14 Facts About Marisa Coulter

Marisa Coulter is a fictional character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and one of the main antagonists of Northern Lights.

Marisa Coulter is the former lover of Lord Asriel and is usually called "Mrs Coulter".

Mrs Coulter is 35 years old in the third novel, The Amber Spyglass.

Marisa Coulter has political connections, and is highly placed and trusted in the Church's hierarchy, who give her a large degree of autonomy.

Marisa Coulter arranges for Iorek Byrnison, the heir to the throne of the armoured bears, to be exiled, and plots to dominate the new king, turning the bears into her subordinates.

Metatron, the Regent of the Authority describes her character in "the most searching examination Marisa Coulter had ever undergone", stripping away "all shelter and deceit" and describing that he sees:.

Marisa Coulter describes her self-perception to Asriel just prior to their joint sacrifice:.

How the golden monkey can go so far from Mrs Marisa Coulter is not explained, Mrs Marisa Coulter has not undergone any of the processes which enable other humans to achieve such separation.

Marisa Coulter's final act in the trilogy occurs when she is reconciled with Asriel, and they together drag Metatron into an endless abyss, the three thus ceasing to exist.

At the beginning of the book The Northern Lights Marisa Coulter seems to have a keen interest in Lyra.

Early in The Northern Lights, Mrs Marisa Coulter saves Lyra from a group of child-snatchers known as the "Gobblers" by taking her out of Oxford, and nearing the end of The Northern Lights, she again saves Lyra from having her daemon cut away.

Mrs Marisa Coulter immediately assures Lyra that she is safe and, on her daughter's instruction, explains to her why children have to be intercised at such a young age, commenting on their "unhappy thoughts and feelings".

Mrs Marisa Coulter is ultimately forced to make a choice between Lyra and the church when it is revealed that Lyra is the new "Eve" whose death will be sought by the Church to prevent original sin re-entering the world.

Marisa Coulter takes Lyra to a cave and keeps her drugged there at the beginning of The Amber Spyglass and ultimately saves Lyra at the end of The Subtle Knife.