Characters introduced or appearing prominently in Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold. Warning: unmarked spoilers ahead, and tropes here reveal what happens in the story even with spoiler tags.

open/close all folders

Point of View Characters

Monzcarro “Monza” Murcatto

Captain-General of the Thousand Swords, the most successful mercenary group in Styria.

The Ace: A genius tactician, brilliant leader, incredible fighter and able to match wits with the best of them. Before chapter one anyways...
Action Girl: In a world where warrior women are rare, she's one of the greatest military strategists alive, and a highly competent fighter besides.
Appropriated Appellation: No one ever called Morza "the Snake of Tallins" as a compliment, but in one scene from Sharp Ends she's seen wearing a dress with embroidered snakes on it, clearly having decided to own the nickname.
As the Good Book Says...: Often quotes to herself the maxims of famous scholars who wrote about military strategy.
Brother–Sister Incest: She and Benna were, quite famously, lovers. A deeper example than most as it's implied this was born out of a mutual dependence and need after the two were orphaned. Given the two would hit the age together, were the only member of the opposite sex near one another and Benna's utter dependence on Monza, coupled with Monza using him as her emotional crutch...
Babies Ever After: At the book's end, she's pregnant. But whether by Rogont or Shivers, it's unclear. Officially, it's Rogont's.
Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Shivers. Even in bed, she can't stop insulting him. It seems this is pretty usual for Monza with a lover. She and Benna were even more vitriolic to one another.
Broken Ace: After her mutilation.
Dark Action Girl: On a bad day.
Deadpan Snarker: A very dry one.
Determinator: Probablyher most impressive trait. She's a good leader, a capable fighter, and an excellent tactician, but wouldn't have become any of those things if not for her stubbornness. And then there's the whole "surviving being thrown off a cliff" thing.
A Father to His Men: Despite the ruthless attitude maintained, she cared deeply about the welfare of her troops and deserved her popularity.
General Ripper: They don't call her the Butcher of Caprile for nothing. Turns out, they call her that because her asshole brother didn't bother to carry out her orders to spare the civilians to the troops, and she's much more of a Colonel Badass.
Handicapped Badass: Her past injuries have left her with chronic pains and limited use of her right hand. She's still an excellent fighter, just not as good as she used to be.
I Was Quite a Looker: After her... ordeal, Monza believes she looks like a walking corpse. Most other people she meets disagree.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's a much better person than she wants to admit - with good reason, considering what tends to happen to good people in her world.
My Greatest Failure: Deep down, she sees Caprile as this...later on, she sees Benna's death and Shivers' turn to darkness as this.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Snake of Talins, the Butcher of Caprile.
Pay Evil unto Evil: The justification (such as she needs one) for her Roaring Rampageof Revenge.
Pragmatic Villainy: Her career as a soldier.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Subverted. Monza isn't particularly witty when she's killing people, and any time she tries to be it just sounds stupid.
Rags to Riches: The story of her life, going from an orphaned farmer from the sticks of Talins to the trusted General of Grand Duke Orso.
Really Gets Around: Carlot dan Eider says she had a very promiscuous reputation. Monza, however, indicates that this isn't the case. She was apparently faithful to Benna, her brother and lover who she loved deeply.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Usually Red, and has had a series of Blues - her brother, Shivers, and Cosca all count.
Second Love: She tries to let Shivers be this to her. It doesn't work out.
Scars Are Forever
Tsundere: Insults and put-downs seem to be practically foreplay for her. Though she recalls much sweeter moments with Benna, particularly their times in their room, laughing and talking of their dreams for the future. Takes on a new meaning when the reason they shared the room was due to them being lovers.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Early on, she and Benna playfully trade jabs at one another, with the insults getting steadily more heated, ending with Benna calling her 'whore' and 'murderer.' Monza is simply amused. Given the reveal of their relationship, this seems to be something else.

Caul Shivers

A Northman far from home. Introduced in The First Law.

