Black Company/Characters

Black Company:

Croaker

The Annalist of the Black Company, he also serves as physician. Later on he becomes the captain of the company since no one else wants it. His Annals record the time in which the company was in the service to the Lady of Charm and subsequently the White Rose.

• The Archer: In the first three books. Later on, he stops fighting at all when he can help it.
• Badass Grandpa: He's well past his prime when the series begins and becomes one of these in later installments.
• The Chessmaster
• Kavorka Man
• Knight Templar
• The Medic

The Captain

The Captain at the start of the series. We never learn his real name. Makes a deal with the devil which puts the Black Company under the employ of The Lady and sets up the first three books.

• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
• Reasonable Authority Figure

One-Eye

One of the three company wizards. He and Goblin have an eternal feud with each other leading to magical duels cropping up whenever they have the time. Cheats horribly at Tonk leading many characters to avoid playing with him. As to his ability with sorcery he is more capable than any minor wizard outside the company, but he often points out that his magic is nothing compared with those wizards with the talent level of the Taken.

• Aw, Look — They Really Do Love Each Other: When he dies, he leaves everything to Goblin.
• Jerkass
• Nice Hat: Well, it sounds like a cool hat even if everybody else goes on about how old and ugly it is. Besides, it can cancel out mind control. That's got to count for something.
• With Friends Like These...: Taken up to eleven. He and Goblin do some seriously nasty shit to each other and honestly seem to want to murder each other most days.

Goblin

One of the four company wizards in the Books of the North. As stated above One-Eye and Goblin fight constantly with Goblin usually winning. On par with One-Eye in terms of magic. Both he and One-Eye specialize in illusion, tricking their enemies by bolstering the Companies numbers or creating (illusionary) swarms of bugs. They deal in deception and creativity rather than force.

• Brainwashed and Crazy: Comes back like this after his first Heroic Sacrifice. He gets better in time to finish Kina off, with a little help from One Eye's magic hat.
• Dirty Old Man: One Eye accuses him of groping the unconscious Daughter of The Night. Umm...Did You Just Fondle Cthulhu?
• Heroic Sacrifice: Twice.
• With Friends Like These...: With One Eye, as above.

Silent

As his name states he never talks due to an oath taken in his younger years. He learns sign language in the early books and communicates in that manner. His magic is described by Croaker as being different from One-Eye and Goblin's, in some manner.

• Heroic Sacrifice
• The Rival: with Raven in Silver Spike
• Shipper on Deck: Inverted the moment Case starts getting close to Darling, he gets pissed.
• The Quiet One: Duh

Raven

A member of the company who was the first northerner to join the company. He always is working towards a goal other than that of the company leading the others to mistrust him. He finds a young girl, in a wrecked village, named Darling, who he devotes his life to often leading him to do unspeakable acts of evil.

• Arch Enemy: Limper is one for him.
• Arranged Marriage: As a way to end generations-long feud between his wife's family and his.
• Badass
• Comes Great Insanity: Because he studied black magic, in The Silver Spike once he touches it, he gets instantly corrupted
• Deconstruction: He gets introduced as your typical ultra-cool badass loner with angsty past in the first book. Starting halway through it series proceed to show him as more and more flawed. In his final apperance he comes as a bit of pathetic.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Manages to pull it out three times.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Considering his hate for Limper it's ironic how much ruthless he becomes and in the end he turns as mad as Limper or Dominator when he touches Silver Spike.
• Knight Templar Parent: A major one of these for Darling.
• Mary Sue, Creator's Pet: may come of like this through the first book, but his Moral Event Horizon in second and The Worf Effect in thirth helps fixing it. At the time The Silver Spike takes place it's hard to belive it's the same guy you once acussed of being author's darling.
• Moral Event Horizon: Crosses one big time in Shadows Linger.
• Morality Pet: Inversion - taking care of Darling makes him even worse, as he focuses all his good on her,leaving the world to witness his less pleasant side.
• Not Quite Dead - often.
• Parental Abandonment: He has two children he abandoned without remose. In The Silver Spike Case and Darling forces him to meet them
• Parental Substitute: For Darling
• Shipper on Deck: inverted Just like Silent, he sees possibility of Case and Darling getting together and is not happy about it.
• The Worf Effect: Suffers it big time in The White Rose and again in The Silver Spike. Second one is especially humilating, as it was delivered by man named Old Man Fish.

