Characters / Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Characters in Marlon James' fantasy novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Tracker's Group

Tracker

The main protagonist, and narrator of the story. The 'Red Wolf' of the title.

• Abusive Parents: Abusive grandparents to be precise, but still, he eventually flees from home to find the Ku people, who he belongs to. Unfortunately, his actual father and uncle don't prove to be any better.
• Ambiguously Bi: He claims in one of his stories that he slept with a woman in order to gain entrance into the underworld, even though we see throughout the novel that he is exclusively attracted to men. Then again, considering Tracker's often suspect reliability, this may not be true.
• Anti-Hero: Tracker's pretty rough around the edges, but he's generally one of the more moral members of the group... or so he says.
• Deadpan Snarker: Tracker has a very acerbic wit and loves to use it toward anyone he dislikes.
• Enemy Mine: He teams up with Nyka and The Aesi to take down the boy once and for all after the boy and Sasabonsam kill Tracker's whole family.
• Et Tu, Brute?: The poor guy gets betrayed so often, it's hardly a wonder he treats most people with suspicion and distrust.
• Everyone Has Standards: He thoroughly disapproves of slavery, and generally despises most slavers that he meets.
• Eye Scream: In one of the most infamous and graphic scenes in the book, Tracker gets gang-raped by a pack of werehyenas, and then one of them sucks his friggin' eyeball out for good measure. He ends up getting a new eye from a wolf, which just creeps everyone out.
• Fatal Flaw: The guy holds a grudge like it's nobody's business, and after his lover Mossi and their adopted children are brutally murdered, and one driven insane by the trauma of the attack, he's driven insane with revenge. He ends the story a bitter, broken man as a result.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He gets pissed off really quickly and is quick to react violently.
• Heartbroken Badass: After Mossi and his adoptive family die at the hands of Sasabonsam and the boy.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Deep down, Tracker wants a family who'll accept and love him for who he truly is. He gets his wish, which makes it all the more heartwrenching when its taken from him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tracker can be a prick, and he's a misogynist to boot. But he's not a bad guy at heart, his immense amount of trauma keeps him from trusting people. He gets better though.
• Manly Tears: He openly weeps alongside Mossi after Sadogo sacrifices himself to save their lives.
• Name Amnesia: Tracker has forgotten his birth name. As it was given to him by his abusive father, he left it behind when he left the house.
• The Nose Knows: Tracker's main power. His sense of smell is so acute that he can follow people anywhere. This makes him an extremely effective tracker.
• Properly Paranoid: Given Tracker's cynical streak, he's often suspicious of many of the people around him, and often he's right to be suspicious.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the red to Mossi's blue.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Tracker has everything he wants: a family, a loving partner, and a nice home where he can spend the rest of his days peacefully right? Sadly, things are not meant to be and the past proves to be far from done with him. The boy and Sasabonsam return and wipe out Mossi and their adoptive family, one being spared but so traumatized by the ordeal that she's driven insane. Tracker is driven insane with grief and rage, and spends the rest of the book taking revenge on the boy and Sasabonsam.
• Sanity Slippage: After Mossi and their adoptive family all die, Tracker gradually becomes more mentally unstable, focusing only on his revenge.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Because of his nose, also it's his name.
• Sex Slave: He's betrayed by Nyka and sold to a group of werehyenas who, in one of the book's most infamous and graphic scenes, gang rape and suck out Tracker's eyeball.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Tracker's a prick, but it's revealed that this is mostly a defense mechanism after all the trauma and pain he's been through in his life. Deep down, he wants nothing more than to have a family who accepts him for who he is.
• Took a Level in Kindness: With the good influence of Mossi, Tracker reconciles with his long lost mother and becomes much happier after they get together and start a family with the mingi children. But sadly, this doesn't last.
• Unreliable Narrator: Most of the plot is Tracker relating his quest for the missing child to an interrogator after the fact. However Tracker's tangents and somewhat obvious bias puts a significant amount of the story into question.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: A one sided example with Leopard, Tracker clearly has feelings for him that go beyond friendship, but his jerkassery as well as his and Leopard's complicated friendship puts a damper on any romance that may happen.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: After taking his revenge on Sasabonsam, he remarks he doesn't feel much better after what happened; it doesn't help that Leopard dies in his arms. Broken by the experience, he starts wandering the earth until he's arrested.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Leopard snark at and insult each other often, but it's clear that it's in good fun and the two are good friends despite their differences. Tracker takes it particularly hard when Leopard dies, made worse that he died in his arms.
• Walking the Earth: After killing Sasabonsam, losing Leopard, and watching Nyka kill the boy, Tracker wanders the world alone for some time before being captured by the Inquisitors.
• Would Hurt a Child: Downplayed, as said child helped murder his adoptive family, but still.

The Leopard

An old friend of Tracker's who asks him for help on this journey. The 'Black Leopard' of the title.

• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Sogolon mortally wounds him, and he dies in Tracker's arms.
• Just Friends: Despite both being gay and Tracker clearly having some feelings for him, Tracker and Leopard are nothing more than close friends.
• Go Out with a Smile: He dies laughing and joking with Tracker.
• The Mentor: He serves as one to Tracker, showing him how to defend himself and use a bow.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: He's more of a shapeshifting wereleopard, but it still counts.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Tracker snark at and insult each other often, but it's clear that it's in good fun and the two are good friends despite their differences. Tracker takes it particularly hard when Leopard dies, made worse that he died in his arms.

Sadogo

An giant (oh, I mean Ogo) who is hired alongside Tracker and the crew to find the boy, and eventually forms a friendship with Tracker.

• The Atoner: He feels intense remorse and shame for his past as a hired killer, and he hopes this mission to find the boy will be his redemption.
• Berserk Button: Don't refer to him as a giant.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Sadogo's a sweetheart, but piss him off at your own discretion, as The Aesi discovers.
• The Big Guy: He is an Ogo after all.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrifices himself to save Tracker and Mossi, fighting The Aesi and his shadow creatures.
• Insistent Terminology: He prefers to be known as an Ogo, not a giant.
• I Just Want to Have Friends / I Just Want to Be Normal: Sadogo would love nothing more than to live a normal life with people who care about him and who he truly is as a person. He does get this wish once he befriends Mossi and Tracker. Their bitter mourning of his death shows that he at least left a positive mark on somebody's life before his untimely passing.
• Hitman with a Heart: Sadogo has been an executioner for much of his life, killing 171 people, including children and animals. But he feels immense guilt and shame for what he's done, and he just wants to have a normal life, with friends and people who love him for who he truly is, rather than as a weapon.
• Name Amnesia: Much like Tracker, he has long forgotten his true name. This is eventually what leads to their strong friendship.
• Nice Guy: Probably the nicest guy in the story, despite being a feared killer. Even Tracker is deeply saddened by his fate.
• Odd Friendship: Ends up forming one with Tracker, despite their contrasting personalities. Tracker and Mossi openly mourn Sadogo's death, proving that Tracker genuinely valued him as a friend.

Mossi

A prefect who befriends and eventually falls in love with Tracker, becoming his primary companion throughout the latter half of the story.

• Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Invoked. Tracker doesn't parse the Queen of Dolingo having Mossi's clothes cut off as sexual harassment, despite Mossi's clear humiliation and sense of violation, and originally has a hard time believing that Mossi didn't want to sleep with her. Mossi has to spell out that they're in her city, surrounded by her guards, and that just because he got hard doesn't mean he wanted it.
• Nice Guy: Aside from Sadogo, he's probably the nicest, most considerate guy of the story.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The more calculating and patient blue to Tracker's impulsive and violent red.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He calls Tracker out on his misogyny and distrust of women, and eventually gets him to face his many traumas.

Fumeli

• Deadpan Snarker: He's got a biting wit to match Tracker's, the latter ironically growing to hate him.
• Easily Forgiven: Tracker is baffled at why Leopard keeps Fumeli around, even after his manipulations; Leopard merely replies he needs someone to carry his bow.
• Jerkass: He's a rude little shit, and he gets on Tracker's nerves quickly. Though considering Tracker's bias and his relationship with Leopard, this is thrown into question.
• Kid Sidekick: He is a teenager, as well as Leopard's constant companion as the story moves along.
• Manipulative Bastard: Tracker definitely thinks so, and Leopard acts really different whenever Fumeli is around. It turns out Tracker is right, and that Fumeli had been drugging Leopard in order to turn him against Tracker.

Sangoma

An 'anti-witch' who takes Tracker in and becomes a parental figure to him.

• Like a Son to Me: She seems to view Tracker as a son-like figure, though their relationship is often stormy due to Tracker's jackassery and suspicion of everyone.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: She's betrayed by a jealous Kava and is killed alongside many of the mingi children.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She takes pity on Kava and gives him a home, and he responds by betraying her and the mingi children when he gets jealous of Tracker and Leopard's relationship.

Sogolon's Group

Sogolon

A mysterious moon witch who takes the role of leader of this expedition.

• Break the Haughty: Perhaps 'haughty' is the wrong word, but she's utterly flabbergasted when she learns Tracker located the writs when she, a long lived moon witch, couldn't.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Subverted. She's dragged into a portal made of fire, but she survives. She's not unscathed as it's revealed she was heavily burned.
• Deadpan Snarker: She rivals Tracker in terms of witty one liners, and isn't afraid to embark on a Snark-to-Snark Combat with him.
• Hero of Another Story: She's the main character of the sequel to this novel, Moon Witch, Spider King.
• Jerkass: She's not a particularly nice lady, and rubs everyone the wrong way at one point or another.
• Mysterious Past: Her past is not known, though this changes once we hear her perspective in Moon Witch, Spider King.
• Nominal Hero: She does a lot of really shady things throughout the story, and isn't above betraying her companions if it suits her goals, but she goes up against some really heinous individuals as the story moves along.

