5.7 Part 7, The City Chooses Life, Chapters 182 to 212
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| Main | Lexa, Clarke, Nancy, Robin, Alex, Piper, Emma, Regina |
| Sub-main | Raven, Steve, Sara, Ava, Anya, Finn, Rachel, Henry, Theo, Castle, Kate Beckett, Sarah Walker, Cosima, Delphine, Bo, Lauren |
| Secondary | Karen, Holly, Joyce, Seth Cohen, Summer Roberts, Chuck, Root, Shaw, Catra, Adora, Veronica, Logan, Matt, Julie, Joey, Pacey, Lucy, Kate Whistler, Callie, Arizona, Lois, Clark, Hawkins kids, remaining Legends |
| Event-critical / legacy secondary | Alex Wilder, Nate, Zane, Costia, Octavia, Martha, Jim, Ted |
| Sub-secondary | City citizens, school/farm/faith/council background, rescue arrivals, families without independent arcs, legacy names |
Notes:
- Root/Shaw, Catra/Adora, Veronica/Logan, and Matt/Julie are late-wave couples. They may receive focus, but they do not replace the core couples.
- Part 7 must protect the difference between a living city and a story that loses its center.
- Sarah, Cosima, Delphine, Bo, and Lauren should be treated as part of the stronger city-era layer.
- Kate remains important because governance and council life become central in the city era.
- Karen, Holly, Joyce, Lucas's mother, and Dustin's grandmother remain secondary family-layer characters unless promoted by a later skeleton.
- Seth and Summer remain strong secondary as legacy-impact characters after death, not event-only footnotes.