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The Taken

The Taken were a group of wizards that were near godlike in their powers. The Dominator defeated them then used his magic to turn them into his servants. With his wife, the Lady, at his side the Dominator then used the Ten Who Were Taken to conquer most of the northern lands. The White Rose eventually managed to defeat the Dominator, the Lady and the Ten Who Were Taken, but could not kill them, and instead had them interred alive in magically warded barrows. After almost four hundred years the Lady and the Ten, but not the Dominator, were released from their prison, and they have since forged a new empire.

Tropes associated with all of the Taken:

• Badass
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder
• Dragon with an Agenda
• Enemy Civil War
• Evil Versus Evil: Especially when they started fighting each other
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Every one of them does what his or her name implies i.e. Soulcatcher catches souls, Shapeshifter changes shape, Stormbringer creates storms and the Limper, well, limps.
• Magic Knight: Most of them are both skilled wizard and strong warriors, due to the setting's inversion of the Squishy Wizard trope.
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast
• Quirky Miniboss Squad
• Samus Is a Girl: Three of the original ten Taken are known to be women, but since all Taken wear masks it is difficult to determine who. Generally male pronouns are used when speaking about a Taken, which sometimes leads to a surprise.
• True Name: The Taken are largely impervious if their true name is not known, even by wizard standards.
• Undead: Part of the ritual to convert someone to a Taken seems to involve killing and then resurrecting them again, possibly more than once. Several, if not all, of the Ten Who Were Taken clearly spent some time dead before their conversion; all of the Ten wear masks, presumably to hide this.
• Why Won't You Die?: Killing any of them is really, really hard.

Soulcatcher

A sorcerer who is rumoured to be able to steal the souls of his victims. Soulcatcher talks in a wide variety of voices, which is said to be the voices of those he killed. While it is noted that Catcher has a slight form and feminine curves, and occasionally will use a single female voice when discussing particularly serious matters, the Taken's habit of wearing a face-concealing black morion and tight leathers means people always use male pronouns when talking about him.

Soulcatcher is exceptionally cunning and ambitious, and frequently plots against the other Taken to advance his own status. He is the original employer of the Black Company in the North, and makes frequent use of their services.

• Affably Evil: Possibly the nicest of the Taken.
• Ax Crazy: Particularly after her resurrection.
• Benevolent Boss: Treats the Black Company well for a Taken, generally being helpful and even building up a (limited) level of camaraderie with Croaker.
• Cain and Abel: With the Lady.
• The Caligula: To Taglios in later books. She's a classic example, since she's as capricious and unstable as she is dangerous.
• Cold Reading: Ambiguously. He claims he is not a mind reader, but he often displays an unnerving amount of knowledge about other people's thoughts.
• Cute and Psycho
• Harsher in Hindsight: In-Universe, when Soulcatcher mentions off-hand that the Lady killed her twin sister when they were fourteen. It is eventually revealed that Soulcatcher was the sister.
• Magnificent Bastard
• Samus Is a Girl: Through, to be fair, it was foreshadowed early on.
• The Starscream
• Voice of the Legion: He only uses one voice at a time, but he's got a lot of them, and switches every sentence or two. When particularly sensitive matters are discussed, he sticks to a single female voice.

The Limper:

Soulcatcher's worst enemy in the Taken and therefore an enemy of his tools, The Black Company. He is often at cross purposes with the Black Company, and there is great enmity between them. Limper is not very clever, and is frequently outmaneuvered by his enemies. He is named Limper because he, er, limps.

• Arch Enemy: For The Raven, whose life he ruined in one of his plots and for Shapeshifter, whose wife he seduced. He also frequently clashes with the Black Company.
• Badass: He is a skilled fighter, a strong sorcerer and nearly indestructible, even for a Taken.
• Complete Monster: Croaker notes he is considered one of the worst among the Taken.
• Not Quite Dead: twice
• One-Winged Angel: As a result of the final attempt to kill him.
• Rasputinian Death: In Black Company he survives being eaten by fire snakes. In Shadows Linger he ends impaled from ballista, twice, ripped by dogs, cut several times, crucified and having his chest ripped by one of Dominator's curses. He survived, only to get his head cut off by Croaker in The White Rose and having the rest of his body cut to the pieces and it's still implied he is still alive. He finally dies with rest of the Taken, when Lady looses her power. Probably.
  • He comes back again in The Silver Spike, as just a head this time. He proceeds to acquire a newer, better body soon after. Even at the end of the book, he doesn't really 'die', he's 'simply' cast off into another dimension by a deity who's power rivals that of the Dominator.
• Nigh Invulnerable: Almost impossible to kill, even for a Taken.
• The Rival: With Soulcatcher.
• The Starscream: In The White Rose.
• Unskilled but Strong
• Villainous Valor
• Unwitting Pawn: Both Soulcatcher and the Company tricks him several times.

