Fitzroy Avery Vacker

Fitzroy Avery Vacker
Caption	Art of Fitzroy Avery Vacker by Laura Hollingsworth
Aliases	Fitz Fitzy Wonderboy Fitzter
Occupation	Student at Foxfire, Black Swan member, and an Exillium Wayward (formerly)
Foxfire Level	Six
Biographical Information
Gender	Male
Age	17
Special Ability	Telepath
Residence	Everglen
Physical Description
Eye Color	Teal
Hair Color	Dark brown
Other Information
Important Information	He is Sophie’s Cognate and crush. Fitz’s best friend is Keefe Sencen.

Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details from the latest book.

“It's okay, we could all use a little more weird in our lives.”

—Fitz Vacker, in Book 2: Exile

Fitz Vacker (''Fits Vack-er) known as "Wonderboy" as Dex calls him, Fitzy, and Fitzter as Keefe calls him is a seventeen-year-old elf, as of the end of Lodestar. He is one of the many belonging to the Vacker family and lives in Everglen. He was a skilled Level Four prodigy at Foxfire, a prestigious elf school in Book 1. In Lodestar, he became a Level Five Prodigy. It was officially revealed by Shannon Messenger that Fitz's name is short for Fitzroy. Along with his sister Biana Vacker, he is said to be the first Vacker to attend Exillium, during his exile period in Neverseen. He joins the Black Swan.

Fitzroy means "son of the king/seeker of wisdom". Avery means elf or counselor or ruler of the elves.

Physical Appearance

Fitz has light teal eyes and dark hair. Sophie Foster mentions he looks like a younger version of Alden. He is also often described to have a "movie star-worthy smile."

He is also much taller than Sophie, as noted in Everblaze, he says that Sophie is even shorter than Biana and she replies by pointing out that Biana always wears heels.

Abilities

Telepathy

Fitz Is a Telepath, the youngest elf to naturally manifest before his sister broke his record. He is Sophie's cognate, allowing the two to increase their abilities when working together. He has much potential and is proud of his talent.  

Biography

Fitz has one little sister and one older brother, Biana, and Alvar, who was later discovered to be part of the Neverseen. His best friend is Keefe. He and Keefe grew apart when Keefe joined the Neverseen, but later, their relationship slowly mended itself. His parents are Alden and Della Vacker.  

Fitz was the second-youngest elf to get his nexus off, until his sister, Biana, broke his record. He was also the third youngest ever to manifest an ability, third to Sophie and Dex. He used to be the Splotching champion before Sophie beat him by using a Brain Push.

When originally creating the first version of Keeper Of The Lost Cities, Shannon Messenger created Fitz as the first character. He was originally created to look for Sophie and quickly find out she's an elf. This was not the final product, seeing as it was short story with the ending being Sophie finding out she is an elf, and now there is an entire series.

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Photo 1: Fitz in Neverseen by Courtney Godbey
Photo 2: Fitz in Neverseen by Shannon Messenger
Photo 3: Fitz in Lodestar by Laura Hollingsworth
Photo 4: Fitz in Nightfall by Laura Hollingsworth
Photo 5: Fitz in Nightfall by Shannon Messenger

Involvement

Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities

In Keeper of the Lost Cities, Fitz is the one who located and took Sophie to the Elvin world. Fitz was also the one Sophie transmitted to when she and Dex were kidnapped by the Neverseen. Along with Keefe and Biana, he also helped find Sophie by the Four Seasons Tree. He also helps her get through having to leave her human family behind.

Book 2: Exile

In Exile, Fitz accuses Sophie of being damaged and the reason why his father, Alden, ends up with a broken mind after taking Sophie with him to Exile to perform a memory break on Fintan. Fitz and Sophie's friendship breaks until Sophie comes back to fix Alden's mind after she has healed from her own problem. Before Sophie heals Alden, Fitz takes her aside and apologizes for his rude behavior to her. He said that Keefe told him all about what happened the day before, which made him realize how his actions and words caused Sophie to be in the Neverseen's reach. He also explained that his anger was a way of coping with the grief of losing his father. Fitz also said that, whether or not Sophie could heal Alden, he would stop blaming Sophie for Alden's loss. Sophie manages to heal Alden in the end.

