History Characters / TheDarkTower

This is an index for the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' book series.

* [[Characters/TheDarkTowerRolandsKaTet Roland's Ka-tet]][[note]]Roland Deschain's current and past ka-tets and their closest allies. Includes Roland Deschain, Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Oy, Cuthbert Allgood, Alain Johns, Father Callahan, Susan Delgado, Sheemie Ruiz, Ted Brautigan and Patrick Danville.[[/note]]
* [[Characters/TheDarkTowerAntagonists Antagonists]][[note]]The primary villains of the series. Includes the Crimson King, Walter Padick/The Man in Black, Mordred Deschain, the Warriors of the Scarlet Eye (Can-toi, Taheen and Vampires), Sayre, Pimli Prentiss, Finli O'Tego, John Farson, Rhea of the Cöos, Eldred Jonas, Blaine the Mono, the Tick-Tock Man, Gasher, Jack Mort and Dandelo.[[/note]]
* [[Characters/TheDarkTowerOtherCharacters Other Characters]][[note]]The secondary and supporting characters. Includes Gabrielle Deschain, Steven Deschain, Cort Andrus, Cordelia Delgado, Hart Thorin, Coral Thorin, Henry Dean, Calvin Tower, Aaron Deepneau, Elmer Chambers, Laurie Chambers, Arthur Eld, Maerlyn, Gan, Maturin, Shardik, Mia and Stephen King.[[/note]]

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'''Unmarked spoilers ahead!'''

[[foldercontrol]]

!The Ka-Tet

[[folder:Roland Deschain of Gilead]]
!!Roland Deschain of Gilead

The series protagonist, also called "the Gunslinger", who hails from Gilead in the barony of New Canaan. He became a gunslinger at age fourteen after defeating his teacher, Cortland Andrus, in combat (his weapon of choice being David the hawk). He seeks the Dark Tower and will stop at nothing to reach it.

* BadassBeard: A very manly stubble.
* BadassNormal: As a contrast to his greatest enemies, Randall Flagg and the Crimson King, who are explicitly sorcerous.
* BadassTeacher: Becomes one to Eddie, Susannah and Jake, instructing them in the way of the gun.
* BrutalHonesty: Roland never sugarcoats the truth.
* ChickMagnet: Is noted to be rather handsome, and has a number of romantic encounters throughout the story.
* ClintSquint: His stare is compared to [[Creator/ClintEastwood the trope namer]].
* TheComicallySerious: To the point where the rest of the ''ka-tet'' are stunned when he actually cracks a joke in the fourth book.
* CosmicPlaything: Was a target of The Crimson King since childhood.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Yes indeed. Among other things, his homeland was destroyed, his friends died off one by one, and [[spoiler: he was tricked into killing his own mother.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: He does have a sense of humor, but it's normally as dry as the Mohaine Desert. Upon losing two fingers from his right hand:
-->''[[ADateWithRosiePalms At least I jerk off left-handed.]]''
* {{Determinator}}: Able to make his remaining limbs function while sick from poison and in great pain through sheer willpower. A passage in ''The Drawing of the Three'' even states that one of the policemen he encountered while wearing Jack Mort's body later had a heart attack while seeing ''Film/TheTerminator'' in a theatre with his son and recognizing Roland in the titular character.
* EternalRecurrence: [[spoiler:The coda implies that he has performed his quest for the tower countless times before, and must continue to do so until he gets it right. It also implies that the next iteration might be the last one.]]
* FastestGunInTheWest: A prodigy gunslinger, he is pretty much unmatched with a revolver.
* {{Fingore}}: He loses two of his fingers early in the second book.
* GoodIsNotNice: He is the last Gunslinger, a kind of knight-errant, on a quest to save the multiverse. But he doesn't have much of a sense of humor, he can be very callous to his ka-tet, and if need be he'll sacrifice his companions to get to the Tower.
* GunsAkimbo: As is common among gunslingers, though after he loses his right index finger he can only effectively fire with his left hand.
* TheGunslinger: He is an insanely fast draw with a deadly aim.
* HandicappedBadass: Starting with book two.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Multiple times, most notably in ''Wizard and Glass.''
* TheHero: Of the series, and the greater Stephen King metaverse as a whole.
* HurtingHero: Roland has a lot of emotional baggage.
* IAmXSonOfY: I am Roland, son of Steven.
* IcyBlueEyes: He has faded blue eyes, described as being "the color of icebergs" and a piercing stare. "Bombardier's eyes" are the go-to description in the text.
* IHatePastMe: [[spoiler:How he feels toward the end of the story.]]
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Has a lot of guilt over [[spoiler: letting Jake Chambers fall to his death in the first book, so he could catch up with the Man in Black.]] There's also his guilt over [[spoiler: Susan Delgado being burned at the stake]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Capable of shooting the blade off an attacker's knife.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Proven true in ''Wizard and Glass'', although Susan Delgado reflects upon meeting Cuthbert that he is actually more charming and attractive and suppresses the thought.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: A good man beneath his cold and deadly exterior.
* KnightErrant: Just like a classic spaghetti western protagonist.
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** At the start of the second book, the first thing that happens to Roland after sacrificing Jake to learn the secret of the Tower from The Man in Black is to wake up on a beach with his right hand index and middle fingers bitten off by a mutated sea creature called a "lobstrosity". The creature's bite very nearly kills him from blood poisoning and puts him out of action for the entire second book. The whole incident wouldn't have happened if he'd let the Man in Black escape and saved Jake instead.
** The Tower itself punishes Roland for all his bad decisions by forcing him to repeat his journey through all seven books every time he reaches it, however it gives him a chance for the redemption of avoiding making the same mistakes again.
* LastOfHisKind: The last living gunslinger.
* LikeASonToMe: Comes to see Jake in this light. It helps that Jake's own parents are emotionally distant.
* LonersAreFreaks: It's noted that "the desert made him strange."
* MommyIssues: And how. [[spoiler:When he's 14, he discovers that his mother is having an affair with [[TheMole Marten Broadcloak]], one of [[TheDragon Flagg's]] guises. This is the catalyst for his early gunslinger trial. Later, after the events in ''Literature/WizardAndGlass,'' he glimpses her in a mirror carrying a belt that she intends as a peace offering. He mistakes her for [[WickedWitch Rhea]] and her snake (magical illusion may or may not have been involved), and guns her down out of pure reflex.]]
* MoralityPet: Jake in ''The Gunslinger.''
* MyGreatestSecondChance: The very end of Roland's story in the seventh book, symbolized by him having the Horn of Eld this time, which he previously had carelessly thrown away.
* NiceHat: Has a classic cowboy hat as part of his outfit.
* {{Omniglot}}: He mentions that he speaks five languages and used to know a sixth one, but he has "forgotten everything but the curses."
* OneManArmy: Single-handedly kills the entire town of Tull, men, women and children, when they were whipped into a fanatical religious frenzy against him by Sylvia Pittston.
* ParentalSubstitute: He's a father figure to both Jake and Eddie.
* PermaStubble: As part of his Creator/ClintEastwood vibe.
* PetTheDog: Which makes so much worse when he has to ShootTheDog.
* QuickDraw: His draw is described as "faster than a streak of blue summer lightning".
%%* ARealManIsAKiller
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: His true age is never given, but he's very, ''very'' old, [[spoiler:even discounting the time, however much of it there is, he's spent in the loop]].
* SoleSurvivor: Of the Battle on Jericho Hill.
* TheStoic: Dry and unemotive.
* TextualCelebrityResemblance: He's noted as resembling Creator/ClintEastwood. In ''The Drawing Of The Three'', his consciousness in [[SerialKiller Jack Mort]] has the same presence as Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's performance in ''Film/TheTerminator''.
* TragicHero: Utterly determined to find the Tower, even if it means sacrificing everyone close to him, and he's not happy about this fact.
* TheUnfettered: Will do anything in search of the Tower, even sacrifice people he holds dear.
* WalkTheEarth: Pursuing the Man in Black and looking for the Dark Tower, to try and fix whatever is causing his world to fall apart at the seams.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:John "Jake" Chambers]]
!!John "Jake" Chambers