The Howler

A small wizard dressed in rags with an uncontrollable need to howl all the time. Best at controlling the flying carpets that the Taken ride on. Older than The Lady, he seems to have more lives than a cat.

• Beware the Silly Ones: This is the reason that the Company has a hard time impressing the need to be wary of him on younger members - he's kind of ridiculous, but also one of the most powerful entities running around.
• Dirty Old Man: According to Shukrat.
• Staying Alive: Even among the Taken, he stands out for this.

Shapeshifter

Soulcatcher's closest ally. He frequently shapeshifts and is a skilled infiltrator and saboteur, being able to take on a large variety of shapes.

• Arch Enemy: Limper, which is why he sides with Soulcatcher against him.
• Baleful Polymorph: What he subjected his wife to.
• Disproportionate Retribution: His wife cheated on him with Limper. He allegedly turned her into his staff.
• The Dragon: For Soulcatcher.
• Not Quite Dead
• Shapeshifter Default Form: Described as a mass of tentacles.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: As the name implies.
• Yandere: Reason why he hates Limper? He seduced his wife. See also Disproportionate Retribution

Bonegnasher

A grotesquely large man, Gnasher is the physically strongest of the Taken. He is also sometimes known as Bonebreaker, as it is said he enjoys breaking the bones of his enemies.

• The Brute: Bonegnasher is described by Croaker as being eight feet tall and 600 pounds of muscle. At one point he grabs a were-leopard - which is said to be as strong as a dozen men - and easily crushes it in a hug, then takes a bite out of it.

Moonbiter

Also known as Moondog. A Taken of which little is told. His name is juxtaposed against a wolf and a full moon, with the former sometimes eclipsing the latter. He is seen summoning a swarm of winged serpents during a full moon at one point.

The Hanged Man

A Taken named for having very obviously been hanged at one point. Sometimes known as Crooked Neck. His head is swollen and makes it difficult to speak, and he still has the marks of the noose around his neck. Little is seen of him, but it is implied he likes to kill his enemies in the same manner that he presumably died, as he is seen using a spell that suffocates its victims.

Stormbringer

A wizard who specializes in weather manipulation.

• Power of the Storm: Natch.

Nightcrawler

A sorcerer. He has a reputation of being unnerving, but little else is described about him.

The Faceless Man

A sorcerer. As with Nightcrawler, he is only mentioned briefly.

Later volumes introduce new Taken, in some cases to replace the old ones. Unlike the old Taken, the new ones do not necessarily wear masks, and do not distance themselves from other people. These include Whisper, a rebel general, and Feather and Journey, a married couple that were Taken, formerly rebels and members of the Circle. Also mentioned are Benefice, Blister, Creeper, Learned and Scorn. The Silver Spike features another three Taken; an Affably Evil man named Exile and a pair of sisters named Silk and Gossamer.

Whisper

A sorceress of the Circle of Eighteen and one of the most skilled generals of her era. She was ambushed during a meeting with the rebellious Limper, and was subsequently Taken by the Lady, turning one the the Rebel's greatest assets into one of its greatest foes.

Feather

A member of the Circle of Eighteen, and married to Journey. Feather and Journey were both newly raised to the Circle when they married, and were captured by the Black Company on their honeymoon. They were then Taken by the Lady.

Journey

A member of the Circle of Eighteen, and married to Feather. Feather and Journey were both newly raised to the Circle when they married, and were captured by the Black Company on their honeymoon. They were then Taken by the Lady. Journey is not considered to be very competent among the Taken, and is typically relegated to lesser tasks.

The Lady

Master of the Taken. She betrayed her husband, the Dominator, to become leader of the Taken and establish her own Empire. She is considered an evil overlord, but it is often argued that her husband is far worse. She rules from her massive tower, Charm.

• Big Bad: In-universe.
• De-Power: At the end of The White Rose
• Evil Overlord: How she is seen; while she definitely has a cruel streak, it is doubtful she is as bad as her husband or even the Rebel.
• Genre Savvy: Once she starts having visions of Kina she immediately recognizes that the goddess is trying to seduce her with promises of great power, while never mentioning the price. It hast something to do with her doing the same during her time as Evil Overlord.
• Heel Face Turn
• Hypocrite: What she fears the most is that the world will remember her as Complete Monster, which is sole reason why she gets close with Croaker in the first place - to make sure he will write about her true self in the Annals. Yet she subjects the same treatment to Dominator, refusing to even consider he might have a good side.
• Morality Pet: Tries to make herself one out of Croaker. After realizing that, he just tells her how it worked for Raven.
• Official Couple: With Croaker
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Once she thinks that Croaker was killed in battle.
• True Name: One of the reasons the Lady is so powerful is because she wiped out pretty much all records of her prior life, making it difficult to pierce her magical defenses. Silent figures it out. It's Dorotea Senjak.

