History Literature / BlackCompany

**** This is backed up by Bomans translating his name as "Moondog."

* TheCaptain: [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Captain,]] initially. [[spoiler: Croaker]] takes this role at the very end of ''The White Rose,'' because no one else wants it. [[spoiler: Sleepy]] takes the role in spirit during ''Water Sleeps'' and then officially in ''Soldiers Live,'' after his time in Plain of Glittering Stone makes her predecessor doubt his competence. Suvrin takes over after she [[spoiler: is killed by a trap in the Battle of Taglios]].

* ShoutOut: In ''She Is the Darkness,'' Croaker tells Murgen, ''[[{{Dune}} Fear is the mind-killer.]]"

* GuileHero: Croaker and the original Captain are certainly no slouches, but Sleepy is the master. Lacking Croaker's size and charisma, she focuses on using misdirection, deception, and [[CrazyPrepared crazy preparedness]] to exploit her enemies, usually be having multiple plots going at once. In ''Water Sleeps,'' she mentions that she feels this is a tendency that she relies ''too'' strongly and it makes her inflexible when improvisation is required.

* Druid: While not explicedly stated, Shapeshifter the taken shares a lot of traits in common with the typical druid. In his human form he is large (fat) and beardy. He has powers over nature (such as directing fog in the Battle of Goja Fjord), HealingHands, and can transform into an animal (His choice of which, is a were-panther). Heck, up until [[spoiler: he fell in love with Lisa Bowalk]] the duffer even smelled of nature.

* TheChosenOne: The White Rose is prophesied to return and defeat the Dominator at the appearance of a certain comet in the sky. Rebel[[note]]Croaker's way of writing "the rebels"[[/note]], unable to find the ''real'' chosen one, eventually just grabs a random kid to fill the role for a morale boost. [[spoiler:The kid dies a horrible death.]] The third book, ''The White Rose'', deals with the real girl, [[spoiler:who is a young girl found by the Black Company early in the first book]], and the attempted fulfillment of the prophecy.

The series begins as the Company reluctantly accepts the commission of a northern sorcerous tyrant known as "The Lady". A prophecy concerned with her downfall is about to be fulfilled, and the people are rising up in anticipation of the event. The Company has often been betrayed in the past by its employers, and The Lady is one of the least trustworthy ones it's had, but she pays well, and the Black Company goes where it is desired, so it commits to the contract.

** [[spoiler: The Son of the Tree]] is even moreso, lacking his father's characterization of general apathy.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Happens with Darling and Case.]] The narrator mentions their grandkids don't believe a word of their stories, but think they tell the best lies ever.

* BenevolentBoss: Soulcatcher, of all people, in the first book treats the Black Company well for a Taken, generally being helpful and even building up a (limited) level of camaderie with Croaker. [[spoiler: She even spares Croaker and Raven after they witness part of her plot against the Lady. Of course, none of this stops her from repeatedly trying to off the Company once they get in her way...]]

* TheChosenOne: The White Rose is prophesied to return and defeat the Dominator at the appearance of a certain comet in the sky. Rebel[[note]]Croaker's way of writing "the rebels"[[/note]], unable to find the ''real'' chosen one, eventually just grabs a random kid to fill the role for a morale boost. [[spoiler:The kid dies a horrible death.]] The third book, ''The White Rose'', deals with the real girl, [[spoiler:who is a young girl found by the Black Company early in the first book]], and the attempted fulfilment of the prophecy.

* CrapsackWorld: Although the setting itself is not much worse than any other setting, in-universe it is acknowledged that the empire known as the Domination, which covered all the northern lands for several hundred years, was a terrible place to live in, and that the Dominator, its sorcerous tyrant, must not be allowed to return.

* TheDragon: The Lady ''was'' this to the Dominator in her backstory. She herself doesn't have a clear example- Soulcatcher is the strongest Taken, but she's also the most unstable. At various times, this role would be taken up by the Black Company and the Limper.

* TheVoiceless: Silent, one of the Company's mages, is, well, silent. Although the "why" is unclear, he took a vow of silence in his youth, and only very reluctantly does he ever speak.

