The stories of the Fablehaven series are revealed to us through the personal experience of Kendra and Seth Sorenson, who are the main characters of the novels.
Major characters
Kendra Sorenson
Kendra Sorenson, a typical 12-year-old girl, is not at all enthusiastic to go on a mandatory vacation to her grandparents place, while her parents are on a 17-day cruise. However, it is here at Fablehaven, the magical preserve her grandparents oversee, she becomes immersed in a whole new world full of fairies and other mystical creatures hidden to most other eyes. She is described as a good student who rarely takes risks, overly cautious and far from the adventurer and rule breaker that her brother is. But when she is in Fablehaven, it doesn't take long for trouble to find her, as the evil witch Muriel Taggert releases a powerful demon named Bahumat. The situation becomes desperate when everyone but her is captured and she must risk her own life to seek the Fairy Queen for help. As a result of her heart-felt supplication to the Fairy Queen, she becomes fairykind, a status which gives her certain magical abilities to aid her in her subsequent adventures.
Seth Sorenson
Seth Sorenson is Kendra's younger brother, who starts the series at age 11. He has a much more outgoing, risky, curious, and adventurous personality. Seth has great courage, but he has little patience, and he doesn't always think things through. Because of this, he tends to be the source of mischief as the story continues, most often trading batteries with the satyrs Newel and Doren. After learning many lessons the hard way, he eventually becomes more responsible and succeeds in overcoming many obstacles. His efforts against dark forces eventually mark him with the powers of a shadow charmer that, like his sister with her fairykind abilities, he is able to use through the series to successfully complete nearly impossible tasks.
Stan Sorenson
Stan Sorenson is Kendra and Seth's grandfather on their father's side. He and his wife Ruth have not been a large part of the lives of their grandchildren until Fablehaven. He is the caretaker of Fablehaven. Grandpa Sorenson leaves clues about the true nature of the preserve, in hopes that Kendra and Seth will discover the truth that it is a preserve for magical creatures. He is a strict rule enforcer, though Seth still finds ways to get around them. He lives on Fablehaven with his wife knowing that it is dangerous, but he is capable. In the first book he is captured by a witch who is endeavoring to free a demon named Bahumat.
Ruth Sorenson
Ruth Sorenson is Stan's wife, and Kendra and Seth's grandmother. She used to teach college history, and is an expert masseuse. She is missing from the first part of book one, and Stan explains that she is away visiting a relative. She turns out to be the pet chicken living in the house named "Goldilocks". When Kendra and Seth discover the chicken is their grandmother, they seek the witch's help to change her back. After she is restored, she explained later that she had previously lost a confrontation with a Jinn, who turned her into the chicken. Ruth leads the assault on Muriel at the Forgotten Chapel, in hopes to stop her attempts to free Bahumat and release Stan and Lena. She fails, then is captured leaving Kendra alone to save them.
Dale Burgess
Dale is the grounds keeper at Fablehaven. He is a quiet, reserved man who helps Stan Sorenson out with chores and general upkeep of the preserve. Kendra spotted him giving the magical milk to the fairies, and he attempts to mislead her into believing it was not for human consumption. It is revealed that one of the biggest reasons he is staying at the preserve is to take care of his catatonic brother, Warren. Dale is second cousin to Stan Sorensen. He plays only minor, but helpful roles in subsequent books.
Lena Burgess
Lena was introduced to Kendra and Seth as the elderly housekeeper to Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson. She was revealed after Kendra and Seth learn the truth about Fablehaven, as a former Naiad who was married to Patton Burgess, a former caretaker of Fablehaven. She was captured by Muriel and Bahumat in the first book, and was unwillingly restored as a Naiad and returned to the pond by the fairy army by the end of the book. In the second book, Kendra goes to see if Lena will return, but the other Naiads take Lena away. In the third book, the appearance of Patton Burgess, by means of a powerful time-travel artifact, coaxes Lena from the pond, though it ultimately results in her death when they enter their final confrontation to save the preserve.