Ascended Extra: Had a supporting role in the original trilogy.
Ax-Crazy: After his Face–Heel Turn.
Became Their Own Antithesis: From a well-intentioned man who was victimized by the Bloody Nine to an amoral barbarian who is a cut-price Bloody Nine.
Bedmate Reveal: With Monza at one point. She demands he take payment in gold for the night and is quite annoyed when he tries to refuse.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Shivers getting his eye burned away in a torture chamber finally pushes him over the edge.
The Big Guy: Not his role in the group or story, but he often gets tagged with this stereotype due to being Northern.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Played with. He ends up betraying almost everyone he ever serves to some degree or another, but every time it's due to mistreatment, and the one time it isn't is also something of a redemptive moment for him.
The Dog Bites Back: Don't mistreat Shivers. Seriously. Don't. In The Heroes Black Dow himself learns this the hard way.
The Dreaded: By the time of The Heroes.
Evil Sounds Raspy: Speaks in a raspy whisper following his torture, due to his vocal chords being damaged from his screams of pain.
Eye Scream: One of his eyes is burnt out when he's captured and tortured by Salier's soldiers.
Facial Horror: As a result of the aforementioned Eye Scream.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Throughout the entire series. He starts out as fairly heroic in the original trilogy, undergoes a Start of Darkness in Best Seved Cold, is firmly on the villainous side during The Heroes, and shows signs of his former idealism at the end of Red Country. By A Little Hatred, Shivers is firmly on the side of the heroes, acting as an enforcer for the Dogman and a protector and friend of the Dogman's daughter, POV character Rikke.
Heroes Prefer Swords: He's one of the more heroic characters in the series, and uses a sword. He switches to an axe after his Face–Heel Turn in Best Served Cold.
Knight in Sour Armor: More or less slides into this after leaving the North.
The Lancer / The Dragon: To Monza. And Black Dow. And Calder.
Madness Mantra: "It should have been you" to Monza after his torture.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Subverted. He claims that he's called Shivers because his enemies shiver in fear when they see him, but it's actually an Embarrassing Nickname he got after he fell into a freezing river on his first raid. However, after his Face–Heel Turn in Best Served Cold, people really start being afraid of him.
Pet the Dog: At the end of Red Country, when he finally decides to lay his feud with Logen to rest.
Revenge: He also tried to avenge his older brother's murder but just because it was the right thing to do: his brother was actually a Big Brother Bully and he was quite happy to see him go.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of the trilogy, he decides not to participate in Dow's betrayal of Logen.
She Cleans Up Nicely: Monza has him get a haircut, cleans him up and gets him into fancy clothes. He looks rather dashing. It's implied, rather disturbingly, she's trying to make him look like Benna.
Sixth Ranger: Joins Threetrees' band of Named Men in Before They Are Hanged.

Friendly

An ex-convict with a certain facility with numbers.

Berserk Button: Never insult his dice by calling them loaded. The last man that tried gets his head split open with a cleaver before getting turned into a human pincushion.
The Brute: His role in Monza's group, as his opinion is never asked for and he is only really used when someone needs to be hurt or killed.
Desires Prison Life: In Best Served Cold, the counting-obsessed convict Friendly spent most of his life in a prison called Safety (because it protects society from its inhabitants), and misses the order and security of that existence, and at the end of the novel, considers checking himself back in. In a later book in the series, Red Country, Friendly is elated when he is arrested along with the other villains of the novel.
Dual Wielding: Wields a knife and a cleaver in combat.
Good with Numbers: His most defining trait, and his refuge from a world he thinks is mad.
Idiot Savant: Given his awkwardness, general indifference to what happens around him, and obsession with numbers, Friendly clearly has an undisclosed mental disorder, but he's also a skilled fighter and a great accountant.
Ironic Nickname: Played with. While not jovial, he's usually polite and nonconfrontational enough most of the time that it is fairly accurate. However, during those other times (when angered), he's a total psycho.
Numerological Motif: Friendly can find meaning in a roll of his dice, and usually does so when he's being focused on. In particular, important events in his life have involved the number 6; such as when the six most dangerous convicts, himself included, brought order to Safety after a long riot.
The Stoic: Mostly keeps to himself and rarely expresses any kind of emotion.
Stout Strength: While not particularly tall, he has a very broad and muscular build.
Token Good Teammate: Ironically ends up playing this role. Despite clearly having mental problems, he's the least actively malicious member of the team and the only one who is not treacherous.

Castor Morveer

A poisoner of great repute.

Acquired Poison Immunity: Regularly takes small doses of his own poisons. It doesn't save him in the end.
Establishing Character Moment: His first meeting with Monza and Shivers at Morveer's country estate sees him poisoning both of them with a paralytic agent in the food and drink he's offered them, just to make sure that Monza is being honest with him.

Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: All of his "jokes" are spectacularly unfunny, and his most poorly timed ones could actually cause someone to try and kill him, like his assistant Day.
Insufferable Genius: He's a genius in his field, but also incredibly arrogant and condescending.
Jerkass: Of tremendous proportions. Morveer is a smug asshole and, besides Day, treats most of the people around him with open contempt.
Jerkass Has a Point: He may be a shithead, but he's excellent at killing people, and doesn't hesitate to point out when Monza & co. bungle their own end of the various killings.
Karmic Death: After spending the entire book reminding both Day and himself how common it is for poisoners to die of their own poisons, this is exactly what happens to him.
Lack of Empathy: Unsurprisingly, given his profession. Also ties into his characterization as The Sociopath.
Magic Versus Science: Considers himself a man of science and dismisses magic as mere superstition, leading to a minor Freak Out when he's confronted with real magic.
Master Poisoner: Both his skill and job title, and he's very insistent on being addressed as this in a professional setting; he's killed a lot of important targets to get it.
Never My Fault: And how! Every time he murdered someone close to them, he blames them for it.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His poisoning of the leaders of the League of Eight leads to Monza becoming Grand Duchess at the end of the novel. Also, his attempt on Cosca's life fails because Cosca temporarily stopped drinking – which Morveer himself had advised him to do.
Non-Action Guy: He never wants to be on the front lines of a fight, and spends most of his first time in the ambush of Faithful Carpi having a panic attack and trying to flee by kicking his way out of a barn.
No Social Skills: Often played for Black Comedy. At one point, he attempts to lighten the mood during dinner by cheerily claiming that he poisoned everyone's bowls.
Professional Killer: With emphasis on professional. Morveer has made a career out of killing heavily-guarded targets, and accordingly charges a high rate for his skills.
Retirony: Suffers a humiliating Karmic Death on his last job.
Self-Made Orphan: Poisoned his own mother when he was young, which led to him being taken to the orphanage.
Sdrawkcab Alias: Uses the alias Rotsac Reevrom, which is just his name backwards and amuses him.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Has a tendency to talk like this, much to Shivers' annoyance.
Smug Snake: While he's good at his job, he's nowhere near as clever, or as cautious, as he thinks he is, and constantly ends up in humiliating circumstances because of it.
The Sociopath: Implied given he barely seems capable of conceiving that any lives matters besides his own (and Day's to a much lesser extent).
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Poisons every ledger in the bank to make sure that Mauthis dies, killing dozens of innocents in the process. It's also revealed that he killed the whole staff and most of the children at the orphanage he grew up at because we was bullied by some kids.

Nicomo Cosca

Famed soldier of fortune, often found without much at all. Introduced in The First Law.

Affably Evil: Being a self-admitted scoundrel and traitor doesn't stop him from having some likable qualities.
The Alcoholic: He's rarely found sober. In Best Served Cold, I Need a Freaking Drink is practically his catchphrase.
Broken Pedestal: Gave Monza and Benna a home and taught her to fight and both of them to read. Then he turned into a neglectful drunkard.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Openly admits that he's been on both sides of major conflicts all over the world, and can very easily switch sides if he's paid enough.
Co-Dragons: With Shivers in Monza's group.
Disney Death: In Best Served Cold, he's left for dead during the battle of Visserine, only to show up alive and well later in the book.
Evil Is Easy: Leading a life of violence has made him neither happy nor rich, but he's long given up trying to be good because it's even harder.
Evil Old Folks: By the time of Red Country, age has visibly caught up with him, and it has not made him kinder.
A Father to His Men: Subverted. While he pretends to care about his troops, he really doesn't care if they live or die, and only cares about his own well-being, whereas the seemingly ruthless and amoral Monza was the real deal.
Faux Affably Evil: In Red Country the last vestiges of his Affably Evil personality have slipped away due to age and drink, leaving a bitter and twisted man behind a thin veneer of charm.
Karmic Death: After all the atrocities he committed over the course of the book, his death at the end of Red Country is incredibly cathartic. For extra irony, he's killed by the man he hired to write his biography.
Let's Get Dangerous!: Normally provides a level of comic relief, but don't let that fool you. He can be a surprisingly capable fighter when he has to, especially when the odds are against him.
Lovable Rogue: Cosca may be a mercenary bastard, but damn if he isn't likable. This becomes less and less true with every appearance, culminating in him arguably being the Big Bad of Red Country.
Parental Substitute: To Monza, making it even more heartbreaking when she was pressured into betraying him by Benna and Orso.
Rogue Protagonist: While he's always been a self-serving bastard, he's outright nasty in Red Country.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Lost what little scruples he had in the years between Best Served Cold and Red Country.
Villainous Breakdown: Goes completely off the rails in Red Country after he's robbed of his gold by Shy and Temple and betrayed by his own men.
Would Hurt a Child: At the end of Red Country, he threatens to kill some children, demonstrating that he's far beyond redemption at that point.

Cas Shenkt

The world's most feared assassin, not that anyone knows it.