A young boy from New York who was killed in his own world and appeared at the Way Station in the Mohaine desert of Roland's world. He fell to his death when Roland abandoned him, but in the [[Literature/TheWasteLands the third novel]] Jake is brought back to life because of a GrandfatherParadox caused by the death of Jack Mort.

In the final novel, he throws himself in front of a car to protect Creator/StephenKing.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Dies in Roland's world in ''The Gunslinger'', but when Roland is in control of Jack Mort's body during ''The Drawing of the Three'', he is able to prevent Jake's death in Jake's own world by stopping Jack from pushing Jake into traffic. Roland, Eddie, and Susannah later find a door through which they are able to draw Jake back into Roland's world.]]
* BadassAdorable: To the point that an 11 year old girl tells him she wants to do it in a closet.
* BadassBookworm: He's an avid reader and shows a bit of talent at writing.
* BerserkButton: He really doesn't take [[TeamPet Oy]] getting hurt well, to the point where he threatens to shoot someone for almost running the Bumbler over in the sixth book.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's pretty easygoing, and he's got the same wants and needs as a regular kid his age, but he doesn't hesitate to kill when it is necessary.
* ABoyAndHisX: A Boy And His Bumbler
* BreakTheCutie: Goes through an extended one [[spoiler: after his first death was prevented]], and again [[spoiler: when he is kidnapped by Gasher.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:In the final book, he shields [[AuthorAvatar Stephen King]] with his own body, taking the brunt of the car crash.]]
* ParentalNeglect: His parents didn't give much attention to him, and he was actually closer to the housekeeper than them.
* TagalongKid: In the first book. It can be seen as a deconstruction because of all the pain, mental and physical, that Jake is put through due to following Roland. Roland still notes he hardly holds him back, and is even useful during climbing when he can reach places that Roland could not have.
* TookALevelInBadass: Between books four and five. This is interesting, since Roland is never shown actually ''teaching'' Jake to shoot. He just shows up in Calla Bryn Sturgis suddenly able to do it like an ace. Even more interesting considering that now there's an ''eighth'' book that takes place between books four and five. It doesn't happen there, either.
* WellDoneSonGuy: After getting no affection from his real father, he turns toward Roland for acceptance.
%%* WiseBeyondTheirYears
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Edward Cantor "Eddie" Dean]]
!!Edward Cantor "Eddie" Dean

A drug addict from New York who was rescued from drug lord Enrico Balazar by Roland. Eddie always has a snarky comment or terrible pun for any situation.

In the final novel, he is shot by Pimli Prentiss after the attack on Algul Siento.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a smartass, kind of a goofball, and when introduced he's still a slave to drugs, but Roland recognized that there was "deep steel" in Eddie Dean, and his judgement is vindicated in the shootout at Balazar's place.
* DeadpanSnarker: The most potent one in the series.
* DisappearedDad: He finds the Mid-World expression "forgotten the face of my father" ironic, because he wouldn't recognize his father if he met him. When he introduces himself as "Eddie Dean of New York, son of Wendell" in Calla, he thinks that leastwise, his mother always said that.
* FullFrontalAssault: In the second book, while in a shootout with a bunch of mobsters.
* GoingColdTurkey: There's no heroin in Roland's world and going through the withdrawal cold turkey was not pleasant…but it was better than going ''baked'' turkey.
** Strangely, he was not incapacitated for weeks, and then severely weakened for months, the way you would expect for someone suffering opiate withdrawal.
* GoodIsNotSoft: He threatens Andolini with killing his entire family when he rescues Calvin Tower from him and Balazar's goons. It's implied he meant it.
* TheLancer: To Roland.
* SadClown: Uses jokes and sarcasm to cover up his lack of self-worth, which came from his emotionally manipulative brother and years of being a junkie.
* SarcasticDevotee: "All things serve the fuckin' Beam." He often makes light of their quest and is always quick with the jokes, but he becomes loyal to Roland and wants to see things through to the end.
* SinsOfOurFathers: He tries to rationalize threatening to kill Andolini's family as this trope, saying that "a wolf gives birth to a wolf", so essentially killing his children wouldn't be a bad thing since they would turn out crooked like him anyway. [[BadassPreacher Callahan]] isn't very impressed with [[InsaneTrollLogic his logic.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Goes from a strung-out junkie looking for his next hit to a true gunslinger.
* YoungGun: Roland sees Eddie's potential almost immediately but it takes a while to bring it to the fore.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Susannah Dean/Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker]]
!!Susannah Dean (formerly Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker)

A black, disabled woman who lived in the 1960s and fought for equal rights. She suffered from a SplitPersonality: Susannah Odetta Holmes, who was refined and cultured, and Susannah Detta Walker, who was foulmouthed and violent. They merged together into one person. Susannah had to distract a demon by having sex with it, and became "pregnant" with Mordred, a child of Roland, the Crimson King and Mia, who possessed Susannah and brought her split personality disorder back.

In the final novel, she returns to the New York of another world, where she is reunited with Eddie and Jake.

