History Characters / MalazanBookOfTheFallenLetherAndKolanse

* HeroesWantRedheads: Bugg and Tehol seem to, at any rate.

* ItAmusedMe: [[spolier:He's a bored Elder God of the Seas, and follows around Tehol because he finds him interesting.]]

The leader of the Patriotists, the Letherii secret police.

* WhipItGood: One of his trademark weapons is a whip.[[note]]The other is an axe.[[/note]]

* AmazonianBeauty: Abrastal is described as very attractive -- at the very least in the eyes of AmazonChaser Spax -- with long, fiery hair, deep brown eyes, wide hips and a build to rival that of Krughava, who is the leader of the Grey Helms through AsskickingEqualsAuthority but in contrast to Abrastal decidedly not beautiful.

%%* HyperCompetentSidekick: To Tehol.

* AttractiveZombie: Shurq Elalle really loves to seduce living males. She wholeheartedly cherishes her undead state, mainly because it keeps her from aging and losing her good looks, and repeatedly refuses the possibility of resurrection.

%%* ClassyCatBurglar
%%* CoolBigSis: To Kettle.

* MateOrDie: Maybe. After she's given an ootooloo (a strange aquatic life form that enhances sexual pleasure), she can once again enjoy sex despite being undead. The byproduct is that she also has an extremely strong sex drive as a result, and it's stated that if she doesn't satiate it on a daily basis, ''something'' will happen to her, and it's implied not to be pleasant. It's not made clear what this is, and in any case, "death" isn't likely to be the outcome, since she's already undead. Strangely, this doesn't seem to bother her at all, because ''not'' being able to enjoy sex had made her utterly apathetic about everything, and she seems to regard her new state as an improvement. Eventually she does seem to get more control over this.

* ReallyGetsAround: She spends quite a bit of time in a brothel at one point due to her newly awakened carnal appetites, which require daily satiation. We don't see first-hand what she's been up to, but since the madam mentions that the brothel's other occupants resent her for stealing ''[[ExaggeratedTrope all their clients]]'', we can assume this trope was involved. She does eventually get involved in multiple monogamous relationships though (or at least as monogamous as one can be when one needs to have sex every day - see MateOrDie above).
%%* TheUndead

* DCupDistress: Felash complains about her big breats at one point because it's uncomfortable to have them appropriately presented all the time but not binding them up some makes them too heavy, but when Shurq points out that there are herbs to change that, Felash regretfully admits that she ''needs'' "those damned things" to [[DistractedByTheSexy keep men distracted]]. Shurq has little sympathy for Felash's plight and thinks [[BuxomIsBetter she doesn't deserve them, then]].

* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Felash calls her breasts her "first gifts of diplomacy", and though she privately has some small degree of DCupDistress, she readily admits that having big breasts is betetr than not having them, since they keep men's eyes distracted from her clever politicking.

* RoyalBrat: Downplayed. Felash is introduced as a indulgent, haughty and pampered brat with an air of entitlement, but she is never shown to treat other people badly, just condescendinglike calling Shurq Elalle 'dear'. She does expect her every wish to be catered to but her only handmaiden doesn't seem too unhappy about it and it becomes increasingly obvious that she is very smart and knows how to manipulate people into doing what she wants them to, which includes political matters, so that part of her behaviour is an act.

The chancellor to king Ezgara Disaknar. He is allied with the Queen, collaborating with her to instigate a war against the Edur.

* TheQuisling: A subversion. [[spoiler:When the Edur conquer Letheras, he swiftly swears fealty to Rhulad. However, it quickly becomes clear he has no intention of letting the Edur control Letheras. By isolating Rhulad from the other Edur, he manages to effectively lock them out of administering the country, and by reducing Rhulad to a PuppetKing allows the old Letherii aristocracy to control the country much as they did before, with the Edur even adopting to Letherii's culture and political system rather than the other way around.]]

* EvilChancellor: His service to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure King Ezgara]] is little more than nominal, and he conspires with the Queen against him to start a war with the Edur with eyes on acquiring wealth from its natural resources. [[spoiler:He embodies this trope even more strongly under Rhulad, whom he systematically isolates from the other Edur, allowing him to feed the Emperor carefully curated reports that ensure the supposed ruler of Lether will make choices that align with Gnol's interests.]]

