Richard Hilbrand Sinclair
Richard Hilbrand Sinclair is a human living on Earth and one of the four primary protagonists of "Twice-Shadowed Saint".
Richard Sinclair was born October 20, 1985, which puts him at 25 when he first appears in Twice-Shadowed Saint. He is the middle child of the deceased Maxwell and Rachel Sinclair: ten years younger than his older brother Martin and one year older than his sister Victoria. At first glance, he seems to be a pessimistic misanthrope, constantly pointing out the flaws in people as a whole and cynically watching others from a distance. He also seems to adopt the role of protector when around his sister, which is almost constantly, as she has no shortage of suitors. Around the time Twice-Shadowed Saint takes place, Richard is gainfully employed and living in the home left to him after his parents perished in a car accident during the winter of 1993-94. Although he never states exactly what he does, it earns him enough money to provide for both himself and Victoria.
Richard's appearance is unorthodox, particularly his clothing. Although he looks like a fairly typical young man in his mid-twenties, he dresses in collared shirts and black slacks almost all the time, regardless of weather. He wears matching black ties and vests, often adorned with a pair of chains. One contains a locket and the other an antique pocketwatch. He also wears sunglasses constantly and wears a wide-brimmed black hat. Lastly, he is almost never without a knee-length blue greatcoat and his black cane. Although he does not need the cane as a locomotion aid, he later reveals it to carry a 22.5-inch blade that he leaves unsharpened. He refers to it as his "deterrent".
Richard is an extremely distrustful individual, as is evidenced by the first time he meets Turukaishal. His first assumption is that Turukaishal, while disguised as a human, wants nothing more than to seduce Victoria - a desire shared by many he has crossed in the past. He is constantly protecting his sister, who he calls naive and trusting, from the advances of less-than-stellar individuals, and it often leads him into fighting with these people. He not-so-proudly boasts about having been in more fights than anyone else he knows except his older brother.
Richard makes references to a traumatic event which occured in his past as well - the death of his girlfriend, Jennifer Osmond Yates, in 2005. According to him, he dated her for approximately a year before she vanished one day after he walked her home. He was labeled as the prime suspect in her disappearance and forbidden to help aid in her search after being placed under house arrest. Later, when her body was discovered, he was accused of murdering her. Richard was acquitted of her murder later on, but fled to Europe for four years to live with a friend of his brother's while things settled down. He had just returned and had settled back into a routine when he bumped into Turukaishal.
Richard and Klaara in battle
Although his dress and frosty manner do not hint at a particularly powerful fighter, Richard can hold his own in most forms of combat. He is absolutely lethal with a sword, which is proven when he manages to retrieve one of Klaara'Doran kan Mitragan's ion sabers and fight her to a standstill with it, despite having never handled Heil technology before. His hand-to-hand abilities are incredible, as well as his aim with a gun. He attributes his lethality to having studied with his prodigal older brother for many years, as well as years of independent study of his own. He is more than willing to take suicidal risks during a fight if the handful of people he actually likes are threatened, and is as tenacious as a bulldog.
Richard Sinclair later goes on to become one of the pivotal figures in Galactic politics by becoming Edge, the black-armored bounty hunter.