* ActionGirl: She's a crack shot with the pistol and later the oriza.
* AllJustADream: Odetta is convinced that [[CrapsackWorld Roland's world]] is this at first until she knows better.
* AmazonianBeauty: She's described as very beautiful, with very muscular arms from driving a heavy, 1960's-era wheelchair.
* AntiVillain: Detta tries to kill Roland and Eddie in the second book; however because of fake memories due to her SplitPersonality she believes they torment and even sexually assault her all the time so she not unreasonably believes she has every right to do so. And Roland ''did'' basically kidnap her from her world into his.
* ClusterFBomb: Almost everything Detta says.
* HandicappedBadass: Her legs were cut off above the knee a few years before the events of the series. That does not slow her down.
* JerkassWoobie: Detta is murderous and basically impossible to approach in the 2nd book, but when you consider she genuinely believes Roland and Eddie do nothing but cause her harm and her personality is a product of racism Odetta had to endure it's hard not to feel bad for her.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In the final book, [[spoiler:she is the last member of the ka-tet, and abandons Roland when she realizes that even with their goal completed, he still won't stop looking to enter the Dark Tower, showing himself for value finding his way in over actual completion of their goal]].
* TheSmartGuy: Odetta for literature, Detta for mathematics.
* SplitPersonality: Odetta Holmes and Detta Walker.
* SplitPersonalityMerge: Happens at the end of Book 2, resulting in her merge into Susannah. Her alter-egos are still there and do resurface occasionally however, particularly Detta.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Though regarding her with suspicious and dislike due to thinking Eddie may be dead because of her, Susannah can't help but feel like this [[spoiler:about [[DemonicPossession Mia]], who believes her actions were necessary to finally have the son she had yearned for.]]
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: 'Evil' is a stretch, but Detta is heavily influenced by Odetta suffering from racism, getting hit with stereotypes and negative assumptions due to her skin color, so she embraces every ugly accusation thrown her way and acts like the racist caricature that people accuse her of being. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Detta's first appearance involves her stealing something from a racist clerk out of spite despite having more than enough money to buy it]], and [[LampshadeHanging Eddie even notes that she's clearly putting on an act and may not even notice it herself.]]
* TwoferTokenMinority: A black woman with multiple personality disorder in a wheelchair. Particularly notable in that every other member of the ''ka-tet'' is a white male.
* ValuesDissonance: In-universe. In her time, the politically correct term for African-Americans is "Negro". She doesn't like it when Eddie calls her "black". Eddie has a hard time with this because in his time, calling a black person a Negro is almost tantamount to calling her a nigger.
* WorthyOpponent: Detta grudgingly admits to herself that Roland scares her; it's as much of an admission of respecting him as she is capable of.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oy]]
!!Oy

A billy-bumbler from Mid-World who was an outcast from his pack and joined the ka-tet.

In the final novel, Mordred brutally kills him.

* BadassAdorable: A cute, raccoonlike creature who survives the myriad trials the ka-tet faces.
* MixAndMatchCritters: He has characteristics of a raccoon, a dog, a badger, and a civet.
* HeroicSacrifice: If it hadn't been for him, [[spoiler:Mordred would have ended Roland's quest for the Tower just before he'd achieved it.]]
* {{Retcon}}: When he joins the ka-tet in ''Literature/TheWasteLands'', he is missing his tail. Roland thinks he probably lost it in a fight with other bumblers. In later books, he's described as wrapping his (very long) tail around himself when he rests. No explanation is given as to how he got it back.
* {{Tanuki}}: It's unknown if this was intentional or coincidental on King's part, but as a raccoon/dog hybrid with a penchant for mimicry...
%%* TeamPet
[[/folder]]

!The Original Ka-Tet

[[folder:Cuthbert Allgood]]
!!Cuthbert Allgood

Roland's comedic childhood friend. He died during the Battle of Jericho Hill.

* BullyHunter: When he notices Roy Depape messing with Sheemie, he immediately leaps to Sheemie's defense.
* ChildhoodFriends: Roland and Cuthbert were friends from an early age and remain very close until Cuthbert's death.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Cuthbert jokes around and acts childish sometimes, but his mind is razor-sharp, and he is ''lethal'' with a slingshot.
* DeadpanSnarker: Not ''quite'' as much as Eddie, but he still has his moments.
* EyeScream: The comics have him [[spoiler:shot in the eye with an arrow]] at the battle of Jericho Hill.
* FamilyThemeNaming: All known members of the Allgood family have a 'bert' in their name: Cuthbert Allgood, his father Robert Allgood, distant ancestor Sir Bertrand Allgood...
* LethalJokeItem: Slingshot beats gun.
* PhotographicMemory: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] to be in possession of this trait when Roland puts him on observation duty during the party in Seafront.
* PluckyComicRelief: Ever the jokester and usually has a positive outlook on things.
* ShirtlessScene: The reader first meets him in person when Roland returns to the Ka-tet's camp at night and Bert just woke up wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.
* [[WhenSheSmiles When He Smiles]]: Susan has a moment of doubt when she first sees Cuthbert smiling at her.
-->'''Susan:''' If I had met ''this one'' first....
%%* SadClown
%%* TheLancer
%%* TheSmartGuy
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alain Johns]]
!!Alain Johns

Roland and Cuthbert's friend, who was killed by his allies, accidentally prior to the Battle of Jericho Hill. He was strong in the Touch.

%%* {{Adorkable}}
* BewareTheNiceOnes: At least according to Roland, Alain was generally gentle, patient, and understanding, but you do NOT want to piss him off.
* FriendOrFoe: [[spoiler: Roland and Cuthbert kill Alain after mistaking him for an enemy scout.]]
%%* TheQuietOne
%%* SpiderSense: The Touch.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Susan Delgado]]
!!Susan Delgado

Roland's first true love, a young, pure woman from Hambry who had accepted money to become the mistress of Mayor Hart Thorin. She was burned alive for her relationship with Roland.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Described in Cuthbert's internal monologue as the most beautiful girl any of them had ever seen, and is made of IncorruptiblePurePureness.
%%* TheChick
%%* DeathByOriginStory
%%* HumanSacrifice
%%* PluckyGirl
* StarCrossedLovers: With Roland.
[[/folder]]

!Villains

[[folder:Walter Padick/Randall Flagg/The Man in Black]]
!!Walter Padick / The Man in Black

An enigmatic sorcerer whose true name is Walter Padick but who goes by several other names including Randall Flagg (or simply Flagg, Marten Broadcloak, Richard Fannin, Walter O'Dim, and several others). He is the Crimson King's second-in-command, who intends to scale the tower himself. See him also in Characters/TheStand.