Book 3: Everblaze

In Everblaze, Fitz and Sophie have telepathy lessons together and learn to truly trust each other in order to heal Fintan's broken mind. They have trust exercises which consist of sharing secrets about themselves that they haven't ever told anyone else. In the end, their trust is so strong that Sophie lets Fitz into her impenetrable mind. One of the secrets Fitz shares with Sophie is Mr. Snuggles, a sparkly red dragon given to him by Elwin to help him cope with the grief of losing his father when Alden's mind was broken. Fitz is very patient throughout this process even though Sophie keeps blocking him out of her mind in instinctual self-protection. Together they develop code words to keep what they are doing during the mind-healing a secret from Fintan. They perform the healing, but the whole process is a disaster because Fintan sparks Everblaze, killing Councilor Kenric, and faking his own death. Fitz saves Sophie from burning by yanking her away from Fintan; Sophie then teleports Fitz and Oralie away from the burning tower. Together Sophie and Fitz collect Quintessence (after a special moment under the stars) to create Frissyn and stop the Everblaze.

Book 4: Neverseen

During Neverseen, Fitz joins the Black Swan along with Keefe, Dex, Biana, Sophie, and his mother, Della Vacker. There he and Sophie work on becoming Cognates. They finally try to go save Prentice in Exile. Fitz gets seriously injured in Exile by being thrown back onto an arthropleura's antennae after throwing one of Dex's gadgets in the hall to stop it from exploding from one of the Councilor's lightning. Dex took him back to the Black Swan's hideout to get treated by Physic, the Black Swans physician. Fitz took a week to heal by drinking "vile tea". When Keefe visited his room he found Fitz cuddling with Mr. Snuggles. They were then sent to Exillium. Fitz got off of the Arch of Dividing, the way of putting the students in the hemisphere fitting for them, by doing what Sophie called "a gold medal worthy flip" to the top of the arch, then untying the knot and levitating to the ground. Fitz went with Sophie to save a gnome that was infected by the plague. He and Sophie tried to read King Dimitar's mind. Being the natural gentleman that he is, Fitz let Linh lean on him after she lifted the river to get into Ravagog. Fitz backed away from Alvar when he knew he was with the Neverseen. Fitz also cried when Keefe joined the Neverseen.

Book 5: Lodestar

At the beginning of Lodestar, Fitz gave Sophie two Cognate rings, telling her his full name was Fitzroy Avery Vacker. Fitz said he didn't trust Keefe after he left for the Neverseen. Fitz and Sophie went to try to pry a few more things out of Prentice's mind. Fitz, Biana, Sophie, Dex, Linh, Tam, and their bodyguards went to Keefe's room to see if there was anything related to the Neverseen, playing Boys vs. Girls to see who could find more things. The girls won, and Fitz noted that he owed Sophie a favor. He said if Sophie didn't use the favor in a month it became his. They find a leaping crystal in an envelope that Keefe had not seen yet. It leaped them to Paris.  

Fitz, Biana, and Sophie had a sleepover at Dex's house. Fitz and Sophie visit Wylie to read his mind. Sophie and Fitz leap to Eternalia and ask Oralie to help them visit Gethen. After coming back, they found a note from Keefe on Sophie's bed. It had a leaping crystal in it and said: "meet now". The crystal took them to a beach. Fitz didn't seem very happy seeing Keefe. Alden, Sandor, Grizel, and Grady eventually found them and Keefe leaped away. Alden banned Fitz from leaving the house until he finished his matchmaking packet, but he finished right away the next day. After the summit, Sophie sent Fitz a message saying that she was okay. After the destruction, Fitz visited Sophie regularly. Near the end of Lodestar, Fitz reminded Sophie of the favor she owed him, but recommend that they "skip the talking." When Sophie and Fitz were about to kiss, Keefe interrupted. They then went to the Fosters' new house with Alden, only to find Sophie's little sister Amy. 

Book 6: Nightfall

Throughout the book, Fitz gives Sophie little gifts.

Book 7: Flashback

Fitz threatens to leave Everglen because Alvar Vacker will be living there. Sophie convinces him not to. While Sophie convinces him not to they are attacked by the Neverseen. Umber attacks them with shadowflux leaving echoes in Fitz's chest and Sophie's arm and head. Fitz's echoes are in his heart, effecting his emotions. He spends time in the healing center with Sophie. Much of which he spends unconscious cuddling with Mr. Snuggles. After Fitz begs Sophie to try once more to search Alvar's mind to be sure his memories are gone, Sophie agrees to cognate train and check Alvar's mind with him. After they search Alvar's mind and fail Fitz brings Sophie to the overide for Everglen and shows her how to use it. Later they go to the reception hall and Fitz confesses wanting Sophie to be the only one on his matchmaking list and Sophie reveals to Fitz that she's had a crush on Fitz since the first time she met him. When Fitz was about to kiss her, they were interrupted by Silveny's call for help. Fitz repeatedly levitates Sophie and her bodyguard Tarina enabling her to teleport to various locations in an effort to help Silveny. Fitz also provides emotional support for Sophie.