The Ace: Shenkt is untouchable in battle generally speaking. He's cultured, a wicked good chef, highly intelligent and analytical and so talented a fighter even other Eaters seem a bit freaked out by the prospect of taking him on.
Achilles' Heel: Shenkt has only one weakness. Or rather four... his beloved Vitari, and their children. He describes himself as helpless before the kids.
Affably Evil: For an assassin and sorcerous cannibal, he's extremely polite.
Apologetic Attacker: He'll kill you in a heartbeat if you're in his way, but he might have the decency to apologize for it.
Badass Creed: "We/I do not kneel."
Big Good: Unbelievably, set up at the end to be this in opposition to Bayaz and Khalul alike.
Bullet Time: The manifestation of his Eating powers. It's unclear if this is universal to Eaters.
Character Tics: He frequently hums in an unnervingly tuneless manner. Amusingly, this isn't because of any psychological issue — he's just tonedeaf.
The Chessmaster: Bayaz and Kahlul sit at opposite ends of a grand chessboard, playing against one another... Shenkt continuously rearranges the board and players to screw Bayaz over.
Consummate Professional: He emphasizes his dedication to carrying out a mission when Orso hires him.
Dark and Troubled Past: How he became an Eater is unknown, but he initially served Bayaz... something happened to make Shenkt despise him and work to bring him down.
I'm a Humanitarian: And quite the gourmet, at that. He even carries around a nice array of spices for steaks and roasts, and loves liver pate.
Morality Pet: His wife, Vitari and his three children by her.
Never Hurt an Innocent: Well, at least he makes a pretty good effort not to, which is commendable given the setting, especially because in addition to being an assassin, he's also a cannibal who is compelled to eat human flesh.
Never My Fault: For all his niceties, Shenkt has a way of deflecting responsibility for his actions on occasion. It's not really his opponents' fault they don't know he's a cannibalistic superman so his usual 'I gave you a chance' is a bit of passing the buck.
Pet the Dog: He always tries to do a bit of good/spare at least one person when "on the job"... although without much success.
Picky People Eater: Along the same lines as Hannibal Lecter, he eats the parts of people that will go toward making delicious dishes.

The Starscream: A rare heroic version. He stands in opposition to Bayaz, destroying whatever the egomaniac psychopath has built.
That Man Is Dead: Shenkt thinks back to who he once was without much fondness.
Two Aliases, One Character: He's the bone thief who saved Monza's life.
Wicked Cultured: An excellent cook who carries around a spice kit. Which he uses to properly prepare human flesh.

Monza's Targets

Gobba

—-Orso's personal bodyguard.

Cruel and Unusual Death: Monza crushes his hands and legs with a hammer, strangles him until he turns purple and finally bashes in his head.
Dumb Muscle: He certainly wasn't hired for his brains. He's just a stupid, greedy thug that Orso keeps around to protect him.
Fat Bastard: He's a cruel, overweight rapist.
I Have a Family: Invokes this to stop Monza from killing him. Needless to say, it doesn't work.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He's a notorious rapist, and would have violated Monza during her attempted assassination only for Orso to rebuke him, saying they're not animals.
Starter Villain: The first target on Monza's list after spending a long period recuperating from being thrown off a mountain.
Stout Strength: He's described as fat but still strong.
Villains Want Mercy: Begs for his life when Monza is about to kill him.

Mauthis

A banker working for the Valint & Balk banking house. Introduced in The First Law.

Character Tics: He licks his thumb before turning pages in his ledger. Moveer takes advantage of this to poison all the ledgers in Valint & Balk, killing Mauthis along with dozens more.
Faux Affably Evil: He's calm and polite even when he makes veiled threats to Glokta.
Guilt by Association: Monza's reasoning for targeting him is essentially "he was in the room when Benna was killed." Mauthis had no idea about Orso's plan to kill them, and while he didn't object to it, he did seem confused by Orso's decision-making.
Lean and Mean: Described as tall, gaunt and hollow-eyed.
Morally Bankrupt Banker: He's not above threatening Glokta when the latter starts asking uncomfortable questions. It later turns out that Valint & Balk was created by Bayaz to control the Union and keep the war against the Gurkish going.
Mysterious Backer: Lends Glokta a substantial amount of money during the siege of Dagoska, for initially unknown reasons. He's ultimately revealed to work for Bayaz.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's usually a very composed and stoic man, but when Mauthis warns Glokta about the type of people he's gotten involved with by accepting Valint & Balk's money, Glokta becomes afraid because the composed Mauthis is terrified.
The Stoic: He's completely unfazed by Benna being murdered right in front of him.
Straight Edge Evil: Drinks no alcohol, in order to keep his mind on the job.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Is killed along with dozens of other people after Morveer poisons every single ledger in the bank.

Prince Ario

Orso's eldest son and heir.