* ArchEnemy: To Roland. [[spoiler:Until Mordred comes along.]]
* BatmanGambit: Part of his success as TheCorrupter is setting up circumstances where his victims will have to behave reprehensibly to get what they want or need, and he knows they will choose the ignoble path. With Roland, he knows that the Gunslinger will cross any line and sacrifice the purity of his own soul to get to the Tower.
%%* BlackKnight
* TheChessmaster: The majority of his villainy is accomplished by manipulating events and people behind the scenes.
* TheCorrupter: Walter delights in doing this to people; sometimes to further his own ends, sometimes just because he can. He sets up some particularly malicious tests with Roland, first by exposing Allie to the secrets of the dead to make her beg Roland to kill her after starting to care for her, and then by putting Jake in his path and letting them bond, only to force him later to [[SadisticChoice sacrifice Jake to gain knowledge about the Tower]]. The worst part is that Roland sees them coming and accepts that the TrapIsTheOnlyOption in order to get one step closer to the Tower.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:He is killed and eaten by Mordred after being forced to rip his own eyes out of their sockets.]]
** BackFromTheDead [[spoiler:The very last line of the final book [[{{Bookends}} mirrors the very first line of the first book]], implying quite strongly that the series' ResetButtonEnding has brought Flagg back to life as well. As if to verify this, "Richard Farris" in ''Gwendy's Button Box'' is confirmed to be Flagg operating under yet another alias.]]
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: ''The'' central villain of Stephen King's mythos, the BigBad of two other novels outside of ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, a complex and enigmatic villain with one XanatosGambit after another up his sleeve, MagnificentBastard and [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] extraordinaire, and Roland's recurring nemesis throughout the entire 7-book series. [[spoiler:He's [[TheWorfEffect Worfed]] ignominiously by Mordred, a character introduced in the ''very last book,'' with Roland nowhere around.]]
* TheDragon: To the Crimson King
* EvilChancellor: As Marten Broadcloak he is this to Roland's father Steven.
* EvilSorcerer: Doesn't get much worse than ''Randall Flagg!''
* FauxAffablyEvil: His friendliness is clearly mockery.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: [[spoiler:Started out as a miller's son.]]
** LikeFatherLikeSon: [[spoiler:It's revealed within the comics that his true father was the dark wizard Maerlyn, who placed him in the care of a miller and his wife in order to "learn the ways of men". When he reached the age of 13, he ran off to find his real parents after burning the mill to the ground and [[FromBadToWorse things gradually developed from there]].]]
* GigglingVillain: He has a tendency to go into a high-pitched laugh when he has the upper hand.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: It takes until ''Wolves of the Calla'' to reveal what Walter's real goal is. For the previous five books, it seems as though he just wants to stop Roland from moving forward.
* HiddenDepths: Hinted in ''Wolves of the Calla'' when Callahan calls him cruel.
-->Walter's eyes widen, and for a moment he looks deeply hurt. This may be absurd, but Callahan is looking into the man's deep eyes and feels sure that the emotion is nonetheless genuine. And the surety robs him of any last hope that all this might be a dream, or a final brilliant interval before true death. In dreams — his, at least — the bad guys, the ''scary'' guys, never have complex emotions.
* HaveANiceDaySmile: He leaves these for Roland along with threatening messages.
* TheHeavy: The Crimson King may be the BigBad, but Walter's machinations drive most of the plot. [[spoiler:Roland hunts him for the entire 1st book, he is revealed to have manipulated Jack Mort into killing Jake (and therefore being the cause of Roland's FriendOrIdolDecision) in the 2nd book... there are too many instances to list. He even is this for Roland's backstory, playing a large part in the fall of Gilead.]]
* IHaveManyNames: Including but not limited to [[spoiler:Walter o'Dim, Walter Padick, Marten Broadcloak, Rudin Filaro and other variations of R.F.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:He is the one who manipulated Mia into becoming mortal to have the Crimson King's child. Guess who kills him?]]
* LargeHam: And how! For one example, he recreates the Wizard's throne room from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' to introduce himself to Roland's ''ka-tet.''
* TheManBehindTheCurtain: Quite literally - in the scene mentioned in the LargeHam entry, he casts himself as the Wizard behind the curtain.
* ManipulativeBastard: Manipulation and deception are his forte.
* PersonWithTheClothing: The Man in Black
* RapeAsBackstory: He was raped as a teen.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He's even older than Roland.
* TheStarscream: Intends to displace the Crimson King.
* ThemeInitials: R.F.
* VillainDecay: In the final novel his threat is severely reduced, as indicated by some of the spoilered tropes.
* WalkingTheEarth: Well, more like walking the multiverse.
* TheWorfEffect: Perhaps the greatest villain Stephen King has written, the BigBad of ''Literature/TheStand'' and ''Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon'' and Roland's main adversary through the entire Dark Tower series is [[spoiler: killed off effortlessly and pointlessly by a new villain introduced in the final novel, just to show how threatening the lattter is.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Crimson King]]
!!The Crimson King

A spider god named Los', who has gone mad and intends to tear down the Dark Tower.

* TheAntiGod: He's the personification of evil in the multiverse, yet [[spoiler: not very sane or powerful]], and he plans on knocking down the Dark Tower, which would destroy the multiverse in general.
* BadBoss: Gleefully murdered his entire court.
* BigBad: He's the one undermining the Tower and causing the steady collapse of the multiverse, as well as Randall Flagg's master.
* FauxAffablyEvil: In the comics, he displays a polite, yet malevolent demeanor. He even counters Roland's famous snarky remarks.
-->'''Roland''': What would you expect me to say to one who is so manifestly unimpressive?
-->'''Crimson King''': You could begin with "thank you". Were I to confront you with my true, "impressive" form, [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm your mind would leak from your ears.]]
* GiantSpider: Implied to be his [[OneWingedAngel true form]].
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of Stephen King's metaverse. However, at one point Mia states that the Crimson King has been "promised" a new kingdom after all the Beams have been broken, but by whom, she knows not. So there may be a never-seen even ''bigger'' bad behind him. When Susannah questions her about this she states that he may have only promised it to himself, she doesn't know for sure.
** [[spoiler:It's stated in ''Literature/BlackHouse'' that the Crimson King we see is only a manifestation, and that his ''true'' form is locked in a cell at the very top of the Dark Tower. With that in mind, the idea of him "promising" himself a kingdom after the Tower falls may have actually been literal.]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: In the ExpandedUniverse of the comics.
* HiddenVillain: Doesn't appear in person until the climax of the series, and isn't even mentioned until Book 3.
* HumanoidAbomination: Appears as a bearded old man with red eyes.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: He's in the background while his servants do the heavy lifting.
* OmnicidalManiac: He wants to destroy the Dark Tower, which will destroy the entire ''multiverse.''
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He has blood red eyes that hypnotize all who look into them. [[spoiler: They're even the only things left after he's erased!]]
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the comics he is the child of a demon and Arthur Eld, connecting him to Roland's bloodline.
* ShoutOut: His name is a shout out to the song "The Court of the Crimson King" by Music/KingCrimson. His real name, Los, is one to Creator/WilliamBlake.
* VillainousBreakdown: In the last book.
* VillainDecay: [[spoiler: Despite being depicted as an obscenely powerful EldritchAbomination in all books that involved his machinations, by the time that Roland meets him his power and mentality have degraded along with the rest of the world.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mordred Deschain]]
!!Mordred Deschain

The son of the Crimson King, Roland, Susannah, and Mia, who can transform into a spider at will and whose sole purpose is killing Roland.

