From the sinister Jack Hyde to the mentally unstable Leila, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ introduces refined characters that push the flexibility of the primary characters. With the introduction of the new characters in the story, old characters like Ana and Christian become much more defined.

Anastasia

Three days after leaving Christian Grey, Ana resumes work as the personal assistant to Jack Hyde. Though she tries to fit in and forget everything about the cold-hearted billionaire who made her feel worthless, she still constantly thinks about him. 

As a new employee at SIP, she gets weirded out by Jack’s actions but maintains herself. Then, a message from Christian comes in; this immediately sends her emotions down the rail as she does not hold back the tears of leaving him. Christian messages her to let her know of Josei’s gallery exhibit, and after picking her up, she discovers that she is still much in love with him. After the gallery exhibit, Christian asks her to return, and she agrees.

Ana starts discovering the secrets of Christian’s past. She learns of his mother’s death and meets Elena, the woman who molested him when he was still a teenager. Soon, the secrets of Christian’s past begin to hunt her as she faces Leila, one of Christian’s former submissives, who is mentally unstable. When Christian calms the tense atmosphere between Ana and a dangerously armed Leila, Ana becomes jealous and starts feeling insufficient for Christian. 

Christian lets Ana touch him as a sign that he loves her. Ana starts noticing Jack Hyde’s irritability towards her, and after a failed sexual assault attempt on her, he gets fired. Christian asks Ana to marry him, but a day before his birthday, he has an accident. He survives, and Ana accepts his proposal.

Christian

After Ana leaves him, Christian finds himself in a dark place and desperately tries to get her back after realizing he loves her. After making out with her in an alley, Christian agrees to change for Ana’s sake, and he becomes much warmer emotionally towards her. However, his past keeps haunting him as nightmares and a past submissive creep back into his life.

With Ana facing death at Leila’s hands, Christian reverts to his dominant self to calm the situation with Leila; this causes Ana to feel discarded. Noticing she is sad, Christian lets Ana touch him. With time, he opens up further to her as he tells her about his mother’s death. After asking her to marry him, Christian has an accident in his helicopter, he escapes unhurt, and Ana accepts his wedding proposal.

Jack Hyde

Jack Hyde is Ana’s boss and an editor for SIP. After Ana starts working for him, he begins acting creepily towards her. When Ana accepts Christian, she introduces him to Jack as her boyfriend. Christian buys SIP, and after Jack tries to lure Ana to a New York trip, he prevents it. Jack asks Ana to work overtime, and when she is alone with him, he tries to assault her. She escapes, and Jack gets arrested. He gets bailed and sabotages Christian’s helicopter.

Leila Williams

Leila is a mentally unstable former submissive of Christian. After losing the man she loves to an accident, she starts stalking Ana. Leila gets jealous that Christian never accepted her into his life but accepted Ana. She first meets Ana at her work and then at Christian’s house. Leila progressively degrades mentally and confronts an unsuspecting Ana with a gun at her home. She asks Ana why she got chosen instead of her, and before anything escalates, Christian rushes in and subdues Leila to submit her weapon.

Josei

Josei is Ana’s friend and a failed lover. After trying to kiss her at a bar, Ana distanced herself from Josei. He apologized, and they got back to being friends. Ana gets flattered when she discovers her portraits as a part of the gallery exhibit. She touches Josei seductively to make Christian jealous.

Grace Grey

Grace is Christian’s adopted mother and Elena’s friend. She adopts him after his mother dies. Though Christian becomes emotionally distant from her, she still loves him. After seeing him with Ana, she becomes happy that he has found someone he dearly loves. When she finds out that Elena made Christian her submissive, she cuts all ties with her.

Carrick Grey

Carrick Grey is Grace’s husband and Christian’s adopted father. He is a lawyer and successful businessman who moves from Detroit to Seattle after adopting Elliot and Christian. When Christian and Ana attend the charity fundraiser, Carrick has a brief conversation with Ana telling her about Christian’s early life.

Elena

Elena Grace Grey’s friend. She introduces Christian to BDSM at 15 and makes him her submissive for six years. When Christian gets invited to his parents’ charity fundraiser, he takes Ana to a saloon he jointly owns with Elena; this makes Ana angry.

Elena meets Ana at Christian’s house, and they talk briefly before Ana leaves and eavesdrop on the conversation Elena and Christian have. Christian announces his engagement to Ana at his birthday party; this makes Elena jealous as she confronts Ana, calling her a gold-digger. Ana warns her to stay away from Christian. Meanwhile, Grace overhears the conversation and confronts Elena telling her to cut all ties with her family.

Ethan

Ethan is Kate’s older brother and Ana’s friend. After Kate goes on a trip with Elliot and her family, Ana learns that Ethan is coming to stay at her and Kate’s house for a few days. Thinking he has arrived, Ana rushes home to meet Ethan but instead, she meets Leila with a gun. After Christian diffuses the situation, Ana meets Ethan in the lobby of her apartment.

Dr. Flynn

Dr. Fynn is a psychiatrist and Christian’s therapist. He is one of the few people closely trusted by Christian. Dr. Flynn first meets Ana at the fundraiser, and he dances with her. Ana meets Dr. Flynn. He tells her about Christian’s struggle to change. Dr. Flynn advises Ana on how to handle Christian. He also begins treating Leila after she confronts Ana at her apartment.

Other characters in the novel include Taylor, Sawyer, Isaac, and Lincoln.

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