Aristocrats Are Evil: Stabs Benna in the neck and makes a cruel joke when Gobba suggests raping Monza.
The Dandy: Likes to dress in extravagant clothes, and apparently needs ten rooms just for his shoes.
Disney Villain Death: Monza stabs him in the neck, then he stumbles out a window.
The Evil Prince: In a subversion of the common depiction of this trope, he's actually the older son, and doesn't need to ascend in the line of succession, but he's still a selfish, sadistic asshole.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish one, in contrast to the younger, but far more responsible Foscar.
Hookers and Blow: Has a well-known fondness for prostitutes and drugs. This proves to be his downfall as Monza pretends to be a prostitute to get a chance to kill him.
Oh, Crap!: When alone with a disguised Monza she removes her mask, giving him just enough time to recognize her and what's about to happen, before she stabs him in the neck.
Royal Brat: Acts like spoiled, petulant child, much to his father's dismay.
Sissy Villain: Cannot bear the thought of getting blood on his expensive clothes.
Upper-Class Twit: Ario is vain, foppish, spoiled, and petulant.

General Ganmark

A disgraced Union commander, now in Orso's service.

Break Them by Talking: Mercilessly taunts Monza during their duel.
Death by Irony: He's killed when a priceless statue of Stolicus he intended to steal from Duke Salier's palace falls on him.
The Dragon: He's Orso's top military commander following their attempted assassination of Monza, and he's one of Monza's few targets that can completely kick her ass one-on-one.
Dual Wielding: With a long and a short blade, according to the classic Union-style.
Just Toying with Them: His entire fight with Monza boils down to him doing this to her. To make things "fair" he switches to his non-dominant hand to duel with because her dominant hand is maimed. Then when he disarms her and injures her left hand, he hands her back her sword so they can make it "best of three." Monza speculates even if she hadn't been crippled and thrown off a mountain, she still wouldn't be a match for him.
Master Swordsman: Considered one of the best fencers in the world. It's not exaggerated, as Monza finds out the hard way.
Passive Aggressive Combat: Ganmark tends to respond to Benna and Monza's insults and outright hostility with slightly amused snark.
Perpetual Frowner: Has a perpetually melancholic look and is described as humourless by Orso.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: A highly skilled commander and world-class swordsman. He essentially spends his fight with Monza toying with her, and seemingly kills Cosca by running him through.
Straight Gay: Was forced to leave the Union army after it was discovered that he had a relationship with another male officer.
Talking Is a Free Action: well, it is when you're that good.
Villain Ball: Monza is disarmed and injured, but instead of finishing her off, he gives her back her sword so they can make it "best of three." In fact the entire fight is just him toying with her. Naturally not finishing Monza and Cosca off immediately leads to his death. Especially jarring considering earlier on Ganmark wanted to make sure Monza was dead before throwing her off a mountain only to be overruled by Orso.
Wicked Cultured: A lover of arts, and a great admirer of the legendary military strategist Stolicus. He has made a point of telling his soldiers to not damage artwork in his conquests, as Ganmark fully intends to take them for his own collection.

Faithful Carpi

A captain in the Thousand Swords, a mercenary army in Orso's service.—-

Apologetic Attacker: He apologizes to Monza even as he takes part in her attempted assassination.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Pulled underwater and drowned when his cloak gets caught in a waterwheel.
Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: He's notably conflicted about his betrayal of Monza, apologizing to her as he stabs her with his dagger.
Ironic Nickname: Zigzagged. While he's known to be very loyal, he still betrays Monza on Orso's orders, albeit reluctantly. He comments on this when confronted by Monza, saying he was loyal to Cosca, but she betrayed the old man first.
Just Following Orders: His justification for his involvement in Benna's murder.
Klingon Promotion: He takes part in the attempted assassination of the Murcatto siblings and then takes Monza's place as the general of the Thousand Swords. Notably, he actually didn't want to take part in the assassination or the promotion, but his hand was forced by Orso.
"Not So Different" Remark: He points out that Monza's no better than he is. She was forced to betray Cosca by Duke Orso, and he was forced by Duke Orso to do the same to her.
Old Soldier: Has served in the Thousand Swords for thirty years.
The Peter Principle: Shivers observes that Carpi is a good soldier but a poor leader. He was only given his position because Orso wanted Monza out of the way and that meant the Thousand Swords would need a new commander.
Private Military Contractors: He served as a captain in the infamous Thousand Swords mercenary army and fought for Duke Orso during the Years of Blood. He became leader after helping assassinate the Murcatto siblings, but only briefly.
Save the Villain: Monza attempts this when she has second thoughts about killing him, but it's already too late.
Undying Loyalty: Has this reputation, hence his nickname. Monza calls him a traitor but Carpi claims he wanted to be loyal to Cosca, until Monza forced him to betray him, then he tried to be loyal to her until Orso forced him to betray her.
We Used to Be Friends: He was friends with Monza and Benna, and genuinely regrets having to kill them on Orso's orders. When Monza sees him again afterwards, she has a rush at happiness at seeing her old friend, before remembering what she has to do. His death ends up being largely accidental, and Monza even tries and fails to save him.