* FetusTerrible: The first thing he does after being born is ''[[spoiler:eat his own mother]]''.
* HasTwoMommies: ''And'' two daddies.
* IgnoredEpiphany: He genuinely entertains the idea of joining Roland's ka-tet, but he is both too afraid of them killing him immediately and too angry and jealous of their bond to go through with it.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Holy crap! Within a few hours after he was born ate two people, [[spoiler: one of whom was Randall Fucking Flagg]], and several animals, and he's ''still'' hungry!
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:What he does to Flagg.]]
* MadnessMantra: Mordred's a-hungry!
* TragicMonster: While Mordered was a dark creature by nature, unlike his half-father the Crimson King, much of the evil he committed was born from bitterness and anger at being alone and abandoned. Underneath all of his anger, sorrow, and despair, was a newborn looking for affection and companionship. Much of the hatred he felt towards Roland was that Roland had friends and companions while he did not. In this instance there are many parallels between Mordred and the creature from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.
* {{Werebeast}}: He's a [[GiantSpider Were-spider]].
* WizardNeedsFoodBadly: His only other motivations aside from a burning hatred of Roland and his Ka-tet are his constant hunger and a morbid fear of starvation.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Mordred may be the monstrous half-spawn [[HasTwoMommies (It's complicated)]] of an omnicidal maniac that wants to destroy the multi-verse but he was born to evil without any real choice in his destiny and because he was just a newborn could feel the loneliness and abandonment of having no one to care for him or even want anything to do with him. There's even a tragic line from Mordred's inner monologue while he's shivering in the cold, hungry and miserable.
** ''"Mordred's a-hungry", he thought miserably. "Mordred's a-cold. And Mordred has no one. Mordred's alone."'' \\
'''followed by''' \\
''In the dark, Mordred began to cry.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:John Farson]]
!!John Farson

"The Good Man", who intended to collect weapons and fuel to wage war against the gunslingers and overthrow the baronies. He ultimately succeeded.

* AggressiveNegotiations: Join The Good Man's revolution or lose your head.
* ArmiesAreEvil: His are.
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: Farson's army is full of bandits, cutthroats and Slow Mutants.
* DecapitationPresentation: Taking bets on how far he can hit a victim's head with the broadside of his sword.
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Displays his enemies' heads to discourage resistance against his armies.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Began his career as a small time harrier (outlaw) before forming his army.
* GreatOffscreenWar: Not much of the war between his rebels and the Affiliation is actually shown on-page.
%%* MalevolentMaskedMan
* PredecessorVillain: In the comics, Walter is subservient to Farson as an agent of the Crimson King.
* PresidentEvil: Farson is a crafty politician and great public speaker, who wants to replace the Gunslingers with his own version of "democracy".
* ShootTheMessenger: Has Clay Reynolds beaten when Reynolds returns without Farson's crystal ball.
%%* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized
%%* VillainWithGoodPublicity
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Richard Patrick Sayre]]
!!Richard Patrick Sayre

A high-ranked can-toi of the Crimson King's forces, who runs the Sombra Group and North Central Positronics.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: [[spoiler:He controls the company owned by the Crimson King. What does that tell you?]]
* TheHeavy: For the 5th and 6th books; he is just a high-ranking memeber of the [[BigBad Crimson King's]] court and [[ManipulativeBastard Walter]] is the one who talked Mia into having Mordred, [[spoiler:but Sayre is the one in command of the Wolves and the one who Mia is contacting directly in order to have her child.]]
* KickTheDog: He implies that Mia's chances of actually raising her child might go up if she shows devotion by licking his boots; in her desperation she does so and he basically laughs at her and admits it won't change his opinion anyway.
* MeaningfulName: His full name contains [[ArcNumber nineteen]] letters.
* RedRightHand: Like with all the masked can-toi, there is a small circular scar on his forehead that is always welling up with liquid blood, which never spills over to run down his face.
* SlasherSmile: [[spoiler: Gleefully tells Father Callahan how he led him to his office to either be killed or infected by vampires.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tick-Tock Man/Andrew Quick]]
!!Tick-Tock Man/ Andrew Quick

The power-mad leader of the Grays of Lud, who is obsessed with clocks. After being shot he was recruited by the Man in Black.

* BerserkButton: "So Fell Lord Perth." Lord Perth being his direct ancestor.
-->'''Tick-Tock:''' If you ever speak to me of Lord Perth again... ever, ever, ''ever''... I'll tear off the top of your skull and eat your brains. I'll have none of that bad-luck story in the Cradle of the Grays. ''Do you understand me?''
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: He has an encounter with "Richard Fannin" (who is in all likelihood Flagg) after getting a non-fatal shot to the forehead from Jake, and later shows up at the end of ''Wizard and Glass'', but is then swiftly shot and killed by Eddie & Susannah.
%%* EyeScream
* FauxAffablyEvil: It's mentioned that Tick-Tock is very charismatic, and people can't look away from him for very long, feeling almost hypnotized by his presence. He's also very polite and gentle with Jake at first (or at least more polite and gentle than the brutal and thuggish Gasher) and seems more educated and relaxed in general than the rest of the Grays, then Jake manages to accidentally press his BerserkButton...
* LargeAndInCharge: When Jake first meets him, he notes that Tick-Tock is a very big man, and the only one of the Grays he's seen that looks healthy.
* LightningBruiser: In addition to the aforementioned size, Tick-Tock also moves with an eerie speed (demonstrated when he gets out of his casual sitting position, pulls a knife from its scabbard, and flings it into the chest of a laughing woman from across the room in the time it takes to blink), and Jake notes with dismay that he may actually be [[UpToEleven faster than Roland.]] [[spoiler:Luckily, this theory is never tested.]]
* StarterVillain: The first antagonist the full ka-tet faces.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Naked to the waist the whole time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gasher]]
!!Gasher

The first Gray that the ka-tet meets in Lud, who kidnaps Jake and speaks with a barely-understandable dialect.