* HandicappedBadass: The White Rose doesn't let being deaf and dumb hold her back.

** [[spoiler: Mogaba]] defects from the Company to join Longshadow, then defects again when Longshadow is defeated to join the Company's new primary antagonist, [[spoiler: Soulcatcher]].

* {{Asexuality}}: As a result of [[RapeAsBackstory being raped be her uncles in her youth]], Sleepy has no interest in sex. There are rumors that she may have slept with close friend Willow Swan, but she adamantly denies them (though Croaker things that it may have happened only once or twice, judging by her reaction to [[spoiler: news of Swan's death]]).

* Druid: While not explicedly stated, Shapeshifter the taken shares a lot of traits in common with the typical druid. In his human form he is large (fat) and beardy. He has powers over nature (such as directing fog in the Battle of Goja Fjord), HealingHands, and can transform into an animal (His choice of which, is a wear-panther). Heck, up until [[spoiler: he fell in love with Lisa Bowalk]] the duffer even smelled of nature.

The series currently consists of ten books, divided into three smaller collections:

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: ''Water Sleeps'' chronicles the Company fighting a guerrilla war against [[spoiler: Soulcatcher]]'s significantly more powerful force, with most of the fighting happening either in the city or the jungle. If that doesn't remind you of the Vietnam War, the monk who immolates himself in front of the Taglian Palace will.
* TheDragon: The Lady ''was'' this to the Dominator in her backstory. She herself doesn't have a clear example- Soulcatcher is the strongest Taken, but she's also probably the most treacherous and unstable (and therefore unreliable). In the end, the best fit is probably Limper. In the later books, [[spoiler:Mogaba]] serves as TheDragon to Longshadow and later to [[spoiler: Soulcatcher]].

** [[spoiler: Timmy Lokan]] in ''The Silver Spike'' is a straighter example. Initially described as always having a joke and being generally fun-loving, he finds himself infected with evil from the Spike, left in pain for weeks until his hand is amputated, and finally beaten to death during an interrogation gone wrong. Smeds and Fish agree that, of the four conspirators, he deserved what he got the least.

* DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Croaker makes tea for the Limper, who is so taken aback that he actually sits down and drinks it rather than just blasting everyone.

* DisabilitySuperpower: As a result of Nyueng-Bao custom, "Tobo" is actually a nickname given to him by his mother, with a real name to be determined by both parents as soon as they could. As a result of [[spoiler: Murgen being trapped beneath the Plain of Glittering Stone for fifteen years,]] Tobo is already well into adulthood before this change is made. He expresses irritation over not have a real name in ''Soldiers Live''--but doesn't realize that his lack of a true name makes him invulnerable to being de-powered like [[spoiler: the Lady.]] Lacking this vulnerability, he's the only magic-user of sufficient power that isn't an EvilSorceror.

* DisabilitySuperpower: As a result of Nyueng-Bao custom, "Tobo" is actually a nickname given to him by his mother, with a real name to be determined by both parents as soon as they could. As a result of [[spoiler: Murgen being trapped beneath the Plain of Glittering Stone for fifteen years,]] Tobo is already well into adulthood before this change is made. He expresses irritation over not have a real name in ''Soldiers Live''--but doesn't realize that his lack of a true name makes him invulnerable to being de-powered like [[spoiler: the Lady.]] Lacking this vulnerability, he's the only magic-user of sufficient power that isn't an EvilSorceror.

* DisabilitySuperpower: As a result of Nyueng-Bao custom, "Tobo" is actually a nickname given to him by his mother, with a real name to be determined by both parents as soon as they could. As a result of [[spoiler: Murgen being trapped beneath the Plain of Glittering Stone for fifteen years,]] Tobo is already well into adulthood before this change is made. He expresses irritation over not have a real name in ''Soldiers Live''--but doesn't realize that his lack of a true name makes him invulnerable to being de-powered like [[spoiler: the Lady.]] Lacking this vulnerability, he's the only magic-user of sufficient power that isn't an EvilSorceror.