In the Flashback Barnes and Noble Exclusive version Fitz has a short story in his point of view. The short story is him and Biana talking. Biana appears to know about this crush and it's revealed he first had a crush on Sophie when he was impaled by the Arthropleura.

Relationships

• SOPHIE (romantically involved/cognate)

Fitz first meets Sophie in the museum in the forbidden cities when he is looking for her. Sophie immediately takes notice of his attractiveness and begins to develop a crush on him. When Sophie is first introduced to the Councillors, Alden compliments Sophie several times, and Fitz agrees with him. When they are entering Atlantis, Sophie slips on the rocks, and Fitz catches her. Sophie's first nexus is Fitz's old one that he doesn't need, and even though Della offers Sophie a new one, she likes hers because it used to be Fitz's. The two become friends and frequently play Base Quest with Biana and Keefe. When Sophie is kidnapped, she transmits to Fitz, who eventually helps rescue her at the Four Seasons Tree. It has also been said that Fitz cried at Sophie's funeral/Wanderling planting.

In Exile, Fitz constantly helps Sophie, even saving her life when she teleports and ends up dangling from a tree, but later in the book Fitz gets mad at her because Alden's mind breaks, and Sophie didn't tell him that she and Alden were going to Exile. At Alden's funeral, Fitz and Biana are very upset with her and don't want her visiting Everglen. Sophie visits anyway in an attempt to heal Alden's mind, and Fitz gets mad and yells at her. Sophie blames herself for this and tries as hard as ever to heal Alden. Sophie also recognizes that Fitz isn't mad at her, but mad at himself. Before Sophie heals Alden's mind, Fitz sincerely apologizes to her and confesses that he was mad at himself, and scared that his father's mind would never be healed. She forgives him and Alvar interrupts, prompting Sophie to heal Alden.

In Everblaze, Sophie and Fitz find an extremely unique telepathic connection. The two are put into telepathy lessons together with Sir Tiergan to try and figure out why Fitz was able to pass Sophie's blocking. The two go through many trust exercises, and Sophie chooses him to be her guide for Fintan's memory healing because of her unequivocal trust for him. Fitz saves Sophie from being killed by Fintan, by pulling her away. They then have to go star bottling to find quintessence. This scene quickly escalates to a romantic moment between the two. Because of Sophie's previous incident of star bottling where she burnt her hands, Fitz tears up his cloak and wraps up Sophie's hands. When the telescope slips because of her new "gloves," Fitz wraps up his own and stands behind her, cradling her arms for support. When Sophie gets tired, she and Fitz switch positions, and Fitz teases her about how short she is. Later in the book, the two try to recreate the moment in order to bring back some of Sophie's old memories. They do trust exercises, having Sophie do things such as falling off of a chair into Fitz's arms.

In Neverseen, Fitz is shown to begin to have romantic feelings for Sophie after getting to know her, and the two are trained as Cognates. They share many secrets with each other during their cognate training and become very good friends. At one point, it is known that when Sophie and Fitz were doing work with their centers of emotion, Keefe or Mr. Forkle did something that made Fitz jealous; alas, no one knows what that "thing" was. Throughout the book, they have lots of physical contact, and it starts to become apparent that Fitz likes Sophie.

In Lodestar, Fitz has shown to have romantic feelings for Sophie such as holding her hand a lot, usually for things related to the Cognate training, as they have rings that snap their hands together, and almost kissing her, although Keefe, with perfect timing, interrupted. In one of the chapters, Fitz gets his Matchmaking packet and he says he would rather wait for a couple more years to pick up his lists, which is when Sophie will get her packet, if she chooses to. Fitz is possibly starting to realize that Sophie may have a crush on him, and by the end of the book, it is very possible that he knows. Throughout the book, Fitz evidently thinks Sophie is beautiful and tells her quite a few times. He constantly watches out for her and wants to protect her. He holds her hand many times to comfort her and constantly tells her things to calm her down and comfort her when she is scared and sad. It is finally starting to seem like Fitz likes Sophie in the end of Lodestar. On page 666 of the book, Fitz mentions the favor that Sophie owes him, and mentions telling her secret. When Keefe, Sophie, and Fitz go to Sophie's human family's house, Fitz says that he is willing to tear the entire house to pieces in order to find Sophie's family.

