Critical Role Recap: Who Are the Mighty Nein?

By Sideshow

Years after Vox Machina became Exandrian legends, a humble group of adventurers forged their own path to heroism across the continent of Wildemount. Their number began with seven, became eight, and eventually nine. While the world might not know their names yet, we do — they are the Mighty Nein.

These adventurers of Campaign 2 are extraordinary in their own right and forever immortalized in Sideshow’s Mighty Nein art prints. The amazing voices behind the Mighty Nein even visited Sideshow to behold their mighty portraits!

Now, the Mighty Nein will be getting their own Amazon Prime show — just like The Legend of Vox Machina! Watch the announcement for the original series below:

If you’re new to the Critter fandom or simply need a refresher on the team’s roster, here’s your quick guide to the heroes of the Mighty Nein!

**Spoilers ahead for key plot points of Critical Role Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein!**

Jester Lavorre

“I’ve never traveled with a bunch of people I thought would DIE in front of me!“

Though she might have infernal heritage, Jester Lavorre is a sweet and bubbly member of the Mighty Nein. She is played by Laura Bailey (who previously portrayed Vex’ahlia in Vox Machina), and has a mischievous streak. For a time, she was the party’s primary healer, but later shared this role with Caduceus Clay.

Jester worships The Traveler, who turned out to be an archfey named Artagan posing as a deity, and spreads his message of chaos through her attitude and artwork (often crude). Her mother Marion is a famed courtesan, and Jester led a sheltered early life. Over the course of the campaign, she discovers that her father is a powerful crime boss called The Gentleman, and she schemes to reunite her parents. She also enters into a romance with teammate Fjord, who is played by Bailey’s real-life husband and fellow voice actor Travis Willingham. The two eventually go on to travel the open seas together on the Nein Heroez ship.

Jester loves sugary things, with her own magical weapon taking the form of a giant lollipop. She also saves the party from the conniving Isharnai by successfully offering the hag a bespelled blueberry cupcake. While she is younger than most of the party, her desire for fun puts her at the forefront of many interactions and conversations — and despite being a healer, she can’t resist doling out damage in battle.

Fjord

“All I had was my words to get out of situations, to try and heal conflict, to try and outsmart somebody.“

An orphan who was assigned the surname “Stone” to remind him how he was cast away, Fjord never quite felt he belonged before meeting the Mighty Nein. He is a strong and silent spellcaster with partial orcish heritage and an obligation to the malevolent aquatic leviathan Uk’otoa. In game, he is played by Travis Willingham (who previously portrayed Vox Machina’s half-giant brawler Grog).

Handsome and charismatic, Fjord has experience changing himself to better navigate the rough tides of fate. For a time, he would even file down his tusks to distance himself from his lineage, but could also magically change his appearance and alter his voice. Much of his journey was determined by his pact with Uk’otoa, until he broke from the bond to become a divine exemplar in service of the Wildmother (who was worshiped by Caduceus Clay and whose vestige, the Spire of Conflux, was wielded by Vox Machina’s Keyleth).

Fjord himself becomes the holder of Dwueth’var, the Star Razor — another one of the Vestiges of Divergence, though it needed to be reforged from shards. Though his pact with the leviathan granted him eldritch magic, he finds new strength under the Wildmother’s blessing. Still, he and other spellcasters were in the process of freeing Uk’otoa from magical imprisonment, something he must contend with even as he takes to the open seas after his main journeys with the Mighty Nein.

Beauregard “Beau” Lionett

“Last time I went through a complicated breakup, someone ended up in prison.“

Beauregard “Beau” Lionett is a hotheaded fist-fighter with something to prove, especially to her wealthy family who had hoped for a son. She is played by Marisha Ray (in a total attitude reversal from her meek Vox Machina character Keyleth). Beau’s rebellious actions and disregard for authority keep her right in the center of the action, though she does mature once she finds something worth fighting for — her found family.

Her martial arts training was imparted on her by the Cobalt Soul, a collective dedicated to the search for knowledge and the destruction of evil. Through her journeys, Beau even becomes an Expositor, a mid-ranking agent of espionage responsible for seeking out obscure information across Exandria. As the campaign progresses, she helps the Mighty Nein to challenge villainous foes like the Tombtakers, Obann and the Laughing Hand, and eventually the Cerberus Assembly.

Deeply loyal to her newfound friends, Beau is one of the party members most shaken by Mollymauk’s untimely death. Though she has an impetuous streak, her order’s search for knowledge lends to her learning from her allies. Mollymauk’s adage of “Leave every place better than you found it” becomes a guiding force for her, and she also learns seafaring under Fjord’s guidance. She even enters into a romantic relationship with Yasha Nydoorin.

Nott the Brave/Veth Brenatto

“I love trinkets SO MUCH!“

If you have not finished Campaign 2 and don’t want to be spoiled any further, turn back now! Newcomers might not recognize the short-statured thief in the portrait above (Mighty Nein Portrait Series: Veth Fine Art Print by Sam Hogg), but she was with the party from the start! Formerly Nott the Brave, Veth Brenatto is played by Sam Riegel (who previously played Vox Machina’s singing mage Scanlan Shorthalt). Her journey with the party is one of personal transformation, especially in the physical sense.

Before meeting the Mighty Nein, Veth was captured by goblins working for Isharnai the witch (the same one Jester gave the cupcake to!). Her captors were instructed to “make her suffer” and she was forcibly drowned and transformed into a goblinoid creature herself. She became depressed, skittish, and a bit aggressive as she sought out a path to reverse the curse.