Foscar

Grand Duke Orso's younger son.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He begs for his life when helpless before Monza, and unlike her previous targets, he's such a good person she decides to show him mercy. Unfortunately, Shivers takes the decision out of her hands.
Cruel and Unusual Death: When Monza shows him mercy, Shivers picks him up and repeatedly smashes his head against the ground until it's squashed in.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible sibling, contrasting with his vain and cruel brother.
Guilt by Association: He had no idea that his father was planning on killing the Murcatto siblings and rushes out of the room because he doesn't want any part of it. The only reason why he's on Monza's list is because he was in the room when her brother was killed.
Nice Guy: So nice that he sincerely apologizes to even Monza cannot bring herself to kill him. Unfortunately for him, Shivers has no such scruples.
Non-Action Guy: Appalled by violence, which is seen as a weakness by his father.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He's shocked when Benna is murdered in front of his eyes, and leaves the room in disgust.
Token Good Teammate: The only decent person in Orso's inner circle.
The Wise Prince: Noted to be thoughtful, sober and polite. Unfortunately, being a good person in Styria only earns him a reputation as a weakling.
Your Head Asplode: Shivers smashes his skull to a bloody pulp.

Grand Duke Orso

The leader of Talins and potential next King of Styria. Introduced in The First Law.

Affably Evil: For a man with his reputation, he can be surprisingly affectionate.
Big Bad: He's the main target on Monza's revenge list.
Big Damn Heroes: In Last Argument of Kings, he sends his fleet and ten thousand of his soldiers to the Union's aid during the Battle of Adua. The favor isn't returned in Best Served Cold, much to Orso's fury.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's heartbroken and furious after Ario is killed, and sends a small army of assassins after Monza in retaliation.
Evil Wears Black: Always dresses in black, both in private and on the battlefield.
Face Death with Dignity: Accepts his defeat rather gracefully, dying with a smile on his face.
Non-Action Big Bad: A capable strategist and commander, but not particularly skilled in combat.
"Not So Different" Remark: Invokes this in his last moments, pointing out how both he and Monza built their lives around a single desire – Benna and kingship, respectively – that ultimately led to their downfall.
Pragmatic Villainy: As evidenced by him employing a peasant woman and an openly gay man as commanders, he doesn't care about his subjects' gender, history, or sexual preferences, as long as they're useful to him.
Properly Paranoid: At first, him killing Monza seems like a bout of paranoia gone wrong, but Benna was planning to kill him and usurp his dukedom. Overlaps with a Nice Job Fixing It, Villain, because he failed to ascertain whether ''Monza'' was as well.
Self-Made Man: Subverted. While his great-grandfather was a lowly mercenary who ascended the throne of Talins by conquest, Orso himself was born into wealth and hasn't worked a single day in his life. But he is aware of the political power that comes from being a self-made man, so hence Monza gets thrown off his veranda.
Visionary Villain: Wants to bring peace to Styria by uniting the country under his rule.
Villain Has a Point: As mentioned above, he was completely justified in having Benna killed. His only mistake was to believe that Monza was complicit in Benna's plan.
Wicked Cultured: Decorates his palace with valuable pieces of art.

Other Characters

Day

Morveer's apprentice.

The Apprentice: To Morveer, naturally.
Big Eater: Has a huge appetite and is frequently seen eating something.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While she is nice to Morveer to appease his huge ego, it's all an act, she hates him, and tries to poison him.
Perky Female Minion: Played with a bit in that while her overall appearance and manner fits the trope, when Morveer is out of earshot, she drops a lot of her childish mannerisms and indicates that she finds him as annoying as everyone else does.

Shylo Vitari

A former Practical of the Union gone freelance. Introduced in The First Law.

Chain Pain: Her weapon of choice is a chain with a cross-shaped blade at the end.
Dark Action Girl
Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments, especially when Cosca is involved.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite her unpleasant behavior to everyone else, she deeply loves her husband and children.
Fiery Redhead
Information Broker: Her primary job.
Redheads Are Ravishing: Both her husband and Morveer find her red hair a very attractive feature.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Vitari leaves Monza's employ before her group makes it to Ospria, stating she'd rather take half pay and be alive than earn full pay and be dead after going into a war zone for a personal vendetta.
Sixth Ranger: In Monza's group.
Stealth Expert
Torture Technician: As a former Practical of the Inquisition, she knows how to make people talk.