The Dominator

An immensely powerful sorcerer. Created an empire known as The Domination over four hundred years before the start of the series. He created the Ten Who Were Taken, or Taken for short. He was defeated by an earlier incarnation of the White Rose and buried alive in the Barrowland. The Lady neglected to free him when she escaped with the Taken. He makes several attempts to escape over the course of the series.

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: According to Lady first Taken who betrayed her for him were all female. Through rather averted with Lady, who hates his guts, and with Soulcatcher, who decided to hijack his plan to get rid of Lady and rule herself
• Bigger Bad: He is a Morgoth to Lady's Sauron. Manages to take the place of Big Bad often.
• Badass: Even depowered he managed kill several people and a strong demon with his bare hands.
• Complete Monster: At last according to the Lady.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Croaker tries to argue he might have good side Lady didn not knew about, and uses this as an possible example. Lady says he probably killed her with his bare hands.
• Eviler Than Thou: His whole existence is this for Lady.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Every time he steals place of Big Bad, he basically does this
• Magnificent Bastard: Apparently has backup plans for backup plans and managed to set many of them in motion before being imprisoned.
• Sealed Evil in a Can

The Circle of Eighteen

A group of wizards who lead the Rebel during the uprising.

Darling

A deaf-mute child found by the Black Company early in the Northern campaign. She is adopted by Raven, who grows fiercely protective of her. She eventually invents a sign language and shows herself to be highly intelligent. She is eventually revealed to be the reincarnation of the White Rose and a magic null, a person around whom magic doesn't work. Once Raven realizes this he deserts the Black Company, taking her with him and raising her to fulfill her destiny as leader of the forces of light.

Marron Shed

A tavern owner in Juniper who has fallen on lean times. He is desperate to keep the Iron Lily and provide for his family, but his meekness, vices and poor financial skills constantly keeps him on the edge. As he grows increasingly desperate, he finds that he might have to stoop to levels for which there may be no forgiving one self.

• The Atoner: By the end of Shadows Linger, once he realizes what his actions helped do.

Bomanz

A wizard who dedicated most of his life to gaining access to the Great Barrow where the Dominator and his henchmen were buried. He recognized the dangers of his work, and never intended to free anyone; rather, his plan was to coerce the lady into teaching him what she knew of magic. While the Lady has since wiped most records of what happened, it is thought that his ritual was disrupted when he was caught between two parties who wished to release and contain the Dominator, respectively. Popular myth holds that he was last seen heading towards the Great Barrow in a vain attempt to keep the Dominator from escaping. While it is unclear if he succeeded in containing the Dominator, the Lady and the Taken did escape.

• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In-universe. Few expected grouchy excavator-antiquary Bomanz to actually be one of the great wizards of his age.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Is believed to have attempted this in-universe. It is unclear whether it succeeded. It appears he never got past the dragon guarding the central chamber. Later sacrifices himself to slay the dragon during the Dominator's escape attempt.
• Not Quite Dead: Frozen in time with a plume of fire from a dragon coming at him.
• True Name: As a wizard, Bomanz keeps his true name a secret. When the Lady interrogates him it is revealed his name is Seth Chalk.

Philodendron Case

Young imperial soldier who befriends Raven in The White Rose and narrator in The Silver Spike.

• Audience Surrogate
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He joined the army because he has enough potatoes and wanted adventures. Lets just say that multiple times over the course of Silver Spike he is advocating advantages of growing potatoes over being an adventurer.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Gray and Gray Morality: Pointed to Darling that most of her rebelion is controled by descedants of nobility, who wants to return to the times when they were living from peasants' hard work, while peasants have pretty decent lives under imperial rule and that most of people don't care about who is in charge as long as their lives aren't turning on worse.
• Odd Friendship: With Raven
• Official Couple: With Darling at the end of The Silver Spike

Old Man Fish

Old veteran hired by Tulek to help steal Silver Spike, later becomes only chance for his comrades survival.

• Badass Grandpa: Just to drive the point home - he had assaulted resident Badass Raven and two other people at the same time, beaten them without breaking a sweat, murdered one of them and managed to do it too fast for them to see his face.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: After escaping Rebels, Empire and the Limper, he dies from cholera.
• Magnificent Bastard: Manipulated everybody to save his and Smeds' skins, making all sides dance as he wanted them to.