In Nightfall, Fitz told Sophie that he hoped that she would sign up for matchmaking. Fitz also brings Sophie a gift nearly every time he sees her. Also, when they were giving Sophie their Midterms gifts Keefe wanted to be named Master Gift-Giver, but Biana said Fitz's gift was pretty hard to beat.

In Flashback, Fitz and Sophie admit that they like each other and Sophie decides to register for matchmaking. Fitz tells Sophie that she is the only one he trusts. They also almost kiss but Silveny interrupts calling for help. Later in the book, Fitz kisses Sophie's cheek, under Calla's Panakes.

• MR. SNUGGLES (sparkly friend/comforting stuffed animal)

Mr. Snuggles is Fitz's sparkly red stuffed dragon he sleeps with. Mr. Snuggles was given to Fitz by Elwin (known for his silly gifts) after his father suffered from a broken mind. Needing the comfort then, Fitz began to rely on his stuffed pal which he can no longer sleep without. He tells no one about Mr. Snuggles except for Sophie, though Keefe finds out about it in Neverseen.

• ALDEN (father)

Alden is Fitz's father. They both have a very strong accent and look alike. When Alden's mind is broken in Exile, Fitz gets really angry. It seems Fitz is very close to his father and respects him, for he always knows that Sophie will call Alden if she is in trouble, and cares about him a lot. Fitz gets aggressive toward everyone except immediate family when Alden's mind breaks and blames everyone for it. Eventually, Alden's mind is healed by Sophie, and Fitz stops acting aggressively. Alden cuts off Sophie, Dex, Keefe, Biana, and Fitz's registry pendants in Neverseen, and allows them to join the Black Swan. Alden seems to have an understanding of Fitz's need to help Sophie on her missions and allows him to go with her willingly.

• DELLA (mother)

​Della is Fitz's mother. When Sophie and Fitz fall from a tree while playing Base Quest, she helps them treat their wounds and bruises. She cares deeply about Fitz as well as her other two children. After Sophie brings Fitz back from being lost, Della goes and hugs him tightly. Della also goes with Sophie, Fitz, Dex, Keefe and Biana to join the Black Swan, however, only Biana knows before they go underwater. She becomes a powerful asset to the Black Swan in Neverseen.

• ALVAR (evil brother)

Alvar is Fitz's older brother. He stays and helps out a lot after Alden's mind is broken.When Fitz apologizes to Sophie, Alvar shows up to tell them that the Council is ready for Sophie to heal Alden's mind. Alvar was also Fitz's role model. When Alvar is helping the Black Swan destroy Ravagog, he proves to be a traitor, who was working with the Neverseen the entire time. When the Vacker's find out, they are distraught that their son/brother was lying for so long, and the family goes through a time of anger as well as grief.

In Nightfall, Alvar's memory was completely wiped away. Fitz never forgave Alvar for his treachery, despite how much Alvar insisted in Flashback he was never going to be that person again. Alvar got his memories back later on in Flashback and immediately rejoined the Neverseen. Fitz continues to hate Alvar, and almost killed him in Flashback.

• BIANA (sister)

​Biana is Fitz's little sister. She cheers him on when he is splotching against Sophie (most likely because she didn't like Sophie in the first book). He is shown to be very protective of her. She is usually seen playing Base Quest with Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe. In Exile, they are talking to each other in the kitchen and Fitz volunteers to tell Biana the news about Alden's broken mind. The siblings tease each other and have a close relationship.

• KEEFE (best friend)

Keefe is Fitz's best friend. They often play Base Quest with Biana and Sophie and they play Bramble against each other. He tells Fitz about what happened to Sophie when Fitz was angry at her about Alden's broken mind, which causes Fitz to regret his words and actions towards Sophie and he humbly apologizes. Keefe often teases Fitz about Mr. Snuggles. After Keefe goes to the Neverseen, Fitz stops trusting him and their friendship turns problematic. During cognate training with Sophie, Keefe probably does something that makes Fitz jealous, and that day does not end well for them. Fitz was obviously angry at Keefe, especially when they met with Sophie, where he teased them. Fitz also started to dislike Keefe a bit more after interrupting a moment when he and Sophie were about to kiss. Near the end of Lodestar, they both go to the Forbidden Cities, but they both did it just for Sophie. Also in Lodestar, Tam says that Sophie and Keefe are close and Fitz disagreed. When Sophie communicates with Keefe several times in Lodestar, Fitz shows jealousy and disappointment. After Keefe got back their relationship was strained for many reasons one being Fitz felt that Keefe might betray them again, but it might also hint that Fitz was also jealous of the relationship Keefe has with Sophie. And slowly, in Lodestar and Nightfall, it seems that their relationship might be falling apart.