Grand Duke Rogont

The ruler of Ospria, Orso's main opponent.

Acquired Situational Narcissism: His victory over Orso's forces makes his usually cool, calculating head swell with undeserved arrogance.
Big Good: The image he tries to evoke, having founded the League of Eight to stop Orso from conquering all of Styria. Ultimately subverted, as he mostly cares about himself.
Casual Kink: He shamelessly asks Monza to piss on him during sex and takes her disgusted rejection in stride.
The Chessmaster: Subverted. His attempt to weaken his political rivals within the League of Eight spectacularly backfires on him, and his plan to win the battle of Ospria only works due to Cosca's completely unrelated betrayal of Orso.
Death by Irony: Killed along with the other leaders of the League of Eight by the very crown he fought for.
Embarrassing Nickname: Mockingly referred to by such alliterative titles as the Prince of Prudence, the Count of Caution, and the Duke of Delay.
Foil: To his ally Salier. While Salier tends to make rash decisions, Rogont is more cautious, but his unwillingness to take risks has cost him several decisive victories.
Gone Horribly Right: Deliberately delayed his arrival at several battles in the early stages of the war, allowing his allies to be weakened in order to strengthen his own position. However, his plan worked too well, giving Orso an advantage over the League of Eight, and when Rogont finally decided to change track and show up in time at the High Bank, he was ambushed by Ganmark, causing him to lose the battle.
A Lighter Shade of Grey: He's an ambitious, manipulative schemer who has no qualms about throwing his own allies under the bus for his personal gain, but he's still not as ruthless as Orso.
Non-Action Guy: His leadership style. He prefers political maneuvering and big picture schemes to open warfare and small victories. He has little taste or talent for war, by his own admission, and seems amused, or at worst only mildly annoyed, by his widespread reputation as a hesitant coward.
Pretty Boy: He's consistently described as being stunningly gorgeous or handsome. Even his enemies and rivals think of him in flattering terms, where looks are concerned.
The Rival: To Orso. Both want to become king of Styria, but while Orso isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty, Rogont uses more subtle political maneuvering to achieve his goal.

Grand Duke Salier

The ruler of Visserine, one of Rogont's allies.

Big Eater: Quite the gourmet, and massively obese.
Defiant to the End: Attacks General Ganmark with a sword in one last act of defiance. Ganmark effortlessly kills him.
Face Death with Dignity: Goes to great lengths to ensure this, dressing up in his finest military uniform as the Talinese troops storm his palace.
Gallows Humor: By the time Monza and her crew arrive in Visserine, he knows that the city is doomed, and spends his last hours joking about his imminent death.
General Failure: He's a very poor military leader, and has suffered multiple defeats against Orso's forces despite having the superior numbers.
Man of Wealth and Taste: Owns one of the greatest collections of art in the world.

Ishri

One of Khalul's disciples, a powerful Eater.

Chekhov's Gunman: She's mentioned in the original trilogy, but doesn't appear in person until later.
Combo Platter Powers: Aside from the enhanced strength and speed that all Eaters possess, she's able to teleport and read people's minds. In The Heroes, it's implied that she also has some kind of influence over the weather.
The Dragon: Seems to have taken over as Khalul's right hand after Mamun's death at the end of the trilogy.
I'm a Humanitarian: Comes with being an Eater.
Lean and Mean: She's tall and impossibly thin.
Mouth of Sauron: Serves as Khalul's representative in Best Served Cold and The Heroes.
Red Baron: Also known as “the East Wind.”
Scary Black Woman: Her dark skin makes her stick out among the white Northmen in The Heroes.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In The Heroes, she angrily leaves Black Dow after he agrees to fight Calder in a duel, regarding it as a barbaric custom and an unnecessary risk.
Villain Teleportation: Seems to be able to appear out of nowhere, and disappear just as easily.

Yoru Sulfur

A mysterious man working with Valint & Balk. Introduced in The First Law.

For more information, see this page.

Carlot dan Eider

A former Magister of the Guild of Spicers, now Ario's mistress. Introduced in The First Law.

For more information, see this page.

Benna Murcatto

Monza's brother, whose death she seeks to avenge.

