* BadassDecay:
** In ''Count Brass'', all of the newly brought back warlords have decayed from vigorously insane warriors to being single phrase automatons.
** Hawkmoon himself between ''Count Brass'' and ''Champion of Garathorm'' degenerated from the hero of the resistance to a basement-dwelling wargame obsessive.
* CompleteMonster: The brutal and ambitious [[FauxAffablyEvil Baron Meliadus of Kroiden]] serves as the commander of the armies of [[TheEmpire Granbretan]] and one of the chief agents of its [[RapePillageAndBurn conquests]]. [[TheDreaded Feared across Europe for his cruelty]], Meliadus brutally strips conquered lands of their resources and commits unspeakable atrocities on their people. Swearing vengeance upon hero Dorian Hawkmoon when his attempt to turn him into a tool of his prior vendetta against Count Brass--an enmity begun by Meliadus's attempt to rape Brass's daughter Yissolda--by means of the brain-eating Black Jewel fails, Meliadus comes to increasingly devote his resources towards personal revenge, earning the displeasure of his master King-Emperor Huon--which in turn drives Meliadus to [[TheStarscream overthrow Huon and seize power for himself]] in a betrayal shocking even to Granbretan, though he himself is killed by Hawkmoon shortly after. Ambitious, self-absorbed and cruel to a fault, in an empire of evil Baron Meliadus stands out above the rest.