The chancellor to king Ezgara Disaknar. He is allied with the Queen, collaborating with her to instigate a war against the Edur

%%* BackFromTheDead: In ''Literature/ReapersGale''.
%%* BadassNormal: He defeats Rhulad, ''without'' killing him.%%Which is an example how?

* MalevolentMaskedMan: He is a mysterious and deadly warrior and always wears his trademark mask, quite literally never taking it off within sight of others because [[spoiler: it would reveal that he is Letherii]]

* WhipItGood: One of his trademark weapons is a whip[[note]]The other is an axe.[[/note]]

* TribalFacePaint: He *tries* to don warpaint inspired by Redmask's trademark mask, but it unfortunately gives him a rash.

!!Others

[[folder:Queen Abrastal]]
->''"Oh, eat my shit. If you could pull off the perfect disguise of a Khundryl to get a knife in my back, there'd be four of 'em riding up to our parley, not three. Go play with your brother, and tell me nothing about what you get up to with him. I'd like to keep my food down for a change."''
--> ''Literature/DustOfDreams''

Abrastal is the Queen of the Bolkando Kingdom and, although her husband King Tarkulf is technically the King, she is the one who rules in truth. She has at least fourteen daughters and an unnamed number of sons but has remained an AmazonianBeauty with a no-nonsense personality and a deadly temper. She is notable in-universe for her long, fiery red hair which prompts Warchief Spax to nickname her Firehair, whether she likes it or not.

* ActionMom: She's had at least fourteen daughters and an unnamed number of sons, but she still rides into battle when needed.
* AmazonianBeauty: Abrastal is described as very attractive -- at the very least in the eyes of AmazonChaser Spax -- with long, fiery hair, deep brown eyes, wide hips and a build to rival that of Krughava, who is the leader of the Grey Helms through AsskickingEqualsAuthority but in contrast to Abrastal decidedly not beautiful.
* BlingOfWar: PlayedWith. When Abrastal is introduced in ''Literature/DustOfDreams'', her royal armour of black-scaled iron with golden filigree, the royal crest and serpent ornaments, as well as the accompanying lacquered scabbard of exquisite workmanship, are described in loving detail. She then points out the helm, sword-belt and the gauntlets and curses everything else as being unwearable.
* ImportantHaircut: Shortly before the final battle in ''Literature/TheCrippledGod'', Queen Abrastal shaves her signature red tresses. This is {{played for laughs}} because not only does Spax have some words to say about her killing his lust for her, but in the middle of the procedure an important message arrives and Abrastal has to meet a royal emissary from Lether with a half-shorn head. She finishes the job before the battle, though.
* InSeriesNickname: She is nicknamed Firehair by Spax on account of her long, fiery hair and equally fiery temper.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Queen Abrastal of the Bolkando Kingdom is of the opinion that the basic purpose of rule is to enforce civility, which is what she strives to do, going so far as send her favourite daughter on a dangerous mission. Abrastal is the one who actively rules the kingdom behind the scenes while her husband King Tarkulf is distracted by the pleasures of the court. She is also a LadyOfWar and while she is by law not allowed to command all of the kingdom's armies, she does have her own troops, known as the Evertine Legion, and she does personally lead them into war.
* SirSwearsALot: Abrastal swears a lot even in comparison to Barghast Warchief Spax, who by his very station is requiered to be crude. What sets Abrastal apart from the gerenal swearing of the cast is that she's a queen, her swearing is hands-on rather than using {{Unusual Euphemism}}s native to the series and the swearing gets ''worse'' in the presence of her chilren. She tells her daughter Hethry to "eat my shit" as a way to express that she's not buying her concern.

[[folder:Princess Felash]]
->'''Shurq Elalle:''' Abyss below! I can't say I'm looking forward to transporting that puffed-up pastry-mauler all the way to the Akrynnai Range.
--> ''Literature/DustOfDreams''

Princess Felash is the fourteen-year-old fourteenth daughter of King Tarkulf and Queen Abrastal of the Bolkando Kingdom and Abrastal's favourite. She is first introduced as a RoyalBrat politicking in Letheras in ''Literature/DustOfDreams''. She has a garish sense of fashion, a huge appetite for pastries and an addiction to smoking rustleaf, by which she competently distracts everyone from her quick wits. As it turns out, Felash is also a capable sorceress who can access the Elder Warren of Omtose Phellack.

