Daughter of the Deep

Dev Dakkar, Ana’s older brother, is a senior at Harding-Pencroft Academy and captain of Shark House. As part of LI, he is the novel’s antagonist. He at first seems a devoted older brother, a popular school prefect with a great girlfriend. When he gives Ana a necklace with their mother’s pearl set in it, Ana thinks, “this is the sweetest thing he’s ever done for me. I’m going to start weeping” (10). To all, Dev appears to be the perfect, devoted brother, even more so as Ana’s only remaining family. He is her role model, and Ana is distraught when she believes him to be dead.

However, Dev reveals his true personality and values when Ana finds out that he is responsible for destroying HP Academy. He did this to take revenge on the school that he believes wronged him by denying him access to his inheritance—the Nautilus. He announces over the Nautilus’s intercom while fighting the HP students, “Harding-Pencroft are not our friends, Ana. They’ve been hoarding our family’s inheritance for generations. Their stupidity got our parents killed” (238). This mindset shows Dev to be entitled and self-centered, willing to cause horrific collateral damage just to acquire the valuables (both material and immaterial) that Nemo left behind. At the root of this destructive selfishness, Ana sees Dev’s pain at the loss of their parents: Dev is suffering and takes his anger at the world out on others, rather than finding support and healing with those who love him. Dev is a foil for Ana because he shows the path she might have taken by reacting to their parents’ deaths with anger instead of compassion.

Nelinha da Silva might not be prefect of House Cephalopod, but she is certainly their ace. Ester says, “Maria’s our top theorist, but Nelinha’s scores in applied mechanics and combat engineering are higher” (30). She is one of Ana’s best friends, and she shares a dorm with Ana and their other bestie Ester. Even though Nelinha is a true Cephalopod, ready to get covered in grease if that is what it takes to fix an engine, she never fails to do so with style. Ana thinks, “I swear, Nelinha could be crawling through the aquarium’s pump system or fixing a boat engine and she’d still manage to look fashionable” (13). Nelinha’s strengths are in practical applications of her Cephalopod intelligence, which comes in handy throughout the HP freshmen’s journey to and from Lincoln Base.

Underneath Nelinha’s confident exterior, however, lurk some insecurities. Ana remembers the beginning of her first year at HP Academy when she first met Nelinha, who “was struggling more than most. Her English was excellent, but it was still her second language. She was relieved to sit next to me in the cafeteria because I knew some Portuguese. Then, one night at dinner, Gem’s shadow fell across our table. He stood over us, gawking at Nelinha like she was a unicorn. “Are you the scholarship kid?” he asked” (104). Nelinha never forgot this moment because Gem made her feel even more alone and different than she already was. Two years later, Nelinha still holds a grudge against Gem, whose words, while not ill-intentioned, struck at the core of Nelinha’s insecurities as a foreign student and a scholarship recipient. By the end of the novel, she is beginning to patch up their relationship, and she feels secure in the small family she has in her friends. Nelinha is an ally character because she is someone Ana can rely on in times of difficulty.

Ester Harding, best friend and roommate to Ana Dakkar and Nelinha de Silva, is a skilled member of Orca House. She and her emotional support dog, Top—who helps with Ester’s autism—are loyal companions to Ana and Nelinha. Ana thinks, “[Ester] isn’t fond of humans, with the exception of Nelinha and me, and would much rather spend her time with animals. She’s a genius empath when it comes to nonverbal communication with other species” (30). Although some people might believe Ester to have difficulty with emotional understanding due to her autism, she is in fact extremely empathetic. According to Ana, Ester “is, in fact, one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever met” (65). Her only difference is that she shows that empathy, love, and support through her actions, rather than her words.

As a descendent of the Harding that founded Harding-Pencroft Academy, Ester feels a lot of responsibility when it comes to the school. She knew the secrets about Jules Verne and Captain Nemo before all of the other HP freshmen, but she was sworn to secrecy. This secrecy makes Ester, who also has a responsibility to protect her friends, feel guilty. Ester does not think that HP handles its mission to protect the world from alt-tech well and sees its destruction as an opportunity. She tells Ana, “Now the school is gone. I need to rebuild HP. I don’t know how. I’m sorry if you hate me now, Ana. I don’t want you to hate me” (115). As the last member of her own family, Ester has a special understanding of Ana’s circumstances. With her prior insight into HP secret-keeping, she is also in a unique position to rebuild the school from the ground up, enacting the changes she knows will make it a better place.

Due to her autism, Ester has some trouble understanding the world around her, but she is smart and has excellent ways of navigating it. For example, she has an elaborate system of notecards to help her work through information. Ana thinks, “without her index cards, the world is a scary, overwhelming place” (126). Ester takes in too much data when she interacts with the rest of the world, and it can overwhelm her, causing her to take refuge in quiet spaces like the library when things get to be too much. But she is devoted and more than willing to sift through all of that information if it can help out her friends. Like Nelinha, Ester is an ally character because she is one of the few people Ana can trust. Ester is also a foil for Ana because she too is the descendant of a powerful ancestor and is in a position to use her knowledge to make different choices that will lead to a better future.