• DEX (friend/former frenemy)

Dex used to not like the Vackers because of them being one of the noblest family in the Lost Cities, while Dex is a child of a “bad match”. Evidently, also because Dex is well aware that Sophie could possibly have feelings for Fitz, and most likely does. When they are first in a situation together, although they seem to have met before, Dex says he knows Fitz, but Fitz says he doesn't know Dex, making the conversation extremely awkward. He calls Dex "Deck", by accident. When Sophie is mad because she found out Biana was forced to be her friend, Fitz, wanting to make peace, asks Dex to go talk to her. Dex repeatedly calls Fitz "Wonderboy" in a jealous way. When Fitz and Sophie are splotching he cheers for Sophie. He is shown to be happy when Fitz got slammed into the wall much harder than Sophie. Dex also got upset when he found out she would be having telepathy training with Fitz because he feels that Fitz is hogging Sophie. Finally, though, in Book 4, Dex is the one who leaps Fitz back to Physic, blaming himself for Fitz's injury. They have a conversation, get over their prejudices, and become friends.

• LINH (friend/possible love interest)

Fitz meets Linh after being banished to Exillium. The first time he sees her using her hydrokinesis, he literally says "Wow."  After she falls while they are escaping Ravagog, Fitz holds her because he's a gentleman, and carries her because Linh's twin, Tam, couldn't hold her at that moment, and was fairly tired himself. In Lodestar, he says "Wow" every time she does something with her amazing, and rare, ability. It is unknown if Fitz actually likes her or is just impressed with Linh's ability. In Nightfall, Linh impresses Fitz many times with her powerful hydrokinetic abilities. When Linh suggested that they could work together Fitz seemed happy and Linh blushed. Linh possibly had a crush on Fitz, maybe he was good-looking, or because of other reasons. In the book it also reveals that Linh was shy, so possibly it was her personality.

• TAM (friend)

• OREM (Great x18 grandfather)

Grandfather to Biana, Fitz, and Alvar. He is a talented flasher and performs light shows called the Celestial Festival during a total eclipse.

• FALLON (Great x19 grandfather)

Fallon Vacker is Fitz's great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather. He is one of the oldest elves alive and used to be on the original council of three.

• LUZIA (Great x 19 grandaunt)

Luzia is Fallon's half-sister. She appears in Book 7: Flashback. She knew Vespera and was involved in a troll project on her former property Everglen, before she moved to Dawnheath.

Trivia

• He is the second-youngest elf to get his nexus off; his sister Biana beat him by five weeks.
• Councillor Terik took a potential reading and decided that Fitz would be one of the strongest telepaths, even stronger than his father. Councillor Bronte was surprised when Sophie passed Fitz's telepathic blocking.
• His teal eyes are a signature Vacker trait, though his brother, Alvar, and mother, Della, have cobalt eyes.
• His name rhymes with Ritz Cracker.
• He starts wearing a lot of cologne in Nightfall that Sophie likes, but Sandor and Biana don't.
• He searched for Sophie for six years before finding her. Alvar searched six years before him, but Fitz took over when Alvar moved out to take the Elite Levels at Foxfire.
• Fitz takes a morning run every day.
• He was the first character created by Shannon Messenger.
• KOTLC was originally supposed to be about Fitz, but Shannon Messenger changed her mind and made Sophie the main character.
• First elf character that Sophie knowingly met. (The actual first elves Sophie met were Alvar, aka ‘The Boy Who Disappeared’, when she was 5 and Mr. Forkle, posing as her next door neighbor, doctor, etc. )
• In Flashback, there is an exclusive short story from Fitz's point of view, answering a question fans have been asking about. Including what he says to get past Sophie's mental blocking, which is "It's me".
• Fitz sustains a lot of chest injuries.

Character Bio by Shannon Messenger

Fitz is the golden boy from the famously important family who spent years secretly helping his dad search for Sophie in the human world. He’s a talented Telepath—though not *quite* as powerful as Sophie is. He’s a loyal brother, a model prodigy, and tends to earn his nickname, “Wonderboy” (despite the fact that Dex meant the name sarcastically). And even though he’s two grade levels ahead of Sophie, Fitz cares about her more than she knows (more than he knows, honestly). Maybe it’s because he saw how hard it was for Sophie to leave her human life behind, or because she’s close in age to his younger sister, but he feels a special connection with Sophie, and does everything he can to keep her happy and safe.