Bunshi

• Deadpan Snarker: Much like Sogolon, she has a good few one liners and isn't afraid to put Tracker in his place when he gets out of line.
• Elemental Shapeshifter: She can turn into a black goo.
• Unreliable Expositor: She gives several conflicting stories about who the boy is, and Tracker doesn't trust her for a minute. Then again, this is Tracker we're talking about; we'd be shocked if he did trust her.

Other Members of the Party

Lisisolo

The mother of the boy who wants to find her son no matter what.

• Hoist by Her Own Petard: Her attempts to find her son inadvertently leads her great enemy right to him.
• My Greatest Failure: She views her son being kidnapped and eventually falling under the sway of the inpundulu and Sasabonsam to be hers.
• The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: Lissisolo would be a far better ruler than her brother—but unfortunately, that her is a crucial sticking point, superior qualifications be damned.

Nsaka De Vampi

• Action Girl: Nsaka proves to be a tough member of the group, and one of the few females who can fight on the mission.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She was pimped out by her abusive stepfather and stepbrothers until Nyka rescued her.
• Fatal Flaw: Quite literally her love for Nyka, which leads to her death when Nyka feeds on her since he's a inpundulu now.
• Morality Pet: For Nyka. He genuinely cares about her; it makes things all the more saddening when he kills her when he becomes an inpundulu.
• Undying Loyalty: Her love for Nyka is so strong that she's a ride or die

Villains

Nyka

A former companion and lover of Tracker who has a dark history with our main character.

• Asshole Victim: Tracker plainly states he had it coming, and shows no sympathy for Nyka's fate.
• Depraved Bisexual: He's a former lover of Tracker, as well as the current lover of Nsaka. He also sold Tracker into sexual slavery, which cost him his eye.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He sincerely loves Nsaka, and he feels some regret for betraying Tracker.
• Evil Former Friend: A vicious bastard who's willing to sell his own friends into sexual slavery if it means getting a buck, and also a former companion of Tracker. Tracker tries to kill him on sight when they reunite years later.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nyka is a treacherous bastard, willing to sell out his friends if it benefits him. But his love for Nsaka is sincere and it inspires him to become a better man as the story moves along.
• Love Redeems: Surprisingly, yes. His relationship with Nsaka brings out his better qualities, and his love for her proves to be genuine. He's devastated and filled with shame after he kills her in order to become an inpundulu.
• Pet the Dog: He helped his current lover Nsaka escape her abusive family, and he never betrayed her as he did with Tracker. This is dampened slightly by Nyka killing her when he becomes an inpundulu, but it still counts.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Almost immediately leaves the fellowship with his new lover Nsaka, realizing that his past with Tracker will only distract from the mission.
• Taking You with Me: He incinerates himself alongside the boy, wanting this whole journey to be over.
• Would Hurt a Child: Downplayed, as the child is a vicious little shit, but still. He incinerates the boy alongside himself.

The Aesi

• Big Bad: Probably the closest one this story has, considering the nature of the story.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Though he is ostensibly the Northern King's servant, it's really him who's running the show behind the scenes.
• Enemy Mine: He teams up with Tracker and Nyka in order to take down a common enemy in the boy and Sasabonsam.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He doesn't understand why Tracker would still hesitate to kill The Leopard, and tells him to either choose love or vengeance when going after the boy.
• Hero Killer: The Aesi kills Sadogo and Bunshi.
• Lack of Empathy: He hasn't a lick of empathy for anyone he's hurt or have been hurt by his actions.

Asanbosam

• Asshole Victim: Only his brother Sasabonsam seems saddened about his death.
• I'm a Humanitarian: He's a vicious beast with a taste for human flesh.
• Sadist: Clearly enjoys toying with the young Tracker, and taunting him about how he'll be eaten until he is killed by Leopard and Tracker.

Sasabonsam

• Asshole Victim: He had it coming and that's putting it lightly.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He did care about his brother Asanbosam, taking revenge on Tracker by murdering his lover Mossi and their adopted mingi children.
• For the Evulz: He and the boy had no real reason why they killed Tracker's family, rather than the fact that they could.
• I'm a Humanitarian: As well as being a vampire, he's also a brutal cannibal.
• Sadist: Sasabonsam cruelly taunts Tracker, telling him how he killed Tracker's family in detail.

The Boy

The mysterious object of the search that makes up the majority of this novel's plot.

• Addled Addict: He grows addicted to the Inpundulu's vampiric blood, and is described as constantly craving more.
• Creepy Child: He's so warped by the inpundulu that he's basically become this. Even Tracker's creeped out by the kid.
• For the Evulz: There wasn't really a core reason why the kid and Sasabonsam killed Tracker's whole family, rather than the fact that they could and it amused the boy to see Tracker so pissed off.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Tracker thinks that a kid who has been gone for three years will be so bonded to his captors that rescuing him will be pointless, and he's proven right. Even after he's rescued, he is taken by Sasabonsam again, though Tracker thinks he went willingly.
• The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: His mother plans to rule through him, who per the original succession rules is the true king. However, being raised by the Ipundulu utterly warped him, and there's a prophecy that he will be a horrible and cruel king (at least if you believe Tracker)—and, at the very least, it's unlikely that he would be as obedient as Lissisolo would need.