Andrew Underhill

Andrew Underhill is one of the many Shadowhunters in New York.

History

Underhill served as a Shadowhunter on the front lines for over 10 years. In keeping his private life separate, he kept his sexuality a secret while working at the New York Institute. It was in 2016 when he finally had the courage to come out, inspired by the courage of a high-ranking Shadowhunter, and eventual head of the Institute, Alec Lightwood, who came out as gay by kissing his warlock boyfriend Magnus Bane in front of the Institute residents.^[1]

At one point, he was promoted to head of security by Alec. He hoped to ask Jace Herondale for some tips, but when he asked Jace, the latter wasn't in the right state of mind and was ignored. When the Institute's power grid and backup systems went down later that day, Underhill had been at the Ops Center. He and Lindsay reacted quickly and manually rebooted their systems. They were able to bring them back up within two minutes, but not soon enough to stop the owl from releasing Morgan Young from her possession.^[2] They updated and rebooted the main systems shortly after. After reporting to Alec, he stayed for a moment to tell Alec how his courage and relationship with Magnus inspired him to come out.^[1]

Despite his admiration for the couple, Underhill was among the Shadowhunters who found Magnus' stay at the Institute off-putting, pointing out that there were protocols against it. Still, he told Magnus that he was glad that they worked out their issues, surprising Magnus that Alec had told him about their problems.^[3]

When Luke Garroway arrived at the Institute with runes on his skin, Underhill was shocked and disbelieving that the former Shadowhunter-turned-werewolf was once again a Shadowhunter. At the reception of Alec and Magnus's wedding at the Institute, Underhill walked up to the High Warlock of Brooklyn Lorenzo Rey, who'd been dancing with Madzie, complimented him and introduced himself. One year later he was still stationed at the New York Institute and was working under Isabelle Lightwood.^[4]

Appearances

Trivia

• When the character was first pitched, his name was Stephen Overknight, as a pun for the character working the night shift, before he was renamed.^[5] His surname Underhill was pitched by showrunner's assistant Claire Hupy, borrowed from a former schoolmate.^[6]

References