clary. The name was quite popular in Sweden in the first half of the 20th century.

Fray is the surname Jocelyn chose for her and Clary as a portmanteau of Fairchild and Gray, which Jocelyn chose for the relationship of the Fairchilds, Jocelyn's "lost family", and Tessa Gray. Nonetheless, Fray has also had noted history as a surname, most associated with English roots. Clary was originally named after two of Cassie's friends: Valerie Frayre, after the artist who designed the runes, which she later changed to Valerie Frayne. Then when a friend of hers was also writing a book with a heroine named Valerie, she changed it to Clary, another personal friend. Her editor later made the decision to finally name her Clary Fray. Cassandra then decided to make Clary a nickname for Clarice, later changed to her current name, Clarissa

Trivia[]

  • If Valentine had known about her and had his way, she would have been named Seraphina, after his mother.
  • Clary cuts her own hair.
  • Clary now goes by her mother's maiden Shadowhunter name, Fairchild
  • Clary, like the Herondales and Jocelyn, has a white star-shaped scar; Clary's is on her shoulder. All of them received their scars because of their contact with the angel Ithuriel. Unlike the rest of them, Clary received her scar because she was born with Ithuriel's angel blood in her veins through Valentine's experiments.
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