The Raven Queen is the goddess of death, fate and winter. Her citadel is located within the Upside-Down. Her duty is to safeguard a soul's passage from the natural world to whatever lay beyond. Without her, a soul could lose its way or worse be hijacked and turned immediately into an undead monstrosity.

The Raven Queen was once a mortal sorcerer who died from the plague. Nerull, god of the dead was attracted to her spirit and ended up marrying her. He called her Nera. After a length of time, Nera gained power and actually overthrew Nerull. Along with Vecna and Trogdor, she is one of the few known daeva who attained divinity after her mortal death.

The Raven Queen is obsessed with collecting and observing mementos and fragments of memories and essences. Many elven sages speculate that she is insane, believing her methods and behavior little more than aimless curiosity or a desperate attempt to prevent her fragile existence from fading into oblivion. Others believe the Queen's actions purify souls by forcing mortals to deal with their fears and pains.

The Raven Queen lives in a cold mountainous area of the Upside-Down called Letherna. Her citadel is a maze of towers and has bridges of stone and ice. Above Letherna, there is a maelstrom of swirling souls that shine like stars.