* AgeInappropriateDress: Felash is fourteen, yet when she is introduced she just drips gaudy jewellry and wears skin-tight clothing that reveals her plump figure and, as far as the top is concerned, reveals as much of her skin as it hides with thin strips of tight fabric. The outfit is accompanied by high-heeled shoes and make-up and hair more appropriate for the stage. Shurq suspects it's supposed to [[YoungerThanTheyLook make her look older than she is]] but thinks it makes her look more like an uncanny doll than anything else.
* BrilliantButLazy: Felash spends most of her time she is in the story in her quarters smoking rustleaf, eating sweets and behaving like a RoyalBrat, but when she decides it'S time to act it turns out she's a sorceress of considerable talent, able [[AnIcePerson to use the Elder Warren of Omtose Phellack]].
* CharacterTics: Shurq notices how Felash has a habit of hovering one hand at an artful distance to her head and wriggling her fingers, which seems to her a silly affectation. As it turns out, that's similar to the [[MagicalGesture gestures]] Felash employs to work magic.
* DCupDistress: Felash complains about her big breats at one point because it's uncomfortable to have them appropriately presented all the time but not binding them up some makes them too heavy, but when Shurq points out that there are herbs to change that, Felash regretfully admits that she ''needs'' "those damned things" to [[DistractedByTheSexy keep men distracted]]. Shurq has little sympathy for Felash's plight and thinks [[BuxomIsBetter she doesn't deserve them, then]].
* FunctionalAddict: Felash is addicted to smoking rustleaf, which she started at the age of six due to the stress of being a royal princess at the court of Bolkando. She is so used to it, she functions normally despite constantly smoking, and thanks to her handmaid she's always got enough rustleaf and a pipe ready.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: Felash's handmaiden is revealed to be a serious badass when she is sent into the Hold of Omtose Phellack. She has to fight for her life every step of the way, because everything there is trying to kill her. She makes it out alive, though, and brought a ship with her to top it off. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that she's a renegade Seguleh.]]
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Felash calls her breasts her "first gifts of diplomacy", and though she privately has some small degree of DCupDistress, she readily admits that having big breasts is betetr than not having them, since they keep men's eyes distracted from her clever politicking.
* NinjaMaid: Felash's nameless handmaid is first presented as a regular bodyguard, but turns out to be a deadly, highly badasss assassin for the Princess. ''The Crippled God'' reveals her to be from an island warrior society, [[spoiler:the Seguleh]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Downplayed because all signs indicate that Felash ''is'' a RoyalBrat, it's just that she clearly is exaggerating this trait in order to seem more harmless and annoying, since no one would expect a capable diplomat and sorceress who [[BewareTheSillyOnes can handle a knife as well]] behind her act.
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: Felash is first seen visiting Letheras for political reasons. Beyond her prissy persona, she is actually competent. This is played for laughs when Shurq Elalle wonders what Felash is actually doing in Letheras and Queen Janath claims she's annihilating rival spy networks -- the ones which Bugg had left hanging out of indifference, that is.
* RoyalBrat: Downplayed. Felash is introduced as a indulgent, haughty and pampered brat with an air of entitlement, but she is never shown to treat other people badly, just condescendinglike calling Shurq Elalle 'dear'. She does expect her every wish to be catered to but her only handmaiden doesn't seem too unhappy about it and it becomes increasingly obvious that she is very smart and knows how to manipulate people into doing what she wants them to, which includes political matters, so that part of her behaviour is an act.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Felash is fourteen years old, but several characters put her at a couple years older and Shurq strongly suspects that Felash's outrageous attire is supposed to make her look older. Her make-up better suits the stage and reminds Shurq of a creepy porcelain doll, while the fact that Felash acts at least a decade older than she really is make her seem condescending.

* MurderIsTheBestSolution: He kills all but two of the Shake witches and warlocks (Skwish and Pully) to put an end to their scheming. Twilight is horrified with him and banishes him for it, but he points out that they had been plotting against her

* PuppetKing: Defied. Twilight makes a conscious effort to avoid becoming one, asserting her independence by taking actions such as refusing to accept her ArrangedMarraige with Brullyg.

* MurderIsTheBestSolution: He kills all but two of the Shake witches and warlocks to put an end to their scheming. Twilight is horrified with him, but he points out that it's only due to his actions that she is able to become a leader in her own right and not a PuppetKing.

