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SPOILER WARNING!
This article contains heavy discussion of plot details from the newest Unwanteds Quests books. You are at risk of major spoilers if you haven't read up to the newest installment in the series. Be careful!

Lani was a main character in the original Unwanteds series. She was the daughter of governor Gunnar Haluki and Mrs. Haluki, and the sister of Henry Haluki. She was declared Unwanted because her father wanted to give her an opportunity for a better life. She was close friends with Alex.

Personality

Lani is good at everything, according to Alex[1], and often wants to show off about it. However, she herself says that she doesn't really have a specialty in anything, and that's she's just decently good at a lot of things.[1] She may be a bit insecure about her abilities, but it doesn't seem like it. In the first few books, she plays many pranks on Alex with her magic, even at the cost of their friendship.

Alex says that she's impulsive and doesn't think things through all the way.[2]

As time progresses, she becomes a powerful fighter. She’s not afraid to do what needs to be done and doesn’t mind killing people to protect Artimé.[3] She's stealthy and sly, and incredibly smart.

Appearance

Lani has long[4][5][6], straight[7][8][5] black hair.[7][9][10][11][8][4][5][6] Lani is repeatedly described as being short/tiny.[7][12][13] She has bright blue eyes[7][10][11][14] and olive skin.[15][5] When Kaylee is trying to guess her ancestry, she suggests Lani may be of Hawaiian/Asian/Polynesian descent.[16]

After Island of Silence, she has orange eyes and scars around her neck from her time on Warbler. After being paralyzed from the waist down in Island of Dragons, she wears a magical contraption around her waist that allows her to move around in either a standing or sitting position, floating just above the ground.[17][18]

"All he could see was the straight jet-black hair and big, watery blue eyes of someone he was sure had to be a girl, but a tiny girl for thirteen, he thought."
― The Unwanteds, "The Death Farm" (11-12)
"Her eyes were deep and soulful, with wet black lashes all clumped together from crying."
― The Unwanteds, "The Death Farm" (12)
"Alex glanced at the black-haired, blue-eyed girl next to him."
― The Unwanteds, "The Death Farm" (14)
"...the smallest child, Lani."
― The Unwanteds, "Elimination" (17)
"...or perhaps it was the contrast of her bright blue eyes and her shiny black hair...against her smooth cheek."
― The Unwanteds, "Defense" (197)
"She adjusted her component vest, and then smoothed wisps of straight black hair back into her braid."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Exposed" (2)
"The way her hair parted at her shoulder, her olive skin tanned by the sun. Her perfect nose and lips."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Alex the Ponderer" (42)
"Her toenails were painted fluorescent purple."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Throwing Stones" (97)
"Finally she burst through the wall wearing a pretty blue top that matched her eyes..."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Misunderstandings" (146)
"...her long black hair disappearing around a corner."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Fire, "Hope at Last" (314)
"Lani pushed her long black hair over one shoulder..."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Graves, "An Unsettling Feeling" (11)
"...I’d say you’ve got some Asian roots, or maybe Polynesian or Hawaiian..."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "The Dragon's Triangle" (81)
"Sorry...You’re not heavy enough. We have to simulate a real dragon."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "Preparing to Fly" (165)
"...and built Lani an intricate but minimalistic contraption, which she wore like a belt at her waist. It allowed her to move about Artimé in a standing or sitting position, floating just slightly above the ground like Lhasa did."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "The End of the End" (507)
"Lani Haluki, a young woman with long, straight black hair and olive skin, appeared in the doorway of a nearby classroom on the main floor."
― The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Captives, "The Day of Remembrance" (32)
"The contraption embraced her around the hips and held her upright, giving support to the lower half of her body and keeping her hands free."
― The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Bones, "The Birds" (147)

History

Lani is the daughter of Gunnar Haluki, a governor of Quill, and grew up in the governor’s section of Quill. Her father taught her how to use a gun during the Purge when she turned eleven.[19] Her house had more laid-back rules compared to the rest of Quill, and as a child she would tell stories. Her father saw that she would be better off in Artimé, and had her Purged a year earlier than she was supposed to be. She thought this was because he saw her as a bad influence, and that he "couldn't wait to be rid of" her.[20]

Relationships

Alex Stowe

Lani is Alex's best friend, and was at one point a love interest. The two often argue, but work well together. In the first book, Lani and Alex really do not get along, despite the seemingly mutual crushes between the two. Lani is rude and doesn't hide that she's in Magical Warrior Training, which hurts Alex as he still hasn't gotten moved up yet. She repeatedly teases him and bullies him with magical spells that he can't defend himself against, leading him to hiding in his room the majority of the time. Although their relationship improves towards the end of the first book, it goes back downhill once Alex is offered the head mage position. He gets distant, and when he finally tells his friends that he was offered the job and refused it, Lani gets upset, because she thinks that she would be a good fit for the job. The two stay distant until Alex rescues her and Samheed from Warbler Island, at which point they stay friends.