Ambition Is Evil: Orso thought so. He is absolutely right.
And There Was Much Rejoicing: Monza is apparently the only person in the world who is upset at Benna's death. By the end, even she admits that he had it coming, but avenges him anyway.
Annoying Younger Sibling: Loves needling Monza as much as possible, which she treats with amusement.
Bratty Half-Pint: As a kid. Monza did most of the heavy lifting.
Brother–Sister Incest: Benna latched on to Monza as the only one he could love early on, and the two were lovers all through their adult years.
Casual Kink: Monza's kinks with Shivers are apparently an indicator of what Benna enjoyed in bed and are her attempts to recreate it.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Benna embraces the idea that no-one mattered except him and his sister, and runs with it up until his death. He repeatedly betrays their friends and/or allies when he alone decides they were no longer useful. Benna was planning to betray Duke Orso as well.
The Dandy: Benna enjoyed wearing fine clothes and jewelry, and swapped out a plain, very well-made sword for an gilded rapier that would be useless in an actual fight.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Deeply loved Monza. Not only as a sister, but a lover. Growing up with the five-years older Monza as the only female role model apparently made the two reach out for one another in ways that turned into lust. Despite it all, he truly wanted power, but power that he and Monza could share.
Evil All Along: In truth, an amoral borderline sociopath who betrayed anyone who was ever kind to him, with the exception of Monza.
Faux Affably Evil: Benna was charming in life, but everyone who actually knew him well has nothing good to say about him except Monza, calling him a two-faced snake who got what he deserved.
Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Implied to be what drove him and Monza together. Who made the first move is unknown.
Hate Sink: The more of his character is shown, the easier it is to conclude that Ganmark did the world a favor by killing him.
Killed Mid-Sentence
Lack of Empathy: Benna cares very little for anyone who isn't Monza.
My Girl Is a Slut: These were the rumors anyways, although... Monza was apparently quite faithful to Benna. She may even have spread the rumors of her promiscuity herself to discourage the whispers she and Benna were lovers.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The whole plot of Best Served Cold is caused by Benna, as he bit off more than he could chew by attempting to betray Duke Orso. His plot was discovered quickly and Monza was implicated by association, causing both to be marked for death by the Duke.
Non-Action Guy: Benna had no talent or interest in fighting. He stuck to running the company's finances and plotting behind the scenes.
Opportunistic Bastard: Benna Murcatto is an amoral snake of a man who latches on to his talented elder sister Monza while she uses her skills in strategy, tactics and combat to bring them to higher positions. Benna's role seems to be deciding who to betray and when, while charming his way into the good graces of others. When they're taken in as kids by the mercenary Nicomo Cosca, Benna has him deposed when he realizes Monza is more popular than Cosca. When they attack a city known as Caprile, Benna takes the chance to "lose" Monza's orders to spare the populace to benefit him further. Finally, it's revealed Benna was going to double cross their current employer, Duke Orso, if Orso hadn't acted first to kill Benna before he got the chance.
- [[spoiler:When it comes to his responsibility for the Sack of Caprile, it's not even that, as there was no benefit to what happened. When Monza returned from speaking with Orso, she found Benna shitfaced from husk — in his absence the Baolish troops, less civilized than most, started the sack and the mercenaries gladly joined in. They later spun the story of it being on purpose because being a ruthless commander was better for Monza's reputation than admitting to an error/lack of control of her troops.
Pet the Dog: For all his many faults, Benna's love for Monza was very genuine, extending to little intimacies as him just telling her how beautiful she looks.
Posthumous Character: After chapter 1, although Benna's influence and impact on the story lingers enormously.
Power is Sexy: The higher he and Monza climb, the more he seemed to lust for her.
Sex God: He and Monza had an apparently incredibly passionate sex life.
The Starscream: He was secretly plotting to overthrow Orso and take over Talins, even Monza didn't know.
Surprisingly Sudden Death: Gets murdered by the Duke's closest men during a routine report and thrown off a cliff.
Villainous Incest: Zigzagged to hell and back. This is probably the most humanizing aspect to Benna rather than an indicator of how depraved he is, and gives him the only redeeming qualities he had.
You Need to Get Laid: Liked to tease Monza about this. And take care of it for her himself.

Characters / Best Served Cold

Monzcarro “Monza” Murcatto

Caul Shivers

Friendly

Castor Morveer

Nicomo Cosca

Cas Shenkt

Gobba

Mauthis

Prince Ario

General Ganmark

Faithful Carpi

Foscar

Grand Duke Orso

Day

Shylo Vitari

Grand Duke Rogont

Grand Duke Salier

Ishri

Yoru Sulfur

Carlot dan Eider

Benna Murcatto

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Best Served Cold

Edit Locked

Monzcarro “Monza” Murcatto

Caul Shivers

Friendly

Castor Morveer

Nicomo Cosca

Cas Shenkt

Gobba

Mauthis

Prince Ario

General Ganmark

Faithful Carpi

Foscar

Grand Duke Orso

Day

Shylo Vitari

Grand Duke Rogont

Grand Duke Salier

Ishri

Yoru Sulfur

Carlot dan Eider

Benna Murcatto

Previous

Index

Next