* DeadManWalking: Due to the mandrus, some sort of extremely nasty disease; the common name "whore's blossoms" implies it's an STD.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He's yer old pal, Gasher.
* {{Gonk}}: He's startlingly ugly even without the mandrus.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Gasher and Hoots, another Gray, were always butt-buddies of old, says Tick-Tock. Hoots even writes down the password for gaining entry to the Cradle of the Grays and gives it to Gasher to help him remember, which Gasher seems quite grateful for (even though he can't read).
* HiddenDepths: Has a surprisingly good tenor singing voice.
* KickTheDog: The way he slaps Jake around is almost casual.
* {{Pirate}}: Not the dashing kind.
* PoisonousPerson: He even dares Jake to bite him, because this sickness he has "runs in the blood" as he says.
* WouldHurtAChild: He is not gentle when he kidnaps Jake.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Blaine]]
!!Blaine

The computer system that runs Lud and inhabits a train. It takes delight in riddles and is sadistic, having driven its partner Patricia to suicide and feeling no remorse about destroying Lud.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Was once a servant of the citizens of the Imperium, but after they vanished and the world began to move on, he started to lose his sanity.
* AxCrazy: He will kill with little provocation.
* CoolTrain: Even though it's controlled by a mad AI, the Barony Coach car ''is'' pretty sweet.
* DeusEstMachina: Seen as a malevolent god by the Pubes.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The first major villain the ka-tet defeats.
* ForTheEvulz: His motivation for [[spoiler: gassing Lud and attempting to kill the ka-tet.]]
** Blaine claimed that Patricia, the other monorail based in Lud, had essentially had a mental breakdown and would not stop crying. He removed certain restraints from Patricia's programming so she could kill herself by going over a broken trestle into the Send, and so he wouldn't have to listen to her anymore. He basically lets his only remaining contemporary die because she got on his nerves.
* JerkAss: Showcased in his treatment of Patricia, and how he uses the "god-drums" to incite the Pubes of Lud to practice human sacrifice in order to appease what they think are malicious ghosts.
* LargeHam: Has an over-the-top speaking manner and is constantly doing Creator/JohnWayne impressions.
* LaughingMad: How he laughs.
* LogicBomb: [[spoiler:Eddie dispatches him with these, much to the surprise of the rest of the ka-tet.]]
* NoIndoorVoice: His dialogue is written in all caps, suggesting this. The voice of "Little Blaine", and the recording the ka-tet hears when they board Blaine (which sounds like a more confident Little Blaine) is written normally, however.
* RiddleMeThis: Practically the only thing that piques his interest by the time of the story, aside from watching the Pubes kill each other because of the "god-drums".
* ShockAndAwe: Blaine electrocuted the last person who tried talking to him before Roland's ka-tet came along.
* SplitPersonality: Big Blaine and Little Blaine. Big Blaine is the one that is in control and doesn't seem to realize that Little Blaine even exists. Little Blaine is what is left of Blaine's original programming and is utterly helpless to do anything but warn the ka-tet not to piss off Big Blaine.
* TakingYouWithMe: Intends to kill himself at the end of his final run, and the ka-tet is along for the ride. Roland manages to convince Blaine to spare them if they can best him at riddles.
* VillainousRescue: Having been told that Roland and Jake know a lot of riddles, Blaine opens the door to the Tick-Tock Man's HQ, enabling Roland to shoot Gasher before he can kill Jake.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rhea Dubativo of the Cöos]]
!!Rhea Dubativo of the Cöos

A witch that the residents of Hambry fear greatly. She becomes addicted to using Maerlyn's grapefruit to spy on others.

* DirtyOldWoman: An even creepier variation than the usual. During a scene where she is bullying poor Sheemie (who was delivering a cask of Graf to her hut), she made a very rape-y and uncomfortable pass at him, and it is very heavily implied that she was getting off on her pet snake "rubbing" against her while she spied on people through the pink ball. She also tries fingering Susan to orgasm while examining her for virginity, until Susan puts a stop to it.
* KilledOffscreen: It's implied that Roland killed her at one point but it's never elaborated upon.
* WickedWitch: Being wicked is pretty much a requirement for working with the [[BigBad Crimson King]]. In her backstory, she [[DealWithTheDevil made a pact with him]] for extended life in exchange for serving him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Eldred Jonas]]
!!Eldred Jonas

The leader of the Big Coffin Hunters, an arrogant old man.

* BadassGrandpa: An elderly man who still has a Gunslinger's speed and instincts.
* BrokenAce: Before getting a shard of the "Laughing Mirror" embedded in his foot, which was mostly what turned him into an evil and lazy man, Eldred Jonas was a prodigy who could quickly master nearly every type of weapon that was handed to him.
* EvilCounterpart: A failed gunslinger.
* FightingWithChucks: His weapon of choice during the final test was the "Kashmini Nunchaku", a weapon apprentice gunslingers are trained to use. Too bad he was more interested in goofing off than actually training with them...
* HandicappedBadass: Walks with a limp due to having his leg broken by his instructor, which resulted in the aforementioned failure.
* MinionShipping: With Coral.
* ScarsAreForever: His back is covered in scars from where he was flogged before being "sent West" as punishment for his failed test of manhood.
* TerribleTrio: With Clay and Roy.
* VocalDissonance: Described as having a thin, quavery voice.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Eldred trained under Cort's father, and he and Cort were apparently really close childhood friends, that is until Eldred failed his last test and was sent West.


%%!!Roy Depape
%%
%%A dim-witted Big Coffin Hunter.
%%
%%* TheBully
%%* ButtMonkey
%%* TooDumbToLive
%%* FourEyesZeroSoul

%%!!Clay Reynolds
%%
%%A Big Coffin Hunter who always wears a cloak and is popular with women.
%%
%%* EvilRedhead
%%* ScrewThisImOuttaHere
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jack Mort]]
!!Jack Mort

A serial killer, "the Pusher", who is responsible for Jake's first death and Susannah's split personality.

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Killed by the same train he pushed Odetta under years ago.]]
* TheDreaded: During the day, he holds a respectable job in real estate. His coworkers are absolutely terrified of him. It's never made clear why.
* ManOnFire: A shot from a cop's gun ignites the cigarette lighter in his front pocket when Roland's in control of his body.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Mort only carries a lighter so he can light his boss' cigarettes at opportune times, usually when someone else even higher up the ladder is nearby, so he looks like a man of courtesy and good taste.
* SerialKiller: By pushing people into danger, or pushing objects ''onto'' people, such as a brick off of a high windowsill onto a child's head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dandelo]]
!!Dandelo

A sly, vicious, glamor-using EmotionEater, who is the last thing guarding the way to the Dark Tower.

