Penny

Penny is a peer of Quentin's and later the Librarian of the Neitherlands, the city between worlds. It is revealed that his first name is William and his middle name is Schroeder, but no last name is given. He is examined for Brakebills on the same day as Quentin, and his Discipline involves travel between worlds. After leading the others to Fillory and a fight with the Beast, in which his hands are bitten off, he chooses to stay in the Neitherlands. During the fight with the Old Gods, he proves himself capable, and losses in personnel mean that he is promoted to be Librarian of the order that runs the Neitherlands. He has spectral prostheses for his hands, which have a number of extra capabilities. In an interview, Grossman described him as a "suburban ... punk wannabe" who grew up in an upper-middle class home; he has a sheltered life in a Southern California Gated community and "tries to cobble together a personality by pretending he doesn't". Grossman describes him as very close in personality to Quentin, "just not in the ways that would make them like each other".