A lover of small and shiny objects, Veth also has a tendency to steal things, which gets her in constant trouble. Before the Nein, she met and partnered with Caleb Widogast after the two escaped jail together (where she had been caught for stealing). Veth travels under the name Nott the Brave, which is itself an anagram of Veth Brenatto. At a later point in the campaign, she is finally able to transform back into her true self, reuniting with her husband and son. She combines her skills in thievery with an interest in spellcasting, inspired by Caleb, and an interest in alchemy, inspired by her husband Yeza, to become an explosive attacker on the battlefield.

Caleb Widogast

“I am of the Empire. But I am no friend to the Empire.“

Born Bren Aldric Ermendrud, the quiet human spellcaster known as Caleb Widogast excels in fiery magic which both nurtures and destroys. He is played by Liam O’Brien (who previously played Vax’ildan in Vox Machina), and has an immensely tragic past. He eventually becomes skilled in dunamancy, the magic of potential energy and fate, thanks to Essek Thelyss — but ultimately declines a chance to go back and alter his life’s trajectory.

Caleb was once a student of Trent Ikithon, an abusive teacher who used him and several other students as experiments. Crystals of residuum were embedded in their arms to try to increase their magical abilities. Eventually, Trent even had the students kill their parents to make them dependent upon the Dwendalian Empire — but Caleb broke from the spell that was supposed to make him forget, remembering his mother and father’s dying screams as their house was consumed in flame.

Ridden with guilt, Caleb spends a lot of time with the Mighty Nein trying to make amends for his past actions. The party even encounters his former fellow students Astrid and Eadwulf, and the campaign culminates in a final showdown with Trent that ends with the latter imprisoned for his crimes. Caleb then goes on to teach magic at Soltryce Academy, engaging in a romantic relationship with Essek for a time before they part amicably.

Yasha Nydoorin

“I think I am being rebuilt, just like the temple.“

One of the most physically imposing members of the Mighty Nein, celestial warrior Yasha Nydoorin is also one of the most quiet and socially awkward. She is played by Ashley Johnson (who was Pike Trickfoot in Vox Machina), though the character’s time with the party was interrupted frequently by Johnson’s real-world filming obligations at the time of the campaign. Filled with compassion and rage, strength and softness, Yasha is a complex but loyal member in an already-complex team of heroes.

Her past is fraught with mystery, with portions of her memories gone missing after leaving her tribe when they killed her chosen wife Zuala, who was not approved by the leaders. Yasha awoke at an altar dedicated to the Stormlord, and then later joined a carnival where she became close friends with Mollymauk. This brings her to the Mighty Nein, though she is taken away by the control of a fiend called Obann before the party saves her once more.

Yasha has celestial blood, which she rejects for a time. Her wings are skeletal, and her abilities inducing fear in others. Through her travels with the team, though, she comes to embrace her role as a protector, renewing her wings and granting her powerful new magic. She even comes to terms with Zuala’s death, and enters into a romance with Beau Lionett.

Caduceus Clay

“I made the Earth remember him.“

Caduceus is a wise, friendly, and humorously blunt member of the team who was recruited following the untimely death of Mollymauk. He is of fey giant descent and serves as a healer who devoutly worships the Wildmother. Caduceus is played by Taliesin Jaffe (who portrayed Percy de Rolo in Vox Machina), and was notably his second character in the Mighty Nein campaign.

Approached by the party to help defeat the Iron Shepherds, Caduceus eventually remained with them through the rest of their adventures. He and his family protect the Blooming Grove from blight and decay, and he is intimately familiar and even comfortable with death, believing strongly in the “natural order”. He performed a rite to consecrate the ground at Molly’s gravesite, and often drinks tea cultivated from leaves grown out of dead bodies.

His strange wisdom is a source of morality and guidance for his Mighty Nein teammates, and he even spiritually assists Fjord in following the path of the Wildmother. Caduceus’ presence is greatly calming for the party, though he could become stern and punishing when dealing with their foes. He is also known to talk with the wildlife he encounters, whether or not it can talk back to him.

Mollymauk Tealeaf/Kingsley

“I am your god! Long may I reign!“

Shine bright, circus man. Mollymauk Tealeaf was a vibrant light of chaos that burned out partway through the Mighty Nein’s adventures. He was also played by Taliesin Jaffe, and later by Matt Mercer in the form of Lucien (it’s a long story). He was a devilkin blood hunter and moreover, a flamboyant, thrill-seeking performer and frequent, but charming, liar.

His story was cut short by Lorenzo and the Iron Shepherds, but before his death, he woke in a grave with no memories only two years prior to the start of the campaign. This awakened being was found by the Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities and given the name Mollymauk Tealeaf, initials M. T., by the ringleader (as the first word Molly uttered on his awakening was “empty”). Through the carnival he met who would become the Mighty Nein, and traveled with them from town to town. He was friendly with many of the party members, and especially close allies with Yasha.

It was discovered that this body previously belonged to the ruthless Lucien, whose spirit had been fractured in a botched revival. Lucien’s soul reclaimed Molly’s dead body and tried to take over Exandria through the living city of Cognouza, but he was eventually defeated by the party. When the Mighty Nein tried to use divine intervention to return Molly’s soul to the body, a being calling himself Kinglsey awoke instead.

Critical Role Collection

Throughout their time wandering the continent of Wildemount, the Mighty Nein bested many foes and found many friends. Other individuals like Essek joined them for extended missions abroad, and others like Nila, Calianna, and Keg (all played by guest stars) played brief but impactful parts in the story. While these adventurers might not reach the same Exandrian renown as Vox Machina, their bravery and determination saved the world from a calamitous fate.

Who is your favorite member of the Mighty Nein? Join the conversation in our Let Your Geek Sideshow Facebook Group at side.show/geekgroup. Critters, you can explore merch, art prints, and statues of all your favorite Critical Role heroes from Vox Machina, Mighty Nein, and even Bells Hells! Visit side.show/criticalrole for the whole collection.