* ComedyAsAWeapon: Uses a series of stupid jokes as his alter ego Joe Collins to render Roland insensate with laughter. Susannah notes afterwards that this was effective because it targeted one of the gunslinger's few weaknesses: his complete lack of humor.
* DeusExMachina: This one-off minor villain actually comes closer to killing Roland than any of the big bads. The gunslinger is only saved by a intervention from Stephen King himself.
* EldritchAbomination: As an insectile, shapeshifting, emotion-eating sometime-comedian, he has quite a lot in common with Literature/{{It}}.
* FamousLastWords:
-->'''Dandelo:''' Stop! I want to tell you the one about the archbishop and the chorus girl!\\
'''Susannah:''' Heard it. '''bang'''
* {{Foreshadowing}}: His name gets thrown around a lot throughout the seventh book, mostly notably by [[spoiler: a vision Eddie has as he lies dying.]]
* HumanResources: He's got Patrick Danville chained up in his basement, using him as an emotion cow for who only knows how long. [[KickTheDog Dandelo tore out his tongue apparently after he got tired of listening to Patrick beg for mercy.]]
* MeaningfulName: Susannah wonders why Joe Collins would pretend he doesn't know the region he's living in is called Empathica, i.e. the land of shared emotion.
* SignificantAnagram: The affable Joe Collins lives on Odd's Lane. [[IdiotBall The 's' has noticeably been handwritten in on the sign.]]
[[/folder]]

!Others

[[folder:Cortland Andrus]]
!!Cortland Andrus

Roland, Cuthbert, Alain and Jamie's mentor.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Constantly belittles his charges and will beat and starve them if they aren't living up to his expectations.
* EyeScream: During his duel with Roland, Roland's hawk David claws out his bad eye, which was already blind.
* GeniusBruiser: He may be a violent brute but he does win the riddle contest every year.
* MadeOfIron: Gunslingers "graduated" from his class by beating the crap out of him; at least one of his predecessors had died during these coming-of-age duels. [[spoiler: In the end, it was poison, probably, that killed him and not the duels.]]
* TrainingFromHell: Cort will literally go upside his student's heads whenever they aren't meeting his high standards.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Was apparently good friends with Eldred Jonas during his childhood, that is until Eldred failed his last test.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gabrielle Deschain]]
!!Gabrielle Deschain

Roland's mother, who lost her son's respect after having sex with Marten.

%%* AllGirlsWantBadBoys
* DeathByOriginStory: [[spoiler:She was accidentally shot by a paranoid Roland after he discovered a plot to undermine Gilead; she was apparently going to try to make amends, but Roland's reflexes took over when he heard someone entering his room.]]
* TheMole: [[spoiler:Worked with the resistance leader, who was her lover.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sheemie Ruiz]]
!!Sheemie Ruiz

A mentally disabled young man who worked at a tavern in Hambry; he was recruited into being a Breaker in Algul Siento.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Dies offscreen of an infection after unwittingly treading on a piece of broken glass.]]
%%* TheFool
* TheRainman: Despite being mentally handicapped, Sheemie is revealed to be a powerful Breaker.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Henry Dean]]
!!Henry Dean

Eddie's older brother, who bullied Eddie out of jealousy.

* BigBrotherBully: Eddie realizes this in ''The Waste Lands''.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: A toned-down version of this trope as Henry was more of a {{Jerkass}} rather than outright evil. He was not the best of brothers, but Eddie still loved him, even when he later realized that most of the time Henry was just jealous of him and trying to bring him down.
* EruditeStoner: Referred to as the "Great Sage and Eminent Junkie" by Eddie and himself, however it's a subversion of the trope, as the main thing Henry was good at was, well, being a junkie, with ManipulativeBastard tendencies.
* {{Jerkass}}: A number of flashbacks in ''The Waste Lands'' show that Henry could often be pretty mean to Eddie, especially if he saw that Eddie was better at something than he was, such as basketball (and, as Eddie comes to realize, just about everything).
* ManipulativeBastard: Eddie notes that Henry's limp (due to a wound he received in Vietnam) would always become more pronounced when they were arguing, most likely in an effort to make Eddie feel like a jerk for stressing his poor put-upon brother who always had to watch out for him.
* PetTheDog: He did this only one time for Eddie that he can remember: Henry said that he'd rather have Eddie by his side than anyone else in the world if he was forced into a fight. He also said Eddie could "talk the devil into setting himself on fire"; a compliment which Eddie later remembers [[spoiler:and realises is the key to defeating Blaine the Mono's riddle game via LogicBomb]].
* ShellShockedVeteran: He's a veteran of the Vietnam War, and blames his descent to drug addiction to his experiences there.
* PresentAbsence: Henry is only on page for a short time [[spoiler: before he's killed by Balazar's men]], but it takes Eddie a while to get over the mental block that Henry caused with his bullying when they were younger.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Father Donald Frank Callahan]]
!!Father Donald Frank Callahan

A [[Literature/SalemsLot priest]] who fought vampires; he met Roland's ka-tet in Calla Bryn Sturgis and travelled with them until he shot himself rather than letting the elder vampires kill him.

* TheAlcoholic: In his backstory. At one point, Callahan wonders at having been a walking stereotype: an Irish Catholic priest with a drinking problem.
* BadassPreacher: In the years after ''Literature/SalemsLot'' he started hunting vampires after one of them infected his ([[IfItsYouItsOkay possibly more than]]) friend Lupe Delgado with AIDS, which got him on the Sombra Corporation's shit list.
* CanonForeigner: PlayedWith. He is a character from one of Creator/StephenKing's first novels, ''Literature/SalemsLot'', and has to proide an InfoDump on how he got from that continuity to this. {{Justified}}, given that Mid-World is the hub of King's personal MultiVerse.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Having fully regained his faith, he kills ancient vampire lords in the Dixie Pig ''with his bare hands'' before being overwhelmed and deciding to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled shoot himself]]]].
* IfItsYouItsOkay: He falls in love with Lupe, despite otherwise identifying as heterosexual, but nothing physical ever occurs between them aside from a kiss on the cheek.
* SixthRanger: To Roland's ka-tet.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: A huge chunk of ''Wolves of the Calla'' is taken up by his explanation of what happened to him after the events of '''Salem's Lot'' and how he ended up in Roland's world.
* UnfortunateNames: His nickname in Calla Bryn Sturgis, "the Old Fella", is slang for 'penis' in some circles in RealLife.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Patrick Danville]]
!!Patrick Danville

A young [[Literature/{{Insomnia}} artist]] who Roland saves from Dandelo. He is the gunslinger's very, ''very'' last companion, and is the one actually responsible for destroying the Crimson King.

