| “ | 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. |
Clarissa "Clary" Adele Fairchild-Morgenstern also known as Clary Fray is the daughter and youngest child of Shadowhunters Jocelyn Fairchild and Valentine Morgenstern, the younger sister of Jonathan "Sebastian" Morgenstern, the girlfriend of Jace Lightwood and the main protagonist of The Mortal Instruments series.
She is played by Lily Collins in the first book's film adaption, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and Katherine McNamara in the TV series Shadowhunters. Collins also portrays Snow White in Mirror Mirror, while McNamara also portrays Sonya in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
In "Lady Midnight", the first book in The Dark Artifices series (which takes place five years after The Mortal Instruments), it is revealed that Clary is now co-head of the New York Institute alongside Jace.
Biography[]
Birth[]
Clarissa Adele Morgenstern was born on August 21, 1991, to Valentine and Jocelyn Morgenstern, and is the younger sister to Jonathan. Jocelyn suffered from depression after Jonathan's birth and began to reject Valentine's ideals over time. Valentine secretly gave his wife the blood of the angel Ithuriel, thus making Clarissa's birth an accidental experiment (as Valentine wanted to "cure" Jocelyn's depression).
Jocelyn and her friend Lucian Graymark planned to thwart the Uprising by Valentine but learned of her pregnancy. Though wanting to escape from her husband, she feared that Valentine would hunt her down to guarantee their safety. During the Uprising, Jocelyn stole Valentine's cup and left with her daughter, as her son's death was faked. Jocelyn left the Shadowhunting life and culture and believed that Valentine was still alive and hiding. Clary was raised as a mundane, without knowing of her lineage nor culture so that she could be safe.
Childhood[]
Despite Jocelyn hoping that she wouldn't have the Inner Eye, she caught Clary playing with a faerie when she was young. She was taken to see Magnus Bane to get rid of her Inner Eye, but he warned of the risk of doing so. Jocelyn comprised to place a spell on Clary to erase her memories of what she saw of the shadow world, but it had to be placed every two years or so. In addition, Jocelyn convinced Magnus to allow Clary to go through the ritual that Shadowhunter children go through, to protect her from demonic forces or influence.
During her childhood, Luke became Clarissa's father-like figure and was led to believe that Jonathan Clark was her father. She would attend St. Francis Xavier School and would meet and befriend Simon Lewis in kindergarten. The would become inseparable, and Simon fell in love with her despite Clary being oblivious to it, and she saw their relationship as brotherly. During the summers, Clary with Jocelyn, Luke, and Simon would stay at Luke's farmhouse, where Simon and Clary would often sleep in the same bed.
City of Bones[]
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TV Series[]Family[]
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Trivia[]
- Clary's surname Fray is a mash-up of her mother's maiden name Fairchild and Gray, the surname of Tessa Gray, the protagonist of The Infernal Devices, the prequel series to The Mortal Instruments.
- Clary is a descendant of Charlotte and Henry Branwell, characters from The Infernal Devices.
- Clary's middle name is after her grandmother.