Maddox Fisk
Maddox Fisk, a grizzly looking mountain man, is one of Grandpa's friends and a fairy broker, which means that he catches and sells or trades fairies. He presents to the Sorensons his collection of fairies that he had gathered from around the world. In book 2 it is mentioned that Maddox went on a mission to the secret preserve in Brazil but contact with him was lost. Rescue attempts were made, but unsuccessful.
Hugo
Hugo is a golem, a manufactured being made of soil, rocks, and clay, animated by a powerful spell and given rudimentary intelligence. He has no will of his own and will do whatever he is told, but he was destroyed in the battle against Muriel and Bahumat. After the battle, the empowered fairies rebuilt him, turning him into a true golem and giving him a spark of free will. Hugo is very strong, about 10 feet tall, and has the general appearance of a large ape made of dirt and rocks with disproportionately larger hands and feet. He is a powerful ally throughout the entire series.
Newel and Doren
Newel and Doren are the satyrs. They are introduced in the series as Kendra and Seth are inadvertently stealing stew from an ogress. The satyrs are light hearted and fun, but they can be conniving. They tell Seth that if he brings them the batteries so that they can watch their portable television they will give him gold. Seth does bring them batteries and they give him gold which they have stolen from the troll, Nero, and later from the nipsies. The satyrs enjoy chasing hamadryads, and playing tennis, and are sometimes invited to parties inside the house. They are described as the "ultimate fair weather friends" and detest work.
Muriel Taggert
Muriel is the first villain of the Fablehaven series. She used to be the wife of a previous caretaker, but she became enamored with dark magic and witchcraft. For her crimes she was imprisoned in a shack on the grounds of Fablehaven, held from using magic by a rope with thirteen magical knots tied in it. The knots could only be undone by a human who asked for a favor of their own free will. The person would blow on a knot and Muriel would use the magical power released by unraveling the knot to grant the person a favor. She was freed by Kendra and Seth when she used the power of the final knot to transform Grandma Sorenson from a chicken to her human self. She then attempts to free the demon Bahumat and overthrow the preserve.
Mendigo
Mendigo is a wooden puppet held together with metal hooks at the joints. He used to be a small toy that Muriel the witch created to keep her company, (she called him a limberjack). When she was freed she used a spell to make him human size and gave him golem like intelligence. He follows any order given by his master. He initially followed orders from Muriel, until fairies turned his will to take orders from Kendra. From this point on he becomes a strong ally. He is quite a bit stronger than he looks, and he can carry two people at once while running.
The Fairy Queen
The Fairy Queen introduces herself not as "a fairy" but as "the fairy" the mother, the eldest sister, though in fact she is not a fairy at all but a unicorn. She does not dwell on Earth, but in a different realm where she cannot be tainted by dark magic. Her only portals to the human world is through her shrines located on some of the magical preserves. The fairy queen shrine at Fablehaven is located in a beautiful park, on an island in the middle of a naiad pond. Unworthy visitors are instantly obliterated, as goes the story of a grounds keeper who was turned into dandelion fluff. Kendra, however, must visit the Fairy Queen for help to save her family, and Fablehaven from Muriel and Bahumat. The Fairy Queen spares her life and through the experience, makes her fairykind, giving her many of the powers of the fairies. With her help Kendra and the empowered fairy army defeat Muriel and Bahumat.
Bahumat
Bahumat is an ancient demon who plagued the Fablehaven area before the preserve was founded. Some Europeans imprisoned him in exchange for ownership of the land that he had terrorized. Fablehaven was founded on this land. He is bound by knots similar to those that bound Muriel, but in greater multitude. He was never bound by the treaty of Fablehaven, and therefore Bahumat has to overthrow the treaty to escape Fablehaven. Bahumat is not seen until the end of the first book as Muriel is trying to release him. She succeeds, but the fairies prevail in the end and imprison him underground.
Nero
Nero is a greedy cliff troll whom Ruth, Kendra and Seth visit to obtain information on where Stan is being held. He is a black, scaly, reptilian humanoid with yellow markings who owns a seeing stone. Nero, a tough bargainer, requests a large amount of treasure, but Ruth convinces him to accept a full body massage instead for the information.