* ArtAttacker: Why did Dandelo snip off all the erasers from Patrick's pencils? [[spoiler: Because his drawings reshape reality. Once he's managed to draw a picture of the Crimson King, he simply erases him. [[EyeScream Except for his eyes.]]]]
* ArtInitiatesLife: Once Susannah twigs Patrick's super power, she [[spoiler: gets him to draw an Unfound Door which enables her to escape to a version of New York.]]
* DeusExMachina: Is almost explicitly airdropped into the last section of the last book just so he can [[spoiler: give Susannah her happy ending, and kill the Crimson King.]]
* IdiotSavant: Patrick cannot talk, is frail and has obviously been damaged by his time with Dandelo. You wouldn't believe the pictures he can draw, though.
* TheLoad: Roland sees him this way, especially after [[spoiler: his weak-mindedness gets Oy killed.]] Even then he knows Patrick will come in handy, though.
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler: After Susannah leaves, Roland has nobody to share night watches with, and sleep deprivation eventually forces him to put Patrick in charge. It takes Patrick all of about ten minutes to fall asleep himself, after which Mordred attacks.]]
* TheWoobie: Dandelo tore the boy's tongue out just so he didn't have to listen to him beg for mercy whilst the creature fed upon his emotions. Dandelo apparently had him chained up and using him this way since his childhood. He displays dog-like love for the gunslingers once they bust him out, particularly Susannah.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gan]]
!!Gan

The Creator.

* DevilButNoGod: Markedly less directly influential than the Crimson King. [[spoiler: Played with. Some novels like ''IT'' strongly imply that there is a mysterious "Other" empowering agents, guiding them subtly as tools to combat evil...but confirmation is never -quite' given that Gan is this entity.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stephen Edwin King]]
!!Stephen Edwin King

A prolific horror writer from Maine, Creator/StephenKing appears AsHimself in the last two novels of the series. He is first mentioned when Roland discovers a copy of ''Literature/SalemsLot'', causing an existential crisis for Callahan; Roland and Eddie, visiting "[[RealLife Keystone Earth]]" in the ''when'' of 1977, discover that King is a medium through which the Dark Tower is attempting to save itself. They become convinced that their quest cannot succeed if King does not complete his MagnumOpus, and encourage him to do so.

* AuthorPowers: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. King explicitly disclaims creating Roland or any of the others, and cannot control them; in fact, he admits to having given up on the series after completing ''Literature/TheGunslinger'' precisely ''because'' Roland went OffTheRails and let Jake fall.
%%* AuthorExistenceFailure: DiscussedTrope.
* CelebrityParadox: WordOfGod is that the character who appears in the books is a fictionalized version of himself.
* PaintingTheMedium: King occasionally writes hints ''to'' the ''ka-tet'' in the text of the books.
* SaveThisPersonSaveTheWorld: King's completing the books may be difficult if he's killed in a car crash on June 19, 1999. Which is precisely what the Crimson King is planning.
%%* WalkingSpoiler
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Calvin Tower]]
!! Calvin Tower

Proprietor of the Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind which is a used book store.

* ChekhovsGun: Calvin sells Jake a vintage copy of "Charlie the Choo Choo" as well as a book of riddles.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Aaron Deepneau.
* IdiotBall: Calvin is supposed to be lying low but then goes around shopping for rare books. Pere Callahan calls him out on this at one point.
* {{Otaku}}: Collects vintage books.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: As part of the Tet Corporation along with Aaron and Moses Carver, he is more tolerated by the other two. He is the least useful of the three.
[[/folder]]

* TragicMonster: While Mordered was a dark creature by nature, unlike his half-father the Crimson King, much of the evil he committed was born from bitterness and anger at being alone and abandoned. Underneath all of his anger, sorrow, and despare, was a newborn looking for affection and companionship. Much of the hatred he felt towards Roland was that Roland had friends and companions while he did not. In this instance there are many parallels between Mordred and the creature from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

* FamilyThemeNaming: All known members of the Allgood family have a 'bert' in their name: Cuthbert Allgood , his father Robert Allgood, distant ancestor Sir Bertrand Allgood...

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* ChekovsGun: Calvin sells Jake a vintage copy of "Charlie the Choo Choo" as well as a book of riddles.

%%* GenreSavvy

* ILetGwenStacyDie: Has a lot of guilt over [[spoiler: letting Jake Chambers fall to his death in the first book, so he could catch up with the Man in Black.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: He is killed and eaten by Mordred.

* TheWorfEffect: Perhaps the greatest villain Stephen King has written, the BigBad of ''Literature/TheStand'' and ''Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon'' and Roland's main adversary through the entire Dark Tower series is [[spoiler: killed off effortlessly and pointlessly by a new villain introduced in the final novel, just to show how threatening he is.]]

* HeelFaceTurn: He genuinely entertains the idea of joining Roland's ka-tet, but he is both too afraid of them killing him immediately and too angry and jealous of their bond to go through with it.

An enigmatic sorcerer whose true name is Walter Padick but who goes by several other names including Randall Flagg (or simply Flagg, Marten Broadcloak, Richard Fannin, Walter O'Dim, and several others). He is the Crimson King's second-in-command, who intends to scale the tower himself.

%%* TheComicallySerious

%%* EternalRecurrence

* TheHeavy: For the 5th and 6th books; he is just a high-ranking memeber of the [[BigBad Crimson King's]] court and [[ManipulateBastard Walter]] is the one who talked Mia into having Mordred, [[spoiler:but Sayre is the one in command of the Wolves and the one who Mia is contacting directly in order to have her child.]]

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Dies in Roland's world in ''The Gunslinger'', but when Roland is in control of Jack Mort's body during ''The Drawing of the Three'', he is able to prevent Jake's death in Jake's own world by stopping Jack from pushing Jake into traffic. Roland, Eddie and Susannah later find a door through which they are able to draw Jake back into Roland's world.]]

* TagalongKid: In the first book. It can be seen as a deconstruction because of all the pain, mental and physical, that Jake is put through due to following Roland.

[[folder:The Ka-Tet]]

[[folder:The Original Ka-Tet]]

[[folder:Baddies]]

!!Walter / The Man in Black

-->'''Dandelo:''' Stop! I want to tell you the one about the archbishop and the chorus girl!
-->'''Susannah:''' Heard it. '''bang'''

[[folder:Others]]