!!Northern Lands

[[folder:Udinaas]]
->''"You will discover that the notion of debt is not so easily denied."''
--> ''Literature/MidnightTides''

A Letherii slave among the Tiste Edur. He is Indebted, and the debt is owned, by extension, by Tehol Beddict. Udinaas is extremely intelligent and GenreSavvy.

* ReallyGetsAround: She spends quite a bit of time in a brothel at one point due to her newly awakened carnal appetites, which require daily satiation. We don't see first-hand what she's been up to, but since the madam mentions that the brothel's other occupants resent her for stealing ''[[UpToEleven all their clients]]'', we can assume this trope was involved. She does eventually get involved in multiple monogamous relationships though (or at least as monogamous as one can be when one needs to have sex every day - see MateOrDie above).

* GoodBadGirl: one of the most promiscuous characters in the series (which is saying a lot), and also (despite being a thief and later a pirate) one of the least ethically flawed.

Abrastal is the Queen of the Bolkando Kingdom and though technically, her husband King Tarkulf is the King, she is the one who rules in truth. She has at least fourteen daughters and an unnamed number of sons but has remained an AmazonianBeauty with a no-nonsense personality and a deadly temper. She is notable in-universe for her long, fiery red hair which prompts Warchief Spax to nickname her Firehair, whether she likes it or not.

!!Tehol Beddict
-> 'What do you think? Should I get out of bed today, Bugg?'

The middle Beddict brother. When the Beddict family came dangerously close to becoming Indebted, Tehol took it on himself to keep the family afloat, something he did in secret while attending his instructors. Tehol is an economic savant, and was able to amass one of the largest fortunes in Letheras - a "peak", or one million "thirds", roughly one eighth of the city's combined currency - before going bankrupt literally overnight, nearly crashing the economy of the Empire. What happened to the money is unknown, and Tehol is now a largely forgotten figure living in poverty with his manservant Bugg.

!!Bugg
-> '''Tehol Beddict:''' 'You've no talent to speak of, in much of anything, come to think of it. Probably why I love you so dearly, Bugg.'

* BattleButler: Bugg is the understated yet absolutely loyal manservant to ImpoverishedPatrician Tehol Beddict. Though unassuming, it becomes quickly obvious that the criminal underbelly of Letheras doesn't want the attention of this friendly old man and he is not afraid to face ancient, long buried and forgotten gods. As it turns out, [[spoiler:in addition to being a suitably quirky sidekick to Tehol, Bugg is Mael, the Elder God of the Seas, in disguise.]]

* HyperCompetentSidekick: Again, to Tehol.

!!Brys Beddict

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:In ''Literature/ReapersGale''.]]
* BadassNormal: Defeated Rhulad, ''without'' killing him.

!!Shurq Elalle
A burglar who got caught. Deciding to try her luck in the Drownings, she got tangled in detritus in the canals and drowned, only to discover that one of her victims had cursed her with undeath. Much to her frustration, her dead nerves prevent her from enjoying the pleasures of the living, most notably sex. She gives up stealing, not caring about much any longer, until Tehol Beddict contacts her for her services - and offers a way to enjoy carnal pleasures again.

* BoyMeetsGhoul: Inverted--she's a walking dead woman who enjoys sex with the living.
* ClassyCatBurglar
* CoolBigSis: To Kettle.

* TheUndead

!!Kettle
----

[[folder:Gerun Eberict]]
!!Gerun Eberict
----
* TheSociopath
* TheUnfettered
[[/folder]]

!!Harlest Eberict
-> 'I want to be scary. It's important that I be scary. I've been practising hissing and snarling.'

----

* PsychopathicManChild
* SiblingYinYang: With his sociopathic (and living) brother Gerun.
* TalkativeLoon
* TheUndead
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Shurq.

!!Rucket

!!Janath Anar

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:In ''Literature/DustOfDreams'', she is pregnant with Tehol's child and Bugg assures her the child will be healthy.]]

!!Karos Invictad

!!Tanal Yathvanar

!!Udinaas
-> 'You will discover that the notion of debt is not so easily denied.'

\\

--> 'You understand too much,' Clip said in that lilting, offhand tone of his. 'Did you hear me, Udinaas?'\\
'Go fuck yourself,' the slave muttered.

!!Feather Witch

!!Seren Pedac
-> 'Destiny is a lie. Destiny is justification for atrocity. It is the means by which murderers armour themselves against reprimand. It is a word intended to stand in place of ethics, denying all moral context.'

