# Lili Foster — The Big Time character guide > Lili Foster in The Big Time by Fritz Leiber. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Lilian Foster, Lili, Even battered, tight-lipped Lili **First appearance:** 0000-i-enter-three-hussars ## Snapshot A seventeen-year-old veteran of three deaths and countless disappointments, Lili wants the shut Door to become a real home and argues for it with desperate, flapper-sharp conviction. ## Who they are She quarrels nobly with Bruce, winds a gray bandeau around her bangs, and steps away from his arms to address the group as if the Place's future depends on her voice. Her speech about the balanced aquarium and the end of slavery to Spiders and Snakes is both genuinely hopeful and painfully self-dramatizing, and the narrator recognizes the love-business of trying to live someone else's message. Lili matters because her hunger for a nest forces everyone to decide whether the Place is a refuge or a coffin. ## Relationships ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _friendship_ Lili is a close and supportive friend to the narrator, offering companionship and emotional grounding. ### [Bruce Marchant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/bruce_marchant) _friendship_ Bruce and Lili share a warm and supportive friendship, often united in their concern for the narrator. ### [Erich von Hohenwald](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/erich_von_hohenwald) _friendship_ Erich and Lili share a cautious but genuine friendship, often bonding over their mutual care for the narrator. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _friendship_ Lili is a close and supportive friend to the narrator, offering companionship and emotional grounding. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _friendship_ Lili is a close and supportive friend to the narrator, offering companionship and emotional grounding. ### [Erich von Hohenwald](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/erich_von_hohenwald) _friendship_ Erich and Lili share a cautious but genuine friendship, often bonding over their mutual care for the narrator. ### [Erich von Hohenwald](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/erich_von_hohenwald) _friendship_ Erich and Lili share a cautious but genuine friendship, often bonding over their mutual care for the narrator. ### [Bruce Marchant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/bruce_marchant) _friendship_ Bruce and Lili share a warm and supportive friendship, often united in their concern for the narrator. ## In the story ### [I: Enter Three Hussars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/i-enter-three-hussars) New Girl, absent during the arrival, possibly having a breakdown. ### [II: A Right-Hand Glove](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/ii-a-right-hand-glove) Introduced as the New Girl, she deftly handles Bruce's outburst by providing a glove that fits his right hand, earning his attention and the narrator's respect. ### [VI: Crete Circa 1300 BC](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/vi-crete-circa-1300-bc) Holds hands with Bruce and beams gently, showing bravery through love. ### [VII: Time to Think](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/vii-time-to-think) Glows with pride for Bruce, watching him like a promised princess. ### [VIII: A Place to Stand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/viii-a-place-to-stand) Mentioned as the girl whose love has changed Bruce, prompting his radical shift toward advocating peace. ### [IX: A Locked Room](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/ix-a-locked-room) Participates in checking Ghostgirl envelopes and expresses fatalistic humor about their situation. ### [X: Motives and Opportunities](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/x-motives-and-opportunities) Lili talks intensely with Bruce; the narrator considers her as a possible agent for Bruce's plan. ### [XI: The Western Front, 1917](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/xi-the-western-front-1917) Delivers a passionate speech about her three lives, her love for Bruce Marchant, and the new opportunity after the Change Winds died. ### [XII: A Big Opportunity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/xii-a-big-opportunity) Articulates the vision of the Place as a seed for a new future, emphasizing peace and new life. ### [XIII: The Tiger Is Loose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/xiii-the-tiger-is-loose) Lili is the prime suspect for hiding the Maintainer; she looks sharp and at bay, confirming Erich's theory. ### [XIV: “Now Will You Talk?”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/xiv-now-will-you-talk) Subjected to Kaby's interrogation; she had previously inverted the left-hand glove into a right-hand glove and hidden the Major Maintainer as a sculpture. ### [XV: Lord Spider](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/xv-lord-spider) Brought in by Kaby; shows mixed emotions about the Change Winds and is later accused by Sid of hiding the Maintainer. ### [XVI: The Possibility-Binders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/chapters/xvi-the-possibility-binders) Admits hiding the Maintainer and explains her glove inversion technique; dances the black bottom on the piano. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters/lili_foster - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_big_time_se/characters