Merrin

Merrin had silver hair, brown eyes, and light alabaster skin. Nightsisters like Merrin received tattoos from their mothers to symbolize their bond with their coven; hers were gray markings on her forehead and cheekbones, across the bridge of her nose, beneath her lower lip, and on her fingers. Her skin was tinged green when she blushed. As the Mantis crew traveled together, Merrin retained her accent and continued to favor red and black attire while experimenting with clothing that was not in the traditional style of the Nightsisters. She continued to wear her necklace every day.

Merrin thought of her homeworld and her sisters as simultaneously beautiful, strong, and terrifying; all loveliness had a danger within it, but Dathomir's dark energy was motivating and sustaining. While fighting the Empire, she sometimes had flashbacks to Dathomir, especially to the massacre. She associated the smell of charred remains with home. For a time, she believed the only thing she was meant for was avenging her sisters and her world.

Due to her isolation on Dathomir, Merrin expressed fascination and wonder when visiting other planets. While she was blunt and sometimes seemed indifferent towards others, she was not heartless; for instance, she was concerned for the fate of Force-sensitive children she had never met. Years after leaving Dathomir, she characterized herself as treating people badly and making strange choices when she first left her world. Cal Kestis found her unnerving, in part because her magick drew on the dark side, and even after a few years of friendship, he was not always sure when Merrin was joking. Her sense of humor seemed dark to some other beings, such as when she joked with the incredulous Dritus that she needed one of his arms as a ritual sacrifice to get past the Imperial blockade at Nur. She also demonstrated sadistic tendencies; she ensured Malicos would have a slow death underground[1] and she found it humorous and satisfying to magick Imperials to their deaths.

Merrin related to lessons from the elders about how their magick was like fire and their emotions were the fire's fuel; a fire would burn out for lack of fuel and magick did not spark from deadened emotions. When she first left Dathomir and spent time with the Kestis and the rest of the Stinger Mantis crew, she initially did not feel as empty as she feared she would become, but her anger festered over time and became depression about her inability to sate her need for vengeance. While her new family had opened her up to experiencing love instead of shutting down, it also put her at risk of immense pain and overwhelming emotion that could lead to her own magick burning her.

Due to witnessing the massacre of her fellow Nightsisters and the lies of the former Jedi Taron Malicos, Merrin became hostile and aggressive, especially towards Jedi. In her need to avenge her sisters, she believed his claims that the Jedi were thieves who slaughtered others for their own gain, and despite her distrust of him, she was willing to share secrets of Dathomir in exchange for his promised help with her vengeance. After learning the truth and joining Cal Kestis and the crew of the Stinger Mantis, she became levelheaded and put aside her previous animosity toward Jedi as they were both survivors.

Merrin was attracted to beings of all genders when she felt a strong connection to them, particularly if their personality was exceptional, and with few limitations. She had some flings when the Stinger Mantis remained in one location, including someone so temperamental that she could not be sure where she stood with him and another who seemed to love her power more than Merrin herself. Part of her attraction to Chellwinark Frethylrin was being pleasantly reminded of Dathomir. Merrin inwardly compared Frethylrin's red eyes to coals and the Rift Valley's red skies, her freckles to crater orchid petals, her skin to violets with morning dew, her scent to spiced ahrisa and wax on Grave Thorn wood. Like Dathomir, Frethylrin was deadly and dangerous. Merrin thought they were like binary stars, giving off and absorbing each other's light, and she was able to feel her frustration and anger about her losses. After a passionate fling, however, Merrin and Frethylrin separated.

Merrin loved the Mantis crew and regarded them as her family. She viewed Junda as the closest thing she had left to an elder sister. Greez Dritus was the "weird" and "greasy uncle" Merrin had never had but continually found impressive and frustratingly likable. BD-1 was strange but cute to the point of nausea and she wanted to crush him to death with hugs. Kestis was a fellow survivor who was sometimes annoyingly sweet, and his earnestness was one of her favorite things about him despite how its wholesomeness sometimes made her sick to her stomach. She saw him as the star that illuminated her shadow.

When the Mantis crew split up over their differences, Merrin decided to travel the galaxy on her own. On her journey, Merrin came to miss the crew dearly, particularly Cal, whom she said was never far from her thoughts. Eventually, she reunited with Cere and assisted her with building the Hidden Path. In 9 BBY, Cal and Merrin reunited when Cal traveled to Jedha to meet with Cere. Merrin shared a tender moment with Cal while sheltering in a cave from a sandstorm, and she warned him against being consumed by his obsession with fighting the Empire. While traveling through the deserts of Jedha, the two frequently traded jabs and flirtations. During a tense moment on a mission to destroy an Imperial Trident, Merrin kissed Cal, and the two then worked together to destroy the war machine. After this, Merrin rejoined the Mantis crew to be close to Cal. Cal was initially reluctant, citing the Jedi prohibition on attachments, but eventually decided that the prohibition was wrong, and Merrin and Cal began a relationship following the recovery of the Abyss compass. The night before the crew was to depart for Tanalorr, the two shared a passionate kiss on the cliffs of Jedha.

Following the betrayal of Bode Akuna and the resulting deaths of Eno Cordova and Cere Junda, Merrin was distraught and mourned for Cere in particular. After an attempt to catch Bode at Nova Garon went awry, Merrin helped Cal defeat the Imperial forces. When Cal nearly killed the defenseless ISB officer Lank Denvik in a Dark Side-fueled rage, Merrin talked him down, saying she could not allow Cal to be another person she lost to the Empire. Cal promised her that he wouldn't lose his way. After successfully navigating the Koboh Abyss, Cal and Merrin shared another kiss in exuberance. The two then fought together to defeat Bode Akuna. During the funeral for Cordova, Cere, and Bode, Merrin was the last crewmember to leave Cal's side. The two promised to work through their new relationship together.

Merrin showed kindness towards Bode Akuna's daughter, Kata, and Kata expressed appreciation for her. During the fight with Bode, Merrin rescued Kata when her father's violent outbursts endangered her life. After Bode's death, Merrin comforted Kata, speaking to her about coping with grief. In the following weeks, Merrin expressed a protective and caring attitude towards the girl.