One of the seven Acquitors - guides for Letherii merchants engaging in business with peoples outside the borders of the kingdom - sanctioned by a treaty between Lether and the Tiste Edur.

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler:She is raped (off-screen) in an alley in Trate, just before Rhulad Sengar's invasion begins.]]

-> 'Oh, eat my shit. If you could pull off the perfect disguise of a Khundryl to get a knife in my back, there'd be four of 'em riding up to our parley, not three. Go play with your brother, and tell me nothing about what you get up to with him. I'd like to keep my food down for a change.'

-> '''Shurq Elalle:''' 'Abyss below! I can't say I'm looking forward to transporting that puffed-up pastry-mauler all the way to the Akrynnai Range.'

* KeepingTheHandicap: She repeatedly refuses the opportunity to become a living human again, since she would grow old and ugly then, while as a zombie, she can remain beautiful forefer.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Subverted with Felash, who is first introduced politicking in Letheras and portrayed as a [[RoyalBrat spoiled, bratty princess]]. Though it seems at first that she is a princess just because, it turns out that she's working hard to maintain her ObfuscatingStupidity and that life as a princess at [[DecadentCourt the court of Bolkando]] is anything but fun and not even a princess is exempt from doing sexual favours to get ahead.

* CreepyChild: The series is full of unnerving OracularUrchin types, with the UndeadChild Kettle taking the cake. From the constant hints that she's NotQuiteHuman, to the way she nonchalantly tells of how she kills people and asks Shurq Elalle to point her to more people that need to die, to her matter-of-fact revelations of things "the dead told her". ''Then'' she starts coming back to life seemingly out of nowhere. She manages to anger {{the stoic}} Fear Sengar and to unnerve [[VoluntaryShapeshifting dragon-shapeshifter]] [[HeroicAlbino Silchas Ruin]].

* OracularUrchin: Kettle is an [[UndeadChild undead girl]] who lives in the Azath cemetery in Letheras and [[CreepyChild nonchalantly kills people]] she thinks are bad between providing everyone who would listen with matter-of-fact revelations of things "the dead told her", which generally relate to current events she should have no means to know about. Part of her uncanny insights come from her being connected to the Azath Tower and serving it by feeding it the corpses of those she kills. [[HeroicAlbino Silchas Ruin]] claims that Kettle has two souls inside of her, one of which is [[AbusivePrecursors Forkrul Assail]], though he never specifies if the other is native to her once-mortal body or another one stuffed in there after she died. Kettle vaguely remembers being both a mortal child and a Nameless One child of [[EarthMother the Eres]] who was wrapped up in prophecies. When the Azath Tower dies, Kettle starts coming back to life, but she never stops with her mysterious revelations. At the end of ''Literature/ReapersGale'', [[spoiler:Silchas Ruin kills her, and a new Azath House sprouts from her body]].

* AgeInappropriateDress: Felash is fourteen, yet when she is introduced she just drips gaudy jewellry and wears skin-tight clothing that reveals her plump figure and, as fr as the top is concerned, reveals as much of her skin as it hides with thin strips of tight fabric. The outfit is accompanied by high-heeled shoes and make-up and hair more appropriate for the stage. Shurq suspects it's supposed to [[YoungerThanTheyLook make her look older than she is]] but thinks it makes her look more like an uncanny doll than anything else.

* NinjaMaid: Felash's nameless handmaiden is first thought to be a regular assassin, but turns out to be a hightly deadly, highly badass bodyguard for the princess. The next book reveals her to be from an island warrior society, [[spoiler:the Seguleh]].

* [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim If You Torture Him, You Will Be Just Like Him]]: During their journey from Trate to Letheras (soon after [[spoiler:her rape]]), she and the [[spoiler:Crimson Guardsmen]] come across a group of deserters from the Letherii military who've been raiding nearby farms and villages. [[spoiler:Iron Bars makes sure to kill all of them so she can't act out her anger on torturing one of them, because she might grow to like the feeling. After a brief conversation, she agrees.]]

* [[spoiler:RapeAsDrama]]: [[spoiler:She is raped (off-screen) in an alley in Trate, just before Rhulad Sengar's invasion begins.]]
* [[spoiler:SomeoneToRememberHimBy]]: In the epilogue to ''Reaper's Gale'', we find out that [[spoiler:she conceived the one time she and Trull slept together before his death.]]