Meghan Ranger

Meghan and Lani were best friends.

Samheed Burkesh

Lani and Samheed are partners in the books. The two weren’t too friendly in the beginning, and argue often in the first series. Sam is there when Lani is upset about the head mage situation in book two, and correctly guesses that she killed Justine. The two become even closer after their time on Warbler, creating a language out of taps so they could communicate in the dark. They get married five years after the final battle.[21]

Other Notable Relationships

Lani is close with her brother, Henry, and her father, Gunnar. She and Kaylee, Thisbe, Fifer, and Sky are very good friends as well.

Quotes

"Aha! I do know things. I'd make a great spy."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Born to Spy" (93)
"If we all died doing the things we most believe in, we should die satisfied."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "The Mysterious Guests" (220)
"Maybe if we tell the stories, things won't ever get as bad as they have been."
― The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "The End of the End" (513)

Abilities/Weaknesses

Lani is very talented with magic. She's good at anything she puts her mind to: disguises, non-component spells, making spell components, lethal spells, and more. She's never been able to pull off the glass spell, though.[22] She is also not able to see the not-so-secret hallway. (At least, throughout most of the books; Dragon Fire says that she can, because Sky is the only one specified to not be able to leave.[23] She can then see out of the hallway and into the rest of the mansion[24], and walks out of the hallway when Sky can only see a wall.[25])

Even beyond magic, Lani is incredibly skilled in whatever she puts her mind to. Alex says that she's good at art, singing, drawing, telling stories, inventing things, experimenting with who knows what, and that she reads like she's on fire.[1]

Lani is a great storyteller, and was doing it even back in Quill.

Lani uses a magical wheeled device that Aaron made for her after the final battle to get around after Island of Dragons. It stops working if Artimé ever disappears, leaving her unable to move.

Lani can turn things into soup, and is the only one who can.[26]

Trivia

  • Lani's name means "heaven" or "sky."
  • Lani killed a human when she was 12.
  • She can use a gun.
  • She almost killed everyone when trying to find Grimere for the first time, but she was right.
  • She wrote a series of 7 books about their adventures in the first series.[27] Whether this is the actual Unwanteds books is unclear.
    • While it might be true, the Unwanteds books include the point of views of various villains and dead characters. Even if she interviewed literally everyone possible to write these books, it would not make sense to have some characters' point of views in the story.
  • Kaylee and Aaron get married in a Barnes and Noble bonus chapter at the end of Dragon Captives, set five years between the original series and Quests. Samheed and Lani get married on the same day!

Gallery

Official Artwork

Disclaimer: While these artworks are official, there are many differences in how the characters are portrayed compared to their book descriptions. Many of the official artworks are whitewashed or otherwise incorrect. While they can be used as reference for fan artworks, they are not an accurate representation of how the characters may actually look.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Unwanteds: Island of Graves, "Making Preparations" (80)
  2. The Unwanteds: Island of Graves, "Taking a Different Path" (230)
  3. The Unwanteds: Island of Graves, "A Missed Opportunity" (146)
  4. 4.0 4.1 The Unwanteds: Island of Fire, "Hope at Last" (314)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Captives, "The Day of Remembrance" (32)
  6. 6.0 6.1 The Unwanteds: Island of Graves, "An Unsettling Feeling" (11)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Unwanteds, "The Death Farm" (11-12)
  8. 8.0 8.1 The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Exposed" (2)
  9. The Unwanteds, "The Death Farm" (12)
  10. 10.0 10.1 The Unwanteds, "The Death Farm" (14)
  11. 11.0 11.1 The Unwanteds, "Defense" (197)
  12. The Unwanteds, "Elimination" (17)
  13. The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "Preparing to Fly" (165)
  14. The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Misunderstandings" (146)
  15. The Unwanteds: Island of Silence, "Alex the Ponderer" (42)
  16. The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "The Dragon's Triangle" (81)
  17. The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "The End of the End" (507)
  18. The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Bones, "The Birds" (147)
  19. The Unwanteds, "Severing Ties" (364)
  20. The Unwanteds, "Magic and Art" (70)
  21. The Unwanteds: Dragon Captives, "The Big Day" (bonus chapter)
  22. The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons, "The Brunt of the Attack" (342)
  23. The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Fire, "Surprise Attack" (75)
  24. The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Fire, "Surprise Attack" (79)
  25. The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Fire, "Surprise Attack" (82)
  26. The Unwanteds: Island of Legends, "The Short, Uneventful Life of Spike Furious" (127)
  27. The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Fire, "A Fatal Mistake" (281)


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